Fudge left in a hurry with the Ministry, taking Peter Pettigrew and Sirius, who was seriously injured.

When Peter learns that the Ministry of Magic is not going to execute him, but is going to send him to Azkaban, Peter, who has been tossed and does not look like a human, falls to the ground and cries of joy.

As long as you are alive, there is hope for everything.

Dumbledore didn't tell Professor McGonagall what the Ministry of Magic thought, he simply told them that they had to keep it a secret for the time being and not tell the truth about Sirius's innocence, and of course, he promised that it wouldn't be too long, at most a week later, the truth would be revealed.

Hearing Dumbledore say this, Harry, who reacted the most, had no choice but to silence and obediently go back to bed to rest at Dumbledore's request.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night, and the Ministry of Magic needs to issue a brief statement by eight o'clock tomorrow morning, even Barty Crouch, who is traveling from far away in Germany, has been notified by the Ministry that he needs to return home immediately for an emergency meeting.

The Daily Prophet sent out all the reporters, some of them asking for some news from the mouths of the few subway barrel-like Ministry of Magic officials, and some of them ran into Hogsmeade and knocked on the doors of their houses in an attempt to get more details from the mouths of the villagers.

At Hogwarts, except for Professor Flitwick, who stayed behind to help Madam Pomfrey take care of Hagrid and Snape, the rest of the people left one after another and returned to their dormitories to rest.

Tuk Tuk Tuk --

There was a knock on the door, and Amosta, with his feet on the coffee table and his eyes closed on the sofa, opened his eyes.

Dumbledore didn't see anything unusual on his expression, and after receiving permission, he walked in with a smile on his face, sat down on the sofa, and took a few sips of the hot tea that Amosta had made for him.

"Ah, what a wonderful drink—"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, tsk in admiration,

"Although I personally prefer sweet things, I must admit that this bitter drink doesn't feel bad, and it has a bit of a pick-me-up!"

Amosta smiled, he leaned back on the couch, the tea cup in his hand rising mist hazy his expression,

"Remus suffered a little this evening, Tonks had already sent him to St. Mungo's in Hogsmeade, and according to his situation, I'm afraid you'll have to change a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in the second half of the semester—"

Dumbledore's face immediately became less pleasant, and he sighed,

"I have to deal with this distressing problem every school year during the summer holidays, and this year has been particularly bad. Amosta, would you consider considering teaching this course part-time for a while? ”

It was a redundant question, and Dumbledore would not have been unaware of the answer he would receive.

The small talk lasted about twenty minutes, and Amosta mentioned to Dumbledore that Miss Bones was careful, and Dumbledore's smiling expression still made Amosta feel a little strange,

"Aren't you worried that I'll change my mind and take advantage of this opportunity to leave Hogwarts and find another job at the Ministry of Magic?"

"Oh, that's--"

Dumbledore smiled nonchalantly,

"yes, I know you wouldn't choose the Ministry of Magic, anyway, I think we're all wizards who are very good at intrigue, but for various reasons, we don't like to use intrigue to solve problems, but if you work in the Ministry, I'm afraid it's hard to avoid this-"

At the beginning of this conversation, the atmosphere of conversation between two leading wizards of our time was not very lively, and as for the reason, it is not difficult to guess.

Both of them are powerful wizards with strong personal styles, and when dealing with a matter, although the result pursued is the same, the approach may be very different, and contradictions will inevitably arise, unless one party chooses to compromise.

At the beginning of the conversation, Amosta was apprehensive.

Previously, he was willing to return to Hogwarts because he saw a certain sincerity in Dumbledore's attitude, that is, he would not easily interfere with what he wanted to do and how to do it.

But tonight was a wide-ranging affair, and Amosta wasn't sure if Dumbledore would be able to 'stick to his original intentions', but now it seemed that Dumbledore had made up his mind to stay at Hogwarts, and to do so, he would not hesitate to change some of his principles.

Confirming this, the subtle atmosphere between the two people finally disappeared, and the atmosphere of the conversation gradually became harmonious.

"--The beating willow on the side of the playground, I learned from Harry that it was a secret passage that Filch had never mastered, and along that secret passage I reached the screaming shack, and it was cold that night, so in order not to freeze to death, Sirius left the cave where he usually hid and hid in the heavy snow in the house--"

"What a wonderful coincidence—"

Dumbledore nodded in admiration

"Thanks to this coincidence, you found Sirius, figured out the truth of the matter, and stopped us from going down the wrong path."

Speaking of this, Dumbledore sighed again,

"This time it proves once again that I always make mistakes in crucial matters, and I don't want to argue with myself, Amosta, but I did think it was a bit strange that Sirius betrayed the Potters, but their deaths blinded me, and I didn't talk to Sirius properly. This tragedy could have been avoided, and now, because of Peter, so many people have been hurt, including a little wizard—"

Leaving the rest of the people aside, Malfoy was indeed quite unlucky, having been controlled by Peter with the Imperius Curse for so long, and it could indeed be regarded as an oversight on the part of Dumbledore and Amosta.

"Something about Draco--"

Amosta pondered for a moment,

"I'll take a chance to talk to Lucius, and hopefully he'll probably be angry at what happened to Draco, but for the sake of me helping him out of trouble, I think he'll keep quiet."

Dumbledore shook his head, his face full of guilt, and Amosta knew that Dumbledore certainly didn't care about Lucius Malfoy's revenge in anger, he was worried about Draco himself.

"It's turned out to be good, isn't it, Headmaster, we can't do everything perfectly-"

Dumbledore's expression of self-reproach also touched Amosta's heart, and he was relieved.

"Yes, that's true, although it cost somewhat, but the mistake I made was finally corrected-"

Dumbledore took a deep breath, and he restrained his slump.

"I have some good news to share with you here, Amosta—"

Dumbledore's old face relaxed, and his eyes brightened again,

"Remember what I was running around all this time?"

"Voldemort's Horcruxes?" Amosta's eyes narrowed, "You found that house-elf—"

"Under an abandoned bridge in London—"

Dumbledore's beard quivered, and his tone was tinged with gratification, "By the time I found it, the poor little creature was dying, confused, but thankfully, I had some valuable clues from its memories—"

Amosta had already destroyed Voldemort's two Horcruxes and could no longer stay out of it, so Dumbledore didn't choose to sell it, he said happily,

"Like the tiara, it's the same artifact left behind by the founder of Hogwarts, and Tom is fascinated by it!"

Belch--

Staring at Dumbledore in high spirits, Amosta's expression quietly changed.

"There are two items in total, one belongs to Hufflepuff, a gold cup, and the other means more to Tom, it is a relic of Salazar Slytherin, a delicate pendant jewelry box!"

Dumbledore took out his wand and swiped it in front of him intently, wisps of silver mist rising from the tip of the elderberry wand, converging in mid-air in the shape of a golden cup and a locket.

After doing all this, Dumbledore looked at Amosta, who he expected to see a face with a surprised expression, but Amosta's strange look made him a little incomprehensible.

"What, Amosta?"

Dumbledore frowned slightly, and asked in a deep voice

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. This locket looks a little familiar, and I do."

After a few fumbling in his arms, Amosta pulled a gold chain out.

The swinging locket reflected the pink morning light on Dumbledore's stunned old cheeks.

"Is it still the same price, Headmaster?"

Amosta asked earnestly with a wink.

(End of chapter)