The Return to Hogwarts

Upon reaching the third floor, Harry opened the door to his room, and Hermione, not intending to rest immediately, followed him in, ready to discuss the recent announcements from the Ministry of Magic. However, Ron stopped at the doorway. Faced with Harry and Hermione's questioning gazes, Ron spoke evasively.

"I need to speak with Fred and George about something—"

After saying this, Ron went up to the fourth floor, while Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.

Chapter 493: Deep Love between Father and Son

2023-09-22

The sunny weather in St. Catchbolt Village finally ended on the second day before the end of summer vacation. Starting at night, the rain began to fall in a drizzle. By the time Harry and his friends went out, the drizzle had turned into a downpour, and Weasel Hill was only a blurry outline in the gloomy rain.

Mr. Weasley went to work, and Mrs. Weasley took all the remaining children to Diagon Alley to buy things they would need for the next school year. The house was empty except for a spot in the corner of the kitchen where rainwater was dripping into the house.

call--

Suddenly, the fireplace, still glowing with glittering ashes, blazed with intense heat. A swirling, emerald-green flame burst forth from the fireplace's dark frame, and Sirius Black and Remus revealed themselves amidst the dazzling flames.

Lupin, who had stayed at St. Mungo's for another half month, looked even paler than before, and his steps were weak and feeble, as if a gust of wind would make him fall over—this was not because of the serious injuries he sustained on Quidditch final night, but because he had undergone a transformation at St. Mungo's a few days ago. Although he now had enough Galleons to buy Wolfsbane Potion, the Wolfsbane Potion could not help him completely get rid of the weakness that followed the transformation.

Sirius Black hasn't returned to the Burrow during this time because he's been taking care of Remus, who is ill.

Sirius Black had a strange wariness on his face. As soon as he entered the house, he peeked around the living room and listened intently to the sounds coming from upstairs.

"They're not home, Sirius—"

Seeing Sirius's strange appearance, Remus forced a smile onto his dry, pale lips.

"How do you know?"

Sirius straightened up and asked curiously, but Remus didn't answer. He just pointed to the wall clock on one of the walls in the living room.

"Oh--"

Sirius's expression immediately relaxed. He swaggered to the table, pulled out a chair, sat down, poured himself a cup of water from the still-warm teapot, and drank it all in one gulp. Then, he let out a long sigh, his eyes revealing resentment again.

"Disobedient and mischievous. I clearly forbade him from going out!"

“School starts the day after tomorrow. I guess Molly is probably taking the kids to Diagon Alley to buy things—” Remus sat down as well. He tested the temperature of the teapot and was a little dissatisfied. Then, he took out his wand and waved it at the teapot. Before long, a series of steams came out of the long-necked spout.

Looking through the mist at the gloom in Sirius's eyes, Remus smiled helplessly.

"You still haven't forgiven Harry, have you?"

"Look what he did that night, Remus!" Sirius was ignited like a firecracker by the topic Remus brought up.

After a month, Sirius's tanned skin, honed by the wind and sun at sea, had improved considerably, but his face remained thoroughly dark whenever Remus mentioned Harry.

"The most dangerous riot in more than a decade has not yet been completely quelled, and the most intense duel in half a century has just come to an end. I clearly warned them not to leave the tent on their own, but look what they did. They used James's invisibility cloak to run back to the arena to find their wands, and then they ran into the Dark Mark!"

Oh yes, Barty Crouch's house-elf was caught, but we all know Crouch would never teach his house-elf how to apply the Dark Mark. I bet the real culprit was lurking in the box that night—Remus. If Arthur and the others hadn't reacted quickly, and Harry and the others hadn't run into the box in time, all three of them would be dead!

Remus seemed about to say something, but Sirius, who had caught his breath, started rambling on again.

"But he still refused to admit his mistake, and even said that I had no right to lecture him because I had done more outrageous things than he had at Hogwarts!"

Remus pursed his lips, a smile playing on them.

"Objectively speaking, Harry is right. Have you noticed, Sirius, the way you nag Harry is a bit like how Molly criticizes Fred and George?"

Sirius was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said dejectedly,

"But shouldn't he at least have informed me?"

“They must have thought about it before they left. At least Hermione would have brought it up, but Harry persuaded her. I think Harry’s excuse was that he didn’t want to disturb your rest, after all, you went through an exceptionally difficult duel that night.”

Sirius remained silent, but his expression softened considerably.

"Hiding won't solve the problem, Sirius. I think you should find an opportunity to—"

boom!

Amidst the rapid, monotonous patter of rain, a strange noise suddenly broke the silence. Remus stopped talking and looked towards the door in surprise, while Sirius also looked up, his expression tense again.

"They're back?"

“Impossible—” Remus stood up and said as he walked towards the back door, “Molly couldn’t Apparate with so many children. Arthur must be working overtime. Get your wands out, Sirius, things aren’t peaceful these days—”

Remus was right. Sirius immediately sprang to his feet, drew his wand, and quickly followed. The two of them slipped behind the door, watching it warily. Just as Remus was about to question them, a gentle voice, tinged with laughter, came from outside.

"You two idiots with wands behind the door, could you please open it for me? It's raining heavily outside, and my robes are almost soaked through—"

Remus and Sirius, standing behind the door, widened their eyes in surprise!

Why are only you here? Where are the others?

