The Return to Hogwarts

The goat's hair made a sharp sound like fingernails scraping a blackboard.

“My name is Golden Viper, and I was introduced here by Cacus Foley--”

Chapter 442 The Slaughter Is About to Begin

2023-08-26

Rumble--

After the golden viper revealed its identity and the person who introduced it, the goat let out another sinister and terrifying laugh. With this sharp and piercing sound, the earth shook, and the grass and vines growing on a large piece of land behind the spruce began to dance wildly. Then, it was as if a pair of hands with infinite power were pulling all these grass and vines into the ground.

The earth was still trembling, and from the crater created by the collapse, a two-story building, entirely pieced together from rotten wooden planks, 'grew' out of the ground!

From the outside, this room was even more terrifying than the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. Behind the greasy, broken windows, countless shadowy figures could be vaguely seen flitting about, and the howls of female ghosts could be faintly heard. Rows of dried bats hung from the decaying eaves.

On the gable of the wooden house, a pumpkin vine that had grown along the wall produced a giant pumpkin. Perhaps sensing the approach of life, the pumpkin slowly rotated 180 degrees in mid-air, its entire body sprouting a ferocious mouth and ghostly eyes. It faced the golden viper, and the liquid flowing from its serrated mouth was crystal clear, like saliva.

Boring, just something to scare kids.

Golden Viper glanced at the pumpkin and lost interest. He leaped over the spruce tree, walked slowly forward, and instead of pushing open the door, he went to a notice board standing next to it.

The House of Soul Eaters!

The top of the sign, covered in green mold, bore the name of the camp written in blood, while below it were posted dozens of job postings.

Most of these requests involve trading materials, or paying someone to find valuable parts of magical animals that live in this dense primeval forest, or rare potion ingredients. Some are also bounties, asking people to help hunt down enemies.

Nothing particularly remarkable about it; after glancing at it a few times, the Golden Viper lost interest.

crunch--

Pushing open the door, the old, dilapidated hinges emitted a sickening grinding sound.

What appears to be a hotel campsite is actually more like a bar. The lobby is quite spacious, similar to the Leaky Cauldron, and much larger than the building appears to be from the outside.

But in comparison, the environment inside the bar was much worse.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, the air was filled with all sorts of strange smells: the pungent smell of dry tobacco, the smell of boiling magic potions, and the smell of rotting animal entrails. These strange and complex smells combined to produce a mild to moderate toxicity. If one smelled them for too long, one might faint because the flow of magic would be blocked.

The noisy hall was filled with at least a hundred lawless individuals dressed in various styles. These black wizards, in twos and threes, were doing their own things: trading, arguing, drinking contests, and bragging.

As Jin Viper opened the door and stepped into the bar, the once noisy bar instantly fell silent, and pairs of inquisitive eyes turned to the guy at the door who was dressed in an ordinary black robe, but whose face was hidden by a vortex of magic.

Jin Viper frowned, not because he was under so much attention, but because the floor of the bar looked like it hadn't been cleaned in centuries. The floor was so dirty that its original color was unrecognizable. Soil, leaves, bloodstains, and oil were all mixed together on the floor, sticking his shoes to the floor like glue.

After shaking off a large stain from the sole of his shoe, Golden Viper straightened his robe and walked calmly toward the bar.

Meanwhile, the guys in the hall were still eyeing the Golden Viper, their voyeuristic gazes filled with malice, their whispers interspersed with sneer.

"What would you like, Mr. Golden Viper?"

The bar owner was very tall, and a large, bright red scar on his forehead that looked like a burn made him look even more dangerous.

Clearly, he could hear when Golden Viper self-destructed in front of that ram's head.

"You must spend ten Galleons to enter the camp, otherwise you will not be welcome here."

The bar owner stared calmly at the golden viper near the bar, speaking in a muffled voice.

Golden Viper heard his boss's warning, but he ignored it. His attention was drawn to a guy sitting on a triangular stool by the back window, brewing a potion in a cauldron in front of him.

He was one of the few people in the hall who was doing his own thing and wasn't bothered by his presence.

Golden Viper couldn't tell the potion-brewing guy's age from his face, because his entire face, including his hair, had been corroded by the backlash of dark magic, leaving only a horrifying, dark red muscle tissue. Moreover, his lips looked as if a large piece had been cut off, exposing his black gums and the few yellow teeth that remained.

Of course, this is still not the reason that attracts the golden viper.

The potion being brewed in front of this ugly fellow gleamed with a mother-of-pearl luster, and steam rose in a spiral from the bubbling liquid.

A girl sat on the floor next to the three-legged stool, her body seemingly powerless, slumped on the ugly wizard's lap.

Even in the outside world, this girl, who was about seventeen or eighteen years old and had long, shiny, smooth chestnut hair, would still be considered beautiful and charming, let alone in this bar, in front of such a group of monsters.

The girl's fair, translucent cheeks pressed against the ugly wizard's legs. She looked up at the black wizard's hideous face, a face that could haunt nightmares, showing no fear but rather a look of infatuation. Only in her murky pupils could one vaguely see a trace of pleading and fear.

"Oh, come on, baby!"

The potion in the cauldron was finally ready. The ugly wizard excitedly scooped out a lot with a large wooden spoon, sniffed it under his nose, smacked his lips with satisfaction, and then, with a ferocious smile, poured it all into the mouth of the girl who had no magic in her body.

