The Return to Hogwarts

Chapter 169 Let's just say it's Blake.

The effect is remarkable!

Dumbledore's magic greatly suppressed the raging Fiendfire; the wall of Fiendfire, as tall as a city wall, was essentially cut in half, with most of it vanishing into thin air.

In the blink of an eye, the wall of fire, as if injected with a height-enhancing agent, regained its height, giving no one a chance to take advantage.

Such a result made not only others but even Dumbledore's azure gaze turn serious. He looked through the cracks in the flickering flames at the dark wizard outside the wall of fire, and saw the dark wizard bow again before disappearing completely with a piercing bang!

"Don't run, you despicable bastard!"

Dexter, loyal to the Ministry of Magic and to Minister Cornelius Fudge, could not accept this outcome. He immediately Apparated in an attempt to break through the wall of fire, but his actions were undoubtedly impulsive. Not to mention that the presence of Fiendfire made the magic in this area very unstable, the Fiendfire wall itself was also covered with magic added by Amostall that prevented teleportation.

Just as Delilah's body disappeared into thin air, the next second, he was squeezed out of the space, his body covered in pale flames, and fell to the ground screaming in agony.

Dumbledore's sleeves rustled as he waved them, and the Fiendfire on Dumbledore's body seemed to be drawn to the tip of his elder wand. While Snape rushed over to draw out various potions to heal Dumbledore, he stared intently at the Fiendfire that was spraying sparks like a fountain, without uttering a word.

"Albus--"

Kingsley's voice was no longer as steady as before. His dark face, scorched by the unexpectedly stable flames, was covered in sweat, and his eyes revealed intense unease.

"I'm sure you can handle these flames, right?"

“It will just take a little time, Kingsley,”

Dumbledore glanced at Drax, who had recovered with Snape's help, and the wrinkles on his forehead deepened. He then focused his gaze on the cage-like wall of fire and spoke in a calm tone.

Immediately afterwards, Dumbledore pointed his wand forward again, and with a whooshing sound of air gushing forth, the pale color of the Fiendfire quickly faded, and after only three to five seconds, it became as transparent as water, until it completely disappeared.

call!

The strikers, who had narrowly escaped death, all let out a series of sighs like car tires deflating. Tonks, leaning on her Comet 260, whose branches had turned black, subconsciously fiddled with her hair, only to unexpectedly feel the moisture in her palm. Upon closer inspection, she realized that her wizard robes were soaked with sweat!

"Is there any way to catch up with him, Albus?" Kingsley asked Dumbledore, his expression revealing his reluctance.

"I'm afraid that's difficult, Kingsley—"

Dumbledore gazed at the spot where the Dark Wizard had just stood, and said thoughtfully, "When that person Apparated away, he erased all traces of his magic, even mine—"

Fox tilted his head and gently pecked Dumbledore's cheek, his jewel-like eyes blinking as if questioning him.

Dumbledore glanced calmly at Fawkes, then his gaze fell on the alleyway where 'Black' had first been discovered. His expression hardened as he noticed the ransacked ground and the typhoon-ravaged roof of the Muggle room.

"Now, what I want to know more about is exactly how many people have been harmed."

Ten minutes later, Tonks brought the answer to the question.

"--Secretary Umbridge and his men stopped the Muggle government officials. Mr. Crouch was directing the Reversal of Accidental Magic Team to erase the memories of Muggles. The Office for the Prevention of Magical Misuse was also helping. The Muggles were quite frightened, but only two Muggles twisted their legs while going downstairs--"

"And what about the Ministry of Magic?" Dumbledore remained unmoved and continued to press.

"A few guys were knocked unconscious when they fell off their flying brooms, but they're all awake now. Anyway, there's not much of a person here!"

Tonks looked at Delilah, who was sitting on the ground with his arms wrapped in bandages and his face pale with pain, and showed some sympathy.

All the Ministry of Magic strikers, including Kingsley, fell silent. No one believed that the outcome was merely a matter of luck; none of them had consumed Felix Felicis before this operation.

It's an utter disgrace that a reckless dark wizard would show mercy to elite wizards, carefully selected by the Ministry of Magic to deal with criminals!

"very good--"

Dumbledore nodded, seemingly having anticipated this outcome.

"I just came from the Muggle Prime Minister to ask him to cooperate with the Ministry of Magic's operations!"

Cornelius Fudge appeared, wearing a striped cloak over his pajamas. This time, he wasn't wearing his usual comical dark green top hat, and his messy gray hair was exposed. Judging from his flustered expression, he was in a very anxious state.

"Dolores sent me a message saying you think that person isn't Blake? That's terrible. One Blake has already given us a huge headache, and now another one has shown up!"

The shocking cracks in the ground made Fudge gasp. His gaze swept quickly over the Ministry of Magic employees, not even lingering on the heavily injured Dexter.

"He ran away, didn't he, Dumbledore, right under your nose?"

Fudge wiped the sweat dripping from his brow, tilting his head back to look at Dumbledore in disbelief, his tone suggesting a reproach for not fulfilling his duty.

“What will people say about us, Dumbledore? It’s been over a month and we still haven’t found Black. Now some dark wizard who’s appeared out of nowhere is causing chaos right under the noses of over a hundred Ministry of Magic elites and Dumbledore himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if people run away in panic!”

Fudge's upper lip was turned up, completely unaware that his behavior was only exacerbating people's panic.

"--We need to have a serious talk, Dumbledore. We need to come up with an explanation that people can accept. And what about the Muggles? I didn't know the situation before I came here. I told the Muggle prime minister that we were close to catching Black."

