The Return to Hogwarts

Needless to say, Harry was already troubled enough by the powerful dark witch and the shadowy figure that most likely was Voldemort that appeared later that night. Hermione was more curious about what Ron was thinking about.

"What are you thinking about, Mr. Weasley?"

"Oh, could you please address me differently, Miss Granger?"

Ron rolled his eyes, but then his expression turned somber.

"I'm thinking"

After hesitating for a moment, Ron finally spoke his mind.

"Was my decision to withdraw from Professor Blaine's course a bit too hasty? --"

Hermione raised her eyebrows high, and Harry also looked up, glancing at Ron with slight surprise. Noticing their expressions, Ron said sullenly,

"Okay, I know you all think I'm incredibly stupid!"

"What made you change your mind, Ron?" Hermione asked, pursing her lips.

"Is that even a question?" Harry thought to himself.

At Hogwarts, no one doubted that Professor Blaine was a wizard of extraordinary magical power. Even in the European wizarding world, the Hogwarts Head of Student Safety, who single-handedly wiped out the Greyback Gang, was highly respected. But no one expected that Professor Blaine could be this powerful. No, it should be said that no one could have imagined that a wizard's power could actually move mountains and fill seas.

Harry would bet his Firebolt that if Professor Blaine were to recruit students from the entire wizarding world now, even if he were teaching Muggle sports at Hogwarts, the Quidditch pitch would be overflowing with applicants. It's perfectly normal for Ron to feel regret.

However, it was only tonight that Harry truly realized that Professor Blaine's training was not a joke. Without the skills he had honed in physical education class, that dark wizard named Melanoff alone could have killed him tonight.

Professor Blaine had made it clear that he would not accept any more young wizards who had skipped physical education into the course. A wizard like him wouldn't go back on his word, so even if Ron regretted it, there was nothing he could do. Hermione's raised eyebrows slowly lowered; she didn't want to upset Ron, so she turned her gaze to Harry.

"And what about you, Harry?"

Chapter 486 The Vanished Money and the Magic Wand

2023-09-18

When Hermione asked him a question, Harry opened his mouth but didn't say anything for a moment.

What are you thinking about? There are so many things to think about!

The Ministry of Magic and Professor Dumbledore summoned Professor Blaine at this time, undoubtedly to discuss how to properly handle tonight's attack. So, what will be the final outcome?

Voldemort's powerful henchmen appeared at the Quidditch World Cup tonight, their purpose being to kidnap him. How did Voldemort manage to recruit a wizard capable of a high-profile duel with Professor Blaine? Also, what exactly is the grudge between Professor Blaine and that dark witch?

The group of dark wizards who first caused the riot, Remus said they were Death Eaters. However, judging from the information revealed by the witch captured by Professor Blaine among the three guys who broke into the top tier of the arena, they didn't seem to be after him. Their purpose was clearly to deal with Sirius. Melanoff even said that Sirius's head was worth ten thousand Galleons.

"I was wondering—"

Harry hesitated for a moment, then ultimately decided to put aside the matter concerning Professor Blaine.

"The three men who broke into our private room were targeting Sirius Black, not me."

“Of course, Harry!” Ron immediately affirmed. “You can tell from what they did after they came in; they clearly wanted to kill Sirius!”

Upon receiving Ron's affirmation, Harry immediately became excited, shifting his position and sitting up straight.

"I told you that when Lucius Malfoy walked into the box tonight, he threatened Sirius, and they even left the stadium before the unrest started. Isn't that strange? It was the World Cup final; who wouldn't want to see the result? Sirius probably thinks so too. I bet he won't let Lucius Malfoy off the hook!"

"That is to say!"

Ron had a dreamy expression on his face.

"Perhaps when school starts, we might see Malfoy slinking out of Hogwarts with his luggage, because his father planned a terrible terrorist attack!"

"Stop dreaming, Ron!"

Hermione crossed her arms and said bluntly, "Even if Lucius Malfoy was involved in this, it wouldn't have anything to do with Draco. Neither the Ministry of Magic nor Hogwarts would expel him for it—"

“Oh, Hermione, you’re ruining my mood—” Ron pouted, sounding annoyed. But Hermione ignored him, then looked at Harry, her gaze flickering, and said in a less certain tone…

"Harry, how confident are you that the wizard who appeared last tonight and rescued that witch named Cleopatra is... the Man of Darkness?"

How confident are you?

Harry's emerald eyes were filled with confusion as he looked at Hermione, not quite understanding why she would do this for him.

Isn't that obvious?

He had recalled some things from the previous dream: Voldemort and Cleopatra were plotting a conspiracy in an old house, and the core of the conspiracy was him. Cleopatra said she wanted to take him away from the Quidditch pitch, which must have been to bring him to Voldemort so that he could torture him and then kill him. And the pain in his scar tonight clearly confirmed that the freakishly ugly wizard who appeared at the end was Voldemort.

Hermione got the answer she wanted from Harry's confused expression, but this did not relax her; instead, her brows furrowed even more.

I don't quite understand—

Hermione stared at the wispy Milky Way against the clear night sky.

"That sounds reasonable, and Sirius thinks so too, but just now, Professor Blaine's expression..."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, neither quite understanding what Hermione was trying to say.

