The Return to Hogwarts

"Or perhaps I should try again at another time."

“Oh, no need, Professor Moody—”

Amosta intervened, already sensing that Fleur's visit was likely more troubling to him than Moody's.

"Oh, sorry, Professor Moody!"

Fleur also came to her senses. Of course, she recognized the person opposite Amos Tower as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Beauxbatons and Durmstrangers were taking classes with the young wizards at Hogwarts this school year. She sincerely hoped that Moody hadn't heard what she had just muttered, but having taken Professor Moody's classes for two months, she knew very well that was impossible.

"I didn't see you here... um, I'll wait outside the door!"

Fleur glared resentfully at Amosta Blaine. This guy could have warned her sooner, but he didn't say a word and just sat there watching her make a fool of herself.

“You don’t need to leave, Miss Delacour—”

Amosta also called out to Furong, who was in a panic and about to leave.

"Professor Moody and I were just having a casual chat. If you have anything important to say, or if you encounter any problems that require help, you can tell me directly, and I will do my best to help."

Moody blinked, then looked down at his empty teacup, demonstrating that he wouldn't interrupt his conversation with Fleur.

"It's nothing, I just—"

Fleur, who had just been stopped, instinctively said that even though she had just complained about the British people's reserve, she was unwilling to invite Amostella to be her dance partner at the Christmas ball in the presence of another Hogwarts professor. However, just before she could finish her sentence, Fleur suddenly fell silent.

She has been dealing with Amosta for quite some time and knows his style very well.

Every time she tried to be direct with Amosta, the man acted like a slippery slug, always managing to steer the conversation away or distract her.

Having another professor present might be a good thing, so that Amosta Blaine wouldn't be able to play dumb and get away with it like before.

"All right!"

The thought that flashed through Hibiscus's mind made her instantly determined. She tossed her silvery hair and slightly raised her chin. Her previous awkwardness and shyness vanished, replaced by a newfound allure and confidence on her naturally beautiful face. Then, she walked briskly toward Amosta.

Amosta accurately captured the shift in Hibiscus's mindset from the change in her posture. As Hibiscus rapidly approached, Amosta frowned almost imperceptibly.

He had already guessed Furong's purpose in coming.

He had just seen Durmstrang's heroes inviting Hermione to the Christmas Eve ball back at the library, but he never expected to be caught up in the gossip so soon. He had Fleur reveal her intentions in Professor Moody's presence to make her hesitate, but Fleur's courage and determination exceeded his expectations.

Perhaps I should have made my stance clearer.

Before Hibiscus could even extend an invitation, Amosta had already made up his mind.

"Well, I'm here to ask if you'd like to—"

Fleur glanced quickly at Professor Moody. Even she could tell that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, known for his keen insight and ruthless attitude towards dark wizards, was putting on an act by holding a teacup with only the bottom left.

"Be my dance partner during this Christmas misunderstanding!"

Furong finally extended the invitation in a 'fierce' manner.

This is truly astonishing. The famous Amosta Blaine has some kind of ambiguous relationship with Durmstrang's Warriors. What will people say if this gets out?

Moody's scarred face suddenly became subtle, and the magic eye in his eye socket stared at the calm Professor Blaine through the bottom of the cup, wanting to see how Amosta would react.

“I don’t want to, Miss Delacour.”

Cough!

Moody choked on the tea he had just sipped and coughed heavily. He hadn't expected Blaine to refuse so decisively, without even a second's hesitation.

The silence descended unexpectedly. Amosta stared expressionlessly at Fleur, whose expression betrayed her astonishment, as if he had said everything he needed to say.

Fleur was indeed quite surprised. Before coming, she had anticipated many possible reactions from Blaine after hearing her invitation. She thought that if Blaine really refused, he would respond tactfully as usual, or continue to dodge the question and change the subject with a joke. But she really did not expect Blaine to refuse so decisively and without any mercy!

"Why!"

Furong's breathing quickened, and her cheeks flushed even more from shame and anger.

"why?"

Amosta countered with a question, raising an eyebrow.

"Because according to tradition, although Hogwarts has organized this ball to help people get to know each other, I personally have no interest in it, understand, Miss Delacour? I also don't intend to be anyone's date or invite anyone to be my date. Of course, out of courtesy and politeness, I might dance a couple of dances at the ball, but that's all—"

"But--"

Furong's pure blue eyes blazed with anger.

"If you never intended to do this, then why did you have that little boy give me that dress!"

Amos Blaine gave Fleur a ball gown?

Just as he was casually watching Professor Moody's blue magic eye facing the window, it suddenly flickered, as if it wanted to point at Amosta Blaine. Fortunately, he managed to restrain himself. However, strangely enough, he suddenly felt a mix of emotions.

"What do you mean by that, Miss Delacour?"

Amosta's voice was low and his brows furrowed; he seemed to be getting impatient.

"Didn't Harry tell you that the tuxedo was a gift from him to apologize for breaking your nose? I just gave him a suggestion. That's all—"

Chapter 672 We Must Not Let Heroes Shed Tears

2024-01-02

boom!

