From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

This cat is ridiculously ugly.

William thought to himself, but as a professor, he refrained from criticizing it.

Unfortunately, his owl didn't think so. The owl next to him made a clear laugh—yes, an owl was laughing. It sounds absurd, but that's the feeling it gave, both in its laughter and its posture.

Thus, it successfully angered the target of its mockery.

"Krugshan, no!"

Hermione was talking as she tried to control her cat, but it had already broken free and pounced—then stopped halfway and stood still.

William's eagle owl spread its wings halfway in its huge cage, instantly making itself enormous and filling the entire cage.

"Meow~!!!"

Crookshan stayed where he was, and after shouting, he perked up his airplane ears, making gurgling sounds from his throat.

It looked like a standoff was about to begin, but William shook his head and walked over.

Then he gently tapped the air with his wand, petrifying it—the cat.

With one hand gripping the scruff of its neck and the other releasing the petrification, William easily lifted the cat. "Let it stay put for a while, this cat is fierce."

Where does it usually sleep?

“In the basket, Professor,” Ron replied excitedly from afar. “That’s it, Professor.”

William readily complied, grabbing the scruff of its neck and placing it inside, while keeping his wand firmly in his other hand. "Lie quietly over there and behave."

Now it's quite obedient—just as William thought, this cat might be as intelligent as Mrs. Lorris from Filch.

“A wonderful cat,” he praised. “There are quite a few students at the castle who keep cats, but I doubt there are many as intelligent as it.”

After saying that, William shouted upstairs, "Fred, George, if you two don't hurry up and try some more tricks, we can start implementing the new school term's confinement plan tomorrow!"

"We don't have any, Professor!"

Shouts came from upstairs, extremely tragic, and sounded very wronged.

But the facts don't lie—after his warning, the Weasleys' luggage was moved much faster, much earlier than William had originally estimated.

-

"Everything packed? Let's go now."

The two drivers sent by the Ministry of Magic were very patient, but they were not Aurors.

William was completely unguarded about the reading list of the young British Aurors—to pass the Auror exam, one had to obtain the ultimate wizard certificate in this subject, and last year he had reviewed the roster of past graduates. He couldn't guarantee anything else, but he could recognize any Auror from the last ten years unless they had undergone a head transplant.

As for disguise, that's a joke. Every potion has its own flavor, and as a reasonably competent apothecary, William is almost impossible to fool with potions.

Unless the other party tries to change the taste, but without a reasonable explanation, the disguised taste will only become more obvious.

'Of course, forget about that girl from before who could change her face naturally; if she turned into a man, I wouldn't even be able to tell…'

'Why am I thinking about all this? Hmm, I'll just sit in the back of the car so Harry and the others don't get lost…'

William made some seating arrangements, letting the Percy Weasleys and Harry sit in the front of the car, while he and the younger children sat in the back.

"Professor, I want to go with Harry."

Ron protested, and William, unable to find an excuse, had no choice but to let him go, but he left the rest of the people behind.

"Let's go, driver."

William sat next to the driver, getting a feel for the Ministry of Magic's vehicle while observing the cars ahead.

'If I were to make any arrangements, I would definitely need to lay in wait in the most vulnerable spot, waiting for Sirius to take the bait... But here's the problem: these magically modified vehicles are also used by the Ministry of Magic...'

'No, I remember the Black family are pure-bloods—they might be able to get their hands on the Ministry's blueprints for the modification and understand its performance.'

"Furthermore, according to my investigation, those pure-bloods who originally supported the Dark Lord might also be secretly helping Sirius. They might not have the courage to take direct action, but they can certainly create obstacles for the Ministry of Magic through various channels."

'The fact that Sirius was able to hide for so long might even have been partly due to their help…'

William's mind raced with countless possibilities, but he never let go of his wand.

Before getting into the car, he briefly checked its safety, and the vehicle itself was fully capable of withstanding the destructive spell he unleashed at his maximum power.

That way, if anything goes wrong up ahead, he can immediately go down and stop the number one Death Eater, stalling until Dumbledore comes to arrest him personally.

'Sooner or later we'll have to face the Dark Lord, and his number one henchman, we'll definitely have to confront him…'

Such thoughts kept popping up and disappearing, but what puzzled William was that he didn't notice anything unusual until the two trains arrived at King's Cross Station.

'Did I overestimate him? Or is he so confident that he's going to harm Harry at Hogwarts?'

This is the best opportunity—if we really get to Hogwarts, then we'll have to face Dumbledore.

'No, there's another good opportunity,' William said, looking at the bustling King's Cross station.

"The entire Hogwarts Express route is a place where ambushes can be set up. Most people would think it's safe there, but it's much easier to board the train halfway there and carry out an assassination than to cause trouble at Hogwarts."

"Although in theory there are professors, prefects, and a lot of wizards with wands in the carriage, in reality there are not many effective guards."

