The Return to Hogwarts

"It's actually here—"

Looking out at the towering chimney that pierced the sky amidst the low buildings in the center of this vast and chaotic residential area, Amosta chuckled.

"You've been here before, Mr. Blaine?"

The Aurors had made preparations in advance. A magical barrier had been erected in the vicinity, and everything inside the barrier appeared fixed to the outside world. The Anti-Apparition Charm made it impossible to escape or break into this place by Apparition.

The Muggle Expulsion Curse caused the scattered Muggles still living within the barrier's control area to leave their homes and rush to the bustling city.

Centered on the target house, several circles of Aurors stood on the rooftops of nearby houses. A crow strayed into the barrier, but after sensing the malevolent aura emanating from the humans climbing onto the rooftops, it immediately let out a terrified cry and hurriedly flapped its wings to leave.

Kingsley watched as the last group of Muggles left their homes and moved away from the barrier, only to hear Amostra Blaine suddenly say something beside him.

"Ah, hehe, it's probably over there, but I don't remember very clearly--"

Amostella smiled merrily, spun around in a circle, then pointed in a direction and said to Kingsley,

"This is in southeast London, in a town called Corkworth. It's an industrial area abandoned by Muggles. It was once prosperous, but as the Muggles shifted their development focus and the surrounding environment became severely polluted, it gradually declined—"

Kingsley listened intently. Amosta thought for a moment, then smiled and said...

"Professor Severus Snape's residence in the Muggle world is right here. When I was in Hogwarts, one summer—oh, I think it was around fourth year—I ran into some problems that I couldn't solve on my own. I didn't have an owl back then, so I went to the address Professor Snape had given me beforehand—"

"So that's what it is-"

Kingsley nodded with a hint of surprise. “That’s an interesting coincidence. I bet Severus would be very proud to have taught a wizard like you.”

"Maybe--"

Amosta chuckled, seemingly in a good mood.

As darkness fell, many dilapidated houses in the chaotic residential area were illuminated by dim, gas lamp-like electric lights.

With a snap, the Auror who had previously reported the news at the Leaky Cauldron appeared beside Kingsley.

"The barrier has been reinforced, Mr. Blaine—"

Amosta nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and then asked,

"When you were examining the Muggle memories, did you find any suspicious individuals near this person?"

"Nothing found, Mr. Blaine--"

Agnesa shook her head and respectfully said to Amosta,

“We considered whether the controller was nearby, but there was no problem with the Muggles’ memories.”

Amosta pursed her lips and nodded again.

Kingsley and all the Aurors on the nearby rooftops looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, while Amosta landed on the ground with a calm and unhurried expression.

Wow!

With a violent tremor in space, the space around the house at the center of the target was suddenly stretched, and the houses next to it were pulled behind the approaching Aurors with a whoosh. The house with its windows boarded up was separated.

At this moment, Amosta finally turned his gaze to the house. As his gaze deepened, he gradually narrowed his eyes, his expression growing increasingly cold.

"etc--"

Led by Kingsley, the Aurors were about to break down the door and drag the people inside out, but at that moment, Amosta, who was attached to the Aurors, suddenly stopped them.

Many Aurors, including Kingsley, frowned. Maintaining silence is crucial during a capture operation, as any noise could alert the criminals, causing the operation to fail, or even resulting in casualties. If it weren't Amosta Blaine speaking, these men might have immediately turned and cast a spell on Amosta to silence him.

"What's going on, Mr. Blaine?"

Kingsley nimbly retreated to Amostall's side, his wand, still glowing faintly, pointing towards the surrounded room.

There is no living person in the room.

Amosta remained calm, but his words puzzled Agnesa. He was about to explain to Mr. Blaine when he heard Amosta say something under his breath.

"There were no living people in the room, only a corpse—"

"A corpse?!"

Kingsley's lips tightened, his eyebrows arched, a mixture of surprise and anger in his eyes.

"Not the Imperius Curse?"

The Aurors were no strangers to iniquities, but the Aurors around them still showed surprise. Since Voldemort's downfall, these dark magic creatures made from human corpses had become less popular, and they hadn't seen one for a long time.

"I believe I won't admit my mistake--"

Amostella spoke in a somber tone, his wand slipping from his palm as he waved it at the house.

Like a pieced-together cardboard box, the walls of the house slowly opened along the seams and gently laid out on the floor, finally revealing the interior to the Aurors.

The messy room wasn't worth much attention, but the pungent stench made the Aurors feel suffocated. They frowned and looked at the bed in the room.

Jingle Bell!

Suddenly, a rapid doorbell rang out in the dim light, catching Amosta completely off guard. He glanced at the foot of the bed, where a storage box stood. A black wire emerged from the gap, circled around one of the bed legs that supported the bed frame a few times, and then disappeared into the dark underside of the bed.

The Aurors all turned their gaze to Amosta Blaine, seeking instructions on what to do next.

The crisp ring of the telephone carried a sense of urgency and anger, as if the emotions of the person making the call were being transmitted through the telephone line.

After thinking for a moment, Amosta stepped out of the crowd and walked toward the storage box that was making an anxious ringing sound. But the moment his foot stepped over the original location of the wall of the house, something strange happened!

It's over!

The Infernal, which had been lying stiffly on the bed with its eyes closed, suddenly sprang up from the bed to the horror of the Aurors. Powerful and evil magic erupted from the Infernal's cold body, and the sudden surge of violent wind instantly blew away the storage box at the foot of the bed. Under the influence of the powerful magic, the Infernal was instantly suspended in mid-air, looking down at Amosta Blaine and the group of Aurors.

