Harry's Inner Longing

Veratia remained tight-lipped about Harry's question.

In short, her idea was to proceed step by step.

The road has been paved; whether we can continue forward depends on whether Sirius is the right material.

Holidays always pass quickly, and it seemed like only a few days later, Professor Lupin reappeared before them.

Professor Lupin looked to be in good health and did not seem bothered by his monthly discomfort.

A few days later, it was time for Hogwarts to School Opening.

Dumbledore looked listless, not because he was still weak, but because his eating habits had been strictly controlled.

His few sources of happiness came from eating sweets every day, but now that his basic pleasure from sweets has been taken away, how can he be happy?

But in Veratia and the others' eyes, Dumbledore was different from those Muggle old men who were on their deathbeds.

They could indulge themselves without worry, since they didn't have many years left to live—but Dumbledore was different. He was at the age where he should be striving, so how could he risk getting into trouble because of a little sugar?

Moreover, Dumbledore wasn't just eating candy; it was showing off.

The amount of sugar Harry and his entire dormitory consume in a year probably wouldn't be enough for Dumbledore a few days.

This is no longer just a matter of satisfying one's appetite; it must be stopped!

As a result, Dumbledore in a particularly bad mood, even when he returned to the Headmaster's Office.

Pabbie has obtained authorization from the Board of Governors to remove all the candy from the Headmaster's Office and has also sent people to Honeydukes to negotiate and temporarily cut off the supply of Honeydukes candy to Dumbledore.

Everyone at Hogwarts knows that Dumbledore is a major shareholder of Honeydukes. After all, he started bragging about it to Dumbledore met on his very first day as a shareholder.

Dumbledore with regret, deep, deep regret.

If he had known things would turn out this way, why did he bother to spread the word all over the world?

Now that's bad, there won't be any more candy to eat, and we can only watch others enjoy it with envy.

Recent news has been favorable to the Black family home. Not only is the Daily Prophet reporting on it, but reporters from other newspapers, such as the America New York Sprite News and the France the Gargoyle's Roar, have also come to interview Sirius.

France journalists, in particular, never spare a moment in uncovering juicy gossip about the British wizarding world.

Even the Wizarding World of the two countries are locked in a love-hate relationship—unlike the strained, bickering relationship between the Muggle World of England and France, the Magical World of the two countries prefer to directly exchange witty remarks.

"Mr. Black," Pierre, the reporter for * the Gargoyle's Roar *, asked with concern, "What is your view on the misunderstandings the British Ministry of Magic has held about you for so many years?"

"This is not the Ministry of Magic's fault, sir," Sirius replied flawlessly. "After trusting a traitor and causing the deaths of my friends, the couple, my remorse is beyond measure... Even entering Azkaban cannot atone for even a fraction of my sins..."

"No, Sirius." Harry hugged Sirius tightly. "It's not your fault, it's not your fault... I'm sure Mom and Dad won't blame you either..."

Harry was telling the truth; he had a lot of complaints about his father.

It wasn't that no one suggested he ask Dumbledore the Secret Keeper, but the problem was that, in order to prove his brotherhood, he flatly refused the suggestion, which directly led to Voldemort raiding his house with Lily.

If it weren't for his arrogance, perhaps both of his parents would still be alive today.

Pierre's Quill flew across the paper, making a swishing sound.

"Then," James, a reporter from the America New York Sprite News *, also asked, "Mr. Black, are the reports in the Daily Prophet all true? If so, why hasn't the British Ministry of Magic exonerated your brother and restored his reputation?"

In fact, the American wizarding world is not exactly benevolent either, especially towards Britain, their former colonial power, which harbors great animosity towards them.

"I don't know how the Daily Prophet got the news," Sirius denied. "We just rescued Regulus and learned the truth, Daily Prophet got the first-hand information... To be honest, you can't completely trust what they wrote. At least the so-called secret history of the Black family that was written about in such great detail recently was complete nonsense—as for the later parts, they were more believable."

