Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 247, Section 246: The Great Ron!

"Huh?" Lucius responded blankly, "I don't know, is it very precious?"

“Is it that precious?” Harry repeated Lucius’s words, trying to hold back his laughter, but he couldn’t help it. “Voldemort isn’t dead. To be precise, a part of him is still alive in this world. You already know that.”

“Yes, sir,” Lucius said respectfully, “I have kept your instructions in mind and have been searching for the mysterious man’s whereabouts, but so far there has been no progress, and none of the people I know have shown any unusual behavior—could it be?!”

Lucius's pupils suddenly dilated, and he breathed rapidly, realizing what Harry was trying to say.

"This, this, this—could this be?!"

“That’s right, this diary is one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes…” Harry said calmly. “Congratulations, Lucius, you have successfully completed my task, in a way that you yourself could not have imagined.”

Lucius was speechless. He never imagined that Voldemort would entrust him with something so precious, nor did he realize that Voldemort had been by his side all along—most importantly, the disappearance of Voldemort's soul was because of him; he was the one who gave it away.

No one understood better than Lucius what this all meant: if a fragment of Voldemort's soul were to be fully resurrected and come looking for him, if he were to discover that what Voldemort had entrusted to him had vanished...

Lucius felt he could start thinking about writing his will, unless—

“The Mysterious Man has entrusted us with many things.” Lucius’s mind had never worked so fast before. He racked his brains to recall, “My father, Abraxas Malfoy, was one of the original Death Eaters. The Malfoy family has been loyal to the Dark Lord for a long time and has invested a lot in him. Therefore, they have a lot of influence even among the Death Eaters, second only to those few madmen.”

"For us high-ranking Death Eaters, the Dark Lord has bestowed many gifts upon us, but most of them are things like Galleons, which are not very meaningful to our pure-blood families. Apart from me, only Barty Crouch Jr., Bellatrix Lestrange, and Regulus, as the heir of the Black family, received material rewards when he joined the Death Eaters..."

“There aren’t many,” Harry said confidently. “Are you sure that’s all?”

“The Mysterious Man rarely rewards his men,” Lucius said with a bitter smile. “He is our master, and serving our master is our duty.”

“There’s no need to make yourself sound so pitiful, Lucius. Do you think I’m one of those naive kids who doesn’t know anything about the world?” Harry said coldly. “You pure-blood nobles reaped a lot of benefits standing behind Voldemort back then. Didn’t you blame Voldemort for the deaths of your rivals?”

"No! My lord! No!" Without even a second to think or hesitate, Lucius instantly knelt on the ground. "I, I—"

"Alright, I told you you don't need to face me the way you faced Voldemort," Harry waved his hand impatiently. "These people you're talking about... do you have any way of finding out what Voldemort gave them back then?"

“That might be a bit difficult, sir,” Lucius said with a wry smile. “It’s not that I’m unwilling to serve you, but in their eyes I’m just a despicable traitor, especially after they’ve been in Azkaban for so many years and I’ve managed to escape trial. They’re even less likely to tell me anything… And many others have actually died in Azkaban, like Crouch Jr..”

"Then what about the family vaults?" Harry continued. "Pure-blood nobles always have places to hide their valuables. Is it possible for us to get in?"

He thought of the Potter family's secret vault, which no outsider had been able to enter even after so many years... Of course, this was also related to the fact that the Potters were war heroes who sacrificed their lives, so no one would rack their brains to deliberately and ostentatiously damage the Potter family's old house.

“These things… are usually only known to the heads of the corresponding pure-blood families,” Lucius said with some difficulty. “Those who were imprisoned in Azkaban and are still alive are all extremely loyal to the Mystic. Not only are they determined, but the Mystic also personally taught them magic, and even the Memory Charm cannot see the secrets hidden in their minds.”

“I can ask Narcissa to inquire about Bellatrix; after all, they are sisters who grew up together. But the others… many died too suddenly back then, and many families lost their lineages—ah! I’ve got it.”

"Many pure-blood families, including the Malfoys, have opened the highest-security vaults in Gringotts for business purposes, so they may still have many treasures stored in the vaults."

"Do you have a way of convincing the goblins to let us into the vault without a key?" Harry asked.

“No, fairies take this very seriously,” Lucius said with an awkward laugh, “but perhaps we can… use some less formal methods to get in.”

Harry understood.

It's going to be a sewer, a hole, or something... or maybe just punch it in, right?

“Okay, then let your wife ask Bellatrix first,” Harry nodded.

"Yes, my lord."

Lucius said respectfully.

After leaving the meeting room, Harry and Professor McGonagall returned to Hogwarts.

"Do you want to be the headmaster, Professor Potter?" Professor McGonagall suddenly asked as she walked in the open space outside the castle, looking at the students still playing in the distance.

“Me?” Harry shook his head and said, “Whether it’s headmaster or professor, it makes no difference to me. Besides, you’ve been doing the job of headmaster for so many years. All you’re missing is the title… I think the students would prefer to see you as headmaster.”

“Thank you for your comfort, Professor Potter,” Professor McGonagall smiled and then shook her head, saying, “But I can’t become the headmaster. What Shackleton said earlier is actually true. I am no match for the Man of Void, nor can I stop the invasion of those demons. Compared to geniuses like you and Dumbledore, my magical abilities are indeed insufficient, and I cannot protect the students in the school in this increasingly turbulent situation.”

