The Return to Hogwarts

Neville raised his sword and slashed a few times in mid-air. After the sword fell, a faint, crescent-shaped silver glow still lingered in the air. After a moment's thought, Neville flicked the sword...

"Disarm me! Oh, get out of the way!"

After a low shout, a crimson halo appeared on the silver sword. Then, the halo quickly approached the tip of the sword, and the streak of light crashed towards Amosta, who was directly opposite, like a meteor.

Neither of them expected their first attempt to be successful. Neville immediately looked terrified and screamed.

Amostah's eyebrows shot up, and in the blink of an eye, his fingers, which were hanging by his side, twitched rapidly. Just before the crimson light hit him, a magical barrier as clear as a spring was erected in front of him, narrowly blocking Neville's disarming spell!

boom!

After a deep rumble, the light scattered into a sky full of red starlight, a beautiful sight. The strong wind stirred up by the collapsing spell forced Neville to stagger back several steps, and even the magical barrier in front of Amosta was stirred up with intense ripples.

Having finally regained his footing, Neville was about to apologize, but before he could utter a word, his face suddenly turned pale, his legs gave way, and he half-knelt on the ground, panting slightly.

"Very impressive power."

Amosta traced the cracks in the magical barrier with his fingertips, clicking his tongue in admiration. Then, he saw Neville's exhausted state.

"Mithril weapons allow magic to flow more smoothly, but require a very high level of magic control to use skillfully. You still need to practice more. Hmm, before you have the ability to use it, you do need a suitable wand, otherwise you won't be able to practice in class."

The barrier dissipated, and Amosta came to Neville and helped him up. Neville, who had been about to apologize, was now completely focused on the now calm silver sword, his face full of affection.

"You seem quite satisfied with it?" Amosta smiled.

“Oh, absolutely! This sword is so cool!” Neville exclaimed excitedly. “Does it have a name, Professor?”

"That's a good question—"

Amostah was also watching the sword, observing its slightly trembling blade. He could almost sense that the sword was excited to have found a worthy wielder, something it had never shown when it was in his own hands.

This is blatant discrimination, it's differential treatment!

Amosta secretly curled his lip.

“I haven’t named it, but you can call it the Sword of Gryffindor if you like.”

Neville, whose gaze lingered on the sword, suddenly froze, his mouth slightly agape as he looked at Professor Blaine in confusion. A moment later, Neville, believing he understood, perked up.

"I will try my best, Professor Blaine, to become a great wizard like Gryffindor!"

Amosta pursed her lips and said nothing more.

When the Longbottoms returned to the house, they were surprised to see Neville carrying a sword that clearly had a goblin-like style. However, they were wise enough not to ask any questions. Amosta obviously didn't want to explain further; otherwise, he wouldn't have let them leave the ward.

"Has Headmaster Dumbledore already returned to Hogwarts?"

After calling Sirius and the others in, Amosta inquired and, upon receiving an affirmative reply, nodded.

"I shouldn't delay any longer; I need to get back to Hogwarts immediately. There are many things to do, so..."

Amosta looked at Hermione.

"Oh, I thought you'd be eager to go back to school with Dumbledore, Hermione."

Hermione's lips tightened instantly, her evasive eyes filled with sorrow.

Now that Neville's parents had recovered, she had indeed planned to return to Hogwarts with Headmaster Dumbledore. However, her hospital room had been taken over by an oblivious professor, and all her luggage was still in the room!

Hermione glanced sideways at her hospital bed, her pearly white teeth, now much neater, clenched slightly, and then her gaze swept over the bedside table, a question surfacing in her mind.

Where's my toothbrush cup?!

"Hermione?"

Amosta said

“If you have other things to take care of, you can go back to Hogwarts with Neville, but if you don’t have anything else to do, I suggest you come with me and get back to school as soon as possible. After all, you probably can’t relax right now.”

“Oh, okay.” Hermione stammered a few times, then took a deep breath. “I’ll go back with you, Professor Blaine, but I need to pack my things first.”

"Of course, no problem."

Seemingly finally realizing that she was in Hermione's hospital room, Amostella nodded and said, "I'll wait for you outside. We'll Apparate back to Hogwarts."

“I also have something to tell you, Amosta—”

Since Dumbledore and Blaine were unwilling to share their secrets to healing the mental damage caused by the Crucifixion Curse, the healers at St. Mungo's had no choice but to turn their attention to Frank and Alice. Under the guise of monitoring their physical condition, they arranged numerous examinations for the two of them, almost every two hours.

Neville and Mrs. Longbottom accompanied Frank and Alice, who were led to the monitoring room containing the alchemical instruments with special effects, surrounded by a group of medical staff. Tonks was also sent away by Sirius under an excuse, and the two of them stood at the end of the corridor.

“What happened?” Amosta asked calmly.

"There's a rumor coming from within the ministry—"

Sirius Black's expression was solemn, and he lowered his voice.

