Harry's Teacher Will Arrive at Christmas / A Depressed Mood Makes It Impossible to Conjure a Patronus

Harry didn't know what else to say about the girl's trust. He could only solemnly promise that he would definitely make sure her father's magazine reopened one day.

As a result of this incident, the Ministry of Magic, or rather Lucius, gradually became Harry of a series of major actions taken during this period.

First, the press. The Daily Prophet issued several statements in succession, claiming that all the previous reports were fake news and "sincerely" apologized for misleading the public.

As punishment, the newspaper fired Rita Skeeter, a notorious reporter who had been spreading rumors, and publicly stated that she would never be hired again, regardless of her future behavior!

At the same time, all of Rita's currently circulating written works were jointly investigated and dealt with by the Ministry of Magic and the newspaper, and she is prohibited from publishing any works in any form in the future.

Coincidentally, The Witch Weekly, which had waded into the muddy waters in its pursuit of sales, also fired two editors-in-chief because of this incident and issued an apology statement for 'publishing fake news'.

Finally, the two newspapers jointly published a notice announcing Lucius Malfoy's public trial.

A week before the Christmas holidays, Wizengamot will hold a trial for Lucius Malfoy!

Of course, if the situation only affected the press, it wouldn't be considered a major undercurrent.

Harry received other news at the same time that was truly astonishing!

In the past two days, all the Weasley at Hogwarts have fallen into a state of extreme depression, with Ginny even silently shedding tears in class several times.

Harry didn't know what had happened at first, but when the Weasley Twins, who were usually cheerful, came to him looking worried and gloomy, Harry found out.

Arthur Weasley has been dismissed and is under investigation, with no possibility of reinstatement in the near future.

As everyone knows, the Weasley family's expenses were mainly supported by Arthur, and now that he's in trouble, this already impoverished family is facing even greater hardship.

Fortunately, the twins were quick-witted enough to find Harry, their hidden benefactor, in the first instance.

Harry gave them an indefinite, interest-free IOU for 1,000 Galleon, and said that the money could be deducted from their monthly wages after they started working for him, as an advance on their wages.

Harry's generosity moved the Weasley Brothers to tears, and it took a lot of persuasion to calm the two fifth-year students down from crying in front of him.

And to be honest, Harry really didn't want the Weasley family to thank him, because they were just caught in the crossfire.

According to information Harry gathered from various sources, Arthur wasn't the only one who had gotten into trouble at the Ministry of Magic these days.

First is Dolores Umbridge, who has been officially appointed by Fudge as Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic, responsible for assisting the Minister in handling all administrative matters.

Following this, Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, retired for unknown reasons, and was succeeded by Piers Thicknesse.

Barty Crouch, the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, has retired, and his successor is Rufus Fudge... Incidentally, he is Cornelius Fudge's nephew and is currently the youngest director in the entire Ministry of Magic.

The other job changes will not be detailed here; in fact, according to rumors, several Auror have been fired.

Wizengamot also experienced a large number of personnel changes, including the retirement of more than 15 Wizengamot elders, such as Tiberius Ogden and Geshilda Marchbanks, who chose to retire for various reasons, such as old age or illness.

However, a significant portion of the newly recruited veterans all came from various Pure-blood Family.

Crabbe, Goyle, Flint... He even heard Narcissa Malfoy's name on the 'unofficial list' that Tonks secretly told Harry!

It is clear that Fudge, with the assistance of the Pure-blood Family led by Malfoy, has completely reorganized the Ministry of Magic's power structure and become the true agent of the 'Pure-blood Line' who holds the real power.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic has also gained control of important Wizarding World outlets such as the Daily Prophet, forcing them to sing its praises every day.

Admittedly, such a massive undertaking will undoubtedly cause the Ministry of Magic's credibility and Fudge's personal image to plummet in the eyes of the vast majority of wizards... But what can the currently fragmented Wizarding World do in the face of the overwhelming media's brainwashing propaganda?

Amidst this turmoil, Harry also received a letter from Wizengamot, asking him to accompany Chief Warlock Dumbledore to observe the trial of Lucius as a representative of the youth.

Harry was well aware that Lucius was deliberately trying to annoy him and Dumbledore.

But let him go, anyway, this time it's Albus Dumbledore who's feeling nauseous.

As for Harry himself, he can just think of it as going to see a dying man, letting him jump around a few more times.

(P. S. To put it simply, given Albus Dumbledore's constant appeasement and passive defense, the protagonist is actually indifferent. In the end, it's always the people from the Order of the Phoenix in the Ministry of Magic who suffer, and it's actually a good thing for the protagonist~)

Chapter 335 Harry's teacher will arrive at Christmas.

The week before the Christmas holidays, although it hadn't snowed yet, the weather was gloomy.

