The Return to Hogwarts

Harry wasn't too surprised by the situation.

Every night after lights out these past few days, Harry has taken out the Marauder's Map to look at it, but he has never seen Professor Blaine's name appear.

What the hell is going on?

Harry tucked the folded map back under the covers and stared at the ceiling hidden in the darkness, lost in thought.

Furthermore, how Professor Blaine knew about the Marauder's Map was something that puzzled them greatly.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione discussed this matter, and the most likely explanation is that Professor Lupin revealed the existence of the map to Professor Blaine. As for why Professor Lupin knew about it, there is only one possibility—Professor Lupin had seen it before, or he might simply be the creator of the Marauder's Map.

But these are just speculations. Harry can't possibly ask Professor Lupin for clarification; doing so would only be walking into a trap.

Hermione remained steadfast in her original opinion, hoping he would hand over the map, but this suggestion was strongly opposed by Ron, and even Harry himself was unwilling to do so.

"Think about it, Hermione—"

Faced with Hermione's anger at not receiving support, Harry had a sudden inspiration and said, "At least I can use the map to monitor Black. If he has already infiltrated Hogwarts, then I can get an early warning."

Everyone knows that this is just an excuse, but Harry just doesn't want to lose this interesting map.

"mean--"

Harry rolled over and mumbled something, it was unclear who he was talking about, and then drowsiness washed over him like a tidal wave, his conscious mind gradually fading away amidst the rising and falling snores.

Dumbledore is back!

The next morning, Harry and Ron arrived at the Great Hall yawning and learned the news from Hermione, who had almost finished eating.

"Really, Hermione?" Harry looked up excitedly at the staff dining table, but didn't see the reassuringly elderly figure with silver hair and beard. He asked eagerly.

"Where did he go? I didn't see him!"

"Dumbledore probably only returned this morning. He looked a bit tired. Later, Professor Blaine also came down. After exchanging a few words with Professor Dumbledore, the two of them went out together in the direction of the playground lawn--"

Hermione frowned and said worriedly,

"Professor Blaine also looks very tired. I really hope it's not because of taking care of Crook Hill."

Because of the continuous cold and gloomy weather, the snow on the lawn was still a thick layer that showed no signs of melting. The outermost layer exposed to the air had even frozen into solid ice, making a crunching sound with every step.

Both Amosta and Dumbledore had ways to easily float on the snow, but they didn't. Instead, they steadily made their way step by step toward the completely frozen lake.

“You look very tired,”

Beneath the wildly swaying willow branches, Dumbledore turned his head to look at Amostella, who had two obvious dark circles under his eyes, with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry to have made you take on the responsibility that should have been mine, Amosta.”

"Just consider it for the generous salary—"

A biting wind blew, and Amosta shrugged, sniffing the faint, familiar scent emanating from Dumbledore. He raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I thought it was my imagination, Headmaster Dumbledore. You went to the underground world beneath Knockturn Alley?"

"Hehe, Mr. Golden Viper, you seem very familiar with that place."

Dumbledore made no attempt to conceal his presence; he said with a smile,

"That's right. Before I left, I told you I was going to look for some clues about Tom's Horcruxes."

Oh, the trip wasn't exactly smooth sailing. I was held up by Connelly, who asked me to accompany him in some difficult negotiations.

Later, following some clues, I found the place where Tom had worked when he was young. From there, I discovered some unknown stories. One key figure was a house-elf who was imprisoned in Azkaban because of Tom. So I had to turn back to the Ministry of Magic and apply to visit Azkaban. After the Ministry of Magic checked the relevant information, they found that the house-elf had been released a year ago.

You know, it's hard for a house-elf who's committed a crime to find a new home. I figured it might have gone to the underworld to make a living, so I went to check it out.

"Oh--"

Amosta's expression suddenly turned regretful.

"You're a few steps too late, Dumbledore."

"yes--"

Dumbledore smiled wryly.

"I secretly checked some people's memories and found that the little elf did stay in the underground world for a while, but the troll... luckily, I've always been lucky, and it eventually escaped."

The process was quite tortuous.

Amosta pursed her lips. "So, did you eventually find it?"

"Not yet, but I believe it's only a matter of time before we find it. Yes, I have to hurry. Considering the little creature's age, I'm worried it might not survive the winter. Of course, I haven't forgotten the other responsibility I bear, so before embarking on an even more difficult search, I took the time to come back and check on it."

"So when you see that Hogwarts is the same whether you're there or not, aren't you a little disappointed, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Amosta joked.

“I am truly pleased, Amosta—” Dumbledore chuckled.

