I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 272 They ate him

Sirius Black's return to Hogwarts.

The news spread like wildfire the very next day.

The news of the professor's return, who enjoyed immense prestige in Gryffindor, kept the young wizards from Gryffindor so excited they couldn't sleep.

Professor Sirius, take us through Slytherin one more time!

This is probably the little thought of most young wizards in Gryphon.

Meanwhile, when Harry heard that Sirius was one of the referees for the competition, he immediately led Hermione to find him, hoping to get some information about the competition from him.

They met in the garden of the castle courtyard.

This place is located between the main building of the auditorium and the observatory tower.

There is a huge English oak tree in the garden, as tall as a few stories.

In addition, there is a magic fountain and some shrubs in the garden.

At that moment, Sirius and the others were sitting on seats along the edge of the fountain.

"What exactly is going on with the fairy?"

Before Harry could ask about the Wars of Champions, Hermione got straight to the point.

"What goblins?" Harry turned around and asked, puzzled.

Weren't we asking about the details of the match?

On the other side, Ron had a similar expression.

Two useless men, their minds filled with questions.

Sirius looked into Hermione's scrutinizing eyes, and after a moment, he sighed.

He didn't want to tell Hermione about these things.

It's too dangerous for a little wizard to get involved.

but--

He was once a Gryffindor himself, and he knew what kind of personalities Gryffindors had. If he didn't tell her, the girl would never give up; she would definitely try to find the answer herself, and the more she did so, the more dangerous it would be for her.

So, after a long silence, Sirius reluctantly decided to tell Hermione the whole story.

His striking grey eyes fell on Hermione; there was no denying that Miss Granger was the most intelligent witch he had ever met.

She was even smarter than Harry's mother, Lily, and he had no doubt that if Hermione was determined, she would find out the truth.

Unless that dark and cruel little devil is involved.

He frowned immediately and said seriously, "Do you remember what I said? I'm going to find out the truth about my brother's murder."

"I went to some places based on Kreacher's directions."

He looked thoughtful, and the weariness that inadvertently showed in the corner of his eye suggested that his journey might not be as easy as he appeared. "Those are all ancient ruins similar to caves. Besides some traces left by those who were there first, I also found some other traces."

"Was it left by a fairy?" Hermione asked, turning her head.

"A massive alchemical machine, but it's from over a hundred years ago. Most of it is just wreckage," Sirius Black explained slowly. "I've found these things in many ruins. They look like part of some kind of massive machine. You know, I know a bit about Muggle machines. I can tell which are wheels and which are engines."

An ancient sheepskin scroll was also left at the scene—of course, it was definitely broken. Based on the pieces, I could roughly determine that it was a kind of 'weapon'.

"Weapons?" Ron was startled.

Although he and Harry were a little confused, they understood what kind of creature Sirius was referring to.

A group of fairies, leaving behind weapons of war.

This story is too bizarre.

Ron looked at Hermione and Sirius with a suspicious gaze.

Just like the story Luna often tells.

Some say that Fudge has an army of fire spirits.

A normal wizard would never believe such things.

"Wait—a fairy weapon from a hundred years ago?" Suddenly, a lot of information popped into Hermione's mind; someone had mentioned these things before.

"It was the goblin war over a hundred years ago! Those weapons were used against Hogwarts!"

Upon hearing Hermione's voice, both Harry and Ron looked on in shock.

Soon, they gradually remembered that Irving had said these things to them.

About the Fairy War!

Several fairy wars!

"That's right." Sirius nodded, looking at Hermione with considerable surprise. "I didn't expect you to know these things."

"Yes, Owen told us," Hermione said directly.

"Oh!" Sirius's surprised expression vanished instantly, as if it had never happened. It was as if everything that happened to Owen was perfectly normal. "That's not surprising at all. That guy is practically a prophet."

He coldly made a sarcastic remark.

Sirius continued, "You know about what happened a hundred years ago; the Black family did prove to be of some use after all."

He gave a sarcastic smile. "Our family once had a Hogwarts headmaster."

"You may have even seen his name in the book 'A History of Hogwarts'," Sirius said calmly to Hermione, without showing any pride whatsoever about having such a 'great man' in the family history.

"Phineas Nigellus Black," Hermione said almost immediately.

"Yes, the most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts' history." He sneered, then continued the conversation, not intending to revisit the Black family's past. "He was the headmaster of Hogwarts during the Goblin Wars."

"So you learned the whole truth from him?"

"On the contrary, he knows nothing!"

He knew nothing from the beginning to the end of the war.

My great-grandfather, the headmaster of Hogwarts, never truly cared about the school. Like Malfoy now, he devoted all his energy to cultivating relationships with high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic to ensure his long-term retention as headmaster.

"."

The three little ones listened to Sirius's story with a lot of speechlessness. From his words, they could roughly imagine what kind of person Black was.

