The Return to Hogwarts

"Ah, it's Norus, thank you—"

A flash of green light appeared in the fireplace, and the sweating Mr. Weasley stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Fortunately, Norrus caught him with his tall frame.

"Hello, Arthur."

Norus nodded indifferently.

"Looks like the Office for Prohibiting the Abuse of Magic has been quite busy these past few days?"

"Perhaps—"

Mr. Weasley was too exhausted to complain about the trouble the swarm of foreign journalists had caused; he simply gave a weak smile.

"Those foreigners who are new here aren't quite used to our rules. By the way, do you need to go out on some errands?"

“No—” Norus said in a completely emotionless tone, “I’m off work.”

Then, he lowered his head and stepped into the fireplace, his body disappearing without a trace in the roaring flames.

get off work?!

Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch; it was 10:30 a.m. He immediately burst into tears.

Why didn't I try applying to work for the Department of Mysteries back then?

Diagon Alley.

Norrus de Man emerged from the communal fireplace, dusted himself off, and cautiously scanned his surroundings. After confirming that no one was watching him, he determined his direction and strode towards the magnificent white building that could be seen from anywhere in Diagon Alley.

Norrus's target was not Gringotts, but a secluded alley not far west of Gringotts, which, though inconspicuous, was still very famous.

After slipping into the alley, the sky above suddenly darkened, and a faint sense of oppression filled the air. However, Norus relaxed as if he were a fish that had been exposed to the sun for hours and had finally returned to the sea.

After confirming that no one was watching, Norus flipped his wrist, and a black travel cloak was draped over his forearm.

The moment Norus put on the cloak and mask, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The coldness hidden behind the mask turned cheerful. For Norus Deman, who had received the secret witchcraft tradition since childhood, the living environment created by modern wizards was not comfortable at all. On the contrary, it was the dirty and dangerous underground world that made him feel happy.

If it weren't for his teacher's insistence that he take over the position of the Silent One, and the fact that working in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic would indeed offer him some advantages, he would never have gotten involved with those wizards who had betrayed their honor.

The underground world, which had remained largely unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years, obviously wouldn't undergo any unexpected changes during the few weeks he was away. Everything remained the same, chaotic yet orderly.

Two guys were having a fierce fight over the low wall of the quest market. A strong gust of wind extinguished a large number of torches floating in mid-air. Wizards passing by avoided the troublesome place. Norus glanced over and found that Kakus Foley was hiding behind the tall quest sign, looking helpless.

After thinking it over, Norus decided not to go to Kakus Foley to ask about the situation for the time being.

He turned and walked to his right, ascending the stone steps that seemed to be man-made and were close to the wall. He stopped on a raised platform in front of a fireplace with a rough, intricate design, densely embedded in the rock wall.

The fireplace in the underground world is not the same as the one in the outside world; it's more like a door key, with exits that can be magically set in different locations.

Norrus took a slip of paper from his pocket, which recorded the fireplace number he was supposed to use and the location of the exit. This slip of paper was sent to him by Kakus via owl. On the other side of the fireplace, the wizard who had accepted his commission was waiting for him.

Fireplaces on the walls are generally used for emergency relocation, and few wizards use them to locate transaction locations. However, Norus was not surprised. The item he was trading was very sensitive and enormous, and its sudden appearance in the Underworld might attract the attention of the Aurors stationed there.

The thought of the Aurors caused Norrus's mouth to crack into a smile.

Not to mention the public embarrassment Rufus Scrimgeour made at that high-profile press conference two weeks ago.

Despite being the head of the Auror office, Scrimgeour has made no contribution or achievement in the recent series of events, and his gloomy expression has never dissipated recently.

After adjusting the series of characters on the fireplace mantle, the dark fireplace suddenly burst forth with a strange, eerie green flame. Norus took a deep breath, put away the wand he had bought from Ollivander's shop, and took out a staff with a clear crystal ball at the top.

The situation at the other end of the fireplace was unclear, and he had to remain vigilant.

call.

A vicious flame surged from beneath his feet, and countless illusory shadows swept past Norus's eyes, but in an instant, the scene before him froze.

Norus appeared amidst towering, verdant mountains, and stood in the center of a clear lake reflecting low-lying clouds, on a small yellow rock island no more than a hundred feet in diameter.

where is this?

The thought flashed through Norus's mind. The scene before him seemed familiar, but for a moment, he couldn't recall where he had seen it before. Just then, a series of clanging sounds came from several hilltops, which made him realize his approximate location.

The mist billowing from the Hogwarts Express locomotive quickly dissipated in the howling mountain winds, but the heavy rumble of the train rolling over the tracks echoed back and forth among the towering mountains.

"This place isn't far from Hogwarts."

Norrus murmured to himself, his eyes narrowing – could this be a trap? Albus Dumbledore, that troublesome old man, is at Hogwarts. What fool would choose to make a deal here?

Just as Norus de Man was having doubts and considering whether to run away, suddenly, the earth and lake in front of him trembled violently as if an earthquake had struck. A deep, dark magic surged up from the bottomless lake water, turning this bright world into a dark color.

Above, the white clouds that seemed to float above the mountaintop turned a deep, dark color as if they had been doused with a large basin of ink. Ominous flashes of lightning flickered within the thick, leaden clouds.

Click!