"As for why the British Ministry of Magic has not exonerated Regulus, the reason is that it is currently the Christmas holiday. On the other hand, we also need to give Regulus peace and verify the truth of the matter—I believe that when we bring enough evidence to the Ministry of Magic, the Ministry of Magic will certainly not refuse to exonerate a true hero."

"What if the British Ministry of Magic doesn't exonerate your brother?" Pierre suddenly asked.

"I believe in the Ministry of Magic, I believe in Minister Fudge." Sirius 'Diadem words were perfectly eloquent and appropriate.

To Pierre and James's disappointment, the interview at Grimmauld Place, Number 12 did not yield the results they desired.

Unlike Rita, at least these two people lack professional journalism skills and don't exaggerate or distort the facts.

However, it cannot be said that they did not get what they wanted. At least Sirius's answer was enough for them to embarrass the British Ministry of Magic in the newspapers and stage a grand coup.

After several foreign newspapers published reports about the Black family home, the Ministry of Magic finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Fudge held emergency consultations to come up with a feasible plan with his subordinates on how to deal with the current situation.

However, the atmosphere at Grimmauld Place, Number 12 was unusually relaxed.

Not only the New York Sprite News and the Gargoyle's Roar, but even Rita's Daily Prophet praised the Black family to the extreme.

Rita, in particular, after recounting Sirius's heroic deeds, did not forget to elevate Sirius's character.

"Look," Sirius picked up the Daily Prophet and pointed to the article, saying, "Look what it says here? 'I felt a real heart beating at Grimmauld Place, Number 12 ...' I really like that sentence."

"In fact, Mr. Black," Cassandra interrupted her Godfather's unrealistic fantasies, "There are nine hearts beating in this old house."

"Isn't it ten?" Pabbie suddenly stood up, counting on her fingers. "Look, Sirius, Lupin, Harry, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Kritcher Veratia, you, and me—that's ten people in total, isn't it?"

"You are a ghost, my dear Sweeting." Cassandra looked at Pabbie with pity.

Pabbie his mouth, and his entire spirit turned ashen, then slunk away to the side.

Oh right, I forgot, I'm a ghost.

"Don't be discouraged, Pabbie." Veratia reached out and rubbed Pabbie's spirit head. "You'll be able to regain your physical body soon, and then there will be ten hearts beating in this old house."

"Yay!" Pabbie jumped up and said, not forgetting to give Cassandra a defiant look.

However, Cassandra simply crossed her arms and looked haughtily at Harry not far away, showing no interest in even glancing at Pabbie.

"She's nasty!" Pabbie whispered to Veratia. "Look at her, she clearly says she doesn't like Harry, but her eyes are always glued to him..."

When Veratia heard Pabbie's words, she glanced at Cassandra and, just as Pabbie had said, she was indeed staring at Harry.

What a hypocritical woman...

Veratia thought to herself, if it weren't for her personality, how could she have gotten close to Harry in the first place?

So, a person's life path can't be too smooth. Look at Cassandra, who was pampered by her father and brother at home, her temper is simply incomprehensible.

Then look at Veratia, the Squib whose parents died young, and the difference becomes immediately apparent.

As for why Cassandra became the first "loser," it's obvious without even guessing.

"I will recommend you for a position in the Ministry of Magic, Sirius," Dumbledore suddenly said. "After the start of the School Opening, I will speak with the Ministry of Magic and arrange for you to take a Ministry of Magic there."

"Oh, thank you so much, Dumbledore," Sirius said with a smile, putting down his newspaper.

A violet light flashed in Veratia's eyes, and she said, "This summer... perhaps after the Quidditch World Cup, a position of the Head of Department will become vacant in one of the Ministry of Magic. At that time, the Headmaster and Mr. Malfoy could work behind the scenes to get the Godfather appointed as Head of Department... What do you think?"

