A day at Hogwarts.

What are your thoughts on this, Chapter 603?

The lawns along Privet Drive have turned yellow and withered, and the pool where Dudley swims every day has limited the number of people allowed in, but this has nothing to do with the cool Privet Drive No. 3.

After Charles returned, he often sat on the sofa in the living room, lost in thought, sinking into the sofa for long periods of time, his eyes blankly staring at some pointless void, as if his soul had already left. He held a bottle of soda until it cooled down without taking a single sip.

Even when the old man and Leonardo DiCaprio signed an air fryer endorsement contract, it didn't attract his attention.

Harry thought Charles had broken up with his girlfriend, so he called Hermione over to talk to him. But Charles didn't say anything; he just used the now-flattened soda to cook chicken wings for them.

Hermione had no choice but to return to London with a large bag of snacks.

Dumbledore learned from Harry that Charles had returned. He pretended to come over to play on the computer and took a look. Seeing that it was a man, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Charles simply nodded to Dumbledore, then continued to sit on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought.

Dumbledore went to the computer room and saw a box of new games called "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" on the computer desk. He skillfully opened the box, took out the disc, and installed the game on his usual computer. Then he carefully put the disc back in the box.

Finally, he drew his wand and gently tapped the box. A flash of light appeared, and the packaging was instantly restored to its original pristine condition, without leaving a trace.

"I think this is very bad, and the negative impact on teenagers is immeasurable."

As Dumbledore reached Spirit Island, he murmured to himself, somewhat worried that Charles might be influenced by such games, like the comics under his bed, and perhaps sneak into the girls' bathroom to read them.

A genuine sense of unease quietly crept into his heart.

Dumbledore decided to go downstairs to have a heart-to-heart talk with Charles, trying to steer him toward healthier and more beneficial forms of entertainment.

However, only Harry was in the living room, staring at the television screen with a bored expression.

"Where is Charles?" Dumbledore asked, surprised that he had left.

Harry turned and replied, "He said the Dancing Grass restaurant is all renovated and we should go check on the preparations. Dobby and the others will be able to move from Black's old house and reopen soon."

Dumbledore nodded slightly. The reconstruction of Dancing Grass Restaurant was progressing quickly, and he would always stop by to take a look whenever he went to the Hog's Head for a meal.

This is truly good news; the community groups I'm trying to gather now have a place to meet.

At this moment, Harry revealed a mischievous smile and asked tentatively, "Professor, has the Ministry of Magic found out who bombed Professor Snape's house?"

He had asked Penny privately these past few days, but Penny pretended that she didn't understand English. The day before yesterday, she even went on a business trip to Shunde with Vernon, which made Vernon's already pale face turn ashen.

As a result, starting yesterday, Harry and Dudley have had to rely on Mrs. Figg for their meals, and her cooking is like cat food, which is perfect for Dudley's diet. Harry, on the other hand, has to rely on Dobby for help.

At this moment, Harry's curiosity had reached its peak, and he was eager to know if the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic had already pointed the clues to Aunt Petunia.

Dumbledore's expression suddenly turned serious, his sharp eyes fixed on Harry as he asked earnestly, "Harry, you didn't do this, did you?"

Considering the well-known, deep-seated animosity between Harry and Snape at Hogwarts, and Harry's unusual act of addressing Snape as "Professor" just now, his suspicions seemed quite reasonable.

This is no small matter; I'll have to stay in Azkaban for a while.

Although Gringotts opened a branch in Azkaban, where prisoners could withdraw money from the pull ring manager to buy whatever they wanted to eat and daily necessities on the whitelist, the Dementors also began feeding prisoners much more frequently.

Harry immediately shook his head vigorously, waving his hands repeatedly, and said, "No! Absolutely not! I don't even know where he lives!"

Dumbledore thought about it again and realized that was true. His expression softened slightly, and he said, "The Auror office is still investigating with all its might, but so far... we haven't found any valuable clues."

Harry strained his facial muscles, suppressing a smile that almost burst from his lips, and said in a deliberately somber tone, "That's such a shame. I hope they solve the case soon."

Dumbledore then revealed, "I heard that the Auror office specifically assigned Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom to handle this case."

"I think, with their professional skills and... well... that determination to get to the bottom of things, the case should make a breakthrough soon."

As he said this, he felt a strange, inexplicable feeling about this personnel arrangement.

Harry's mouth now stretched into a wide grin, unable to hide his delight any longer.

As soon as Charles returned, Harry couldn't wait to tell him everything about Snape overhearing the prophecy and his strong suspicion that Aunt Petunia was the mastermind behind the bombing.

Charles didn't say much at the time, but simply asked Harry to tell Neville about Snape overhearing the prophecy.

