The Return to Hogwarts

Lying on the ground, Remus showed obvious signs of transformation, and most of the Aurors were unwilling to approach this dangerous werewolf.

"Alright, I'll go myself then—"

Amosta shrugged helplessly.

"let me--"

Just then, a young voice rang out from the crowd. Before Kingsley could stop him, Tonks had already leaped past him and stood in front of Amosta.

"I'm sure you can handle this situation—"

Tonks looked at Amosta with concern and asked in a low voice.

Amosta gave a smile.

"All right--"

Tonks muttered something under his breath.

"You've taken down Greyback, and there are still so many werewolves, but you're the only one left, Amosta. You're going to be famous now. That poor guy suffered a lot—"

After a crisp explosion, Tonks and Remus disappeared into the wilderness.

“Now it’s time to explain, Amosta—”

Fudge and Amosta maintained what he considered a safe distance, panting as they spoke.

"For Dumbledore's sake, could you hand over your wand first?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Minister, I'm afraid I cannot meet your request—"

Amosta said with a smile.

"And I think we'd better not stand here like fools. We have a lot to talk about tonight, so we'd better talk as we walk—"

"Where are you going?"

Fudge immediately became alert.

"Ha, of course it's Hogwarts—"

Amosta laughed, waved to the Ministry of Magic officials, and led the way up the hill.

"Hurry up, gentlemen, Hogwarts currently has a heinous criminal awaiting your trial."

“If you mean Sirius Black—” Ms. Burns pushed up her glasses and said immediately, “we have received notification from the Dementors.”

"It's Peter Pettigrew."

Amosta's voice was carried by the light breeze, causing the officials to exchange bewildered glances.

"You are crazy!"

Fudge shouted at Amosta's retreating figure, "He's been dead for twelve years! I saw it with my own eyes!"

“I think we should arrest him immediately, Minister.”

Amosta's dismissive attitude chilled Umbridge's eyes, but a disgusting, sycophantic smile spread across her face as she whispered sweetly in Fudge's ear...

“This Head of Student Safety at Hogwarts seems to have picked up some bad habits. Oh, he clearly thinks he has the same privileges as someone else. Minister, I don’t think we can tolerate this—”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Umbridge, we can’t do that.”

Kingsley, standing beside the charred cave with rising smoke, gasped, turned to Umbridge with a stern face, and said...

"I'm afraid the only wizard with this ability is the 'someone' you just mentioned."

Chapter 315 Damage

2023-06-07

Despite facing numerous difficulties and obstacles, Harry and Hermione managed to complete the task assigned to them by Dumbledore and eventually brought Peter Pettigrew back to Hogwarts.

Once out of the Forbidden Forest and into the school grounds, Harry and Hermione used the Invisibility Cloak again. This time, however, the presence of a white cocoon imprisoning Peter significantly slowed their pace. Passing Professor Sprout's greenhouse, Harry, panting, asked…

"Hermione—what if—we hadn't been back by that time—before Dumbledore locked the doors?"

"I don't want to think about it!"

Hermione said in despair, glancing at her watch.

"Ten minutes left!"

Unexpected events always happen when you try to avoid them.

As Harry and Hermione crossed the lawn and approached the path leading to the castle from the school gate, they suddenly noticed a group of people walking hurriedly along the path. Harry's eyes widened, and he felt as if his breath had frozen.

"Professor Blaine and the Minister of Magic, and the remaining one—"

"The woman in black is Amelia Bornes, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And the one to Fudge's left is Rufus Scrimgeour, the chief of the Auror office. The people behind them are probably the magic enforcers. They're all big shots in the Ministry of Magic; they're frequently featured in the Daily Prophet. They've probably already received notification of Sirius's arrest."

Hermione's eyes widened in terror, her teeth chattering.

“They’re in front of us, Harry, we’re doomed.”

Apart from Professor Blaine, the group from the Ministry of Magic did not look too good, especially Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.

Even so, Harrigan and Hermione still ran as fast as they could toward the castle gates, but in order to take care of Peter, and especially because they couldn't reveal their whereabouts, their speed couldn't keep up with the Ministry of Magic officials.

When they were about a hundred feet from the castle, Professor Blaine, who was at the front, was already standing on the marble steps at the entrance.

