The Black Bloodline of Hogwarts

At the same time, the other wizards also fell to the ground, only the two young wizards who were not yet adults seemed to have their chests rising and falling slightly.

Cassian turned to look at Julien. His eyes behind his monocle held a complex assessment—not hostility, not goodwill, but a more…professional interest.

"You've grown, Mr. Blake," he said, "more than we ever imagined."

"You guys? You really have a lot to meddle in."

Cassian ignored Julien's tone. "Of course, it's the Department of Mysteries. We're interested in all things mysterious. If you're interested, come apply after graduation. I mean it."

Julien remained noncommittal. He bent down to pick up Wolfgang's bone staff, sensing the lingering, dissipating otherworldly energy within it: "You've been following him?"

"Yes, ever since he escaped on his way to Azkaban," Cassian said, "Wolfgang became the only one to be 'filled' into the Moonshadow Council."

"The filler?"

"That's right, the council needs to test their 'new technology'—directly injecting otherworldly energy into the human body to create a controllable...carrier."

"What a bunch of lunatics."

"That's right." Cassian nodded.

"Before you arrived, he said that there was a mole at Hogwarts."

Cassian's expression remained unchanged, but the astrolabe on his monocle paused for a moment: "I know that. The Department of Mysteries knows it too."

He then sighed, "But knowing there's a mole and knowing who it is are two different things."

He walked toward Wolfgang's body and took out some kind of device from under his cloak—it looked like a small compass made of crystal and metal, the pointer of which was spinning wildly.

"The council members have left, you can go now," he said. "I'm not sure what you're going to do, but please be careful."

"Your Bureau of Mysteries wants to..." Julien didn't know how to phrase it for a moment.

"I should do the same as you," Cassian said, retracting the compass into his cloak, "to prevent the worst from happening."

-----------------

When Julien is once again thrown out of the fireplace, covered in soot, into the Pig's Head tavern, he fully realizes the importance of learning Apparition.

"Hey, don't smear the ashes all over the floor," the boss, Aberforth, said.

"Your floor isn't much cleaner than fireplace ash," Julien continued, patting his robe. "Besides, your fireplace needs cleaning too. Cough cough."

"Not bad, you've returned unscathed," Aberforth said with a smile, no longer dwelling on the ashes.

"It's alright, nothing serious happened." Julien walked to the door, but still turned back and said "thank you."

Aberforth waved his hand, "Come again if you need anything, and you'll get a 20% discount on the toll."

Outside, the daytime storm had been replaced by a light drizzle. Warm yellow light shone from every house in the town.

Julien took a deep breath of fresh air, patted his cheeks—the magic of the face-changing candy had long since worn off. He pulled up his hood and stepped back into the wind and rain.

"Julien!"

As he emerged from behind the one-eyed witch's statue again, two figures strode out of the shadows. This nearly startled him.

Elizabeth Rozier, draped in a dark green cloak, narrowed her icy grey eyes when she saw the mold and dust characteristic of Knockback Alley on the hem of his robe.

Liria followed closely behind, her long, silvery-white hair shimmering in the dim light. She practically pounced on him and grabbed his wrist, her fingertips icy cold.

"What's wrong? You're injured?" Liria's voice trembled slightly as her fingers reached for a bloody gash on his forehead, cut by a piece of gravel.

"Just a scratch." Julien steadied himself and took out two long, narrow packages from his seamlessly extended backpack. "Take this first—two fire bolts, the latest model from Diagon Alley, with modified braking systems and balancing charms, so they can stay hovered in bad weather."

The package fell into their hands, making a slight metallic tremor. Elizabeth didn't open it immediately, but stared intently into his eyes: "What happened? You smell of blood, and... the aura of dark magic."

"The Silent Lotus isn't in Diagon Alley, it's in Knockturn Alley."

"What?!"

"Actually, it went fairly smoothly, except then we ran into the tail end of the Moonshadow Council, Wolfgang. Do you guys remember that Wolfgang?"

"The one that escaped from the Ministry of Magic?"

"It's him." Julien lowered his voice and quickly gave a brief account of the alley battle. When he mentioned Cassian Thorne's appearance, Lyria's brows relaxed slightly, but then furrowed again because of the news that "there is a mole in Hogwarts."

"Let's not talk about that now," Julien waved his hand, glancing around. "Has anything happened today?"

Elizabeth nodded, her voice urgent: "Quidditch match, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. And then Dementors stormed onto the pitch—at least fifty of them, they seemed to have smelled something…"

"It must have smelled Harry Potter," Yu Jie interjected, his eyes dark. He certainly knew this scene from the original story.

"He fell," Liria added, a flicker of pity in her icy blue eyes, "from fifty feet in the air. Luckily, Professor Dumbledore was there, and he used an extremely powerful..."

"The Guardian Charm," Elizabeth continued. "I have never seen such a powerful spell. The light almost enveloped the entire sky."

"Is that so?" Julien murmured. He could almost see the scene: a huge silver phoenix sweeping across the field, dispelling the dark creatures like smoke.

Old Deng's anger was certainly genuine, but Julien had a nagging thought: Could all of this be part of that old fox's calculations? In any case, he needed to eliminate some Dementors periodically to temporarily stabilize Azkaban.

"How many did Dumbledore kill?" Julien suddenly asked.

“At least half,” Elizabeth recalled Lee Jordan’s exaggerated description with awe, “the rest of the Dementors were driven away by his Patronus Charm and fled towards the Forbidden Forest like sheep being chased by sheepdogs.”

"It is said that the people from the Ministry of Magic stationed outside turned pale, and Minister Fudge fainted on the spot—or nearly fainted—when he later found out."

Liria stuck out her tongue as she spoke, "That's what Hannah and Susan said, I don't know if it's true or not."

Julien gave a snort. "That's typical Dumbledore acting. Showing off muscles while occupying the moral high ground." He paused, glancing towards the castle's infirmary. "How's Harry now?"

"He's awake," Liria said. "Mrs. Pomfrey said he needs to rest, but he..." She trailed off.

"He went to see Professor Lupin after he woke up," Elizabeth said softly, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

"Just half an hour ago, we saw him limping toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, dragging a tattered broom."

---

Meanwhile, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office.

Harry Potter stood in the center of the room, his hand gripping his wand tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

His broom—the broken Nimbus 2000—piled up by the door, as if silently recounting the humiliation of this afternoon.