The Return to Hogwarts

The Return to Hogwarts

Author: Huashuijun

Summary:

After graduating, Amostrath Blaine went into hiding under an assumed name in the British wizarding underworld.

He walks on the edge of light and darkness, dances at the crossroads of life and death, and uses the rewards from commissioned tasks to support his magical journey and to repay the orphanage for its nurturing.

Until one day, he was lured back to Hogwarts by a mission with ulterior motives, and from then on, his predetermined fate once again led him back to his homeland!

Chapter 1 The Shadow Under the Glory

1992 12 Month 27 Day.

Christmas has just passed, and Oxford Street in London's West End is already bustling with activity, as groups of Muggles dressed in brand-new clothes take to the streets. Children laugh and play, and young people who have arranged to meet exchange heartfelt New Year's greetings. Everyone cherishes a longing for a better life, and even the heavy snowfall cannot dampen the smiles on their faces.

For wizards, Christmas is also the most important holiday of the year, but wizard families celebrate Christmas in a way that is completely different from that of Muggles.

They preferred to stay indoors in the warmth, listening to the crackling of the fire in the fireplace, sitting under a Christmas tree adorned with silver frost and mistletoe, discussing Quidditch or the latest news.

Therefore, Diagon Alley, as the commercial center of wizards, is always particularly deserted during the New Year's Day period, not to mention Knockturn Alley, which is usually sparsely populated.

Clang, clang, click!

Amosta, shrouded in a large black cloak, stepped down from the Gringotts-style trolley. Despite feeling nauseous, he could only maintain a nonchalant demeanor to preserve his aloof persona.

The air was thick with the stench of fermented slug mucus soaking in rotting frog entrails. The uneven ground was damp, and rows of upside-down torches hung neatly in the air, their glowing green light casting an eerie, ghostly light over the huge, fan-shaped underground cavern.

Amosta's gaze swept around, and two hundred feet to his left, in the 'pet' market, a giant monster, a full fifteen feet tall, with its limbs firmly bound by iron chains as thick as bowls, sat slumped on the ground, almost blending into the dark rock wall.

Its owner was a gap-toothed old witch from Moldova who brought it here hoping to sell the giant for a good price so she could use the money to treat her dragonpox.

Unfortunately, it has been on the market for two years, but still no one is interested.

At that moment, the old witch was leaning on the slave's toes, cursing and swearing at a large group of house-elves beside her for polluting the environment.

They were a group of house-elves who had lost their owners and were now free.

Of course, describing the elves as 'free' is tantamount to describing the centaurs as 'beasts,' and you certainly won't get gratitude in return.

These poor little creatures mostly belonged to small wizard families or mystical schools. Their masters disappeared into the river of time for various reasons, which led to the elves being forced to gain their freedom.

For house-elves, being without an owner is a terrible thing; it almost deprives them of their value. So, the little guys have spontaneously gathered here, hoping to find themselves a new owner.

But to be honest, apart from some dark wizards who need living subjects to experiment with the effects of spells and potions, generally no one pays any attention to them.

The troll was quite friendly to the elves. Amosta once witnessed the ravenous troll slap several of them to death and stuff them into its mouth, crunching them with great relish.

Besides trolls and elves, in the 'pet' market that smells almost like a toilet, you can also find many other interesting creatures, such as centaurs who have lost the protection of their tribe, Veelas that have been accidentally captured (a hot commodity), vampires locked in cages, or Irish lemurs and other excellent live specimens.

Basically, aside from particularly taboo magical creatures like dragons and unicorns, you can find the vast majority of magical creatures currently existing in the magical world in the underground pet market.

The market below the rock wall on the right still retains the simple style of medieval Europe, but the things sold on the stalls casually placed on the ground are not so simple.

The book records black magic originating from ancient Greece, potions that greatly enhance magical power but have unknown side effects, and alchemical items that can instantly annihilate a large number of lives—in short, compared to those things, the goods sold in Bojin's shop can only be considered prank products that little wizards like to play. Here, the devil's web is only fit to be used as a decorative potted plant.

Amostella even saw the seed of the Black Death curse that had wiped out all of Europe from an Italian wizard. According to the wizard who sold it, the curse in his possession had been weakened, but if it were to spread, it wouldn't be too difficult to wipe out a city of Muggles.

Of course, the curse seed comes with an astonishing price that matches its effects; otherwise, Amosta would really like to buy it and study it.

And this is the dark side of the magical world, a true lawless place.

After a while, feeling better, Amosta started walking towards the center of the cave, gradually joining the sparse crowd.

Most of the people who frequent this place wear black robes, as they do not want their true faces to be seen.

Only a small number of unscrupulous madmen and wizards who happened to be passing through England dared to show their faces in front of the surveillance personnel who had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic.

Yes, you heard that right.

The underworld of Knockturn Alley is secretly inhabited by Aurors, but their presence is merely to monitor the area and prevent anything 'out of line' from happening, not to eradicate them, unless the Ministry of Magic wants to wage war against all the remaining ancient schools of wizarding and dark wizards in Britain.

In the center of the cave, a square area enclosed by a low granite wall is the underground world's commission market. At one end of the wall stands a tall notice board, with hundreds of commission forms shimmering with crimson magical contract light, silently waiting for someone to peel them down.

Amosta stood under the sign and scanned the area, but finding no valuable commissions, he turned around, found a stone bench, and sat down to wait for his trading partner to arrive.

Perhaps because of the New Year, there were hardly any people here. In the large area, only two people were whispering to each other about ten feet to the right rear.

One of them, an old wizard dressed in a brown linen robe, with a bald head covered in pustules and scabies, looked up at Amosta when he heard the noise.

