The Return to Hogwarts

A gasp of surprise erupted from the upper floor of the castle. Professor McGonagall immediately turned and glared at her, sternly reprimanding her.

"Don't you have anything better to do this morning, Mr. Finley?"

The few young wizards who had been peeking out quickly withdrew their heads, remaining silent as if trembling with fear, but their eyes, though meeting, revealed a hint of excitement.

Amostah smiled slightly. He knew that Professor McGonagall had deliberately opened the box to give the young wizards some confidence.

"Hagrid--"

After scaring away a few young wizards, Professor McGonagall looked at Hagrid.

"Please take this box of gold to Hogsmeade. We need to settle accounts with the villagers there. As for the rest, I have a shopping list here. It contains teaching materials needed by the professors of each course and must be gathered today. I think Mr. Potter and the others have already been through enough trouble."

"No problem, Professor."

Hagrid said this, then took his umbrella wand from his pocket and put all the gold that had fallen on the grass back into the box. He then closed the box and spurred the Thestrals toward the school gate.

"Do you need to rest for a while, Amosta?"

The two walked together into the foyer, Professor McGonagall looking at Amos Tower with concern.

“I know you barely slept all night.”

"Thank you for your concern, Professor McGonagall, but I'm afraid that won't work—"

Amosta's voice was tinged with emotion.

"We've solved one problem, but that doesn't mean we're done. Now that the funding is in place, we need to get to work on the final match of the Three Kingdoms Tournament. I need to hurry up and give those kids some training."

"Oh, so it's been decided to let them have it."

"That's right--"

Amosta smiled lightly.

"The Triwizard Tournament is held once every five years, and we don't know when Hogwarts will host it again. It's a rare opportunity, and I hope more people can participate."

"That's a fantastic idea, I have no objection, just be careful."

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement.

In the increasingly dazzling sunlight, the slumbering Hogwarts Castle quickly awakens, bursting forth with vibrant energy once more.

When Harry and the others descended into the Great Hall, they were immediately taken aback by the lavish breakfast, which was as extravagant as ever, even resembling a banquet.

The rich aromas filling the hall and the visually stunning array of food made Ron pounce on the tables like a hungry wolf, without even having time to ask what was going on.

The sumptuous food made Harry and Hermione very hungry, and without much conversation, they quickly joined the 'eating army'.

"More than twenty large boxes, each containing at least ten thousand Galleons, were transported here by Professor Blaine in a carriage. There's no mistake, Justin saw it with his own eyes!"

A few minutes later, when Pettier confidently told them the information she had gathered, Harry was momentarily stunned.

According to this account, Professor Blaine brought at least two hundred thousand taels of gold to Hogwarts.

"Twenty to twenty thousand - tens of thousands"

This number startled Ron, who was wolfing down his food, so much that he started to stutter.

"What could possibly be so difficult for him?"

Harry gulped down the blueberry pudding that had filled his mouth, and looking at Professor Blaine chatting and laughing with Professor Sprout at the faculty table, he said with a touch of emotion.

"That's not all the surprising things you'll find, Harry!"

Then Harry heard Hermione say that, and he quickly looked over to see Hermione with slightly flushed cheeks, vigorously shaking the latest issue of the Daily Prophet that she had just received from the owl.

"What do you mean, Hermione?"

Harry asked eagerly.

Professor Blaine has announced that, given the various actions of the Board of Governors that violate the agreement signed by both parties, Hogwarts is officially separating from the Board of Governors.

Oh, and Professor Blaine even gave the Ministry of Magic a scathing critique in the newspapers!

As she spoke, Hermione looked worriedly at Professor Blaine, who was smiling broadly at the front of the Great Hall.

"Now, the Ministry of Magic will definitely go all out to deal with him."

Chapter 1031 A Failed Conquest

2024-07-15

Malfoy Estate, located in the suburbs, seems to be a secluded paradise.

The brilliant sunshine poured down on the earth, enveloping the boundless wilderness in a golden ocean.

Malfoy Estate, however, was always shrouded in a persistent, light gray mist.

This ominous mist carried a faint aura of death, and under its corrosive influence, the leaves of the plants that were once carefully tended in the manor grew disgusting black spots.

"Is Master already awake?"

At the bottom of the stairs leading to the rooftop terrace, a pale-faced Lucius Malfoy asked his wife, who was carrying a tray, as she came down from upstairs.

