Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 255, Section 254: Righteous Slash Overturned Alley (True Slash Version)

"In short, I want you to cultivate the students' sense of crisis and vigilance, to teach them not to go near dangerous places or be scammed, and not just to be able to fight back after being attacked," Harry said, shaking his head slightly.

“Uh, I’m afraid I have to correct you, Principal Potter,” Lupin said weakly. “Actually, being able to protect oneself with a spell the instant one is attacked is already a good standard for most Aurors, let alone finding the enemy’s location and counterattacking immediately after the attack… Well, that requires hard work and talent.”

“Having magical talent doesn’t mean having combat talent. Not everyone is like you and, well, Dumbledore, a polymath,” Lupin said with a troubled expression. “That’s really difficult.”

“I know, so you just need to teach them as much as you can, and how much they learn is up to them,” Harry thought for a moment and added, “Not only this kind of teaching, but I also need you to teach them some useful little tips.”

"A little tidbit?"

“Smugglers, con artists, dark wizards, poachers, even how to deal with those less-than-rule-compliant Aurors or strikers—you can tell them anything you can think of that might be dangerous in the wizarding world,” Harry continued. “Both Dumbledore and I know exactly what the outside world is like.”

"But the difference between me and Dumbledore is that Dumbledore would try his best to let his students live a carefree life during their school years and enjoy their last moments of innocence, while I would prefer them to realize the cruelty of the world early on, which is better than them learning to grow up only after they have suffered setbacks and paid a heavy price outside... Isn't that the meaning of a school?"

“To be honest, I don’t really agree, but—you’re the principal, so you have the final say,” Lupin said decisively. “I will pass on my experience to them. Haha, I never thought that my experience from being a wanderer would come in handy one day.”

“Very good, then congratulations, Professor Remus Lupin,” Harry said with a smile, handing a letter from the table to Lupin across from him. “You’ve been accepted. All the benefits you’ll enjoy are in this letter. I’ll coordinate with the Ministry of Magic to grant you the same legal exemptions as other professors. You have two months to decide which textbooks you want to use—just don’t make students buy seven books like Lockhart did.”

“Of course not,” Lupin said with a smile. “By the way, can I continue using the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook? For example, ‘Dark Arts: A Guide to Self-Defense.’ I think a lot of the things in these traditional textbooks are still useful.”

“Of course you can, it’s your prerogative,” Harry affirmed. “Just give Professor McGonagall your textbook list afterward.”

"Okay, Principal."

Without any resistance, Lupin happily became the professor of the new course. After all, even in the entire magical world, being a professor at Hogwarts was a lucrative job, as it was both well-paid and respected.

Harry still needs to reassure Snape, at least he can't let him poison Lupin's wolfsbane potion (a potion that allows werewolves to maintain their sanity and not harm others after transforming on a full moon)... at least he can't let him use a poison that endangers life or would prevent Lupin from fulfilling his duties as professor.

Harry really couldn't say much about the grudges between the previous generation.

Decades ago, there was no wolfsbane potion. Back then, Lupin, who was studying at Hogwarts, had to go through the tunnels to an abandoned house in Hogsmeade every full moon night to endure the pain of being transformed into a werewolf and prevent himself from harming innocent students.

But Sirius Black tricked Snape into going through the tunnel to find Lupin at that time, which was tantamount to attempted murder. After all, if Snape had actually met Lupin in his werewolf form at that time, the best outcome would have been that he would have been infected by Lupin and become a new werewolf, while the more likely outcome would have been that he would have been torn to pieces by a crazed werewolf.

If Harry's father, James Potter, hadn't at least known that things shouldn't escalate and risked his life to bring Snape out, there would basically be no Snape at all.

Arrogant, cold-blooded, and indifferent to the lives of those he doesn't care about—this is his godfather, though Harry is reluctant to admit it. Even though he has publicly severed ties with his family, everything about the Black family still deeply influences him and cannot be severed.

Even after entering Gryffindor, becoming friends with James, and becoming a war hero, Sirius still retained the air of a pure-blood Slytherin nobleman.

Harry couldn't change what had already happened. He only knew that if what had happened to Snape had happened to him, Sirius Black would no longer exist.

So Harry really has no problem with Snape now taking some harmless, prank-like revenge on the remaining three members of the Robbers' Quartet.

Walking down the streets of Diagon Alley, Harry wasn't recognized despite his face being quite well-known. With the hood covering his face, he wasn't recognized by anyone.

"Muggle-proof gun statue! As long as the statue isn't broken, Muggle guns can't hit you! Just three Galleons! Three Galleons!"

"Healing potion! Cheaper than in stores! Tenfold refund if fake, buy now while supplies last!"

"..."

As if unaffected by the increasingly tense situation outside, the main street of Diagon Alley remained bustling, although the range of things being sold had subtly changed, with Muggle-related items growing rapidly.

The Daily Prophet has reported several cases where memory spells were not completely removed, and ordinary Muggles became aware of the existence of wizards. However, Muggles do not yet know that these people are called wizards, but instead refer to them as superpowered individuals.

Some people confuse wizards with the newly emerging Muggle shamans, while others believe that wizards are angels sent by God, children of the gods... In short, it's very confusing.

Furthermore, a wizard had already been hit by a Muggle bullet. It wasn't a large-caliber firearm, but even a pistol bullet caused the wizard to split into two parts while Apparating to escape due to pain and distraction. If his destination hadn't been on the streets of Diagon Alley, he probably would have died somewhere without anyone noticing.

