The Return to Hogwarts

Amostah turned around to follow the sound, his gaze sweeping around a few times before finally settling on a row of magical portraits on the wall.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Principal Black?"

When Amosta saw the name engraved under the picture frame, he smiled and nodded slightly.

"Shut up, you idiot!"

Beside the framed portrait of Sirius's great-great-grandfather, a stern-faced old wizard spoke in a stern voice.

"Didn't you hear Dumbledore's order? Don't discuss his affairs until your foolish grandson's reputation is restored!"

Armando Dippet, Dumbledore's predecessor.

Amosta raised an eyebrow. He didn't know much about this historical figure, though he did know that the famous female reporter from the Daily Prophet had a book called "Armando Dippet: Master or Fool?", which depicted the true nature of Armando Dippet.

During his years at school, in order to improve his skills, he wished there were forty-eight hours in a day, and he had no time to read such 'miscellaneous books'.

"You're just jealous—"

In the past, a 'war' would have started the moment Principal Dipett spoke, but today Phineas was in an exceptionally good mood and didn't pay much attention to Principal Dipett, who always disliked him.

"Don't be shy, little one, come here, let's talk!"

Phineas smiled and waved to Amosta.

"What can I do for you, Principal Black?"

Amosta put his hands behind his back, tilted his head back, and smiled.

"Oh, what a humble and polite little fellow! No wonder he is a wizard who graduated from the great Slytherin House!"

Phineas's eyes narrowed as he laughed.

“I have to thank you, kid. For many years, I’ve been trying to tell some fools around me that a fine descendant of the noble Black family could not possibly be a shameless traitor. But some people have chosen to ignore the truth because of their terrible prejudices. Now, they have nothing to say!”

Phineas tugged at his goatee, a smug look on his face.

"We all know about my honest great-great-grandson's affair, all thanks to you, Amosta. I've decided that, to express our gratitude, before Dumbledore joins us on the wall, I will recommend you as the next headmaster of Hogwarts!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Principal Blake—"

Amosta laughed heartily.

"Sirius has already paid me, so you don't need to worry about it."

"Oh, the payment has already been made?"

Phineas paused for a moment, then showed an expression of interest.

"What did my good-for-nothing great-grandson promise you?"

"Well, that's right. He mortgaged the Black family's old mansion to me."

"What!" Phineas immediately flew into a rage. "That good-for-nothing brat dared to do this, without my permission!"

"He doesn't need to ask for permission to sell the house like a picture frame hanging on the wall, you idiot!"

Seeing Phineas get angry, Dipett, who had been frowning, immediately became happy.

Dumbledore had already appeared at the corner of the stairs. Amosta turned and walked towards the slender-legged desk, while Phineas anxiously pounded on the picture frame.

"Wait, little guy, we need to talk about the house!"

"What are you talking about?"

Dumbledore, carrying a box, walked down the last step and asked in a light tone.

“Ah, Headmaster Black is helping me plan how to become the next Headmaster of Hogwarts!” Amostella said with a smile. “He’s given some very constructive advice.”

"It's too early to discuss this now, Phineas—"

Dumbledore glanced at Black's portrait frame, raised his voice, and said with a smile,

"At least for the next two years, I haven't had the idea of ​​hanging myself on the wall."

After a few jokes, the two got back to the main topic.

Dumbledore handed the box he had retrieved to Amostella and gestured for him to open it. The moment Amostella saw what was inside, his eyes narrowed and he could not hide his astonishment.

"You fixed it?"

The box contained the Crown of Wisdom, which originally belonged to Ravenclaw and was destroyed by Amostall.

However, the crown is no longer broken in two and covered with dark burn marks. Instead, it has been restored to its original shine, and under the candlelight, the crown, with a magnificent sky-blue gemstone set in the center, radiates a dazzling light.

Amostella herself did try to repair the crown, but the Ravenclaw crown is not just a simple ornament, but a legendary magical item with magical effects, and a broken crown cannot be restored simply by 'restoring it to its original state'.

“Yes, it has to be done, doesn’t it? After all, the crown is a precious artifact that carries the history of Hogwarts, and as the headmaster of Hogwarts, I have an obligation to preserve it for this school.”

Dumbledore said calmly.

