Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 421 Seven is a magical number

Harry looked completely bewildered.

No, haven't we already asked everything? Why are you keeping me here?
However, to Harry's surprise, after Kitty left, Dumbledore pulled a package out of under the table for him.

“Here,” said Dumbledore, “this is what Vivito brought you; it’s all sorts of snacks from around the world.”

"Why didn't Vivi mention this?" Harry asked, taking the package with interest.

“She said she had a surprise for you,” Dumbledore said with a chuckle. “I think Vivi still treats you like a child…”

Harry glanced at Dumbledore but didn't say anything.

He thought, "Being a child is fine, it's not something shameful."

"Thanks." Harry didn't forget to thank Dumbledore. He picked up the package, put it in his wallet, and planned to take a closer look at it when he got back to his dormitory.

He had no intention of opening it here. If there were any sweets... it wouldn't be good not to share them with Dumbledore, but if he did share them with Dumbledore...

Pshaw, this is a token of Vivi's affection! It's for me!

Regarding food guarding...

The Gryffindor common room was now a sea of ​​cheers. When Harry rushed back to the common room, the party was in full swing.

When people saw him enter, they burst into applause and cheers, and the congratulatory crowd quickly surrounded him.

The Crevi brothers wanted to write an extremely detailed match analysis, and he barely managed to get rid of them.

Then a large group of girls surrounded him. No matter what boring things he said, they laughed loudly and kept winking at him. It took him a lot of effort to get away.

“Women, huh?” Neville said with a laugh, looking somewhat drunk—but he wasn’t drinking; he was just intoxicated by the scene.

“Women.” Harry shook his head helplessly.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry looked up, but didn't see Hermione. He could only see Ron in the center of the field, receiving cheers from the crowd.

“Hermione doesn’t seem to be here,” Neville said, looking around. “Nobody knows where she went…”

These two people...

Harry shook his head helplessly.

Not far away, Ginny was dancing excitedly with Dean Thomas. Ron seemed completely oblivious to their presence; otherwise, he would have given her a lecture.

Hermione didn't arrive until halfway through the party.

"Where did you go?" Harry asked curiously.

“It’s nothing,” Hermione said, shaking her head, her expression somewhat indifferent.

Harry frowned.

Just then, Ron also came over.

"Hey buddy." He first punched Harry on the shoulder, then looked at Hermione's back. "What's wrong with Hermione?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "Did you upset him again?"

“I didn’t!” Ron cried out, utterly aggrieved. “Seriously, man, I have no idea what happened… I was just looking for her…”

“Then I suggest you go after them and ask,” Harry said to Ron.

"good idea."

Ron smiled and nodded at Harry, then ran to Hermione's side.

Unexpectedly, Hermione completely ignored him.

Ron wasn't discouraged, but instead blocked Hermione's path.

To everyone's surprise, Hermione suddenly drew her wand and pointed it at Ron.

“Hey, hey…” Ron raised his hands, “Isn’t this going too far? Hermione? We didn’t even have a fight, why are you…”

"Expelliarmus!"

A red light suddenly appeared, disarming Hermione's wand and sending it flying into the air.

Then, the wand spun and flew into Harry's hand.

Just then, the previously noisy Gryffindor common room suddenly fell silent.

“Something’s not right.” Harry walked over, his wand still pointing at Hermione.

“Harry?” Ron instinctively chose to believe Harry. He rushed behind Harry and asked with a hint of unease, “Something’s not right? You mean…something’s not right like Katie?”

“I’m not sure,” Harry said, extending his wand forward, and a blue light spread in all directions.

Then, he discovered a crimson glow in Hermione's arms.

He bound Hermione with a spell, then said to Lavender, who was standing nearby, "Lavender, help me get that thing out of Hermione's arms... wait, use this."

He stopped Lavender, who was about to make a move, and handed her a specially made clip.

This clamp was originally made by Dumbledore to retrieve Voldemort's Horcrux.

Lavender stepped forward, fiddled with Hermione's clothes for a while, and pulled out a black gem.

This time, Harry didn't choose to attack the gem. Instead, he took the clip from Lavender and examined the gem carefully.

Hermione groaned, then clutched her forehead, asking in confusion, "What happened to me? Where am I?"

“You were in the Gryffindor common room,” Ron said, scratching his head. “You were acting strangely, like you were possessed. You woke up after Lavender took a black gem out of your pocket—I mean, the real you woke up.”

"Oh my god, how could this happen..." Hermione said, clutching her chest, her voice filled with dismay.

"Where did you get this gem from?" Harry turned to Hermione and asked.

“I…” Hermione frowned. She thought for a moment and then said, “After the match just ended, I went to the edge of the Forbidden Forest… Actually, I was planning to go to Professor Scamander’s tent, but I found this black gem on the way. I just remember picking it up, and I don’t remember anything after that.”

Ron's expression turned serious.

"You mean this thing you found on the edge of the Forbidden Forest?"

“Yes,” Hermione nodded.

“I have to go out for a bit.” Harry quickly stood up, put the gem in his wallet, and then said to Ron, “Ron, you and Seamus go to the Headmaster’s office and talk to Dumbledore about this… Lavender, you and Parvati take Hermione to Madam Pomfrey’s infirmary to check if there’s anything wrong with her.”

“Okay!” they said, standing up.

After leaving the Gryffindor common room, Harry used his Prototype ability to walk forward and survey his surroundings.

After confirming the castle was clean, he went down the steps to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to search. After searching for about half an hour, Dumbledore also arrived.

