Veratia's Ambition

Cockatoo?

Abufosi felt some bad memories flooding back.

He remembered that bastard named Gellert Grindelwald.

Arrogant, domineering, and overbearing...

Yes.

That Albus called him Gale...

Could Albus that Albus is up to some kind of "golden age" scheme, so he brought him to the school, disguised him as a teaching assistant, to satisfy some ulterior motive?

The more Abufosi thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was indeed the case.

At this moment, he had already completed the closed loop in his mind.

However, the two Hufflepuff classmates in front of him made him feel a little uncertain.

He did remember that Gellert disliked Hufflepuff very much.

Now this Hufflepuff kid is saying that "Assistant Gale" is actually teaching him?

"Could you tell me about that Assistant Gale?"

Abufosi feigned curiosity, intending to confirm things with the two Hufflepuff classmates.

This was the first time Cedric had seen Abufosi so interested in someone, and he didn't think there was anything he couldn't tell Mr. Dumbledore, so he didn't refuse to tell others about Assistant Professor Scamander.

"Assistant Gale is probably a relative of Professor Scamander, but we don't know the specifics, we only know that his name is Gale Scamander," he said.

Scamander?

Abufosi's suspicions lessened somewhat.

Would that kid Grindelwald pretend to be Scamander?

That's obviously not the case.

It's hard to say who Grindelwald likes most in the world; but if you were to ask who Grindelwald hates most in the world, it would undoubtedly be Newt Scamander.

Even in his wildest dreams, Abufosi never imagined that Gellert would use the Scamander surname to infiltrate Hogwarts.

"But I think Assistant Gale and Headmaster Dumbledore have a very good relationship," Megan said with a smile. "During meals, Assistant Gale always sits next to Headmaster Dumbledore, and the two often chat... Mr. Dumbledore, you should know this good friend of Headmaster Dumbledore, right?"

"I don't know," Abufosi said, pretending nothing was wrong, but inwardly he was screaming.

Albus! What on earth is that you bastard thinking?!

How can we let such a dangerous person into the school!

Megan and Cedric, of course, had no idea about the feud between Gellert and the three Dumbledore; they simply thought the porridge at the Hog's Head Inn was quite delicious.

When they returned to school, Cedric gave Ron the candy and mentioned Abufosi's cooking to them.

"I never imagined that food could look so bad—but I never thought that food that looks so bad could taste so good."

Cedric was beaming as he said this—it was clear he genuinely loved Abufosi's cooking.

Ron was stunned by Cedric's description, and after a long while, he slowly uttered, "You're really hungry."

Hermione, on the contrary, started gossiping about Abufosi.

"Professor Dumbledore actually has a brother?" she asked curiously. "I've never heard anyone else mention that."

"Yes, that Mr. Dumbledore runs the Hog's Head Inn," Cedric said with a smile to Hermione. "He has the same blue eyes as Headmaster Dumbledore, but he has a rather bad temper. If I hadn't heard my father mention it, I wouldn't have believed that the two of them are brothers."

"Many people who come to the Hog's Head Inn like to wear masks, I don't know why," Megan added. "But this Mr. Dumbledore is very capable; he can keep these people in check. At least I haven't seen anyone dare to cause trouble at the Hog's Head Inn."

At this point, Harry suddenly remembered where he had heard the name before.

"I know, do you guys remember Fluffy, the one who guarded the Philosopher's Stone in our first year?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

The two nodded and said, "Of course we remember—that three-headed dog, but... what does it have to do with that Mr. Dumbledore?"

Harry told them, "Hagrid said it, of course. You might have forgotten, but Fluffy bought Hagrid from a ' Greece guy' at the Hog's Head Inn's Head... Besides, he also won that dragon egg while playing cards the Hog's Head Inn."

"So that's how it is..." everyone exclaimed in sudden realization.

"What a pity," Cedric said. "It's a shame we didn't participate in Dueling Club last year, otherwise we could have made it into your year-end adventure."

Ron rolled his eyes, his expression exactly like Hermione's.

"Good heavens, you should know that the final hurdle is the Dark Lord attached to Quirrell's head—oh, I forgot, you don't know, Headmaster Dumbledore only said that Harry stopped Quirrell's plot, but he didn't say that the Dark Lord was attached to the back of his head."

This news shocked both Cedric and Megan.

For a long time, whether it was parents, professors, or relatives and friends around them, they had been telling them one thing: the Dark Lord was dead.

He died at the hands of a the Savior Harry Potter, although he was only a one-year-old baby at the time, but the Dark Lord did indeed disappear after that.

If this were someone else's "personal experience," Cedric and Megan wouldn't believe it at all.

But the problem now is that it's Harry Potter who's going through this.

Harry's abilities are obvious to all, so there's no need for him to fabricate a the Dark Lord to create that kind of aura.

Moreover, it is an indisputable fact that he himself did defeat the Dark Lord.

Even with their unwavering conviction, they couldn't help but wonder—had the Dark Lord really returned?

The more they thought about it, the more they felt it wasn't impossible. As the most powerful Dark Wizard of this century, how could he not have some backup plan?

"Actually, this year's petrification incident was also orchestrated by Voldemort's remnant spirit," Harry told them. "Voldemort's remnant spirit controlled a Slytherin girl whom I think we must avoid, opened the Chamber of Secrets, and released the Basilisk that was placed there when Slytherin was founded."

"But isn't the Basilisk's ability to kill anyone who makes eye contact with it?" Megan asked, puzzled.

"You're right." Harry smiled at her. "But the problem is, if it's not about directly facing the Basilisk, but through some indirect means..."

"Oh, I remember now!" Cedric exclaimed. "When they found Colin Creevey of Gryffindor, he was holding up a camera, trying to take a picture. I think he must have been able to survive by looking into the Basilisk through the camera's aperture, and was only petrified."