"Be careful!!!"

Kingsley only managed to utter the word before he watched as the infernal corpse, which had been lifted off the bed and was now suspended in mid-air, rolled its eyes back, turning a dark green before becoming an abyss-like black!

At the same time, the grayish-white skin of the corpse was covered with dense red bumps with a whooshing sound, and in the blink of an eye, it had transformed from a human form into a hideous and terrifying ball of flesh.

The turbulent magic, like a volcanic eruption, gave all the Aurors present a sense of impending doom. In the instant before the explosion, every Auror instinctively retreated, watching helplessly as the red ball of flesh grew larger and larger with each breath of contraction and expansion.

Dozens of pale beams of light pierced through the red skin of the fleshy ball from the inside out, attempting to ignite the night!

Rumble!

too close!

The moment the explosion occurred, Kingsley felt as if a sun was rising before him. Although he and his men began to retreat the instant they sensed the anomaly, they were still too close to the explosion that was about to wipe everything out!

Kingsley's forehead veins bulged, and boundless regret welled up in his heart.

He wasn't afraid of sacrifice; it was just that almost half of the Auror's elite forces were here, and if they were all lost...

In that life-or-death moment, everything happening slowed down in Kingsley's eyes. He could even see the violent fireball expanding inch by inch, feel the air temperature against his skin rapidly rising, and hear the violently vibrating air assaulting his eardrums. Just as he was resigned to his fate and awaited death, his gradually dimming gaze swept over Amostrath Blaine.

Everything in the field of vision slowed down, yet Amosta Blaine's movements remained perfectly normal. Kingsley watched as Amosta Blaine casually snatched the Muggle telephone from the overturned storage box, picked it up with his left hand and held it to his ear, while his wand, flicked out from his right wrist, suddenly pointed at the cracked flesh, its tip gushing forth a flood of milky-white light—

Hello--

Amidst the raging winds, with one hand firmly suppressing the shockwaves of the explosion, Amosta calmly answered the phone, tilting his head as he spoke.

Chapter 759 A Timely Phone Call

2024-02-13

After the explosion actually occurred within the milky-white light screen, a crimson sun suddenly appeared before the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic!

The light barrier created by Amosta Blaine not only isolated the explosion but also the heat. However, the Aurors, still in the cool air, could see that the fire waves inside the barrier were surging wildly like magma, relentlessly crashing against it wave after wave. The roar of the fire waves that rang in their ears was like the howl of a dragon, making their minds tremble!

The crimson flames quickly turned pale, and the blinding light caused the Aurors, who had stopped in their tracks, to instinctively shield their eyes with their hands to avoid being injured by the dazzling light.

After another ten seconds or so, the pale light changed again.

The light and heat generated by the violent explosion were firmly contained within the light screen. The confined space amplified the power of the explosion to a new level. Now, the fireball had turned into a clear blue, like a summer sky. At first glance, it was beautiful, but every Auror could feel its destructive power.

Kingsley's temples were almost drenched in sweat, not from the heat, but from sheer fright.

If Amosta Blaine hadn't been there to unleash the full power of the explosion, then within the magical barrier spanning several hundred feet, not a single living person would have survived, let alone the rats and cockroaches in the sewers!

Amosta, who was only ten feet away from the explosion isolated by the light screen, kept his hand steady. Apart from his hair and clothes fluttering wildly in the wind, he remained calm and composed, only slightly tilting his head to listen carefully to the voice on the phone.

"--Oh, thank God, you're finally willing to answer the phone, Frazier!"

On the other end of the phone came a young woman's voice that sounded somewhat familiar. Although she thanked her, it wasn't hard to tell that the owner of the voice was filled with surging anger when she made the call. She didn't even realize that the man who had just said "hello" to her was not the Fraser she knew.

"You haven't come home for Christmas for several years in a row. I've called you at least two hundred times, and only this one got through. I don't understand. If you're scared, why don't you call the police? Oh, if you don't want to answer my calls, why don't you answer your parents' calls either? Do you know that three days ago, Mom fell and broke her leg while walking alone? She's still in the hospital. She just wants to see you, to see her son."

The girl on the other end of the phone was shouting angrily.

Why aren't you saying anything?!

"Hello, ma'am—"

Amosta narrowed his eyes and said calmly.

The phone rang for a long silence, as if it had been abruptly cut off. Just as Amosta was about to greet her again, the girl spoke, her calm voice carrying a hint of wariness and sternness.

"Who are you? You're not Frazier. You're one of those guys who seduced him, aren't you?!"

Kingsley saw Blaine suddenly flick his wrist upwards, and then the blue fireball in front of him, which was contained by a magical shield, shot into the sky with a dazzling trail of flames. Under everyone's gaze, the fireball, like a meteor, traced a comet-like trajectory in mid-air, broke through the magical barrier, and plunged headlong into the stinking river in the distance.

Buzz--

A beam of pale blue light swept across the riverbed in an instant. Then, within a radius of nearly a mile, the river water churned violently, and plumes of white smoke rose up, as if it were being boiled.

The fine white smoke stretched endlessly, like a curtain suddenly appearing on the river. Kingsley and his colleagues stared blankly at the scene until the flowing cold wind completely cooled the river and diluted the shapeless curtain, before they slowly came to their senses.