It's important to understand that the Longbottoms were also tragic victims of the prophecy leak, and they have the right to know the truth.

Now, hearing that Neville's parents were personally in charge of the investigation, Harry immediately understood Charles's subtle scheme and realized that he still had a lot to learn. He had been so angry when he first heard the news from Black that he couldn't sleep all night, but now that Snape's house had been blown up, he finally felt much of his anger had been vented, and he was no longer in a hurry to confront Snape.

"Ding dong!"

The doorbell rang suddenly, interrupting their conversation.

Harry ran to open the door and was surprised to find Rita Skeeter standing outside.

She was dressed exceptionally elegantly today, her face beaming with an overly enthusiastic smile, greeting Harry and Dumbledore repeatedly.

“Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore,” Rita said, pulling her signature shorthand quill and a roll of parchment from her purse, her voice sickeningly sweet, “I would like to interview you both about the unfortunate events that have befallen Professor Snape’s family. What are your thoughts on this matter?”

Dumbledore sighed silently to himself; the trouble that was bound to come was inevitable, and this woman with a keen sense of smell had indeed come right away.

He knew perfectly well that Charles had spent a lot of money on this reporter, which was why he had been helping to speak well of Charles in the media, praising him as a genius wizard who only appears once every four thousand years.

As for Snape, there was an interview when he first joined Hogwarts. Judging from that report, it was already a favor that she wasn't poisoned to shut him up. Don't expect to hear a single good word about Snape from her.

However, what Dumbledore didn't know was that Rita also accepted the Galleons offered by Charles this time, and the direction of the reports...

"Professor Snape is a... well... a very learned professor."

Dumbledore carefully chose his words. With Harry present, he couldn't praise Snape excessively, but he also couldn't speak too negatively. Finding the right balance was extremely difficult.

Rita's quill immediately began to dance wildly across the parchment, as if under a spell.

Encrypted characters quickly appeared on the parchment: "Dumbledore paused noticeably and suspiciously before commenting on Snape's so-called 'learning,' the implications of which are quite intriguing..."

"The headmaster spoke slowly and with extreme caution and restraint, as if afraid of accidentally revealing some earth-shattering secret that could shake the entire magical world..."

"Perhaps the truth behind the destruction of Snape's mansion lies cleverly hidden behind this cautious, hesitant comment..."

Now, under Charles's guidance, she has learned her lesson. The quill and parchment were specially made, with a code written on them. The correct message only appeared after the spell was cast back at her home. Otherwise, Dumbledore might not have been able to send her back today.

Rita watched the quill dance with satisfaction, then turned her attention to Harry: "Mr. Potter, there are many rumors circulating about how Professor Snape was so passionately pursuing your mother, Lily Potter. What are your thoughts on this?"

Harry had a whole host of complaints about Snape that he was eager to vent, but this bombshell question completely stunned him.

Harry felt as if he had been struck by lightning; he froze instantly, his mind going completely blank.

The next second, he leaped up from the sofa and pounced on the telephone in the corner at top speed. He rushed towards the phone faster than if he were being chased by a dog, frantically flipping through the thick phone book, his fingers trembling as he dialed an overseas long-distance number.

It was rush hour in Shunde, and Penny had just prepared a simple dinner in her rented apartment when the phone rang.

“Nihu…”

She answered the phone, only to hear English coming through the receiver. After Harry's urgent, confused, and somewhat incoherent questions, a long, suffocating silence fell between the receiver and the receiver.

Harry's heart sank to the bottom of a cold abyss with the deathly silence.

If Aunt Penny immediately launched into a tirade, screaming and denouncing it as utter nonsense and malicious slander, it would actually mean that nothing was wrong.

But this prolonged silence points to only one chilling possibility...

He dared not think any further, only to feel a sudden, intense, head-tearing pain, as if countless raging monsters were dancing wildly on his skull, wearing high heels.

Just when Harry was about to think the call had dropped, Petunia's suppressed and complicated voice finally came through the receiver, each word seemingly squeezed out with difficulty from between her teeth: "How...how did you...know all this?"

The next moment, in the Malfoy Manor, hidden somewhere and shrouded in layers of dark magic, Voldemort suddenly felt a violent headache.

He pressed his temples with his fingers in frustration, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

Could it be that something went wrong in one of the important parts of the resurrection ritual? Otherwise, I can't explain why I've been feeling inexplicably thirsty lately, not drinking enough water, feeling hungry easily, having a larger appetite, feeling sleepy after eating, and most importantly, my vision has started to become blurry.

"Damn it! Could it be that because I used Harry Potter's blood, I inherited his nearsightedness as well?"

This absurd idea enraged him. If he had known this would happen, he should have had Snape cure Harry Potter's ailment earlier.

(End of this chapter)