Hogwarts Homecoming

Mid to late August.

Autumn has not yet arrived, but the chill brought by a sudden drizzle made the villagers of Sankachipol feel the coldness of late autumn in advance.

As he looked, the sky was shrouded in haze.

In front of a crooked old locust tree in the east of the village, there was a crooked three-story wooden house. Yiwen stood at the door, looking worriedly in the direction of Stoat Mountain.

In spring and summer, the green grass swaying in the wind all over the mountain is always refreshing to look at for a long time.

In the rain curtain, the grass occupying the wilderness is suffocatingly dark, and the figure bent by the rain is even more depressing.

Yiwen's fixed eyes moved and landed on a rice field at the foot of the mountain that was also listless in the autumn rain, and her expression became even more melancholy.

One after another dark clouds drifted over Yiwen's head under the strong wind, and even the old locust tree in front of the door was swinging wildly.

But Yiwen remained unmoved and just looked at the rice fields at the foot of the mountain with concern until--

The burning smell that suddenly poured into her nostrils made Ewen's smoky face change drastically. She turned around and rushed to the kitchen.

"hiss!"

The panic made Yiwen's mind unclear. She went straight to pick up the hot iron pot, but the handle was severely burned.

Anxious Ywen glanced around and accidentally caught a glimpse of an old wand with feathers sticking out and covered with a thick layer of gray placed on the windowsill next to the stove.

Without thinking, Ewen picked up the 'magic wand' and waved it -

Bang!

In a loud explosion, the heavy pot lid was lifted to the sky and embedded deeply into the ceiling of the first floor. The pot of stew in front of him, which smelled of burnt smell, was also flipped onto the stove and poured on the flames. Cackle.

"What are you doing, Egwene?"

At this moment, a man with wet hair and jacket came out of the fireplace on the opposite wall.

The messy stove made the middle-aged man with dark skin and extra thick knuckles on his hands stunned for a moment.

Then the man came to his senses and strode towards the stove. He casually picked up a rag and put it on his hand. He lifted up the fallen iron pot and saved the remaining stewed potatoes.

The man shook the pot, looked at the burnt bottom of the pot in the dim light, and frowned.

"I'm dizzy--"

Yiwen looked guilty,

"I was just trying to get the pot off with my wand. Sorry, John, I think I ruined our lunch--"

"No big deal--"

John took a deep breath, and then smiled at Ewen,

"There's enough left for us to eat."

Noticing the pot lid embedded in the roof, John added

"I'm free this afternoon, so I can fix the floor on the second floor and the damn roof!"

Egwene nodded slightly, threw the wand back onto the window sill, and wiped her hands on her greasy apron.

"Sit down for a while, I can clean this up soon -"

John nodded, and he took out a pipe that was badly worn by the calluses on his big hands from his baggy trousers pocket. After a few puffs, turbid smoke came out of the pipe.

Walking to the door, looking at the wind and rain shrouding the world, his eyes fixed on the land under the Stoat Mountain, John's dark face also showed a bit of sadness.

"By the way, where's Bona? Is she upstairs?"

John looked back at his wife who was busy in the kitchen.

"In the morning, before it rained, she went to the hillside to play with the Lovegood child, whom Bona loved."

"Luna?"

John thought for a while and asked in confusion,

"But doesn't that kid go to Hogwarts?"

"It's summer vacation, John--"

Yiwen said that she noticed the hidden worry in her husband's eyes and was silent for a moment.

"The Lovegoods are good people, John. They will treat Bona to lunch. And they won't look down on us like this."

Ewen's last few words were faintly inaudible, but John knew what his wife was talking about. There was a sinister look in his eyes, he raised his voice and said with an unhappy face,

"Not sure yet. You know, Bona is only six years old now, she has a chance!"

"Oh, of course, that's what I thought too!"

Ewen said quickly.

In the dark room, the two people fell silent.

Ewen brought the not-so-good lunch to the table. John washed his hands in the rainwater dripping from the eaves, wiped it on his pocket a few times and sat down at the table.

The 'rich' overcooked stew was not only salty, but also bitter and had a terrible taste.

Neither of them was in the mood to enjoy lunch.

After filling her stomach as quickly as possible, Ewen went to the stove and made her husband a cup of tea with boiling water.

But John didn't realize all this, he just watched silently as the stoat mountain turned into a huge shadow in the increasingly falling rain.

Seeing her husband's appearance, Yiwen pursed her lips and her cloudy pupils became a little darker, and she knew better.

"Sorry, the workshop can't start working yet."

John said in a soliloquy voice.

"How come?"

Although she asked this question, there was no surprise in Yiwen's tone.

"The Daily Prophet said that although the duel between Mr. Blaine and the mysterious man destroyed Diagon Alley, it did not affect it."

"It has nothing to do with that!"

John suddenly emphasized his tone and rapped the table with his thick knuckles.

"It's Mr. Greengrass's problem. The Ministry of Magic has issued a wanted notice for him, saying that he is a Death Eater of You-Know-Who and participated in the Diagon Alley War!"

It can be seen from the anxious light in Yiwen's eyes that she is really anxious.

"But what does this have to do with the workshop? Don't tell me!"

Egwene's voice became shrill,

"Just because the Ministry of Magic thought Mr. Greengrass was a Death Eater, they closed down the broom workshop?"

"Not the Ministry of Magic!"

John didn't want to tell his wife things that would only add to her troubles, but he couldn't control his anger.

"It was the Greengrass family that shut it down themselves.

A head of the Greengrass family came out to explain that the wanted order from the Ministry of Magic had a serious impact on the credibility of Greengrass and the workshop. Many orders were cancelled, and the workshop could no longer continue to operate and could only continue indefinitely. Closed for the period, the resumption time will be notified later! "

John gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Not only the broom workshop, the crucible-producing workshop where the two boys from the Charles family worked was also closed. The reason given by the manager was the same. In that industrial area, the only thing that was not affected at all was the learning machine. Workshop!”

Although she understood how bad the situation was, what her husband said still frightened Yiwen.

"Nana."

Yiwen looked at her husband with anger in his eyes, stammering and speechless.

Bang!

"The ministry wants to give us an explanation!"

John suddenly slammed the table and said decisively.

"Ministry?"

Yiwen was puzzled;

"But you said-"

"We can't find those noble pure-blood family gentlemen at all--"

John's face was hard;

"We can only find the Ministry of Magic. Oh, I don't care about hegemony and evil. Anyway, no matter who is the Minister of Magic, I don't care whether it is Brian or the mysterious man. I just want to live a good life, but since it is the Ministry of Magic who initiated The war has prevented the workshop from continuing, and they must be responsible to the end. I can tell you, Ewen, we are already planning--"

"Are you planning something?"

Ewen grabbed John's rough hand, tears of fright filled her eyes.

"Are you planning to go against the Ministry of Magic and Mr. Blaine? John, this - this. This is too life-threatening for you!"