"What about Filch's cat?" Megan asked.

"Of course, it was the reflection in the water on the ground," Hermione replied. "We all know that water can reflect images like a mirror, and I think that's why Filch's cat was petrified."

"I think Voldemort really has no bottom line," Harry sighed. "As far as I know, he actually has two souls, one of which is stuck to the back of Quirrell's head, and the other is a younger one, attached to the Notebook."

"Last year, a younger version of Voldemort disguised himself as a woman and swindled people in their Slytherin dormitories, draining their Life Force and soul energy," Harry sighed. "And his other soul clung to Quirrell's head like a pathetic parasite."

"As for this year, he has no bottom line at all. I thought it was already outrageous enough that he dressed up as a woman and went to the Slytherin boys' dormitory to scam people last year, but I never expected that he would actually go to the Slytherin Girls' Dormitory this year... I really want to know what those loyal Death Eater will think when they find out that the wizard they have been following all this time is like this."

"If it were me, I would leave the Death Eater immediately," Megan said without hesitation, her face showing disdain as she spoke.

Good heavens, I thought that the Dark Lord was at least the strongest Dark Wizard of this century, so he should have some kind of prestige.

I never expected it to be this kind of... weirdo who came to trick and ambush first and second-year wizards?

I instantly felt a little nauseous.

"If it were me, I'd rather follow Grindelwald," Ron said with a chuckle, putting his arm around Harry's shoulder. "At least Grindelwald isn't a madman."

"You mean Grindelwald who pulled off a fake bow with a dead Qilin? I don't think following a leader who makes such a series of blunders is the right choice."

Veratia's voice rang out from beside Harry.

"When did she arrive?" Ron asked in astonishment. "My God, Miss Grindelwald, when did you arrive?"

"I've always been here."

Veratia smiled and reached out to pinch Harry's little face, then took out two magic watches from her pocket.

"Here you go, Harry, the little bunny... and yours, Hermione, the little Hermione."

As she said this, Veratia winked at Hermione.

Her gaze was drawn to Hermione's large front teeth. Actually, she hadn't thought that much about it when she was choosing the cast, but now the more she looked at the cartoon squirrel, the more it resembled Hermione.

"Is the watch fixed?" Harry opened the watch case and saw that it was indeed displaying the time.

Veratia smiled and said, "Mr. LeMay has already modified these watches for me. He said they can now be used normally at Hogwarts —but you'll need to regularly inject magic into the batteries at the back."

"If it uses magic, can it still be called a battery?" Hermione asked, scrunching her little face.

"You could also call it a magic wand," Ron commented from behind.

Harry reached out and fiddled with the watch on his wrist. He never expected that Veratia would actually go to Mr. LeMay to have the watch modified.

"What are you thinking about?" Veratia asked softly.

Harry opened his mouth.

"I was wondering if Mr. LeMay would mind if you bothered him with something so trivial."

Veratia thought for a moment, and when Mr. LeMay received the three watches, a look of "Are you kidding me?" was clearly on his face.

However, Veratia didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Isn't 99 Pound Sterling a lot of money?

Yes, it's not much money, but it's still money, isn't it?

In short, Mr. LeMay modified the three watches in just a few minutes. After instructing Veratia on how to maintain the watches, he once again immersed himself in modifying the computer.

"He has no objection," Veratia said with a smile.

Harry always felt that Mr. LeMay actually had a lot of opinions, but was just too embarrassed to say them.

Veratia has been appearing and disappearing mysteriously lately, but compared to the previous period, she has clearly increased the number of times she has returned to Hogwarts to replenish Harry's magic.

Perhaps it was because of Cassandra's dying words, or perhaps it was something else entirely.

However, what she didn't tell Harry was that her meeting with Otto didn't go too smoothly.

Otto treated his young great-aunt with the utmost respect, but he still politely declined some of her "dangerous ideas."

Of course, Veratia didn't say anything, but simply asked him why he didn't go back to Austria.

She knew what Otto meant. She wasn't the Minister for Magic of Austria, not even an ordinary official; she was just a student still attending Hogwarts.

Having no power base of his own, Otto, as a seasoned politician, would not reveal his true thoughts based on a mere remark from a minor wizard.

In short, Veratia plans to return to Austria after graduation and start as a junior staff member in the Ministry of Magic.

On the other side, after Cedric and Megan left the Hog's Head Inn, Abufosi also chased away all the other customers from the Hog's Head Inn.

Given Abufosi's status and power, the guests naturally dared not object and left the bar one by one.

After closing the bar, Abufosi didn't go through the main entrance. Instead, he lifted a portrait of a young girl hanging nearby and crawled through a hole in the wall behind the portrait.

This is a secret passage that leads to Hogwarts.

He followed the secret passage all the way to the Seventh Floor of Hogwarts Castle.

As for why the secret passage leads directly to the Seventh Floor of Hogwarts, Muggle shouldn't pry into magical matters.

Logically, this secret passage should lead to the Room of Requirement, but this is only possible for those who know of its Room of Requirement, like Abufosi, who could only suddenly emerge from a storeroom.

"Cough cough cough..."

Abufosi coughed twice, cursed a couple of times, and then kicked the items piled up in the storage room.

"Damn it, this is in the way!" he cursed, kicking open the door and striding toward Dumbledore's office.

Since the Headmaster's Office was on the Seventh Floor, Abufosi didn't have to exert too much effort to stand in front of the Waterspout Gargoyle at the entrance.

"Password," the Waterspout Gargoyle asked emotionlessly.

Abufosi clenched his fists.

(Apologies for this chapter; I spent too much time designing the plot of Cass's return...)