Homecoming from Hogwarts

Jasna narrowed her eyes and carefully observed the expressions of several Muggles.

"wizard?"

The young man with freckles on his face blinked in confusion and murmured with his lips moving, while the other Muggles also had dazed expressions.

"That's right--"

Jasna showed no sign of disappointment. She reached out from under her fur coat, holding her broken wand.
"I am a professor at a university in Berlin. I am also a member of a club at the school that studies the supernatural--"

Jasna held her wand forward so that the villagers could see more clearly.

"A student in the club found this while hiking nearby. After research, we all agreed that this might be a magic wand, which is a prop used by wizards to perform magic."

"But--"

The corner of Freckles' mouth twitched, and he looked carefully at Jasna's broken wand.
“It looks like a work of art.”

"There are no wizards in this world, Madam Professor—"

The brown-bearded uncle finally laughed.
"Perhaps you have been teased."

A series of happy laughter rang out in the snow, and several villagers were amused by Jasna's purpose of coming here.

"Oh, really?"

Jasna showed visible disappointment, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought I was about to catch the wizard. You guys, have you really never seen a wand? Of course, it might be made of some other wood and in the home of some villager who's behaving strangely?"

"Everyone here is normal, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen a stick like that in anyone's house, Professor--"

The brown-bearded uncle smiled and said,
"Unless that person intentionally hid it from me. Or, this small stick floated along the river to this place."

"It could be that way."

Jasna said.

It seems that it is unlikely that there are wizards living in this village. The existence of the Anti-Apparition Charm should really be cast by the Aurors of the German Ministry of Magic to block the entire mountain area.

"Oh, is that why your leg was injured?"

A middle-aged woman with braided hair and a slender figure looked at Jasna with sympathy.

"Oh, yes. I know. I was obviously a little impulsive."

Jasna smiled.

"Your injuries look serious. You must have fallen from the mountain, right--"

The brown-bearded uncle stared at the wound on her right leg for a while, shrugged his shoulders and said,
"You should be thankful that it was old Enma who saved you. He is very good at treating this kind of injuries. If any villager has broken bones, they will go to him for help—"

"Didn't old Enma tell me he was a doctor?"

Jasna asked with a little surprise.

"He doesn't talk much, does he?"

The slender woman smiled and said,
"My father told me when he was still alive that old Enma was not like this when he was young, but after coming down from the battlefield, he became taciturn."

"battlefield?"

Jasna blinked.

"The Second World War half a century ago—"

The freckled young man answered the question first, and he said with a slightly regretful tone,

"The Battle of Berlin. He must have watched many of his comrades die in the hail of bullets!"

"When Old Enma was in the army, he was a medical soldier."

"Rumor has it that he was rewarded by that man!"

The Muggle villagers in front of them also became interested and started talking about old Enma's past.

Participated in that war.
Jasna's eyes wandered for a moment, and the question that had been bothering her for days had a preliminary answer.

In the war half a century ago, it wasn't just Muggles who took part in it; the entire European wizarding community was also engaged in the fierce battle!

In fact, the reason why the Muggle world was turned into a scorched earth was that wizards were behind it, and even many wizards directly joined the Muggle battlefield. So, as a veteran of World War II, Old Enma had seen wizards slaughtering Muggles or fighting between wizards on the battlefield.

For some reason, Jasna felt a little fond of the old Muggle.

The main driving force behind that war was the great Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, whom his father admired immensely, and the tyrant despised by Muggles was Grindelwald's Muggle ally.

Old Enma fought for him, which was equivalent to fighting for the great Gellert Grindelwald on the battlefield of the Muggle world!

Pity!
Jiasna couldn't help but feel regretful.

On the European battlefield, the Muggles' defeat was largely due to the loss of Grindelwald's support, and everyone knows how Grindelwald failed.

Thinking of this, Jasna felt even more indignant.

If the great Gellert Grindelwald had been victorious at that time, she would not have to use such a ridiculous excuse to ask this Muggle whether there were any wizards in the village.

"You came all the way from the river just to ask that?"

A handsome face is useful no matter where you are.

The freckle-faced young man noticed Jasna's regret and disappointment, and thought that she was disappointed because she couldn't find a wizard. He looked at Jasna eagerly.
"Besides this, how else can I help you?"

"Oh--"

Jasna suddenly came to her senses.

She noticed what the flashing eyes of young people meant when they looked at her. When she was disguised as a professor and teaching in a Muggle university, many male students also looked at her with that kind of eyes.

"I'm thinking"

It was not difficult for her to disguise herself and appear more friendly.

By slightly adjusting her expression, she made herself appear much gentler in the eyes of the freckled young man.

"I can't stay here forever. In fact, I only took a week off from school. I have to rush back to Berlin to work as soon as possible."

Jasna looked at the young man with a hint of earnestness in her eyes.
"If someone can take me to a nearby town, I'll ask Old Enma for help, but as you said, he's not a very easy person to communicate with."

"Going to town?"

The enthusiasm in the eyes of the young man who was eager to show himself in front of Jasna died down and his expression looked very embarrassed.

Jasna's heart skipped a beat and she turned her gaze to the other villagers, but they all remained silent.

"I really must get back to Berlin as soon as possible—"

Jasna said anxiously,

"If anyone can help me, I'm willing to pay him a generous reward!"

"This isn't about the money, Madam Professor—"

The brown-bearded uncle said solemnly, turning around and pointing her in a direction.

Jasna looked over and found a dense coniferous forest, and behind the forest, a mountain range was faintly visible in the snow and sand.

"I think you came from that direction--"

The brown-bearded uncle spoke solemnly.

"To get to the nearest town, you have to go through the forest and the mountain, with a frozen lake in between, dozens of miles.

You could encounter an avalanche at any time, and in winter, the wild animals that come out to hunt for food are the most ferocious, which is too dangerous."

Several villagers nodded, and the tall woman pointed to the changing leaden clouds in the sky.

"There is also the possibility of another heavy snowstorm, so it is not a wise choice to go out now."

Under the villagers' chaotic consolation, Jiasina's face gradually darkened.

Without her magic, her ability to survive in this isolated mountain forest is not as good as that of the villagers.

According to the villagers, it might take one or two months for her leg injury to recover, and by that time, the worst winter will be approaching.

Does that mean she has to stay here until next spring? ! (End of this chapter)