The Return to Hogwarts

Fudge said happily.

"Dumbledore is the Honorary Vice President of the League Against the Dark Arts. Also, we've made contact with the renowned wizarding magazine, *Wizarding Weekly*. This year's 'Most Charming Smile Award' is yours, Amostall. I bet your picture on the cover will be more eye-catching than Gilderoy Lockhart's. After all, that annoying conman only stole a story about a wizard helping a small village escape the werewolf threat, while you actually killed so many werewolves!"

Ugh, what bad luck!

Amosta's smile froze.

Chapter 331 Press Conference

2023-06-16

After announcing the award to Amosta, Fudge and Amosta went over their statements again. After all, the reporters wouldn't let such a big story slip by easily; they would definitely try to dig out every detail they could.

After internal discussions, the higher-ups ultimately decided to announce to the magical community that, apart from Amos Tower who carried out the operation, Cornelius Fudge and Barty Crouch would lead the Ministry of Magic in the initial intelligence gathering and command work.

Amosta was slightly surprised when he heard this.

Fudge will definitely appear on screen, which is a good opportunity for him to gain public support. Barty Crouch Amosta immediately understood that this was probably a form of compensation, since he would soon be blamed for something.

"This is a great victory. For too long, the people of the wizarding world have lived in the shadow of the werewolf criminal gang led by Greyback—there are many heartbreaking examples of innocent, kind wizarding citizens losing their peaceful and tranquil lives due to werewolf attacks."

The entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic was almost filled with reporters from major media outlets at home and abroad. Amid the constant clicking of cameras, Fudge, his face flushed, spoke in a loud and passionate voice, accusing Greyback of the numerous crimes he had committed in the Muggle and wizarding worlds.

It's as if, in the face of the heinous Grayback, the Mysterio's past deeds were nothing more than petty theft.

"It's unbelievable that the ministry didn't leak a single word beforehand!"

Fudge was pontificating on the platform, while many Ministry of Magic employees below were maintaining order. Mr. Weasley, sweating profusely from his work, took a moment to catch his breath and spoke to Amos Diggory, who was also in charge of the task.

"I agree with you, Arthur!"

Amos, from the Department of Magical Creatures Control, exclaimed loudly.

“You know, Arthur, I have quite a few acquaintances in the Auror office, but none of them have uttered a single word to me. I just ran into Kingsley over there, and he was very tight-lipped about it. Oh, it’s unbelievable that they’ve actually accomplished such a great feat in silence!”

Amos paused for a moment, then turned his gaze to the stage, where Amosta Blaine stood out conspicuously among the middle-aged male and female wizards, all around forty years old.

"What do you know about that Blaine, Arthur?"

"Oh, him—"

Mr. Weasley chuckled.

"To be honest, I should be surprised, I mean, that a wizard killed so many werewolves, but when I found out it was Amosta, I actually thought it was only natural!"

In the Ministry of Magic, if you have a good piece of gossip, you'll be very popular. Amos immediately became interested, grabbed Mr. Weasley's robe, and 'ordered' him to explain.

"You all probably know about the basilisk from last year. Amoesta saved my daughter Ginny and my youngest son Ron. Although Fudge claimed that Amoesta was sent to the school through negotiations between the Ministry and the Hogwarts Board of Governors, that's not true at all."

“I’ve heard Cedric mention this before.”

Amos said with great interest,

“He really liked Amosta Blaine as their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and he even said that he was the only wizard in recent years to have safely stepped down from that professorship. What do you think that means, Arthur?”

A short wizard who looked like a weasel and wore a dark blue robe also came closer.

"Maybe--"

This was Reggie Cattermole from the Magical Repair and Maintenance Department. He lowered his voice to avoid being overheard by the ubiquitous reporters.

"The rumors about the professor of that course being cursed by that wizard whose name cannot be mentioned have been circulating for many years, with the exception of this Amosta Blaine, perhaps—"

Cattermole also stopped talking, for the same reason as Amos: the conjecture was too sensational, and they found it absurd even to think about.