With Lucius involved, this matter will be even more secure.

First of all, they are all from Pure-blood families, and in addition, Lucius's wife Narcissa is Sirius's cousin. With this relationship, they have to give him face.

"Head of Department?" Dumbledore astutely seized on Veratia's words. "You mean—you mean someone will be brought down? Which department? Could you tell me?"

"Can you keep this a secret, Dumbledore?" Veratia asked with a slight smile.

"Of course, I promise to keep it a secret!" Dumbledore assured him.

Unexpectedly, Veratia smiled.

"Look, Dumbledore," she said, "I can too."

Dumbledore a deep breath and decided not to argue with Veratia.

You can't win an argument with them, and you can't win a fight either...

Since she doesn't want to talk about it, that's fine. It's best not to make Prophecy.

"Could it be the Muggle-Born Registration Commission?"

Ron was eating melon seeds on the side when he suddenly remembered that his father was also Head of Department.

The child was so frightened that he dropped the melon he was holding.

"No, Ron," Veratia replied with a smile. "If it were Uncle Weasley, I would have told you already."

Weasley... Uncle?

What a niche term...

Sirius reached out and pressed his eyebrows, trying to stop them from twitching wildly.

Well, it seems my seniority has risen along with Harry's.

He had never dared to imagine before that Grindelwald's own sister would call him Godfather...

But then again, it's actually pretty cool.

Does this mean I'm a generation older than Dumbledore and Grindelwald?

Thinking of this, Sirius could barely hold back his laughter.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Veratia's answer.

He didn't think much of the phrase "Uncle Weasley." Even after learning that the people in front of him were the legendary wizards from a hundred years ago, the thick-skinned Ron still thought they were just his peers and nothing special.

At night, Veratia raided the place as usual.

However, nothing inappropriate happened between them; they just chatted normally, kissed, or touched and hugged each other.

"Remember that gem?" Harry suddenly asked. "After School Opening this year, we need to go to Mr. LeMay's cottage and ask him what the price was for using that gem."

"I need to remind you, Harry," Veratia said, pressing her head against Harry's chest, "That if the Lady Death is in Mr. LeMay's cottage, then you must ask Lady Death, not Mr. LeMay, understand?"

"Okay, I'm not that stupid," Harry said with a smile.

The next morning, after breakfast, they took a carriage back to Hogwarts.

It was the same carriage that had been enchanted with the Untraceable Extension Charm; it was spacious enough to accommodate all of them going back together.

Dumbledore also returned by carriage, still feeling a bit weak—because he hadn't had any sugar for over ten days.

Now, he wants to bite into everything he sees to see if it contains sugar.

Hermione and Ron went back to their dorm first, while Harry and Veratia went to Mr. LeMay's Alchemy Room.

"It seems you've received my gift."

The Lady Death was sitting next to the computer, holding a Crystal Ball in her hands, seemingly playing some interesting game, but Harry couldn't see clearly.

Mr. LeMay sat beside her, looking flushed, as if the two had just had an argument.

However, she turned off the screen after seeing them walk in.

"Lady."

Harry was surprised that god of death was still there, but he understood the meaning of not asking what shouldn't be asked.

"That gem—is there any cost to using it? Or... what price do I need to pay to have my wish fulfilled?"

god of death smiled and shook his head, saying, "Child—you don't need to pay anything for this. You can use that gem as you please; there's no need to worry about this situation."

Harry glanced back at Veratia, then at Dumbledore.

Seeing that the two nodded, Harry took out the gem.

"So, what do you desire most right now?" Mr. LeMay asked.

Harry thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Perhaps we can revive Pabbie through this gem," Veratia suddenly said. "Isn't this a gem that can fulfill people's desires? If it works, then we won't need to make those Potions... What do you think?"

(I still owe 4,000, and I was planning to pay it today, but I couldn't.)

(End of this chapter)