A dazzling bolt of lightning struck the turbulent lake in an instant, and as if this were a marker, dozens or even hundreds of shocking bolts of lightning followed one after another, filling the vast lake surface with countless streaking bolts of lightning in an instant.

The scene before him caused Norus de Man's expression to change drastically, and he was so shocked that he even forgot to Apparate and escape!

Just then, a huge whirlpool appeared in front of him, and Norus immediately realized that a behemoth was hiding in the lake, and now, this creature was about to reveal its true form.

What could possibly cause such terrifying changes in nature and celestial phenomena?

Fear filled Norus de Man's mind. He stared intently at the gradually clearing shadow, and unconsciously, a hint of anticipation appeared in his eyes.

Snapped!

When this enormous skeleton, standing sixty feet tall and exuding divine majesty, appeared in the world, Norus de Man opened his mouth in a daze, unable to maintain his standing posture any longer, and knelt down with a thud!

Chapter 351 Trading

2023-06-26

Beneath the dark clouds and above the black waters, a colossal skeleton, resembling an ancient Titan, stood in the lake. Each thick, translucent, gleaming white bone was entwined with thin strands of lightning, and within the two enormous eye sockets on the skeleton's skull, two dark green flames burned fiercely. The malevolent undead power contained within them moved Norus Deman, a master of this art, to tears of excitement, and every cell in his body trembled!

In ancient times, the magical environment of the earth underwent a drastic change in a short period of time for some unknown reason. One by one, the powerful creatures that once rivaled wizards and dominated the earth perished, and even their history was wiped out.

The most important reason why the necromancers, who once held a prestigious reputation in the esoteric school, have now largely lost their lineage is the lack of sufficiently powerful undead creatures.

Just think about it, the few remaining necromancers have fallen so low that they can't even get their hands on the fresh bones of a 'weak' creature like a fire dragon. If this continues, the extinction of the necromancer lineage is almost a foregone conclusion.

Norus de Man never dreamed that in his lifetime he would encounter such a powerful Titan skeleton, which had been refined by evil magic.

"It seems—"

Just as Norus was prostrating himself on the ground, expressing his deepest gratitude for the gods' blessings, an old, hoarse voice, tinged with a hint of laughter, suddenly appeared from above.

“You seem to really like my little pet, Thanatos.”

Norus was startled by the sudden sound and trembled violently. But after regaining his senses, he immediately jumped up, looked around blankly, and finally found the source of the sound above the head of the giant skeleton.

"Golden Viper?"

When the familiar magical vortex and the highly recognizable mark on the collar came into view, Thanatos was taken aback.

"You didn't... Oh, you haven't shown your face in a while. Everyone thought you... cough cough, I mean, long time no see, Golden Viper!"

"Many people want me dead, but none of them can actually do it."

Golden Viper gave a chilling laugh as he slowly floated down from the skeleton's head and landed in front of Thanatos.

The two had worked together more than once and knew each other quite well. When Thanatos saw that it was Golden Viper, he completely put aside his worries about being set in a trap. Although Golden Viper was ruthless, he was generally quite law-abiding unless you provoked him first.

"Obviously, not many people in the underworld dare to cause you trouble—"

Thanatos casually echoed, his attention fixed on the colossal creature before him. He stared longingly at the giant skeleton Amosta had brought from Avalon, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Where did you get this huge thing from?"

"In a secret realm—"

Golden Viper said, noticing the glint in Thanatos's eyes, and added,

"Don't worry about it, Thanatos. That secret realm has collapsed. This skeleton caused me some trouble back then, but I brought it out of the realm because it might be worth some money—"

Glancing at the drooling Thanatos, the Golden Viper tilted its head and chuckled.

“I know from Kakus that you are seeking a new undead master. How about it, does it meet your requirements?”

"Of course, I'd be willing to spend my entire fortune to buy it!"

Thanatos blurted out, but immediately realized this wasn't the tone for a deal. After clearing his throat twice, he cautiously glanced at the Golden Viper and said guiltily,

“What I mean is, if it were intact, I would be willing to give it my all, but look—”

Thanatos pointed to the grotesque crack in the skeleton's right leg bone and said...

"That must have happened during your fight with it. You actually managed to suppress such a powerful undead creature, Golden Viper. No wonder you didn't care about doing this under Dumbledore's nose. Cough cough, I mean, it has flaws, doesn't it? The price needs to be discounted."

“You have no right to bargain with me, Thanatos—”

"Golden Viper said without any politeness."

This was destined to be an unequal deal. The undead giant in Amosta's possession was one of a kind; you probably couldn't find a second one even if you searched the entire world. For a sorcerer like Thanatos, whose power was mostly contained in his control of the undead, this skeleton had an irresistible attraction.

"I...I understand."

Thanatos felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He silently took out his storage bag and rummaged through its contents.

"I just... I hope that, after all, we're friends, aren't we? Golden Viper, friendship is more precious than gold."

If Amosta hadn't been in the guise of the Golden Viper, she would have been amused by Thanatos's aggrieved expression. This guy didn't act like this at the Ministry of Magic; it seemed he was always putting on a facade.

Thanatos moved some of the items related to the necromancer tradition out of his storage bag. What remained in the bag were all the gold he had accumulated over the years and some valuable alchemical tools.

"That's it?"