Dumbledore probably only stayed at Hogwarts for two days. After dealing with the backlog of materials, he left without a word. Professor McGonagall was furious because Dumbledore told her that he might not be able to return until the next term. In the meantime, she, several headmasters, and Amostella would be in charge of everything at the school.

"Perhaps that's a good thing—"

Because he needed to help Remusddew with a Hufflepuff Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Amostall ate lunch in the Great Hall. Faced with Professor McGonagall's angry complaints, he said sympathetically...

"I'm referring to Lucius Malfoy's threat to the board to remove Dumbledore earlier this year; we should have gone along with it then—"

Chapter 249 Care

After nearly half a month of gloomy weather, things finally changed on a new day. The temperature was still so cold that water could freeze instantly, but the dense dark clouds reluctantly retreated from the stage due to the eager anticipation of countless creatures on the earth. The sun reappeared, casting pale and weak sunlight onto the earth.

After a whole semester of training, the first-year Gryffindor wizards were finally able to unleash their full potential.

Under Mrs. Hodge's supervision, they rode the school's old-fashioned meteor brooms, flying about thirty feet above the ground, cheering and chasing after the snowflakes that danced in the air like dandelions.

Cough!

Having undergone a devastating transformation the previous night, Remus's face was as pale as snow on the lawn. He leaned against Amosta's cot, covered with the thick blankets he had brought, and strained to look up at the little wizard outside. Judging from his expression, he was in a fairly good mood.

"This thing really requires talent—"

Looking at those little guys who had practiced for six months but still couldn't shake off their clumsy movements, Remus panted and muttered to himself.

"I heard that the first time Harry rode a broomstick, he flew better than many of the older kids on the team. Wow. He undoubtedly inherited James's exceptional talent—"

Meow!

A soft meow suddenly came from his knee, drawing Remus's attention. He looked over and saw that the black cat Amostall had picked up from the wilderness and named Lennie was also showing joy and relief in its gray eyes, and was nodding slightly.

"You think so too, Lenny?"

Remus smiled gently, taking it as a coincidence, but to his surprise, Lennie nodded again after hearing his question.

What a strange cat--

A slight sense of confusion arose in Remus's heart.

Last night, Remus transformed in his office, and to make it easier to take care of him, Amosta moved himself to this office early this morning. When he arrived, Amosta even seriously asked this black cat, which always seemed strangely familiar, if it needed to move to a different place since he would probably be staying here for the next few days.

Remus initially thought Amosta was just joking, since the young wizard sometimes liked to make some nasty jokes. But to his surprise, after a moment's hesitation, Remus actually shook his head.

"Amosta saw that you were very smart, so he brought you back, right?"

Remus smiled slightly and slowly reached out to stroke Lennie's fluffy head, but this startled Lennie. It jumped off the cot and leaped onto the opposite sofa, where it stayed for at least twenty hours a day, lying next to the fattening Crookshan.

"Oh, sorry--"

Remus looked disappointed and sighed, saying, "I thought you liked me quite a bit."

Lenny lay prone on the sofa, covering his face with his two overly large cat paws, as if afraid that Remus would see the guilt in his eyes.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class. Remus glanced at a steaming cup of potion on Amostall's desk, a bitter look on his face. "I have reason to believe Severus might be targeting me," he thought.

Remus tried to sit up by supporting himself with his hands, but he was too exhausted. He tried several times, but his arms just wouldn't give him any strength.

"This medicine is several times more bitter than before."

After struggling for a while, Remus smiled wryly and leaned back against the pillow. In desperation, he pulled out his wand from his pocket.

"Yugadimurleviosa--"

Remus muttered something under his breath, but the glass containing the wolfsbane potion on the table only swayed a few times, spilling a lot of liquid, without showing any sign of floating.

This is really troubling me—

Under the magical influence of the full moon, the wolf venom within the werewolf's body rapidly multiplied during his transformation. He needed to constantly drink wolf venom potions to kill the venom; otherwise, he would become aggressive. Remus dared not joke about this. Seeing that he couldn't even cast a simple levitation spell, he put his wand back and struggled to get up on the bed. After a long while—

Crash—Remus rolled off the bed and lay sprawled on the floor.

Meow--

Having witnessed Remus's efforts, Lennie couldn't contain itself any longer. It quickly jumped to Remus's side again and tried to pull him up by biting his sleeve. But such an action was too strenuous for a cat, and it couldn't even lift Remus's arm.

"Phew—get away from me, little guy—"

"My head is throbbing," Remus said breathlessly, hoping that Amosta's cat would stay away from him.

However, Lennie did not give up. Realizing that it could not help Remus get up, it leaped onto the desk, hoping to pick up the potion. But this was another difficult task for a cat with only paws.

Absurd and laughable, two living wizards were stumped by a single potion.

Damn Blaine!