The Return to Hogwarts

That means Barty Crouch Jr. is dead; he died at the hands of Professor Blaine. But to say that, we must explain why Professor Blaine was there in the first place.

Remus and Sirius both glanced at Amostella, knowing he had intervened in the game as Fleur's sister. He had seen everything Harry had seen, but throughout the narration, Amostella did nothing; he ignored Voldemort's resurrection!

There must be some crucial information that hasn't been revealed yet.

But in the current situation, they are unsure whether it is appropriate to ask further questions.

"As you can see, Fudge's attitude towards magic—"

In the quiet, unbearable public ward, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Although we anticipated this, the Ministry of Magic's inaction has undoubtedly altered the entire situation. We cannot sit idly by; we must strike first and curb Voldemort's actions, Minerva—"

Dumbledore's gaze was intense; he first looked at Professor McGonagall.

"Could you please go to Hagrid's office and have him wait for me there? I have something to ask him to do."

Professor McGonagall glanced at Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the hospital bed, then nodded and strode away with hurried steps.

“Sirius, I need you to leave immediately. Go and inform Arabella Figg and Mungdons Fletcher—those old geezers. You can take them to your ancestral home first, and then I will go and talk to them in person.”

Sirius glanced at Amosta, hoping to get the answers to his questions from her first.

"You go ahead, Sirius. We can talk again when the time is right."

Amosta said.

Sirius nodded, looking at Harry with a hint of reluctance. At this moment, he wished he could stay by his godson's side, and Harry shared the same thought in his eyes.

I'll be back soon—

But war was imminent, and preparing early meant fewer sacrifices; Sirius understood the priorities.

He also intended to leave, but after taking a step, he hesitated and turned back.

What will the Longbottoms do?

The school hospital at this moment resembled a battlefield command post, with Dumbledore issuing orders to everyone. The tense and solemn atmosphere permeated everyone. Hermione, squatting on the hospital bed, listened carefully to Dumbledore's commands, instinctively trying to analyze what he wanted to do. However, upon hearing the names of the Longbottoms, she shuddered and blinked.

This is truly unfortunate. They had been in a daze for over a decade because of their struggle with Voldemort, and only after finally regaining their senses did they encounter Voldemort's return.

Hermione thought Dumbledore would avoid the Longbottoms. They had already made such a great sacrifice, but—

"Take this message to Frank and Alice, and let them make their own decision. Also, I want you to inform Arthur and Kingsley; they're well-informed and will get the news sooner or later. You can recruit any people in the department you deem reliable—"

This was no easy task, and Sirius would certainly face many difficulties in the department afterward, but he simply nodded and left without complaining.

To Harry's surprise, he assumed Dumbledore would also give Remus some orders, and Dumbledore did indeed intend to do so. However, when he looked at Remus, he clearly hesitated for a moment, then his gaze skipped over Remus and pointed at Professor Snape.

“Severus,”

Dumbledore said softly,

"You know what I'm going to tell you to do, if you have no objections, if you're ready."

“No problem,” Snape said.

His face appeared paler than usual, and a strange light flickered in his cold, dark eyes. He didn't linger, facing outside, preparing to follow Sirius. However, someone grabbed his wrist—it was Professor Blaine.

The sudden chill that swept through the public ward made Harry, Ron, and Hermione instinctively hold their breath.

Dumbledore didn't seem too surprised; he just twitched his beard helplessly, while Snape remained equally calm.

"Are you prepared to sacrifice everything, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Amos Tower looked at Dumbledore, and the cold, mocking smile on his lips was just like the one Snape used to make fun of Harry.

Dumbledore's gaze fell.

“The only person I want to sacrifice, and have the right to do so, is myself, Amosta. I don’t want to see any of our people die.”

Amosta was about to say something, but Professor Snape spoke first. He looked at the young man in front of him who had once needed his protection but had inadvertently grown into a towering tree, and the corner of his mouth twitched. The gentleness he revealed almost made Harry think he was hallucinating.

“This is my choice, Amosta.”

"Your choice?"

Amostella's gaze was calm and resolute as he looked at Dumbledore.

"Forgive my frankness, but I don't see the necessity of this choice, Dumbledore. Your method is to gather a group of noble people to confront Voldemort, but frankly, this is undoubtedly fighting in the enemy's area of ​​expertise, which is a thankless task. In my opinion, the Ministry of Magic should be at the forefront, which is what they should be doing."

"But you've already seen Connelly's attitude, haven't you, Amosta?"

"Dumbledore said wearily."

"Then let him step down."

Amosta said coldly,

"War means sacrifice, and the Ministry of Magic, not the Order of the Phoenix, should bear this responsibility."

"Attempting to manipulate politics is dangerous, Amosta."

Although he didn't want to see a conflict with Amostella, Dumbledore was equally adamant, saying, "Especially at a time like this, your ideas will only hasten the entanglement of the entire wizarding world into war."

