Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 249, Section 248: Harry's Daring Venture into the Department of Mysteries

In particular, Scrimgeour's change was remarkable. When they first met, he thought the young wizard was unreliable, but now he said that if he were willing to run for office, he would be willing to withdraw from the election.

“Surprised?” A faint smile appeared on Scrimgeour’s serious face. “I have always adhered to one principle: professional matters should be handled by professionals. You know more about those elemental spirits and demons than we do, and you have also proven your abilities—I mean when you were sharing your experience with the Ministries of Magic of various countries.”

“Of course, there’s another very important reason,” Scrimgeour became serious again. He looked towards the castle, though he couldn’t see it from here, but he knew what was there. “Those statues… I want to say thank you on their behalf, thank you, Professor Potter.”

“That wasn’t just my achievement; it was the gratitude of everyone in this school,” Harry said, shaking his head. “You deserve it. It was because of your heroic efforts that we won this war.”

The reconstruction of Hogwarts was still ongoing more than a week later, but even so, a group of stone sculptures had already been erected on the lawn outside the main gate of the castle the day after the war ended.

These stone sculptures do not commemorate any famous figures, but rather the Aurors and strikers who sacrificed themselves in this battle, some nameless soldiers, their expressions impassioned as if they were shouting something, their wands raised high, showing no fear even in the face of death.

Before coming to the Great Totem, Scrimgeour made a point of going there for a while and remained silent for a long time.

"Anyway, thank you," Scrimgeour said with a complicated expression. "Their children will be proud of them when they see this in the future."

“Yes, they are all heroes,” Harry said softly.

"Are you really unwilling?" Scrinker asked again.

"I don't want to," Harry said frankly. "I don't have that much energy to put into the backstabbing politics."

"So if I choose to run for office, will you support me?"

“If you’re doing the right thing,” Harry said seriously, “the wizarding world is facing new challenges, and a capable minister is very important—at least you’re better than Fudge.”

“…Yes,” Scrimgeour suddenly laughed, “that’s for sure.”

Scrimgeour left, looking full of confidence, only asking Harry to use his prophetic abilities to find Dumbledore as soon as possible before he left.

Harry Potter, who is favored by the Board of Governors and many wizarding nobles as the future headmaster, and is also seen by many Ministry of Magic officials as a candidate for Minister, is already quite prestigious in the British wizarding world. He is—well, planning to enter the Ministry of Magic.

The illegal kind.

If you get caught, you'll be sent to Azkaban.

Harry wants to enter the Hall of Death of the Department of Mysteries.

He had submitted his application through Fudge several times, but each time he was rejected by the Director of the Department of Mysteries. Fudge, the Minister of Magic, really had no face in front of the Director of the Department of Mysteries. I heard that he even had a big argument with the director and left in a huff.

Since he couldn't get in by normal means, Harry had to get in by abnormal means; he had to go to the Hall of Death for a checkup.

Grindelwald's prophecy, made in the style of a wizard's own prophecy, has shown signs of coming true. The demons of the Twisting Nether have indeed appeared in this world, which also means that the world he was born from is also one of the endless worlds enveloped by the Twisting Nether. Perhaps Azeroth is somewhere far away, reachable by starship.

Every time Harry thought about the possibility of seeing his familiar family and reliable comrades again, his calm heart began to beat more violently.

Therefore, he attached even greater importance to the prophecy made by Nico, the prophecy that foreshadowed the arrival of the Black Knights—the Hall of Death!

Harry had already infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, which was no difficult task. He simply blended in with the crowd demonstrating in the front hall. Today, he was wearing a black robe and had covered his face with a hood, a rather common outfit among wizards.

After sneaking into the Ministry of Magic, Harry found a corner and used the Disillusionment Charm to hide himself. He then quickly headed towards the elevator.

[Ninth Floor, Bureau of Mysterious Affairs]

When the elevator doors opened, there was only a simple corridor outside the fence, and at the end of the corridor was a pure black door.

There was no extra sound around him. In fact, after stepping out of the elevator, Harry couldn't even hear the sound the elevator made as it moved. It was a silence achieved through magic.

Harry tapped the handle of the black door with his wand, using a detection charm to check if there were any alarm spells or curses on the door. Only after confirming that everything was safe did he push the door open and go inside.

The Department of Mysteries is, well, a very mysterious department. Even Arthur Weasley, a veteran employee of the Ministry of Magic who has worked there for decades, doesn't know what the Silent Men who work there do every day. Their work is top secret, and they don't even give face to the Minister of Magic.

After all, the Department of Mysteries was established even before the Ministry of Magic, back when the Wizarding Council was loosely organized.

Harry was standing in a huge circular room. Everything from the ceiling to the walls and down to his feet was black. Only twelve identical black doors, without any markings or handles, were set in the walls at intervals. Several candles with blue flames illuminated the pure black space.

As Harry stepped into the room, the door behind him closed automatically in an instant, and then the surrounding walls began to spin rapidly, making the twelve doors indistinguishable.

Harry didn't know if this was a necessary procedure to enter the various rooms of the Department of Mysteries or if the Silent Ones had already discovered his presence and activated the trap. He simply walked quickly to the wall that had stopped rotating and pushed open a door.

Behind the door was a square room, brightly lit despite the lack of torches or candles for illumination. In the center stood a massive tank filled with a dark green liquid. What made Harry frown was that the creatures swimming in the tank weren't normal fish, but rather whitish brains, followed by numerous white tentacles. He didn't recklessly use his astral perspective to observe the room, nor did he rashly attempt to contact the spirits within.

