The Return to Hogwarts

"It hasn't reacted for two years. The last time was when we were in our first year, when Voldemort possessed Quirrell and was lurking in Hogwarts."

Sirius and Remus exchanged a quick glance, sharing their thoughts.

"Is there anything else we don't know?" Sirius pressed.

Harry hesitated, unsure whether he should tell anyone about the dream. First, he wasn't sure if the absurd dream was related to his scar. Second, since waking up, it was as if something had blocked his memory; the events in his memory had quickly become blurry, and to this day, he remembered very little.

"I was sleeping before the scar started to hurt, and then I had a dream. I dreamt about Voldemort—"

Harry was relieved that after he told Sirius and Remus about his dream of Voldemort, neither of them showed any amusement or disbelief; they continued to listen attentively to his story.

"Um, I don't remember exactly. Anyway, it started with a dilapidated old house, and an old Muggle was walking around inside. Then, he... uh, discovered Voldemort in the room, talking to a woman."

"A woman?" Sirius frowned, a thoughtful glint in his gray eyes. He looked at Remus.

"Has the Daily Prophet stopped reporting on prison breaks lately?"

“The Daily Prophet only reported it once, and that was you who escaped from prison,” Remus said without hesitation, but then his tone became uncertain. “You think the woman Harry saw was a Death Eater who once followed Voldemort?”

Sirius crossed his arms and squinted.

"Voldemort must trust this woman completely. Think about it, ever since Lily Harry destroyed his magic, he's been hiding and never showing himself. And now, he's willing to expose himself to this woman when he's weakened."

"Who do you think she is?" Remus asked cautiously.

“If my dear cousin is still out there, then it must be her, but she’s still in Azkaban, um, Narcissa Malfoy?”

“The chances are slim—” Remus said, shaking his head heavily. “Why doesn’t he go to Lucius Malfoy?”

"and many more!"

Harry finally couldn't hold back any longer. He hesitated for a moment between the reality of the dream and the question of Sirius's cousin, but ultimately chose the former. He stared wide-eyed at Sirius and Remus, and asked in astonishment,

"Do you believe that dream was real?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance, their faces darkening, and neither spoke.

“But—” Harry was puzzled and wanted to ask further, but at that moment, a sudden roar from inside the house interrupted him. The roar was so intense that even the dining table in the yard shook a few times.

"I've had enough of those two!"

Mrs. Weasley jumped up from her chair and stormed into the room, shouting, "I'll see what kind of tricks you're up to!"

"Don't do this, Molly!"

Mr. Weasley hurried after them. "Kids like Fred and George should have their own privacy."

"Yes!"

Mrs. Weasley pushed open the back door with a snap.

"If their privacy isn't tied to demolishing houses, I'd be happy to respect it!"

One by one, the Weasley siblings followed to the dining table, ready to watch the spectacle.

“You should go see it too, Harry.”

"Suddenly," Remus said, winking playfully at Harry.

"If Fred and George are blamed for anything, you can speak up for them to Molly."

A heated argument soon broke out in the house, and the string of rebukes showed just how furious Mrs. Weasley was. Sirius and Remus, however, did not enter the house; they remained standing in front of the broom, their faces grim.

"I have the same question as Harry."

The impatient Sirius finally couldn't hold back and spoke up.

"How exactly is this done through a dream? Harry was on Privet Drive; he couldn't have seen it with his own eyes, could he?"

"Only wizards like Albus and Amostella could figure it out—"

Remus said with great concern,

"You've already written to Albus about Harry's scar, haven't you?"

After receiving Sirius's approval, Remus nodded.

"Albus also needs to know about Harry's dream, and the woman who appeared in it. Amosta, well, since he's busy with his own things right now, we don't need to rush. But, Sirius—"

Remus suddenly turned his gaze to Sirius's eyes, and their eyes met in mid-air.

Friends of many years can understand each other's thoughts without needing many words.

"Yes, that person is probably coming back soon."

Sirius thought of his younger brother Regulus and sniffed hard.

"How many more people will sacrifice themselves this time?"

Remus's worried and sentimental voice drifted away on the gentle breeze across the boundless wilderness.

Chapter 454 Cold War

2023-09-02

Harry's stay at the Weasleys' house wasn't very comfortable.

First, because Bill and Charlie had returned home, Harry had to share a room with Ron, Fred, and George to sleep. Sirius, who wanted to spend more time with Harry and didn't want to go back to the old house, and Remus, who had nowhere else to go for the time being, set up a tent in the yard.

