Hogwarts Homecoming

The woman who flashed out of sight had always existed in Harry's mind. On the way to the arena, Harry was silent, but he kept wondering where the woman who felt familiar to him had appeared. , he felt as if there was a thin barrier in his head, isolating him from the truth.

Mr. Weasley led them to walk in the woods for twenty minutes. Finally, they walked out of the other side of the woods. It was not until he saw the magnificent building in front of him that Harry finally stopped thinking about that woman.

Looking up, Harry saw that they were in the shadow of a huge stadium. This stadium was so exaggeratedly large that even with all his eyesight, Harry could only see part of the magnificent golden wall surrounding the stadium, but he could still see that it would not be a problem to fit ten cathedrals into the space inside.

Except for Mr. Weasley, everyone opened their mouths unconsciously and looked at this great building in front of them with respect.

"It can accommodate an audience of 100,000 people." Mr. Weasley seemed satisfied with the shocked expressions on their faces, and he said with a smile, "Hundreds of employees at the Ministry of Magic have been busy with this for more than half a year!"

"Amazing!" Sirius praised sincerely, "This time the British Ministry of Magic will show its face well in the world, Arthur!"

Sirius's praise made Mr. Weasley's face bloom with chrysanthemums. Although he was not reused in the Ministry, Mr. Weasley still had deep feelings for the Ministry of Magic, where he had worked for most of his life. He walked proudly in front, He greeted every Ministry of Magic official he knew and led Harry and the others toward the ticket gate.

"First class tickets!" The Ministry of Magic wizard at the entrance looked at their tickets and said, "Top box! Go all the way upstairs, Arthur, to the top!"

Even Harry and Hermione, who had worked hard in physical education class, were out of breath when they climbed up. They finally reached the top. The location here is really as high as the mountain. Looking down, waves of waves The wizards who walked into the venue to take their seats were as small as a migrating ant colony.

At this moment, even Sirius felt a little grateful to Ludo.

Their position is in a small box, and the viewing platform of this box is facing the golden goal post. This is the best viewing position, but it cannot be bought with money.

There were quite a few people in their group. In order not to block the way, Mr. Weasley beckoned the children to go to the box and sit down. There were already some people sitting in the box. They were undoubtedly powerful figures in the Ministry of Magic or the wizarding world. , Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands and greeting them, and then introduced Percy to them.

"Where's Remus? He was behind me just now?"

Harry was walking behind Sirius. He was about to enter the box when he suddenly discovered that Remus, who was with them before, had disappeared at some point. He looked around but couldn't find him. Harry pulled him back. He took off Sirius' sleeves and raised his voice to try his best to drown out the roar of the mountains and the tsunami in the arena.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you!"

Sirius turned to look at Harry with a complicated look on his face.

"Remus can't sit with us. There are too many wizards on this occasion, and the Ministry of Magic strives to ensure everything goes as planned!"

Harry turned his head several times before he understood what Sirius was talking about. He looked indignant, but didn't know how to protect Remus. It was only at this moment that he realized that another friend of his father's, How difficult it is to survive in the wizarding world, and I understand why Remus invested in Fred and George.

With a gloomy mood, Harry walked into the box. He glanced at Mr. Weasley who was busy communicating with others. He gave up his intention to protest to him, and glanced at Hermione and Ron. Hermione was talking to While Ginny chatted, Ron, Fred and George had their eyes on the scoreboard, so Harry gave up on his plan to sue the Ministry of Magic with Hermione and Ron.

Looking across the slightly dark box, Harry suddenly noticed that there was a surprisingly small guy sitting in the last row of the box. The little guy's legs were too short and could only be stretched out on the chair in front of him. A loose robe was wrapped around it, and its face was buried in its hands. However, those long, bat-like ears looked so familiar to Harry, exactly like a house elf he had known before!

"Dobby?" Harry shouted in disbelief.

The elf heard the noise and finally released its face from its hands, and Harry immediately realized that he had recognized the wrong person.

