The Return to Hogwarts

"You've made the selection process very clear, haven't you, Mr. Dregern?"

Wip Dregern narrowed his eyes, not understanding what Amosta was up to.

Before the party, the two were complete strangers with no prior connection to reminisce. Amosta knew he was an unwelcome guest, so he made no attempt to hide anything. Under Vip’s wary gaze, he pulled a spatial bag from his pocket and tossed it onto the table with a thud.

The bag made a series of pleasant, tinkling sounds the moment it touched the table. Without needing further explanation, VIP knew what was inside the bag.

"What do you mean?"

The wary gaze that had been fixed on him turned into a contemptuous stare, and the old man sneered repeatedly.

"Are you out of your mind, Blaine? Trying to bribe me with gold? You should know that as members of the judging committee, we are strictly bound by a magical contract. We cannot accept any benefits from any three parties and leave my room with your gold. Otherwise, I will expose this whole thing and let you taste the bitterness of a damaged reputation!"

"Perhaps you've misunderstood, Mr. Dregern—"

Amostella's lips twitched slightly.

"Bribery? How could I do something so stupid?"

Before VIP could ask a question, Amosta continued,

"This is not a bribe, Mr. Dregern. I have come here to return what rightfully belongs to you: eight thousand gold coins. These were left behind by your wife, Ms. Joshua Belle, when she went to Gringotts headquarters on business."

By a chance coincidence, I learned of this matter. Considering my somewhat reckless actions at the party the night before last, which caused you some criticism, I have come specifically to apologize. I brought this bag of gold coins to return to you—”

As Amostah spoke, Whip Dregren's expression changed repeatedly. He stared at the bag of gold coins on the table, his dry lips twitching a few times, but he couldn't utter a word. When he looked at the young wizard across the table, his eyes revealed a hint of fear.

This is not me.

Vip blurted it out, but stopped himself halfway through.

Amosta Blaine has a close relationship with the goblins, that's for sure, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get those eight thousand Galleons back from the greedy goblins.

Judging from Amosta's expression, he probably thought that Amosta wanted to take advantage of his position to make a quick buck, but that was not the case.

After the federation decided to select some members to form a competition committee to review the safety plans submitted by the three schools and select the best host, Durmstrang's principal, Igor Karkaroff, saw an opportunity and approached Joshua Bell.

The cunning fellow didn't ask Joshua for anything; he simply reminisced with him about their school days and casually mentioned that the fairies had started a betting pool, and that Durmstrang currently offered the highest odds.

As a partner of several decades, Whip knew that Joshua Bell would be moved; the temptations of gold and contributing to his alma mater were irresistible to Joshua Bell.

Whip knew the risks involved, but since it could avoid triggering the contract's restrictions and also take a hit at Dumbledore, Whip was happy to see it happen. So now that Amosta was using this to threaten him, he had nothing to say.

Both sides are intelligent people and know the consequences of exposing this matter.

"What exactly do you want, Blaine—"

Vip's voice was hoarse, and the ruthlessness in his voice had been lost.

Just one day later, his embarrassing moment at the party had become common knowledge. If this were to be exposed further, he would not only be unable to secure the chairmanship after Dumbledore's departure, but he might not even be able to keep his current position!

He could not give up either his own status or Joshua Bell.

“I ask for nothing more, Mr. Dregern—”

Amosta smiled slightly and stood up.

"I just hope that you can make a fair and impartial judgment on the matter of the organizers of the Triwizard Tournament."

Unlike the goblin in Gringotts, Wip Dregern was not someone Amosta expected to be friends with. Having achieved his goal, he was unwilling to linger any longer. Barty might be back at any time, and before that, he had to get back to the hotel.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Dregern—"

As his hand touched the cold doorknob, Amosta suddenly stopped, turned around, and said something. He saw Whip Dreggen sitting motionless in a chair, staring at him with a cold gaze. Amosta blinked, thought for a moment, and then smiled slightly.

"There's no need to be so hostile towards me, Mr. Dregern. There's an old proverb in the mysterious Eastern world that goes, 'No fight, no friendship.' Perhaps one day in the future, we can become friends!"

Chapter 417 Two months later

2023-08-12

Amosta spent two whole months in Paris.

Two months ago, after he visited Whip Dragen, Hogwarts easily passed the review and officially became the organizer of the Triwizard Tournament.

This is actually quite natural. Hogwarts has advantages that the other two schools cannot match. Although the competition is fierce, victory is expected if no one interferes behind the scenes.

There are still many things to finalize in organizing such a large-scale event.

For example, the number of candidates for the Champions, the life and study of young wizards and professors at Hogwarts during the visits of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, the specific dates of the competition, etc. Of course, the most important thing is the specific competition events, and Amosta has no right to participate in the discussion of this part.

Because he was Hogwarts' representative, and the competition had to be kept secret from the Warriors before it officially began, no one from the three schools had the right to inquire about it in order to prevent leaks.

Even so, Amosta was extremely busy, with countless meetings to attend almost every day.

Amosta had witnessed firsthand the inefficiency of these people. They could argue endlessly over the smallest things in meetings. Karkaroff even stretched his neck and kept shouting at the committee over something as trivial as whether there were eleven or twelve Warriors reserve players.

Mrs. Maxim also failed to maintain her usual composure, finding fault with everything she could.

Amosta knew that the two schools were resentful because they had lost to Hogwarts in the competition, so he tried his best to be tolerant. Fortunately, the little girl from Beauxbatons named Fleur Delacour had to go back to Beauxbatons after the assessment because she had to go to school; otherwise, Amosta might have had even more headaches.

