The Return to Hogwarts

Harry asked instinctively, and then a cold jolt went through his mind, giving him goosebumps.

"Oh, Professor Blaine!"

Two desperate and terrified screams rang out in unison before the portrait of the fat lady.

"What time is it, Harry!"

The two turned and ran, making full use of the speed and agility they had developed in PE class. When Hermione ran down the stairs, she even flipped over the stair railing with the agility of a parkour athlete.

"Nine o'clock!"

In his panic, Harry glanced at the watch Professor Blaine had given him on his wrist, and cried out in despair,

"Oh no, Hermione, what if Professor Blaine thinks we're trying to defy his punishment? What will he do? Will he use the same methods he used on George on us in the next gym class?!"

"do not ask me!"

Hermione leaped over another section of the railing, screaming in despair.

"I do not know anything!"

"If you two don't come soon—"

Ten minutes later, the two men, panting heavily, finally arrived at Professor Blaine's office and knocked on the door with trepidation.

Amosta sat in his seat, staring blankly at a large gift box on his desk. Seeing Harry and Hermione, sweating profusely, burst in, he gave them a disapproving smile.

"I'm going to the Gryffindor dorms to arrest someone."

Chapter 599 A Passionate Kiss

2023-11-17

Harry and Hermione were probably the young wizards who interacted with Professor Blaine the most in private. They both knew very well that Professor Blaine didn't particularly like wizards who flaunted their authority. Every time the two of them came to this office, Professor Blaine would kindly ask them to sit down before starting to talk about things formally.

This time, however, Professor Blaine simply left them standing there, looking at them with hostility, and this subtle change filled Harry and Hermione with apprehension.

It seems that the trouble they caused today has indeed annoyed Professor Blaine.

That's not surprising, is it? Although Professor Blaine was clear that he would punish them for sneaking out of the school, they knew very well that injuring the warriors of Beauxbatons was a much more serious matter.

Harry wondered if Madam Maxime had come to the castle to inquire about the matter. He mustered his courage and secretly glanced at Professor Blaine behind his desk. He saw a face devoid of emotion in the flickering candlelight, which made Harry even more uneasy.

"Excuse me, Professor—"

Hermione seemed a little out of breath. "We...we've run into some trouble—"

Amosta's expression softened. He knew that after Harry and Hermione returned to Hogwarts, they probably went to see Ron, and it was foreseeable that they had some kind of conflict.

Amosta shook his head noncommittally.

"So, Hermione, are you ready for the Triwizard Tournament events?"

Hermione's body trembled violently, her heart pounding in her chest—Hagrid had just told her and Harry that Professor Blaine was keeping the competition information very secret, yet Hagrid still intended to help her get some inside information.

“I…I’m looking at the previous match data—” Hermione stammered, “I think it might be helpful.”

"Well--"

Amosta raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who seemed a little too nervous.

Under normal circumstances, it would be reasonable to give Hermione some extra help, after all, she was the youngest of the Warriors, and becoming a Warrior was not her original intention. However, on second thought, Amosta abandoned the idea. It was best for neither he nor Dumbledore to interfere too much in the Warriors' match process, and besides, she might have someone to help her.

"Regarding the two of you sneaking out of school, Gryffindor will deduct twenty points. Of course, detention is usually unavoidable, but considering the pressure you're under now due to the competition, I won't impose any additional punishment—"

Wow!

Harry and Hermione both looked up in unison, staring at Professor Blaine in disbelief. Harry exclaimed in surprise,

"Is that all, Professor?"

"Of course it's not that simple. Have you forgotten Miss Fleur Delacour, whom you injured?"

Harry's expression immediately turned somber, which made Amosta chuckle. It was already quite late, and he didn't intend to chat with Harry and Hermione any longer, so he went straight to the point.

“Harry, I know you didn’t mean to hurt Miss Delacour, and normally I shouldn’t punish you for this. But you should know that she is, after all, a champion of Beauxbatons, and her status is sensitive. It wouldn’t be appropriate to just treat this as a harmless accident. Therefore, Hogwarts should apologize to her—”

Even if Professor Blaine hadn't said anything, Harry and Hermione understood the situation. Putting themselves in her shoes, Fleur was indeed quite unlucky. She had only been at Hogwarts for a week and had already been injured twice. Although both injuries were due to accidents, it was inevitable that Beauxbatons would have something to say about it.

"What do you need us to do, Professor?"

Since Professor Blaine has said so, they must need to do something.

"I prepared a gift for Miss Delacour, a dress—"

Amosta tapped the gift box in front of him and looked at Harry, saying...

"I hope you can deliver it to her in person, as a token of your apology, and of course, in your name, Harry—"

Harry and Hermione then turned their attention to the box in front of Professor Blaine. Harry had assumed that the box was a gift from someone else to Professor Blaine, since it wouldn't be strange for Professor Blaine to receive gifts from fans given his current fame. However, he didn't expect that it was a gift that Professor Blaine had bought to apologize to Fleur on his behalf.

