The Return to Hogwarts

Sirius Black clearly noticed the intense curiosity in Harry, Hermione, and Ron's eyes, but he simply smiled apologetically at them.

“I promised Amosta and Dumbledore I wouldn’t reveal the truth about Regulus’s sacrifice to anyone—” Sirius nudged Harry in the back.

"Alright, you've all seen it now. This is the Black family's old house. If you're curious, you can explore it yourselves tomorrow. But for now, you must go to bed—"

"I still have to work overtime—"

Remus had already turned and headed towards the stairs, and he sighed.

"To be honest, I've been wanting to take it easy, you know. Going to America isn't exactly a simple matter, but given the current situation, I have to personally negotiate with the Magical Congress of America to see what they're really planning. I need to prepare a ton of entry application documents—"

“Let’s go, Harry, since Professor Blaine and Dumbledore are unwilling—”

Hermione saw Harry standing there with a frown and assumed he was still upset about not hearing Regulus's story. She tugged at his sleeve, but Harry, snapping out of his reverie, suddenly said...

"Karkaroff and Snape--"

Remus and Sirius, who were leading the way downstairs, suddenly stopped in their tracks. They looked at each other and then frowned simultaneously.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Sirius asked, turning around. "Why did you bring them up?"

Hermione blinked; she knew what Harry was about to say, but after hesitating for a moment, she didn't stop him.

"Karkaroff said that Voldemort is getting stronger."

Harry's emerald green eyes gleamed in the dim light.

Remus and Sirius, still slightly tipsy, instantly sobered up upon hearing Harry's words. Remus, who was already on the stairs, climbed back up to the fifth floor. He and Sirius quickly walked to Harry and the others, and after scanning their faces, they knew what the three kids had learned.

"What's going on, Harry!" Remus grabbed Harry's arm, his expression serious. "Explain yourself."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Remus's gaze became wary, and he squinted at Sirius's mother's room.

"Kreacher isn't hiding there, is he, Sirius? It's best not to let him know—"

"You're worried about Kreacher, Remus?"

Sirius Black said dismissively, but eager to know the reason behind Harry's words, he didn't press the matter. He simply waved to them and led them into his room.

Sirius's house was spacious and beautifully decorated.

Opposite the entrance, in the middle, is a large bed with carved headboard, long velvet curtains covering the high window, and bright candlelight emanating from the chandelier.

The walls of the room are covered with so many posters and photos; they must have been put up when Sirius was a teenager.

Because it's highly unlikely that Sirius would put up pictures of Muggle girls in bikinis and Muggle motorcycles on his bedroom wall now.

Besides these things, several Gryffindor House flags hung on the inner walls. These were probably left over from before, as although they were wiped clean, the gold and red flags had faded, indicating they were quite old. What truly caught Harry's attention, however, was a wizard's photograph above Sirius's bed.

The photo shows four Hogwarts students standing together, arm in arm, laughing at the camera.

Harry's gaze immediately fell on the boy in the photo, who had just as unruly hair as him. That was his father. This was the first time he had seen his father as a teenager. His heart leaped with joy, and he instinctively walked over, even ignoring Remus's questioning voice again.

Seeing him like this, Sirius's lips unconsciously curled into a loving smile, and he didn't say anything to disturb Harry.

"This is what happened last night—"

Hermione noticed Remus's helplessness and urgency. She composed herself and explained,

"We were dancing in the hall, and after we finished leading the dance, we decided to go for a walk and unexpectedly discovered that Professor Karkaroff and Professor Snape were away from the castle."

"And then you followed them?"

Remus said, frowning.

"--Well, all the faculty and staff were in the castle Professor Blaine conjured up at the time. Hmm, I thought that was very unusual, so—"

Remus's demeanor was much more authoritative when he was a professor, and Hermione nodded guiltily.

“Go on, Hermione, what happened next?”

"When we caught up, Professor Karkaroff and Professor Snape had almost finished speaking. Harry and I only heard Professor Karkaroff say: 'It has become increasingly obvious over the past few months, and I am very worried now. I cannot deny that the Dark Lord is growing stronger—'"

Hermione's eyes flashed with worry, while Ron, who had already heard the lecture once, showed the fear he had felt when he first heard it last night.

Sirius turned around and looked at Hermione with sharp eyes.

"What did Snape say?"

At this point, Harry also looked away from young James's expression and continued Hermione's words, "Snape told Karkaroff that if he was scared, he should run away—"

"He didn't deny Karkaroff's claims?" Remus asked, squinting. "What else did you hear?"

“We didn’t have the Invisibility Cloak with us—” Harry said with some frustration. “Snape noticed we were being eavesdropped, but he didn’t catch us.”

"Severus and Karkaroff"

Remus hesitated and looked at Karkaroff.