After Furong, her face ashen, slammed the door and left, the atmosphere in the office became somewhat heavy.

Amosta remained expressionless, but a pang of guilt lingered in his heart. He had just driven Fleur away almost mockingly. To be honest, he knew that treating a young witch in her prime, who harbored such great affection for him, in such a manner was extremely inappropriate.

On the other hand, this is a good thing for Furong, after all, a short pain is worse than a long one.

Alastor Moody remained silent. Unlike Fleur, whose emotions were stirred by Amosta's indifference and rudeness and who was in a fit of rage, he, as an outsider who had been observing from the sidelines, clearly saw through Amosta Blaine's intentions.

Looking at Amosta's slightly somber expression, Moody's eyes twitched rapidly. After a moment's hesitation, he said in a low voice,

"Isn't this unnecessary, Blaine?"

Professor Moody's expression tightened slightly as he drew Blaine's attention.

"She's just a little witch with a crush, like those girls who give you chocolates. At her age, it's perfectly normal to be interested in handsome and powerful men. Honestly, it would be strange if any little witch didn't fall for a wizard like you!"

Amostah shook his head slightly. Fleur was actually quite different from the other little witches. He could sense that the emotions Fleur placed on him were much stronger and more genuine, rather than the adoration and instinctive attraction that teenage girls have for handsome and powerful men.

Let's not talk about this anymore.

Amosta sighed softly. Although he didn't want to admit it, the truth was that he personally harbored a tendency to avoid personal emotions. This wasn't just due to the deep-seated isolation he felt as a transmigrator, but also because during his initial, powerless years in this world, he hadn't established a friendly connection with it.

“Tell me about your situation, Professor Moody—” Amosta suppressed his turmoil, “You seem to be facing some difficulties, and quite urgent ones at that.”

You just realized that?

Even with Vitia Clona's resilient heart, a trace of sorrow flashed across her face upon hearing these words.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Professor Moody spoke gruffly, pulling the folded application form from his pocket, unfolding it, and slapping it down in front of Amosta.

"I've come to you about this salary advance application form. If you have no objections, Blaine, I'd like you to sign it!"

Amostah glanced at it, raised an eyebrow, and looked somewhat puzzled.

“I noticed that Minerva’s signature is already on it, Professor Moody. According to the procedure, you only need to get Principal Dumbledore’s signature, and then give the application form to Minerva for filing. You can then collect your other half of your salary from her. It doesn’t seem like I should be involved?”

"That's the problem, Blaine!"

Moody tapped the floor with his cane in frustration, clearly annoyed.

“I didn’t want to bother Albus with such a trivial matter, but Minerva told me that if the application form didn’t have the principal’s signature, then you had to sign it too, so that the board of directors would be satisfied. The board of directors really has a lot of influence. Back when I was in the ministry, if I decided who to give a bonus to, it wasn’t up to Amelia or the Minister of Magic to tell me what to do!”

Amosta nodded knowingly, but instead of writing anything, he stared at the application form on the table and fell silent for a moment.

Gulu gulu——

Alastor pulled the cap off the bottle he carried with him, took two big gulps, and let out a satisfied sigh. He didn't urge him on but waited quietly.

"what happened?"

Amosta rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, looking at Professor Moody with a searching gaze that fell on his pair of blue eyes of different sizes.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Professor Moody. I didn’t mean to pry into your privacy, but since you need me to sign an application form that I shouldn’t be signing, I think I have the right to know the details—”

“Oh, of course you have the right, Blaine!”

Professor Moody put the capped bottle back into his pocket. Perhaps he had drunk too quickly, for he coughed a few times, then, panting, said...

“I’ve already said that to Minerva once, and I don’t mind saying it again!”

Professor Moody slapped his wooden leg hard and said angrily,

"Some of my old subordinates, old friends, like me, have spent most of their lives fighting evil dark wizards and preventing crime. They have served the Ministry of Magic for most of their lives, but look how the Ministry of Magic treats them when they are too old to wield their wands!"

Their bodies are riddled with wounds; some need sleeping pills to fall asleep and counteract the damage the Dark Magic inflicts on their minds, while others need to spend time at St. Mungo's every month just to survive. You understand, Blaine, their meager pensions aren't enough to cover this, and the Ministry of Magic isn't willing to pay the extra bills for them!

Perhaps he was too angry, Professor Moody was practically roaring about it.

“Umbridge is the most obnoxious woman I’ve ever met, but she controls the Ministry of Magic’s purse strings. I’ve written to her about this many times, but haven’t received a reply. I bet she’s thrown all my letters into the fireplace! But what about my poor old friends? Some of them don’t even have families because of the fight against dark wizards. I have to help them!”

Seeing that Blaine was listening intently, Professor Moody continued to shout.

"Besides buying alcohol, most of my retirement money is spent on this. To be honest, it's a drop in the ocean. Oh, I don't want to say that this was part of the reason I agreed to Albus's offer to become a professor, but that's the reality."

Amosta uttered a soft "I see," and then nodded slightly.