I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 212 Yes, the chaos begins.

"Sirius!" Harry jumped up immediately. "I have something to tell you about Voldemort's Horcruxes."

"I heard that." Sirius stepped into their circle, then looked at Owen with a flippant look. "I also heard someone say that I can't beat that snotty-nosed guy."

"I'm just stating the facts," Owen said without hesitation, then looked at Sirius with a slightly provocative gaze. "Maybe you can prove yourself?"

"Stop with your pointless provocations," he said.

"If you want to deal with that annoying snotty-nosed guy, do it yourself. I'd love to see the first time in Hogwarts history that a young wizard beats up a professor."

"."

Owen pressed his lips to the ground, a look of regret on his face. He had thought that Sirius, a reckless man, would act impulsively and rush up to duel Snape.

Come to think of it, maybe he would have done it a decade or two ago, but now he's probably learned to be a bit smarter.

"Though I hate to admit it, the current Snape—Professor—is probably a good person indeed."

"He's a good person?" Sirius's eyes widened as if he had never met him before. Gradually, an unusual heat emanated from his pupils, like the scorching heat emitted by dancing flames.

"If he's a good man, then James is a saint," he roared. "He's a Death Eater. Dumbledore might believe he'll reform, but I don't! His dark heart can only hold jealousy and ambition."

"If I were Dumbledore, I would have given him a killing curse long ago. To let him die with dignity would be the greatest mercy I could show."

"Stop!" Owen interrupted Sirius's increasingly dangerous remarks. He rubbed his head, realizing he shouldn't have brought up the topic.

After all, if Sirius Black knew that it was Snape who gave half of the prophecy to Voldemort, which led to the events that followed, he would definitely go mad.

Given his personality, he would risk his life to avenge Harry's father.

At that point, he and Snape will truly be locked in a life-or-death struggle.

"How did the talks with Mr. Ober go?" Owen abruptly changed the subject, forcefully steer the conversation away from the main topic.

"What else can they do?" Sirius Black sneered, his tone thick with disdain. "All they can do is cover it up. If the public finds out, it will cause unspeakable damage to the authority of the Ministry of Magic—that guy always has that on his lips."

"He wanted me to remain silent on this matter."

"And then? What's the benefit?" Owen asked curiously.

"Um?"

"It's for your own benefit! If there were no benefit, why would you cover for the Ministry of Magic?"

"Oh! I see." Owen suddenly realized, his eyes flashing sharply. "That brat, Aubo, he took all the kickbacks from the benefits the Ministry of Magic gave you, didn't he!"

Sirius stared at Irving as if he were an idiot.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Is there really no benefit to it?"

"They promised me a First Class Merlin Medal in recognition of my contributions in the First Wizarding War." Mockery seemed to be his true nature.

When he uttered the Order of Merlin, there was not a trace of enthusiasm in his tone; instead, there was disgust and disdain.

Irving probably understands his complicated feelings.

He might still be blaming himself, believing that his fallen and wounded comrades deserved the honor more than he did.

But that's just how reality is.

The Ministry of Magic needs to introduce a hero.

In this dark time.

There is no better story about a hero than Sirius Black.

One embarks on a path of revenge alone for the sake of his best friend; another willingly goes to prison for twelve years to atone for his sins; and yet another resolutely confronts the darkness and the Death Eaters who are even more formidable than before when his best friend's child is in danger.

Such a story is far more realistic than Harry's vague title of savior.

People need to see something real.

Of course, Sirius Black carries the original sin of the Ministry of Magic.

They bear an undeniable responsibility for his imprisonment twelve years ago without trial, and the person in charge is now the Minister of Magic!

This is why the Ministry of Magic has been reluctant to reopen the trial, yet has acknowledged Sirius's innocence.

They need a part of Sirius, not the whole thing.

"The Order of Merlin!" Owen exclaimed, his voice sharp and drawn-out. "I always felt that name would bring misfortune..."

"He can't even save himself, alone guarding the tower called Avalon. Wizard! What a fine example he's set!"

"Not as good as Gandalf!"

Irving has fallen back into his usual rambling.

Everyone can see that.

He would often mutter to himself like this, saying things that only he could understand.

Just like Luna.

But he can also fabricate many reasons based on his baseless words, making it impossible for you to refute them.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall came over.

She whispered a few words in Sirius's ear and then took him away from the auditorium.

After dinner, everyone dispersed.

Hermione borrowed the Time-Turner from Owen; who knows where this little witch is going to secretly compete again.

Actually, Irving really wanted to tell her that time is a very fair thing.

While you may seem to win the competition by engaging in involution, you are actually depleting your own resources.

You've spent twice as much time learning, which means you'll age faster than others.

However, seeing how enthusiastic she was, he didn't say anything.

Roll it up!

I'll just kill you.

For some time afterward.

Especially after January ended.

Starting in February, Hogwarts seemed to be back on track.

