From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Monta paused for a moment, then quickened his pace—this was too much; he hadn't even suffered such a serious injury in the Triwizard Tournament…

Chapter 513 Hogwarts is unhappy

"The professor isn't on the train..."

"Yes, this is really a headache... and Professor Slughorn's invitation... It's strange, why would he think of inviting two penniless guys like us?"

The twins boarded the Hogwarts Express and whispered to each other as they walked.

This was their last year at Hogwarts, and after an unpleasant holiday, they still hadn't made a final decision about the shop near Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, so they decided to ask their former self-defense professor.

A professor who rarely gives students scholarships, grants, and enough patience to communicate is highly respected by the two men—they are eager to hear his opinion on the shop.

But now a professor has come to invite the two of them, which is very strange—they only have one year left to stay at Hogwarts, so what is that professor thinking?

"Yes, it's strange—it's common for him to call us to his office for pranks, but inviting us to lunch in the dining car is really..."

Despite their doubts, neither of them stopped walking.

Let alone a meal, even solitary confinement—aside from a few professors, which professor haven't been confined? Consider it just a check-in to collect records—they don't care about the worst solitary confinement, so what else are they afraid of?

-

"Albus is still a good friend."

Slughorn hummed a little tune as he finalized the specifications for lunch.

Normally, no professor would make such thorough preparations for the Hogwarts Express—but he was different.

Through his powerful network of connections and ample Galleons, the Hogwarts Express's dining car was specially stocked with extra portions, and magically kept warm and flavorful.

A week before boarding the train, he had almost finished his homework—he obtained the student list from Albus and then began to study where the students came from and which important figures they had close relationships with based on their surnames.

After doing all this, he also obtained recent student report cards from Dumbledore and wrote to several junior colleagues to inquire about the students' talents.

Although it didn't work out with Minerva, there were many professors on campus, and everyone knew about the retired former headmaster of Slytherin's quirks. Plus, he was coming to teach this year, which made it very easy for him to get information about the students' performance.

After all, everyone knows that this professor wouldn't make things difficult for students in class because of their background or lineage; he just likes to collect information on outstanding students after class and compare them...

"That Professor William is quite a remarkable fellow... It's a pity he's already a professor..."

Slughorn muttered to himself with a hint of regret, "But his special exams are really a good reference... and those report cards are so convenient..."

"The guests will be arriving in a little while. Should I walk around the train one more time to see if I can find any promising talents?"

"Oh, and the two youngest Weasley children—the previous children all seemed quite promising, especially Percy; Professor William seemed to value him highly..."

"Those twins' grades have also improved by leaps and bounds; they have great potential. It's said that they've even caught the eye of that cunning guy, Karkaroff. They must be quite talented..."

"I wonder what about the other two—why aren't they in fifth grade yet?"

He complained, even blaming Professor William for being too lenient with students below the fourth grade, which resulted in a severe lack of data for him to refer to.

-

"Ah!"

William sneezed, then glared at the fish swimming provocatively not far from the shore.

It was ridiculous—he had clearly already cast his line ahead, but the fish didn't take the bait. Instead, it drifted closer to him, poked its head out of the water, and began to mock him with its mouth and nose opening and closing.

At first, William was very lenient with it—he fished for food, not used magic to bring fish up to eat.

But as the sneeze sounded, he changed his mind—this guy was too arrogant, he couldn't let him get away with it.

Seeing that the guy floated to the surface and started taunting again, he stretched out his left hand and gently touched the water. A piece of ice quickly formed where he touched, freezing the clueless guy inside.

“William!”

Adams' voice rang out from afar. William quickly waved his left hand, magically summoning the fish and the ice block over. Then, he lightly tapped the ice block, casually reeled in his fishing rod, and turned around. "I'm over here!"

"Fishing? This one's pretty big—should I steam it?"

“Of course,” William nodded. “Are you done with things in the greenhouse?”

"I'm done with work."

As Adams pulled kitchen utensils from his bag, he replied to William, "By the way, did you know something interesting happened today?"

"What's new—the students have brought out another flying car this time?"

William used Transfiguration to create a more convenient dining area, and without turning his head, asked, "Hogwarts won't be able to get to school for a whole day on the tracks. There are only a few professors on campus, so what exciting things could there be?"

"The students haven't even arrived yet, but something very interesting has happened on this year's class schedule!"

"curriculum?"

William stopped what he was doing. "A new professor came this year, the one named Slughorn? Didn't everyone know about him a few days ago?"

He did know the professor—he still had a copy of the Slytherin slush fund's bill from back then, and the professor's fondness for banquets had caused him a lot of trouble.

Dumbledore even asked the professor for his transcript—after considering that the professor's hobby wasn't training Death Eaters, he promptly gave it to him.

