Homecoming from Hogwarts

When the sound of the explosion entered his ears, Harry, who was always alert, was stunned for a moment.

He thought he was hallucinating!

How could there be an explosion in Hogwarts so late at night? He must have heard it wrong, or it was...
Almost at the same time, standing on the second-floor platform, Harry and Ron under the invisibility cloak, including the phantom Hermione, all turned their heads to look at the door leading to the basement on the side of the hallway.

It must be that the old wooden door died prematurely under the violent beating of the hurricane!

Unfortunately not.

Although the door was rotten, it was much tougher than they had imagined. In the howling evil wind, it still hit the door frame with a click and a click, without any signs of breaking. The aftermath of the explosion still lingered in the empty Hogwarts in the middle of the night!
Unlike them, Elune, who was standing on the last step leading to the second-floor platform, holding up the hem of her nightgown, raised a slight frown and looked towards the third floor from beginning to end.

problem occurs!
After about four or five seconds of silence, a sharp light finally appeared in Harry's green eyes, and he realized that something unusual had happened!

"Yes"

Hermione held her breath and let it flow again. She turned her head and aimed her gaze upstairs.

boom!
Several candy boxes fell heavily to the ground due to loss of control.

"How rude! This isn't your gift to us!"

All kinds of candies jumped out of the broken boxes, rolled all over the stairs, and some even fell into the auditorium.

The little vampire glared at Harry and the other two who were running away with dissatisfaction, until their backs disappeared around the corner of the stairs. Then his resentful face changed, showing a bit of happiness.

While humming a cheerful tune, Elune began to pick up the fallen candies.

"It's on the third floor!"

Harry shouted, tore off the Invisibility Cloak from his body, grasped it in his hand, and ran upstairs desperately.

What caused the explosion and who caused it?
Rushing into the corridor on the third floor, Harry squinted his eyes at the strong wind blowing in his face. The noise appeared on the third floor. Something had happened to the guests invited by Professor Brain.

It was indeed possible. Harry knew that Professor Brain had arranged the dormitories for these guests on the third floor so that they could rush there as soon as possible in case of an emergency. But Professor Brain was not at Hogwarts tonight.
However, Professor Dumbledore did not leave school after the dinner.

If Hagrid's fierce brother caused any trouble, it could still be stopped.

Harry thought, but a vague premonition told him that the explosion was not caused by Grawp who was out of control.

"Hey, Harry!"

Ron, who was following behind him, panted and shouted,

"I think we should think carefully about whether we should get involved in trouble, right?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, Ron!"

Hermione's voice was harsher than the sharp wind blowing through the corridor.
"I'm afraid there's a problem with the exchange group. We should definitely rush over to help them!"

"But how are you going to explain to the professor that I'm still wandering around the castle so late at night with a vampire and several boxes of candy, Hermione!"

Ron wheezed.

In the night sky, the dark clouds that obscured the moonlight were swept away by the strong wind, and the newly-sprinkled moonlight seemed to be following Harry and the other two.

As the earth became bright again, something in the darkness receded.

The three people who were running fast stopped.

In the empty corridor, the only sounds were the crackling of burning torches, the noisy wind, and their breathing.

The aftermath of the explosion caused charred cracks to appear on the door frame of the cave, and there were still some rubbles remaining on the ground. The person who caused the explosion was no longer at the scene, but he could not avoid suffering.

Harry looked at the corner of the wall opposite the doorway and saw some bloodstains on the ground.

Obviously, the man was blown away by the aftermath of the explosion and hit the stone wall opposite with great force. He spit out blood.

"This is."

Hermione's shocked murmur made Harry's eyes leave the bloodstain left by the criminal and look again at the door that the criminal had failed to open.

"Student Safety Office," Harry murmured. "Professor Blaine's office."

"Who could it be?"

Ron's eyes widened with panic as well.

Before the hurried and messy footsteps approached here, the little vampire who was left behind by them arrived first.

Seeing the doorplate of 'Student Safety Office', Elune's thin eyebrows raised again, and her cherry-colored lips pursed, and she seemed to be in a better mood.

Elune sniffed her pearly little nose, and then she easily spotted the bloodstains on the ground, and her deep wine-red eyes flashed a subtle arc. "Mr. Potter, and..."

Professor McGonagall appeared before them in a tartan dressing gown, her glasses tilted on her thin nose.

Her stern gaze swept across the faces of several people in turn, lingered on Elune's face, and finally, looked at the damaged door frame, her breathing becoming increasingly rapid.

Snape emerged from the shadow like a ghost.

Snape glanced at the scene and looked at Harry, with a hint of sneer on his face.

"Why are you here?"

Harry questioned, frowning.

Snape is not like Professor McGonagall. His office is in the basement, so he won't come so quickly. Unless he has been hanging around here since early morning!

"I think you should be the first one to answer this question, Mr. Potter—"

Snape said quietly, glancing at the Invisibility Cloak draped over Harry's arm and the grass and dirt on his shoes.
"Why are you here, Mr. Potter? It's only been a week since school started, and you feel like life is too dull and you can't wait to do something to attract attention?"

Professor McGonagall frowned, and after quickly glancing at Severus, she looked at Harry again with a stern look.
"Did you guys do the noise just now?"

"No, Professor McGonagall, it wasn't us. We just heard the noise and came here."

Harry glared at Snape unyieldingly.

"Ah, you heard some noise in the Gryffindor dormitory and rushed over?"

Snape's expression became even more sarcastic.

"I'm hungry—"

An unexpected person stepped forward: Elune.

She had a nonchalant expression.

"So I asked them to come with me to find something to eat. Brian said that if we encounter any problems, we can go to Miss Granger. Is that not okay?"

Harry looked at Elune in surprise. He didn't expect this vampire to speak up for justice.

"Looking for something to eat?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Hermione suspiciously.
"Is that so, Miss Granger?"

This was indeed the case, but Elune did not specify where to find food. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall did not ask further.

"Indeed, Professor McGonagall -"

Hermione blushed and nodded.

Professor McGonagall looked relieved. She looked at Elune and tried to smile gently.
"You have just arrived at Hogwarts and you don't know the school rules, Miss Ganglo. Students are not allowed to leave the dormitory after dark. If you have such needs after dark in the future, you can ask Amosta. Oh, he is not here today--"

Professor McGonagall's expression became serious again. She drew her wand, carefully approached the office door, and tapped the bronze door handle lightly with her wand.

A faint light passed over the cold door handle, and then it returned to calm.

"Obviously, Severus--"

Professor McGonagall straightened up and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Someone tried to open Amosta's office while he was away from Hogwarts. Fortunately--"

Professor McGonagall turned her head and looked at the bloodstains left by the criminal.
“That person didn’t make it.”

"I agree with you, Minerva—"

Snape looked at Harry lazily.

"Maybe the murderer is still around here—"

Harry knew that Snape was concerned about what was being said, but he resisted the urge to retort and did not fight back.

Professor McGonagall hadn't questioned them about their late-night wanderings because she hadn't known they'd gone to Hogsmeade, but Snape must have figured it out.

"Did you see anyone suspicious while patrolling this area, Severus?"

"All the suspicious people I saw are here, Minerva."

Snape looked at Harry and the others, smiled coldly and said. (End of this chapter)