Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 163 Professor McGonagall on the Train
Ron was the most unhappy about Hermione buying Crook Hill.

Because his pet mouse had just been frightened by the cat and was running all over the street, they searched for more than ten minutes before finally catching it under a cardboard box outside the Quidditch shop.

But now Hermione has actually bought it and wants to take it to Hogwarts, which Ron is naturally unwilling to do.

But Hermione was preoccupied with Crookshanks and clearly didn't care about his thoughts.

So on the way back to the Leaky Cauldron, the two started arguing again.

Celen didn't go with them; he was dragged away by Fred and George.

The two brothers, having somehow acquired something valuable, stealthily led Xilun to a less crowded alleyway.

“We really can’t get our hands on mummies,” Fred said, startling Celen.

Get a mummy?
They really dare to think that way. It is said that once a mummy leaves the pyramid, no one knows what will happen. It might be perfectly fine one second, and then suddenly come back to life and attack everyone around it indiscriminately.

That thing is far more terrifying than an infernal. Its skin and bones are as hard as steel, it is immune to any magic, and it can summon swarms of scarabs from its belly with the flick of a bandage. Each of these can leave a wizard helpless.

More importantly, mummies are basically useless to wizards; they're not useful for potions or alchemy. Their greatest value is simply giving you a taste of what it's like to be constantly on the go.

Therefore, some dark wizards would rather target fire dragons than try their luck at the pyramids.

Now Fred and George actually want to bring the mummy back?
Xilun raised an eyebrow...

“I know you’re disappointed,” George glanced at him. “But those fairies are watching too closely; it’s hard for us to find an opportunity to make a move.”

“You’re mistaken. I’m not disappointed at all.” Xiren chuckled dryly. “So you brought me here all this way just to say this?”

“Of course not.” Fred looked around, rummaged through his clothes for a while, and finally pulled out a piece of grayish strip of cloth.

"What is this?" Xilun asked curiously.

“The bandages on the mummy,” George said. “We tore them off secretly.”

He only felt a blur before his eyes, something flashed, and when he looked up again, he saw that Xilun had appeared out of nowhere, standing about ten feet away from them.

"What's wrong with you?" Fred asked, puzzled.

"Wait a minute..." Xilun hesitated for a moment and asked, "Take a close look and see if you feel like you're being watched by something."

“Being targeted.” George thought for a moment and shook his head. “No…”

"Really not?"

“No, there really isn’t!” Fred frowned.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

“It’s nothing.” Xilun shook his head.

It looks like they stole a "dead" mummy... Although it sounds a bit strange, it's not entirely wrong.

Mummies corrupted by magic are actually similar to ghosts; both are special magical life forms, only they are not as free as ghosts and act more on instinct.

Their instinct is to protect the treasure inside the pyramids.

Fred and George were lucky; being targeted by the mummies wasn't a big deal. Once they got back to school, Dumbledore could easily dismantle them and throw them into the fireplace as firewood.

But stealing inside the pyramids is illegal, and the mummy's movements will attract Aurors, which is the most troublesome part.

After hearing what Siron said, Fred and George were also taken aback.

"No way……"

"But Bill didn't tell us..."

“Maybe he didn’t know either,” Xilun explained. “It’s likely that the fairy deliberately concealed this.”

"Why?" Fred asked, puzzled. "What good does it do them?"

“There are so many benefits.” Xiren shrugged. “Just think about it, if Bill were suddenly targeted by a mummy one day, wouldn’t it immediately prove that he stole something? It’s practically the best anti-theft device. The goblins certainly wouldn’t reveal it on their own.”

Fred and George were stunned for a moment, then their faces turned angry.

“Those damned, greedy demons…”

"***!"

The two greeted the fairies with friendly inquiries about their family tree, completely unaware that their act of pulling off the bandages was exactly what the fairies were wary of.

The increasingly heated words attracted the attention of many people around them, and in order not to corrupt the new students in Diagon Alley, Siron had to interrupt them.

"Why are you tearing off the mummy's bandages? They're useless."

"Didn't you want a mummy?" Fred stared straight at Siron.

"We just wanted to give it to you as a keepsake."

“Wait…” Xiren had to interrupt them again, “When did I say I wanted a mummy?”

“The time we came to see you,” George said. “We said we’d bring you a mummy as a gift, and your eyes lit up. You even ran upstairs excitedly.”