However, judging from the little girl's angry expression when she said goodbye, it seemed that she held a grudge against him.

Besides matters related to the Triwizard Tournament, Amosta also dealt with some other troubles in the past two months.

For example, Cuthbert Mokrich and Ludo Bagman.

After the review results were finalized, he spoke with both of them separately.

As a result, after Mokrich returned to England from his 'trip,' he promptly submitted his application for early retirement to Cornelius Fudge and strongly recommended that Dirk Clysway, the deputy director of the Fairy Liaison Office, take over his position.

Ludo Bagman, citing illness, asked Barty for leave and then sheepishly returned to England, never to get involved in the Triwizard Tournament again.

Everything was peaceful at Hogwarts, except for Sirius Black, who encountered a slight mishap.

In the second week of May, the Hogwarts annual Quidditch final finally began amidst much anticipation.

In this fateful duel between Gryffindor and Slytherin, without any external interference, Gryffindor finally emerged victorious, and Slytherin lost their chance to win the Quidditch Cup consecutively. Seven years later, the Quidditch Cup was finally moved from Professor Snape's office to Professor McGonagall's office.

The problem arose after the match.

Slytherins were furious about the outcome of the tournament, believing that Harry had caused them to lose their championship title. So, one night, a few young Slytherin wizards dressed up as Dementors to scare Harry, Hermione, and Ron as they returned from celebrating with Hagrid. However, Sirius Black was caught red-handed by them as he returned from washing up in the staff restroom.

Enraged, Sirius grabbed the boys and stormed into Dumbledore's office, demanding that Dumbledore expel them. Dumbledore, of course, refused. So, Sirius used this as a pretext to empty the hourglass in Slytherin House.

Snape was no pushover; after realizing the situation, he immediately went to Sirius Black.

Inevitably, another great battle broke out at Hogwarts, and this time, it even affected the young wizards.

The demands for accountability from the parents of the injured young wizards and the inquiry letters from the Ministry of Magic flooded Hogwarts. Sirius Black, who was only temporarily in charge, resigned to give these people an explanation and left Hogwarts. He then stayed at Hogsmeade for the next month.

Dumbledore, Snape, and Sirius all wrote to him afterward, explaining what had happened.

Amosta had assumed Draco's name would be among the young wizards who attacked Harry, but to his surprise, Draco wasn't involved this time. Instead, it was Pansy Parkinson who persuaded Crabbe and Goyle to orchestrate this farcical affair with serious consequences.

When Amos returned to Hogwarts after things had settled in Paris, the final exams were over, and the young wizards had already packed their bags and left the school.

Hogwarts was deserted as the students left, and the faculty and staff were also eager to leave to enjoy their once-a-year leisure time. In the vast campus, only Hagrid remained faithfully guarding the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Boom——

A violent explosion ripped open the door of Hagrid's hut, and Hagrid, clutching a wooden crate, burst out of the thick smoke, coughing loudly.

"I think--"

On the shore of the Black Lake, Dumbledore and Amosta were walking along the lake. Noticing Amosta's probing gaze, a wry smile appeared beneath his golden beard in the intense midday sun.

Hagrid is probably trying to breed a magical creature unlike any he's ever seen before—

Amosta withdrew his concerned gaze, nodded knowingly, and then smiled slightly, "You always show particular leniency towards those close to you, Principal—"

"If you're referring to my stance on Sirius Black, Amosta, I want you to understand that the nature of that matter is different—"

Dumbledore's expression became slightly more serious, but his tone remained fairly honest.

"I fully understand Sirius's guilt towards Harry after all these events. He wanted to do his best to make up for the responsibilities he hadn't fulfilled and to make up for the lack of love Harry had received over those twelve years. However, excessive love is useless and can actually hurt Harry and others. This incident has proven my point."

Amosta shook his head slightly, saying nothing more, and gazed at the shimmering lake surface.

"Speaking of which, where are the Sirius people?"

Amosta frowned slightly.

“He wrote to me earlier saying he would wait for me at Hogsmeade, but I sense he’s in London right now. What’s he doing there?”

He hoped to speak with the Muggle couple who had adopted Harry.

Dumbledore also stopped in his tracks and calmly said,

"Sirius learned from you about Harry's situation at his aunt and uncle's house. He wanted to rescue Harry from there, but had to abandon that plan because of what I told you. However, he is still worried about Harry's situation, so he hopes to negotiate with the Muggle couple in person about Harry's treatment at their home—"

"You didn't stop it?"

“I can’t think of any reason to stop Sirius from doing this, unless he intends to cast a curse on the Muggle couple and their child.”

At the edge of the forbidden forest, towards the direction of the snow-capped mountains, a large patch of thick clouds, crackling with lightning, rolled in, and in the blink of an eye, the landscape changed drastically.

The air was thick with moisture, and beneath the rippling lake surface, countless magical creatures began to stir restlessly.

Amosta wasn't surprised that Dumbledore knew the details of Harry's aunt and uncle's family; Dumbledore was always omniscient. What he wanted to know was what Dumbledore thought of what he and Sirius were about to do.

The towering castle perched on the cliff edge was shrouded in shadows sweeping in from the horizon. The damp air carried a faint, bloody stench for some reason. Dumbledore turned and gazed at the castle, unchanged for millennia. For some reason, his face, with its flowing beard, showed a hint of weariness, and even his once sharp, deep blue eyes had become slightly cloudy.

Magic comes from the heart.

Amosta immediately noticed Dumbledore's change in mood. He turned to stare at Dumbledore's profile, and unconsciously, his brow furrowed even deeper.