And they can easily contact someone.

Fuji!

Yes, that Blake is just like Fudge.

"Throughout the war, all he knew was that a group of rebellious goblins had attacked Hogwarts; as for anything else, he knew nothing."

But I found some information from other sources. Sirius slowly stood up, the snow crunching under his feet. "I found an unopened letter among some of his old letters."

He was truly qualified as the headmaster of Hogwarts—oh! He was so busy with affairs of state that he didn't even have time to open a single, extremely important letter.

"What does it say about Sirius Black?" Harry pressed, excited that they seemed to be unraveling a huge ancient mystery, fueled by his Gryffindor adventurous spirit.

"A fairy attacked a wizard."

"An attack on a wizard?"

"A wizard with a special bloodline."

"Special?" Hermione asked. "What did they do to that wizard?"

"They killed him?" Ron said.

"They ate him," Sirius replied calmly.

The three little ones' pupils dilated in shock, their eyes widening in disbelief. "Eat it? Are you kidding me?"

"Hehe—skinning and drawing blood."

The letter didn't explain why the goblins did this, but it's clear that such special wizards existed at Hogwarts at the time. This might be one of the reasons why the goblins attacked Hogwarts.

"This is unbelievable, whether it's—" Hermione pursed her lips, not uttering the word "eat," "that they dared to attack Hogwarts for this reason?"

"I need to remind you, Hermione." Sirius and the others stood up and walked into the corridor together.

It's started snowing.

Snowflakes fell slowly, one by one.

Cover up all the filth.

"My great-grandfather didn't have Dumbledore's strength. At that time, attacking Hogwarts was no more difficult than attacking the Ministry of Magic. Of course, I believe that there are more reasons than just these. There must be deeper secrets that we don't know about."

There must be a deeper reason behind their repeated attacks on Hogwarts over the past few centuries.

But I no longer have time to find the truth.

Because it's obvious they're starting to stir again.

"So that day, you reminded me because you thought the fairies believed I also possessed some kind of magical bloodline?"

Finally, they stopped at the end of the corridor, in front of an oak door.

"No wizard of thirteen or fourteen could accomplish such a feat." Sirius lowered his head, his black pupils like a backdrop to the universe. Just like his name, through his eyes you could see a real, pulsating, fiery star.

There was always a hint of worry in the corner of his eye.

Having shed his former arrogance, Sirius Black is no longer as conceited as before.

He gently patted Hermione's shoulder, bent down to look her in the eye, and said in a tender tone, "You really are the most wonderful witch I have ever seen, Hermione."

You've done more than enough. Believe me, no one can do better than you.

So, leave the rest to us!

As he spoke, he winked at Hermione.

Then he pushed open the wooden door and walked into the distance.

The three little ones remained where they were, and as the undulations of the wooden door gradually subsided, Sirius's figure slowly disappeared from their sight.

They were still in shock from the news they had just heard.

Especially Hermione.

They had all come into contact with fairies, of course; everyone had seen the fairies from Gringotts.

She didn't realize that those creatures posed any threat to the wizard.

Although most fairies are very greedy, greed does not mean they will oppose the entire wizarding world.

But now, as history reveals its most cruel and bloody side to her, the young wizards are somewhat at a loss.

------

The last two weeks of November.

The young wizards witnessed firsthand how a huge arena was slowly being built in the forest not far from the castle.

It's bigger than a Quidditch pitch.

The surrounding stands were not as high as the stadium.

Every day, new figures appear in the castle.

The day after Sirius Black returned, an important figure appeared at Hogwarts.

That is Hufflepuff's pride, Newt.

As a member of the judging panel, his appearance was met with cheers from the young wizards.

Even junior wizards from other schools had heard of his name.

Then, a number of familiar and unfamiliar wizards appeared at the castle, as if attending a banquet.

As the match time approached, the castle visibly became more active.

Everyone was talking and guessing who would be the final winner.

As for Irving...

He and Dobby used almost all their strength, but unfortunately, they still couldn't get any useful information out of those little elves.

The only thing that pleased him was that the little elves did indeed know something.

Because when he uttered the words "Weasley's Treasure," their reaction was so intense that, frankly, Owen almost used the Legilimency Spell.

Later, he came up with another idea: to have the Weasley twins impersonate the historical Weasley's descendant to inherit the estate.

Inheriting a legacy—it's perfectly legitimate, how could they refuse?

Unfortunately, this method cannot be described as highly effective; it is simply completely useless.

No wonder the little elves were so enthusiastic about the twins before; it turns out they were trying to confirm whether the two were indeed the Weasleys' successor.

Clearly, Geminis have scored zero in this test in the past.

Of course—it doesn't matter, what does George and Fred getting zero points have to do with Ron and Ginny?

They both went up next!

Anyway, I'm just killing time!