"etc--"

Amosta hesitated for a moment, then suddenly stopped and turned around to block Cornelius Fudge.

"There's something very important I need to confirm with you. As I just said, Sirius Black is innocent. The person who committed the crime more than a decade ago was Peter Pettigrew. In that case, well... the bounty that the Ministry of Magic promised earlier..."

When Fudge heard Amosta say that he had something important to say, his heart skipped a beat. He had already been frightened enough tonight, and he was afraid that Amosta would give him some kind of 'surprise', but he didn't expect to hear such a question.

“A bounty—” Fudge’s face turned a deep shade of liver. “Oh—okay, yes—there is such a thing, the Ministry of Magic of course—wait a minute.”

Fudge, having recovered his senses, gasped for breath.

“That’s all just your side of the story, Amosta. I haven’t verified it yet!”

Amosta shrugged dismissively.

"Alright, putting that aside, I remember Greyback and his men were also on the Ministry of Magic's wanted list. They all died at my hands, you saw it with your own eyes—"

"You used Fiery Blaze--"

Rufus Scrimgeour said with a cold face,

“Amosta Blaine, you should know that this violates many laws, enough to send you to Azkaban.”

"Ha! Greyback and his werewolves are attacking the young wizards in the castle. As the head of the Hogwarts Student Safety Office, I have the right to use all means to fight back when young wizards and faculty members are persecuted by such evil creatures, in order to protect their lives."

Faced with Scrimgeour's lukewarm threat, Amosta chuckled lazily.

Umbridge and some Aurors were ordered by Fudge to remain in Hogsmeade to appease the public and deal with the anticipated arrival of reporters from the Daily Prophet. Now, only Scrimgeour and Burns were with Fudge.

Ms. Burns looked at Amosta Blaine, who stood on the marble steps, bathed in the red glow of the torches, with a look of wonder.

To be honest, when she first arrived at Hogsmeade, she was truly terrified by the raging flames that seemed to scorch the heavens and boil the seas.

Prior to this, her impression of Amostrath Blaine was limited to knowing that he had contributed the Basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets to the Ministry of Magic last year, giving Fudge a moment of glory in front of the public and ministers of magic from various countries, and that Dumbledore had hired him as head of the Office of Student Safety.

Capturing the basilisk was enough to prove that this young man was exceptionally skilled, but she could never have imagined that Amosta Blaine's methods were so superb!

For a fleeting moment, Ms. Burns, who had judged countless sins, almost thought she was witnessing the rise of a dark lord.

However, the fact that this exceptionally skilled young wizard was now blocking the castle gates, haggling with Cornelius over the bounties for Greyback and Sirius, puzzled Bornes, but also brought him some comfort.

A Dark Lord wouldn't negotiate with the Ministry of Magic for a little gold, especially since he had gained Dumbledore's trust.

"We'll talk about the bounty later, Amosta!"

Fudge glanced at Filch, who was peeking out from behind the castle gate, wanting to approach but not daring to interrupt their conversation, and said irritably,

"At least we need to figure things out first!"

"All right--"

Amosta looked regretful, slowly turned around, glanced at a marble pillar not far to the side, and his lips twitched slightly.

"What do you think—"

Harry and Hermione quietly slipped up the stairs next to the foyer. Harry, looking relieved to have escaped unscathed, muttered to himself...

Do you think Professor Blaine has discovered us?

"Need I say more, Harry?" Hermione, exhausted to the limit, struggled down the stairs.

"Have you forgotten what happened at the Three Broomsticks Bar? No time for that, we need to get back to the school clinic, we only have two minutes left!"

Finally, they climbed to the end of the corridor where the school hospital was located. It was brightly lit, and Mrs. Pomfrey was running through the private rooms like she was wound up, her face full of urgency.

The ward they were in was still closed. Harry and Hermione crept closer to the door and could vaguely hear Dumbledore's voice.

“If you’re unsure what to do, Miss Granger, I suggest you stick to the old path. Well then, good luck.”

Then the door opened, and Dumbledore appeared before them.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

Harry wasn't sure if he should remove the Invisibility Cloak now, because if Madam Pomfrey saw him, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves. However, he wasn't sure if Dumbledore could see him either. Harry could only make a sound to alert them to their presence.