Homecoming from Hogwarts

Chapter 703 Getting to the bottom of things

No matter what, the Christmas that many people have been looking forward to has arrived in the heavy snow.

Every inch of the air in the castle and the campus is filled with a joyful atmosphere. Never before has there been so many little wizards who have not returned home during Christmas. You can hear the cheerful voices of the little wizards in every corridor. Laughter, these students gathered together in groups of three and two, laughing and discussing the evening dance.

The only bad thing is that the weather during these two days was probably the coldest this year.

When Amosta climbed up to the owl wigwam at the top of the tower with a large bag of things, he found that the entire outdoor corridor leading to the hut, which was exposed to the air, had a layer of ground and parapets on both sides. The ice surface is thickly frozen and extremely solid.

This is undoubtedly dangerous. If a student slips on the ground, Madam Pomfrey will have something to do.

Amosta blinked, then took out his wand and raised it with his backhand. The sudden strong wind swept through the snowflakes in the air, and the ice-covered ground seemed to be paved with floor heating, emitting a tossing heat, and the solid The ice surface melted rapidly under the hot air, even the melted ice water was tossed clean, and the brown rock floor tiles became dry.

There was also a little commotion in the owl hut, which was swept away by the residual power of the strong wind. Many owls flapped their wings and screamed, and jumped out of the window of the hut in panic.

"Oh, it's you—"

When Amosta stepped into the corridor, the three Harrys who were affected by the panicked owls covered their heads and hurriedly jumped out. Each of their faces and cloaks were stained with many owl feathers. .

"Professor Blaine?!"

The three Harrys also discovered that the 'culprit' who had made them a little embarrassed was Professor Brain, and they all greeted him. However, Amosta seemed to find that the three little guys were a little caught off guard after seeing him. In addition, there is also a sense of hesitation.

"What are you doing here?"

Amosta let the big package float behind him, walked into the slightly dark shed, and casually asked the three Harrys who were standing at the door but did not leave.

"Oh, I was writing home, Professor Blaine—"

The speaker was Hermione. She answered the question and looked slightly nervous.

"I sent them Christmas presents. Well, I ordered them with Owl, but they arrived late."

Amosta glanced at Hermione's cheek from the corner of his eye, and easily discovered that this was a lie. However, he did not expose her. People who care about everything will only find people to hate.

"I encountered the same situation as you——"

Amosta looked around at the owls in the shed and said casually,

"I bought some Wizarding World candies for the children in the orphanage where I grew up. It took me a long time. You know, I have to be picky. If I put something like a chocolate doll Sent to those children, oh, you understand, this will be a disaster for them and for me. Maybe it's the snow, the efficiency of the owls is not very satisfactory-"

"Children from an orphanage?"

Ron screamed subconsciously, and then he was kicked by Harry and Hermione at the same time. After he realized that he had attracted everyone's attention, Ron suddenly heard that last year, Harry and Professor Blaine There was indeed a mention in the conversation that Professor Blaine was an orphan.

Amid Ron's hesitant apology, Amosta looked at Harry with slight surprise.

"You didn't tell Hermione and Ron about me?"

"No--"

Harry shook his head sincerely, and then, with earnestness in his eyes, he asked cautiously, "Can I speak, Professor?"

"What a surprise--"

Amosta reached out and caught a gray owl,

"Since you have kept it a secret for so long, then keep it a secret. Harry, please, hand me the brown, strong-looking owl above your head. Harry -"

The gift Amosta bought was too heavy, and it was still difficult for the four owls to carry it together. So Amosta unloaded the package and took out several large bags of Bee Duke's candies to reduce the weight of the package. .

"Just think of it as a Christmas gift to you--"

Amosta threw a bag to each of the three little guys, and put the remaining bag under his arm, ready to take it back to Principal Dumbledore. Before and when he released Winky, he openly hinted that he wanted Amosta to give him a Christmas present, which happened to be when he gave him this bag of candy. "Speaking of -"

Watching the four owls disappear from the edge of the field of vision, Amosta breathed a sigh of relief, walked out of the owl loft and walked towards the tower, while the three Harrys followed behind him.

"You are going to lead the dance with the other warriors tonight, right, Hermione, who is your partner?"

Hermione was planning to get information from Professor Blaine, but she didn't expect that Professor Blaine would ask this question out of the blue. She subconsciously looked at Ron, and Ron's cheeks turned red in just two seconds. .

"Yes," Hermione hesitated for a moment, then said truthfully, "It's Ron, Professor Blaine."

Ron quickly lowered his head and stared at his toes.

"is it?"

Amosta was slightly surprised, and then his face returned to calm.

"I thought, oh, that was a good choice. What about you, Harry?"

Before Harry could reply, Amosta tapped his forehead lightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry, you're going to the ball with Fleur, I forgot you told me about that -"

Harry's lips twitched, not knowing what to say. However, after being bored for a few days because of this matter, he suddenly had the urge to laugh. Fleur wanted to show her presence in front of Professor Blaine, but Professor Blaine didn't do it at all. Leave this matter behind -

As she walked downstairs, more and more little wizards came face to face. Hermione knew that if she didn't ask anymore, it might not be appropriate to speak in a crowded place. She looked at Professor Blaine's calm expression. He turned his face sideways, took a deep breath, and stepped in front of Harry.

"That's right, Professor Blaine -" Hermione controlled her breathing and asked softly, "You and Professor Dumbledore released Winky, right? Can I ask where it went?"

Amosta's eyebrows moved slightly, and the heaviness in his casual glance almost overwhelmed Hermione's courage that she had finally mustered up.

"You're so well informed, Hermione—"

There was no obvious displeasure in Professor Blaine's tone. Her cheeks turned red and she explained hesitantly,

"That's right, Professor, we, um, are going to visit Dobby. From his mouth, we know that Winky has not returned to work in the kitchen since that night, so we guess, could it be, you and Professor Dumbledore freed Dobby—"

Hermione said in an evasive manner that she did not tell Professor Blaine. After she told Harry and Ron her suspicions about Crouch, Harry suggested that he go to Winky to inquire, and then unexpectedly heard Dobby say that Winky No more news from Hogwarts.

"Very keenly, Hermione -"

Amosta said calmly,

"Winky has indeed been released. It's okay to tell you. I'm afraid you all know how unwilling Winky is to work at Hogwarts. She dreams of going back to old Barty.

Some time ago, I went to visit Barty. I'm afraid you don't know that Mr. Barty Crouch was sick and asked for leave. When I saw him, he was very ill, but he didn't want to go to St. Mungo's. I didn't want anyone to take care of him, so I suggested that Shining come back to take care of his body. "

"Well, Professor Blaine——"

Barty Crouch is sick?

Harry and Ron secretly exchanged glances, both feeling that this matter might not be that simple.

Hermione knew that it would be a bit rude of her to continue asking, but she couldn't restrain her desire to know the truth, so she bit the bullet and continued to ask,

"You went to visit Mr. Barty Crouch, um, Professor Blaine, because you suspected that it was related to the Dark Mark that appeared on the field that night of the Quidditch final, right?"

(End of this chapter)