"What's wrong with Professor Blaine? Is there something wrong with him?"

"It concerns Voldemort," Harry asked urgently.

"nothing--"

Hermione sighed.

“I think Professor Blaine probably won’t tell the Ministry about your and Sirius’s speculations. Harry is very likely to tell you to keep this discovery a secret.”

“Why!” Harry’s eyebrows furrowed. “Do you think Professor Blaine is afraid of Voldemort?”

If it were anyone else, knowing that they were facing the most evil and cruel dark wizard in history, and that they had defeated Voldemort while he was in a bad state, they might feel terrified and fear that they would suffer retribution someday. But Professor Blaine and Professor Dumbledore, Harry believed, were definitely not such wizards.

"Of course not, Harry—"

Hermione spoke calmly, her gaze sharp as she stared at Harry.

“I don’t think Professor Blaine is hiding this because he’s afraid of Voldemort or retaliation, but because of you, Harry. How likely do you think the Ministry of Magic would want to hear that tonight’s events are related to the Man of Void, who has been missing for over a decade? If Professor Blaine were to tell the Ministry about your findings, he would have to provide evidence to prove that it was the Man of Void. What evidence do you think he has?”

Harry immediately opened his mouth, wanting to say that he had seen Voldemort and the Dark Witch's plot in his dream, but the words caught in his throat.

The most reliable evidence is not his scars, but his dreams.

But would the Minister of Magic really believe what a young wizard saw in his dream? To be honest, even he himself wasn't so sure at first.

"You understand now, Harry—"

Hermione's confident tone was gone, replaced by worry.

"Are you going to tell the Ministry of Magic about seeing the mysterious person in your dream? That means many people might know about this incredible thing, and even the mysterious person himself might know. What do you think the mysterious person will think after he finds out about this?"

Harry didn't really care what Voldemort thought after finding out about this. Anyway, even if it wasn't true, Voldemort wouldn't let him off the hook. But Hermione was right. If he could dream that the wizarding world knew everything about Voldemort, Harry could imagine that he would probably have to endure a lot of strange looks at Hogwarts.

"I thought this was a really cool thing!"

Finally understanding what Hermione meant, Ron exclaimed in surprise to Harry,

“Hermione’s right, brother. I think you’d better keep it a secret. Oh, I’m going to tell Fred and George tomorrow to remember not to tell Lee Jordan. You know, he’s a good friend of theirs and can share almost any secret, but he’s definitely not someone who will keep your secret.”

Harry nodded gratefully to Ron, but then he became preoccupied again.

In his second year, on the night the Chamber of Secrets troubles were resolved, Dumbledore undoubtedly mentioned that since he thwarted Voldemort's attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone in his first year, Voldemort had been lurking in the forests of Albania. But now, Voldemort had returned to England and recruited a powerful witch, only slightly less capable than Professor Blaine, as an accomplice. They were currently plotting to kill him.

Although Professor Blaine sent them home empty-handed tonight, Harry wasn't naive enough to think that Voldemort would be so disheartened that he would retreat to the deep forest and never come out again. It's easy to imagine that he would face a lot of trouble next school year!

Seeing Harry fall silent, Hermione gave Ron a look, and Ron quickly understood what Hermione meant.

"Oh, don't be so down, Harry. No matter what, neither Mystic nor that Cleopatra can break into Hogwarts to deal with you. They'd just be walking into a trap!"

Ron said excitedly,

"Think of something happy, Harry. We won a lot of money tonight! Wow, it feels like a dream!"

It took Harry a moment to understand what Ron was talking about. Indeed, the two of them had bet correctly on the outcome of tonight's match with Ludo Bagman and won a full thousand Galleons!

With the substantial inheritance left to him by his parents, enough to live comfortably until graduating from Hogwarts, his obsession with gold was far less intense than Ron's. However, five hundred Galleons was no small sum, and it was indeed an exciting prospect.

"I'm going to buy myself a broom!"

Ron excitedly reached into his pocket and fumbled for his hidden purse.

"Of course, I definitely won't buy the Firebolt, but the Nimbus is no problem at all. Oh, and I'm going to go to Bee Duke and Zoco's Joke Shop and empty their shelves. I've been dreaming of this day. What are you waiting for, Harry? Get your purse out, it's time to split the money!"

Ron grinned as he finally found his money pouch and started pulling it out.

"Come here!"

Harry immediately started searching his own body as well.

Seeing the two boys suddenly become excited, Hermione pouted, looking annoyed.

"My purse can't hold that much money, so I borrowed it from Charlie!"

Ron showed Hermione a money pouch embroidered with a moving dragon, and then he reached inside, ready to pull out a handful of mesmerizing, glittering Galleons, but...

"Oh, you want me to leave, Weasley?"

Seeing Ron's expression gradually crumble as he remained in the position of taking out his money, Hermione rolled her eyes. The next second, Ron suddenly jumped up from his seat, turned his money bag upside down, and shook it wildly, his pale face and red eyes.

"what happened?"

Realizing something was wrong, Hermione frowned and asked.

"It's gone! The gold is gone!" Ron wailed. "All the gold Bagman gave me is gone!"

Meanwhile, Harry also suddenly stood up, holding his money bag in his hand, with a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face.