The Return to Hogwarts

Hermione pursed her lips, unwilling to look at Ron's expectant face.

"Save your breath, Ron. It's not like he took your gold."

"Why? Anyone could be!"

"Didn't you hear how Sirius introduced that wizard to us?"

Hermione glared at Ron.

"Ephias Dorje is Professor Dumbledore's good friend. Do you think a wizard like Professor Dumbledore would befriend a thief?"

Ron opened his mouth, but was speechless.

"Let's go, let's go check out the stadium."

Harry said quietly, fearing that his wand, left in the box, would suffer the same fate as the wizard who had just died.

"etc--"

The Ministry of Magic group occupied the hill, so Ron could only follow Harry to the box. He walked forward dejectedly, but his nose bumped into the back of Hermione's head, who hadn't moved an inch.

"What's the matter?"

Losing such a large sum of money made Ron particularly irritable. He rubbed his stinging nose and spoke in a harsh tone.

But Hermione didn't care about that. She kept her eyes fixed on the Veela and the goblins surrounded by several wizards, and suddenly asked,

"There weren't any holes in the purse Charlie gave you, were there?"

"You think a thousand gold coins would leak out of your purse and fall to the ground without any of us noticing, Hermione? That's not like you at all!"

Ron looked anxious and impatient, constantly urging Hermione to move forward.

"It's impossible--"

A thoughtful glint appeared in Hermione's eyes as she spoke slowly.

“The money bag Charlie lent us isn’t ordinary, Ron. Its interior space has been extended, just like what Professor Blaine did in the classroom where we practiced hiding. This kind of money bag is protected by anti-theft magic; even if it’s lost and found, no one other than its owner can open it. But the money bag you showed us is intact, yet the thousand pieces of gold inside are missing.”

"Are you crazy, Hermione?"

Ron said angrily.

"You mean, I didn't want to share the money with Harry, so I secretly hid the thousand Galleons for myself!"

"Please, Weasley, can't you use your brain for a second?"

Hermione's face turned pale with anger, her voice trembling. She pointed at the Irish leprechaun surrounded by a group of wizards and said through gritted teeth,

“What I mean is, there’s no sign of the purse being damaged, but the gold inside is missing. It’s possible, just possible, that Ludo Bagman gave you gold conjured up by an Irish goblin!”

"Gold conjured by the Irish goblin"

Ron and Harry followed Hermione's finger to the incessantly chattering goblin. After a few seconds, their eyes narrowed with confusion. Ron frowned and said...

"So what? Will the gold scattered by the Irish goblins just disappear?"

"Oh, thank God, your brain is finally working, Weasley!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, hands on her hips.

“You guessed right, the gold the Irish goblins conjured was just an illusion, Ron, it really will disappear!”

Chapter 489 The Black Mark

2023-09-20

Ron stood there stunned for a full half minute before he came to his senses. He stared in astonishment at Hermione, who was standing right next to him, and murmured softly,

"The coins the Irish goblins conjure up will disappear, but aren't they the mascots brought by the Irish team? I thought Harry, check how many Galleons are in your purse!"

"what?"

Harry was a little confused, but he took Ron's advice and opened his purse. He hadn't had time to go to Gringotts to collect his living expenses for the next term, and before the competition, he'd spent quite a bit of gold at the camp's vendors. At this moment, his purse mostly contained bronze knuts, with only a few gold coins. Harry picked out these coins and handed them to Ron, looking puzzled.

"That's all. What's the problem, Ron?"

Ron's face turned pale. He still couldn't believe that there were only a few gold coins left in Harry's purse. So, he took the purse from Harry's hand and searched it carefully. After a moment, he finally confirmed that Harry had not miscounted.

"Gone"

Ron said, looking dejected.

"Remember, Harry? Before the game started, I gave you a handful of gold coins. They were scattered by the Irish goblins. I saw you put all that gold into your purse, and now it's all gone!"

Harry frowned and thought for a while before vaguely remembering that there was such a thing as Ron giving him the gold to pay off the cost of the panoramic telescope.

“Your mind is surprisingly sharp right now!” Hermione said sarcastically, pursing her lips.

Harry's brow furrowed, and he hesitated before speaking.

"So, Ludo Bagman paid us with fake gold conjured up by the goblin, and Fred and George too? Did he make a mistake? I mean, Bagman is the Director of the Department of Magical Sports, he certainly wouldn't have done it on purpose, right?"

Hermione pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

“I have to go back and check!” Ron said breathlessly. “I have to check if Fred and George’s gold is still there!”

“We didn’t come out here just for the gold, Ron. We also need to help Harry find his wand!”

Hermione glared at Ron and said angrily.