“They must be old acquaintances—” Sirius said with a grim face, “They worked for Voldemort together, and I’ve always suspected he was behind Hermione’s selection as one of the Triwizard Tournaments—”

"Maybe not, Sirius—"

Hermione pursed her lips, and facing Sirius's surprised gaze, she first glanced at Harry. After Harry shook his head at her, she continued,

"We also overheard Professor Karkaroff and Professor Snape having a conversation, just the night we met at Hogsmeade."

Chapter 722 Searching for Amosta

2024-01-30

Sirius, are you sure you haven't remembered the place wrong?

The gloomy sky made it impossible to tell whether it was day or night. Although the surrounding environment was not exactly desolate, the sparse pedestrians on the street and the buildings that were half a century behind the times made the group of people who were here for the first time feel a little uneasy.

Ron, in particular, is used to the magical world and rarely lingers in the Muggle world. When he goes out, he only appears briefly in a few specific locations. This seems to be the first time he has lingered in Muggle territory.

Ron clicked his tongue, looking bewildered, as an old bus slowly disappeared around the street corner.

Although he couldn't stand the Knight Bus's reckless speed, if Muggles had to rely on such a slow mode of transportation for their daily commute, how much time would they have to spend on the road every day?

"Or perhaps we should go back, Sirius?"

Hermione said timidly.

Last night, Harry's unexpected remark after seeing Regulus's room sparked a new topic of conversation.

To be honest, Remus and Sirius had some idea of ​​Voldemort's approaching footsteps, but they didn't expect the footsteps to become clear so quickly.

Igor Karkaroff, a Death Eater, told Snape that the Dark Lord had become stronger, which made Remus and Sirius feel extremely uneasy.

In particular, when Hermione started analyzing who was behind her being labeled a champion, based on their first overheard conversation between Professor Snape and Professor Karkaroff, Sirius Black became completely uneasy.

Let me sort this out!

Sirius's bedroom, a room filled with warm light.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat on the edge of Sirius Black's carved bed, while Remus leaned against a faded Gryffindor flag with a serious expression, not mentioning the overtime work at all.

Sirius strides back and forth in his house, analyzing the clues they currently have.

"--First, on the night of the Quidditch final, after everyone had left the venue, a Dark Mark appeared in the Glitter's Box. Then, the Ministry's people arrived, led by Barty the Elder. Amos and Barty the Elder personally searched the Box, but only found the Glitter. The Ministry of Magic gave an explanation for this, but we all know that this is just an explanation to appease the public. The truth remains unresolved to this day!"

After that, Hermione was selected as a Hogwarts champion in the champion selection. I don't know who did it, but almost at the same time, Amosta wrote to me, asking me to keep an eye on Barty Crouch's activities in the Ministry, but not to let me get too close to him.

Harry and Hermione, you overheard Snotn and Karkaroff talking and learned that someone at Hogwarts is secretly brewing Polyjuice Potion.

Incidentally, Amosta and Dumbledore practically tacitly approved of Hermione's selection. Neither of them seemed to have conducted a proper investigation. I can't say for sure about Dumbledore, but at least, the Amosta I know isn't usually like this; he wouldn't allow anyone to stir up trouble under his nose.

Gollum—

Ron swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his throat.

Sirius paused for a moment, then continued.

"After I wrote to Amosta to tell him that Batty was on sick leave, Amosta immediately came to visit me. I don't think Amosta and Batty have such a good relationship; Batty Crouch is the kind of person who doesn't make friends with anyone."

But after that, Amostella and Dumbledore called you all into their office and began questioning you about the events in the box the night the Dark Mark appeared. They were particularly interested in Kebari's little house-elf named Sparkle, whether Kebari had been in the box that night, and also, the empty seat that little house-elf had occupied—”

Sirius Black –

Seeing Sirius Black standing there, his expression sharp, Remus couldn't help but speak.

"Do you know what you're suspecting?" Remus straightened up.

"If word got out that you suspected Barty Crouch of plotting the Dark Mark and making Hermione a champion, that a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official with a hardline stance against evil was involved in criminal activities, people would think you were insane."

“Ever since what happened with Peter—” Sirius smiled coldly, “I’ve come to understand that no one is beyond suspicion.”

"But that doesn't make sense, does it?"

Ron couldn't help but chime in. Back home, he had heard his father talk a lot about Barty Crouch's uprightness and integrity. If Barty Crouch was really as his father described, he simply couldn't believe that Barty Crouch would persecute Hermione.

Seeing that everyone's attention was on him, Ron instinctively shrank back, and he said breathlessly,

"I mean, he didn't have time on the night of the Black Mark; he came into the venue later."

Hermione's champions—the champion selection only lasted one day. If I remember correctly, Barty Crouch only arrived at Hogwarts the day before the champions were announced; he didn't have time either.

“That’s right, Ron—”

Sirius nodded approvingly.

"Therefore, I tend to believe Hermione's guess that Barty Crouch had a Death Eater accomplice who conjured the Dark Mark and infiltrated Hogwarts beforehand to secure Hermione's champion status."

A silence fell as Harry recalled his few close encounters with Barty Crouch, and after a long pause, he asked with difficulty,