“I’ve worked with Professor Dumbledore for decades, from his student to his colleague, so I know him well—more than just a headmaster position, Professor Dumbledore values ​​the purity of the school itself and the safety of the children.” “To be honest, I’m worried about Professor Dumbledore, who hasn’t shown up yet, but more than that worry, I’m concerned about the future where the school will be closed when he returns.” Looking into Harry’s eyes, Professor McGonagall said seriously, “I cannot stand by and watch Hogwarts be closed because of these attacks. It’s more than just a school; it’s a symbol that unites British wizards.”

“So, Harry, what I want to say to you is—if Professor Dumbledore really doesn’t return for a long time, then please don’t hesitate.” Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, as if she had prepared for the worst and was fully prepared for that future. “Professor Dumbledore once told me that those who have the ability always have to bear more… I hope you can do the same.”

"……I see."

Harry nodded calmly.

"So, the Board of Trustees wants you to be the new Headmaster?" Sirius, sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the Great Totem, was so shocked he almost choked on a cherry. "You? The Headmaster of Hogwarts?!"

"What's with your reaction?" Harry said, speechless. "What? Am I not fit to be the headmaster?"

“Of course not!” Sirius said without hesitation. “You were born to do this, Harry! If you ask me, Dumbledore should have retired long ago—aha! Let me think, I need to get the Black family’s seat back on the Board of Governors as soon as possible, so that the Board of Governors can’t stop you from doing whatever you want, Harry. Hmm, if anyone wants to oppose you, I can also take the opportunity to tip them off!”

"What are you doing?" Hermione, who was sitting by the fireplace playing with the cat, asked. "Is this really something a school board member should be doing?"

"Of course—it shouldn't be," Sirius Black suddenly changed his tone and said confidently, "A normal school board member should reduce the principal's power as much as possible and then control the school. Although I've never done it, someone in my family has, so I know a little about it."

"Then you return it?"

“It’s obvious that Sirius is not normal at all,” Ron said without looking up from the wizard chess game he was playing with Neville. “The traitor Sirius, even a kid like me knows his name. He’s a pure-blood traitor who has severed ties with the Black family.”

“Yes, just like the Weasleys,” Sirius laughed heartily. “Molly also broke off relations with Pewter, didn’t she?”

“Well said! Let’s give a high five to the pureblood traitor!” Ron laughed and turned to give Sirius a loud high five.

“It’s hopeless,” Hermione shook her head in despair. She looked at Harry and said, “Hurry up and do something about your godfather, Harry. The position of school board member is not for favoritism.”

“But the twelve board members have spent so much money on the renovation of Hogwarts, they should get something out of it,” Harry joked. “But you really need to be careful, Sirius, don’t corrupt the still-pure children.”

"Pure?" Sirius muttered. "When I was your age, I was already—well, Professor Potter, I understand. I'll keep them pure, so please stop staring at me like that."

The large totem was filled with joyful laughter for a moment.

Harry loved this feeling; it was as if he had a lively home in this world.

“Speaking of which, don’t you really need some treatment, Ron?” Harry suddenly asked Ron. “Your nose is still crooked.”

“No need!” Ron rejected Harry’s suggestion without hesitation. He turned his head and said excitedly, “These are scars of brave men! Like Professor Dumbledore’s crooked nose—you’ve probably noticed that his nose is crooked too, haven’t you? I think that must be an injury Professor Dumbledore sustained when he was young, fighting against the evil forces!”

“Don’t try to persuade him, Harry,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes. “You have no idea how we’ve been through all this time.”

“Yeah, I haven’t heard the story about the crooked nose for almost three minutes,” Neville said, looking up from the chessboard while suppressing a laugh. “It feels like something is crawling all over me.”

“Hey! How can you say that?” Ron said, indignantly. “That’s a symbol of bravery in the fight against Lockhart! Let me tell you! That bastard Lockhart cursed me and punched me, even used the Cruciatus Curse! But I refused to back down, even if it meant death! I am Ronald Weasley!!”

“Ronald Weasley? Lavender already said you called him Ron Weasley back then, and now even his name has to be so formal?” Hermione complained. “That’s enough, just stop already. I’ve heard it countless times. Lavender talks about your heroic appearance almost every day. She’s practically your follower! It’s terrifying.”

“What’s so terrible about it? Isn’t it great?” Ron straightened his back even more at the mention of Lavender, and said proudly, “I’m the great hero who saved them! I even used the Soul Link Totem to punish Lockhart and prevent them from being sacrificed!”

For Ron, this period was probably the most comfortable time he had ever had. He was very happy, with people surrounding him every day, wanting to hear him recount what happened that day.

Now, everyone at Hogwarts knows about Ron's great spirit of not yielding to the death that day. There's even a small group of Ron's admirers in the school. Snape's expression hasn't been very good lately—because Ron's words have also spread.

It was that line, "Your fists are as weak as slugs compared to Snape's words"—so the students at the school now compare Snape's words to something far more lethal than Death Eaters or demons.

It was awesome, so awesome! Just thinking about the glory he had experienced during this time, Ron wished he could meet a few more Lockharts. Even his parents, who had initially wanted to blame him for not taking good care of Ginny's parents at school, burst into tears and hugged him, crying uncontrollably after learning about everything he had gone through. They even promised to get him a new wand.

For a time, because there were so many children and Ron was the youngest, he seemed to be one of only two of the Weasleys' most beloved kids.

Fred and George were punished for not taking good care of their younger siblings, and in the end, they silently bore the consequences.

(End of this chapter)