"Wand?"

Ron seemed to have completely forgotten about it. He repeated it with a dazed look on his face, then remembered that Harry had left his wand in the box. "Okay, let's go!"

With that, Ron led the way toward the Quidditch pitch, Harry followed, and Hermione glanced at the back of Ron's head with a complicated look, sighed inwardly, and then started walking as well.

Harry was worried about his wand, while Ron was eager to go back and check with Fred and George to see if their gold had also disappeared. So, the three of them didn't let the scenery along the way distract them and headed straight for the Quidditch pitch.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them stood outside the entrance passage again.

At this evening, the Quidditch World Cup final stadium was still the largest building Harry had ever seen in the wizarding world. Mr. Weasley had emphasized to them several times that in order to build a stadium that could accommodate 100,000 people, the British Ministry of Magic had sent hundreds of people to work on the project since the beginning of the year, and finally completed the magnificent building just over ten days before the start of the match.

But in just half a day, the building was reduced to ruins.

Perhaps out of fear that the remaining buildings might collapse again, the Ministry of Magic evacuated thoroughly after carrying the injured and the bodies out of the building. However, this also made it easier for Harry, Harry, and his friends to move around.

They trudged through the mangled passageway with trepidation, trying to avoid touching anything, because they were unsure if knocking over anything would trigger a chain reaction that would cause the already fragmented passageway to collapse completely.

Once inside the Quidditch pitch and confirming that there was no movement around, Harry lifted his Invisibility Cloak in the shadows.

Before Professor Blaine and the witch named Kriona dueled, they had fled the arena, completely unaware of the devastation it had suffered. Now, they finally had the chance to witness the environmental damage inflicted by the duel between two of the most powerful wizards in the wizarding world.

The grassy field that once covered the field had completely disappeared, replaced by a large crater. Under the moonlight, the edges and interior of the crater shimmered with a bright light. Ron quickly walked forward, broke off a piece of the reflective material from the edge of the crater, and examined it closely in his palm.

"Is this a gem?"

A few seconds later, Ron turned around and looked at Hermione with a slightly bewildered expression.

“No, it’s glass.” Hermione examined it carefully and said with certainty, “It’s Professor Blaine’s magic. The high temperature of that flame melted the sand in the soil, and the glass was formed after it cooled.”

"What is this statement?"

Ron looked at Harry with a puzzled expression.

“Probably Muggle science,” Harry shrugged.

Confirming it wasn't a gem, Ron sadly tossed away the shards of glass and turned his attention back to the arena.

From above, the oval-shaped Quidditch arena is completely unrecognizable. Nearly a third of it has collapsed into ruins, and the remaining seats have been torn apart by the giant vines magically created by Vitia Creona.

The reason why the entire magnificent Quidditch stadium did not collapse was partly due to the Ministry of Magic's dedication during construction, but also because the steel beams of the main structure were melted and welded shut by Fiendfyre magic used by Amostall.

Witnessing the ruins, an indescribable pressure weighed on the hearts of the three young wizards. They dared not imagine what would have happened to them if Professor Blaine had not given them time to escape and had chosen to fight Creona directly. Their fate would certainly not have been much better than that of the wizard who had just died outside.

"Come on, Harry, hurry and find your wand—"

Hermione nudged Harry's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Someone could come to check on us at any moment, we can't stay here for too long."

"I'm mentally prepared to buy a new wand from Ollivander—"

Harry sighed.

Having witnessed the devastation at the Quidditch pitch, Harry felt the chances of his wand remaining intact were extremely slim.

That being said, they had taken a great risk to come here, and they couldn't just take a quick look and go back. Harry and his two companions struggled to locate their seats, and after a while, they finally determined where the VIP box for watching the game that night was.

The good news is that the section of the stadium where they watched the game from the penthouse box wasn't reduced to ruins; the main structure was still largely intact. The bad news is that the staircase leading to the penthouse box was rickety and littered with collapsed building materials.

This broken staircase may be in a delicate balance; applying even a little gravity would destroy it.

"Could I borrow your wand for a moment, Ron?"

Harry stood at the bottom of the steps, hesitated for a moment, then turned to Ron and said.

"You're planning to go on your own?" Ron frowned.

“This staircase might not even be able to support the weight of one person. It would be too dangerous for the three of us to go up. There’s no need for you to risk your lives with me.”

Harry said firmly.

“I don’t like hearing that—” Ron clicked his tongue. “Want me to tell you how many dangers we’ve gone through together over the years, Harry?”

That being said, Harry's concerns were not unfounded; it was indeed very unwise for the three of them to rashly walk onto a building that was on the verge of collapse.

"If only we could fly—"