Harry opened his mouth, overwhelmed with a mixture of fear and emotion.

"--If Miss Delacour asks you why you bought this, you can tell her that you asked me how to express your apology, and it was my suggestion. Hurry up, it's getting late. Make use of the invisibility cloak; if you get caught by other professors or prefects, I won't take responsibility—"

Harry and Hermione stumbled out of Professor Blaine's office, and it wasn't until they reached the foyer and were hit by the howling cold wind outside the castle that Harry snapped back to reality.

"Do you think I should return the money I spent on the gift to Professor Blaine, Hermione?"

Harry did ask a good question, and Hermione couldn't give a definite answer right away.

Logically, he shouldn't have made Professor Blaine pay for his mistake, but Hermione believed that Professor Blaine must also feel partly responsible, which was why he took the initiative to buy the gift.

The light coming through the windows of the castle rooms was not enough to illuminate the area, leaving the campus pitch black. Harry and Hermione endured the howling wind and stumbled toward Beauxbatons' carriage. Because they were wearing invisibility cloaks, and the grass was slippery and muddy from the daytime rain, they slipped and fell several times, their robes covered in mud.

Since Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts, no one had entered their quarters. Beauxbatons' carriage seemed to be protected by some kind of protective magic; as soon as the two approached the carriage door, the door, adorned with two golden crossed wands, opened by itself, and a boy in a light blue robe cautiously peeked out from the crack.

"Hogwarts student, I remember you. You were the second champion of Hogwarts!"

The boy spotted Hermione and Harry standing beneath the golden spiral staircase. He recognized Hermione easily and became even more alert.

What do you want?

“We'd like to see Fleur Delacour, well, because of what happened during the day—”

Harry took a deep breath of the cold air and said awkwardly.

"What happened during the day?"

The boy from Beauxbatons paused,

What happened during the day?

His question puzzled Harry and Hermione. Did Fleur not tell them about her injury? But many people had witnessed it during the day. However, it seemed that everyone in the Three Broomsticks pub was indeed Durmstrang's people.

Hermione cleverly nudged Harry's ribs.

“We’ve come to deliver something to Miss Delacour. It’s something she bought at Hogsmeade during the day, but she forgot to take it, and we just happened to run into her—”

"Oh, so the little fairy didn't bring everything—"

The boy muttered something, sounding a little annoyed. However, he didn't question Hermione's statement. After saying "wait a minute," he slammed the door shut.

The carriage lights clearly illuminated the white breath seeping from the mouths and noses of the two people. It was really cold. Harry could even hear the sound of ice shards floating on the rippling Black Lake squeezing and colliding with each other.

Before the two of them were frozen solid, Hibiscus finally appeared. She was wearing a thick cloak and pushed open the carriage door. However, the cold wind that slipped in still made her shiver.

The cold weather didn't cheer Fleur up. She wrapped herself tightly in her cloak, carefully descended the spiral staircase, and then stared suspiciously at the box Harry was holding.

"Ravi said you brought me the things I left in Hogsmeade?"

“Ahem—” Harry’s expression was a little unnatural. “Actually, we bought you a gift, um, as an apology for what happened during the day.”

"Gift?"

Perhaps because her nose hadn't fully recovered, Fleur's voice was slightly nasal, making it even hoarser than usual. She blinked in surprise, looking at the mud and water on Harry and Hermione, her expression softening slightly.

"Oh, actually it's not necessary, it was just an accident—"

However, she then asked with great interest,

What are you going to give me?

“A dress!” Harry exclaimed hastily.

Professor Blaine had gone to great lengths, and it would be a real shame if they couldn't even give a gift. He held the gift box in his arms to Fleur, gazing at her earnestly.

Perhaps it was Harry's sincere attitude that moved Fleur. She, who had not intended to accept it, stretched out her hand, which was wearing a light blue fitted shirt, from the gap in her cloak, gently pulled the ribbon on the gift box, and then lifted one side of the box.

"Oh, this is--"

With just one glance, Fleur confirmed that this was the dress she had taken a liking to at the Elegant Wizard Clothing Store during the day. She exclaimed in surprise, but in an instant, she realized that something was wrong.

How did you know I liked this dress?

So Harry quickly relayed the answer Professor Blaine had given him, but to his surprise, Fleur didn't let the matter rest. She looked at him, her suspicion still lingering.

"Is that so--"

Furong muttered to herself.

"This dress didn't come cheap. It's too expensive as an apology gift. How much did you spend on it?"

Well--

Harry was speechless. Professor Blaine hadn't addressed this question, so he looked at Hermione, unsure how to answer.