The Return to Hogwarts

From within the nebula-like silver mist, an amorphous stag appeared, stumbling towards the group of Dementors, trying to drive them away. However, several Dementors stepped forward to block it, and the stag quickly reverted to its silver mist form during the confrontation with the Dementors.

Harry moved away from Hermione, driven by instinct, and tried to crawl toward Sirius. His magic couldn't protect him, so he would use his body, just as Sirius had protected him before. If the Dementors had any memory of Professor Blaine's punishment, they would probably restrain themselves.

However, Harry was wrong about the Dementors.

A pair of strong, cold, and sticky hands suddenly gripped Harry's neck, lifting his face upwards. He could feel the foul breath spraying onto his face. It wanted to get rid of the hindrance first. Harry thought wearily as he listened to his mother calling in his ear.

hum!

In the thick black fog that was about to engulf him, Harry suddenly saw a silver light growing brighter and brighter. Then, he collapsed onto the cold, sharp ground.

It was as if the moon had suddenly appeared on the treetops, its shimmering silver light surging forth, inch by inch pushing the darkness away from Harry, and at the same time, despair and chill also receded.

Something drove the Dementors away.

Harry realized what was happening, and he strained to look up. He saw a nimble creature in the air, moving with lightning speed, driving the Dementors in all directions until they disappeared into the night.

The animal leaped and landed on the ground, passing through the woods beside Harry and finally stopping behind a strangely shaped, crooked tree. It was bright, like a unicorn. Harry tried to stay alert, trying to see who the figure waiting to greet him was. The person looked familiar, but it couldn't be.

The figure and the animal had vanished. Harry knelt motionless in the darkness, on the verge of collapse, but dared not faint, for fear that the Dementors might return.

Perhaps only a few minutes had passed, or perhaps several hours had passed; in any case, Harry remained in the same pose as a statue, his last shred of reason focused on trying to understand why the person who had just summoned that animal had appeared.

"Harry!"

From the direction of Hogwarts, a shout of shock and anger suddenly rang out from outside the woods. Upon hearing this voice, Harry's lips twitched slightly, his eyelids drooped instantly, and he crashed to the ground with a thud.

He's safe; Dumbledore is back.

Chapter 304 Whose Guardian Angel

2023-05-27

The air was filled with the familiar smell of potions, and the light shining on his face was soft. Harry felt someone taking off his clothes and touching him all over. He struggled to get up because, in the buzzing world, he could vaguely sense voices around him, and quite a few of them.

The fact that so many people were 'observing' his body still made Harry feel a little ashamed.

But no matter how hard he tried, Harry still couldn't control himself to open his eyes, as if some invisible shackle was locking up his body's functions.

Click!

The doors of the school hospital were opened, and a series of hurried footsteps rushed in, followed by exclamations and the sound of a bed being moved.

"Oh my god, Severus and Hagrid!"

Professor McGonagall covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. "I can't believe it, Albus, I've never seen either of them suffer like this!"

Hagrid is back?

Harry's mind was slow; it took him a while to recall whose scream it was. Then he waited for Hagrid's rough voice to ring out, but he didn't hear it for a long time.

What exactly happened to Hagrid?

Harry was both annoyed and worried, and he couldn't wait to open his eyes and see what was going on.

"Just as Miss Granger said!"

Professor Flitwick seemed startled; his voice was sharper than usual.

"The scene there could give you nightmares for a whole year. Albus, corpses everywhere, werewolf bodies everywhere, and two centaurs too. I found Severus and Hagrid among a pile of corpses. Luckily they were still alive. I didn't dare to waste any time—"

Dumbledore's bright blue eyes gleamed as he left Harry's side and strode over to Severus and Hagrid on their stretchers.

“I need you to check their injuries, Bobby—”

The ensuing silence was agonizing, but thankfully, Mrs. Pomfrey soon gave her judgment.

“Severus is just exhausted, Headmaster. He needs to rest. Hagrid, you can all tell without me saying it, he's suffered a lot. He has at least seven or eight, a dozen bite marks all over his body, from those horrible creatures. My God, this could lead to—”

Professor McGonagall swayed violently, clutching her heart, her face contorted in pain.

"Don't worry, Minerva—"

Dumbledore's sharp gaze pierced Hagrid through the half-moon lens, observing Hagrid's internal state from a unique perspective.

“You know, Hagrid’s bloodline makes him very resistant to that virus, and he won’t suffer the same torment as Remus.”

"Are you sure, Albus?"

Professor McGonagall grabbed Dumbledore's arm and asked almost pleadingly.

“I can confirm, Minerva—” Dumbledore answered the question seriously.

