Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 277, Section 276: Visitors from Friendly Schools and Hostility from Ron

"So what do the Death Eaters want with him?" Harry asked.

"They robbed a large quantity of potions," Dumbledore seemed a little confused. "According to my old friend, that Death Eater claimed that Voldemort had been resurrected. Hmm... perhaps that's why Headmaster Karkaroff is so nervous? They always have their own ways of contacting each other, or rather, their own secret channels of communication."

"So he believes Voldemort has been resurrected and is gathering his old henchmen to take revenge on those who betrayed him," Harry said, stroking his chin. "No wonder Karkaroff was in such a hurry, wanting to bring his students over from the very first day of school—are you sure your old friend is alright? Like, what about the Imperius Curse?"

“Probably not,” Dumbledore seemed a little confused. “I must say he is a master of memory charms, so if his memories were altered, he should be able to detect it… To be honest, although it is unethical to say this, I am also very curious as to why he is still alive after the Death Eaters came knocking on his door.”

"Maybe it's because he agreed to some condition?" Harry guessed, "something to save his life."

“Perhaps, but we can’t convict him for something like this,” Dumbledore said calmly.

The students were whispering amongst themselves. It was a cold night, darkness had fallen, and a bright white moon hung in the sky above the Forbidden Forest. They were constantly speculating about how the students from the other two schools would arrive.

"Quiet!" Harry suddenly shouted. "The Beauxbatons representatives have arrived!"

"Professor! Where are they?!" a student immediately asked, but Harry didn't need to answer. Everyone soon saw a huge structure flying rapidly through the Forbidden Forest toward the castle.

"What is that?! Is it an airplane?!"

A first-year student screamed; he must be from a Muggle family.

"Don't talk nonsense... It's a house flying!!"

Under the eager gaze of the students, a huge powder blue carriage finally landed in the open space in front of the castle. It was pulled by twelve winged horses that flew through the air. They were all excellent divine horses, each about the size of an elephant. Harry had ridden them before when he was in Beauxbatons.

The carriage was adorned with a emblem consisting of two golden wands crossed in a cross shape, each wand emitting three stars, before the doors opened.

A boy in a light blue robe jumped off the carriage. After bending down and feeling around on the floor for a while, a golden spiral staircase descended to the ground. Then, Mrs. Maxim stepped down from the carriage. Her height caused a collective gasp among the students. Apart from Hagrid, they rarely saw anyone so tall, especially a woman.

Harry began to clap in welcome, and the students quickly joined in.

Although I had once mentally grouped Mrs. Maxim and Hagrid together, since they were quite similar in height, Mrs. Maxim and Hagrid were clearly different—at least in their clothing and appearance.

Today, she combed her hair back and tied it into a shimmering bun at the base of her neck. She was wrapped in a black satin dress from head to toe, and her neck and large fingers were adorned with many luxurious opals.

Harry glanced at Hagrid and noticed that Hagrid was staring intently at Mrs. Maxim, clapping absently.

Brother, I understand.

In such a formal setting, the meeting between the two headmasters was naturally much more solemn than when Harry last met Mrs. Maxime.

The only problem was that Harry was indeed a bit too short for Madam Maxim, so much so that when Madam Maxim reached out her hand, Harry had some difficulty performing the hand-kissing gesture—and it wasn't an illusion; a few snickers rippled through the Hogwarts and Beauxbatons students.

Ignoring the students' laughter, Harry said earnestly, "Dear Madam Maxim, welcome to Hogwarts."

"Principal Potter," Maxim replied in a low voice, "I hope you are doing well during this time."

"Thank you, everything went smoothly," Harry said with a smile.

“Of course, and you too, former Headmaster Dumbledore.” Clearly an old acquaintance of Dumbledore, Madam Maxim smiled at him and said, “I also wish you all the best.”

“Very good, thank you,” Dumbledore said, giving a kiss on the hand.

Although he was already a centenarian, Dumbledore was indeed quite tall—yet when performing this hand-kissing ceremony, he didn't even need to bend over.

"My students," Madam Maxim said, waving her hand behind her. Beauxbatons' students had already gotten off the carriage and were now looking at Harry with curiosity, while also observing Hogwarts in front of them.

“Let me introduce you, Harry,” Mrs. Maxime said with a smile, pulling a girl wrapped in a scarf from behind her. She was covered up so much that only her large, beautiful blue eyes were visible. “Fleur, I mentioned her name to you when you went to France before, do you remember?”

“Of course,” Harry nodded slightly and said, “It’s nice to meet you, madam.”

“Me too,” Fleur said generously. “You are younger than I imagined, and I believe you are capable of becoming the headmaster of Hogwarts because of your exceptional abilities.”

"Thank you," Harry said with a smile. "I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts."

"I will."

"Well, it seems you've gotten to know each other now," Mrs. Maxim said with a smile, clapping her hands. She looked around and then asked, "Has Karkaroff arrived?"

"Not yet, but it should be soon," Harry replied. "Shall we wait together, or go inside and warm up?"

“Come on in,” said Mrs. Maxime. “And our horses—you should remember what they like, right, Harry? You had a wonderful time with them during the holidays.” “Single malt whisky,” Harry said with a smile. “They’re all excellent mounts. I’ll have Hagrid take good care of them.”

"Hagrid?"

“My Magical Creatures Protection Professor,” Harry immediately gestured in Hagrid’s direction, “believe me, he’s very professional in this area, and you can trust him.”

