The Return to Hogwarts

"Who could have infiltrated Hogwarts, Professor Moody?!"

"Not necessarily, Harry—"

Remus shook his head slightly.

"Have you forgotten about Polyjuice Potion? Anyone could be involved, including Karkaroff, who isn't necessarily innocent. Severus seems to be alright for now, otherwise he wouldn't have revealed the Polyjuice Potion. But Minerva, the headmaster of Beauxbatons, Ludo Bagman, Alastor... In short, anyone who appeared in that room behind the Great Hall that night could be involved. I mean, if everything goes as we expect, they could all be in cahoots with Barty Krach."

"Professor Blaine, and Professor Dumbledore?"

Hermione frowned; no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to doubt the two of them.

"Oh, Death Eaters couldn't possibly impersonate them—"

Sirius smiled and said,

"If I wanted to impersonate someone using Polyjuice Potion, I would make sure that person never appeared in public again. Do you think any Death Eater could take down Amostella and Dumbledore, Hermione?"

That was indeed the case. Hermione felt a little relieved, but the thought that her guess might be true, and that there would always be a Death Eater by their side, still lingered.

“But why?” Ron still couldn’t quite accept it. “Why would Barty Crouch do that? My dad said… he said Crouch treats crime—”

“Arthur is right, Ron—” Sirius interrupted Ron, speaking as he pondered.

"This is truly unbelievable. Why would Barty Krach do all this? It doesn't benefit him at all, unless he's following orders—"

"Voldemort?!"

Harry blurted it out.

“I don’t think you’ve forgotten, Sirius, Buddy Crouch back in the day—” Remus said in a somber tone.

“Of course I remember, Remus, but Crouch is a complete power-hungry man. His lifelong dream was to become Minister for Magic, which is why he was so decisive in sending his son to Azkaban. That’s another story, Harry. We can talk about it later.”

Sirius Black anticipated the surprise of Harry, Meghan, and Harry's companions upon hearing this, and he quickly said,

“Barty Crouch’s desire to become Minister for Magic surpasses everything, but after Fudge, Amosta actually supports Amelia Burns, and everyone in the ministry knows this. If Barty Crouch were to go mad because of this, and even throw himself into Voldemort’s arms just to get what he wants, it wouldn’t be impossible…”

"So, who do you think that person is?" Remus didn't agree with Sirius's opinion. He changed the subject. "Is it someone we're assuming to be Barty Crach's henchman?"

This is indeed a difficult question to answer.

Most of Voldemort's former followers are in Azkaban, but many others are still at large. They have speculated about many people, but have always lacked solid evidence.

"Why don't we just ask Amostella directly? Since he and Dumbledore have already realized that something is wrong with Barty, they may have already investigated the matter thoroughly!"

Looking out at the desolate city through the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, Sirius, who had been deep in thought, suddenly brightened up and turned to the somber-looking crowd.

Chapter 723 The Brave Loyalty Curse

2024-01-30

“I won’t forget the place, Remus—”

Sirius said with certainty

"Two months ago, we caught a criminal in Birmingham selling Class B contraband, but he was smart and destroyed all the evidence on his person before we caught him. So we thought we'd check his house and maybe find something."

I checked the information at the wizards' registry of Muggle dwellings at the time. Out of curiosity, I also looked up Amostre's Muggle dwellings.

Sirius pointed to the road sign not far away,

“178 Flink Street, I swear I can’t be wrong.”

Harry stood on a section of abandoned railway track embedded in the ground, squinting as he looked across. The plaque that read 177 Flink Street was for an eight-story department store, while 179 was for a bakery. The two buildings were connected, and there was no 178 Flink Street at all.

A sudden gust of cold wind swept in, carrying scattered snowflakes. Harry turned his face to avoid the wind and snow, and suddenly, he saw an old stone arch bridge standing in the direction of the street leading to the suburbs.

"What's wrong, Harry? What did you find out?"

Hermione immediately noticed Harry's odd expression and asked him with concern.

"Oh--" Harry chuckled, averting his gaze. "It's nothing, just some snow in my eyes--"

"If I remember correctly, Sirius, this also means—"

Remus frowned, staring at the partition between numbers 177 and 179. He lowered his voice and said, "Amosta used magic to hide the orphanage. I suppose that's not allowed, Sirius?"

The cold weather and poor business had forced most of the shops on the street to close. Sirius, who was thinking of asking around, heard Remus's question and chuckled softly.

"Of course it's not allowed, Remus. If it's a pure wizarding family, they have the right to hide their house to keep out unwelcome guests. But an orphanage... you know, Remus, it's full of Muggle kids and Muggle volunteers. In that case, it's not allowed to cast spells on the dwelling. Of course, Amostra certainly won't care, and no one in the ministry would be foolish enough to cause trouble for the infamous Amostra Blaine over this—"

Hermione wrinkled her nose, seemingly not liking the way it was said.

