The Return to Hogwarts

But judging from their reactions after hearing this, they probably thought they were going to kill Rita Skeeter.

Of course, before this insignificant article was published, killing Rita Skeeter or negotiating with her would have been a safer option. However, he disdained to do so, as Rita Skeeter didn't have that kind of influence.

His main purpose in appearing here tonight is simply to prove to Burns that he has the ability to handle things.

"Ha, as expected of you--"

Golden Viper stood before the wooden gate of the garden, but did not go any further. He simply looked at the small garden in front of him, which was planted with various drought-resistant and precious flowers, and the two-story building made of stones. He smiled and murmured. After a moment of contemplation, he extended his right hand, which was holding a magic wand, from under his black travel cloak.

call out--

With a rapid flick of his wrist, Golden Viper unleashed a ribbon of cyan light from the tip of his wand, which meandered and twisted in the air before bursting forth.

The ribbon swelled in the wind, wrapping around the house like a giant blue python, while the other end of the ribbon was still connected to the golden viper's wand.

Boom!

In an instant, thunder and lightning rose from the ground.

The ground around the once ordinary stone house suddenly shone brightly, and a huge magic circle that encompassed the garden and the Golden Viper himself appeared on the flat ground. The pale light circle emitted an ominous black aura, and faint roars filled the Golden Viper's ears.

Ghostly figures, like phantoms or Dementors, emerged from the black halo, their gaping maws filled with serrated teeth, and fiercely attacked the intruders.

At the same time, tiny magic circles suddenly appeared on the ground of the small garden planted with many flowers, and many protective spells that had been set up beforehand shot towards the Golden Viper like a storm!

"Heh heh, such a grand welcoming ceremony, I am unworthy of it--"

Faced with a magical trap capable of instantly leveling a magnificent building like Gringotts, Amosta appeared completely at ease, as a milky-white, indestructible magical shield instantly appeared and enveloped his body.

The endless spells gradually eroded the place where Amosta stood, but he remained steadfast, floating in mid-air above a brightly shining magical barrier, like a rock among wolves, unmoved by the fierce winds and torrential rains!

As the lights in the stone house came on one by one, Amosta could even hear hurried footsteps and the sound of lamps breaking.

Just as he was about to greet them, the deep color of the house at the other end of the light band suddenly faded, and the stone house twisted and struggled under the influence of spatial magic, as if it had come to life.

Like the Black family mansion, this historic house in front of us has a similar defense mechanism. If a wizard tries to break in, it will leave the normal space and hide in the unlocatable spatial turbulence. If an ordinary wizard encounters this defensive magic, his attempt will definitely fail. But unfortunately, he encountered a golden viper.

Countless defensive spells exploded into dazzling flowers on the protective barrier surrounding the Golden Viper. As they shone brightly, the seemingly indestructible barrier finally began to tremble slightly. However, Amosta still did not remove the spells or strengthen the defense. The blue ribbons emerging from the tip of his staff firmly bound the stone house, fixing it in place and giving it no chance to escape.

"Get out of the fireplace!"

Amidst the continuous, thunderous roar, a desperate scream echoed from inside the house.

"I don't know who this person is, but we definitely can't handle him!"

"Where to, darling?"

Another woman's voice broke down in tears, sobbing, coming from inside the house. At the same time, the voice of a much younger, more resolute girl also rang out.

"I'm not going anywhere, Dad, I want to stay with you!"

"Listen to me, Beatrice!"

The man who had spoken earlier roared,

"Go to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. The owner there knows Dumbledore. Tell him about the attack we suffered, and he'll pass it on to Dumbledore. Be quick, Beatrice! Dumbledore promised me he'd help us if we were in danger!"

The two women inside seemed to have given in. Viper saw through the dark window that the unique green flames of Filo powder burning flashed repeatedly in the living room on the first floor. They had tried to leave through the Filo Network.

Bang, bang!

However, after two more explosions, the mother and daughter, along with embers and rocks, were thrown out and crashed into the living room, hitting the opposite wall.

Their attempt to escape via the Floo Net failed, which was to be expected. Since the house was sealed off, why would Golden Viper leave such an obvious loophole? Whether it's the Floo Net, the Portkey, or Apparition, they are all essentially the use of spatial magic, and the blue light band surrounding the stone house has already isolated it from interaction with the outside world.

The people inside the stone house seemed to have given up hope; they were embracing each other, weeping as they bid their final farewell.

Jin Viper felt a bit shameless. He had only come to ask for help; a joke would have been fine, but he had scared the other person to this extent.

"Ahem-"

A slightly innocent cough, drowning out the thunderous roar, precisely entered the house, instantly freezing the faces of the grieving family. Then, the familiar, aged voice uttered a sentence that caused the male homeowner's expression to twist into a 'ferocious' contortion.

"Are you so unwelcoming to an old friend, Kakus?"

Chapter 346 Favor

2023-06-24

The fierce winds high above swept away the thick clouds, and the moonlight, like clear ripples on water, washed away the gloomy atmosphere that permeated the village. The commotion at Foley's old house was kept completely hidden by magic, and the Muggles living in the peaceful village were still fast asleep.

After settling his wife and daughter into a room on the second floor and sternly ordering them not to leave the house, Kakus hurried down the stone steps along the wall. When he saw Amosta Blaine, who had shed his disguise and was leisurely surveying the family mansion in the dining room, a thousand emotions coalesced into a bitter smile on his lips.

