Homecoming from Hogwarts

Ss ...
As we walked past the cold wrought iron gate, the breeze in the sparse oak forest suddenly became cold.

The little wizards seemed to be under a petrification spell. They stared at Professor Brian blankly, as if they were expecting something. Suddenly, Professor Brian showed them a teasing look and told them that he was just joking with them.

but.

Professor Blaine looked at them calmly, including the prison guard Mr. Barry beside him, who also had a calm expression.

Then, the little wizards all knew that this was not a joke.

Gollum—
Someone swallowed, and Harry closed his open mouth, his throat welling up.

"This is not allowed!"

Suddenly, someone among the students screamed. Harry and his friends looked over and found it was Millicent Bulstrode from Slytherin.

This Slytherin girl was the strongest lady Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Most boys did not have such a strong physique as hers.

But at this moment, Millicent turned pale and shouted at Professor Blaine in a shrill voice, like a timid girl who saw a mouse.

"I never heard!"

Millicent continued,
"The Daily Prophet did not report, Professor Braine, that the Ministry of Magic had passed the decision to execute the death penalty!"

Daphne, Sabini and other young wizards from Slytherin nodded frantically.

Harry looked at Hermione, and Hermione, who understood what he meant, was silent for a moment and nodded.

"You are right, Miss Bulstrode—"

Amosta nodded calmly.
"Regarding whether to resume the death penalty, and under what circumstances it should be applied, the Ministry of Magic is still discussing it. It may take some time before it is implemented--"

In other words, the death penalty may indeed be reinstated.

Daphne Greengrass's red lips gradually lost color as she stared at Professor Braine in horror.

Her father was the only wizard confirmed to be a Death Eater at large after the Battle of Diagon Alley.

If the Ministry of Magic thinks that his resistance is serious.
"But this is a special case, so."

Amosta hesitated for a moment.

"I will brief you on the situation later. Now, you need to decide whether you want to watch the first execution in centuries?"

Who will be executed?
What crime did he commit?
There is no little wizard who is not curious, but... that is a death sentence!
Witnessing a living being being killed right before their eyes. Just thinking about it, the little wizards felt cold all over!
Wouldn’t it be too cruel for the young wizard who hasn’t even graduated to witness this?

Harry saw the retreat in Hermione's eyes. Not to mention Hermione, Harry himself was backing down in his heart!

Half an hour later, amid the awe-inspiring gazes of the crowd, Harry walked into Avalon Prison again!

Not many people dared to come in. None of the Ravenclaw girls came in, and only Cedric from Hufflepuff raised his hand.

It was Gryffindor. Apart from Harry himself, Hermione and Neville, the three Weasley children were chosen.

However, the biggest reaction came from Slytherin, with more than half of them coming in.

"I just want to know who won the lottery!"

The silent marching team, George muttered softly.

But Harry could tell that this time George's witticisms were not meant to amuse everyone, but to cheer himself up.

They reached the same terrace as before, and Mr. Barry opened a concealed door set in the wall.

They walked down the dark stairs to the underground square.

After crossing the entire square, they continued to walk down the stairs. After passing through a maze-like underground corridor, they stood in front of a cell.

Surprisingly, the bright style of the cell was out of place in an underground prison.

The walls of the cell were not cold, hard rock, but were enchanted.

The picture projected on the wall is a grassland with lush green grass connecting to the horizon, cattle and sheep strolling on the grassland, a winding river set against the blue sky, and on the sky, flawless white clouds rolling and unrolling.

This beautiful scene, like a painting, made the little wizards feel dazed.

A sturdy oak tree stood not far from them, and under its dense canopy was a dining table covered with a white tablecloth.

It's beautiful, but also cruel.

"Arrand Selwyn—"

Professor Brain spoke, his voice calm and without a trace of emotion.
"He was one of Voldemort's earliest and most loyal followers. He was imprisoned in Azkaban before Voldemort's fall last time—"

"Why."

Millicent asked through gritted teeth.

"Why he was executed." "He suffered the Dementor's Kiss."

Professor Brain's calm words gave Harry goosebumps!
Dementor's Kiss. ​​That is, the Dementors took his soul!

"And this is why Voldemort did not take Selwyn away when he sent his Death Eaters to break into Azkaban last time—"

Amosta said coldly,
"He is of no value to Voldemort anymore."

It has no value. So, it was abandoned.

Some of the little wizards standing outside the observation window, staring at everything in the cell, looked dejected.

"After a person's soul is taken away, his body will decay faster—"

Amosta said,
"When Avalon Prison took him in, his body had little vitality left. In order to ensure that he would not die, the guards here could only take care of him day and night--"

After a pause, Amosta continued,
"After the guards reported the situation, Minister Bones, I, and the members of the Wizengamot decided to end his life early."

this is not fair!

This thought instinctively came to Hermione's mind, but she said nothing.

A prisoner with bloody hands and guilty of heinous crimes faces such an end. It is only his own fault.

Due to the distance, the young wizards could not see Selwyn's haggard face clearly. They could only see his gray hair, which was the same color as his faded prison uniform, fluttering slightly in the wind.

Several guards were busy around him.

They stripped off his prisoner's clothes, exposing his withered body with only bones and muscles exposed.

A man was slowly wiping his body with a towel, cleaning his scary face with a skull covered with skin, and combing his hair which was worse than dead grass.

After the cleaning was completed, two people held his left and right arms to lift him up, and another person picked up a decent wizard robe placed beside the dining table and buttoned it up considerately.

"These are the last moments of life--"

Professor Brian's soft words carried a heavy meaning.
"All sins will end with death, and the past will be forgotten. Therefore, at this moment, the Ministry is willing to give these extremely evil prisoners some dignity."

Turning his head to look at the little wizards whose bodies were tense and breathing disordered, his purple eyes flickered.

"The passing of life is both beautiful and tragic. So I want to remind you not to challenge the correct order of this world easily. Don't challenge the universal values ​​of mankind easily."

Do the right thing.

Theodore was in a trance for a moment, and his father's words of warning just now rang in his ears.

Harry had seen death.

His parents died in front of him, of course, this was very far away. To put it in the near future, in the short time when he rushed into the battlefield of the Battle of Diagon Alley, countless lives disappeared in front of him.

The warring parties were not afraid of death in order to practice their ideals.

However, what he saw before his eyes, sending a life to the gallows without rejection, seemed even colder and more terrifying to him!
Maintaining order is not such a sentimental thing!

Many young wizards have realized this.

They watched the guards feed the death row prisoners the sumptuous food on the table bit by bit. It was really something worth pondering that a body without a soul could still chew and swallow food.

This last supper lasted a long time. It was almost an hour before the guards finished feeding.

They wiped the corners of the prisoner's mouth and removed the long table in front of him. Then, four guards stood in front, behind, left and right of the stiff prisoner, facing him, leaning slightly with their hands raised in a clasped gesture.

The final moment is approaching.

The young wizards all realized this, and although they were at a quite long distance from each other, Hermione and some girls subconsciously stepped back.

"What will happen to them?"

Daphne Greengrass looked at Professor Brain and asked blankly.

"There will be no pain—"

Mr. Barry answered this question with a reverent look on his face.

"He will return to nature--"

As the words fell, green light suddenly burst out from between the four guards' clasped palms, and the bright light made everything blurry.

Harry squinted his eyes and vaguely saw that the prisoner who was sitting quietly was melting in the light, while the chair under him seemed to be growing!
In a trance, it seemed as if the sigh of death passed by my ears.

call.
All dust fell to the ground.

In front of the oak tree with a lush crown, a new sapling sways in the wind.

(End of this chapter)