Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 153 152. Fudge's Optimism and the Beginning of a New Semester

It completely fits the identity he wants to pretend now... an image of a person who was bullied because of Voldemort's downfall and is therefore full of hatred for the child who was the direct cause of Voldemort's disappearance.

Professionalism is worthy of the result of practicing for a lifetime. Whether it is the tone, movements or expressions, they are all very precise.

"Why are you here, Hagrid?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm here to buy some things... things that can be used in the castle," Hagrid said vaguely, "but you guys, you shouldn't care about him, Arthur, that family is so bad, I thought little Malfoy had become a better person this semester, but now it seems that nothing has changed, ha, the blood in their bodies is all bad."

Several people were talking as they walked out. The clerk at Flourish and Blotts seemed to want to stop them, but looking at Hagrid's figure like a city wall, he didn't dare to speak after all.

Mrs. Weasley was still scolding her husband, and even the twins and Ron were not spared - after Mr. Weasley and old Malfoy had a fight, it was the twins who wanted to help their father, and then Draco Malfoy pounced on them.

One word, chaos.

In particular, the one person who had some reputation at the scene and could maintain order was hoping that things would become even more chaotic - just as several people walked out of the bookstore, Harry heard Lockhart asking the person from the Daily Prophet whether he could include the fight in the report, and that this would definitely cause a sensation.

"But if you think about it carefully, this seems to be a good thing," Fred said suddenly.

"Hmm?" George was stunned for a moment, then with amazing tacit understanding, he realized what his brother wanted to say, "It seems to be right?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron said angrily, "Damn it, the three of us couldn't beat Draco. I can't imagine how arrogant that guy will be when school starts."

"I thought you wouldn't talk to him anymore." Hermione gave Ron a strange look.

"It was just a fight," Ron said nonchalantly, "Old Malfoy is indeed a bad guy, but I think Draco is a little different - at least he fights with Slytherin more often than we Gryffindors, doesn't he?"

Ever since last year, when he had seen Draco being sent to the infirmary at every turn or Draco sending others to the infirmary at every turn, Ron had always felt a very mysterious admiration for Draco, the spiritual Gryffindor who was dedicated to attacking Slytherin and took being detained by professors as a meal.

"So Fred, what good things are you talking about?" Neville asked curiously.

"Lockhart is going to be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts," Fred said meaningfully, "Think about it carefully, Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Except for Ginny and Luna, everyone else understood instantly.

Everyone knows that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts is a one-year-old.

"That's indeed a good thing," Ron nodded repeatedly. "It's perfect. Does this mean that no matter how disgusting Lockhart is, we only have to tolerate him for one year?"

"That's right," George nodded and said, "but this also means that the seven books each of us bought this year will all be wasted next year, and even if Lockhart is no longer a professor next year, he can still go anywhere with our money - damn Lockhart!"

The last curse didn't just come from the twins, Ron and Neville joined in, causing Mrs. Weasley to glare at him.

"Don't curse others behind their backs like that!"

Mrs. Weasley gave the children a stern reprimand, and when she turned her back Fred shrugged and said, "At least she didn't reprimand us for saying anything bad about Lockhart, that's a good thing."

No matter how much the children hated Lockhart, it was a foregone conclusion that this man would become a professor at Hogwarts.

Compared to Lockhart's matter, what was even more difficult for Ron, Hermione and Neville to accept was the news published in the Daily Prophet the next day - the Ministry of Magic passed a new law.

To be precise, it should be considered an order, not a complete law. Its full name is "Order to Control the Abuse of Elemental Magic by Underage Wizards during Holidays".

If people had any doubts before about the new elemental magic created by Harry Potter as reported in the newspapers, then this order from the Ministry of Magic undoubtedly stated that elemental magic was real and that Trace was indeed unable to monitor this new type of magic.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I'm afraid you'll have to come with me to the Ministry of Magic again," said Mr. Weasley, who had left home for work in the morning and hurried back at noon, with a helpless look on his face.

Harry was playing a stripped-down version of Quidditch on the grass with some friends.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It's like this. You've read the newspaper this morning, right? The new order..." Mr. Weasley scratched his head and said, "I'm afraid I need your help to implement this order, Harry. You know, as the founder of new magic, no one in the world knows elemental magic better than you."

"Of course there is no problem," Harry nodded and said, "but according to what the newspaper said, I thought the Ministry of Magic had improved the trace."

