The Return to Hogwarts

The great iron gates of Hogwarts slammed shut with a deep, metallic clang.

A gentle breeze sings in the evening; I came alone, and I left alone as well.

"Goodbye, Professor Snape, have a nice day--"

Amosta waved goodbye, turned and walked away, striding into the boundless darkness without looking back.

P.S.: Let's go, Hogwarts!

Chapter 98 Daily Life (Part 1)

On a starless night, only a bright, full moon hangs high in the branches. The raging waves, driven by the strong wind, crash against the reefs with tremendous force. The thunderous roar is breathtaking, but it still cannot suppress the chilling atmosphere in the air of a huge palm grove not far from the shore!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several streaks of red light, accompanied by a piercing shriek, tore through the stillness of the night, causing the deep night to churn violently.

"Damn it, it's the Aurors! We've been ambushed!"

Inside the forest, seven or eight wizards dressed in black robes were thrown into chaos. At the front of the group, a tall wizard roared.

More than twenty Aurors from the British Ministry of Magic emerged one after another from behind the sparse palm trees. Dexter, the commander, smiled broadly as he watched the panicked dark wizards.

"If you are willing to surrender, you scum, the Wizengamot Inquisition may show leniency and give you enough time to say goodbye to your loved ones before you are imprisoned in Azkaban!"

Wow!

This area had been sealed off by the Anti-Apparition Charm, so teleporting away was out of the question. Amid the chaotic crowd, a wizard suddenly transformed into a phantom, soaring into the sky and disappearing into the unfathomable night.

His departure caused the group of intercepted dark wizards to curse angrily, and also made the faces of the Aurors led by Delilah darken.

"Kingsley, Robazs, you take a team to the left. Sevic, Tonks, you go to the right. Let's get these despicable smugglers to jail!"

The perilous battle began immediately. Intense explosions turned the palm grove, which had driven out Muggles, into a sea of ​​fire. The earth trembled, the night swayed, and in the scorching air, the sharp whistling of cursed light tearing through space and the agonizing howls of wizards echoed from time to time!

The well-trained Aurors worked in perfect harmony, gradually eroding the dark wizards' living space. However, these ruthless dark wizards were not ones to be trifled with. Although they fought individually, they were not afraid to use magic that could easily take lives. The situation was deadlocked for a time, and neither side could do anything to the other.

The golden viper, floating a mile above the ground, coldly stared at the battlefield below, seemingly plotting something.

Two months ago, an expedition team from Gringotts, Egypt, unearthed a vast quantity of extremely valuable ancient artifacts and alchemical items from the Eleventh Dynasty inside a pyramid.

The seemingly glamorous but actually corrupt pure-blood families of the British magical world, sensing the opportunity, issued a commission through Karkus Foley to intercept the artifact.

Because the route involved crossing numerous countries and carrying a large number of cultural relics, a massive transportation team was ultimately created to meet the demand.

Golden Viper and his party entered the Mediterranean Sea from the coastal city of West Dubairani in Egypt. While resting in Heraklion, the largest city on Crete, they had a fierce fight with the Aurors from the Egyptian Ministry of Magic who had been pursuing them. Afterward, the group crossed the Mediterranean Sea and entered the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Strait of Tunis.

To avoid disturbing the magic ministries of the countries along the way, Golden Viper and his party traveled along the coast. Their original plan was to enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar without entering any country, and then cross the Bay of Biscay to reach London.

However, the long journey left most of the team exhausted, and some even burned several flying brooms. Upon reaching Montpellier in the Gulf of Leon, most of the team changed their minds and hoped to travel through France, cross the English Channel, and return to London, which would reduce the journey by almost half.

The journey within France proceeded without incident, and even Viper mistakenly believed that the European Ministry of Magic had not received any notification from the Egyptian Ministry of Magic. However, to his surprise, his group was ambushed shortly after entering British territory. It seemed that the French Ministry of Magic must have already obtained some information and knew that the ultimate target of this group of formidable 'bandits' was not France, so they were happy to have some peace and quiet.