Mr. Weasley guessed what his two colleagues were thinking, and his first reaction was also that it was impossible. However, he thought of the night when his eldest son Bill and second son Charlie had met with misfortune in fifth grade.

At the tender age of sixteen, Amostrath Blaine single-handedly repelled a powerful dark wizard of unknown origin and even blocked the disarming spell unleashed by Dumbledore in his anger. After all these years, no one can truly know the extent of his magical power.

Amidst the uproar, Fudge reluctantly left the stage, handing it over to Barty Crouch.

"As Minister Fauci said--"

Mr. Crouch said with a cold face,

"We contacted Hogwarts beforehand and received the support of the Director of the Office of Student Safety. We deployed a large number of Aurors in the directions the werewolves might have fled. In the end, we forced the werewolves out of the Forbidden Forest. Mr. Amostella Blaine, who possesses extraordinary personal strength, stopped the werewolves from their despicable and shameful act before they could take the residents of Hogsmeade village hostage and wiped them all out."

Amosta smiled and politely bowed to the group of reporters below the stage who were looking at him with awe.

Amidst prolonged applause, a reporter shouted,

"Say a few words to us, Mr. Blaine!"

To be honest, the journalists who can participate in such an important press conference are all industry leaders. To them, the words of Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge or the Director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation are just dry, official language. This will not arouse public interest; people will only be curious about new faces.

The reporter's shout was echoed by most of his colleagues. Barty Crouch, who had long been impatient with this, turned and left without even greeting Cornelius Fudge. He just gave Amosta Blaine a cold glance.

"Okay, I think I should introduce myself first--"

Although it was his first time facing such a situation, Amosta showed no signs of awkwardness. With Fudge's encouraging gaze, he smiled and walked confidently to the center of the platform, pointed his wand at his neck, and his clear voice resounded throughout the entire Ministry of Magic hall.

"My name is Amosta Blaine. Like many of you here, I graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the greatest magic school in the world. After leaving that school, to further hone my magical skills, I traveled to various countries, following in the footsteps of the ancient wizards who left an indelible mark on the history of magic. Until early last year, I was invited back to that school, ordered by the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors to investigate the truth behind the rumored Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, and by chance, I became a professor—"

Chapter 332 Sharp Questions

2023-06-17

Before today, Amosta Blaine had never been in the public eye, so you can imagine how much of a shock the magical world must have been when a previously unknown young wizard single-handedly wiped out an entire werewolf pack in a time of peace!

"Mr. Blaine!"

After Amosta's brief self-introduction, a slender female reporter with burgundy curly hair, wearing a badge from the influential French newspaper "Gargantua's Roar," raised her hand and said with a look of reverence,

"Minister Fudge just announced to the wizarding world that you will be awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, and that the British Ministry of Magic will hire you as a senior advisor. Does this mean you will leave Hogwarts and go into politics?"

I don't think so--

Amosta answered without the slightest hesitation, with a faint smile.

"Although being a Ministry of Magic official and serving the residents of the wizarding world is a very noble job, I would rather stay at Hogwarts and spend more time with children, nurturing their skills and minds so that they can grow into qualified adult wizards. This is what I find more meaningful."

Amos Tower's answer was met with enthusiastic applause, and some high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

There's a fixed position for every position. If Amostra Blaine, with his reputation for eradicating werewolves, tries to join the Ministry of Magic, they probably won't be able to refuse him given the support of the people. And they can't just give any random position to a powerful wizard like him. In that case, someone will definitely have to step down.

Today, Amosta witnessed just how difficult the newspaper reporters, whom Fudge feared like tigers, really were. The question asked earlier by the female reporter from "The Gargoyle's Roar" was merely a test; what followed was a barrage of all sorts of tricky questions.

Some asked if Amos Tower had already been chosen as the next headmaster of Hogwarts, some asked who was more powerful, him or Dumbledore, and some asked if Amos Tower, as a Muggle-born wizard, would speak out for the rights of half-blood wizards.

A reporter from the American newspaper *The New York Elf*, across the Atlantic, even asked Amosta what he thought about the imprisonment of Gilderoy Lockhart, a well-known bestselling author in the European wizarding world and his co-professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts course last year.

