I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 405 Field Investigation

Chairman Samuel G. Kohauer was slightly taken aback. He suddenly had the feeling that he was not talking to a young wizard who had not yet graduated from magic school, but to a shrewd and calculating politician.

Moreover, he sensed something amiss in Owen's words. If the other party was truly unrelated to Koyatl's death, he should have been more agitated. Now that he was pulling at him like this, could he have really murdered that magical genius that the Magical Congress of the United States had carefully cultivated?

As he pondered, his gaze toward Owen gradually turned dangerous.

Wait a minute—Chairman Kouhauge suddenly realized something.

His arrogant attitude softened somewhat as he noticed that the four young Hogwarts wizards present all seemed to possess extraordinary talents.

Needless to say, the witch is already widely regarded as Dumbledore's successor.

The brilliant therapist in front of him had also shone brightly a few months earlier.

The black-haired, bespectacled little wizard behind him—the fleeting lightning bolt scar on his head—made him realize the boy's identity.

As for that redhead...

Chairman Koohauer's pupils constricted slightly—he must be a member of the Weasley family; the British redhead—he's too recognizable.

Ha—his expression became uncontrollable, a complex mix of anger and restraint. His crimson eyes fell on the elegant witch in the office.

No wonder—no wonder!

No wonder you're unwilling to cooperate with us anymore.

So you look down on our technology? These kids are all your creation, aren't they?

That's amazing, truly amazing!

If that's the case, then what's the point of talking about it?!

A surge of anger welled up inside him.

He strode forward, his eyes filled with a sinister evil, quickly passing Owen and his group before leaving the office.

The sudden turn of events surprised even Irving.

What's wrong?

Why did you suddenly leave when we were having such a good conversation?

However, the others in the office did not seem to be too emotionally affected by the man's departure.

It seems they knew all along that this would be the outcome.

Judging from the argument that could be heard inside the office even before they entered, their conversation would have ended without any resolution, even without Irving and the others' involvement.

"Alright, tell me, what are you doing here?" Dumbledore was still smiling, as if he had foreseen all the possible outcomes.

At this moment, Irving also shifted his gaze back from the departing man's back.

"Nothing!" Owen shrugged and said, "It's just that a dark wizard might have infiltrated Hogwarts, most likely Voldemort himself."

"."

Dumbledore's expression froze, then he stared intently at Owen.

Beside him, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Aubrey, and Percy, who had come with them, all looked at Owen.

Voldemort infiltrated Hogwarts?

Wait a minute—why does it sound so casual coming from you, like you've just dropped a pot in the kitchen?

That's Voldemort! Voldemort!!!

"How did you know?" Dumbledore asked softly.

Then, Owen recounted Harry's dream and the main events that occurred within it.

After listening to his description.

Apart from the young wizard and Dumbledore, the other wizards present found it utterly absurd.

Even Victor looked at Irving with great surprise.

He only knew that Voldemort had entered Hogwarts, but he didn't ask where the information came from.

—That was just a dream!

Not to mention Harry Potter, a young wizard who once fought Voldemort, isn't it normal for him to have a dream about Voldemort?

"I understand." Dumbledore said calmly to Victor, "Professor Norton, could you please take Professor Euryale, Professor Rozier, Miss Granger, the two Weasleys, and Mr. Benny to a safe place for a moment? I have a few words I'd like to say to Potter and Owen."

"Okay." Victor nodded and led the group out of Dumbledore's office.

As he was leaving, Owen noticed that his grandmother seemed to glare at him, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

The office fell silent.

The sudden departure of so many people made the place feel empty.

"Sit down first. We need to confirm some things before we can take any action," Dumbledore said, pulling out his wand and conjuring two chairs.

"Do you have any suggestions, Irving?"

After the two sat down, Dumbledore spoke again.

"It just so happens that today is the Christmas holiday. Let's use the excuse that the school needs renovations to send all the young wizards home." Owen thought for a moment and immediately came up with his solution.

"That's an idea." Dumbledore slowly rose to his feet.

He walked to his right and said to an old portrait on the wall, "Evra. Did you hear that?"

The yellow-faced wizard with short black bangs in the picture frame nodded, then got up and stepped out of the frame from the side.

But it didn't appear in the adjacent picture frame; instead, it simply disappeared.

Only a dark lotus seed and a beautiful leather chair remained in the picture frame.

"Efra is a renowned headmaster in the history of Hogwarts, and he also served as the president of the Confederation. His portrait can be found in many institutions throughout the wizarding world."

He could move freely between his own portraits, allowing him to deliver messages quickly.

"Alright, now we need to confirm exactly where you saw that place back then," Dumbledore asked softly, as if speaking to Harry, but without looking at him.

He held the wand in his hand with a flippant air.

Then one of the cabinets in the room opened automatically.

A magical instrument resembling a peephole floated out.

"May I take a look?" Only then did he look at Harry.

"Huh?" Harry was a little confused, but he knew Dumbledore wouldn't hurt him, so he nodded blankly.

next moment.

The Elder Wand was aimed at Harry's temple, and with a flick of Dumbledore's wrist, a tiny silver thread was pulled out.

He then sank the thread into the instrument in front of him.

Then gently tap it with the tip of the wand.

The next moment, the instrument started operating, emitting rhythmic chimes, and wisps of white smoke emanated from the small silver tube at the top.

Smoke gathered and swirled in the air, and Dumbledore stared intently at the wisps of smoke, his brow furrowed.

A few seconds later, the wisps of smoke turned into a steady plume of smoke, growing thicker and thicker as it swirled in the air.

Then, various scenes began to be visualized.

Harry's dream seemed to replay itself before their eyes like a projector.

Sure enough—compared to Harry's own account.

When viewing these images from a third-person perspective, some problems were indeed discovered.

