The Return to Hogwarts

Sirius muttered something, rubbed his swollen, red eyes, and slowly walked to the dining table.

"Where is Amosta?"

Sirius Black used his silver fork to pick up a fried egg, put it directly into his mouth, and said while chewing, "I thought he was already down?"

“I think he should still be in his room,” Remus said, rubbing his forehead with a complicated expression.

“I told Kreacher not to bother him either. You know, he’s probably exhausted.”

The dining room fell silent. The two people at the table looked at each other without saying a word, each guessing what the other was thinking.

"Have you ever seen a guy like him, Remus?"

After a long silence, Sirius spoke first, his voice deep and muffled.

"I'm no more knowledgeable than you, Sirius—"

Remus shook his head with a wry smile.

After discussing how to dispose of Regulus's body, Sirius stayed up all night, keeping watch over his brother. Remus and Amostella went back to their guest room to rest. Remus didn't know if Amostella could sleep. He was exhausted, but he couldn't fall asleep in bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the scene of Amostella destroying the cave.

"Before this, I had never imagined that wizards could possess such power, nor could I have imagined that wizards could cause such destruction."

Remus said with a sigh,

"It seems that after fighting Voldemort for so many years, we thought we knew how terrible he was, but the truth is that Voldemort probably never showed us his power. Because there was no need."

"Dumbledore must know."

Sirius's voice remained muffled.

"We all know that Voldemort was afraid of Dumbledore. In those years, Voldemort tried his best to avoid fighting Dumbledore. He was definitely more capable than Voldemort."

"Yes, that's beyond doubt."

Remus had great faith in the old man who possessed wisdom far exceeding that of ordinary wizards.

The two people at the table were chatting, but neither of them looked particularly happy.

On the one hand, although Regulus's body was saved, the shadow cast over their hearts by the truth of his death had not yet dissipated, and they remained immersed in deep sorrow.

On the other hand, the apocalyptic scene of Amosta's destruction of the cave last night not only gave them an indescribable shock, but also made them feel a little fear.

As the magical world has developed into modern times, magic has become increasingly integrated into the daily lives of wizards. Spellcasting has become simple and quick. Modern wizards can no longer imagine how magnificent and awe-inspiring battle scenes that can change the terrain at will truly be.

As mentioned earlier, Voldemort avoided a direct confrontation with Dumbledore during the years of his rampage.

The last time wizards witnessed magic destroy the world was half a century ago—the epic battle between Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of his time, and Gettler Grindelwald, the first Dark Lord.

"You've made your decision about Regulus, haven't you?"

The topic circled back to Regulus. Remus rubbed his aching temples, wondering if he should go back to his room and try to fall asleep later.

"It's understandable that you want to hold a funeral for Regulus, but considering your current situation—"

“I know, Remus—”

Thinking about this made Sirius become irritable.

"I didn't say it should be held immediately. Of course, it will have to wait until that despicable traitor is killed and his crimes are cleared. I will invite some people, but not relatives of the Black family. They are not worthy. I hope to invite some wizards from the Order of the Phoenix. I want these friends who have always stood on the front line against Voldemort to know that Regulus is not a Death Eater. He is a true hero."

He did not achieve fame in his lifetime, but after his death, Sirius hoped that Regulus would gain the recognition of like-minded wizards.

"And one more thing--"

Remus didn't comment on Sirius's thoughts; he simply spoke seriously.

"Before Albus left, he told me he was going to investigate some important matters, and to prevent you from trying to harm Harry again, he gave me a way to contact him in case of emergency. I tried not to disturb Albus's business, but once he returns to school, I must report to him about Peter and what happened last night!"

Sirius was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

The guest room is located on the third floor of the old house.

Amosta was not fast asleep as Remus had expected, but had gotten up as the golden-pink sunlight streamed through the carved stained-glass windows onto the floor in the early morning, and he looked to be in fairly good health.

Wearing a morning robe, Amosta sat at the desk by the window, leaning lazily against the high-backed chair behind him. His left hand rested on the armrest, while his right hand held the real Horcrux that Kreacher had brought back more than a decade ago. In the soft morning sunlight, he quietly observed the surface of the locket, the ancient runes whose meanings were unclear.

A large pile of books lay flat on the desk. Among them were textbooks for Hogwarts' NEWT level courses, published under the supervision of the Ministry of Magic, as well as some ancient-looking magic books with yellowed covers and pages covered with wormholes.

In an attempt to decipher the meaning of the symbols on the box, Amosta took out all the books from his storage bag, but even after going through all the materials, he still couldn't figure it out.

"Go ask Professor Baburin later; she's an expert in this field—"

Amosta sighed and put the matter aside for the time being.

Since obtaining the locket last night, Amosta has still tried to open it. He used some less drastic methods, but they were all blocked by the powerful defensive dark magic of the Horcrux itself. If he wanted to destroy the soul hidden inside the locket, he would have to destroy the locket itself as well.