Boom!

A deafening roar drowned out all the noise on the battlefield. The tall wizard named Thanatos Hodg raised his staff, a powerful and ominous magic emanating from the clear crystal ball at the top of the staff.

"You worthless bastards who have betrayed honor, are you ready to face the punishment of death?!"

As soon as Thanatos finished speaking, the sand beneath everyone's feet suddenly trembled violently. To everyone's astonishment, a large crack appeared in the sand, and a foul wind howled out of the dark crack, as if it led straight to hell!

Click!

Immediately afterwards, from the unfathomable darkness, a pale white skeletal hand suddenly reached out and gripped the edge of the crack.

What kind of monster is this?

Having only been an Auror for less than two years and lacking significant experience, Tonks was so frightened that the color of his hair changed erratically, and he muttered to himself.

"It seems—"

The Aurors spontaneously gathered from the chaotic battlefield, staring in unison at the massive skeleton, twenty feet tall and with two black flames burning in its eye sockets, looking quite intimidating.

Kingsley said, panting heavily.

"It should be the skeleton of a fire dragon. I'm not an expert in this area, so I can't identify the specific species of this fire dragon. Wow, what an extremely evil bunch!"

"Just based on this magic—"

Recovering from his shock, Delilah glared at Thanatos, his eyes blazing with anger. "You'll have to stay in Azkaban for another ten years!"

An even fiercer battle erupted. This time, the underworld guys had the upper hand. They hid behind the giant bone dragon and shot out spells from the gaps in its bones. The Aurors were forced up a high slope by the bone dragon that kept roaring ferociously. It seemed that their defeat was inevitable.

call!

But at that moment, a wizard with brown hair, eyebrows streaked with gray, and sharp eyes like a hunting lion, dispelled his illusion and suddenly appeared extremely close to the battlefield. His staff tip spewed out brilliant flames, and the huge fire dragon was blasted into pieces of broken bones in the rapidly expanding air, which fell to the ground with a whoosh!

Thanatos coughed up a mouthful of blood, collapsed to the ground looking utterly defeated, his trembling fingertips and incredulous eyes pointing at the suddenly appearing wizard. His lips quivered as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

“I told you,”

Rufus Scrimgeour turned to look at his somewhat embarrassed men on the high ground and said in a stern voice,

"Don't be intimidated by the false strength of these scumbags; see through the enemy's true strength and weaknesses!"

Rufus Scrimgeour, the renowned head of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic, appeared on the battlefield. His arrival shattered the fragile balance of the battlefield, and the Aurors swiftly and decisively stunned one dark wizard after another. In the end, only Thanatos remained, desperately dodging amidst a storm of cursed light, but his fate seemed sealed.

"Golden Viper!"

Thanatos, blasted away by Scrimgeour's spell, rolled several times across the scorched sand before finally coming to a stop. His robes were tattered, and blood seeped from under his nose. Seeing Scrimgeour raise his wand again, he was at his wit's end. Suddenly, he looked up at the night sky above and roared in exasperation,

"I know you're still here, Golden Viper. If you're willing to save me, I'll gladly offer half of my reward!"

Chapter 99 Daily Life (Part 2)

"Golden Viper!"

Amosta's junior, Nymphadora Tonks, suddenly changed her expression. Her striking eyebrows trembled, and she stared wide-eyed at the night sky, which was empty except for a bright moon, breathing heavily.

"That dark wizard from the underworld who wiped out a large number of werewolves and even almost killed Greyback?!"

The golden viper, hovering in mid-air, was so angry he almost twisted his nose. If it weren't for the contract he signed when accepting the commission, which stipulated that no one in their temporary team was allowed to attack each other, he might have directly attacked Thanatos!

Is this idiot afraid of not being noticed by the Ministry of Magic?

