My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 210, Section 207: Another School Opening Day

Among the many Horcruxes Voldemort created, there are also some fragments of his soul hidden within them. Although these fragments cannot become the main soul and replace Voldemort himself to be resurrected, they all contain some of the memories and personality that Voldemort possessed when creating the Horcruxes.

Take, for example, the Tom's diary that Lynn received today.

This was the first Horcrux Voldemort made at Hogwarts; he was only in his fifth year of high school.

At this point, Voldemort had become extremely dangerous. Each time he split his soul, he had to sacrifice a human life. The first Horcrux he sacrificed was Myrtle, who was killed by the Basilisk.

By the time Voldemort graduated from Hogwarts, he had already killed at least three people.

So even if Tom doesn't come back to life because of this Horcrux, Lynn still has to come in and get it back.

According to the original story, this year Ginny Weasley will be bewitched by the remnant spirit inside Tom's diary after obtaining it, opening the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin and releasing the Basilisk to carry out a bloodline cleansing of Hogwarts.

Although no one died in the original story due to various accidents or deliberate arrangements, the atmosphere inside Hogwarts became very tense, and the school was even on the verge of being closed.

Now that Lynn knew when the diary would fall into Ginny's hands, he naturally wanted to keep it under his control to prevent the same thing from happening again, as in the original story.

To prevent his arrival from causing any unwanted butterfly effect, which could lead to the deaths of people who were not originally dead.

So, just to be on the safe side, Lynn even wrote a letter to summon Lyon from Abrose, asking him to transform into Lockhart and, following the normal course of events in the original story, hold a book signing at Flourish and Blotts and give Harry Potter a set of books.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong and everything went according to plan, allowing Lynn to successfully obtain Voldemort's first Horcrux.

Lynn opened her diary and placed it on her desk. It was completely blank, with no content inside.

Clearly, Tom's spirit was still secretly observing the surrounding environment, not making any rash moves.

Lynn thought that even if such a thing was not dangerous in his hands, it would be better to destroy it as soon as possible. However, Lynn did not possess any of the three known methods of destroying Horcruxes: Fiendfyre, Basilisk's fangs, and Gryffindor's sword. He did not know how to use Fiendfyre, and he did not have the other two.

So he can't do anything about the diary for now and can only wait until the start of the school term.

After school starts, you can either go to the forbidden section of Hogwarts to find a spellbook to learn the Fiendfyre spell, go to the Chamber of Secrets to borrow a fang from the Basilisk, or ask Dumbledore to keep Gryffindor's greatsword for a few days.

Before the start of the school year, Lynn still needs to keep this diary safe and sound, preferably in her pocket. As long as it doesn't grow legs and run away, nothing should go wrong.

This summer, Lynn was completely done with his work after he got his hands on Tom's diary.

For the rest of the month, he stayed at home and didn't go anywhere. He taught Umaru some natural science knowledge and talked with Hermione about the spells and transfiguration that they would need to learn in second grade. He lived a very comfortable life.

During this time, Yelena, who was far away in Lan, also sent him many letters, mostly casual chats, about how the Ministry of Magic in Lan was developing, what she usually did, and also told him that the Magic Committee of Su had officially withdrawn from the historical stage and was now renamed the Ministry of Magic of Goose.

Lynn usually replies to her letters, usually with "Hmm, oh, okay, I understand." Anyway, her owl comes and goes, so bringing back something makes it worthwhile.

As for Old John, he visited Lynn's house a week before the start of Hogwarts, partly to get acquainted with the place and partly to report on the progress of the plan to acquire Hogwarts.

Old John and his team spent a month compiling and evaluating the magical businesses of the twelve Hogwarts Board of Governors. They also consolidated the companies with corporate decision-making power, in which the Lungard family held shares, and began to suppress and seize the market from the twelve families' businesses.

At first, the Twelve Families were caught off guard and lost a lot of markets outside of Britain. However, they were established local players in Britain and their overseas market share was very small, so the losses were not serious.

