Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 276, Section 275: The Ghost Ascension and the Death Eaters' Trail
Extending her translucent palm, Ms. Grey tried to touch the crown placed on the table. Compared to when the battle had just ended last year, Nico had repaired the crown's exterior; all the decorations that had collapsed from the warhammer had been restored to their original state. However, Nico had not restored the crown's original function, which was to bring wisdom to people.

Ghosts cannot touch physical objects; Ms. Grey's hand could only pass through the crown, yet her expression became satisfied.

"At least it's back at Hogwarts," Mrs. Grey murmured after a long pause. "It's back. I wish Mother could see it again."

“I think the person Rowena Ravenclaw most wants to see is actually you,” Harry suddenly said softly, “because you are her only family, her beloved daughter.”

Staring blankly at Harry, Mrs. Grey—no, it should be said that Helena Ravenclaw—remained silent for a long time.

Sudden.

“…You’re right,” Helena suddenly laughed. “Mother would really like to see me, yes, that’s it—I should go see her, I can’t keep her waiting too long.”

As she spoke, Helena's pearly ghostly body rapidly dimmed, as if some element that constituted this body was being quickly drawn away from it. In just a few breaths, she completely disappeared from the empty classroom.

In the end, only one sentence remained.

"Tell Barrow for me that I will never forgive him, and I will never love him. Let him die sooner!"

Although she was uttering curses, Helena's voice was unusually light, as if she were talking about what to eat for dinner.

Harry thought about it and decided to pass on Helena's last words. After asking a few people about the portraits, Harry found Barrow the Blood in the underground classroom.

"...This is Helena's last words, uh, her last words," Harry quickly explained to Barrow what had happened.

The next second, he saw a relieved smile on the face of the blood-covered Barrow.

“She chose to keep going…” Barrow murmured to himself, “She’s willing to talk to me now… willing to talk to me now… haha… she’s willing…”

Everything was just like what Harry had seen in the Ravenclaw tower; Barrow's body was also rapidly dissipating and would soon disappear completely.

"That was... a ghost ascending to heaven?"

Snape's office was in the underground classroom, and when he heard the noise next door and rushed over to check, he witnessed Barrow disappearing.

“Yes, they’ve ascended to heaven,” Harry said, turning his head slightly and looking somewhat innocent. “I’m sorry, Slytherin doesn’t have its own ghost anymore, but don’t worry, Ravenclaw doesn’t have its own ghost either.”

Snape: "..."

It's black in front of you.

"You mean, my esteemed Headmaster Potter, that with the other two schools about to open, Hogwarts' two houses have lost their representative ghosts?" Snape asked in his characteristic tone, taking a deep breath.

“That’s a good thing, Severus,” Harry said after thinking for a moment. “At least they have the courage to move forward again. We should wish them well.”

“Don’t mimic Dumbledore!” Snape’s face darkened further.

“I need to find two more house ghosts for Slytherin and Ravenclaw each. Do you have any recommendations?” Harry asked.

"Do you think a ghost suitable to be a representative of the House is some roadside weed?" Snape said irritably. "Why can't you learn from Lily? Always causing trouble like this, typical Gryffindor, don't be like your father!"

“Watch your manners, Severus,” Harry said with a smile. “At school, please call me Headmaster.”

“…Yes, Headmaster Potter!” Snape said through gritted teeth, “Then this kind of thing should be handled by the headmaster and vice-headmaster, not by me, a poor, innocent Potions professor!”

With that, Snape waved his black robe and prepared to leave.

“But you are the Head of Slytherin,” Harry said, suppressing a laugh. “You wouldn’t want to see an annoying ghost become the ghost of your own house, would you?”

Snape stopped in his tracks, turned around, and stared at Harry with his dark eyes.

"...I'll help ask around."

After saying that, Snape left without looking back.

Harry shook his head slightly. The thought of having to tell Professor Flitwick the good news that Ravenclaw was free of ghosts gave him a headache. He could only hope that the Ravenclaw crown upon returning to school would cheer up the headmaster.

Strangely enough, as time went by, Harry increasingly felt that if Snape had initially projected his feelings for his mother onto himself, then as Snape met Lily's spirit more often and listened to her teachings more frequently, Harry gradually began to feel that Snape had lumped himself together with James—in short, didn't like him much.

Lily's belongs to Lily, it's all very pure.

So much so that when he took Lupin to ask Snape to brew wolfsbane potion for Lupin every month during Lupin's tenure before the start of the semester, he was given a severe dressing-down by Snape... even Harry wasn't spared.

The only good news might be that Snape still agreed to brew wolfsbane for Lupin, and he wouldn't deliberately make the potion taste bad or disgusting—well, at least not extremely disgusting.

When Professor Flitwick learned of the ascension of the ghost of his house, his expression was one of utter despair. However, the Ravenclaw tiara that Harry immediately produced mitigated this despair. Even though Harry explained that the tiara had only been repaired in appearance and its actual function had not been restored, it did not change Professor Flitwick's fanaticism.

The white-haired old professor, who was both Harry's mentor and friend, readily agreed to take on the task of finding a new house ghost for Ravenclaw, on the condition that Harry temporarily leave his tiara with him so he could enjoy it.

There's no way to resist the allure of the Ravenclaw crown, just as no Gryffindor can resist the Gryffindor sword.

The time at the beginning of the school year always seems to fly by. The novelty and allure of new courses and new magic, the chatter with friends about the fun things that happened during the holidays, and the random appearance of new dishes on the school table—all these things make time slip away unnoticed.