With Amosta's arrival, the dimly lit living room became more lively. Amosta, who had used magic to dry the water stains on his robes and looked slightly tired, held a teacup and looked around the room. He easily noticed that the Weasley family, including Harry and Hermione who were staying there, were not there.

“She probably went shopping in Diagon Alley with Molly—” Remus said, looking Amosta up and down, before suddenly asking abruptly.

"The Daily Prophet says you helped the Ministry of Magic arrest that dark witch. How did you do it?"

Amosta raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

"--What I mean is, I didn't hear a thing, there was some earth-shattering duel going on somewhere." Remus stared at Amosta with curiosity.

"Oh--"

After inwardly praising Remus's keen insight, Amosta smiled.

“As you all know, I confiscated her wand on the night of the Quidditch final. It was her source of power, and without it, her skill level was much lower than before.”

"That's amazing!"

Looking at Amosta beside him, whose eyes were calm but whose face was very young, Sirius said with great interest,

“When I was at St. Mungo’s, I heard from an injured striker that many people were recommending you to be the next Minister for Magic or the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and many strange organizations had extended invitations to you. But so far, you have not responded.”

"Actually—"

Amosta took a sip of tea and smiled.

"I have accepted the invitation from the International Federation of Wizards to serve as its vice president."

“The International Wizarding Federation—” Remus blinked. “Why did you accept their invitation? I mean, in most cases, this organization is useless.”

“Perhaps, but I think I might need that title in the future—” Amosta said vaguely, then looked at Sirius.

"With the start of the new school year approaching, and because of the Triwizard Tournament next year, I planned to go back to Hogwarts today to make some preparations. But before I left, I remembered you. Someone told me you were taking care of Remus at St. Mungo's, but when I got there, I found you had already left. I guess you've probably gone back to the Burrow—"

"My business?" Sirius opened his mouth, puzzled. "Is there anything I can do for you, Amosta?"

Amostah pursed his lips and rolled his eyes upwards.

"On the night of the Quidditch final, before I went to the Ministry of Magic, you said you wanted to talk to me alone. Now you've forgotten about that?"

Chapter 494 Amosta's Plan

2023-09-22

Clang!

The thunder at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn sounds much softer and weaker than the thunder on a hot summer day, but with each rumble of thunder, the rain becomes more intense and the world appears more gloomy.

"Oh, I forgot!"

The culvert in front of the door couldn't handle such a torrential downpour; the water bubbling and gurgling as it overflowed. Sirius seemed to realize his own foolishness; he slapped his forehead, somewhat annoyed, and said...

"I was so upset about Harry that I completely forgot about it!"

"what happened?"

There will be many things to consider in the coming days. These two days before the start of school are the only days when I can maintain a pleasant mindset. Amosta held a teacup, leaned back in his chair, and asked with great interest.

Sirius gave Remus a look, then remained silent.

"It was the night of the Quidditch final, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione encountered the Dark Mark. The three little guys sneaked out to find Harry's wand without saying a word. Sirius only heard about it from Arthur when he came back the next day, and he got really angry with Harry. You must already know about this, right?"

After taking on the role of a father, many of his thoughts will change subtly, especially for Sirius, who has experienced so much.

Amosta nodded. "Fudge mentioned the first part to me."

"What do you think?" Remus asked solemnly.

Amosta understood what Remus wanted to know. The Ministry of Magic had issued a statement saying that the masked wizards who launched the attack that night were a group of clumsy imitators, but the truth was completely unknown to the outside world. The existence of the Dark Mark made the Ministry of Magic's statement less convincing, because this special marking spell was taught by Voldemort to his followers. If those present were just a group of imitators, how could they have used this spell?

Politicians are always very perceptive when it comes to lies, and Fudge suppressed the matter directly, forbidding his department from discussing it or the Daily Prophet from reporting on it.

"Old Battier handled the situation very decisively--"

The more he knew, the more secrecy became a habit. Amostella casually brushed it off. However, he was also pondering. The house-elf serving Barty Crouch was very likely unrelated to the Dark Mark. So, who conjured the Dark Mark? Was it someone who had appeared in the box that night, like Lucius Malfoy, trying to pledge allegiance to the Death Eaters before Voldemort's return?

"Tell me about your story, Sirius. What would you like to talk to me about?"

Amosta refilled his glass and said calmly.

“Oh, there’s no need to avoid it, Remus. I was inspired by you to come up with this idea myself—” Sirius stopped Remus from leaving, took a deep breath, and looked at Amosta. “Actually, it’s like this—”

Sirius recounted the whole story in detail. He first told Amosta about the conflict between Fred and George and their mother, Mrs. Weasley, because of their invention of prank products. Then he talked about Remus's intention to invest in Fred and George and open a shop selling joke products in Hogsmeade, and Remus's true thoughts on doing so. Finally, he talked about how he had been idle since leaving Hogwarts.

Ever since Sirius and Remus learned about Harry's dream, they had a very strong premonition that Voldemort, lurking in the shadows, was becoming more and more active.

On the night of the Quidditch World Cup final, after Amosta defeated Vitia Croona, the monster who came to the rescue and caused Harry's scar to ache again had an explanation from the Ministry of Magic, but it couldn't convince everyone. Sirius Black and Remus were among them; they both knew that Vitia Croona seemed to be Voldemort's accomplice.

The war between them and Voldemort has never ended. Thirteen years ago, James Potter and Lily Evans sacrificed their lives to temporarily end the war and bring a brief period of peace to the wizarding world. Now, the flames of war are about to reignite.