Although the conflict between Gryffindor and Slytherin continues to escalate, the professors seem to have anticipated it.

With the intervention of Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, the castle was placed under stricter control, and neither Gryphon nor Slytherin found an opportunity for large-scale brawls.

Of course, conflicts continue.

As time went on, Snape and Sirius toned it down considerably, and their practice of deducting points from each other's Gryffindor and Slytherin grades gradually stopped. However, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts became the two subjects that Gryffindor and Slytherin students both loved the most and hated the most.

Compared to the highly polarized Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, Hagrid's Protecting Magical Creatures class unexpectedly garnered unanimous dislike.

Under the influence of Shirok and Bakal, Hagrid became increasingly obsessed with researching how to combine two unrelated magical creatures to produce strange offspring.

He also wrote many letters to Newt, Hufflepuff's legendary senior.

At its peak, Harry said that three or four owls could be seen going back and forth to Hagrid's hut every day.

Finally, it was the end of February, and on the last day of the month, the Quidditch match was finally held as scheduled.

According to tradition, it would be Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

This was a match with absolutely no suspense.

Both teams' players have been somewhat lax lately and haven't had much time to train.

But Harry has a fire bolt.

A fire bolt traveling at 250 miles per hour can leave all brooms in its wake.

Coupled with Harry's unparalleled skill and courage, he won the match with ease, without any real competition whatsoever.

This frustrated Wood.

Because none of the tactics he had prepared in advance were used.

This was probably the easiest game he'd ever won.

The Weasley twins were overjoyed, declaring that with Harry's Firebolt, Gryffindor was invincible.

As for Irving

Okay~

He originally thought that after Wenda left Hogwarts, his pressure in alchemy would be reduced.

But the arrival of a new professor shattered all his hopes of slacking off.

Dumbledore personally served as the alchemy professor at Hogwarts.

One class per week.

They fully embraced Wenda's teaching philosophy.

Irwin's translation of "Deciphering Ancient Alchemy" officially became their textbook.

It's a massive work of over a thousand pages!

This is after he cut out a lot of the results.

However, the advantage was that, thanks to this book, Owen made his first appearance on the front page of "Alchemy Today," a more academic journal published by the same publisher as "Transfiguration Today."

Dumbledore told him that the judging committee might award him this year's Best Alchemy Contribution Award.

It's important to know that the Wizarding World hasn't seen a truly exceptional alchemical genius for many years, and this award has been vacant for over a decade.

The last person to receive this award was a student from the Far East Daming Magic Academy.

He is likely the youngest wizard to receive this award in nearly a century.

Irving doesn't seem to care about these honors.

But the prize money of five thousand made him envious.

But after feeling envious, he became worried.

It's quite obvious that after him, any young wizard who chooses alchemy will definitely send a warm greeting to his family because of this book, "Deciphering Ancient Alchemy".

Moreover, in the English-speaking world, besides Hogwarts, there are several other magic schools, and over time, his book will likely become a common textbook for those schools.

A textbook of over a thousand pages.

It would be strange if the young wizards who took this course didn't send him a message!

"Look!" One morning, hundreds of owls flew over the auditorium, delivering all sorts of letters.

Harry grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet and shouted, "Wiseengamor—the High Court of Wizardry has delivered its verdict on Sirius's case!"

"Heh, they've finally remembered after all this time," Ron scoffed. Then he saw the huge photograph in the newspaper.

In the scene, Minister of Magic Barty Crouch, with a cold expression, holds the hand of Sirius Black, who also has a cold expression. A witch wearing a magenta robe with an exquisite silver "W" embroidered on her left breast hands Sirius a green ribbon and a gold medal engraved with a sword and wand.

Then a flurry of flashes went off around them.

Everyone was laughing.

It just doesn't feel natural.

"He deserves it," Harry said happily, as if he himself had received a Merlin medal.

The Gryffindors around him were also deeply honored, after all, they were happy that Sirius was a Gryffindor.

This stands in stark contrast to the somber Slytherins.

"I wonder what Sirius compromised on," Owen said quietly, before a dozen or so packages were suddenly thrown on his head.

Fortunately, Hannah reacted quickly, flicking her wand to suspend the packages above his head.

"Wow! My package has finally arrived?" Owen immediately got up and took all the packages.

He reached out and casually opened one of the items.

The package was black and dirty on the outside, but inside was an exquisite box.

Owen took out his wand, aimed it at the box, and chanted a transformation spell. Gray magic gently caressed the surface of the box, and it instantly opened, revealing the items inside.

Hmm—it was a deep blue evening gown, adorned with all sorts of gemstones and pearls.

The hem has a not-too-high drop, leaving room for imagination: what kind of beautiful scenery would a girl wearing such a dress reveal?

Beneath the gown were a pair of crystal-like high heels, sparkling and reflecting the Milky Way, yet soft to the touch; it was unclear what material they were made of.

