Homecoming from Hogwarts

Glancing at Amelia who was trying hard to hold back her smile, Amosta's indifferent expression softened. As his expression changed, the heavy atmosphere in the Leaky Cauldron began to flow like melting ice.

"Mr. Blaine!"

Old Tom was the first to come to his senses. He almost sprinted away from the bar and rushed to Amosta. He bent even lower with his already hunched back. With eyes full of admiration, Old Tom's rough face showed a happy smile.

"Oh, it's such an honor to meet you, Mr. Brian. Recently, many customers in the bar have been discussing whether you will return to England. I didn't expect you to suddenly show up today!"

"How do you do, Tom--"

Just now, the intimidation exuded by his cold eyes and indifferent expression had calmed down the fierce fight that was about to happen. Amosta's aura suddenly changed, and his smile became gentle and humble. With a deadly curiosity in his tone, Amosta asked with interest,

"People are discussing whether I will return to England, Tom, why is that?"

"Oh!"

Old Tom looked very angry.

"The Daily Prophet reported your deeds in New York, so there are rumors that because you have helped the U.S. Ministry of Magic a lot, those Americans admire you very much and plan to invite you to become the Director of the Auror Office of the U.S. Ministry of Magic. This is complete nonsense. I told them that Mr. Blaine is already the Vice President of the Wizarding Federation. He doesn't even care about the position of Director of the Auror Office, unless those Americans let you become the Minister of their Ministry of Magic!"

To be honest, Amosta and Old Tom were just acquaintances, but every time I saw Amosta in the past few years, his back was bent more and more.

"This is indeed a rumor—"

Amosta raised his voice slightly so that everyone in the bar who was eavesdropping could hear him and chuckled:

"Because I personally prefer to be a scholar and professor rather than a politician."

"Of course!"

Old Tom looked at Amosta with admiration,

"Well, Mr. Brian, may I have the honor of buying you a drink? You just helped the bar solve a big problem, and I should express my gratitude!"

"You're very kind, Tom, but I have business to attend to later, and I'd better not get myself confused--"

Amosta said with a smile, and then, a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes, and he pointed to the place where the two groups of people had just sat.

"There's been a lot of this lately, Tom?"

Speaking of this, Old Tom obviously had a lot of grievances to pour out, but in front of Amosta, he didn't dare to be too rude, and just said with a bitter face,

"I can't say it's very frequent, maybe once every two or three days?"

"What about the Ministry?"

Amosta put away his smile and asked calmly, "Didn't you seek help from the Ministry? These matters are under the jurisdiction of the Executive Department. I believe Amelia will not sit idly by."

"Ms. Bones is certainly respectable, but—"

Old Tom sighed,
"A home invasion occurred in Godric's Hollow last month. The perpetrator not only took away all the homeowner's belongings but also brutally killed the homeowner and his family.
Half a month ago, a Muggle family in St. Catchpole also encountered an intruder. They used the Cruciatus Curse on the Muggle family (Old Tom shuddered violently), but did not take any property.
A strange thing happened in Upper Flagley. In the middle of the night, seven or eight Muggles were suddenly awakened by the cold, and then they were horrified to find that their house was gone, leaving only themselves and the bed under them.

Old Tom said anxiously,
"There are many other things like this. You may not have heard of them because the Daily Prophet didn't mention a word about them. The Ministry of Magic is covering it up. They have sent people to investigate, but they are busy with these things and have no time to pay attention to the little conflict that happened here."

Amelia listened to Old Tom's chattering quietly with a serious look on her face. Albus Dumbledore had repeatedly emphasized in public that the wizard who must not be named had returned, and Amosta had also repeatedly said that the shadow of war was about to cover the British wizarding world.

Of course Amelia believed them, but until she saw with her own eyes that group of not very decent wizards dared to conduct illegal transactions in public and heard what Old Tom said, she had a more personal feeling that there were indeed serious problems in the British wizarding world.

Amosta was not surprised. After listening to Old Tom's complaint, he nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and raised his voice,
"I understand. Tom, the Leaky Cauldron is located in a key position, and order here must be maintained. If something like today happens again, Tom, you can send a letter to Hogwarts. I will often take time to come over for a drink."

When Old Tom saw Amosta and Amelia off, he was so moved that he almost knelt down in front of them.

When the winding, endless cobblestone street appeared before Amelia, the girl's eyes widened immediately while she was still thinking about what had just happened.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Looking at Amelia's expression, a smile appeared on Amosta's lips. In a trance, he recalled the shock he felt when he followed Severus into Diagon Alley many years ago.

The dazzling sunlight shone on Diagon Alley. The streets were full of wizards hurrying about. The shelves filled with a dazzling array of goods behind the polished and translucent shop windows made Amelia dazzled!
"Incredible!"

Amelia's eyes left the brand new books on the shelves of Flourish and Blotts with difficulty, but were immediately attracted by the strange and bizarre materials in Giggs' Pharmacy, which sold potion ingredients.

"I've read about Diagon Alley in a book, but I never thought it was so prosperous. Oh, there's never been a place like this in New York!"

"hehe--"

Just like leading a new wizard into the magic world, Amosita smiled and said,
"The American wizarding world is indeed a vibrant wizarding civilization, but its history is short after all, and it is impossible to cover everything. Diagon Alley is a place that every wizard living in the UK cannot avoid, and you can almost meet all your needs here."

Amelia nodded vigorously.
"So what do we do next?"

"Oh, I plan to go to Gringotts first, then I can go shopping for some necessities with you."

Amosta said.

"Gringotts?"

Amelia was stunned for a moment, and then her cheeks turned red after misunderstanding Amosta's meaning.
"Oh, I don't need it. Amosta, you don't have to spend money on me. I have already taken out all the salary that the Magic Congress gave me before I left New York. That is enough for me to live in London for a while. And, since you want me to help Remus first, I think he will definitely pay my salary."

"Oh, of course, I believe you can take care of your life wherever you are--"

Amosta turned and walked towards the tallest white building in Diagon Alley.

"But I don't go to Gringotts to get money. All my wealth is on me."

"Then who are you?"

"When I was in New York, I accidentally got something. I think this thing might be useful in Gringotts. Of course, this is just my guess. Maybe I got it wrong--"

(End of this chapter)