"How is it possible?" Mr. Weasley sighed and said helplessly, "It's just a claim. Tell people outside that we have a solution. No one in the Ministry understands this kind of elemental magic. How can we improve the trace?"

"I understand," Harry said with a smile, "Don't worry, I will cooperate."

"That would be perfect."

So Harry left his broom to Ron and followed Mr. Weasley to the Ministry of Magic again using Floo powder.

Even elemental magic was still magic, so under the leadership of Mr. Weasley, Harry finally came to the Improper Use of Magic Department - even though Harry had just filed a lawsuit with this office and sent their boss away, this matter was indeed under their jurisdiction.

Unexpectedly, Minister of Magic Fudge was waiting for him here.

"Thank you for your hard work, Arthur, in bringing Harry here." With a fake smile on his face, Fudge said enthusiastically, "This really saves us a lot of trouble - and, you are welcome to the Ministry of Magic again, Harry, don't be nervous, kid, we certainly won't hurt you."

He seemed to be imitating Dumbledore's style, trying to make himself appear more approachable or friendly, but to be honest, Harry felt that Fudge would be better off removing this disguise and maintaining his usual style... at least it wouldn't make people feel disgusted.

"Thank you, Minister," Harry said briefly, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Help?" a woman standing behind Fudge said sharply. "I think it would be better to call it assistance. This is also for your own benefit, Mr. Potter."

"That's enough, Dolores." Without waiting for Harry to speak, Fudge raised his hand to signal the woman to shut up. He continued to say to Harry: "Anyway, Harry, about your new magic... well, there are still many things we don't understand."

"The most important thing is that you have taught this magic to your peers, and it has been proven that the Trace cannot detect this new magic - do you understand what I mean?"

"Of course, Mr. Minister," Harry said after a slight sigh, "If possible, I would like to meet those wizards who helped Boot deal with the magical accidents he caused, and express my gratitude and apology to them."

"...Oh, Harry, this really surprises me." With his eyes wide open, Fudge looked at Harry carefully, as if he was seeing him for the first time.

"Impulsiveness, emotionality, weak will, and inability to bear the consequences of their actions are indeed problems that minors will have," Harry continued, "and when this minor is a wizard and can use magic to do things that many Muggle adults cannot do, their destructive power will increase exponentially." The entire office was silent, and everyone looked at Harry, as if Harry, who said these words, was not an underage wizard himself.

"...Very good." After a long moment, Fudge finally smiled. It was not the fake smile that had been on his face just now, but a real, happy smile. "I'm glad that you have such an understanding, Harry - that is to say, you agree with the behavior of the Ministry of Magic, right?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "I think even elemental magic should be under the regulation that minors are not allowed to use magic during holidays."

"Are you willing to help us achieve this?" Fudge asked.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Good boy," Fudge patted Harry's shoulder and said, "You will have a bright future - to be honest, it would be great if you had graduated now."

"Oh, Minister, Harry is still a long way from graduating," said Mr. Weasley beside him.

"Haha, Arthur, of course I know that, I was just making an analogy," Fudge said cheerfully, "An expectation, understand? Then it's settled, Harry, work hard, like I said, you will have a bright future."

Fudge's mood obviously improved. After saying this, he left with a few people behind him.

"I hope he doesn't bother you, Harry," whispered Mr. Weasley. "You must have said what you said just now."

"Well, I'm not being polite, Mr. Weasley," Harry said, turning around. "If the Ministry of Magic can't monitor whether underage wizards are using elemental magic, then sooner or later the children will cause big trouble."

"You know what? Harry, you're like a saint," Mr. Weasley shrugged and said, "Since you can come up with such an idea, let's start as soon as possible. At least before the next holiday, we have to come up with a solution."

"I'm not a saint. I have a bad temper if I have to say so," Harry said with a smile, "Anyway, what do you need me to do specifically?"

"Come this way..."

The last days of the holiday passed so quickly that when the day finally came for school to start, Ron was even unwilling to accept this reality.

He was really having fun.

Playing chess and cards, unlike his previous life at the Burrow, Ron was extremely excited to have a playmate of the same age like Neville.

From time to time, Harry would team up with Ron Neville to play a Quidditch game with simplified rules against Fred and George.

The work entrusted to him by the Ministry of Magic was progressing much faster than Harry had expected. At present, the new type of tracking thread has greatly narrowed the detection range and also included the monitoring of elemental magic - this is where Harry couldn't figure it out.