Mr. Weasley's painstakingly developed Muggle protection laws are gradually becoming ineffective, not only because of Harry's speech at the International Wizarding Federation, but essentially because more and more wizards have realized in their daily lives that Muggles not only do not need protection, but are even quite dangerous.

It is said that in the United States, some Muggles will not hesitate to pull out their pistols and empty their magazines as soon as they see a wizard who looks suspicious.

Although wizards have many spells and potions that can cure purely physical injuries without magic, if you die quickly enough and don't have time to use them... the only way to stay in this world is to become a ghost.

Now, almost everyone, even those who are not employees of the Ministry of Magic or those who are well-informed, even the most ordinary wizards in the magical world, have clearly realized one fact: the Law of Secrecy is probably not far from being invalidated.

No one knows what the future holds, nor does anyone know if a massive war that will sweep across the world will affect them. This tension and panic drive people to find ways to protect themselves.

Various amulets, various smuggled goods... even the Ministry of Magic's enforcers and some Aurors couldn't escape it, and the crackdown on smugglers has been relaxed for some time.

Ultimately, this only made Diagon Alley more lively, as if it hadn't been affected by the situation. And when Harry entered Knockturn Alley, the sounds of vendors hawking their wares in this chaotic area, which was generally considered to be frequented only by dark wizards or criminals, changed completely.

"...The Poisonous Frog Hand! It can accurately poison and kill those who harm you!"

“What’s this?” Harry asked, stopping in front of a stall and looking at something on the ground.

Small, black, wrinkled, and bound with blood-red iron chains.

The vendor of the "cursed doll" stall was a withered old witch who was missing two front teeth, making her laugh sound like she had a lisp. "Want one? It will curse those stupid Muggles, making them think they're just unlucky, and guaranteeing that every single one of them will die a horrible death."

"...Made with a baby?"

The old witch chuckled, "Muggle baby, works well, lots of it, you—"

Her words came to an abrupt halt as a beam of green light shot out from Harry's robes, easily piercing the protective spell hastily cast by the old witch and landing on her.

The next second, she fell straight to the ground and died.

Knockdown Alley, which had been filled with various noisy conversations, fell silent for a moment, but then returned to normal. Everyone suddenly had something to do, and the malicious gazes that had been fixed on Harry all shifted away.

I can't afford to mess with him. He's a deadly curse with enough malice to kill someone. He's definitely not some harmless guy. There's no need to take unnecessary risks.

In no time at all, Harry smashed the old witch and everything on her stall to pieces, ensuring that no one could reuse them. Harry simply couldn't stand these evil dark magic items and these evil people.

So he couldn't bear it anymore.

The sudden bursts of green light caught the wizards in Knockout Alley completely off guard. Harry launched a sudden attack, not using shamanic magic, but simply the classic wizarding spell, the Killing Curse.

They were not lacking in murderous intent and malice to truly kill these people. Each green light could accurately take away a piece of trash. Harry had already cast the Anti-Apparition Charm before making a move. These dark wizards were also quite experienced. After the first three or four people fell, they immediately tried to fight back or run out of the range of the Anti-Apparition Charm.

Those who can use the Killing Curse, a high-energy and high-power spell, in succession are not to be trifled with. Especially after those who not only did not choose to run away but also launched a counterattack against Harry were twisted into pretzels by the Transfiguration Curse, running away immediately became their primary choice.

Harry's cleanup was very efficient, far more efficient than the Ministry of Magic sending Aurors to sweep up the scum. But this was not because the Aurors were incompetent, but because the Aurors would only arrest them... at least they wouldn't throw Avada Kedavra in people's faces as soon as they met them—decades ago in England, the people who would do that were called Death Eaters.

The Death Eaters had already been stabbed to pieces.

Before long, Harry could only sigh as he looked at the dozen or so corpses on the ground and the empty Knockturn Alley... The Anti-Apparition Charm, used hastily, had a limited range, and these people who had been walking in the Grey Zone for years had a wealth of experience dealing with this situation.

Harry saw a wizard missing a leg jump onto the plank next to him, and the next second, two pairs of wheels sprouted from the plank, carrying him away in a flash.

Each displayed their unique abilities.

Harry disposed of the corpses and the disgusting merchandise with a Vanishing Charm. Turning around, he found that the doors and windows of the shops on both sides were locked... That's quite an experience.

But it's okay, Harry will open the door.

boom! !

The glass doors and windows were shattered. Harry stepped inside and saw a man with a slightly bald head and a smile on his face standing up from behind the counter. Harry then bowed to him.

"Welcome to Borgin & Bork Antique Shop! How may I help you, sir?"

His expression remained unchanged, as if it wasn't his own shop door that had been blown open; his smile persisted.

“Karaktakus Burke?” Harry asked.

“Yes, sir,” Burke said with a slight bow. “I admire your boldness and respect your strength. Old man Bogo is no greenhorn fresh out of school, yet he was killed by you like a chicken. And the others…may I ask what they did to offend you? If I know, I can provide you with better service.”

As expected of someone who had been Voldemort's boss, this Klaxtarch Burke appeared respectful, but in reality, he wasn't flustered at all... or rather, he believed that nothing could happen to him in his own shop.

“No reason,” Harry said casually, “I just saw it, so I killed it on the spur of the moment.”

The mere sight of those evil dark magic artifacts and the wicked wizard Harry was disgusting, and since he didn't want to tolerate it and had enough power, he decided to act according to his own will.

As it turned out, the outcome was positive; at least for a while, the air in Flip-Over Alley would be much cleaner.

“...That makes sense,” Burke said dryly, the first time he’d shown such an expression since Harry came in.

(End of this chapter)