The Return to Hogwarts

"Back then, I often practiced magic or brewed potions in some secluded classrooms in the castle. Starting from the second semester of fifth grade, you and Professor Snape kept a close eye on me. Once, Professor Snape seemed to smell the scent of a potion on me, but he didn't say anything. Out of caution, I wanted to find a safe place to store my potions. I was wandering around this area when I unexpectedly discovered this magical room."

Squeak!

This was a room the size of a church, surrounded by scenery resembling a city. The towering walls were made up of the belongings of thousands of long-deceased students, most of which could be considered junk—expired potions, rotten and moldy food, collapsed bookshelves and boxes, old textbooks, and the like.

Amos Tower led Dumbledore deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine junkyard until they came to an old cabinet with a bubbly surface. At the top of the cabinet sat a half-body statue of a wizard with pockmarked cheeks, and on his dusty old wig was a clear, round indentation.

"Look, this is it—"

Amosta raised his chin and spoke to the solemn-looking Dumbledore.

Dumbledore clutched the broken crown Amostella had given him the night before. He glanced at the statue once, then looked away and began to survey the room he was in.

"It is indeed a good place to hide things. I can roughly guess when Tom hid the crown here."

Dumbledore murmured,

“To be honest, Amosta, you’ve done me a huge favor. For years, I’ve suspected that Voldemort split his own soul, and I believe he may have done it more than once, but I’ve never had any evidence. And you’ve confirmed two of my long-held doubts in just one day.”

Although Dumbledore said this, he did not show any relief. Instead, his shoulders were hunched and his brow drooped as if weighed down by heavy pressure.

Amosta understood why Dumbledore was like this. It was indeed a very troublesome problem. To destroy Voldemort, one must first destroy his Horcruxes. But who knows how many times that madman Voldemort had split his soul?

Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of times a soul can split. As long as your fragmented soul is strong enough to support your body's activities, splitting dozens or even hundreds of times is not a problem. However, in reality, a person's soul cannot be that powerful. It's like a blank sheet of paper that can theoretically be folded countless times, but in reality, it becomes unusable after only a few times.

"So--"

Amostella ignored Dumbledore, who was deep in thought, and walked straight towards the exit.

"If you really think I've provided some insignificant help, Headmaster Dumbledore, then please stop keeping a close eye on me all the time. It's really bothering me!"

Although the muscles in Ron's arm were torn apart by the basilisk's fangs, thanks to Fawkes' tears and Madam Pomfrey's professional treatment, Ron's arm, which was covered in bandages like a mummy, was now able to move. He leaned against the pillow and listened to Harry retell Lockhart's boastful words, which made him so angry that his nose twisted in anger!

"Him? Harry!"

Ron, panting, said, "Without you, Harry, even if Hogwarts went bankrupt, he wouldn't have found the door to the Chamber of Secrets. By the way, didn't Moaning Myrtle get the punishment she deserved?!"

“The Ministry of Magic can’t put a ghost in Azkaban, Ron,” Hermione said rationally, finally regaining her composure. “Professor Blaine also thinks that judging a ghost is a ridiculous and cruel thing.”

"I don't see what's so cruel about it!"

Ron wrinkled his nose and looked at Ginny, who was fast asleep outside several beds after drinking a large glass of chocolate milk laced with sleeping pills. The image of his parents sobbing with worry by Ginny's bedside this morning was still echoing in Ron's mind.

“Speaking of Professor Blaine,” Ron said, looking at Harry, “he has decided to leave, hasn’t he?”

Speaking of this, Hermione's mood soured again, and even Harry sighed, looking worried.

"That's what Headmaster Dumbledore told me anyway. He said Professor Blaine had completed his duties and would be leaving the school soon—"

"This is really terrible,"

Ron seemed to want to cross his arms, but he forgot about the injury on his right arm, and accidentally aggravated the wound, causing him to wince in pain.

"Mom even told me to invite Professor Blaine to our house during summer vacation. Dad also said that he almost saved our whole family. Come to think of it, it's true. He saved Bill and Charlie when he was in school, and now he's saved Ginny and me from the mysterious man and the basilisk. This is a real headache. This is not a favor that can be easily repaid."

“I didn’t save you for gratitude, Mr. Weasley.”

Amostella strode in with a beaming smile, looking at the three young wizards who were quite surprised by his appearance.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Weasley?"

"Oh, much better now, Professor Blaine!" Ron said shyly, his ears turning red, as he gestured with his arms.

Seeing that Ron seemed to be in fairly good spirits, Amosta nodded in satisfaction. He sat on the bed next to them and smiled as he spoke.

"Actually, I have some gifts for you—"

Chapter 95 Gift

"Gift?"

Harry, Harry, and his two friends exclaimed in surprise at the same time. They looked at each other, wondering why Professor Blaine would suddenly give them a gift.

"On one hand, it's my way of commending you, as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, for your courageous confrontation with the memories of the Basilisk and Voldemort; on the other hand, it's to express my gratitude—"

Amosta explained with a smile.

Harry keenly noticed that since last night, Professor Blaine had started calling Voldemort by his full name. Before that, he had always referred to him as "Dark Lord" or "Mysterious Man." To be honest, apart from the three of them, or Headmaster Dumbledore, Harry had only heard the name once from Hagrid. Other wizards would scream in terror at the mere mention of "Voldemort."

But for some reason, Harry didn't seem surprised at all, as if he already knew that a wizard like Professor Blaine wouldn't be afraid of Voldemort.

Just think about it, this is a wizard who, in his fifth year, already had the incredible 'ambition' to defeat Headmaster Dumbledore in the future—Harry thought to himself.

