The Return to Hogwarts

Meanwhile, several heads peeking out from the corridor opening also showed excited expressions.

"I had guessed that this was possible."

Harry said in a low voice.

"That is indeed the plan."

Amosta nodded and smiled, revealing a limited amount of information was nothing.

Upon hearing this, Madame Maxim also gazed at the Forbidden Forest, looking thoughtful.

"Well then, that's enough for tonight—"

Amosta turned to look at Durmstrang's students.

"You can go back and rest now."

So Viktor began to lead his classmates away, and after saying goodbye to Dumbledore, Mrs. Maxime took Fleur's hand and walked down the stairs. Fleur's gaze remained fixed on Amostella until they were far away.

"They were just discussing that spider, weren't they, madam?"

A gentle breeze carried the intermittent sounds of Hibiscus asking Maxim for advice.

"This is not something we can get involved in, Furong. It's best not to get too involved."

Maxim's warning followed.

Now, only a few people from Hogwarts remain in front of the foyer, and apart from Amostella, they are all members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"The Dark Lord will know what happened tonight."

Severus, pale-faced, spoke in a purely descriptive tone, while Dumbledore did not respond but instead pointed his gaze at Amostella, who nodded after a brief pause. Then, he looked towards the corridor on one side of the foyer.

Sirius, what are you doing at Hogwarts?

"Oh, I've come to deliver a message to you, cough cough. Dumbledore already knows the situation. You can ask him about it. I'm in a hurry, I have to say a few words to Harry and then leave, so I won't be able to catch up with you, Amosta!"

As he spoke, Sirius, feeling guilty, pulled his head back and dragged Harry and the others to a more distant place.

"What exactly did he come to say?"

Amosta raised an eyebrow.

The Board of Trustees held an internal meeting.

Dumbledore said calmly,

"More than two-thirds of the board members agreed to bring the Malfoy family back to the board of trustees."

"Malfoy is going to return to the Board of Trustees?!"

Professor McGonagall's voice was laced with anger. She glared at Severus, then looked at Dumbledore with concern. "What will happen, Albus?"

“Something will happen that we can expect,” Dumbledore said.

“Oh, don’t worry, Minerva, we can handle those problems.”

Amosta also assured that...

"Don't worry, Professor McGonagall, we will indeed encounter some difficulties, but they will soon be resolved."

Harry, his friends, and Sirius Black dragged them to a more secluded spot. Harry, looking at the somewhat guilty Sirius, asked, puzzled,

"What's wrong, Sirius? You look a little off?"

"Have it?"

Sirius wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, craned his neck to look into the foyer, and made sure no one had followed them.

"You don't seem to want to see Professor Blaine, do you, Sirius?"

Hermione squinted and looked at him suspiciously.

"Oh, no, that's not true. I just, cough cough—"

Sirius Black shrank back, noticing the intense thirst for knowledge in Harry and his friends' eyes, and said, though his tone was fierce, "I'm not really sure."

"There are some things that aren't for you to know, cough cough, it's like this--"

Sirius looked at Ron.

“Your brother, Ron, I mean Percy.”

"Oh, Percy?!"

Ron immediately retorted angrily,

"What foolish thing has he done this time?"

"This time I wasn't too stupid--"

Sirius had clearly heard about Percy's trip to Hogwarts, begging Amostella to let Umbridge in. He spoke dismissively.

"He has left the Ministry of Magic and is currently working at Remus's workshop with his girlfriend, Penelope Crivart."

Percy resigned from the Ministry of Magic and started dating Penelope again.

The sudden news left Harry, Harry, and his friends looking at each other in bewilderment. Both events were so 'magical' that for a moment, the three of them didn't know where to begin their complaints.

"There's one more thing—"

Sirius's expression turned solemn. He looked at Harry and his two companions, who had also become stern, and said...

"This is also why I came to Hogwarts. The Hogwarts Board of Governors held a meeting, and I attended on behalf of the Black family."

"and many more!"

Hermione immediately cried out,

"The Black family is on the school board?"

"What? Didn't I tell you about this?"

Sirius scratched his head.

"But--"

Harry said in shock,

"In his second year, Lucius Malfoy reportedly gained the support of the entire board of directors to expel Professor Dumbledore from Hogwarts!"

"Oh, it's not my fault, Harry—"

Sirius said innocently,

"I was still in Azkaban back then, so I couldn't voice my objections to Lucius Malfoy's schemes. Oh, that's all in the past now. What I'm telling you is that, with the Ministry of Magic's encouragement, the Malfoy family has returned to the Hogwarts Board of Governors. You get the picture, Hogwarts is probably in for some trouble."

Chapter 1014 Ultimatum

2024-07-05

As everyone could have predicted.

Last night's events immediately became the number one trending topic at Hogwarts. From breakfast to morning classes until noon, the young wizards could be heard discussing it from every corner of the castle.

Harry was surprised by his classmates' intelligence-gathering abilities.

Last night, only the three of them overheard Professor Blaine and Professor Dumbledore's conversation, but on Sirius's warning, they didn't tell anyone. However, by noon, it was no secret that Professor Blaine had fought with the eight-eyed spiders in the Forbidden Forest and banished them to the depths of the forest.

Everyone was extremely excited about this, except for Hagrid.

Hagrid didn't come for lunch—

Looking at the largest empty seat at the staff dining table above the Great Hall, Harry whispered to Ron,

“He didn’t even have breakfast. Ron, Hagrid must be feeling really bad right now.”

Ron, who was frowning as he listened to Neville's animated discussion about whether to gather a team to fight the Eight-Eyed Spider in the Forbidden Forest, turned his head when he heard Harry's words. He also cast a sympathetic glance at the faculty and staff dining table.

“But Professor Blaine did a good job, didn’t he, Harry? Nobody likes those horrible giant spiders. Except Hagrid, and you heard that Professor Blaine only chased them into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, instead of catching them all. That’s merciful enough.”

Harry had a close encounter with the giant spider named Aragog when they strayed into Aragog's territory while chasing Peter Pettigrew.

It was an absolutely terrifying adventure, Harry recalled. He and Hermione had revealed that they were friends of Hagrid, but the evil old spider still wouldn't let them go.

To be honest, Harry would never think that Professor Blaine was too cruel to those eight-eyed spiders, but he couldn't ignore Hagrid's feelings.

"The Daily Prophet has already published it—"

As Harry pondered whether to visit Hagrid after school, Hermione, sitting opposite him, took a deep breath, her calm face emerging from behind her newspaper.

"what?"

Harry looked surprised.

"The Daily Prophet published the story of Professor Blaine driving away the eight-eyed spider. Their information network is amazing."

"Don't be silly, Harry, the Daily Prophet is certainly well-informed."

Hermione sighed at Harry's slowness.

“But they obviously won’t report on this extensively now, because it would undoubtedly increase Professor Blaine’s fame, which is not what the Ministry of Magic wants. I mean—”

Hermione handed the newspaper to Harry.

"Sirius told us last night that the Malfoy family has returned to the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Oh, you can take a look at those Slytherin guys."