Similarly, Amosta was unwilling to do so for the time being, because he still planned to take advantage of Dumbledore again.

"How should the price be set this time?"

Amosta bit her lip, looking troubled.

He certainly didn't want to lose out, but Dumbledore was already broke from paying the fee for capturing the Basilisk last time, so setting the price too high didn't seem appropriate.

Boom, boom, boom!

Just as Amostella was thinking about whether to introduce the 'installment payment' and 'loan' services to Dumbledore, there was a sudden knock on the guest room door.

Chapter 273 The Stone Pillar Reappears

2023-05-01

"Please come in--"

Amostah glanced at the door, stood up, walked to the wardrobe, put the locket in his pocket, and said softly.

With a sharp creaking sound from the rusty hinges, the door opened, and Sirius Black walked in slowly. When he saw Amostella, who was already up, a hint of surprise crossed his unshaven face.

"Oh, you're already up? I thought I was here to call you for breakfast."

“I’m more energetic than you think—” Amosta smiled slightly.

"It's even crazier than I imagined."

Sirius smiled too, referring to the last part of the night when Amosta destroyed the cave and released the Muggles whose bodies were bound.

I don't quite understand you—

Sirius closed the door, turned and strolled to his desk. His curious gaze wandered across the tabletop covered in books, while he spoke casually in a purely conversational tone.

"Sometimes... well, some of your traits are undeniably typical of Slytherin, and frankly, not very likable, but sometimes..."

He started to speak, then tilted his head and frowned, seemingly pondering how to describe it. After a long pause, he slowly said...

"Well, it's quite interesting. I mean, you're not the same as Snot, oh, Snape."

Sirius glanced at Amosta, who was calmly smiling, pursed his lips, and then aimlessly looked at the book covers, his tone nonchalant.

“When you left before, Remus talked to me about you. He said that you are actually a very kind wizard, but you like to keep your kindness hidden in your heart and don’t like to show it. At that time, I didn’t quite agree with him.”

But last night, I must admit, without you, Remus, Kreacher, and I alone wouldn't have been able to find Regulus; we would most likely have died there. And you went to such lengths to help those Muggle souls find peace. In short, I must thank you.”

"Ha, I'm not like you—"

Amosta smiled, walked to the table, and began tidying up the magic books one by one.

"I'm not as pure as you."

"Remus said you're a bit like Dumbledore; having powerful magic is one thing, but you're always enigmatic—"

Amosta's hand froze in mid-air for a moment, then returned to normal.

"Is this a compliment or an insult?"

The dust particles floating in the thousands of golden threads of sunlight were startled by Sirius's hearty laughter.

Sirius revealed his plan for Regulus's funeral, inviting Amosta to attend, since without him, Regulus would have remained in the dark cave for who knows how many more years.

“Although you are not a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Amosta—” Sirius said sincerely, “you are more qualified than anyone else to be at Regulus’s funeral.”

Amosta had no reason to refuse, and he readily agreed.

Amostella put the magic books and some research manuscripts by unknown wizards back into her bag, and the table was tidy again. Only a picture book unrelated to magic lay on one side of the table. Amostella stared at the bound picture book, remained silent for a moment, but did not pick it up. Instead, she threw it into the wastebasket next to the chair, waiting for Kreacher to clean the room and deal with it.

This picture book is a Muggle souvenir book about the sights. During the summer holidays, when he and that woman, Vitia Creona, visited the Gates of Avalon, the site of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, Amostado bought it for seven pounds to learn about the history of Stonehenge.

While searching for research materials, Amosta found this sketchbook in his bag that hadn't been thrown away, but now that the sketchbook was useless, Amosta didn't plan to keep it anymore.

This action naturally caught Sirius's attention. He looked down at the pictures on the covers of the picture books in the wastebasket, and suddenly a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"Hmm, this is Muggle-style photography, right? The patterns in the picture book look somewhat familiar?"

Amostella paused for a few seconds, then followed Sirius's gaze and realized what he was talking about. However, he wasn't surprised.

"A famous Muggle tourist attraction, the historic Stonehenge, you may not have visited it before."

As Amostah said this, he turned and walked to the wardrobe. After putting the storage bag into the hidden pocket on the chest of his wizard's robe, he took off the robe and the sweater underneath.

"Excuse me, Sirius, I'm about to change my clothes. Could you please help me? Hmm?"

Amosta's explanation did not reassure Sirius. He squatted down, picked up the sketchbook from the wastebasket again, and looked at the simple yet ancient stone pillars through his narrowed eyes with a puzzled expression.

This scene made Amosta's heart skip a beat. He suddenly remembered Vitia Creona's words: This Stonehenge is incomplete; the missing pillars are the key to opening the ruins. Over the long years, we have found one pillar, but we still haven't been able to complete it.

Could it be that?