The Return to Hogwarts

Luna Lovegood—this little girl's keen perception of magic has reached the point where she can 'manifest' it. In many years, she is the first wizard Amosta has encountered who can rival him in magical sensitivity.

"I have something here—"

Professor Blaine turned and went back to his desk, opened a drawer and took out a brand new notebook. Then, he went back to the sofa and handed the notebook to Luna.

"It teaches people how to 'see' harassing people."

Professor Blaine smiled as he met Luna's bright silver eyes.

"If you're interested, you can take a look first, Miss Lovegood—"

Chapter 393 Yet Another Admirer

2023-07-29

The light rain that had been drizzling before I fell asleep suddenly intensified again in the latter half of last night. Blinding bolts of lightning struck the turbulent Black Lake, which greatly startled the giant squid sleeping in the lake. The giant squid stirred up waves in the storm, and at one point the lake water overflowed onto the high ground of the lawn in the courtyard.

Filch, who discovered this scene during his night patrol, was at a loss and had no choice but to risk waking up his superior.

To prevent the young wizards from discovering that Hogwarts Castle had been moved into the water when they woke up the next morning, Amostall had no choice but to engage in a 'pleasant' 'negotiation' with the giant squid in the pouring rain. Afterward, he spent some time repairing the wrecked embankment; in short, he barely slept a wink all night.

This chaotic night directly caused Amosta's plan to arrive at the Ministry of Magic before eight o'clock the next morning to fall through.

The entire month of March and April was likely a disaster that ordinary employees of the Ministry of Magic would never want to relive.

First, Amost Blaine wiped out the most evil werewolf gang in Britain, then Sirius Black, who had escaped from Azkaban, was arrested, and finally Peter, who had been awarded the Order of Merlin First Class, turned out to be a murderer who betrayed his friends and was put on trial by Wizengamo.

Any one of these events would have been enough to keep people talking for a whole year in the past, but now, such a major event that affects the entire European magical community has happened in just one or two months. You can imagine how much unnecessary trouble this has brought to the officials of the British Ministry of Magic.

Now that things have finally come to an end, Rufus Scrimgeour and his men are still busy investigating who tampered with the key to the door to Azkaban in the Department of Mysteries, leading to Peter's assassination, but this matter is not relevant to most officials.

Now, they can return to their daily routines, enjoying a comfortable yet busy work life.

London’s drainage system seemed to have failed the test of last night’s downpour. When a somewhat weary Amosta appeared in the alleyway where the telephone booth at the Ministry of Magic’s entrance was located, he was surprised to find that the muddy water in the quiet alleyway was up to his ankles.

“Oh no!” Amostella frowned as she looked at the 'vast ocean'. “Hopefully the Ministry of Magic hasn’t been flooded.”

Although the entrance phone booth looked dilapidated, it was still of reliable quality, and Amosta successfully entered the Ministry of Magic's entrance hall.

Even on ordinary days, the Ministry of Magic is incredibly noisy, and everyone who appears there wears an anxious expression and walks with a brisk pace.

The heavy rain seemed to have had some impact on the Ministry of Magic. When Amosta stepped out of the fireplace, he saw that many fireplaces on the left, right, and opposite were out of order, and a small group of people were frantically trying to stop the rainwater seeping from the fireplace walls and making a mess of the magnificent hall.

Just then, a pale-faced middle-aged wizard emerged from a working fireplace opposite Amosta. The wizard had large dark circles under his eyes, his hair was disheveled, and he looked as if he had just waded through mud, his black leather shoes covered in a layer of mud.

"Can you please stop causing me trouble, Dirk!"

Tykros, who was directing the repairmen to fix the fireplace, was furious when he saw the clear trail of muddy footprints left by Clysway on the ground.

"I've spent the whole morning dealing with things that have nothing to do with me. First, the minister's office was flooded, then the deputy minister's. There are problems everywhere. I've had enough!"

"Let me show you what a problem is, Waikiki!"

Claysway, who had been yawning, suddenly perked up, panting heavily, and glared at Tykros, who was accusing him.

"A heavy rain ruined half a month's hard work, the woodland turned into a swamp, and more than a dozen guys who worked overtime to build the stands were sent to St. Mungo's. I spent the whole night in the rain checking if the remaining areas would also collapse. I went through all this so that you would have a place to sit when you watch the Quidditch World Cup during the summer vacation. Wacky, this wasn't even my job to begin with, and now you're yelling at me over a little bit of mud!"

"Oh--"

Tyroth's momentum weakened.

"Thank you for your selfless dedication, Dirk. I just... um—"

Then, Tyroth saw Amostella watching the commotion from the sidelines. He didn't recognize her at first, so he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Please leave quickly, sir. The lobby is a mess right now; it's not a place for you to watch a show."

Amosta raised an eyebrow but hadn't spoken yet when Clysway suddenly opened his eyes wide. Excitement vanished the weariness and resentment on his face. He rushed over and grasped Amosta's hand.

"Oh my god, if I didn't mistake you—oh, how could I have mistaken you!"

Claysway grinned and shook Amosta's hand hard.

"The renowned Mr. Blaine, I am your loyal fan!"

"Oh, thank you--"

Amosta smiled reservedly. He tried to take his hand back, but the guy named Dirk held it tightly and, without asking, dragged him into the elevator lobby.

"Which floor are you going to, Mr. Blaine?"

As the two of them stepped into the elevator, Clyde Wayne eagerly pressed the elevator button for him.