"--If the three of you hadn't been the first to open the Chamber of Secrets, I might have had to go through a lot more trouble to find it. In that case, Ginny might have already met with misfortune. Dumbledore has decided to announce your efforts to everyone at the end-of-term banquet and award you with a special contribution award."

Amosta noticed that Harry and his friends didn't seem particularly surprised, which meant that Dumbledore had clearly informed them of everything beforehand.

"So."

Amosta reached into his pocket and pulled out a broken wand.

“This is my wand!” Ron exclaimed immediately.

“Yes, Mr. Weasley, I found it among a pile of rubble. Apparently you lost it. Unfortunately, the wand is so badly damaged that even I cannot revive it.”

Looking at Ron, who was both distressed and embarrassed as he accepted the wand, Amostah smiled slightly. He took out his money pouch and, to the astonishment of the three little ones, pulled out twenty gleaming Galleons.

Ron's eyes widened, and he almost stopped breathing. He guessed that the money was for him, but he couldn't believe it. To be honest, he had rarely even seen twenty Galleons in his life, let alone owned them!

“This money should be enough for you to buy a new wand, Mr. Weasley. Don’t refuse; it’s a reward for your courage.”

Ron trembled as he accepted the large handful of gold coins. Before he could even think of a word of thanks, Professor Blaine handed him another silver coin, slightly larger than a Galon, with an exquisitely crafted full-body statue of Merlin engraved on its surface.

"This is a commemorative coin specially issued by the International Wizarding Federation to celebrate the centenary of the enactment of the Law of Wizardry Secrecy. Mr. Weasley, I found it by chance and bought it. It's not bad. Your father, Arthur Weasley, drafted the Muggle Protection Act to protect the rights and safety of Muggles. I think it will have a different meaning for you."

Amosta smiled and looked at Ron, who was already somewhat at a loss, and said...

"But I hope you'll keep it, instead of selling it for money!"

“I swear to you, Professor Blaine!”

Ron, finally regaining his senses, took the slightly warm commemorative coin. His voice trembled with excitement.

"I will take this silver coin to my grave!"

Looking at Ron, who seemed to adore the silver coin, Amostella's eyes flashed with a deep smile. Then, he turned his gaze to Hermione.

Hermione was probably the saddest person about his departure.

Well, Professor Blaine's words about 'life and loneliness' resonated with her quite a bit. Although she couldn't fully empathize with him yet due to her age, she was also amazed by Professor Blaine's achievements in spell innovation. Previously, Hermione's goal in studying was to acquire more knowledge, but she rarely thought about 'developing' new knowledge herself.

The gift Amosta gave Hermione was not surprising: a tattered magic book.

Hermione was almost impatient when she took the book. Her slender fingers brushed over the gold-embossed title "Simplified Theory of Ancient Spells" on the cover, and Professor Blaine's explanation echoed in her ears.

"This book may be a bit too advanced for you right now, Miss Granger, but you can try studying it first. It will give you a deep understanding of the history of the simplification and evolution of spell models, and I think it will be of great help if you want to achieve something in spell innovation in the future."

Hermione opened the cover and found a date written in blue ink by Professor Blaine on the first page, which introduced Yurik Gump's life. The writing looked very fresh, as if it had been written recently.

"Professor Blaine—"

Hermione didn't immediately investigate the meaning behind Professor Blaine's seemingly random date. She looked up at Professor Blaine, her lips slightly pursed, her expression one of deep sadness.

"Aren't you really considering staying and continuing to teach? I mean, many people think you're more experienced than Professor Lockhart in teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Just... a little better?" Ron rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "That guy's an idiot. He's good at sucking up and spouting nonsense though!"

Many young wizards already know that Amostella is about to leave Hogwarts, and they all express their reluctance to see him go. To be honest, it's impossible for Amostella not to feel a pang of sadness when faced with these emotional young wizards.

However, compared to staying at Hogwarts and teaching under Dumbledore's nose, Amosta undoubtedly prefers to adventure in the vast world. His strength has already surpassed the point where he can improve by studying hard at his desk. Only by constantly broadening his knowledge and experience and fighting with more wizards can he possibly take another step forward!

In addition, the professor's meager annual salary was simply insufficient to meet his needs.

Of course, perhaps one day he will return to this pure land in the memories of countless people, but that may be many years from now.

Harry, who was already quite impatient, finally saw Professor Blaine turn his gaze to him. His eyes were eager, wondering what he would receive.

"Maybe it will be a Nimbus 2001?"

Harry excitedly speculated, but then he thought, he already had a very good flying broom, there was no need to change to another one. Just as his mind was filled with these wild thoughts, Professor Blaine's words surprised all three of them.

"About you, Potter--"

Amosta knew his words would disappoint Harry, but he continued anyway.

I don't have anything to give you right now.

Hermione and Ron were stunned. They looked at Harry, whose wide eyes clearly showed disappointment, and then looked at Professor Blaine in confusion, not understanding why the professor would leave Harry out of the picture. It was Harry who thought of the location of the Chamber of Secrets first. If Professor Blaine wanted to reward someone, then Harry should be the first to receive it!

"Or rather, I do have something to give you, Potter, but it will have to wait a while."

Harry blinked, not understanding what Professor Blaine was trying to say, but suddenly, he exclaimed in surprise,

"Professor, you mean you'll go back to Hogwarts, right?!"

Hermione and Ron also realized what was happening. They held their breath and stared expectantly at Professor Blaine, hoping to get a positive answer!

I guess that's how it will be.

The job was done. Amosta stood up with a wry smile, turned and walked towards the door, waving his arm above his head.

"I'll probably stay a few more days. I won't say goodbye to you all separately then. Have a wonderful time!"