Until the end of October, on the eve of Halloween. This afternoon at 6 p.m., representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive at that time, so the afternoon classes have ended half an hour early.

“They’re finally coming,” Ron said, wiping the sweat from his brow. The potions class he had just finished had left him feeling like his bones were about to melt. “Honestly, if they hadn’t come soon, I wouldn’t have been able to breathe.”

“A bit,” Neville said sullenly. “My God, I never thought Filch would turn back into his old self. He gets furious whenever someone dirties the things in the hallway.”

“Try to understand. Filch is not only our fellow apprentice, but also the castle’s caretaker,” Hermione sighed and said. “If the castle is too dirty and messy, it will indeed embarrass Hogwarts in front of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. He must be under a lot of pressure right now.”

"Really? I think he's really enjoying it, like he's rediscovered his former self," Ron muttered.

“What do you think?” Hermione couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought you only had eyes for Lavender right now, but I didn’t expect you could also see Filch.”

“Hey! Friend! What do you mean by ‘looking into Filch’? That’s a bit weird,” Ron immediately protested. “Besides, between Lavender and me—cough! We’re just friends!”

"Oh? Friends?" Hermione grinned mischievously. "Friends who kiss each other in a corner of the library?"

"how do you know!!"

As if he'd been electrocuted, Ron jumped up on the spot.

"Of course it's because you two were kissing so passionately that Mrs. Pince kicked you out!" Hermione rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Do you think I would deliberately look for your date?"

“Of course not!” Ron said immediately, “But—but, but—”

“It seems to be true,” Harry said, scrutinizing Ron. In just a few seconds, Ron’s face had turned almost as red as his hair.

“Hey bro,” Ron rubbed his hands together, “Lavender and I—she and I—uh, right? We’re definitely together, is there a problem?”

As he stammered, Ron seemed to suddenly untangle a ball of yarn and spoke with a straight face.

“No one has ever said there’s anything wrong with this,” Hermione said, blinking. “It’s just that you’re overreacting. Besides, you and Lavender were pretty much heroes who saved the damsel in distress, right? It’s perfectly normal for you to be together.”

“Yeah, a hero saving a damsel in distress,” Ron chuckled as he mentioned it. “She said she idolizes me, especially when I stood up to Lockhart last year…”

It began. Ron's storytelling session started again. Harry, Hermione, and Neville exchanged glances, shrugged, and no one said anything more.

Ever since Ron stalled Lockhart by drawing hatred for him last year, Lavender Brown has become his biggest fan and is pursuing Ron fervently.

To be honest, Harry wasn't surprised at all that the two of them were officially together. After all, since the beginning of summer vacation, especially during the time when the group was at 12 Grimmauld Place, Ron would receive letters delivered by owls from time to time, at least one a day, and sometimes even two or three. A few times, the owl would simply go on strike after delivering the letters.

Ron himself thought he had hidden it very well, but in reality, Fred and George just couldn't bear to provoke their little brother too much.

"Wait, Dumbledore's here too?" Hermione suddenly looked in surprise at the entrance of the Great Hall, where a familiar white-bearded old man stood.

“Yes, Karkaroff insisted that Dumbledore be present during the Triwizard Tournament,” Harry explained quietly. “I won’t say more, I’m going now.”

"Yeah, keep it up! Let the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangers see how powerful our headmaster is!" Ron snapped back to reality at the mention of this, clenching his fist in response.

From that morning onward, the entire Great Hall had become unfamiliar to the students. It wasn't just newly decorated; it had been completely transformed with a different style of decoration—huge silk banners hung on the walls, in red, yellow, blue, and green, each representing a house in Hogwarts.

Undoubtedly, these silks of different colors also feature the corresponding house's iconic animals, from lions to badgers to eagles and finally snakes, while behind the faculty table hangs the largest banner bearing the Hogwarts emblem.

This scene has strengthened the students' sense of school honor like never before. In fact, since a week ago, the only topic of conversation throughout the castle has been the Triwizard Tournament.

Who will become Hogwarts' champions? What will Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's students look like, and how will they differ from Hogwarts?

Now, with outsiders from both schools approaching, the four houses of Hogwarts have come together in a rare move, becoming a unified whole... even Slytherin.

Even Slytherin!!

The students from all four houses had already arrived in the foyer and were waiting. The professors stood in front of them, with Harry, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall at the very front.

"How does it feel to be back at Hogwarts?" Harry joked. "You've lived here for decades, it should feel like home to you... How about considering coming back?"

“Oh, I must admit it’s very nostalgic to see everything about Hogwarts again. Thank you, Headmaster Potter, for allowing an outsider like me to come to Hogwarts,” Dumbledore replied with an exaggerated joke.

“Don’t worry about it. Actually, it’s Karkaroff who strongly wants you back,” Harry said with a smile. “You give him a greater sense of security than I do.”

“That doesn’t sound very pleasant,” Dumbledore said, blinking. “But I can understand his panic, Harry. You may not know this, but there’s actually a strange rumor circulating in the wizarding world right now.”

"gossip?"

“Yes,” Dumbledore nodded slightly. “It is said that someone has been approached by Death Eaters.”

"Death Eaters?" Harry tilted his head in surprise. "Lucius didn't mention that. What exactly is this rumor?"

“I’m not questioning Mr. Malfoy’s loyalty. I’m just saying that someone has indeed been approached by people who call themselves Death Eaters,” Dumbledore said seriously. “I’ve already checked, and strangely enough, the person is still alive, and there’s no Dark Mark on his roof.”

(End of this chapter)