Amosta shook his head slightly, ignoring Dumbledore's feigned ignorance. He turned the crown over and stared at the mysterious runes engraved on the back of the raven.

After a long pause, Amosta suddenly spoke.

"Is this crown truly, as rumored, capable of granting its bearer incredible wisdom? Have you tried it, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"certainly--"

Dumbledore gave a childlike smile.

"But perhaps it's because I'm so stubbornly stupid that even the Ravenclaw crown hasn't given me any significant improvement. You could try it, Amosta, maybe it'll give you some inspiration."

Dumbledore's teasing only made Amosta roll his eyes, and he calmly asked,

"So, why did you bring out this crown?"

"Just now, when you were asking me about the runes on the Slytherin locket, I suddenly realized something—how did Ravenclaw's own tiara survive your possession?"

Dumbledore lowered his head to look at the Crown of Wisdom in Amostella's hand, his voice light and airy.

"You know what I mean, Amosta. After Tom's soul disappeared, what kind of metal could only crack in two under the heat of the Fiery Blaze without melting?"

I can't think of any metal that could do that, unless there is some kind of magic, unseen by us, secretly protecting it.

Chapter 322 Soul Weapon Reduced by One (Part 1)

2023-06-12

Metals that can resist the scorching of flames without relying on magic, but solely on their own material properties, flashed through Amosta's mind for a moment, but he couldn't find one that met his requirements. So, when he looked at the crown again, Amosta's gaze became even more focused.

Just as Dumbledore overlooked the runes because of Horcruxes, Amosta indeed failed to notice this detail as well.

"Some kind of magic, unseen by us, secretly protects these things; even Fiendfire and Horcruxes cannot corrupt them."

Amosta lowered her eyes and whispered.

"So, what about the legacy of Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor?"

"Just a moment please--"

Dumbledore left those words behind, then strode to the bookshelf beneath the portraits of past headmasters and began searching among the rows of gilded spines. Before long, he locked onto his target, and then hurried to the wall behind his desk, where he took down the Sword of Gryffindor hanging on the wall.

I saw this sword Amostella once last year in the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, where Harry used it to fight the Basilisk.

Amosta also knew some information about the sword that, if revealed, might cause a huge uproar.

The famous Gryffindor sword was not Godric Gryffindor's original sword. His original sword was lying in Amostall's storage bag. The silver-bladed sword in front of him originally belonged to King Arthur, the king of Camelot!

Amosta understood perfectly why Dumbledore had brought it out. He picked up the heavy Noble Phantasm, his gaze sweeping over the blade before finally settling on the side of the hilt.

The runes are similar to those on the crown and the locket!

"This sword has always been in your hands, Headmaster Dumbledore. Didn't you notice it before?"

Amostella played with it for a while, and after noticing anything unusual about it, she put it back on the table and said to Dumbledore, who was searching through books.

"In fact, I do know --"

Dumbledore gave an unexpected answer.

“I noticed long ago that the true runes inscribed on the sword's chin can be removed from the Sorting Hat by any true Gryffindor—I thought the ancient magic imprinted on the runes was this, oh, I've got it.”

Dumbledore spread the books out on the table, pointed to the pictures on the yellowed pages, and said...

"Compared to the crown that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, which was lost for a thousand years, and the unknown locket left by Salazar Slytherin, it's not too difficult to find out who has the Hufflepuff Cup. It has a clear lineage and has been passed down through the blood of the Hufflepuff descendants for a thousand years, until it fell into Voldemort's hands. Although we haven't yet figured out the whereabouts of the Cup, fortunately, we have found some reliable information—"

The book contains pictures of the golden cup from various angles. Most people would only be attracted by the lifelike badger on the front, but Amosta immediately noticed the few inconspicuous runes at the foot of the cup.

"I doubt we'll find annotations for these runes in any runic book—"

Dumbledore looked at Amostella, who was deep in thought, and said...

"These runes are very likely spells created by the four founders of Hogwarts and left on their respective items using runes."

"A reasonable speculation—"

Amostella nodded slightly, her gaze shifting back and forth between the locket, the crown, the sword of Gryffindor, and the books.

"You think—"

After a long while, Amosta raised his head, his gaze intense.

"If we find the golden cup left by Hufflepuff, and all four items are complete, what interesting things will happen?"

"There is absolutely no clue or record to confirm this speculation."