"It looks pretty good!" Owen touched the long dress, its silky texture making it irresistible.

Then he handed the package to Hannah.

"This is yours." Then he handed Harry a package with an "H" printed on it.

Then came Hermione's, Ron's, Justin's who was waiting to collect his money but was greatly disappointed, the twins', and Luna's.

In short, he quickly emptied the dozen or so packages at his feet.

Why did you give us these things?

Hannah quickly packed the package away.

Hermione, however, still wanted to ask why.

Luna was the quietest; she seemed to be studying where the sparkling Baker jewelry on his long dress came from.

"No, you can return it, thank you. It's seventy or eighty Galleons, it's heartbreaking." Owen glared at her irritably.

During this time, he thought and thought, but he still didn't know what Christmas presents to give the young wizards.

He originally planned to send out red envelopes directly, just like last year.

But Hermione firmly rejected the idea.

In the UK, there is no custom of giving red envelopes. Even if people give very inexpensive gifts at Christmas, they will not give money directly because it would give a very bad impression that you do not care about your friends' friendship. Moreover, giving money is a very frivolous and arrogant act.

So this year he's determined to send a physical gift no matter what.

This has been a real headache for Irving.

As the days passed, he suddenly remembered the Triwizard Tournament next year. The young wizards wouldn't be preparing any formal attire or anything like that. He thought of Ron.

Although Irving doesn't know if the tournament will even be held next year.

But at least he had something to give away.

He then bought some Muggle dress design magazines from London, wrote down a long list of characteristics of each young wizard, and mailed them to the Transcendental Clothing Store in Diagon Alley for a thousand Galleons.

"Hmph~" The little witch snorted softly, then her eyes flashed with joy, but she pretended to be calm as she put away her white dress.

Her cheeks flushed slightly.

But just as his gaze was filled with infatuation, it was as if some kind of warning mechanism had been triggered.

A look of panic and fear appeared on his face.

Then she immediately lowered her head, as if the pumpkin porridge in front of her held endless mysteries, drawing her in completely.

As for Harry and Ron, their reactions were rather lukewarm.

These two aren't even puberty yet.

Especially Ron.

He still considers Hermione a buddy at heart.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have seen world-famous paintings in third grade, would we?

However, since it was a gift from Irving, they didn't dare say anything.

When the three-way championship is finally held next year, they will know that their father's love has been profound from the very beginning.

As for Justin...

He was initially dejected, but his face lit up with a smile when he heard Irving say that such a dress cost tens or hundreds of Galleons.

Perhaps it was Irving's fault, but this innocent young man seemed to have been corrupted by him, his mind now completely consumed by money.

However, this is also a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

He didn't fall into the trap of dark magic.

"Look here." Harry, who wasn't picky about his clothes, quickly turned his attention back to the Daily Prophet.

He pointed seriously to a brightly lit photograph at the very end and said, "I knew this would happen. Dumbledore foresaw it."

After being educated by Owen, Harry realized that the truly important news was actually on the last page, and that you had to read the newspaper backwards.

The British tradition belongs to that.

When he finally turned to the last page, the dense text was painful to the eyes. But after he finally recovered, a photograph no bigger than half a palm immediately caught Harry's attention.

The photo shows a dead wizard and a dilapidated house.

"A Highlander in Newcastle was attacked by Death Eaters, and wizard Joseph was killed on the spot. The Ministry of Magic announced that it had sent additional personnel to the area to investigate and arrest the criminals. However, an insider revealed that the real killer of Mr. Joseph was his neighbor Northambane. They had an argument, which escalated into a duel in the yard. Northambane used a Killing Charm to kill Mr. Joseph and staged the scene."

Hermione snatched the newspaper from Harry's hand and read it aloud.

"Good heavens! How could someone use a killing curse in a duel?" Upon hearing this, Hannah looked terrified, then turned to look at Owen, and inexplicably calmed down a bit.

Um—some people use killing curses in duels.

"Owen, what do you think the truth is?" Hermione put down her newspaper and looked at him with concern.

"The truth?" Irving scoffed at the idea.

"Does the truth matter at this point?" he asked.

"The masses only believe what they believe. Do you think they're more afraid of the Death Eaters who are far away, or of my neighbor, Mr. Northampton?"

"Just you wait, the chaos has only just begun!"

Harry and his friends left the Great Hall with their gifts, looking worried.

The confusion on their faces symbolizes the same confusion among people today.

Yes, chaos has begun.

It happened faster than anyone else could believe it.

She tested positive; she had a high fever of 40 degrees Celsius last night.

My mind is filled with the dream of the puppy taking on five opponents and winning the S13 championship.

Damn, it finally got cooler this morning, only 39.5 degrees Celsius.

My whole body aches, and my head feels like mush. Luckily, I have some drafts saved up, otherwise I really don't know what to do.

(End of this chapter)