“I think you can stick to that, Connelly.”

Dumbledore had lost patience with Fudge's rambling; his stern tone betrayed his impatience.

"If you can't find a way to keep people calm, keeping the Daily Prophet quiet, or spreading rumors that the dark wizard who appeared tonight is Black, would be good options. Sorry, Connelly, I have something I need to confirm in person and have to leave Severus."

Dumbledore looked at Snape, his gaze inquiring about the extent of Drax's injuries.

"no problem."

Snape put away his bottles and jars, stood up, and spoke succinctly with a serious expression.

Fawkes spread his magnificent wings and enveloped Dumbledore and Snape. Under Fudge's astonished gaze and the bewildered Ministry of Magic strikers, he quickly uttered, "If you have any further questions, you can write to me," and then disappeared into Grimmauld Place with a soft "poof."

P.S.: The story returns to Hogwarts. Please continue to subscribe; thank you very much!

Chapter 170 How to deal with it

As night deepened, the bright moonlight and the constant crashing of waves against the cliffs accompanied Hogwarts Castle for millennia. The first week of school was drawing to a close, and the energetic young wizards had passed their initial excitement. Tonight, apart from the clanging of armor in the castle, the occasional whispering of portraits that had stayed up all night, and Peeves's usual patrol of the territory, all was quiet and peaceful.

"You know who that person is, right?"

In front of the two ugly stone monsters on the eighth floor, Professor Snape questioned Dumbledore expressionlessly.

"What has caused this misunderstanding, Severus?"

Dumbledore twitched his aged face in surprise, his waist-length beard gleaming silver in the moonlight streaming through the window, and his eyes looked quite innocent.

Snape moved his thin, cold lips, but didn't ask another question. Instead, he turned and left.

In the past, he might have had a serious argument with Dumbledore, but today his emotions were in turmoil. After confirming that the dark wizard was not Sirius Black, he no longer wanted to deal with the matter, even though the dark wizard had caused Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic considerable trouble.

Dumbledore stood still, watching Snape fly away until his figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor, then lowered his silver eyebrows and turned to walk into his office.

Fawkes, who rarely gets to move around, has fallen asleep on the golden branch in the brazier. Dumbledore leans back in his office chair, his long fingers interlaced on his desk, silently gazing at the portraits of the past Hogwarts headmasters hanging on the wall.

According to the usual routine of these portraits, they should also be asleep at this time, but tonight, none of the portraits are asleep. They stay quietly in their frames, their eyes all fixed on the empty frame behind Armando Dippert.

The waiting process was incredibly long. The previous headmasters couldn't bear the loneliness and went from room to room, talking quietly. Only Dumbledore, the only living person in this office, maintained admirable patience.

"It's been confirmed, Dumbledore!"

Finally, the original owner of the empty picture frame returned. Before anyone could ask, it spoke in a joyful voice,

"No, during this time, apart from an old house-elf, there has been nothing alive in the Black manor. My clever great-grandson has not been back."

"clever?!"

The portrait of Armando Dippert speaks in a very harsh voice, “Principal Black, I suppose you know that your ‘clever great-great-grandson’ is a filthy, stinking traitor, don’t you?”

Armando Dippert's blatant mockery stirred up a hornet's nest, and Phineas immediately started shouting!

It barked its goatee into the portrait of Deppet and started arguing with him, shouting things like "The noble Black family," "Wisengamo must have made a mistake," "The child is innocent," and "You're targeting him." If Ms. Delis de Winter hadn't pulled them back in time, a spectacular headmaster's duel might have taken place in the office.

Tap, tap—

"Please keep quiet, everyone. I cannot let this historic office be ruined in my hands."

Dumbledore tapped the table with his fingers and said calmly.

The orders of the then-headmaster of Hogwarts had a strong binding force on these portraits. Under Dumbledore's intervention, the portraits returned to their respective frames. The portraits of Armando Dippet and Phineas Black were placed side by side, but they were looking in different directions and ignoring each other.

Even after her death, the highly respected Ms. Delis continued to ask that crucial question on behalf of all the principals.

"You surely know why that kid wanted to break into the Black family mansion, don't you, Albus?"

"Oh, that's a problem--"

Dumbledore removed the half-moon frame from his nose, gently rubbing his temples while smiling helplessly. "I have some guesses, and I think mine are very close to the truth."

"What is it?" Ms. Delis pressed.

“That’s not important, Delis—” Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, exhausted, “The important thing is that he did it.”

The topic of Amosta Blaine had clearly been discussed more than once in this office. The portrait artists knew how much Albus Dumbledore valued the young man, and seeing Amosta once again take such an almost 'crazy' action, their hearts couldn't help but feel a shadow of unease.

"Speaking of -"

The kind-hearted Ms. Delis hesitated for a moment. "Could there be a mistake, Albus? According to you, that dark wizard hid his magic very well. Perhaps, I mean, you have to admit that everyone makes mistakes sometimes, right?"

“I don’t need looks or magic to recognize someone, Delis--”

Dumbledore's deep blue eyes gleamed as he spoke gently.

The office fell silent again. According to the majority of the headmasters, they believed that Dumbledore should send Amostella to Azkaban, but in reality, they all knew that even with Dementors guarding the area, Azkaban probably couldn't control a wizard of that caliber.

"Evil is evil, Albus."

Armando Dipet said firmly, "We should nip evil in the bud while we still have the ability to do so. Albus, if Azkaban can't control that disobedient brat, then you should just kill him!"

"I finally figured it out!"