The trial of Lucius Malfoy by Wizengamot finally came to a close. Including the clerk, fewer than forty members of the court were present, a rare occurrence as not all fifty Wizengamot elders attended the trial...

Moreover, many of them are 'newly promoted' veterans.

The final vote was unsurprising: Lucius Malfoy won nearly thirty votes in favor of dismissing the charges and was immediately released from court!

As this guy eloquently recounted how he cleverly lured Peter Pettigrew out of the dock and tricked You-Know-Who into handing over his wand, Harry simply watched expressionlessly, his heart unmoved.

After all, there's really no point in arguing with a dead person.

Dumbledore appeared quite agitated in court, constantly trying to steer Wizengamot toward a guilty verdict against Lucius, but unfortunately with little success.

To be honest, Harry understands Albus Dumbledore's situation quite well.

This is because, just like after the Sorcerer's Stone incident two years ago, it's a perfectly normal stress response after one's own psychological expectations have been completely shattered.

Seeing Lucius Malfoy, a criminal, about to go unpunished, and with almost all of his spies in the Ministry of Magic being removed... these two events dealt an unprecedentedly heavy blow to Dumbledore.

But no matter how excited he was, it was useless. Now, both Wizengamot and the Ministry of Magic were firmly in Fudge's hands. Dumbledore couldn't possibly drag the former members of the Order of the Phoenix, who were now unemployed, into a rebellion, could he?

"Harry... Harry!"

In the Seventh Floor hall of the Ministry of Magic, as Harry walked out without stopping, Dumbledore rushed up from behind and anxiously grabbed his shoulder.

"I just met Lucius Malfoy and only exchanged a few words with him. Why are you leaving on your own?" Dumbledore asked, frowning slightly.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster..." Harry replied expressionlessly, "I just didn't expect that you and him would actually have something to say to each other."

Harry didn't even bother to listen to a single word of Lucius's swaggering after the trial, but Albus Dumbledore was surprisingly intrigued.

"Don't be discouraged, Harry ... You have to believe that they can't always be so lucky. We'll definitely have more opportunities in the future." Dumbledore patted Harry's shoulder gently, seemingly worried that Harry would become depressed. "Malfoy and Fudge, although they control the Ministry of Magic now, their crimes are undeniable. We have the entire Wizarding World behind us; everyone's eyes are sharp, and they will definitely find their weaknesses!"

Dumbledore's words were indeed Ravenclaw's Diadem and full of enthusiasm, but Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly.

Please... which eye of yours saw me looking depressed?

I'm absolutely ecstatic right now, I'm already thinking about how to take down that bastard Lucius!

"Headmaster, I think you'd be better off calming down yourself rather than trying to comfort me." Harry sighed softly and said, "In my opinion, the only rational thing you did in court today was not insisting on mentioning my father and Dobby."

This is actually Harry's real concern.

He even had a fierce argument with Albus Dumbledore before the trial because of this.

Undoubtedly, Albus Dumbledore wanted Wizengamot to bring charges against Lucius, so he felt he should bring up in court the fact that Lucius had secretly cursed Harry's foster father.

However, Harry rejected this plan with the utmost seriousness before the trial.

Accused of Lucius Malfoy of maliciously cursing a 'Muggle'?

Are you kidding me?!

Leaving Dobby whether Dobby's testimony will be inadmissible like Harry's fingerprint evidence, even if Dobby is allowed to appear in court, can he really bring Lucius down completely over such a trivial matter?

If Albus Dumbledore actually brings this up in court, the Mr. and Mrs. Granger, including Dobby, will probably be facing certain death.

The two sides now engaged in open and covert struggles have gradually overturned the original rules of the game, and the constraints of "not punishing family members" have completely disappeared!

Fortunately, Albus Dumbledore did not insist on his own way and directly reminded Lucius in court.

However, Harry has indeed been seriously considering the safety of his adoptive parents recently.

Even if he defeats Lucius Malfoy, there will definitely be other threats afterward, and Voldemort, whose threat cannot be ignored...

Perhaps we could consider having our parents take some time to travel?

"Indeed... I didn't think things through before. Harry, I feel ashamed about what happened to your adoptive father."

After a long silence, Dumbledore sincerely apologized to Harry.

But... what Harry wanted was not an apology at all.

He had always wanted to see Dumbledore clench his fist and then punch it hard, but in the end, the other party chose to continue to endure.

Therefore, Harry could only remain silent, because the two had completely different ideas, and even if they forced a conversation, they would only end up not seeing eye to eye.

However, just as they were about to leave the Ministry of Magic, a strange paper owl suddenly flew up to Harry and began to circle merrily above his head.

"What is this?" Harry looked at the paper bird above his head, puzzled.

