Homecoming from Hogwarts

The morning light is dim and the east is about to dawn.

A long and torturous night had just passed, and the sunlight, which was pale gold with a hint of gray-green, was still unable to evaporate the thin mist in the air.

Woo, woo, woo!

A line of thick white smoke curled up into the sky with a few floating clouds, and three whistles pierced the sky, breaking the silence that enveloped Diagon Alley.

Wow!

The deserted Diagon Alley suddenly woke up from its silence.

On the central cobblestone street, two rows of shops with closed doors suddenly opened wide, and a striker wearing a gray windbreaker and with a solemn expression jumped out of each shop.

Well-trained strikers stood upright in front of the shops, holding wands, their sharp eyes not missing any movement on the street in front of them.

Swish!
The whistle of the train was still echoing over Diagon Alley. Over at Diagon Alley Station, about thirty strikers on flying broomsticks suddenly took off into the air.

After reaching an altitude of about 200 feet above the ground, the strikers stopped climbing.

They quickly adjusted their formation in mid-air, lining up horizontally in a row, with a distance of about 200 feet between them.

After the formation stabilized, the team of strikers deployed in the sky began to move forward slowly.

With the main road as the central axis, a carpet-style aerial inspection of Diagon Alley began.

The solemn atmosphere in the cool morning air caused the neatly arranged carriages on the street to become restless and agitated.

"Mr. Shacklebolt—"

An Auror hurried out of the temporarily requisitioned Leaky Cauldron, and under the gazes of many colleagues, he quickly ran towards the majestic and luxurious white building of Gringotts and stopped at the bottom of the marble stairs.

"how's it going?"

Kingsley, who was standing in the middle of a group of people, immediately cast his eyes towards the Auror.

"The Transport Department has begun sealing off all the fireplaces in Diagon Alley. From now on, no one can reach here via the Floo Network."

Kingsley's gloomy expression eased a little, he raised his wand and shot a cluster of blue fireworks into the sky.

Soon, four fireworks shot up into the sky from the four corners of a large rectangular area.

"The Anti-Apparition Charm has been deployed—"

Kingsley turned his head to look at Alastor, who was standing beside him with a cane, his blue eyes darting around.

"This is an anti-Apparition spell from the Ministry of Teachings of Amosstar that he has improved upon. It has no effect on the teleportation magic of goblins or house-elves."

"Amosta always does things perfectly!"

Alastor laughed gruffly.
"But we still can't let our guard down. If I were a Death Eater, I would choose to take action on the road!"

Kingsley nodded and sighed.
"I have never experienced such a big action by the Ministry. If the Ministry had shown such determination last time, when the You-Know-Who had just started to move around in the wizarding world, the You-Know-Who might not have caused such great harm."

"Albus did warn the Ministry at the time, but no one took it seriously—"

Alastor said disdainfully,

"Among the recent Ministers of Magic, only Bones looks respectable!"

"Minister Bones would be pleased to hear you say that, Alastor—"

Shrouded in darkness, Sirius and Remus walked out side by side, followed by Tonks, Bill and others.

Remus said with a smile, then looked at his watch and narrowed his eyes.
"I think it's time, Kingsley."

"Then let's get started."

Kingsley said, raising his wand into the air a second time, sending out a stream of green firework.

The solemn atmosphere in Diagon Alley became even more tense, as suffocating as a taut bowstring.

The Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors standing at the door stepped aside, and the goblins from Gringotts came out of the hall escorting floating boxes.

Each wooden box was as big as two or three of the suitcases of Hogwarts students, and when it fell onto the carriage, it made a heart-pounding sound.

When I first saw the azure sky, I thought it would be a good day, but then a heavy cloud slowly floated from the sky and covered the sky above Diagon Alley.

Ever since he started running the learning machine workshop for Amos Star, Remus had finally escaped from his previous precarious life and quickly entered the upper echelons of the European wizarding world.

But Remus, who thought he had seen a lot of wealth, couldn't help but show a bit of surprise when he saw the treasure chests being loaded onto the carriage one after another like an endless supply of mountain springs!

"Whose vault is this?" Remus was shocked and turned to look at Kingsley.

"The first shipment was of the Carrows, Antonin Dolohov, and Travers' vault—"

Kingsley said,

"The second group is Rozier, Selwyn, Avery and others, and the others are in the third group."

"The descendants of these pure-blood wizard families are wealthier than I ever imagined—"

Remus shook his head, filled with emotion.

"They're not even the richest people—"

Sirius looked calm.
"When I was still in school, my father took me to the Black family's vault. The amount of gold here is not as much as that in that vault."

"Oh, I never quite understood—"

Bill looked at the boxes and said with a slightly melancholy look,
"How did they get themselves so much gold?"

"Extortionate and plunder—"

Sirius looked disdainful.

“You know, the real wealth of these ancient families is not this gold.

Instead, they monopolize the workshops that ordinary people need for their lives, which can bring them endless wealth. Most ordinary people in the magic world work for these families for their entire lives. This has been the case for centuries--"

Even though the goblins were very efficient in transporting gold, it still took them more than twenty minutes to load the more than one hundred large wooden boxes, which contained treasures worth no less than two million gold galleons, onto the carriage.

"According to the plan, I will lead the Aurors to escort the first train--"

Kingsley looked at Alastor with a serious expression.
"The next second column is yours, Alastor."

"Relax, Kingsley--"

Alastor sniffed.
"I won't give those despicable Death Eaters any chance!"

A heavy carriage loaded with wooden boxes rolled over the cobblestone road, leaving two clear marks on the ground.

“Tsk tsk—”

Looking at the convoy going away, Tonks exclaimed in admiration.
"With such a large sum of gold, I wonder what the Ministry will do with it?"

"I did hear Amosta mention it—"

Sirius shrugged.

"He appeared to suggest to Minister Bones that the salaries of ministry employees be increased."

The excitement and excitement turned Tonks' hair into a beautiful orange-red.
"A pay raise! Oh, that's great! I've always wanted to buy myself a flying broom!"

"That's something you'll have to wait until you survive today!"

Alastor roared in displeasure.

“Always be alert!”

Looking at Tonks who didn't take it seriously, Remus said gently,

"Alastor is right, Tonks. Voldemort will not sit idly by and watch the Ministry take away his Death Eaters' gold. That would be a complete loss of face for him."

"But it's unlikely that the Death Eaters would do something in Diagon Alley, right?"

Tonks said briskly.
"This is the most heavily guarded area during the entire transportation process. The Ministry has eliminated all methods of teleporting to Diagon Alley. It is also unlikely that they will act in London, as Amosta is guarding King's Cross Station. In my opinion, they are most likely to act halfway—"

"Don't underestimate the mysterious man's cunning!"

Alastor limped down the marble steps in front of the door and stood on the street, patrolling back and forth.

Half of the Ministry of Magic's strikers and Aurors guarding the streets followed Kingsley to escort the first train.

Half of the remaining troops will follow the Order of the Phoenix to escort the second train.

The last part will be escorted on the third train by the bounty wizards hired by the ministry.

The team of carriages that had transported the gold to the station returned to the door of Gringotts.

With the last sharp whistle that pierced the sky, the first train finally set off. (End of this chapter)