"Well--"

This aphrodisiac was clearly laced with something; the struggle in the girl's eyes vanished instantly. She clung to the ugly wizard's leg, her unconscious voice filled with fiery passion.

"Jie Jie—"

As the ugly wizard retrieved the spoon, he casually tore off one of the straps of the girl's floral dress. Under the dim light, a large expanse of fair skin was revealed, enough to make one dizzy, and a small portion of her broad, snow-white breasts were also exposed.

The ugly wizard's laughter was filled with smugness. He tossed aside the wooden spoon, lifted the girl's chin with one hand, and reached out with his other claw to topple Snow Peak—

"I advise you not to do that in front of me."

The rules of the underworld are generally similar. In this environment, staring blankly at someone for a long time—this blatant provocation—would be noticed by outsiders, except perhaps by the ugly wizards lost in their own worlds. They watched this scene with great interest, already anticipating what would happen next.

Only the bar owner was unhappy to see this happen, and immediately warned again after Golden Viper spoke.

"I must remind you, Golden Viper, those who tried to make a move here, without any surprise, all became nutrients for the pumpkin. Do you want to end up like that too?"

The bar owner's cold voice did not slow Golden Viper's steps. He walked steadily to the ugly wizard, his gaze lowered from behind the magical vortex, glancing at the Muggle girl's hair and features before settling on the still somewhat astonished ugly wizard's face. His tone was calm.

"Otherwise, I'll twist your head off and hang it on a tree outside."

"Are you going to mind your own business?"

The ugly wizard stared wide-eyed, still somewhat astonished, but once he came to his senses, his voice was filled with obvious mockery and contempt, as if he were lecturing a novice wizard who didn't know the rules.

"Are you going to mind your own business?"

The ugly wizard withdrew his hand from the girl, stood up from the stool, grinned, and his questioning voice was now undisguisedly sarcastic.

"Who do you think you are? Oh, you're called Golden Viper. I've heard of that name. You're somewhat famous in the pits of Knockturn Alley, but this is Albania, this is the House of Soul Eaters. Your name might not be so useful here. Look behind you, oh, you righteous little fool—"

The ugly wizard looked at the golden viper with pity and said...

"I will carve your heroic yet foolish deeds onto your skull and hang it on the gate to warn outcasts—"

Chapter 443 The Consequences of Being a Scold

2023-08-26

Golden Viper tilted its head and glanced behind it, only to see pairs of eyes filled with mockery.

The onlookers stood up one by one, their faces full of amusement. There was no doubt that they would help someone when the fighting started.

In fact, given their ruthless nature, they wouldn't bother interfering in conflicts between 'locals'. However, since Golden Viper is an 'outsider' who arrogantly broke the rules on his first visit to the Soul Eater's House, they felt they had to teach him a lesson, or they would be ridiculed if word got out.

“For Foley’s sake, Golden Viper—” the tall bar owner said coldly, “leave all the gold you have on you, and then you can get out of here alive.”

The ugly wizard grinned smugly, no longer bothered with dealing with the clueless fellow. Instead, he grabbed the Muggle girl by the hair, yanked her up from the ground, and then, gripping her pale neck, forced her to look at the golden viper.

"There's some idiot here who wants to take you away, baby. Would you like to leave with him?"

"don't want--"

The girl, her reason clouded, spoke in a delirious voice, her gaze still fixed on that repulsive face with fanatical intensity.

"Oh, did you hear that? She doesn't want to leave with you!" The ugly wizard grinned, then put his arm around the girl's slender waist and said with great interest.

"Then let's see what happens to this fool in the end!"

"What brings you here, outsider?"

Behind a wooden shelf dividing the hall, a guy glanced sideways at Golden Viper and asked casually.

"Oh, actually it's like this—"

Despite becoming the target of everyone's criticism, Golden Viper seemed oblivious to the trouble he had gotten himself into; his tone even carried a hint of amusement.

“I’m tracking down a woman who’s a Druid. I heard she was here before, so I came to find out more.”

Why are you looking for this woman?

Another guy asked in a joking tone,

Is she your mother?

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the bar immediately became lively. Many people laughed so hard they almost fell over, slapping the table. The ugly witch who had kidnapped the Muggle girl even kicked over the love potion she had brewed with glee. However, he was not angry at all and continued to slap his thigh with unbridled joy.

"You're humiliating yourself, Golden Viper—"

The bar owner was the only wizard here who wasn't smiling; he stared coldly at the golden viper and spoke.

“Heh, you stinking bastards—” Golden Viper shook his head helplessly.

For months, Amosta had been living in the sunshine and hadn't dealt with these filthy, despicable fellows for a while, so much so that he was somewhat unaccustomed to their utter lack of scruples.

Faced with wave after wave of mockery, Viper tilted his head and pondered for a few seconds. Then, he raised his hand and slowly removed the large black hood from his head, revealing a head of soft, glossy gray hair in the dim air. Next, he unhurriedly unbuttoned the buttons at his neck, took off his black robe, and draped it over his left arm.

The laughter subsided, and everyone watched with cold eyes as Golden Viper made his unexpected move, secretly wondering what trick he was up to.

Cough cough--

Only the magical vortex on his face remained to protect his identity. Golden Viper coughed a few times, his aged voice growing younger with each cough. He spun around, taking in all the reactions. Finally, facing the ugly wizard who was embracing the girl, the magical vortex on his face dissipated like sand dunes washed over by waves, revealing a young and handsome face to everyone.

Dead silence——