“You’ve come at the right time, Professor.” Harry looked up at Dumbledore and said, “I suspect the Death Eaters have randomly dropped similar gems along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. To prevent the students from picking them up, I think it would be best to investigate.”

The professors gradually arrived, and after listening to Harry's account, they joined the investigation team.

It wasn't a complete loss; a black gem was found not far from Hagrid's hut, and three more were found at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

“What exactly is this?” Professor McGonagall frowned as she looked at the black gem. “I can sense this evil power, but…”

“This must be a creation of dark magic,” Harry said. “We don’t know the exact mechanism yet, but the attack that Katie Bell suffered a few days ago was caused by such a gem.”

"Such a thing actually happened?" Professor Flitwick leaned back tactically.

“Yes,” Harry nodded. “The Death Eaters are everywhere, and this gem is enchanted with a seductive spell… Thank goodness we found it in time, or Hermione would have been in danger…”

"This matter must be widely communicated to all students," Dumbledore said immediately. "We need to ensure the students' safety!"

After returning to the castle, Harry went to the headmaster's office again.

On the table between him and Dumbledore were four black gems arranged neatly.

“My suggestion is…” Harry said to Dumbledore, “to send these things to the Ministry of Magic and let them examine them to see what they are… Of course, we could give two to the British Ministry of Magic and the other two to the European Ministry of Magic, what do you think?”

“Excellent suggestion, I accept it.” Dumbledore rubbed his temples and said, “By the way, you should be prepared, we suspect the Magical Congress of the United States has sided with Voldemort…”

"What?" Harry was surprised that Dumbledore would say something like that.

"The fact that the Magical Congress of the United States has been delaying our entry to apprehend Voldemort can only mean one thing—they have sided with Voldemort. There is no other explanation," Dumbledore said. "The International Wizarding Federation intends to put pressure on the Magical Congress of the United States at the next General Assembly. If they refuse us entry again, then it will be considered that they have sided with Voldemort."

"And then?" Harry asked.

“Of course, we’ll force our way in,” Dumbledore said with a chuckle. “We can always find a way.”

When he returned to his dorm, Hermione was already sitting in the common room waiting for him, along with Ron.

"How are you?" the two asked with concern as they approached.

“Found them, there are four in total, five if you include Hermione’s.” Harry said, rubbing his eyelids.

However, Hermione frowned.

“No, Harry,” she said. “Think about it, how many Horcruxes did Voldemort have?”

“Seven,” Harry said without hesitation. “If you include me… seven is a magical number… wait, you mean more than just these five gems?”

“To be precise, there are six,” Hermione said. “Don’t forget, Katie also received a gem before, right?”

Harry nodded and took out the crystal ball.

"Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight," he said, yawning.

"Are you going to call Dumbledore?" Ron asked curiously.

“Yes.” Harry nodded. “It concerns the school, so even if there’s a possibility, we can’t let our guard down.”

After saying that, he dialed Dumbledore's number and told him about Hermione's guess.

Sure enough, Dumbledore frowned.

He accepted this view.

“How about this,” Dumbledore said after thinking for a moment, “have the prefects and chairmen lead the students into the Great Hall, just like Sirius Black did when he came to Hogwarts three years ago.”

Ron and Hermione were the first to receive the order. They knocked on all the students' doors and led the sleepy students into the Great Hall.

After quite a while, students from the other three colleges finally arrived.

“The faculty and I will be conducting a thorough search of the castle,” Professor Dumbledore told the students. At that moment, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick closed all the doors of the Great Hall. “For your own safety, I think you may have to spend the night here. I require the prefects to stand guard at the entrance to the Great Hall, and the student council presidents and student leaders to remain inside to manage the affairs—report to me immediately if anything happens.”

Professor Dumbledore paused at this point.

"Find a ghost to deliver a message to me."

With that, he waved his wand and conjured hundreds of sleeping bags, which he placed in the center of the hall.

Harry walked to the center of the field and cast the Prototype Charm.

Great, all the students present are safe.

"Is everyone here?" Dumbledore asked, seeing that Harry had used a spell.

"The Slytherin are all here!" Draco announced first.

“Ravenclaws are all here too!” Padma replied.

“Gryffindor is all here!” Hermione said.

“Hufflepuff is all here too!” Hannah said.

Since all four academies have arrived, it means that at least the last gem is not among these students.

This is a good thing, Harry thought, at least it means no classmates have been harmed.

Dumbledore turned and left the Great Hall, and Harry followed him.

Then, a murmur of whispers suddenly rang out in the auditorium.

The students who experienced something similar last time hadn't graduated yet, and they excitedly told their classmates about what happened—how Sirius escaped from prison and how the school was investigating.

"Everyone, get into your sleeping bags!" Hermione called out. "No talking! Lights out in ten minutes, everyone be quiet!"

“That’s cool,” Neville whispered to Seamus. “I wonder what Harry went off to do. Was he also helping with the investigation with the professors?”

“It should be,” Seamus replied, “but it feels like going back to the old days, doesn’t it?”

“But nobody wants to go back to those days,” said a Ravenclaw classmate standing next to him.

“God knows what happened…” a Hufflepuff student said worriedly. “Do you know? Would you mind telling us?”

"Lights out now!" Hermione reminded them. "Alright, no more whispering. Go to sleep!"

All the candles went out immediately.

The auditorium became completely dark, and the students' voices fell silent.

It just shrank because Seamus and Neville were still telling the other unsuspecting students what had happened that day.

(End of this chapter)