Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 106 Busy Dumbledore

"Minerva, I need your help—Mr. Harry Potter is currently in a room on the fourth floor down the hallway. Could you please go there?"

Dumbledore's Phoenix Patronus's very first words overloaded Professor McGonagall's brain. After hearing the whole story, Professor McGonagall felt her blood pressure soaring.

"Albus!!!" Professor McGonagall slammed her hand on her desk, knocking over the ink bottles on it.

Even Albus Dumbledore couldn't!!!

Professor McGonagall felt she had to have a serious talk with Dumbledore once he returned.

With a casual wave of her wand, Professor McGonagall tidied up the spilled ink bottle on the table and prepared to leave—as Dumbledore had instructed, she should observe whether Potter could deal with Quirrell, who was possessed by the mysterious man, and ensure his safety.

She felt the request was quite absurd and unreasonable.

At that moment, a flash of golden-red light appeared, and a large golden-red bird the size of a swan appeared in her office, carrying a tattered hat in its beak.

As Dumbledore's Patronus just mentioned, Professor McGonagall was to bring her phoenix, Fawkes, and the Sorting Hat. Now that they've come to her of their own accord, it saves Professor McGonagall the trouble of making another trip to the Headmaster's office.

She tucked the Sorting Hat under her arm and grabbed one of Fox's outstretched paws with her other hand. The next second, the two of them flew to the fourth-floor confinement corridor.

As soon as the trapdoor was opened, Professor McGonagall heard a strange sound: it sounded like water—but why would there be water here?

She jumped down, and as soon as she landed, she saw a dark figure with blue flames rising from below rushing towards her.

"Professor, run!!!"

Upon hearing Daphne's voice, Professor McGonagall almost blurted out a spell, but thankfully her hearing was good, and she put her wand away in time.

"Miss Greengrass, you—" Professor McGonagall was about to ask what had happened when Daphne interrupted her.

"There's no time to explain, Professor, let's get on!" Daphne rode Nightmare like a gust of wind to Professor McGonagall's side, and with a sudden stop, she threw the unconscious Harry and Ron off her back to the ground.

She wouldn't have stopped if Nightmare hadn't been unable to fly.

Professor McGonagall immediately understood why Daphne was in such a hurry: a torrent, like a giant dragon, was rushing towards them with overwhelming force.

She was certain that even the most skilled wizard would perish if swept into such a current.

At this moment, Daphne had already levitated up the trapdoor above, dragging Nightmare's horn along. Professor McGonagall, without having time to think about what was happening, bent down, tucked the two unconscious little wizards under her arms, and then grabbed Fawkes's tail.

With a flash of golden light, Fox led Professor McGonagall and the other two back to the trapdoor. A moment later, Daphne, along with Nightmare, emerged from under the trapdoor.

Not long after they escaped, a deafening crash came from beneath the trapdoor, shaking the entire Hogwarts Castle. Even from dozens of meters away, water splashed onto their faces. Professor McGonagall knew that the rushing water below had struck the end of the corridor, and the raging floodwaters had finally been stopped by the sturdy rock.

With that loud bang, everything under the trapdoor came to an end. Our three-headed dog, Luwei, slept soundly throughout the ordeal, completely unaware of the major events unfolding outside.

……

"Oh, Albus! How are things here? How is that damned monster?" Fudge rushed to Dumbledore's side with a fawning smile on his face.

It was clear he had just been working very hard; his beautiful silk hat was dusty on the side, and his chubby face was covered in sweat.

Erasing the memories of hundreds of people is no easy task. What's worse, things are different now. Muggles have many ways of communicating, and they also need to investigate whether these Muggles have told others what they saw through various means.

After all that trouble, and once he was sure there were no more Muggles who knew the truth, Fudge felt utterly exhausted.

Dumbledore did not respond to Cornelius Fudge's words immediately. The monster he had just fought gave him a very mysterious feeling, which gave him a new understanding of magic. He was trying to grasp this elusive inspiration.

After a while, he stopped his search for magic.

"It ran away."

"It got away?! How could that be! I mean..." Fudge was immediately annoyed, and having been busy for most of the day, his words were tinged with anger. But as soon as he said it, he realized he shouldn't have spoken to Dumbledore in that tone—he still needed Dumbledore's help to deal with that monster, and the Aurors in the Ministry of Magic were no match for it.

"Cornelly, it's badly injured and won't be able to cause trouble for a while. We have plenty of time to find it. More importantly, although it's not very bright, it had already regained its human form when it fought me. Even if Muggles see it, it won't have much of an impact." Dumbledore didn't say a word—that thing is very bloodthirsty, and even if a Muggle encounters it, it won't be left alive.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Fudge forced a smile, but what he was really thinking was anyone's guess.

Now that things had come to this, Fudge understood that the matter was essentially settled, and it was time to consider how to handle the aftermath and deal with any potential risks.

His mind raced: the monster was wearing a Scandinavian-style robe—could they pin the blame on the Finnish or Norwegian Ministry of Magic? But the monster was discovered on Scottish soil, which was problematic. Should Gringotts bear some responsibility? Or, was it possible for him to suppress this matter?

Fudge felt that his immediate priority was to suppress the matter and put pressure on the Daily Prophet to keep it quiet. If things escalated later, he could use Gringotts as a scapegoat for everyone to vent their frustrations on.

As for the few uncurse breakers who died here, Fudge couldn't be bothered with them at all: they had caused him so much trouble, and if it weren't for the negative impact, he would have really wanted to grind them to dust.

Anyway, they were just a few foreigners, not British wizards, so Fudge really didn't care about their deaths. By the way, it seems like one of the Weasleys is a curse-breaking expert? Next time I see old Arthur, I'll have to persuade him, maybe even arrange a position for him in the ministry.

Fudge now has a very bad impression of the antidote.

At that moment, a cat-shaped Patronus appeared at Dumbledore's feet. It didn't speak, but just squatted there quietly watching Dumbledore.

Dumbledore: ...

His expression stiffened, and after a sigh, he said to Fudge, "I have some things to take care of, please allow me to go back and deal with them."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Update here, good afternoon everyone!

I'm very sorry for the late update—I wonder if adding an extra chapter will be enough to make everyone forgive me? I'll try my best to write the extra chapter in the next couple of days.

(End of this chapter)