Fudge left in a hurry with the people from the Ministry of Magic, and they also took away Peter Pettigrew and the seriously injured Sirius.
After Peter learned that the Ministry of Magic was not going to execute him, but was going to send him to Azkaban, the already tortured and non-human Peter fell to the ground and cried with joy.
As long as you are alive, there is hope for everything.
Dumbledore did not tell Professor McGonagall all about the Ministry of Magic's thoughts. He simply told them that considering the impact, they had to keep it a secret for the time being and not tell the truth about Sirius' innocence. Of course, he also promised It won't take long, at most a week later, the truth will be revealed.
Hearing what Dumbledore said, Harry, who had the most intense reaction, had no choice but to stop and obey Dumbledore's request and go back to bed to rest.
Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night. The Ministry of Magic needs to issue a brief statement before eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Even Barty Crouch, who is visiting Germany, has received a notice from the Ministry and needs to return home immediately to participate in an emergency meeting.
The Daily Prophet, who had heard the news, also sent out all its reporters. Some of them were responsible for getting some information from the mouths of the rare iron barrel-like senior officials of the Ministry of Magic. The other part ran into Hogsmeade and knocked on the doors door to door, trying to Learn more details from the mouths of the villagers.
At Hogwarts, except for Professor Flitwick who stayed to help Madam Pomfrey take care of Hagrid and Snape, everyone else left one after another and returned to their dormitories to rest.
Tuk-tuk-tuk--
There was a knock on the door. With his feet on the coffee table, Amosta, who was leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed to relax, opened his eyes.
There was nothing strange about Dumbledore's expression. After receiving permission, he walked in with a smile, sat on the sofa, took a few sips of the hot tea Amosta had brewed for him, and
"Ah, wonderful drink—"
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and sighed in admiration.
"Although I personally prefer sweet things, I have to admit that this bitter drink doesn't feel bad. Oh, it also has a bit of a refreshing effect!"
Amosta chuckled. He leaned on the sofa, the mist rising from the tea cup in his hand blurred his expression.
"Remus suffered a little tonight. Before he was in Hogsmeade, Tonks had sent him to St. Mungo's. According to his situation, I'm afraid you will have to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts candidate in the second half of the semester. The class is taught——"
Dumbledore's face immediately became unhappy, and he sighed and said,
"I have to deal with this excruciating problem every summer during the academic year, and this year has been particularly bad. Amosta, would you consider teaching this course for a while?"
It was a redundant question, and Dumbledore could not have known the answer he would receive.
The chat lasted for about twenty minutes. Amosta mentioned to Dumbledore Ms. Bones's little thoughts, and Dumbledore's smiling expression, which did not look worried at all, still made Amosta I feel a little strange,
"Aren't you worried that I will change my mind and take this opportunity to leave Hogwarts and find another job at the Ministry of Magic?"
"Oh, about that--"
Dumbledore smiled without any grudge.
"Yeah, I know you won't choose the Ministry of Magic. How should I put it? I think we are all wizards who are very good at conspiracy, but for various reasons, we don't like to use conspiracy to solve problems. , but if you work in the ministry, I’m afraid it will be difficult to avoid this——”
At the beginning of this conversation, the atmosphere of the conversation between the two leading wizards of our time was not very lively. As for the reason, it is actually not difficult to guess.
Both of them are powerful wizards with strong personal styles. When dealing with a matter, although they pursue the same result, their methods may be very different, and conflicts will inevitably arise, unless one party chooses to compromise.
At the beginning of the conversation, Amosta was worried.
Previously, he was willing to return to Hogwarts because he saw some sincerity in Dumbledore's attitude, that is, he would not easily interfere with what he wanted to do and how he did it.
But what happened tonight was very involved. Amosta was not sure whether Dumbledore could 'stick to his original intention', but now it seemed that Dumbledore had made up his mind and wanted him to stay at Hogwarts. To this end, He did not hesitate to change some of his principles.
After confirming this, the subtle atmosphere between the two people finally disappeared, and the atmosphere of the conversation gradually became harmonious.
"--The Whomping Willow beside the playground. I learned from Harry that it was a secret passage that Filch had never mastered. Following that secret passage, I arrived at the Shrieking Shack, and the weather was cold that night. In order not to freeze to death, Sirius left the cave where he usually hides and took shelter in the house from the heavy snow--"
"Wonderful coincidence——"
Dumbledore nodded in admiration
"Thanks to this coincidence, you found Sirius, figured out the truth of the matter, and stopped us from going down the wrong path."
Speaking of this, Dumbledore sighed again,
"What happened this time has once again proved that I will always make mistakes on key things. I don't want to quibble with myself, Amosta, but I did feel that Sirius betrayed the Potters back then. It was a bit strange. , but their deaths blinded me, and I did not have a good talk with Sirius. This kind of tragedy could have been avoided, but now, because of Peter, so many people have been hurt, including a young wizard—— "
Leaving aside the rest of the people, Malfoy was indeed quite unlucky. He was controlled by Peter with the Imperius Curse for so long. Speaking of it, this can indeed be regarded as Dumbledore and Amosta's negligence.
"About Draco-"
Amosta thought for a moment,
"I will find a chance to talk to Lucius. It is foreseeable that he will probably be angry because of what happened to Draco, but since I helped him solve a problem, I think he will keep quiet."
Dumbledore shook his head, his face full of guilt, and Amosta also knew that what Dumbledore cared about was definitely not Lucius Malfoy's angry revenge, but Draco himself.
"The result is finally good, isn't it? Principal, we can't do everything perfectly -"
Dumbledore's self-reproaching expression also touched Amosta's heart, and he expressed relief.
"Yes, that's true. Although I paid some price, I finally corrected the mistakes I made -"
Dumbledore took a deep breath and calmed down.
"I have some good news to share with you, Amosta—"
Dumbledore's old face relaxed, and his eyes became bright again.
"Do you still remember what I was running for during this time?"
"Voldemort's Horcrux?" Amosta's eyes narrowed slightly, "You found the house elf——"
"Under an abandoned bridge in London -"
Dumbledore's beard was trembling, and he said with a bit of joy in his tone, "When I found it, this poor little creature was already dying and confused, but fortunately, I still learned from its memory. I learned some valuable clues——"
Amosta had already destroyed two of Voldemort's Horcruxes and could no longer stay out of the matter. Therefore, Dumbledore did not choose to show off. He said happily,
"Like the crown, it is also an item left behind by the founder of Hogwarts. Tom is very fascinated by these things!"
Well--
Staring at Dumbledore with great interest, Amosta's expression quietly changed.
"There are two items in total, one belongs to Hufflepuff and is a gold cup, and the other is more meaningful to Tom. It is a relic of Salazar Slytherin, an exquisite pendant jewelry box! "
Dumbledore took out his wand and moved it in front of him attentively. Wisps of silver mist curled up from the tip of the elder wand, converging in mid-air into the shape of a gold cup and a locket.
After doing all this, Dumbledore looked at Amosta. He expected to see a face with a surprised expression, but Amosta's weird expression made him a little confused.
"What, Amosta?"
Dumbledore frowned slightly and asked in a solemn voice.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. This locket looks familiar, the same as mine."
After groping in his arms for a few times, Amosta pulled out a gold chain.
The swinging locket reflected the powdery morning light on Dumbledore's astonished old face.
"Are you still paying the old price, principal?"
Amosta blinked and asked seriously.
(End of chapter)
