The Return to Hogwarts

"alright--"

Amosta, who had drunk half a bottle of whiskey by himself, rubbed his stomach and got up, nodding gratefully to the exhausted Foley.

“I will keep this in mind, Kakus.”

“It is my pleasure to serve you, Mr. Blaine.”

Kakus returned the smile with a genuine one.

Amosta knew he wasn't a good guest, because he'd come in the middle of the night and Cacus's wife and daughters were still trembling and unable to sleep in their upstairs room. So, once the matter was settled, he prepared to leave.

"Please wait--"

But just as Amosta stepped out of the room, Kakus suddenly followed from inside. Under Amosta's questioning gaze, Kakus, holding his notebook used for recording commissioned tasks, smiled 'shyly'.

"Is that so, Mr. Viper? Do you have any plans to take on any commissions recently?"

Chapter 347 Coincidence

2023-06-24

"Accept a commissioned task?" Upon hearing this, Amosta was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized.

For the past six months, he had been living a leisurely life at Hogwarts, almost forgetting about his 'proper job'. However, after regaining his senses, Amostella did not respond immediately. Looking at the expectant Kakus, a thoughtful light flashed in his eyes.

Kakus must know that I'm currently very busy, and even if he wanted to earn a commission from me, he wouldn't choose this inopportune time. It seems that I've encountered some tricky requests.

Karkus Foley isn't the only quest broker active in the underworld; there's competition in this industry.

The most important thing for a good broker is to have access to resources.

Not only are mission resources important, but bounty hunter resources are equally crucial. Otherwise, if a client posts a mission to you but you are unable to find a qualified bounty hunter to complete it, your credibility will inevitably suffer in the long run.

"What's wrong? What trouble have you run into?"

"This is indeed a troublesome matter, Mr. Golden Viper—"

"Personal relationships are personal relationships, and business is business. Kakus understands this clearly," he said with a sigh.

"Thanatos Hod, surely you haven't forgotten him?"

Amosta's eyes narrowed immediately, his tone revealing a hint of surprise and wariness.

"Thanatos? What, did he post the commission with you?"

“Indeed, Mr. Golden Viper, it’s a rather troublesome task—” Kakus rubbed his temples and said with difficulty.

"You must not forget the mission to bring back the artifacts from Egypt. When you landed in England, you had a fierce battle with the Aurors led by Scrimgeour. In that battle, Thanatos's bone dragon was destroyed by Scrimgeour. You know, Mr. Golden Viper, Thanatos is from the ancient arcane wizarding faction that controls undead creatures. Losing that bone dragon greatly affected his strength."

Not long after that mission, Thanatos put up a commission with me, hoping someone could find the skeleton of a fire dragon. But that's not easy, is it? Wild fire dragons are extremely dangerous and are magical creatures protected by the Ministries of Magic of various countries. They are under strict guard, and even their decomposition after death is subject to strict procedures. Commercially farmed fire dragons are too weak to meet Thanatos's requirements.

In the past few months, the bounty hunters who accepted the commissions have been active in various wild dragon reserves, but they have all returned empty-handed.

Kakus glanced at Amosta subtly.

"Mr. Golden Viper, I vaguely remember that a couple of years ago, you obtained a Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon egg from the Norwegian Dragon Nature Reserve, and you also killed a Norwegian Redscaled Dragon. Was that Redscaled Dragon back then?"

“I have already dismantled and sold the valuable materials, but I abandoned the skeleton in the protected area.”

Amosta pursed his lips and said that he hadn't realized the market for skeletons at the time; otherwise, he could have made a lot more money.

"What a pity."

Kakus sighed, a look of regret on his face.

"So, are you interested in this commissioned task?"

"How much is he willing to pay?" Amosta asked with interest.

"Six thousand Galleons!"

Kakus saw a glimmer of hope in Amosta's attitude, and he quickly said,

"If you can provide the skeleton of a fire dragon that has recently died, he is willing to pay this price. Of course, we all know that a wild fire dragon is worth far more than this, so Thanatos is willing to offer some of his valuable collections or magic as payment. If it is the skeleton of a fire dragon that has been dead for some time, the payment will probably be much less."

Amosta nodded slightly; the price was reasonable.

To be honest, Amosta didn't expect Kakus to throw out such a task. If it were any other task, he really might not have helped.

After all, things are different now. Amosta is now considered to have "come ashore," and there is always a risk in continuing to get too involved with the underworld as before. Moreover, after several years of rapid growth, his magical power has stabilized, and fighting with some third-rate wizards cannot bring him any progress.

After the dormitory building was completed, the orphanage's financial pressure to provide support was greatly reduced, and they no longer needed to bother accepting commissions for gold.

This mission also involves Thanatos, which is quite a strange coincidence, as I happen to need his help with something.

“Alright, Kakus, I’ll take this commission.”

Amosta's straightforward agreement delighted Kakus; with Golden Viper's help, his reputation was saved.

"Over at Nathanatos"

"Don't worry, Kakus, I'll communicate with him directly."

Amosta waved his hand, leaving behind those words, before disappearing from the peaceful little village.

"Direct communication."

Kakus leaned against the doorframe, frowning as he softly repeated Mr. Blaine's last words. The rule in the underworld was that the client and the person who accepted the mission would not meet directly. Any questions about the mission were conveyed through the mission broker. Amosta Blaine was an old hand in the underworld; why would he easily break the rules?