Actually, Irving didn't have much hope for the two of them, but a few days later, Ron came to tell him.

He said that he discovered that among the group of elves, there was a very old elf who liked to play wizard chess.

He established an initial friendship with it by playing chess with it.

Ron was extremely interested in this matter.

The Weasley family's treasure—it turns out it's real!

Oh! How interesting, a treasure belonging to their family.

Therefore, he put in a great deal of effort into this matter.

Upon receiving this good news, Owen immediately instructed Ron to focus on defeating the old elf, and Dobby would cooperate with him.

"Phew~"

Finally, his trial has shown some progress!

In the following days, Ron continued his mission to conquer the sprites.

Miss Granger, on the other hand, vanished from the castle as if she had evaporated into thin air.

Harry said that she seemed to have gone into the castle library, and this time, she started searching for the answers she wanted from the forbidden section.

As for Irving, he has another thing to do.

In the alchemy classroom.

He should have come much earlier.

But as the competition approached and a series of events unfolded, Hagrid's warning to him to go find Viktor was forgotten.

Ron has recently made great progress, and only after relaxing did he remember this matter again.

Of course—as for who reminded him.

That would naturally be Dumbledore.

The old headmaster mysteriously assigned him to find Victor, without explaining what he was to do.

He was free today, so he came.

Upon entering, Irving noticed that the large classroom appeared empty, as the desks and chairs had all been moved out.

There was only one door in the center.

Metal gate.

It's not Doraemon's Anywhere Door.

Owen walked over curiously, pushed open the door, and was immediately taken aback by what was revealed inside.

That place, which seemed like a paradise, had an open-air alchemy workshop.

He could see Victor stuffing some kind of core into a steel giant that was about ten feet tall next to him.

Then, as if they had come to life, the giants stood up from their kneeling positions.

"Try to break it!" Victor held a thick stack of parchment in his hand, leaning against the table, his specially made ink pen constantly writing something on the paper.

He didn't even raise his head; he just stood there quietly.

But no one knows what it was that attracted Irving's presence.

"Soul Torrent!!!"

The torrent of starlight condensed in Owen's hand, and three seconds later, the aquamarine light was already dazzling. Then, he pushed the comet out with all his might.

The raging torrent, carrying a destructive aura, surged wildly toward the alchemical golem.

The meteor, like a blue death ray, devoured the puppet's body.

Gradually, its breastplate evaporated.

Then the limbs, then the head, and finally even the body disappeared.

Apart from the core that Viktor had just placed inside, everything about the puppet was wiped out by the meteor.

A two-foot-wide ditch appeared in the ground.

"Good morning, Professor!" Owen put away his wand and said smugly, "You're the one who asked me to destroy this."

He stared at the dust-covered puppet, now only a core remaining, and asked in a feigned worried voice, "Can this still be repaired?"

He jokingly said that the sound echoed throughout the land.

But Viktor did not show any emotional reaction.

He looked away from the parchment in his hand and then glanced at the dust covering the ground.

Then he lowered his head again.

Hey?

Are you not giving any response at all?

Doesn't that make me look stupid?

Irving scratched his head, only to sigh that scientists are just calmer than the average person.

Suddenly, the dust in the ravine began to float around the core like a tornado.

Then, in a flash and a dazzling transformation, after five or six seconds, the dust actually turned back into an alchemical golem.

"Wardfa?"

Irving stared in shock at the puppet standing in the ravine.

"What happened?" he asked.

"In ancient times, such as Niven, the core was stored within the body. As long as the core is not destroyed, the body can continue to transform and regenerate," Victor explained simply. He held up his cane and walked step by step to the burly alchemical golem, reaching out to stroke its shimmering 'skin'.

At its core, near the heart, a shimmering, milky-white light emanated, extraordinary and mysterious.

This puppet should be a creation of the gods, and should never have been born from the hands of humankind.

"There are still some problems with its operating mechanism," he said slowly, "and the power supply is also an issue."

"Each regeneration consumes a lot of magic. You'll need to bring them along during the competition." Viktor turned to Owen, a faint smile suddenly appearing on his pale, melancholic face. "How should I put it? You need to recharge it regularly!"

"Wait!" Owen took a half-step back. "Is this thing a monster from the first level?"

"Yes! Powered by ancient magic."

"Are you insane—no—has Dumbledore gone mad? How could a mere wizard possibly defeat a golem of this caliber!"

Don't be fooled by how easily he seemed to handle it just now.

But that's because he possesses ancient magic, and his spells are powerful enough!

The pinnacle of Origin Magic is comparable to the stars and the sea.

But when it came to the little wizard, Owen even doubted whether magic like the Fire Charm could scratch the puppet's metallic 'skin'!

"The little wizard is going to deal with this? Did Dumbledore empty the ruins?"

(End of this chapter)