Hogwarts Homecoming

When the sound of the explosion flooded into his ears, Harry, who had always been alert, was stunned for a moment.

He thought he heard a hallucination!

How could there be an explosion in Hogwarts late at night? He must have heard it wrong, or...

Almost at the same time, standing on the second floor platform, Harry and Ron under the invisibility cloak, including the phantom Hermione, all looked back at the door leading to the basement on the side of the foyer.

That old wooden door must have died prematurely due to the violent beating of the hurricane!

Unfortunately not.

Although the door was decayed, it was much tougher than they imagined. Under the howling wind, it still hit the door frame with no sign of breaking, and the explosion just now The lingering sound still lingers in the empty Hogwarts late at night!

Unlike them, Elune, who was holding the hem of her nightgown and standing on the last step leading to the second floor platform, raised her eyebrows slightly and looked towards the third floor from beginning to end.

Something happened!

After about four or five seconds of silence, Harry's green eyes finally shined with sharp light, and he realized that something unusual had happened!

"yes"

Hermione's breath flowed again, and she turned her head to look upstairs.

Bang!

Several candy boxes lost control and fell heavily to the ground.

"How rude. Isn't this a gift from you?"

All kinds of candies jumped out of the broken box and rolled everywhere on the stairs. Some even fell into the auditorium.

The little vampire stared dissatisfied at the three Harrys who were running wildly until their backs disappeared around the corner of the stairs, but their resentful faces changed and actually showed a bit of happiness.

While humming a light tune, Elune began to collect the fallen candies.

"On the third floor!"

Harry shouted, tore off the invisibility cloak on his body, held it in his hands, and ran upstairs as fast as he could.

What caused the explosion, and who caused it?

Throwing himself into the corridor on the third floor, the strong wind that hit him made Harry squint his eyes. Something appeared on the third floor. It was the guests invited by Professor Blaine who had something wrong.

It is indeed possible. Harry knew that the reason why Professor Brain arranged the dormitories of these guests on the third floor was so that they could rush there as soon as possible if something happened, but unfortunately, Professor Brain was not at Hogwarts tonight.

However, Professor Dumbledore did not leave the school after the dinner.

If it was Hagrid's fierce brother who caused some trouble, he could still stop it.

Harry thought, but a vague premonition told him that the explosion was not caused by the out-of-control Grawp.

"Hey, Harry!"

Ron, who was following him, gasped and shouted,

"I think we should think carefully about whether we should get involved in trouble, don't we?"

"What are you talking about, Ron!"

Hermione's voice was harsher than the shrill wind that passed through the corridor,

"I'm afraid there is a problem with the exchange group. Of course we should rush over to help them!"

"But how are you going to explain to the professor that I'm wandering around the castle so late with a vampire and several boxes of candies, Hermione!"

Ron gasped.

At night, the hazy moonlight dark clouds were carried by the strong wind, and the renewed moonlight seemed to be following the three Harrys.

Something in the darkness receded as the land became bright again.

The three people who were galloping stopped.

In the empty corridor, except for the crackling sound of torches and the noisy wind, the only thing left was their breathing.

The aftermath of the explosion shook the stone cave door frame into black cracks, and there were still bits of gravel on the ground. The person who caused the explosion was no longer at the scene, but he could not avoid suffering a lot.

Harry looked at the corner of the wall opposite the doorway. There were some mottled blood stains on the ground.

Obviously, the man was thrown away by the aftermath of the explosion, and hit the stone wall on the opposite side hard. The force was not light, and he vomited blood.

"This is."

Hermione's shocked murmur made Harry look away from the pool of blood left by the criminal and look again at the door that the crime failed to open.

"Student Security Office," Harry muttered. "Professor Blaine's office."

"Who could it be?"

Ron's wide eyes also showed panic.

Before the rapid and messy footsteps approached, the little vampire left behind by them arrived first.

Seeing the door number of the 'Student Safety Office', Elune's thin eyebrows raised again, her cherry lips pursed, and she seemed to be in a better mood.

Elune sniffed her pearl-like nose, and then she easily noticed the blood stains on the ground, and her deep wine-red eyes flashed with subtle arcs.

"Mr. Potter, and"

Professor McGonagall appeared in front of them wearing a tartan dressing gown, her glasses perched crookedly on the bridge of her thin nose.

Her stern eyes scanned the faces of several people in turn, lingering on Elune's face. Finally, she looked at the damaged door frame, and her breathing gradually became faster.

Snape stood apart from the shadows like a ghost.

After scanning the scene, Snape looked at Harry with a faint sneer on his lips.

"Why are you here?"

Harry frowned and questioned.

Snape is not like Professor McGonagall. His office is in the basement and he will not come here so quickly. Unless he has been wandering around here early in the morning!

"I think you should be the first to answer this question, Mr. Potter——"

Snape said softly. He glanced at the invisibility cloak on Harry's arm and the stained grass and mud on his shoes.

"Why are you here, Mr. Potter? It's only been a week since school started, but you already feel that life is too dull and you can't wait to do something to attract attention?"

Professor McGonagall's brows moved. After she quickly glanced at Severus, she looked at Harry again with a stern look in her eyes.

"The movement just now was made by you?"

"No, Professor McGonagall, not us. We just came over after hearing the noise."

Harry glared at Snape unwillingly.

"Ah, you heard the noise in Gryffindor's dormitory and rushed over?"

The sarcasm on Snape's lips became even more sarcastic.

"I'm hungry-"

An unexpected person stood up, it was Elune.

She looked indifferent,

"So I asked them to accompany me out to find food. Blaine said that if you encounter any problems, you can go to this Miss Granger, isn't that okay?"

Harry glanced at Elune in surprise, not expecting that this vampire could actually speak up.

"Looking for something to eat?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Hermione suspiciously.

"Is that so, Miss Granger?"

This was indeed the case, but Elune did not specify where to find food. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall didn't ask further questions.

"Indeed, Professor McGonagall—"

Hermione blushed and nodded.

Professor McGonagall looked relieved. She looked at Elune and tried her best to smile gently.

"You have just arrived at Hogwarts and you don't know the school rules. Miss Gangro, students are not allowed to leave the dormitory after dark. If you need such a thing after dark in the future, you can ask Amosta. Oh, He's not here today--"

Professor McGonagall's expression became serious again. She pulled out her wand, carefully approached the office door, and lightly tapped the bronze door handle with her wand.

A glimmer of light flowed over the cold-colored doorknob, and then it returned to calmness.

"Obviously, Severus-"

Professor McGonagall straightened up and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Someone wanted to open Amosta's office while he was away at Hogwarts. Fortunately -"

Professor McGonagall turned her head and looked at the blood stains left by the criminal.

"That guy didn't make it."

"I agree with you, Minerva--"

Snape looked at Harry lazily,

"Maybe the murderer is still around here——"

Harry knew that Snape was pointing out something, but he resisted the desire to refute and did not fight back.

Professor McGonagall didn't pursue their late-night wandering because she didn't know they had gone to Hogsmeade, but Snape must have noticed something.

"Did you see anyone suspicious while you were patrolling around here, Severus?"

"All the suspicious people I saw are here, Minerva."

Snape looked at Harry and the others and smiled coldly. (End of chapter)