The news of Sirius Black's renewed arrest by the Ministry of Magic was like a boulder crashing into the water, causing another uproar in the wizarding world before the ripples from the extermination of Greyback and his men had fully subsided.

Journalists from various countries who had visited Britain to interview Amos Tahlbrane returned to their home countries, but before they could even rest, they received an urgent notice to rush back to Britain, fearing they might miss this recent media extravaganza.

For several days in a row, the entrance to the Ministry of Magic was packed with people, as frantic reporters tried to find every British Ministry of Magic official they could get their hands on, hoping to learn as much valuable information as possible.

However, aside from the official announcement published in the Daily Prophet, the Ministry of Magic remained silent and refused to make any formal response. Furthermore, the Ministry of Magic also refused any requests from reporters to interview Black.

People were abuzz with speculation that the Ministry of Magic had fabricated a shocking lie to end Sirius Black's escape. Even so, Cornelius Fudge did not concede, only publicly stating that Black was being interrogated by the Ministry of Magic and that the Ministry would reveal the truth to the public once everything was cleared up.

However, such a vague statement certainly could not satisfy the appetites of those reporters who were like they were on steroids. Now, a large group of reporters were camped out in front of the homes of every senior official of the British Ministry of Magic.

Because what was about to happen involved internal conflicts within the Ministry of Magic, Amosta did not get involved in the turmoil.

He didn't return to Hogwarts, but stayed in a hotel in London, waiting for things to develop, waiting for Peter Pettigrew to appear in the public eye, and incidentally dealing with fan mail from all over the world.

dong dong——

On a sunny morning, after having breakfast, Amosta returned to his hotel room. Just as he was about to write a reply to the Magical Congress of the United States requesting his expertise in effectively hunting werewolves and vampires, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Chapter 348 Rita Skeeter

2023-06-25

Chapter 348 Rita Skeeter

Rita Skeeter?

Even through the closed door, Amosta knew who was knocking.

To be honest, Amosta admired some of the qualities displayed by this female reporter. Putting aside what happened on the day of the press conference, Rita Skeeter's ability to learn about the dark wizard attack that happened when he was studying at Hogwarts in just a few days, and to find the survivors of that incident, just to dig out some sensational topics from herself, was commendable.

In particular, her ability to connect herself to the dark wizard who caused the attack in front of Grimmauld Place last year that shocked the Muggle government and the wizarding world by using 'Fiendfire' as a starting point is a rare display of her sharp and clear thinking.

Boom, boom, boom!

There was another rapid knocking on the door. Rita Skeeter outside seemed quite certain that someone was in the room, determined not to give up until she got the door open.

Amosta raised an eyebrow, pondered for a moment, then slowly got up, went to the door, and opened it.

Rita Skeeter's outfit was no different from what she wore at the last press conference, except that she had changed into a brightly colored shirt. At this moment, she was carrying her distinctive crocodile skin handbag on her left arm, her fist clenched in the air as if she were about to swing it.

Amosta could probably guess that Rita Skeeter had found out about his efforts to suppress the report through the Daily Prophet's board of directors, because the woman's expression, still showing clear anger, quickly changed to one of glee as she realized the door was open.

"Ah, Amosta Blaine, finding your address is quite a challenge even for a seasoned Times reporter, oh, as a hotshot, I suppose you've already forgotten."

“In fact, you have impressed me greatly, Ms. Rita Skeeter.”

Rita's height probably only reached Amosta's chin. He looked down at the uninvited visitor, and instead of offering a friendly expression despite his admiration, he frowned slightly, trying to project the reaction of someone who didn't want to be disturbed when faced with harassment.

“But I am indeed puzzled, Ms. Skeeter, how did you find out about my room? As far as I know, not many people know that I live here.”

"Oh, that's just a trivial matter!"

Rita Skeeter acted as if she were an old friend of Amosta's, peeking out without any hesitation and peering over Amosta's shoulder, freely probing the room. When she noticed the thick stack of letters awaiting replies at the foot of the desk, her eyes lit up, and she showed great interest.

"Are you replying to your fans? Oh, it's so silly to chat outside the door. Why can't we go inside and talk?"

After saying this, without waiting for Amosta's response, she squeezed past him and hurried towards the desk piled high with letters, seemingly intending to peek at their contents before Amosta could react.

Unfortunately, her attempt failed. Before he could even reach the center of the room, the letter spread out on the table suddenly jumped up, folded itself into a square, and slid into an open envelope on the side. At the same time, the desk drawer snapped open, and all the letters quickly disappeared into the drawer and were neatly arranged. Finally, it slammed shut, completely blocking Rita Skeeter's prying gaze.

“I don’t recall ever inviting you into my room, Ms. Rita Skeeter.”

Amostella lowered her wand and said in an unfriendly tone,

"Whether it's Muggle law or wizarding law, based on your actions just now, I could easily subdue you and send you to the Ministry of Magic for a period of time—"

"Don't be so formal, Amosta!"

Rita Skeeter grinned exaggeratedly as she looked around the room, quickly spotting the glass coffee table and two rattan chairs on the open-air balcony behind the curtains. She walked through the floor-to-ceiling glass sliding door, tossed her leather handbag onto the coffee table, and fiddled with her golden curls a few times.

"Why are you still standing at the door, Amosta? We're about to conduct a highly anticipated interview!"

Rita Skeeter grinned, revealing three gold teeth that gleamed in the sunlight.