Narcissa nodded, and took her husband's slightly cold hand in hers.

"But... Master seems to be in a bad mood, but I don't know what happened. He hasn't left the house these past few days, has he?"

Malfoy understood that his wife was reminding him to be careful. After giving her a reassuring look, he took a deep breath and stepped onto the stairs.

As Lucius drew closer to the door engulfed in light, his breathing became increasingly erratic. As if sensing his chaotic thoughts, the golden serpent that had been moving through his body and was now resting on his heart emitted a chilling sensation.

Sensing the cold, Lucius's heartbeat gradually slowed down.

To be honest, Lucius hadn't expected that he could keep it a secret from the Dark Lord, the Legilimency Master, for so long after becoming Amosta Blaine's spy.

He had prepared himself for the worst before he made the decision to do so.

Lucius expects Blaine, and Dumbledore who is on Blaine's side, to protect Draco and Narcissa, or at the very least, to do everything in their power to protect Draco.

As for himself, he could only leave it to fate and live one more day as long as he could.

But to everyone's surprise, the magic Amostra Blaine cast on him actually prevented the Dark Lord from accurately sensing the rebellious thoughts in his heart.

This gave Lucius great confidence, because this fact seemed to indicate that Amostrath Blaine's magic power was above that of the Dark Lord.

Lucius Malfoy could only think that way superficially.

In reality, this is not the case.

In terms of pure magical power, the Dark Lord's magical power is somewhat deeper than Amosta's, but his riddled soul is far inferior to Amosta's intact soul.

Having decided to accept Lucius Malfoy as his inside man, Amosta would not stand idly by and watch Lucius Malfoy die so easily.

The magic he left on Lucius Malfoy was a concealing spell designed by him using the power of his soul, enough to protect Malfoy's deepest, most perverse thoughts from being spied upon.

"You still refuse to obey my orders!"

Just as Lucius was about to step through the door to the terrace, a hoarse shout filled with coldness and murderous intent made Lucius tremble and his legs go weak.

Before Lucius could shake off his fear, the world that had been filled with light suddenly went dark, as if it had been daytime one second and night had fallen the next!

call!

Just outside the door, a vicious, dark wind howled and wailed. In the surging darkness, two fleeting points of blood-red light and the inaudible roar of the Black Demon King nearly drove Lucius to a mental breakdown.

However, this darkness came and went quickly.

With a loud 'bang,' the overwhelming darkness vanished, and in the world restored to light, a gray mist, resembling both clustered particles and simple clouds of smoke, drifted in the air, just like the mist that had enveloped the manor—a nauseating mist.

"what's up?"

A voice, colder than the north wind, reached Lucius's ears, jolting him out of his daze. His gaze met the Dark Lord's crimson vertical pupils, and Lucius, breaking out in a cold sweat, immediately knelt on the threshold.

"I bring you news, master."

"Oh?"

Voldemort's voice trailed off with a slanted tone, yet the killing intent within it remained chilling.

"What are you trying to tell me, Lucius? The negotiations between Blaine and the Board of Trustees have broken down, haven't they? Does that mean Dumbledore has given in so quickly?"

"Oh, that's not it, my master—"

Lucius's knees scraped against the floor, making a soft screech, as he knelt before Voldemort, his forehead pressed against the wooden floor.

“Hogwarts did not yield to our cessation of funding; on the contrary, Blaine officially announced that Hogwarts no longer needed a Board of Governors.”

"No school board is needed?"

Even Voldemort, upon hearing this news, forgot his anger and slightly widened his narrow red eyes.

“This is not what you told me at the beginning, my friend. You told me that if the Board of Governors stopped funding Hogwarts, then Dumbledore would have to close the school.”

"This is not a deception, my master!"

Lucius was prepared for some torture; his breathing quickened again, and large beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead, soaking the wooden floor.

"As you probably know, Hogwarts needs a lot of money to operate every day. Without gold, they cannot survive."

"Can't you survive without gold?"

Voldemort let out a sneer, clearly unconvinced by Malfoy's statement.

"So now, Lucius, Hogwarts has lost the support of gold, but it hasn't given in. Blaine has even sidelined the Board of Governors. Oh, that's quite interesting. Dumbledore actually allowed him to do that. It seems he can no longer control Blaine."