“The prefects probably can’t even protect the students, let alone look after Harry.”

"Sirius could even, if he really set his mind to it, directly attack students to create panic and then carry out an assassination; that way, no one would notice..."

William looked at the station and fell into thought.

"How about I just Apparate there with Harry?"

"That's not a good idea. If I leave the train, and Sirius attacks, without my protection, what will happen to those students..."

He gritted his teeth and realized how bad his situation was.

"The protection mission is indeed the most difficult..."

"I need to get the prefects organized and have them look after the students, then I need to ask the Ministry of Magic to send in some battalion guards to protect the train..."

"If possible, it would be best to notify someone from the school to come."

"Let's do it this way..."

William made up his mind and then stopped the Ministry of Magic staff who were about to leave, directly asking for a way to contact the Ministry of Magic using an owl.

“Yes, Professor, I will find a way to inform the ministers immediately.”

At first, the driver was a little confused, but William just shared his guess, and the driver's expression immediately changed.

Harry's accident was an accident, but a student's accident is also a serious one—if something goes wrong on the Hogwarts Express, then the Minister can resign.

Although he was just a driver for the ministry, the ministry only had two cars, so he had more ways to contact the minister than anyone else!

Chapter 263 The Wheels Are Turning

"It's almost time to leave, Dad."

"Okay, Luna, take care of yourself. I'm getting off now," Xenophilius carefully adjusted the wand behind his daughter's ear, waved goodbye, and then quickly moved to the window below the train, jumping up to give his daughter a bright smile.

"ten,"

He stepped back a little and began to mouth words to Luna through the window.

"Nine,"

……

"one!"

He raised his hand, trying hard to hold back his tears.

However, the Hogwarts Express's fake whistle did not sound, and the train did not depart.

Did I miscalculate?

Xenophilius had this thought in his mind, but he quickly dismissed it—as a magazine that he considered rigorous in exploring the mysteries of the magical world, his watch was very accurate and would not be delayed at all, not to mention that he had specially adjusted the time on the radio last night to take the children to school.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, the parents around him who were seeing him off also noticed something was wrong.

The Hogwarts Express always departs promptly at 11:00 AM, so why is it suddenly slow today?

For a moment, the entire station fell into a rather awkward situation—parents who couldn't control their emotions were everywhere, some couldn't help but shed tears, some couldn't suppress their laughter, and some were shouting that they had suddenly realized the train hadn't left...

Before the parents could even begin to question it, a new group of people suddenly poured into the station's passageway.

These newcomers almost completely violated the rules that had gradually formed over the years when sending students—they wore wizard robes and displayed their wands in very conspicuous places, seemingly without any intention of concealing them.

Amidst the skeptical gazes of the parents, the newcomers quickly assembled in front of the Hogwarts Express, and after the leader gave a speech, they boarded the train directly.

Before the parents who had come to see them off could voice their questions, the Ministry of Magic staff who had accompanied them managed to clear a small space, and then a short, stout man with messy gray hair walked in.

He tapped his wand against his throat, and his voice filled the entire room.

"Dear parents and students, I am Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge."

Please don't panic. There's nothing unusual happening. Those awesome young men who just arrived are our batters. They were specially brought here to accompany the students on their journey to school.

Although the journey to Hogwarts was absolutely safe, I was still a little worried, so I specially brought in these wonderful young men. Their arrival made us feel much more at ease.

The Hogwarts Express will officially depart in ten minutes—well, I think the kids will think the journey is just as great as it used to be, except they might have dinner a little later.

But don't worry, the food at Hogwarts is excellent; they won't go hungry!

The Minister of Magic personally arrived to explain, and with such a team of seemingly elite strikers, the parents no longer had any doubts about the train delay.

After all, it's a good thing that the Ministry of Magic is strengthening the security of the Hogwarts Express, and everyone used to take this train to school, so they highly regard its reliability.

Just as Fudge said, the Hogwarts Express departed a little late, but it drove off smoothly, which pleased the parents who were seeing it off.

"Congratulations, Minister! That speech was excellent. I think your approval rating is going to rise again."

After Fudge set off, the minister's secretary, who was accompanying him, said to Fudge with a cheerful smile.

"It's alright, but if we can't catch Sirius, it'll all be for nothing..." Fudge shook his head with a slightly reserved expression. "Damn it, why did that guy Black have to pull it out the day after I got to prison! Those bastards are still using that as an excuse to attack me, saying that Black pulled it out because of me!"

"What's even more infuriating is that some people actually believed it! What did they think that newspaper was? A door key?"

Fudge got angrier and angrier, and almost swore.

It took him a long time to calm down. "Have the Dementors along the Hogwarts Express been arranged yet?"

"All arranged, Minister."

"That's good. It would be best to capture Black in this operation. If the Aurors catch him, Rufus Scrimgeour will be overjoyed. That old lion has always had ill intentions."