Xilun then realized that they must have misunderstood something.

The reason I was so excited that day was because I thought about why the snakewood wand failed, not because of any mummy.

After hearing Siren's explanation, Fred and George remained silent for a long time... For the first time, they wore expressions as if they had been hit by a dung ball they had thrown. The atmosphere became somewhat quiet for a moment.

However, it's quite an achievement that Fred and George managed to tear a bandage off right under the goblin's nose.

……

That evening, the Weasleys used the remaining prize money to order a huge feast at the Leaky Cauldron, and they also warmly invited Sheryl to join them.

However, Xilun politely declined.

School starts tomorrow, and he'd rather have dinner with Garrick. Besides, if Professor McGonagall writes tonight, he'll receive it immediately.

Unfortunately, Siron waited all night but the owl from Hogwarts never came.

It continued until the morning of the next day.

Perhaps dinner yesterday awakened Garrick's conscience, because this time he didn't let Siron take the Knight bus by himself, but personally took him to King's Cross Station.

This touched Xiren deeply, but before he could say anything, Garrick quickly Apparated and disappeared, leaving only the words "Have a safe journey" echoing in the air.

Fine, at least he brought me to school.

Xilun pushed his luggage into the station and immediately noticed the changes.

There are more wizards now... In previous years there were only two wizards here, responsible for dealing with Muggles who accidentally saw magic.

So far, Guang Xilun has identified at least fifteen people; there are several people dressed in a mismatched manner from the station entrance to each platform.

A white shirt paired with beach shorts... that's probably something only a wizard would wear.

Siren also saw a familiar face, Barr Wilson, the hitter from Diagon Alley. He actually came too?
They must have come to capture Sirius Black... Besides the batters, there should be other Aurors around, but he just didn't notice them.

As Xilun thought to himself, he pretended not to notice anything and walked straight through the pillar in front of Platform 9.

There were also thugs on the platform, disguised as parents dropping off their children, but they kept looking around as if searching for something.

That's so unprofessional. Even setting up a small stall to sell crucible cakes and butterbeer would be better than just standing there like this.

Soon, Harry and his group arrived.

Mrs. Weasley saw everyone off onto the train, while Harry was called aside by Mr. Weasley alone.

They talked for a long time, until the train was about to depart, and Harry hurriedly ran back after Mrs. Weasley urged him repeatedly.

As soon as he boarded the train, the door closed, steam billowed from the train, and it slowly started moving.

“I need to speak with you alone,” Harry said quietly on the train.

Just as Xilun was about to nod, he heard a rapid sound from the side, as if something had exploded.

"boom!"

"Professor McGonagall?" Hermione looked at the suddenly appearing Professor McGonagall and was speechless with surprise.

“It’s me, Miss Granger.” Professor McGonagall nodded, then her gaze fell on Siron.

“Come with me, Mr. Ollivander,” she said, and then walked toward the back.

Xilun immediately followed.

The two walked to the back of the train. Siren glanced at the adjacent compartment, where only one person was sleeping. He then eagerly asked, "Professor, is it a storm...?"

“That’s right.” Professor McGonagall nodded and said, “South of the Forbidden Forest, around dusk.”

“That’s great,” said Celen. “I’ve been waiting for this for days.”

“I misjudged the time,” Professor McGonagall said. “I just got to the platform, only to find that the train had already started moving. Fortunately, it’s not going very fast, so I’ll make it in time.”

“You can’t take the train anymore.” She grabbed Celen’s arm. “Hogwarts won’t arrive until evening, but the storm is in the afternoon. We have to wait in advance and take the potion the moment it completes its transformation for the best effect.”

"Are you ready? You should have mastered minion reveal by now."

“Yes, I will,” Siren said, then suddenly remembered something and quickly added, “Wait, Professor, this train…”

Siren had intended to tell Professor McGonagall that a group of Dementors would be boarding the train midway through the journey.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, a familiar squeezing sensation came from around him, silencing him from saying anything more.

Apparition; that's how he was when Garrick brought him here.

Clearly, they had already left the Hogwarts Express.

By this time, the train was moving very fast, and under these circumstances, Professor McGonagall probably wouldn't be able to go back.

But it should be fine, right...?

Siron realized that the person he had just seen in the last carriage must be Remus Lupin, Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

He should be able to solve the problem with those Dementors.

……

(End of this chapter)