"All right."
Dumbledore stood up and tapped his lower back like an old man.
"I ought to visit the Hospital Wing now. Happily, no one suffered any fatal injuries in today's battle. Is Harry in the ward?"
"Yes." Su Er nodded. "Professor McGonagall and I took him to the Hospital Wing."
"Wonderful. As it happens, I have a few things to discuss with him," Dumbledore said happily. "He'll be delighted to hear that Sirius only needs to spend a few days at St. Mungo's before they can see each other."
"Alastor told me that Flipendo was quite something. It broke quite a few of Sirius's bones."
"Um..." Su Er said nothing, feeling rather embarrassed.
Under the circumstances, to make sure the spell had the desired effect, and because casting a Nonverbal Spell weakened its power, he had put almost all his strength into that Flipendo.
"Being alive is always happier than being dead, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes." Dumbledore nodded, smiling. "I imagine Sirius will agree with you once he wakes up."
Su Er gave a few awkward laughs.
The Daily Prophet acted very quickly. The next day, owls carrying the Daily Prophet landed on the dining tables in the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
Most people knew nothing about what had happened at the Ministry of Magic yesterday, but that was all right. They would soon find out.
Because right there on the Daily Prophet's front page, in large, bold, black letters, were the words-
"He's back. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back!"
Apart from statements by Minister Fudge that did not quite match his earlier remarks, the report also announced something else: Dumbledore was returning to Hogwarts as headmaster. In his remarks, Fudge spared no effort in exaggerating Dumbledore's heroic deeds, crediting him with saving the Ministry of Magic.
There was something