Homecoming from Hogwarts

"You saw Lucius Malfoy?"

Amosta repeated the information provided by Luna in a slow tone, and then said,

"Please continue, Luna--"

Professor Blaine's expression somewhat surprised Luna. She thought that Professor Blaine would be alert or surprised. She believed that Professor Blaine should understand what it meant for her to tell him that she had met Lucius Malfoy at this delicate time.

But Professor Brian's purple eyes were as deep as the ancient starry sky she had spied on through the telescope in astronomy class.

"Yes, Professor—"

But Luna still obeyed the order.
"Tonight in the village of St. Catchpole, Mr. Senna's home is a native of the village. He and his wife, Ewen, take care of a six-year-old daughter and make a living by farming and working.
I met Lucius Malfoy at his home. His face had changed, but I recognized him because I had seen him before at Hogwarts."

"You recognized his magic, didn't you?"

Amosta asked in a calm tone that Luna did not understand. He was well aware of this little girl's unique talent, and ordinary human transformation techniques could not be hidden from her perception.

Luna nodded, her pure silver eyes widened, and she began to tell everything that had happened.

Amosta listened to Luna's narration quietly, with a calm expression that was only slightly touched when Luna said that Lucius Malfoy and the wizard she had never seen sneaked into her house.

But then, Amosta's smile was full of admiration for Luna's cleverness.

In the whole story, Luna's behavior of rushing into John Cena's house to check the situation was a bit reckless.

The rest of the response was almost impeccable.

It is rare for a young Ravenclaw wizard who is not even in the fourth year to have such adaptability and clear mind.

Of course, Lucius Malfoy's cover cannot be ignored——
"I believe that Lucius Malfoy and his companions may be using the villagers to plot against the Ministry of Magic, and that the villagers are in danger they are not aware of, so I came to you -"

Luna said,
"Only you can help them."

Amosta pursed her lips.
"So, what do you think I should do, Luna?"

This question obviously surprised Luna. She didn't expect Professor Braine to throw the question back to her.

"You or the Ministry"

Luna rarely hesitated.

"Sending strikers to protect the villagers might be a good idea--"

"You don't understand why these two people found these farmers who were living in poverty. Luna protected them--"

Amosta shook his head slightly.

"It may be possible to get these people out of the conspiracy, but it will only plunge others into misfortune, which will not fundamentally solve the problem."

Amosta stood up straight, patted Luna on the shoulder, and led her out of the office.

The two men walked into the elevator one after another, and Amosta pressed the floor leading to the reception hall.

Until she entered the magnificent hall of the Ministry of Magic again, Luna, who had been in a trance for a long time, could not help herself.

"I don't understand, Professor Brian. John, Ewen and Bona, and the other villagers of St. Catchpole, need protection."

"As you tell it, Luna--"

Amosta smiled and greeted the wizard guarding the elevator hall, then his face became calm.
"Those villagers are not in danger in the short term. The intervention of the Ministry of Magic will bring them unpredictable dangers -"

"But!"

For the first time tonight, Luna showed obvious emotional fluctuations. She stood in front of the fireplace, her silver eyes reflecting the green flames blinking several times.
"Are you going to ignore it?"

"That's right, Luna--"

Amosta raised his hand, interrupting Luna's questioning.

"If it were at Hogwarts, I would have given you points for your wit tonight and for coming to the Ministry of Magic to save those villagers.

But I want to tell you that there is not much I can tell you about this matter.”

Amosta gently pushed the dazed Luna into the fireplace. Before she disappeared, he raised his index finger to his lips and smiled calmly.
"I am not completely ignorant of these matters."

What
Before Luna could ask, Professor Brain's face disappeared in the spinning world.

call--
Amosta sighed softly, shook his head and smiled in an ambiguous manner, then turned around and went back.

As the elevator went up, the cold wind that poured into the car from the shaft refreshed the slightly tired Amosta.

The elevator stopped at the basement level. After Amosta stepped out of the elevator, he did not return to his office, but went to the minister's office to facilitate reporting to others and self-monitoring.

Amelia was in the habit of leaving her office door open when she was not entertaining visitors or discussing confidential matters with internal officials.

When Amosta walked into her office, Amelia, with obvious dark circles and heavy bags under her eyes, was sitting behind her desk, pouring potion into her mouth.

Glancing at Sirius, who was curled up on the sofa in front of the marble fireplace and was sleeping soundly after recovering from his injury, Amosita shook his head with a smile.

"Oh, don't blame him, Amosta--"

Amelia was not surprised at all that Amosta had not fallen asleep in the second half of the night. A great magician like him would only have more energy.

"He knows that there won't be any major problems here while you're in the Ministry, so he took a break. Following me is indeed a tough job. Perhaps I should consider giving Sirius more bonuses—"

Amelia laughed at herself, keeping her voice low.

"He wouldn't care about this little gold--"

Amosta said, his nose twitching slightly, staring at the glass bottle in Amelia's hand,

"As for you, Amelia, although time is running out, you still need to combine work and rest--"

Amosta spoke sincerely.

"If you had not succumbed to the Death Eaters' elaborate schemes, but instead had ended up as a minister, they would have laughed their heads off."

Amelia held her forehead and smiled bitterly. She felt dizzy and the mental tonic she had just drunk seemed to have no effect at all.
"It seems that I do need it. Oh!"

A flash of lightning suddenly flashed through her hazy consciousness. Amelia raised her head and frowned slightly.

"You mean to say that Voldemort's Death Eaters are planning something again, and you have received the news?"

Rather than saying that the Death Eaters planned it, it would be more accurate to say that he himself induced the Death Eaters to plan something that would destroy their own sect.

Amosta's face remained calm as he thought in his heart.

"I did hear some rumors, Amelia. The Death Eaters are planning to start another riot. Therefore, you must ensure that you have enough energy to deal with any crisis that may occur at any time."

"But after the Battle of Diagon Alley, Voldemort's power was greatly weakened, wasn't it?"

Amelia frowned.

"According to the secret sentries we set up on the border, a large number of unidentified people have smuggled out of the UK and have no intention of following Voldemort. Therefore, the security of the wizarding world has improved significantly recently. I think he should be unable to launch a large-scale riot in the short term--"

"I think so, but we can't take it lightly--"

Amosta did not confess his plan to Amelia.

This is not a deliberate concealment, but just to reduce unnecessary disputes.

"Hogwarts is about to start, Amelia, and I have to spare some energy to worry about the various matters related to the start of school, and you--"

Amosta said in a solemn voice,
"We must pay more attention to our own security."

"Oh, yeah--"

Amelia adjusted her monocle and smiled weakly.
"Hogwarts has started. I almost forgot about this. So, Amosta, I seem to have heard that Dumbledore threw that difficult problem to you?"

The helplessness on Amosta's face made Amelia, who was always busy with trivial matters, laugh out loud.

"Has anyone chosen? Oh, I think you could try to invite Alastor again--"

"Barring a miracle, I don't see any chance that he would agree to--"

Amosta shook his head and sighed.

"However, I do have an immature idea about the candidates for that course--"

“Who are you going to invite?”

Amelia asked excitedly, and even Sirius on the sofa opened his eyes blearily.

"It's still hard to say—"

Amosta said with a meaningful smile.

(End of this chapter)