That wasn't what Remus really wanted to ask, of course. He kept his eyes fixed on the partition and said softly,

"The question is, has this orphanage been hidden by Amosta all along, or is it a recent development?"

Only Sirius and Hermione understood Remus's implication. If the house had been hidden all along, that wouldn't have been a problem. But the fact that Amostella recently, or even yesterday, immediately and without delay protected the place where he grew up with strict magic, meant that the significance was far from ordinary.

As dusk approached, a hissing sound came from the yellowish lampshades hanging on the streetlights on both sides, and the electric lights emitted a dim yellow light. Under the light, the falling snowflakes seemed to be gradually increasing, and the reddish-brown stone bricks on the ground, which had been cleared of snow, were covered with a thin layer of white snow.

"I can't see any trace of it--"

Remus, who had been trying to find traces of some kind of magic, finally gave up and shook his head slightly.

"Given Amosta's style, if he decides to hide this house, he'll definitely use the most profound spells; I suspect it's the Fidelity Charm—"

"Unwavering loyalty?"

Harry and Ron were chatting idly behind a lamppost, discussing who would be captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team next year after Wood left. Hearing Remus say this, Harry's brow twitched, and he immediately looked over.

"That's right, it's the spell Dumbledore used to protect James and Lily—"

Sirius rubbed his frozen hands, the light shining on his suddenly somber face, and he nodded.

"A very ancient and powerful spell that hides a secret in the soul of the person who keeps it. As long as the person keeps it, it is absolutely safe. If it weren't for that pathetic Peter, Voldemort could put his nose right up to the window of your parents' house and still not see anything!"

"if it is like this--"

Hermione snapped the book she'd received from Sirius last night shut. It was, to say the least, a very interesting book. It wasn't just a dry record of a bunch of magical spells; it was actually a travelogue left behind by one of Sirius's ancestors after exploring the world. It described how the highly skilled Black family ancestor used his vast knowledge to overcome various dangers he encountered on his journey.

"Since we can't find that house, shouldn't we leave?"

Hermione said urgently that she still had a mental block about visiting Professor Blaine's Muggle home without his permission.

"It's not that there's absolutely no way—"

Sirius hesitated before speaking.

"If the people inside the house walk out of the magical protection zone, it seems we're quite lucky!"

Harry, Harry, and his friends were listening intently to Sirius Black when they saw him suddenly become energetic and stride quickly toward the middle-aged woman who had suddenly appeared in their field of vision across the street.

This was a middle-aged woman, around forty years old, with a slightly thin build. She was wearing waterproof rubber shoes, loose brown trousers, and a dark green thick sweater. Instead of wearing a coat over the sweater, she was wearing an oil-stained apron. At that moment, she was dragging a large bag of garbage toward a nearby trash can. The bag of garbage was obviously quite heavy, making the thin woman pant heavily.

"Do you need any help, ma'am?"

Sirius Black leaped over the roadside fence, smiling kindly.

"Oh!"

Mrs. Reagan stared in surprise at the deep-set-looking man who had suddenly approached her. It took her several seconds to realize what this unfamiliar face was referring to.

"If it's possible, thank you so much!"

Mrs. Reagan said gratefully.

Sirius Black looked back at the group of people who had followed him, and gave Harry and Ron a wink. The two boys then walked sadly to either side of Mrs. Reagan and carried the garbage bag, which weighed forty or fifty pounds.

"Is there anything I can do to help you, sir?"

Mrs. Regan straightened up and wiped the grease off her hands on her apron. Her tone was somewhat reserved. She looked at Sirius, Remus, and Hermione, as well as Harry and Ron, who had snatched her trash bag and quickly put it back in the trash can. She clearly realized that this group of well-dressed people had come up to her for more than just to help her carry the trash.

"Oh, is that so—"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance. Having been frozen for so long, they didn't keep each other in suspense any longer. Remus smiled gently.

"I don't know if you know him, Amosta Blaine. Well, we've heard of him. He lives nearby—"

“Oh, you’re here to see Amosta?” Mrs. Reagan’s wary brow relaxed immediately. “But who are you?”

"Yes, colleague--"

To avoid giving himself away, Remus succinctly stated.

"Oh, you're Amosta's colleagues!"

Mrs. Reagan's tone became more cheerful, but when she saw the two boys running towards her, she frowned again, and gestured with her chin towards Hermione, Harry, and Ron.

"Then these three children—"

"We are interns, ma'am—"

The quick-witted Hermione said, her cheeks flushing.

“I am Hermione Granger, and these two are Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. We are on our internship at the school with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.”

"I see!" Mrs. Reagan said happily. "We've never met Amosta's colleague before. Come in, gentlemen, it's so cold outside!"

Before Sirius could stop her, Mrs. Reagan rushed into the partition and disappeared from their sight.

Well.

Chapter 724 The unknown side