“Mr. Blaine—”

As Foley entered the dining room, he casually took a bottle of whiskey and two crystal glasses from the liquor cabinet that separated the dining room from the living room.

The rich, blood-like liquor swirled into the glass. Kakus pushed the glass towards Amosta, raised it in a gesture of respect, and then, ignoring Amosta, brought the glass to his lips and drank it all in one gulp, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You don't need to do that, do you?"

Kakus smiled bitterly, his resentment barely concealed in his voice.

"I was just trying to play a joke on an old friend, Kakus. You're overreacting."

Amosta seemed unaware that his actions had just been a clear case of 'unwelcome guests'. He swirled the glass, examining the sediment in the dim but steady candlelight, then took a small sip, squinting his eyes with a satisfied expression.

"You have no idea the fear we experienced in just half a minute. I thought I was doomed."

Kakus rubbed his blond hair, which was already soaked with sweat. His eyes were still twitching involuntarily with fear, a testament to his years spent mingling in the most evil places in the magical world.

"Alright, let's just pretend that was a joke. So, Mr. Golden Viper, what exactly is the purpose of your late-night visit? I'm sure it's not because you want to take on a commission from me. After all, you're a very powerful and influential person now. If you wanted, countless people would probably be stuffing Galleons into your pockets!"

"It seems you don't know me well enough, Kakus—"

Amosta said with a smile.

"Gold delivered to my door has no value to me; I prefer to earn results through my own labor."

Kakus, who was sound asleep in the middle of the night but had just experienced the terror of being on the brink of death because of someone's perverse sense of humor, had no mood to chat with Amosta. To his joke, Kakus simply shook his head and remained silent.

"Alright, sorry to disturb your rest, Kakus, there are indeed two things—"

Amosta straightened his expression and said calmly,

"It's been a full six months since I posted the commission with you, Kakus. Haven't we received any valuable information yet?"

Last August, before the summer vacation ended, Amosta posted a request with Foley, hoping that the bounty hunters who were traveling all over the world to complete their missions could help him find out information about the Druids. He knew that the Druids who were being chased around by the Vatican might be good at hiding themselves, but half a year had passed and there was still no news, which was indeed a strange thing.

Kakus also frowned.

“That’s definitely not normal, Mr. Blaine. You know, the wizards who took on this commission are all people who think they have inside information. With their abilities, they shouldn’t have gone this long without receiving any news unless…”

"unless?"

Amosta tilted his head, his expression unreadable.

Kakus looked cautiously at Amosta and said,

"These druids have concealed their activities, hiding in a forest and no longer venturing out. Perhaps the reason they did this is because they did something that angered the Holy See."

Amosta knew that Kakus was referring to something, but it was indeed a reasonable deduction.

Vitia Creona was not a stupid woman. She should have known that her commission had offended her badly and should have anticipated that she would not let the matter rest. Therefore, it was only natural for her to gather her followers and lay low for a while.

Amosta nodded slightly. He knew that this matter couldn't be rushed, so he didn't make things difficult for Kakus.

“There’s one more thing that absolutely needs to be resolved tonight, Kakus—”

With a flash of light, a stack of folded parchment appeared in Amosta's palm; it was the Rita Skeeter report that he had copied from Barnabas Gufe.

“Look at this, Kakus.”

Amosta tossed a stack of parchment to Kakus, then fell silent, contentedly savoring the bottle of whiskey Kakus had served him.

Kakus dared not be negligent. He unfolded the parchment, and when the opening title came into view, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He glanced at Amosta without making a sound, and then read on quickly.

"Rita Skeeter's report, ah, I see, she's somewhat famous and respected in the company—"

A minute later, Kakus finished reading the report on the parchment. He didn't show much surprise. This little secret was hardly explosive news in the eyes of Kakus Foley, who knew many of the secrets of the great figures in the magical world that couldn't be made public.

After a moment's hesitation, Kakus tentatively asked,

"You need my help to publish this report--"

“It’s not about helping, Kakus--”

Amos put down his glass and addressed the matter at hand.

“I know the Foley family is one of the shareholders behind the Daily Prophet. I do need you as a director to stop this article from being published, but not to help. It’s a commission, and I can offer you compensation.”

Although the Foley family, one of the twenty-eight pure-blood clans, is not as famous or powerful as it used to be, a pure-blood family is still a pure-blood family and still has its foundation.

“I can indeed interfere in the affairs of the newspaper, Mr. Blaine. However, the Foley family doesn’t own much of the newspaper, nor do the Greengrass family and the Burst family. Well, I’ll go take a look.”

After a moment's hesitation, Kakus made his decision.

For a wizard like Amosta Blaine, who holds a significant position in both the underworld and the world of the living, opportunities to do him a favor are not so easy to come by. If you can seize this opportunity and solidify your friendship, this friendship may one day save the entire Foley family.

Kakus is a very efficient person. Knowing that Rita's report was to be published the next day according to the rules, he left home through FiloNet, despite it being late at night, to communicate with the two biggest directors behind the Daily Prophet. Just half an hour later, he returned with a note signed by the heads of the two pure-blood families.

Kakus also wrote his suggestion on the note. He had originally planned to mail the board's order to the newspaper by owl, but considering that tomorrow's newspaper was currently being printed, he went to the trouble of making the trip.

The matter was finally resolved as the moon began to set in the west.

Amostah saw all of this. He knew that Kakus wouldn't go to such lengths for a few Galleons. He only did it to make sure Amostah remembered this favor so that he could help the Foley family if they ever faced trouble.