First of all, the scene in the picture is indeed Hogwarts.

But it seems to be more outdated than the current Hogwarts.

Last year, Dumbledore redecorated the castle to host the Four Nations Tournament.

Furthermore, many display cases were added to the corridors, displaying either old photos or ancient artifacts, which instantly enhanced the school's historical atmosphere.

But the castle in front of us doesn't have any of those things.

Secondly—the location of some classrooms.

The professors at Hogwarts change every year, and the changes have been particularly significant in recent years.

Before the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was cursed, the teaching staff was relatively stable.

Many of the classroom locations in the picture do not match the present day.

Owen and Harry wouldn't notice anything—but for Dumbledore, who had spent almost his entire life in the castle, even the slightest change there would catch his attention.

The scene of smoke in front of me continued.

Soon the ghost Harry had described appeared.

That was indeed the soul of a wizard; Owen had the most experience with that.

He has seen the souls of many people this summer.

That poor fellow—the wizard who was about to be eaten—was someone Owen didn't recognize and had no recollection of, which proved that the other party was probably not an important person.

"Mr. Broderick Bodle," Dumbledore called out the man's name immediately.

"Who is this?" Owen asked curiously.

"The Silent One," the headmaster said. "A researcher in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, engaged in theoretical research related to time magic."

"Time magic?" Owen's eyelids twitched as he thought of the Time Converter.

"Yes. Nowadays, countries have banned the research on time magic, but that only prohibits related experiments. There are still a lot of researchers conducting theoretical research. They want to figure out what 'time' really is. Is it a kind of energy? Or a dimension similar to space?"

"Any results?" Irving was more concerned about this.

"Unfortunately, there has been almost no progress in this type of research over the past hundred years. The only time time disorder was observed was more than a hundred years ago," Dumbledore said slowly.

"It seems he has been murdered." Although the old headmaster was stating the death of a person, there was not much change in his expression.

This was not difficult for Irving; he rarely saw any emotion in Dumbledore other than weariness and melancholy.

Is fatigue considered an emotion?

"Alright, it looks like we need to do some research in other areas."

After saying this, Dumbledore walked toward the office door and gestured for Owen and the others to follow.

Outside the door, in the empty corridor, Owen immediately saw his grandmother standing blankly in the corner.

At first, he thought she was waiting for Dumbledore.

Until she suddenly walked over and went straight to him.

For some reason, Irving suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis.

Then--

A slender, icy hand swiftly reached out and pinched his cheek.

"Ouch—ouch!" he cried out in a few exaggerated voices.

Immediately afterwards, Grandma let go of her hand.

"Where is your manners?" she said coldly.

"Huh?" Owen, rubbing his cheek, pitifully looked up at Wenda.

Harry watched this scene with some astonishment.

Then his expression became unnatural.

He had never met anyone who could make Irving lose face, and this person in front of him might be the first in all these years.

But the corners of his mouth were turned up—and then suddenly he froze.

Because Harry realized that this might be something called family that he had never had before.

"When you saw me, your eyes darted around, and your behavior was exaggerated. Is this how Dumbledore taught you?" Wenda's voice was not loud, and she spoke plainly, but it sounded particularly heavy to Owen.

"Who am I to you?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Grandma, I was wrong, Grandma." Owen bowed his head decisively.

Although he didn't know why his grandmother's attitude towards him changed so quickly, he knew that admitting his mistake at this moment was definitely the right thing to do!

"Alright." She waved her hand, her gaze falling on the child in front of her who bore almost no resemblance to herself. Involuntarily, her lips moved slightly, and she clenched her teeth.

It seemed like they were enduring something.

"Remember to come home for Christmas," she said, "with Miss Granger."

Then she turned and walked to the other side of the corridor.

Irving continued rubbing his face—What's wrong with you! It's just going home for the holidays! Why are you making such a fuss?

scare someone to death.

Meanwhile, during this time, Irving was arguing with her grandmother.

Dumbledore had already summoned Victor, Hermione, and the others from the back living room next door.

After leaving the house, he smiled as he watched Wenda walk away.

Then he glanced at Irving.

Then she whispered something to Victor.

After the other party understood, the old principal led the group away from there in a grand procession.

Owen guessed that they were probably leaving the federation headquarters and returning to the UK.

It seems that the Federation headquarters is also subject to the Anti-Apparition Charm, so one must leave from a place where Apparition is permitted.

Before long, they returned to the golden hall where they had come from.

Then Victor cast the spell again.

After passing through the stone gate, they returned to Hogwarts.

However, this was not the main focus of Harry and Owen's trip.

While the young wizards were having breakfast, the headmaster went to discuss some matters with Professor McGonagall.

About half an hour later.

The principal returned to the auditorium.

After waving to Owen and Harry, the two grabbed the headmaster's arms, one on each side.

After a series of phantom shifts.

The three appeared in a large hall.

This is a magnificent Gothic building with soaring spires and openwork arched windows. The building's surface is covered with dark gray stone, which, after the passage of time, appears calm and solemn.

There is a fountain in the middle of the foyer.

In the center of a circular pool stood a group of pure gold statues, larger than life-size. The tallest of them was a noble-looking wizard, holding his wand aloft and pointing it straight to the sky.

Surrounding him was a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf.

Centaurs, goblins, and house-elves all looked up at the two wizards with boundless adoration. Streams of shimmering water shot from the tips of the wizards' wands, from the centaurs' arrows, from the tips of the goblins' hats, and from the house-elves' ears.

There were gurgling and splashing sounds all around, the splattering and popping of apparitions, and the chaotic footsteps of hundreds of male and female wizards.

Their faces wore the usual gloomy expression of the morning, after all, it was simply unbelievable that they didn't get a day off on Christmas Day.

(End of this chapter)