In the 'Brain Hall,' Harry recalled the information Nico had given him: this was probably a place where wizards studied the brain and memory, and that spells related to thought, such as the Forgetfulness Charm, were probably born here.

But that wasn't his destination, so before those curious brains could peek out of the water tank, Harry closed the door again and headed for the second door next to it.

The moment Harry opened the door to the 'Planetary Room,' he already knew the purpose of this room, because this dark room with no extra light made one feel as if they were in the void, with only a few huge planets in sight.

Based on his knowledge of natural science learned in Muggle classes, Harry had already identified these as the major planets of the solar system.

Still not his destination, so after closing the door, Harry pushed open another door after the rotating wall stopped.

The moment Harry pushed open the door, he knew he had come to the right place.

The light was dim, and a beam of light from an unknown source illuminated the archway-like ruins in the room, along with a chill that seemed capable of freezing one's soul.

Everything was exactly as described in the prophecy that Nico had shown: a square, sunken stone pit in the center of the room, about twenty feet deep, with stone steps encircling the entire room, descending in layers, each step very steep, much like the trial room that Harry had visited twice—except for the black curtain.

The curtains hanging halfway in front of the archway were still fluttering, as if some wind was blowing them up from somewhere in this enclosed room. In Nico's prophecy, these black curtains should have stopped fluttering by now.

So far, the Department of Mysteries, which is supposed to be heavily guarded and not allow unauthorized personnel to enter, has not issued any alarms. The Silent Men, who are also dressed in black robes, seem to have gone to another unknown space, and Harry has not encountered a single one of them.

Then, standing at the entrance to the Hall of Death, he heard whispers, as if they were calling him over, wanting to tell him some secret, so intimately.

He could not hear clearly, yet it was undeniably real. When Harry forced himself to wake up from his daze with immense willpower, he was surprised to find that he had somehow arrived at the bottom of the stone steps and stood before the dilapidated archway.

The very end of the constantly fluttering black curtain seemed to touch his nose at any moment—Harry could see clearly that, for a fleeting instant, a human face glided across the silky surface of the black curtain as it rose.

Hollow eye sockets and a wide-open mouth appear and disappear.

Harry placed his hand on the archway; the stone was cold and chilling.

[...Harry...Harry...]

The voice calling him grew clearer and clearer, right behind the black curtain; it was no illusion.

Taking a deep breath, Harry suddenly raised his wand and slid it to the left!
With his movement, the two black curtains that were originally closed together were suddenly pulled open to the sides!
Bang! !

With a heavy thud, Harry stared in astonishment at the figure that had fallen from the curtain as he had drawn it back. A long, azure robe adorned with gold stars and moons, a wizard's hat lying on the ground beside him, and pale beard and hair—who else could it be but Dumbledore?!
Completely unexpectedly, Dumbledore suddenly appeared in this place. Harry looked up at the curtains and found that the curtains, which had seemed to be constantly being blown by the wind, now stood quietly on both sides of the archway, no longer fluttering or swaying, as if they had always been like this.

Harry even saw a thin layer of dust above the black curtain, as if time had passed in such a short time that it had become covered in dust.

But all of this has clearly just happened.

"Dumbledore?" Harry warily drew his warhammer from his waist and used the wand in his other hand to turn Dumbledore over—Dumbledore was indeed still alive; Harry could see his chest and abdomen rising and falling. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Harry's spell is about to burst out!
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!" Dumbledore coughed violently, as if he were about to cough up his lungs. "This air is really unbearable—cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!"

Harry did not lower his guard just because Dumbledore could speak and seemed to still be rational; he remained wary of him, holding a hammer in his right hand and a cane in his left.

"Are you really Dumbledore?" Harry asked in a deep voice. "How can you prove that you are still you?"

“How does one prove oneself? That’s a good question, Harry.” Dumbledore finally stopped coughing and leaned against the archway beside him. “Let me think… how about some honeydew? A pile of cockroaches would be nice too. I haven’t had sweets in ages. Honestly, I never imagined they would play such an important role in my life.”

“Not enough,” Harry said coldly.

"Isn't that enough?" Dumbledore lowered his head slightly in thought. "Then, I really don't want you to be waiting outside the headmaster's office in the middle of the night to drag me away anymore—how about this?"

"...The Headmaster's office no longer exists." Harry's expression was somewhat subtle. After a moment of silence, he hung the warhammer back on his belt. He didn't put away his wand, but instead used his other hand to help Dumbledore up. "How did you get out of here?"

"The Headmaster's office is gone?" Dumbledore repeated Harry's words, sat up straight, looked around, and said, "It seems a lot has happened while I was away, and this place... the Hall of Death, I knew it..."

Surprisingly, Harry suddenly noticed that Dumbledore looked like he was about to cry at any moment, but he quickly took a deep breath and readjusted himself.

"...I seem to have started a new adventure ahead of schedule, Harry," Dumbledore said, turning to look at Harry. "I thought—I'm sorry, my thoughts are still a bit muddled, I just didn't expect this—I suddenly sensed your presence, Harry, in another world."

"I thought it was just my imagination, but I never expected that feeling to be real—the Hall of Death—my God, it's amazing—just when I thought magic had its limits, it always managed to surpass my imagination."

(End of this chapter)