The employees of the Department of Prohibition of Abuse of Magic really did not understand elemental magic, and Harry had no intention of teaching them shamanism casually. What he had been doing during this period of time was to continuously demonstrate various elemental magic to the employees of the Department of Prohibition of Abuse of Magic, and then these people would record the visible and invisible changes that would be caused by this magic after it was cast.

Then the trace is improved and completed.

Without understanding the true meaning of elements and unable to see their existence, in Harry's eyes, these wizards improved the Trace with an attitude of 'I think this is what elemental magic should be like' - and the most important thing is that these people actually did it.

Harry exclaimed in disbelief that it was incredible, and he wished he could let the mages in Dalaran come and see this kind of magic to completely overturn their worldview.

The red train, puffing with steam, stopped at the platform again. The students leaned against the windows to say goodbye to their parents outside. The scenery changed along the way, and when it was almost dark, Harry and his friends saw the familiar castle again.

The ancient castle standing on the edge of the cliff is hidden in the night, but it does not give people any eerie feeling. On the contrary, the lights lit in various places in the castle make the new students who enrolled this year shout excitedly - because they know that they will spend seven years in this castle, living in a castle!

Only first-year students would follow Hagrid on the boat to Hogwarts to complete the magical ritual. When older students got off the train, they were taken by their grade leaders to another road where rows of carriages had already been parked.

"Wow, a driverless carriage?" Ron couldn't help but exclaimed, "This is really cool, it's like a ghost is driving for us."

"This is not unmanned, Ron." Harry walked forward, and under Ron's horrified gaze, he reached out and touched the air in front of him - at least that was the case in Ron's eyes.

"Is there something there?" Hermione asked. She also stepped forward and touched Harry's hand. Then she trembled for a moment and said in a low voice, "There really is something there!"

After exchanging a glance with Neville, Ron and the other man walked up quickly, carefully stretched out their hands and felt in the air, and they indeed touched some very smooth fur.

"What is this, Harry?" Neville asked in a low voice, afraid of disturbing the invisible creature in front of him.

"Thestrals," Harry said affirmatively, "According to the book, only those who have witnessed death can see it."

"Well, these conditions..." Ron muttered, "I'm not surprised that you can see me."

"Go on, Harry," Hermione urged excitedly, "What do they look like?"

"Do you know Pegasus?" Harry asked back, "Thestrals actually look similar to the Pegasus in the stories, except that they have a dragon head and a horse body - oh, my friend, I don't mean to laugh at you, in fact, I think you are quite handsome, do you want to eat grass?"

Subconsciously holding their breath, Hermione and the other two stared with wide eyes at Harry talking to the air on the other side. He took out a handful of tender white snacks from the pocket of his robe and handed them to the empty place. Those were the snacks that Harry used to bribe Fawkes.

As if it could understand that Harry and the others were talking about it, the Thestral bent its long neck to look at Harry and slightly spread its wings. Harry could see that its pupil-less eyes were white and were staring at him intently. After several seconds, it lowered its head and bit the Dictamni leaf in his hand.

"Oh my God! It's really gone!" Ron exclaimed.

They could clearly see the white fresh leaves disappearing into the air bit by bit, and could even see the tooth marks left on the leaves that had not been bitten cleanly every time.

"Cool," Neville exclaimed, "They must be very handsome, right? I mean...well, their overall looks."

"Let's go, let's get in the car first. Actually, it's quite the opposite." Harry shook his head slightly and said, "From a general aesthetic point of view, Thestrals are not very pleasing. They have almost no flesh on their bodies, only a layer of black fur attached to the skeleton, and every bone is clearly visible... But their wings are really handsome, similar to bat wings, but magnified many times."

In order to prevent this magical animal that could understand human language from giving up, Harry lowered his voice, otherwise it would be bad if the two Thestrals heard it... Although according to the book, the Thestrals are not actually evil and usually do not actively attack humans unless provoked.

"It is said that the Thestrals bring death and misfortune," Ron recalled some of the sayings he had heard when he was a child, and Neville supplemented it.

Unlike Muggle wizards, children who grew up in the wizarding world tend to believe in mysterious things. This topic continued until Harry and his friends sat down at the Gryffindor table. Seamus and Dean also joined in, enthusiastically sharing the eerie and strange horror legends they had heard.

It didn't take long before Professor McGonagall led this year's freshmen through the gate. These young children were not used to the feeling of being watched by so many people, and they were all extremely nervous.

(End of this chapter)