The Return to Hogwarts

"Luckily, they mistook us for owls!"

"Your IQ is probably only comparable to that of an owl!"

Hermione said irritably.

Despite Professors Dumbledore and Blaine's obvious hints, they seemed to approve of the three of them visiting Hagrid, but hoped they would return to their four-poster beds as soon as possible.

Ron, who was completely bewildered, said something, and Hermione quickly looked at Harry, who was lying flat on the ground, his face as pale as a corpse, and his emerald green eyes lifeless.

Harry's appearance momentarily distracted Hermione, but she quickly regained her composure and asked with a worried expression,

"Your scars are hurting again, aren't they, Harry?"

Chapter 979 Useless Brain Occupation

2024-06-15

"Harry, Harry?"

A voice echoed in Harry's ear, sounding anxious and worried.

"What exactly happened, brother?"

Another slightly bewildered voice also reached my ears.

"Is Hermione right? Your scar is hurting again?"

Two voices kept alternating in Harry's mind, sounding very close yet as blurry as if they were in a dream. At the same time, two figures were frantically moving in front of him. Harry blinked hard, trying to see them clearly. His hazy consciousness made him unaware of how much time had passed, but suddenly, at some point, his keen senses returned to his body.

hiss--

With a sharp gasp, Harry sprang to his feet, then, like a drowning person finally surfacing, he bent over, panting heavily.

"Are you alright, Harry? Have you come to your senses?"

Hermione shouted anxiously, her voice trembling, as she patted Harry's back hard. The force made Harry feel like Hermione was trying to break his spine. He appreciated Hermione's attempt to help him, but in the end, he would have preferred Hermione to stand quietly, helpless, like Ron.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, Hermione, so can we stop filming?"

When Harry demonstrated clear-headedness and the ability to speak, Hermione immediately stopped what she was doing. She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes brimming with tears of emotion. It seemed that the accident that had just happened to her had indeed frightened her quite a bit.

But Harry didn't have time to comfort her. After his breathing became much easier, Harry subconsciously covered the scar on his forehead. Then he realized that in the time that had passed, his once dry hair had become wet, as if he had just washed it. From this, he could infer that his current complexion was probably terrible.

"I saw him!"

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow, pulled up his collar, and let the breeze from the field fill his collar.

"Who?"

Ron stared at him with a look of utter disbelief, and asked in a trembling voice.

“Voldemort!” Harry said crisply, without any hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Ron instinctively took a step back, his face turning deathly pale, his expression even more terrified, while Hermione remained much calmer, looking as if she had known it all along.

"Just like last summer, I saw Voldemort. This wasn't a hallucination; it was definitely real. I saw Voldemort and Vitia Creona kill a very old Muggle in an old mansion back then, and it was later confirmed that this really happened, so this time it's real too!"

Fearing that Hermione and Ron might think he was having some kind of ridiculous hallucination because he was overly concerned about Voldemort's actions, Harry explained first.

"You mean you saw Voldemort kill again?" Ron bit his lip tightly, his eyes filled with unspeakable fear.

"I"

Recalling the image of Voldemort that had just flashed before his eyes, and that strange, inexplicable emotion that had welled up within him, Harry said, both confused and hesitant,

"He didn't kill anyone this time, but—"

Harry pursed his dry lips, trying to organize his thoughts so that Hermione and Ron could understand him.

“I saw a man I had never seen before, but he was kneeling before Voldemort and saying something. Oh, I couldn’t hear clearly, but it seemed to be about Professor Blaine. He seemed to think the man’s words were unclear, and he was furious, ordering him to investigate. He was very nervous and scared. Oh, and I also saw Lucius Malfoy there!”

"Malfoy's father?" Hermione frowned slightly. "Where are they?"

Harry squinted; the scene wasn't as clear as it had been in his dream last time, and there were many things he couldn't see clearly.

"In a house, oh, it looks very grand."

"That's Malfoy Manor."

Ron said,

“My dad told us that the Malfoy family’s estate was a very luxurious manor.”

Related to Professor Blaine

Hermione pursed her lips. Professor Blaine passed by them a few minutes later. Like Hagrid, he must have just returned to Hogwarts.

"What do you think Professor Blaine did to frighten Voldemort, Hermione? Has the Daily Prophet published any news lately?"

Harry recalled the scene he had just witnessed and looked at Hermione expectantly.

"Even if there were, the Daily Prophet wouldn't say anything."

After thinking for a while, Hermione looked puzzled. "He won't be back in London for more than a day. What can he do?"

"Perhaps Hagrid knows."