"Shut your mouth, you idiot!"

A blur flashed by as the Golden Viper descended from mid-air to the ground like a hunting falcon. He sternly rebuked Thanatos, who was still shouting for help. Then, his cold gaze swept over the group of Aurors opposite him, only lingering on Tonks' face for a very short moment. Behind the distorted vortex of magic, a smile flashed that went unnoticed.

Amosta was two years ahead of Tonks. This cheerful girl was very popular with boys in school because she was a natural-born shapeshifter, able to easily change her appearance. This kind of fun... cough cough, this talent was very rare and interesting!

In fact, she particularly liked to imitate the professors' faces when she was in school. Because of this, she was put in solitary confinement by several professors, including Snape. Amosta spent some time with her in the second semester of fifth grade. The two were not friends, but they were acquaintances.

However, Amostella has not been in contact with any of her Hogwarts classmates since graduating from school.

Everyone who was swept by Golden Viper's gaze felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads. The chill went straight to their souls. Most of the Aurors present were experienced veterans who had faced life-or-death situations countless times. Their intuition for danger far surpassed that of ordinary wizards. They could all sense that the mysterious wizard in front of them was more powerful than all the scum they had just defeated combined!

"I can't breathe."

Tonks's eyes widened in shock, her forehead beaded with sweat. She discreetly patted her chest and breathed softly.

"Quickly go to Hogwarts and fetch Albus Dumbledore!"

"Shut up, Tonks!"

Scrimgeour, always striving for excellence, glared at Tonks. He met Golden Viper's calm gaze with a tough look, but his mind was racing. He had to admit that he had been too overconfident in this operation. He hadn't expected that there would be such a dangerous guy among these smugglers!

"Could you all please pretend that you did not encounter us tonight?"

A hoarse, weathered voice came from behind the distorted vortex. It sounded polite enough, but anyone could tell that the tone was disguised by magic.

There were many Aurors present, but only one had the authority to make the decision. Rufus knew that Golden Viper was referring to him, and he was also very clear that if he gave a negative answer, the dark wizard who had fought against those brutal werewolves several times and directly suppressed Greyback and the dozens of werewolves he led, even almost wiping them out, would probably not continue to make the request in a pleasant manner.

The underground world of the alley has always been a major headache for successive Ministries of Magic.

On the one hand, most of the wizards active there are sectarian wizards. Although Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been the main training ground for wizards for hundreds of years, the history of these sectarian wizards is even longer, and can be traced back to the time before Merlin and the Kingdom of Camelot.

Wizards value tradition, so if the Ministry of Magic is determined to eradicate wizards from the underworld, it will likely receive very limited support. In addition, a significant portion of the existing Twenty-Eight Holy Races in the wizarding world have intricate connections with forces within the underworld, which will also pose considerable resistance.

Another very important point is that, although the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has been secretly gathering information on active wizards in the underworld for many years and has indeed dealt with some 'minor figures', the Ministry of Magic has never had a good solution for some powerful individuals.

For example, Greyback has committed countless heinous crimes, yet the Ministry of Magic has been unable to catch him all these years, let alone this ruthless character who almost wiped out the werewolves—Golden Viper!

"The Ministry of Magic will not bow to evil."

Scrimgeour's face was stern, his sharp yellow eyes tinged with red. He raised his wand and spoke coldly.

"Leave this place--"

Kingsley subtly tugged at Tonks's robe and said calmly,

"Go to the ministry for backup, or like you said, go to Hogwarts and ask Dumbledore for help. Act as quickly as possible, Tonks, we can't guarantee how long we can hold out—"

Before Tonks could reply, Golden Viper's weathered voice came through.

"Then I can only apologize, everyone—"

"Do it!"

Scrimgeour suddenly roared, and in an instant, the spelllight blooming from the tips of the Aurors' staffs was like dazzling fireworks, illuminating the night sky as if it were bright daylight.