Mrs. Maxim looked at Hagrid immediately, and when she noticed Hagrid's size, she was momentarily stunned before quickly turning her head away.

“That would be perfect,” Mrs. Maxim said, bowing slightly before turning to the students behind her. “Come with me.”

Harry returned the greeting and then watched the Beauxbatons walk into the castle. Professor McGonagall followed, as she needed to explain things to these guests who had come from afar.

The Durmstrangers were late. In late October, many students were already shivering in the evening wind, and many others kept looking up at the sky, wondering what kind of carriage the Durmstrangers would arrive in.

"Wait, look in the lake!"

Just as everyone was staring intently at the sky, Lee Jordan suddenly pointed at the Black Lake and shouted.

The once calm water surface suddenly became turbulent, with turmoil beneath the surface and huge splashes of water rising to the surface. Waves crashed against the damp lake shore, and then a large whirlpool appeared in the very center of the lake, as if a giant plug had been pulled out from the bottom of the lake.

Before long, a magnificent black ship rose from the bottom of the lake, gleaming in the moonlight, reminding many students of the ghost ships in the stories.

As the large ship approached the lake shore, the anchor was thrown into the shallow water, a plank was laid on the shore, and the people on the ship quickly disembarked.

Compared to their meeting during the holidays, Karkarov's face looked much more haggard, a fact that even his glamorous attire couldn't conceal.

"Dumbledore!" Karkaroff's eyes lit up as soon as he stepped ashore, and he shouted enthusiastically, "My dear old friend, how are you?"

Like a grasshopper falling into the water and seeing a lifeline, Karkarov rushed over without even caring about his own students.

“Excellent, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore replied with a smile.

“Oh, that’s wonderful, yes, wonderful.” Karkaroff shook hands firmly with Dumbledore and visibly relaxed. “It’s so much better to have you at Hogwarts. Everyone knows that Hogwarts is safe with you here. That’s great.”

“I’m afraid not, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore said leisurely. “Last year, I resigned because I failed to protect Hogwarts in time… In fact, I think Headmaster Potter did a much better job than I did in this respect.”

“Uh, of course, of course,” Karkaroff said, as if he had only just noticed Harry’s presence. “Headmaster Potter, of course too… I just think you, Dumbledore, are more experienced.”

"I'm just a guest," Dumbledore shrugged, offering no reply.

“Welcome to Hogwarts, Headmaster Karkaroff,” Harry said calmly after shaking hands. “Please come in, Beauxbatons’ people have arrived.”

“Yes, Hogwarts… my dear old friend Hogwarts.” Karkaroff looked up at the castle, smiling, but Harry saw no warmth in his eyes, which remained indifferent. “It’s so good to be back here—I mean, it’s so good that Beauxbatons is here, we can go inside and warm up—Viktor? Come here!”

“You should know him, Principal Potter,” Karkaroff’s smile finally became a little more genuine when he mentioned Viktor Krum. “Viktor Krum—I dare say he’s the best Seeker in the world! You’re a club star, Principal Potter, you should understand, right?”

The arrival of Viktor Krum caused the Hogwarts students to erupt in cheers even louder than when the Beauxbatons arrived, because he was a Quidditch star, and the wizards' adoration for Quidditch goes without saying.

Students, including Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins, were constantly standing on tiptoe and jumping up and down to get a better look at Krum's face, and many were frantically rummaging through their pockets for pens to get autographs.

He had a striking hooked nose and thick, dark eyebrows, as well as a strong, muscular physique, though it wasn't very noticeable under the cloak.

"Hello, Principal Potter," Krum was quite polite, bowing before being pulled over by Karkaroff. "I've read reports about your matches, and the feints you used have become the object of imitation for many Quidditch players."

“Thank you, I know you,” Harry said with a smile. “When I joined the Kenmare Red Falcons on Professor McGonagall’s recommendation, I got special permission by using you as an example.”

“It’s different,” Krum immediately shook his head. “I was much older than you when I joined the Bulgarian national team. No offense intended. Will you still participate in next year’s World Cup? As far as I know, you haven’t played for the Kemmel Red Falcons for a long time, and they’ve been doing very poorly lately.”

“It’s hard to say,” Harry thought for a moment and said, “You know, the whole world is in a mess right now, wizards, Muggles… I’m not sure if I could participate in the World Cup at that time, after all, I started playing Quidditch just to find a way to exercise.”

“Well, that’s a real shame,” Krum said with a regretful expression. “If possible, I would really like to face you in next year’s tournament—”

"Alright, Krum!" Karkaroff interrupted Krum, patting him on the shoulder. "Principal Potter has a lot of more important things to do, so you'll have to take on the Quidditch star role—enough of that, let's go inside. Damn, it's still so cold by the Black Lake tonight."

The guests who had traveled from afar all entered the Great Hall, while the Hogwarts students returned to their seats, looking at the guests with eager expressions. However, the Beauxbatons students had already chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table, while the Durmstrangers, in keeping with the style previously promoted by the Slytherin students, sat directly at the Slytherin long table.

After all, Durmstrang is the only one of the three magic schools that openly allows the teaching of dark magic, while Slytherin has always been proud to study dark magic.

“Look, those Slytherin guys are going crazy, ha, they're fawning over Krum like lapdogs,” Ron said with a sneer. “I bet a big shot like Krum can see right through them—did you see that? I can’t believe Malfoy even joined in. He’s a disgrace to all of us shaman apprentices!”

(End of this chapter)