“Hmm—” Amosta hesitated for a few seconds, “Actually, I’m going to Mr. Crouch’s office; I have an appointment with him.”

"That's the fifth floor!"

Clysway enthusiastically introduced the various departments of the Ministry of Magic to Amosta.

Throughout the journey, Amosta barely spoke, but this guy named Dirk Claysway introduced himself very clearly.

"--I'm a Slytherin too,"

Upon reaching the fifth floor, Clyde showed Amossta the location of Crouch's office.

"But when I was at Hogwarts, the Head of the House was Professor Slughorn. We often wrote letters to discuss the situation, and recently, when we were discussing Fenrir Greyback, he even expressed his regret to me—"

Clysway noticed the surprise on Amosta's face and quickly explained,

"It's about you, Mr. Blaine, not about Greyback. Slughorn thinks he should have insisted on retiring later so he could have become your Dean instead of letting Severus Snape get the job!"

"Hehe, please convey my gratitude to him."

Amosta chuckled and stopped in front of an office door.

"I think I should get there by now."

"I'll knock on the door for you!"

Claysway didn't understand Amosta's meaning, so he squeezed in front of Amosta and knocked on the door for him.

"you are late."

This is an office that makes you feel very depressed. Not to mention the old-fashioned decor that makes you feel like you've stepped back into the 18th century, just looking at the neat arrangement of all kinds of documents crammed into the shelves around the room, you can tell that the office owner is a meticulous person who is almost obsessive-compulsive.

Barty Crouch stood behind his desk, expressionless, but his gaze was intense as Clyde and Amosta entered through the door.

"This isn't Mr. Blaine's fault!"

Before Amosta could explain, Clysway shouted, his voice filled with righteous indignation.

"To be fair, Mr. Crouch, if the department had been more generous and spent some money to properly repair our infrastructure, the lobby wouldn't be such a mess right now!"

“You know Battier’s style, Dirk; he’s used to being pragmatic.”

Barty Crouch's office wasn't empty. Ludo Bagman, the director of the Department of Magical Sports, was also there, and another person was huddled with Ludo Bagman in the reception area on the other side of the office, whispering and discussing something. This person was defending Barty Crouch, and there was a suitcase at his feet, indicating that he was about to leave.

"Oh, Cuthbert?"

Claysway called out the man's name.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you ask the minister for leave and go on vacation?"

"I'm looking to hitch a ride!"

The head of the Fairy Liaison Office, Clyde's boss, kicked his suitcase and said happily.

"I was planning to go to Paris for a few days. I originally planned to use Muggle transportation, but Ludo told me that they were also going to Paris, and I could use the transnational fireplace in Barty's office with them. Barty was very easy to talk to, and he agreed immediately!"

From Barty Crouch's expression, Amosta could tell that his main reason for agreeing was that he didn't want to be harassed endlessly.

Chapter 394 Arrival in Paris

2023-07-29

In Barty Crouch's office, Clyde was asking Cuthbert for instructions on some work matters, but he was clearly unaware that Cuthbert didn't want to be disturbed at this time; he seemed to have something important to discuss with Ludo Bagman of the Department of Magical Sports.

Mr. Crouch sat behind his desk, reviewing the 'security plan' submitted by Hogwarts.

To be honest, Barty wasn't satisfied with the security plan Amos Stark had come up with. Let alone the content, if his subordinates had brought him a poorly formatted report to review, he probably would have been furious. The only reason he was patiently tolerating the grammatical errors and typos in the report was because it bore Albus Dumbledore's signature and approval, and also because of Amos Stark's special status.

Leaving aside the fact that Amosta Blaine, the head of the Hogwarts Office of Student Safety, is seen by many in the British wizarding world as a hero who eradicated werewolves, and is also a favorite of the Minister, not to mention his close relationship with some people in the Ministry.

To rashly antagonize him, if the news gets out, could be misinterpreted as him wanting to incite conflict. This would be unwise given that his position is not yet secure.

"There are many places that need to be revised."

Ten minutes later, Barty Crouch, expressionless, threw the proposal Amosta had submitted onto the table, hoping to let the young man across from him know, through what might seem like a somewhat impolite gesture, that he had delivered nothing but a pile of 'garbage'.

"With limited time, it is indeed difficult to achieve perfection, but fortunately, we still have time to make revisions."

Amostella understood Crouch's displeasure, but he wasn't offended; he simply smiled slightly and said...

"Speaking of which, so far, Headmaster Dumbledore has only told me that I need to prepare a security plan and read it aloud to the competition judging committee under the International Federation of Wizarding Societies, but what are the specific rules?"

"We must submit Hogwarts' security plan to the tournament judging committee at 8:00 a.m. three days from now. At that time, the venue will be closed, and representatives from the three schools will verbally present their respective plans to the judging committee and be subject to questioning."

The committee will fully assess whether the safety plan can effectively ensure the safety of the young wizards participating in the competition. After the consultation period, the eleven committee members will vote to decide on the organizer of the Triwizard Tournament.

After that, we need to hold a series of meetings to discuss the details of the competition, such as the specific dates for each event, the lives and studies of the visiting young wizards from the two schools during the competition, and the prizes for the ultimate winners. Many details need to be finalized, and this will probably take one to two months.

The moment Amosta asked the question, Barty wanted to yell at Amosta Blaine to get out of his office and rush into Hogwarts to grab Dumbledore and demand to know if he knew the prestige of the tournament and the honor it represented. However, he ultimately restrained himself and calmly gave Amosta a general overview of the rules.

"Eight o'clock in the morning three days from now?"