What else can you do but go to Azkaban?

“Mr. Blaine, this is Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet—”

Overall, the atmosphere at the press conference was quite friendly. After all, the Ministry of Magic and Amostrath Blaine had eliminated the wicked werewolf gang, and for that reason alone, no one would want to spoil the atmosphere at such a celebratory moment. But there were exceptions.

She was a female reporter from the Daily Prophet. She styled her hair into elaborate, stiff, and oddly shaped curls, which looked particularly awkward against her large chin. She wore jeweled glasses, and her thick, fleshy fingers clutched an alligator-skin handbag. Her nails, about two inches long and painted bright red, were raised high, and a green quill pen was rapidly scribbling on parchment spread on her lap.

"Oh no, I knew she was here—"

Fudge's face immediately tightened, and his tense muttering reached Amosta's ears precisely.

It seems this is Rita Skeeter, the Daily Prophet, known in the wizarding world for her gossip and venomous words.

Rita Skeeter is very famous in the industry. When she raised her hand to ask a question, the noisy reporters around her immediately quieted down. They stared at Rita, who was grinning and showing three big gold teeth, with interested eyes, as if they were all expecting something.

“Ms. Skeeter, you can state your question—”

Amosta said gently.

“Oh, Mr. Blaine, there’s no doubt you’ve achieved something remarkable, it’s truly astonishing. I can’t imagine that a wizard with only a minor reputation could judge nearly a hundred vicious werewolves in a direct confrontation—”

Rita Skeeter smiled, her lips moving rapidly, but a sharp glint flashed in her eyes behind her bejeweled glasses.

"Yes, I was puzzled by it, so my lovely colleagues and I, who are persistent in our pursuit of the truth, visited some of the Hogsmeade villagers who witnessed what happened that night. Oh, there are some strange stories circulating there, or perhaps the villagers simply couldn't comprehend your powerful magic—"

Amosta patiently listened attentively.

"What kind of strange saying is that?"

Rita Skeeter smiled slyly as she stood up from her stool so the cameras could get a clearer view of her.

"That's a terrible accusation, but, Mr. Blaine, it seems someone believes that the powerful fire magic you used that night was... Fiendfire?"

When the name 'Fiercefire' appeared in the Ministry of Magic's foyer, a chill seemed to sweep over the heads of the murmuring reporters, and they all shrank their necks in fear.

In Britain, the public may not be so familiar with the Fiendfyre spell, after all, it is a powerful spell that only a very few wizards are capable of mastering. However, journalists from France and Germany will not forget how much destruction this spell caused to their countries and cities when a wizard was active.

Although not as famous as the Unforgivable Curse, the Fiendfire Curse is also on the list of spells that are absolutely forbidden by the Ministry of Magic in various countries. Of course, using extreme measures to deal with werewolves is not such an unreasonable thing, so although many reporters had already obtained some information, they still did not bring this up.

But isn't that still a shameful thing?

The same applies to both Amosta Blaine and the Ministry of Magic. Rita Skeeter, who is keen on uncovering scandals, shrewdly saw through this, so she brought up the issue.

Fudge was sweating profusely, and Amelia frowned as well.

Rufus Scrimgeour, who was also present at the press conference, had a hint of pleasure flash in his pale yellow, lion-like eyes. He disliked Amosta Blaine, not only because he overshadowed the Aurors, but also because, having fought crime for many years, he sensed a certain stench emanating from Amosta—the stench of crime.

Rufus Scrimgeour, who had spent half his life dealing with dark wizards, knew very well that a powerful wizard who was so adept at using Fiendfire could not be without flaws. However, his superiors in the ministry remained silent and chose to turn a blind eye to this.

Everyone craned their necks, waiting for Amosta to give a reasonable explanation. People speculated what explanation Amosta could give—either a flat denial or a Ministry of Magical decree, which, of course, would embarrass him and the British Ministry of Magic, and that was Rita Skeeter's plan.

Looking at the faces staring at him expectantly, Amosta smiled slightly.