At that moment, Dumbledore clearly knew what everyone needed. His voice and emotions regained their composure in a very short time, and he gave them orders in an unyielding tone.

“Severus and Hagrid both need professional care. Bobby, only you can handle this. Pomona, I need you to look after Mr. Weasley. He's alright, thankfully just a bit shaken and bumped. And Felius, Mr. Malfoy is in your care. I've already sent a message to St. Mungo's, they'll send someone to bring Malfoy back to the manor as soon as possible, but until then, I was wondering if you could find a way to alleviate Mr. Malfoy's current predicament—”

Dumbledore's methodical commands gave the panicked group a sense of direction, and they followed his instructions to leave the private room one by one. In the end, only Harry and Professor McGonagall remained, lying in bed.

"I need to do something, Albus?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry on the sickbed and said with a pained expression.

“Although Miss Granger has told us some surprising things, now is not the time to let our guard down, Minerva,”

Dumbledore said calmly,

"Sirius is still unconscious, and several faculty members are watching over him. I need you to go and watch over him too, Minerva. If possible, I would like you to call Miss Granger here for me."

The noise from before faded away like a dream. Harry couldn't wait to talk to Dumbledore. Perhaps it was his anxious mood that made the difference, or perhaps it was the sudden warmth that flowed into his forehead. In any case, Harry finally opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Dumbledore putting away his wand.

"Please forgive me, Harry, I had to find a way to wake you up early—"

Dumbledore said apologetically, but Harry wasn't in the mood for that at all; he sprang out of bed like a spring.

"Sirius is innocent, Professor. It's Scabbers. Ron's rat is actually an Animagus, Peter Pettigrew!"

Harry shouted,

"Professor Lu Ping, he's seriously injured! You must go and save him right away!"

"Yes, it's to be expected that Remus is in a bad situation right now, but Harry, there's probably more than just this urgent matter. Ah, Miss Granger is here."

"Dumbledore said in a low voice, and then the door creaked open, and Hermione, her forehead wrapped in gauze, rushed in. When she saw Harry, who had already woken up, tears immediately welled up in her eyes."

"Harry!"

Hermione rushed over like a fawn and hugged Harry tightly.

Dumbledore's eyes flashed with urgency, but he did not disturb the heartwarming scene before him.

"I can't believe it, Harry!"

Hermione's voice was thick with sobs.

"Professor McGonagall told me that they rescued Hagrid and Professor Snape, and no one died. That's incredibly lucky!"

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Now is not the time to celebrate, Miss Granger—"

Dumbledore said in a low voice,

“We are likely to face many more troubles. As I just told you, Miss Granger, helping Sirius clear his name is not a simple matter.”

Harry was eager to speak, but Dumbledore's stern face intimidated him.

"--The Dementors have already notified the Ministry of Magic. I think Cornelius and his Aurors could appear outside the school gates at any moment. If we are unprepared before they see Sirius, things could become extremely difficult."

Dumbledore said in a deep voice,

"Sirius is still unconscious. According to Ms. Pomfrey, it may take him dozens of hours to regain consciousness. This means he won't be able to defend himself, and his weakened state also makes it impossible to use some methods that would normally lead to the truth, unless we want to kill him. Right now, apart from the two underage wizards, everyone who saw the truth tonight is in poor condition."

"But you believe he is innocent, right, Professor?"

Harry couldn't help but interject with a question.

"Yes, I believe it."

Dumbledore nodded quickly.

“To be honest, Harry, this truth isn’t that unexpected, but you have to know that the Ministry of Magic probably doesn’t want the public to know that they’ve imprisoned an innocent man in Azkaban for twelve years, and we currently lack crucial evidence.”

“Professor Blaine!” Hermione suddenly exclaimed. “He knows everything. He’s the one who helped Sirius get into Hogwarts.”

When Hermione mentioned Professor Blaine, Harry noticed a glint in Dumbledore's blue eyes, a light that seemed to reflect both anger and helplessness.

“Yes, Amosta knows everything,”

Dumbledore nodded with a complicated expression.

"But he is also nowhere to be found now, but I'm sure Cornelius will arrive here before him. Let me be frank, unless Peter can be put in front of the Ministry of Magic, Cornelius probably won't accept such a defeat for the Ministry of Magic."

"What do you need us to do, Professor Dumbledore?"

Hermione had already come to her senses. She took a deep breath, trying not to think about the battlefield littered with severed limbs.

"That's how it is—"

Under Hermione and Harry's watchful eyes, Dumbledore took a yellowed parchment from his pocket.

"When I found you, I also stumbled upon this thing; it fell out of your pocket, Harry. I won't waste time describing my surprise at realizing its function. In fact, I also sensed a trace of a special power within it."

Chapter 305 A Difficult Mission