"Oh, sorry--"

Harry nodded apologetically, "I thought you were Dobby. Well, he is also a house elf."

"But I also know Dobby, sir!"

The elf screamed, but it still didn't put down its hand completely, as if the light in front was too strong and would hurt its eyes,

"My name is Twinkle, sir—sir—"

When the elf named Winky landed on Harry's forehead, her eyes, which were very different from Dobby's, immediately opened wide.

"You must be Harry Potter!"

Today, Harry didn't know how many times he faced this kind of scene. He nodded calmly,

"Hi Winky, do you know Dobby? Have you ever worked together?"

"Winky serves Mr. Barty Crouch!"

When she mentioned her master, the house elf named Winky had a look of reverence on her face, but then she said, "And Dobby. To be disrespectful to you, sir, if you free Dobby, I'm afraid it will be disrespectful to him." There’s no benefit.”

"Why?" Harry asked in surprise, "What happened to it?"

"Dobby has been thinking about freedom all day long, sir," said Winky sadly. "They are all unrealistic ideas, sir. He can't find a job. No one would work for an elf who asks for pay and a holiday. ,gentlemen!"

Harry instinctively glanced at Hermione on the side of the guardrail, then looked back and said with a frown,

"What, house elves work without pay or holidays?"

"Of course not, sir!" Winky said seriously, "All house elves belong to the master, and we must obey the master's orders unconditionally, just like Winky, Mr. Harry Potter -" Winky put the hands that protected her face He unfolded a slit, glanced towards the edge of the box, and then took a breath, "I'm afraid of heights, but the master sent me to the top box, so I came, sir--"

Barty Crouch?

Harry then remembered that he was Percy's boss, and he was also the senior official from the Ministry of Magic who ordered Sirius to be thrown into Azkaban fourteen years ago.

"He clearly knows that you are afraid of heights, why did he send you here?"

Although he had never met Barty Crouch, Harry was sure that he would not like this person, so he frowned and asked.

"Master - Master asked me to save a seat for him, Mr. Harry Potter. He is too busy."

Winky checked her head and looked at the seats next to her. "Winky really wishes she could go back to her master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does as she is told. Winky is a very good house elf."

She looked at the edge of the box again in fear, and quickly covered her eyes completely.

Harry wanted to ask about Dobby's current situation, but then, another group of people suddenly came to the box, led by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Fudge's arrival was like a big stone thrown into the slightly rippling water, making the box immediately lively. The celebrities who were communicating with Mr. Weasley got up one after another and came to Fudge to show their flattery. With the help of Mr. Sly, he also came to Fudge. He bent too low when bowing, and his eyes accidentally fell to pieces on the ground.

Winky seemed to be afraid of this big shot among wizards. She turned sideways and lay on the armrest of the seat reserved for Mr. Barty Crouch, not daring to look at him.

"Oh haha, Harry, I didn't expect to see you here!"

Politicians always have keen eyesight. Fudge looked through the heads of people in front of him and found Harry behind the box. He waved to Harry and greeted him cordially.

In this situation, it was not convenient for Harry to talk to Winky. He walked from the back of the box to the front, and was enthusiastically held by Fudge's hand. He was introduced to the foreign wizard who came in with Fudge and was wearing a gorgeous black velvet robe with gold trim.

Harry didn't expect that someone like the Bulgarian Minister of Magic would be as curious about his scars as the foreign wizards he saw this morning. The minister immediately pointed to Harry's forehead, with an excited look on his face, and chirped. A lot of words that no one could understand.

"He finally understood something--"

Fudge said to Harry tiredly, "I can't understand the language. I've been making blind gestures all night. This kind of thing should be left to Barty. Ah, I saw his house elf gave him a seat. He was so thoughtful. These guys in Bulgaria always want to get the best seats. Ah--"

Although Fudge was facing Harry, he accurately caught someone approaching from behind. He immediately changed his face and greeted the visitor with a brisk voice.

"Lucius, you are here!"