Mr. Weasley felt very guilty about this, and he even offered to give up his and Mrs. Weasley's room, but Sirius simply refused.

Of course, what really upset Harry was what happened between Fred and George.

The twin brothers were secretly researching strange and unusual gadgets. Harry and the others had known all along, since they often brought out some hilarious little gadgets to amuse everyone at Hogwarts.

But it wasn't until Mrs. Weasley exposed Fred and George's true colors on his birthday that they realized just how far the two brothers had come in developing joke products.

Fat Tongue Toffee, Canary Cookies, Automatic Quiz Quill, Quick-Acting Skip-Class Candy, Nosebleed Nougat, Fever Candy, Vomit Candy, and some design drafts that are about to be completed or are in the stage of imaginative ideas. They will open everyone's eyes!

Mrs. Weasley found far more stuff in Fred and George's room than at the dinner party that night.

This incident completely ignited the conflict between Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley.

The heated argument nearly blew the roof off the Burrow. For days, Fred and George, usually the source of laughter, wore grim expressions, barely responding even to Harry's attempts to speak to them. Mrs. Weasley's condition worsened; she seemed to have developed hysteria, shouting at anyone she spoke to, or suddenly bursting into tears. This was just like Aunt Petunia trying to persuade Dudley to lose weight at the beginning of summer vacation!

This isn't the end yet!

One afternoon, two owls came to Hogwarts with Fred and George's OWLS exam results.

To be honest, if it weren't for those ridiculous products, Mrs. Weasley might not have been so angry about their grades, but the glaring 'P's on the report card, along with the few 'E's and 'A's, gave Mrs. Weasley another reason to fly into a rage.

In front of Fred and George, she burned the joke products that had been temporarily confiscated after everyone's strong persuasion. Then, the argument almost made Harry think that Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George were going to sever their parent-child relationship!

After that, Sirius and Remus also became somewhat disliked by Mrs. Weasley, because Fred and George also had terrible grades in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and what could they do when both of them had been Fred and George's Defense Against the Dark Arts professors?

nine in the morning.

The weather was quite nice today; the sunshine on the open fields outside the village of Saint-Cachipol was just right, not scorching at all.

Not many members of the Weasley family were home today. Mr. Weasley and Percy went to work, while Mrs. Weasley went to Diagon Alley to buy some groceries. Bill and Charlie, who rarely return to England, had made plans to go to London.

Outside the room, on a lush green lawn, Harry and Ron were playing Quidditch. He gave Ron the Firebolt, while he rode his old Nimbus, a broomstick he hadn't ridden in a long time. This broomstick had been battered by the Willow of Men last year and had completely fallen apart, but thanks to Professor Blaine's 'miraculous touch,' it was able to continue serving Harry.

Although the Nimbus is not as good as it used to be, and can no longer make very agile turns or accelerate rapidly, the experience is still much better than those old-fashioned Meteorites in the Weasleys' broomstick room, which have lost most of their branches.

Hermione and Ginny sat on the lawn, enjoying the breeze, watching the two boys fly around in the sky, whispering to each other, and occasionally bursting into giggles.

boom--

Around noon, Sirius, who had gone out yesterday afternoon, Apparated into the yard first.

Harry, with his sharp eyes, spotted it immediately. He hurriedly flew down and ran towards the courtyard. Seeing this, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny followed.

"Well, Sirius, have you seen Professor Dumbledore?"

Sirius Black, who had traveled a long way, had messy hair but looked to be in pretty good spirits. When he heard Harry's question, he didn't speak immediately, but instead looked at the people around Harry.

“I think I heard my mother’s voice.” After a brief silence, Ginny said, “I’ll go help her.”

With that, she hurriedly ran away, a slightly embarrassed expression on her face.

Harry has already told Hermione and Ron about the scar, so there's no need to keep it a secret from them.

"I saw it—"

Sirius said, slightly out of breath.

"Dumbledore went to find you a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and only returned early this morning. I talked to him about the dream when we were having breakfast together in the Great Hall."

"What did Professor Dumbledore say? Did he believe that dream was real?"

Harry asked eagerly.

"Who is the new professor?" Hermione asked, equally interested.

"I'll answer your question later, Hermione. Let's talk about Harry first—"

Sirius nodded to Hermione, then looked at Harry seriously.

"Yes, Dumbledore believes that your dream may be based on real events."

"But--"

Ron's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Harry. "Harry, it's...hiss...brother, unless you can see what the Manu Grimm sees!"

Harry instinctively wanted to rebuke Ron's statement; to him, no evidence of a close relationship between him and Voldemort would please him. However, he suddenly remembered something.