Homecoming from Hogwarts

An owl spread its wings and flew away into the endless darkness, carrying with it the article written by Rita Skeeter under the supervision of Amosta.

"Who will you ask to make sure this article gets published in the Daily Prophet?"

Rita Skeeter's quill flew into her crocodile leather handbag. She still had an excited smile on her lips. Obviously, she had not yet recovered from the interview with Amosta.

It was no wonder that she did this. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been deeply bound to the school board for seven long centuries. However, in the last decade of the 20th century, Amos Towers Blaine openly declared that the school board had violated the contract and would cut off its financial support to Hogwarts.

Therefore, Hogwarts will be independent from the board of directors and operate independently from now on. It is hard to imagine what kind of uproar this news will cause in the wizarding world!
"Amelia will make sure word doesn't get to the Ministry before the article is published, and some of my friends on the board of the Daily Prophet will make sure it's published."

Amosta's casual words gave Rita Skeeter a chill.

Two years ago, the young man in front of her was still an unknown little wizard, but in just two years, Amosta Blaine had established a powerful network throughout Europe. No, including America, this was not something that could be achieved with powerful magic powers alone.

After a moment of trance, Rita Skeeter, a top current affairs reporter, keenly grasped the key points of Amosita's words.
"It seems that Bones has unwavering support for you, right? Oh, that's really curious, a politician like her, how did you convince her to join your group? You promised to support her to become Minister of Magic, right?"

Amosta smiled without saying anything.

But this aroused Rita Skeeter's curiosity, and her shorthand quill floated out of her bag again.
"You are already making preparations, aren't you, Amosta? This report will undoubtedly arouse the indignation of the entire wizarding world, and people's support for Cornelius Fudge will drop to a historic low. You plan to take the opportunity to push Bones to power. Oh, or so it should be!"

A possibility suddenly occurred to her mind, making Rita Skeeter's voice shrill like a night owl.
"You're planning on becoming Minister of Magic yourself?!"

"You have a very vivid imagination, Rita—"

Amosta smiled faintly, walked back from the window to his desk, sat down, and stared at Rita.

"But I can tell you clearly that I do not intend to become the Minister of Magic. Educating young wizards at Hogwarts is a very interesting and meaningful job, and I intend to continue doing it."

"Oh, you are just as stubborn and pedantic as Dumbledore in this respect."

Rita Skeeter asked dully,
"Almost the entire wizarding world knows that you intend to take over Dumbledore's job. Oh, by the way, when will you become the headmaster of Hogwarts?"

Rita Skeeter just asked casually. She knew very well that Amosta was a very shrewd and tight-lipped person. If he didn't want to answer, he probably wouldn't answer. But what surprised her was -
"Not for long."

Leaning back in his chair, Amosta intertwined his fingers, an unfathomable smile on his face, he spoke softly.

"What do you mean it won't take long?" Rita Skeeter said in surprise, her eyes wide open.

"Haha, it won't take too long."

In the bright office, Amosita's deep laughter made Rita Skeeter tremble with fear!

Many people are destined to have no sleep tonight.

Ms. Bones, who was well prepared, called together a meeting of all the strikers in the Ministry of Magic on the pretext of dealing with the increasingly difficult security situation in the wizarding world.

The heads of all departments, except Dolores Umbridge who was still recuperating in St. Mungo's, all attended the meeting. Even Cornelius Fudge turned his attention to Bones because he was wary of his behavior.

Cacus Foley and Lucius Malfoy, one open and one secret, the two directors behind the Daily Prophet used the spikes they planted in the newspaper to ensure that Rita Skeeter's article passed the initial review smoothly.

Mr. Guffey, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet who had been in contact with Amosta, saw the article, but suddenly something urgent happened at home. He left his seal to the intern in the department, left instructions to send it as soon as possible, and hurriedly left the newspaper.

So, at midnight, an owl took off from the Daily Prophet newspaper office in Diagon Alley and flew towards the printing workshop.