Ron suddenly said,

"He and Professor Dumbledore have just returned from Hagrid's hut. If he has done something remarkable again, Hagrid may find out."

This is a reasonable deduction, and besides, they were originally going to visit Hagrid anyway.

Harry couldn't wait to run to Hagrid's hut, wanting to get to the bottom of things and ask what exactly the task Dumbledore had given him was. Ron followed him.

After hesitating for a moment about whether to persuade Harry to tell Professor Blaine or Professor Dumbledore, Hermione ultimately suppressed the thought and ran after him.

Two slender, tall figures slowly materialized from thin air after the three young wizards had run far away.

Dumbledore's gaze followed Harry's retreating figure until he disappeared into Hagrid's hut, then turned to Amos Tower with a worried look in his eyes.

"It's obvious that the mysterious connection between Harry and Tom is strengthening—"

"This was expected to happen."

A few more vertical lines appeared between Amosta's eyebrows.

The two shared a lot of information; they both understood why Harry could see what Voldemort was going through and what kind of harm this would cause Harry.

Do you think Occlumency could help Harry resist this connection?

Dumbledore's aged face showed a distressed expression, an expression he rarely displayed in public, and his usually clear and calm voice became somewhat hoarse.

Amosta raised her eyelids slightly.

“I’m afraid not. As you and I both know, Headmaster Dumbledore, Occlumency is effective in resisting mental intrusion and protecting one’s mind, but the connection between Harry and Voldemort is much more mysterious; it’s a connection at the soul level. No one can truly explain why the fragments of Voldemort’s soul that are entangled with Harry’s soul can allow him to see what his ‘main soul’ is going through.”

Dumbledore fell silent, his drooping beard giving him a somewhat dejected appearance. Amosta also said nothing, lost in thought.

“I went to Gringotts this morning to help Amelia open the vault. Also, I think the Slytherin sigil that Newt got from the basilisk might be the key to the Slytherin vault, so I went to verify my theory.”

Dumbledore, who was lost in worry about Harry, suddenly snapped out of his reverie and stared at Amos Tower in surprise.

"--My guess is correct, that is indeed Salazar Slytherin's own vault key."

Amosta still had a frown on his face.

"It's a complicated story. In short, I got some help from the vault that could improve my magical skills. Oh, please forgive me for not being able to show you, as the stuff has already dissipated on its own, and I can't recreate it for the time being."

"Tom knows about this?"

Many thoughts flashed through Dumbledore's azure eyes. He temporarily suppressed his doubts and focused on what Amosta was saying.

"I ran into Theodore's father at Gringotts. He must have been secretly going to find the goblin named Bogorod who led me there. I personally don't think he used any illegal means against Bogorod, otherwise Voldemort wouldn't have sent old Nott to investigate Bogorod. I don't know what help I got from Salazar Slytherin's vault."

Amosta said, speculating as he spoke.

“I think… I think, perhaps, Bogrod was coerced or bribed by old Nott and told him some information, such as, I went down underground and opened an ancient vault.”

Amostella narrowed his eyes, his purple pupils gleaming.

“But Harry said Voldemort was nervous and scared. Isn’t that interesting, Headmaster Dumbledore?”

After a few seconds of silence, the wrinkles on Dumbledore's face smoothed out, and a fleeting look of joy flashed in his azure eyes.

“You’re right, Tom is nervous and scared. Oh, that’s certainly something to think about. It seems we need to get to the bottom of this.”

Chapter 980 Malfoy's Punishment

2024-06-16

A man suddenly appeared from the void in a narrow alley. After landing, he immediately looked around warily to make sure no one was watching. The wand that had been sticking out from under his black cloak retracted, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

To the left of the alley were low, haphazardly growing brambles, and to the right were tall, neatly trimmed hedges. The man strode forward, his long cloak swaying against his ankles.

The low-hanging branches overhead blocked the moonlight, making the man's anxious face appear to be in and out of the light.

He strode out of the alley and turned right into a wide driveway. The tall hedges followed him, curving upwards into the distance, until two imposing wrought-iron gates blocked his path. The man didn't stop; instead, he extended his right hand from beneath his cloak and walked straight through the smoke-shrouded wrought-iron gates.

At the end of the straight driveway, a very ground-level mansion suddenly appeared in the darkness.

Malfoy Manor.

This was not the first time Nott had visited his old friend Lucius's home. He had previously praised the stately and luxurious mansion, whose elegant decorations were both worthy of the glory of the ancient pure-blooded Malfoy family and a testament to their wealth.