Is this even news?

He tried hard not to look at Adams, to avoid Adams noticing his barely suppressed laughter.

"No, not that one. Slughorn is an old professor; many people know about him if you ask around—it's Snape!"

"Snape? Oh—that's right!"

William suddenly realized that if Slughorn came to Snape's side, it would indeed be a big problem. Unlike him, who was the most senior in the Self-Defense Office, Slughorn, as Snape's professor, would cause a lot of trouble if he came.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Adams laughed heartily, “but it’s not just that. Professor Snape is actually teaching… puhaha, divination!”

Adams laughed so hard that the fish jumped out of his hands.

William wasn't much better off; his transformation spell almost failed. He withdrew his hand and looked at Adams seriously. "Fortune telling?"

"That's right, divination!"

The two of them burst into joyful laughter at the same time.

There's no way around it—divination is a subject where those who know it don't need to be taught, and those who don't know it simply can't be taught.

Most wizards are not good at this and hardly rely on it, so the grades in this course are not very valuable.

The course was already heavily biased, but due to some minor conflicts with the university's professors, Vice Principal Professor McGonagall publicly stated several times in class that the material was a scam, making the course's status even more awkward.

"How did he come up with the idea of ​​teaching divination? It's such a waste of talent..."

William laughed for a long time before stopping—Professor Snape was definitely a master of Potions, teaching divination was, frankly, a waste of talent.

"This does have something to do with you..."

Adams chuckled as he picked up the fish. "I heard Professor Snape is determined to reform the curriculum to see if increasing the difficulty of the exams would be applicable to other subjects as well—but he's hesitant to drastically change Potions for fear of affecting the grades. Since Professor Slughorn is coming, he's thinking of giving it a try..."

"Practice? Indeed—practicing divination in class isn't a bad idea..."

William nodded—the divination exam was rigid, and the materials were all the same. Using it for practice might be a little disrespectful to the current professor, but it was acceptable if handled properly.

'Hopefully, next year won't be Professor McGonagall practicing her divination skills; otherwise, Professor Trelawney will probably be furious…'

"Hey William, where's the fish injured? I can't see the hook..."

Adams suddenly asked a question—which immediately distracted William from his divination—"Inside, inside, this guy almost swallowed the hook..."

-

"It's been a long time."

Voldemort sat behind his desk in Ilvermorny's Defense Against the Dark Arts office, looking at his followers who dared not even breathe.

"It's been a very long time, a very long time. Your speed has disappointed me immensely."

His snake-like eyes swept over his newly recruited followers. "Who can tell me how much longer it will be before I see those two men, who have been on the run for six months, in this office?"

"Lord Dark Lord..."

A newly recruited follower mustered his courage and called out, only to be startled by those glowing red eyes, "Master..."

"Go ahead."

“We suspect someone is helping him. That former headmaster—he seems to have left the American wizarding world and gone to Canada. We've cast a Imperius Charm on the wizards at the immigration office; they should be able to find him soon…”

"I hope this time it's for real..."

“I won’t let you down, Master…”

The Death Eater withdrew, and then another Death Eater, eager to show off, shouted in a shrill voice, "Master! I managed to subdue a councilman!"

"Well done, Joe."

Voldemort nodded.

"I have control over one of the Speaker of Congress's personal bodyguards and know his whereabouts!"

……

"I've located the Woolworth Building, which is the Magical Congress, and I'm ready to break through its defenses!"

...

"I've made contact with the banished werewolf!"

……

Because one Death Eater received praise, the others became excited and quickly reported their achievements one after another—under the Dark Lord's command, they used Evamony as their base to recruit recently graduated young people and then began to infiltrate the Magical Congress using various convenient conditions.

The newly learned dark magic became the best weapon, and the Dark Lord, as the leader, won the hearts and minds of all purebloods—power, fear, fame… everything they imagined, everything these people who had just entered the magical society longed for, was delivered through the shell of dark magic.

"Go and do it, my Death Eaters. We will make sure that a true wizard enjoys everything he deserves."

Voldemort's hoarse voice rang out, and the Death Eaters' faces showed an almost worshipful expression.

They stood up, bowed, and then turned and left.

When the last Death Eater left, he carefully closed the door, as if afraid of disturbing the Death Eaters inside.

"Still, too weak, too weak..."

Voldemort stroked the Slytherin wand and sighed—the Death Eaters, the most easily seduced group, even after learning enough dark magic, still lacked in strength.

He needs more power; he needs more useful Death Eaters.

However, relying on the school, it would be difficult to find Death Eaters strong enough to threaten the Aurors in a short period of time—unless the old guard was brought in.