Homecoming from Hogwarts

Mid to late August.

Autumn has not yet arrived, but the sudden drizzle and the chill brought by it have made the villagers of Saint Catchpole feel the chill of late autumn in advance.

As far as the eye could see, the sky was covered with haze.

In front of an old crooked locust tree in the east of the village, there was a crooked three-story wooden house. Egwene stood at the door, looking worriedly in the direction of the White Stoat Mountain.

In spring and summer, the green grass swaying in the wind all over the mountains is always refreshing to look at for a long time.

In the rain, the grass occupying the wilderness was suffocatingly dark, and its body bent by the rain was even more depressing.

Egwene's frozen gaze moved and fell on a rice field at the foot of the mountain that was also listless in the autumn rain, and her expression became even more melancholy.

One after another, dark clouds floated over Egwene's head in the strong wind, and even the old locust tree in front of the door was swaying wildly.

But Egwene remained unmoved, and only looked anxiously at the rice fields at the foot of the mountain, until -
The sudden burnt smell that rushed into her nostrils made Ewen's smoky face change color, and she turned around and rushed to the kitchen.

"hiss!"

Ewen's mind was not clear due to panic. She went straight to pick up the hot iron pot, but her handle was severely burned.

Anxious, Egwene looked around and accidentally caught a glimpse of an old wand with feathers on it and covered with a thick layer of dust, placed on the windowsill next to the stove.

Without thinking, Egwene picked up the 'magic wand' and waved it -
boom!
With a loud explosion, the heavy pot lid was lifted into the sky and embedded deeply into the ceiling of the first floor, and the pot of burnt stew in front of him was overturned onto the stove, crackling as it was poured onto the flames.

"What are you doing, Egwene?"

At this moment, a man with wet hair and wet clothes walked out from the fireplace on the opposite wall.

The messy stove made the middle-aged man with dark skin and particularly thick knuckles stunned for a moment.

The man then came to his senses and strode to the stove. He picked up a rag and put it on his hand, then propped up the fallen iron pot and saved the remaining stewed potatoes.

The man shook the pot, looked at the burnt bottom of the pot in the dim light, and frowned.

"I lost my mind--"

Egwene looked guilty.

"I was just trying to get the pot off my head with my wand. Sorry, John, I think I ruined our lunch--"

"It's no big deal—"

John took a deep breath and smiled at Egwene.
“There’s enough left for us to eat.”

Noticing the pot lid embedded in the roof, John added

"I'm free this afternoon, so I can fix the second floor floor and that damn roof!"

Egwene nodded slightly, threw her wand back onto the windowsill, and wiped her hands on her greasy apron.
"Have a seat. I can clean this up real quick—"

John nodded and took out a pipe from the pocket of his loose trousers. The pipe was badly worn by the calluses on his big hands. After a few puffs, turbid smoke came out of the pipe.

Strolling to the door, looking at the wind and rain covering the world, his eyes fixed on the world under the White Stoat Mountain, John's dark face also showed a bit of melancholy.

"By the way, where's Bona? Is she upstairs?"

John turned around and looked at his wife who was busy in the kitchen.

"In the morning before it rained, she went up the hill to play with the Lovegood kid. Bona liked that kid."

"Luna?"

John thought about it and asked in confusion,

"But doesn't the child go to Hogwarts?"

"It's summer vacation, John--"

Ewen said, noticing the worry in her husband's eyes, she was silent for a moment.

"The Lovegoods are good people, John. They will treat Bona to lunch. Besides, they won't look down on people like us."

Egwene's last few words were so faint that they could not be heard, but John knew what his wife was saying. A sinister look flashed in his eyes, and he raised his voice and said with an unhappy look,
"It's not certain yet. You know, Bona is only six years old now. She has a chance!"

"Oh, of course, that's what I thought!"

Egwene said quickly.

In the dim room, the two fell silent. Egwene brought the not-so-good-looking lunch to the table, and John washed his hands in the rain dripping from the eaves, wiped them casually on his coat, and sat down at the table.

The 'rich' and overcooked stew was not only salty but also bitter, and the taste was so bad that it made one sip without complaining.

Neither of them was in the mood to enjoy lunch.

After filling her stomach as quickly as possible, Egwene went to the stove and used the boiling water to make a cup of tea for her husband.

But John did not notice all this. He just silently looked at the White Stoat Mountain, which became a huge shadow in the gradually heavy rain.

Seeing her husband like this, Ewen pursed her lips, and her cloudy pupils became even darker. She knew what was going on.

"Sorry, the workshop is not open yet."

John said in a voice that sounded like he was talking to himself.

"how could be?"

Although she asked this, there was no surprise in Egwene's tone.

"The Daily Prophet said that although the duel between Mr. Blaine and the mysterious man destroyed Diagon Alley, it did not affect the city."

"That has nothing to do with it!"

John suddenly raised his voice, and tapped the table with his thick knuckles.

"It's Mr. Greengrass's problem. The Ministry of Magic has issued a wanted order for him, saying that he is a Death Eater of the You-Know-Who and that he participated in the Diagon Alley War!"

From the anxious light in Ewen's eyes, it can be seen that she is really a little anxious.

"But what does this have to do with the workshop? Could it be!"

Egwene's voice became shrill.

"Just because the Ministry thinks Mr. Greengrass is a Death Eater, they shut down the Broom Works?"

"Not the Ministry!"

John didn't want to tell his wife something that would only add to her troubles, but he couldn't control his anger.

"It was the Greengrass family who shut it down themselves.
A head of the Greengrass family came out to explain that the Ministry of Magic's wanted order had a serious impact on the reputation of Greengrass and the workshop. Many orders were cancelled and the workshop could no longer continue to operate. It had to be closed indefinitely and the resumption time would be notified separately!"

John gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Not only the broom workshop, but also the workshop producing crucibles where the two boys from the Ciel family work has been closed down. The manager gave the same reason. The only workshop in that industrial zone that is completely unaffected is the learning machine workshop!"

Although she knew how bad the situation was, what her husband said still made Egwene panic.

"Nana."

Egwene stared at her husband, whose eyes were burning with anger, and stammered, unable to speak.

Clang!

"The Ministry must give us an explanation!"

John suddenly slammed the table and said in a decisive tone.

"The Ministry?"

Egwene was puzzled.

"But you said--"

"We can't find the lords of those noble pure-blood families--"

John's face was hard.

"We can only find the Ministry of Magic. Oh, I don't care about hegemony and evil. Anyway, no matter who is the Minister of Magic, whether it is Brian or the mysterious man, I don't care. I just want to live a good life. But since it was the Ministry of Magic that started the war and made it impossible for the workshop to continue, they must be responsible to the end. I can tell you, Egwene, we are already planning--"

"You are planning?"

Egwene grabbed John's rough hand, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Are you going to go against the Ministry of Magic and Mr. Blaine, John? This... this is too much for you to do!"

(End of this chapter)