The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 363 The Newly Joined Ghost

The principal's office is on the eighth floor of the castle.

"Albus! What should I do... It was me who took her and her parents to Diagon Alley, it was me who watched her buy the wand..."

"Now, I must tell her parents that their daughter died at Hogwarts..."

Unlike her previous attempts to maintain composure, Professor McGonagall couldn't hold back her tears once she entered her office.

She was the one who led Hermione into the magical world; that brown-haired little girl who smiled and revealed two rabbit-like front teeth.

The innocent, carefree smile in her mind now overlapped with the cold, indifferent expression on her face as she lay in the school hospital...

"Albus..." Professor McGonagall sobbed uncontrollably.

Suddenly, someone spoke from the mural in the principal's office:

"Dumbledore, there are guests outside, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Should we open the door?"

Upon hearing that there were foreign guests, Professor McGonagall immediately wiped away her tears.

……

At the same time.

In the eighth-floor corridor, Karkaroff asked incredulously, "Can it really be cancelled if the three principals agree?"

"I've already said it! The Goblet of Fire is just an alchemical artifact, but no school can surpass Beauxbatons in terms of the depth and breadth of alchemical knowledge."

Mrs. Maxim said it with absolute certainty.

She didn't plan to participate in the Goblet of Fire; Hogwarts, and indeed the whole of England, made her feel unsafe.

More than any so-called glory, she cared about the lives of her students; she wanted to lead them back to Beauxbatons. But before that, the first thing she had to do was extinguish the Goblet of Fire and break its pact with the warriors.

She thought it would take a lot of talking, but to her surprise, Karkarov's reaction was even more enthusiastic than hers.

It seems they've wanted to end this and leave for a long time, even to the point of being eager to escape.

……

During the discussion between the two foreign university presidents

The private hospital room on the second floor of the castle was completely silent.

In the room, which was less than ten square meters, the original hospital bed had long since disappeared, replaced by a blue ice crystal coffin.

Hermione lay inside, her face rosy as if she were asleep.

But in fact, Ino knew very well that this was merely a series of healing spells that brought a brief, rootless life like duckweed.

Sitting beside the coffin, he felt a deep sadness, perhaps he shouldn't have gotten involved in other people's stories in the first place.

They should have forced us into Sorting House from the start, sending me to Hufflepuff and making me a true spectator. Five years at the castle, then transferring to Beauxbatons—everything would probably have been better…

But then he thought of the ending of the story... It seemed that after the first year, the castle was no longer a fairy tale.

Sitting beside the coffin, Ino felt a pang of regret, but not despair. Currently, there were two known methods of resurrection: one was the use of ice flowers, and the other was the resurrection magic of the tower in the Brothers Grimm's story.

This is also why he froze the body immediately.

However, regardless of the type, there is an unavoidable drawback: being controlled by the shelter's mechanism, thus becoming a situation where everyone's fortunes are intertwined, and everyone suffers the same fate.

"Tell me what happened..." A calm voice echoed in the room.

Unlike the other professors who left, Snape remained in the room the entire time, but after handing over the potion, he remained quiet for several hours.

At this moment, his sudden outburst surprised Ino.

He knew Snape wasn't a talkative person, so for him to ask that question, he must have thought of something.

……

The sun hides and the moon appears.

As the sun sets in the west and the moon casts its silvery glow, day and night complete their transition at this moment.

In the ward, after hearing the whole story, Snape fell into silence and sat there quietly by himself.

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it also felt like a fleeting moment.

Suddenly, Snape stood up and walked out of the ward without saying a word.

Enoch didn't care about Snape's departure, although after being reminded, he also felt that the raid was somewhat suspicious.

But regardless, the immediate priority is to perfect the resurrection ritual; as for what comes after, we can settle the score later.

……

With Snape gone, Ino was left alone in the ward once again.

In stark contrast, the principal's office was bustling with activity.

Not only were there two foreign principals, but also Fudge and Bagman from the Department of Magical Sports.

Fudge is there to deal with the deaths of students at the castle, while Bagman is there on behalf of the Ministry of Magic to deal with the extinguishing of the Goblet of Fire.

"Someone needs to be held accountable for this!" Upon learning of the student's death, Fudge rushed over immediately to express his stance.

"The murderer was a fourth-year student, Vincent Crabbe, but by the time we got there, he was already dead..." Professor McGonagall continued.

"Really? Then what do you think we should do to solve this?" Fudge asked tentatively, like a student.

Before coming to Hogwarts, he had already learned some of what had happened through various channels.

The more this was the case, the less willing he was to get involved, but the Ministry of Magic couldn't remain uninvolved when something like this happened.

The best solution is to hand over power to Hogwarts, with him as minister merely acting as an executor out of necessity. This way, regardless of the outcome, he will have room to maneuver.

But it was clear that Professor McGonagall hadn't understood any of this, and after being asked about the method of execution, she stated her position:

"Brack used the Imperius Curse and the Killing Curse; someone must have taught him those spells, which cannot be ignored. As for Ino..."

At this point, Professor McGonagall sighed softly.

"...As for Ino, I'll leave him to you. I believe the Ministry of Magic and Wizengamor will give him a fair trial."

"No!" Fudge interjected decisively, "Mr. Swinburne is still a student. Both the Ministry of Magic and Wizengamor should consider Hogwarts's advice..."

While Fudge and Professor McGonagall were discussing the matter, Bagman, representing the Ministry of Magic of England, agreed to the request of the two visiting headmasters to cancel the Triwizard Tournament and extinguish the Goblet of Fire.

As the one truly in charge, Dumbledore remained silent throughout, sitting quietly at his desk, staring blankly at a portrait.

……

The setting of the sun and the rising of the moon mark the beginning of night; while the rising of the sun and the setting of the moon mark the prelude to day.

Time slipped by unnoticed, and as the castle once again witnessed the changing of the sun and moon, it heralded the arrival of a new day.

As the first rays of dawn shone on Hogwarts' tallest Astronomy Tower, the entire castle seemed to come alive amidst a strange magical fluctuation.

After sitting quietly all night in the school hospital on the second floor, Ino quietly opened her eyes.

A silver ghost appeared before him.

This ghost seemed quite mischievous, always flying around the ward, sometimes possessing the ice crystal coffin, sometimes looking at the hyacinths blooming on the windowsill.

"Hermione!"

Ino spoke softly, and the ghost before her was none other than Hermione, who had died yesterday.

Tomorrow we'll enter Mr. Hans's world and, within the world of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, help Hermione be resurrected.

Finally... it's the end of the month! Xiao Di is begging for votes, begging for votes, begging for votes.

(End of this chapter)