They've been living in comfort for so long that they haven't even realized that someone is specifically targeting them; they just think it's normal business competition.

A group of leisurely, elderly British wizards seemed unconcerned, believing that losing foreign markets was acceptable, as long as their domestic base remained stable, there wouldn't be any major problems.

Meanwhile, Old John was already gearing up for a full-scale assault on the British strongholds of the twelve families. With their massive size as an outsider, they could crush these local bullies without regard for losses.

Lynn didn't have much to say to Old John about these things. As the saying goes, "a trade is like a mountain," and he was a complete novice when it came to actual business operations. Lynn naturally wouldn't do something as foolish as an outsider directing an insider.

After instructing Old John to proceed slowly according to the plan and not to rush, Lynn did not deliberately teach him how to do things.

On September 1st, Lynn and Hermione were taken to King's Cross Station by Mr. Granger.

He brought Umaru along with him to the new school year. The little girl must be lonely at home without any friends to play with. Besides, she'll be able to attend Hogwarts next year, so it's good for her to get familiar with the school a year in advance.

After Hermione and Lynn entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they parted ways. Lynn went to find Cedric and Ian, while Hermione went to find Harry and Ron.

Lynn helped Hermione carry her luggage onto the Hogwarts Express, and just as he was about to turn around to get his own, he saw Cedric saying goodbye to his parents.

"Brother Sai, it's been a long time! I hope you're doing well. However, I see a dark aura around your face; you're destined for bloodshed within three years!"

Lynn smiled, winked, and bowed to Cedric.

Cedric patted him on the shoulder, both amused and exasperated. Lynn sometimes said things that were hard to understand, and he was used to it.

"Fortunately, I am a kind-hearted person and managed to avert a bloody disaster for you. I won't ask for much; just one serving of your mother's scones will do."

"I brought it, I brought it. I knew you liked this when you came to my house the other day, so my mom specially prepared a box last night."

They walked onto the train with their arms around each other's shoulders and randomly found a compartment to sit down.

Have you seen Ian?

"I only saw him in the newspapers all summer."

"He's not going to skip Hogwarts this year, is he? I remember him saying at school that his father wanted him to inherit the family business and not continue his studies," Cedric said worriedly.

Lynn shook his head: "No, have you forgotten the letter he sent you over the summer? He said he'd see you at school and would definitely be back this year. Besides, I remember he went back a week early last semester, right? Professor Dumbledore personally escorted him back, so he's probably already talked to his father."

As they were talking about Ian, the carriage door was opened, and Ian, wearing a baseball cap, looked inside expressionlessly. His expression softened considerably when he saw Lynn and Cedric.

"So it's the Duke who's here." Lynn was teasing him, and Cedric was making room for him.

Ian sat down next to Cedric and took off his baseball cap.

"Don't mention that name anymore, that word is driving me crazy."

Ian surprisingly started complaining to them.

"I spent the entire summer meeting all sorts of people, attending all sorts of banquets, and being asked all sorts of questions by all sorts of reporters. I didn't have a single day off, nor a single day of freedom. All I heard every day was 'Duke, Duke, Duke.'"

Even going out for a stroll required him to be completely covered up. Because it was his first time out and he lacked experience, he walked out openly, and as a result, he was photographed by a tabloid reporter while passing through a red-light district. The next day, almost every newspaper was reporting: "The newly crowned Duke of Campbell is young and womanizing, frequenting brothels."

Lynn was laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach, while Cedric was completely bewildered, because he didn't know what the red-light district meant.

"Luckily, I can still go back to Hogwarts, otherwise I would really go crazy if I stayed there any longer," Ian said, frowning.

It's clear he's serious; life after inheriting the title isn't exactly enjoyable for him.

They ate the scones Cedric had brought while chatting about their holiday at home. Little Umaru, perched on Lynn's shoulder, couldn't resist scratching his face. Lynn understood and placed her on the table, breaking off a small piece of scones and putting it in front of her.