“You know, Barty Crouch has always been a high-handed and unpopular figure in the department, but since he took sick leave, the department’s efficiency has gotten even worse, interdepartmental cooperation has been a mess, and many employees have complaints about the higher-ups.”

Amosta nodded slightly, his expression becoming more focused.

"--But you know, Fudge has never been interested in these things. He's busy all day cultivating relationships with pure-blood families and social elites to extract benefits for his own family. He leaves all these things to Umbridge, and that woman only cares about power. Apart from the Executive Division, which she can't touch, she's planted idiots everywhere in other departments. So, some people can't stand it anymore."

"Who?" Amosta asked sensitively.

“A young guy from the Transport Department, only graduated a few years ago, but that’s not the point,”

Sirius waved his hand.

"That young fellow probably couldn't stand the atmosphere in the department, so he secretly went to Old Barty's house to check things out. As a result, he found that the house was deserted and covered in dust, as if no one had lived there for a while."

Not many people know about this yet; the ministry is suppressing the news, saying he might have gone abroad for medical treatment. But you know this won't last long. Soon the whole world will know, and then the ministry will definitely investigate. You understand what I mean?

Sirius Black stared sharply at Amosta.

"Perhaps you have good reason not to tell me the secrets you know about Crouch, but be careful, Amos Tower. The higher-ups in the ministry, you know I'm talking about, have growing opinions about you and Dumbledore. It's obvious to everyone. They may not be able to catch Dumbledore red-handed, but people have heard from Percy that you were the last person to visit Barty Crouch."

Perhaps because his return date is approaching, he no longer wants to go to so much trouble to hide his flaws?

The thought flashed through Amosta's mind, but his expression remained calm.

"Anyone who tries to pin this on me is incredibly stupid."

Abruptly changing the subject, Amosta's eyes deepened, "You, and Remus, also need to be careful in the near future."

Sirius's face visibly darkened; he knew perfectly well what Amostella was implying.

"And Harry?"

"You might get a little startled."

Seeing Sirius's gloomy, tear-stained face and twitching eyes, Amosta's expression softened considerably.

"But you will not be in any danger to your life, I can guarantee that."

Chapter 830 Hermione's Subtle Changes

2024-03-29

Amosta and Hermione were delayed a while before setting off, mainly because of Hermione.

The little witch said she couldn't find her toothbrush cup and was going to buy one from a Muggle shop near St. Mungo's. Watching Hermione's retreating figure as she ran off at breakneck speed, Amostella felt a little strange. This girl usually had an exceptional memory and a meticulous personality, so why had she become a bit reckless after being injured?

Fortunately, they still made it in time for lunch.

When Amosta led Hermione into the foyer and into the Great Hall, the once bustling hall fell silent, as if time had stood still, from the four house tables to the faculty dining area above.

This eerie silence didn't last long. Then, a sudden burst of noise and applause made the hanging candelabra and windowpanes in the auditorium shake!

Many of the young Slytherin wizards, feeling the commotion wasn't loud enough, jumped onto stools and began banging silver plates of roasted sausages from the tables, while no one from the faculty tables tried to stop them.

A group of faculty and staff also applauded Amostra, to show their respect for his eradication of a heinous and powerful dark wizarding organization. Even Professor Snape lazily clapped a few times.

Karkarov, however, wore a lukewarm smile, but his eyes remained icy. After Amosta raised his hand, smiling to signal for quiet, he lowered his head and continued eating his lunch. But after a few bites of sausage, Karkarov vomited.

“That’s terrible!”

Karkaroff said with a look of disgust,

"The kitchen sprites should be hanged! Those damned creatures overcooked the sausages!"

Dumbledore, several deans, and Mrs. Maxim all noticed Karkaroff's affected manner, but apart from Professor McGonagall gripping her fork and giving him a cold glare, as if trying to shut Karkaroff up with her fork, the others ignored him.

Hermione couldn't contain her excitement to be with her friends. With a big smile on her face, she ran to the Gryffindor table under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people and hugged each of her friends in turn.

Ginny, Lavender, Pettier, Fred, and George. The two brothers made funny faces and said with a grin,

"Oh, stay away from us, Miss Know-It-All, you'll bring us bad luck!"

But it was just a joke; they still hugged Hermione one by one, with Harry and Ron being the last to hug each other, and Hermione hugging them the longest.

"Professor Binns said that if I don't improve the quality of my homework, it will turn me into a ghost!"

Harry's mouth was practically splitting open to his ears.

"That's not bad either."

Hermione beamed with a radiant smile.

"If this helps you concentrate better when you're doing your homework."

When Hermione looked at him, Ron's expression flickered with unease, but when Hermione generously opened her arms to him, Ron banished his wild thoughts and gave Hermione a tight hug. "I thought you were planning to stay at St. Mungo's until the Ministry of Magic went bankrupt because it couldn't afford your treatment before you came back."

He said with a grin.

"Oh, the environment there is actually not bad,"