"War is never accidental. The emergence and rise of people like Dumbledore and Voldemort is never an accident. This shows that the British wizarding world needs war. The contradictions between pure-blood families and half-bloods and Muggle-born wizards are becoming increasingly acute. The entire social system urgently needs to be reformed. If this is ignored, even if this Voldemort is finished, the next Voldemort will appear sooner or later."

Harry listened to the argument between Professor Dumbledore and Professor Blaine, the tense atmosphere making his heart pound. Hermione, on the other hand, stared intently at Professor Blaine, her brown eyes gleaming with a strange light. She understood what Professor Blaine was saying, and in her heart, she agreed with his viewpoint even more.

Ron's heart was pounding too. But unlike Harry, he felt a vague sense of panic, a panic that seemed to come from his blood. What was going on? Professor Blaine was willing to take action against a pure-blood family?

Although Ron never took pride in his pureblood status, he still felt uneasy and fearful upon hearing all this.

“I have to do this, Amosta—”

Snape interrupted their argument, grabbing Amostella's wrist tightly with his own.

"You know why. This is my salvation. I'm still alive, and this is all that's left."

A long silence followed as Amosta and Severus stared at each other. Amosta's expression was grim; he had no intention of letting Severus do something so thankless and arduous.

"There's a letter here—"

Amosta took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Severus, who was visibly shocked upon seeing it. Severus then passed the letter to Dumbledore, and Amosta did not stop him.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows as well, silently returning the letter to Amos Tower without offering any comment.

“That is indeed surprising, Amosta—” Snape said softly, “but you know very well that you can’t completely trust him. He could change his mind at any time.”

Severus left, just as he said, it was his choice.

Since he couldn't change Amosta's decision to willingly step into the mire back then, Amosta couldn't change Severus's decision either.

Chapter 867 Doubts about Krum

2024-04-16

Severus left, and before he did, Amosta pulled him into the corridor outside the school hospital.

"If Voldemort asks why I appeared at his resurrection ceremony disguised as Gabrielle, I will tell him that the most important person chosen by the tournament organizers for Fleur was Gabrielle, and that I considered Gabrielle's age and that going underwater would frighten her, so I secretly replaced her. Voldemort desperately needs a reason to explain the failure of his resurrection plan. He only needs one reason and shouldn't pursue it too much."

As for Hermione and Ron surviving the Killing Curse, just tell them the truth.

This was something Harry hadn't mentioned in his narration, and Severus immediately realized what was going on. He glanced at Dumbledore through the glass window with a hint of anger, then his gaze settled on Amosta's face.

"Is all of this part of his plan?"

"Dumbledore and I are on the same page about this matter. Only by bringing Voldemort back into the public eye can this threat be completely eliminated. Otherwise, he will endlessly plot new schemes."

Amosta said calmly,

"As for Lucius, he was counting on me to protect Draco, so to some extent he is credible."

Severus nodded. He understood what Amosta was trying to say. He looked at Amosta's concerned face, his lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. He gave Amosta a pale smile and strode away.

Amos didn't return to the school hospital. After glancing at Dumbledore, who was talking to Harry and the others, Amos sighed heavily and went downstairs back to his office.

With his hands behind his back, he stood quietly by the window of his office, gazing out the window.

The sun outside was still shining brightly, but its brightness carried a cold pallor. The morning hustle and bustle of the lakeside was gone; now only rows of empty seats remained, along with a group of languishing fairies dismantling equipment.

Because of him, this Triwizard Tournament received unprecedented attention, and the live broadcast was interrupted midway through the competition. He will have to give an explanation to the European magic community afterwards.

Moreover, it needs to be done as soon as possible.

This time, he didn't intend to come up with any excuses. He should have told the public that the Dark Lord had returned to the people and asked everyone to be vigilant.

Of course, doing so would obviously further enrage Cornelius Fudge, but Amosta didn't care. An enraged Fudge and the forces attached to him would surely become even more furious and do something even more foolish, and he hoped to see that happen.

Dumbledore would realize sooner or later, or he always knew it, that in the short term, the Ministry of Magic under Cornelius Fudge would pose a greater obstacle than Voldemort.

If I'm not mistaken, the Ministry of Magic will definitely try to directly intervene in Hogwarts and officially deny the news of Voldemort's return. For most ordinary people in the wizarding world, this will undoubtedly make them more convinced of the Ministry of Magic, especially since they themselves are not happy to hear that they are already shrouded in the shadow of war.

Stripping away the halos surrounding Dumbledore and himself, and smearing their reputations, was something that was expected to happen.

"What exactly happened, Amosta?"

Half an hour later, Remus knocked on the office door.

"Do you mean?"

Amosta smoothed the heaviness from his brow and asked with a smile.

"everything,"

Remus asked solemnly,