Seemingly disdainful of Amosta's practice of hiding his true face under the twisted vortex of magic, he bared his teeth, revealing only a few yellow teeth, and hissed out a foul stench. His face, half charred like the bark of an old tree after being roasted, and the other half covered with pink, tentacle-like, wildly wriggling buds, was extremely ferocious.

However, when the old wizard noticed the golden snake embroidered on Amosta's collar, he quickly suppressed his disgusting smile, nodded politely, and looked away.

Amostella, however, became somewhat interested in the old wizard's intriguing face.

If he's not mistaken, it must be damage caused by a failed attempt to unleash a soul-severing spell during the creation of the Horcrux, resulting in severe magical backlash.

As far as Amosta knew, there was only one thing that could slow the spread of this curse's damage, and the conversation between the two that followed confirmed his guess.

"It's very difficult and very dangerous. You should know where you can find unicorns in all of Britain!"

The thin, bamboo-like wizard opposite the old wizard took out a glass from under his black robe. The shimmering silver liquid inside was extremely conspicuous in the dark underground world. He spoke cautiously.

The old wizard understood what he meant. He let out a sharp, cold laugh, and pulled a fist-sized piece of mithril from his robes, tossing it onto the table.

“Of course, of course. Even here, not many people would dare to provoke Dumbledore. I’ve been waiting for this for a while. You have a lot of guts, and I admire you for it.”

Transactions in the underworld are always straightforward, with little haggling. If an agreement can't be reached, the other party is simply eliminated.

Amosta watched the old wizard with great interest, and after seeing him take the glass, sniff it carefully, and then pour it into his mouth, a hint of amusement appeared on his face behind the blurred light.

There is one point that must be mentioned here.

Because of the flaws in traditional magic education, wizards of different schools can often become extremely proficient in a certain area, but may be just as terribly ignorant as apprentices who have just come into contact with magic in another area. Modern magic education, which is based in schools, is unlikely to produce any extraordinary talents, but at least it is more balanced.

A balanced knowledge base is very important.

At least in the current deal, no qualified student of Hogwarts OWL level would be fooled by a confusion potion that has been used to cast a transformation spell and added two unicorn feathers.

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Chapter 2 The snipe and the clam fight

"How dare you-"

Many stories have predictable endings from the very beginning. Suddenly, an angry howl erupts from the eerie underworld, as sharp as a werewolf's roar upon seeing a full moon.

"tease--"

Three seconds after taking the intoxicating potion, the old wizard slammed his fist on the table and stood up. The dense pustules and scabies on his head quickly turned from red to purple, and then from purple to black. Then, like a potion about to be brewed, they began to boil. The fleshy thorns on his face also became excited. They twisted and grew rapidly, as if they couldn't wait to detach from the old wizard's face.

"Great—"

The old wizard was furious, his intonation revealing his rage. He raised a short, thick staff with a jewel at the top, as if to deliver a vicious curse to the one who had deceived him.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten that he was no longer able to control his violent and evil magic. His act of casting a spell only made his chaotic and disordered magic even more out of control. He was like a wax figure being roasted on a flame, melting rapidly from the top of his head to his whole body.

In the blink of an eye, the person who was just alive turned into a pool of black pus on the ground!

"Excuse me, great... what?"

The skinny bamboo pole who was trading with the old wizard gave a strange sneer. He grabbed the mithril from the table and stuffed it into his robe. Then, he walked over to the pile of pus, examined it for a few moments, and pulled out the old wizard's staff from inside. By the light of the torches floating in mid-air, he carefully examined the ruby ​​at the top of the staff.

Even through the black cloth, Amosta could sense the smugness on his face.

The skinny guy noticed the gaze and turned to look at Amosta with a hostile expression, seemingly thinking Amosta was going to double-cross him. He then threatened in a low voice,

"In this place, greed and boundless curiosity can cost you your life at any moment, Golden Viper. Don't think that just because you've torn apart a few large wolfhounds, everyone will fear you—"

Amosta smiled dismissively. He lowered his head and stared intently at the pool of solution. After a long while, an old, hoarse voice came from under his hood.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Liar, but you seem to have forgotten one thing: besides greed and curiosity, carelessness can also be extremely fatal."

"what?"

In the instant that the skinny bamboo pole froze in shock, a black shadow with scarlet eyes suddenly emerged from the pile of pus on the ground. The shadow, like the Grim Reaper, hovered in mid-air and let out a shrill roar at the skinny bamboo pole.

"Embrace death with me, you shameless wretch!"

The shadowy figures in the air were beyond the comprehension of the skinny bamboo pole. He had no intention of fighting them and turned to run away, but unfortunately, every inch of the underground world was bound by the Anti-Apparition Charm, and the nearest fireplace was at least half a mile away.

Before the skinny bamboo pole could even run over the low wall, the enormous shadow resembling the Grim Reaper had already caught up with him. It swooped down from mid-air to the ground, its blood-red maw filled with sharp teeth instantly swallowing the skinny bamboo pole's body and his screams!

Squeak, squeak, squeak--

The teeth-grinding chewing sound reached his ears clearly, while blood mixed with white bone fragments and brain matter cascaded to the ground like a stream. The thick, foul smell of blood made Amosta frown inwardly.

The old wizard's death form was merely a struggle before death, unable to endure in the world.

Having avenged its death, the shadowy figure quickly faded. Before disappearing completely, it turned and stared intently at Amosta, its hoarse voice filled with resentment.

"You knew it was fake, but you didn't warn me!"

Why do you blame others for your own stupidity?

Amosta said coldly, "You'd better disappear before I become interested in your current form, or I wouldn't mind letting you live in a glass bottle for decades before sending you to hell."

He couldn't refute Amosta's words. The shadow sighed helplessly, looked around with lingering affection, and then his figure completely faded away as he strode towards death.