At the same time, a Muggle train chartered by a wealthy businessman of unknown origin set out from Paris. After three and a half hours of speeding, it finally stopped at King's Cross Station.

"Here are all the formalities—"

Remus, wearing a round hat, took out a blank piece of parchment from his arms and showed it to the Muggle officials in front of him with a stern look. The wand that slipped from his sleeve to his palm shook quickly, and the Muggles who were planning to find an excuse to make some money immediately looked blurry.

"Oh, it seems to be in line with the procedures--"

A pot-bellied Muggle official mumbled something incoherent, then left with his inspection team.

Turning around, looking at the shocked Percy and the equally stunned Penelope, Remus smiled.
"When you work outside, you need to be flexible." Then, Remus's expression became serious again.

"We don't have any extra time to waste. We need to get our stuff transferred to the Hogwarts Express as soon as possible."

The Muggle train started quickly and slowly, and finally stopped in a car inspection shed, where the camouflaged Hogwarts Express had been waiting for a long time.

At the command, many thin but extremely agile goblins suddenly jumped out of the Muggle train carriages. They controlled heavy wooden boxes to fly out of the Muggle train carriages, crossed the platform and landed in the Hogwarts Express carriage.

The goblins acted quickly, and after just half an hour, all the 'cargo' had been moved.

"Let's go!"

Remus looked around the dim surroundings vigilantly, and after confirming that no one was spying, he waved his hand, and the goblins and the loyal guards selected from the learning machine workshop and trained by the learning machine quickly jumped onto the car. With a loud whistle that pierced the night, the Hogwarts Express slowly drove away from the platform.

The train passed through the endless fields on the plains, crossed mountains and rivers, and penetrated the mist that was dyed light golden by the morning light. After a journey of four or five hours, it finally stopped at Hogsmeade Railway Station.

On the platform, Amos Tower, who had been eagerly waiting for half the night, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Remus jump off the Hogwarts Express that slowly entered the platform.

"Have you had a smooth journey?"

Amosta strode towards Remus and saw the heavy dark circles under his eyes, and couldn't help but smile.
"You're a little nervous, Remus."

"Oh, too nervous?"

After seeing Amosta, Remus, who had been tense for two days to carry out this mission, finally relaxed. He said tiredly:
"I couldn't take my eyes off those boxes. You should have come in person for such an important mission. I've never been so scared in my life—"

"I have full confidence in your abilities, Remus."

Amosta smiled, his eyes passed over Remus' shoulder, looking at Percy who was standing dozens of feet away, looking at him shyly and not daring to approach, and laughed

"Why, you don't want to say hello to me, Percy?"

"Oh, no--"

Percy said in a panic. He hurried forward, but after taking two steps he stepped back and waved at the door of the carriage. A moment later, a girl with blushing cheeks jumped out of the car.

The young man and woman walked quickly to Amosta, arm in arm.

Time seemed to go back to a year and a half ago, in the Three Broomsticks Bar. At that time, the young man and woman who were about to part ways were full of confusion.

"Long time no see, Penelope--"

Amosta smiled with relief, looking at the couple holding hands.

"So, you two are back together again?"

Percy grinned, while Penelope said shyly,
"Long time no see, Professor Brain. Thank you for bringing Percy back to me."

"Oh, it's not my fault, Penelope—"

Amosta said humorously, and then asked with a smile

"Speaking of which, do you have any plans to get married? I need some time to prepare wedding gifts."

This time, Penelope lowered her head even more shyly, but then she raised her head with a hint of sadness.
"Percy's mom probably doesn't like me very much, so."

"Don't be silly, Penelope."

The smile on Percy's face immediately faded, and he said seriously,
"Mom is just not happy that I moved out of the house, and she blames you for it. Oh, but I have to move out sooner or later, right? Just give her some time and she will figure it out."

(End of this chapter)