Not long after the train started moving, Hermione found Lynn with a worried expression.

"Harry and Ron are missing! I've searched every single compartment on the train, but I can't find them!"

Lynn made room for her.

"Don't worry, they may have had an accident, but they'll be fine."

"But they're still little wizards. The Ministry of Magic has rules that little wizards aren't allowed to use magic outside of school. What if they get into trouble?" Hermione sat down next to Lynn, still worried, looking like a mother hen who had discovered that two of her chicks were missing.

Lynn looked up and thought for a moment, "I remember the 'Restriction Regulations' stated that, was it Article 19 or something, that if a real emergency occurs, a junior wizard can use magic and the Ministry of Magic will not hold them responsible."

Lynn's words of comfort seemed to have some effect, and Hermione was no longer as nervous as she had been at the beginning.

Just then, Cedric suddenly pointed out the car window, dumbfounded.

"Look outside!"

Everyone else in the carriage turned to look in the direction he was pointing, and there was a Ford Anglia flying in the sky.

Lynn's eyesight was better than the others; he could even see Harry and Ron looking excited inside the car.

"That puts my mind at ease. I saw Harry and the others; they're in the car."

Hermione was not relieved at all; instead, she turned pale with nervousness and could barely speak.

"How dare they... how dare they?"

"That's so cool! What kind of Muggle car is that?" Cedric exclaimed in amazement.

Ian answered his question.

"It's a car, but it must have been magically modified, otherwise it wouldn't be able to fly."

In the sky.

After the initial excitement wore off, Harry and Ron no longer felt cool in the sky.

It was incredibly hot up there; both of them were drenched in sweat, and there was no water. The only thing in the car was a packet of toffee that Mr. Weasley had left earlier.

If they could, they would rather switch places with people sitting on the train, where at least they could buy chilled pumpkin juice.

Moreover, the longer they flew in the air, the more they noticed that the car was starting to have problems; the engine was emitting an unsettling groan.

They lived in constant fear until nightfall, when they finally managed to catch a glimpse of Hogwarts Castle in the darkness.

……

Hermione had been worried the whole way. As they got off the train, she kept muttering that if Harry and the others drove into the school, Professor McGonagall would definitely deduct points from Gryffindor's grades.

Lynn didn't have any good way to comfort her, so she could only offer words of comfort.

"Gryffindor won't win the House Cup anyway, so let them lose points. There's no need to take the points so seriously."

Hearing these inhuman words, Hermione was so angry that she pinched Lynn's waist and twisted it.

After twisting for two seconds, Lynn realized she should pretend to be in a lot of pain and howl twice, but it was too late. Hermione was so angry that she went straight to her roommate in Gryffindor.

Lynn stroked his chin and asked Cedric and Ian.

"Should I go and try to persuade her?"

Cedric and Ian both stared at him with eyes that looked like they were looking at steel bars.

What do you think?

"Then I'll go and try to persuade them."

Lynn chased after Hermione in the direction she had gone, while Ian and Cedric walked together toward the Thestrals pulling the carriage.

A short while later, Lynn came back to find them again.

"You convinced him so quickly?" Cedric looked at him in surprise.

Since Lynn came back, her demeanor has always seemed a bit off, like she's a little...dazed.

"Ah, you've persuaded them, of course you've persuaded them. I guarantee everything will be fine with my intervention."

He got into the carriage and moved closer to Cedric.

Do you still have that dessert?

"You mean scones? Didn't we just eat them all on the train?"

Lynn smacked her lips.

"It's a pity we didn't eat enough; we haven't even had a chance to taste it yet."

Cedric and Ian exchanged a glance, both looking at him with strange expressions.

"You ate half of that box, and you still complain that you didn't taste anything?"

"Well, you ate half of it without saying a word!" Lynn's voice sounded very angry.

"I'm going to make sure I get my money's worth at the banquet later!"

I didn't write it out. I'll definitely do it tomorrow, definitely tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)