"This is an origami owl, an alchemical gadget that can deliver letters like an owl... Of course, it is actually a letter itself." Dumbledore was quite knowledgeable in alchemy, so he easily answered Harry's question. "The person who made this paper owl, who was able to accurately locate you underground, must have been quite skilled in alchemy..."

"Teacher?" Harry's face suddenly lit up with surprise as he carefully read the words written on the paper owl. "Teacher said we'll arrive at Hogwarts by Christmas! That's wonderful!"

"Uh... Harry, who is the teacher you're talking about?" Harry's sudden surprise puzzled Dumbledore.

Outside of Hogwarts, the only person Harry could call a teacher would be Newt Scamander, but Newt shouldn't be able to make this kind of origami owl.

"It's Nicolas Flamel," Harry explained excitedly to Dumbledore. "Professor Nicolas Flamel, I met him during my summer trip to France, where he taught me alchemy. In this letter he gave me, he said that he and his wife have made all the arrangements and will come to Hogwarts at Christmas to continue my unfinished lessons!"

"Harry, are you... sure you're telling the truth and not joking?"

After listening to Harry's incredibly excited recounting of the whole story, Dumbledore was now so shocked he was practically choked with disbelief.

Merlin's beard! What incredible luck does this kid have?

He simply went to France for a vacation, and then became Nicolas Flamel's apprentice, who was even willing to follow him all the way to Hogwarts to teach him alchemy?

Please, that's Nicolas Flamel!

In the realm of alchemy, even Dumbledore himself would not be wrong to respectfully address the other as "teacher"!

(P. S. The backstage team is coming soon, and they're even living at the school!)

Chapter 336 A Depressed Mood Won't Summon Patronus

What's the most frustrating thing in life?

Even though Harry himself wasn't upset at all, everyone around him seemed to think he was...

Lucius Malfoy was acquitted, and everyone around Harry who knew the inside story was extremely worried about him.

Even the simplest thing—that he didn't return to school on the same day as Dumbledore —caused Hermione and the others to speculate wildly... Tonks even worried that Harry was depressed and had secretly gone to the Leaky Cauldron to drown his sorrows.

Please, he's only thirteen. Tom would be committing a crime to sell him alcohol.

The truth is, Harry didn't go with Dumbledore simply because he disliked the Floo Network's choking way of traveling.

As for his trip to the Leaky Cauldron, it was purely because he needed to go to Diagon Alley to withdraw money and buy some things.

Harry had to prepare the 1,000 Galleon loan and 3,000 Galleon start-up capital for the shop he had promised the twins in advance, otherwise the Weasley family would really be starving next month.

Seriously, can you really expect a family that spends all 700 Galleon of their prize money on travel to have an 'emergency savings' account?

Moreover, the Flamel couple are coming to Hogwarts soon, and Harry needs to prepare some things in advance, both to settle them in and for the Alchemy Class to come.

You can't expect someone to come all this way to support you, and then Harry, as a student, doesn't even show any appreciation.

He had too much to prepare, and it's perfectly normal for him to not want to travel any further that night and instead stay at his own home for the night.

However, even though the reasons are valid, Harry cannot blame Hermione and the others for overreacting. After all, Draco Malfoy has been swaggering around the school, and he really didn't come back with Dumbledore, so it's normal for Hermione and the others to overthink things.

So when Harry returned to school the next day, he saw the three girls, including Tonks, gritting their teeth and practicing hard in Lupin's private lessons.

After Lupin met Harry, he actually patted him on the shoulder and earnestly advised him... to think more positively.

"Harry, we've known about Lucius Malfoy since we were in school. He's a very cunning guy, not so easy to deal with, so don't be too upset."

"Uncle Lupin, please, I'm begging you, I'm really not upset at all!" Harry covered his face, both amused and exasperated. "The headmaster is overthinking it, all of you are overthinking it. I'm in a really great mood right now, absolutely fantastic!"

"Uh... really?" Lupin hesitated, scrutinizing Harry's expression. After careful examination, he realized that he might have indeed been overthinking things.

Harry is bursting with energy right now, completely unaffected by any signs of depression!

But this raises another problem.

Looking up at the three girls who were sweating profusely, Lupin gave Harry a push on the back, looking like he had a heavy responsibility to fulfill. "You've caused this mess, so clean it up yourself."

"Hey, why should I handle all three of them? I can only manage two at most, you can handle the last one yourself~" Harry gave Lupin a funny look, but still obediently got up and stopped the three girls.

"Alright, it's getting late, let's call it a day."

"I don't want to!" Hermione declared firmly, "It's still early, I can practice for a long time to come!"

Meanwhile, Tonks, standing beside her, simply waved his wand, releasing a cloud of light, completely ignoring her warning.