A ruined Hogwarts

The warm wind blew away the cold rain, the weather gradually became comfortable and pleasant, and Hogwarts finally regained its long-lost peace.

As the peaceful days passed day by day, the students quickly stepped out of the shadow of the heirs, and the energetic laughter made the thousand-year-old castle glow with vitality.

Professor Sprout from the herbal medicine class recovered from the bad mood of the greenhouse being burned. She was very happy to tell everyone that several mandrakes had a lively dance party in the third greenhouse, which represented They are almost fully mature and will soon be able to bring those poor petrified creatures back to life.

In a blink of an eye, it’s April. During the Easter holidays, it is time for second-year students to choose their third-year courses, which is obviously something that needs to be treated carefully.

In the Slytherin common room, a group of people put their heads together, murmuringly studying the course list and making notes on it.

"What are you going to choose, Owen?" Daphne curled her golden hair with her fingers in confusion, and turned to look at Owen, intending to listen to his opinion.

Owen stared thoughtfully at the course list in front of him, holding his chin with one hand. He was considering whether to take the opportunity to get a time turner and study it.

Time turners in the entire wizarding world are basically stored in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic. Very few of them are spread to the outside world. Even with the energy of the Shafiq family, it is difficult to find one. But junior year is the best chance to get a Time-Turner, and as long as Owen signs up for more courses, the school will be happy to help apply for one in order to show support for outstanding students.

Owen is still very curious about the principle of the time converter. But at the same time, it is undoubtedly a very dangerous thing.

Owen thought for a long time, and finally couldn't restrain his curiosity. He picked up a quill and wrote his name on the back of the other four courses except Muggle Studies. According to his calculations, if he only needs to choose four courses, he will not be able to arrange the daily class time. There is no need to choose all five elective courses.

Well, curiosity killed the cat, but you have to be curious even to death.

He breathed a long sigh of relief, leaned back comfortably in the armchair, picked up Melete and kneaded her like dough, causing the catnives to show their sharp claws.

Harry leaned over to look at his course list and said in surprise: "You chose four subjects? But we only need to choose two subjects!"

"You have chosen too many, Owen." Daphne agreed, "You will be too busy this way. You don't know how to clone yourself."

"How do you know I can't?" Owen smiled mysteriously.

"I would like to see how you perform the cloning technique next year." Draco grabbed his light blond hair, signed behind the ancient runes with some reluctance, and said in a long tone: "My father hopes I chose this course because I wasn’t really interested in it, but I didn’t want to listen to him nagging me all day long.”

Crabbe and Goyle sat blankly nearby, following Draco's choice of ancient runes without hesitation.

Owen blinked and said: "The ancient runes are indeed the most practical among these courses. This ancient runes are very useful in magic, divination and alchemy, and many ancient documents use runes. Written in Chinese. Of course, this course also has a certain degree of difficulty..."

He glanced at the two big guys with confused faces again, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Well, there doesn't seem to be much difference in which subjects these two guys choose.

"What about the other subjects?" Harry tangledly hovered the tip of his pen over the form behind the ancient runes, drawing empty circles in the air.

"Well... the Care of Magical Creatures class is probably the most interesting of these classes. You will come into contact with many interesting magical animals in the class." Owen mused.

Of course, if the professor were replaced by Hagrid... Since Draco would most likely not provoke Hagrid next semester, Hagrid, who had not suffered any setbacks, would probably turn this class into a class on protecting dangerous monsters.

After hearing Owen's words, Draco and Blaise's eyes lit up, and they signed the back of the course in a neat and tidy manner. Crabbe and Goyle followed closely.

Harry also rolled his eyes, showing an emotional expression.

"As for the divination and arithmetic classes, it depends on whether you are interested in fate and prophecy." Owen continued, "But to be honest, divination requires talent. Without special talents, you can only learn it half-heartedly. As for the arithmetic divination class, I think it is more inclined to probability, involves a lot of calculations, and is a subject with mathematical beauty."

Harry's expression changed, and he scratched the back of the two courses with the pen tip in his hand, and finally signed the end of the Divination class. After learning about the prophecy about himself and Voldemort from Dumbledore, he was full of curiosity and longing for this aspect, and now he naturally wanted to get in touch with it when he had the opportunity.

Owen glanced at him and saw what the guy was thinking. There is no doubt that Professor Trelawney in the Divination class will ruthlessly shatter all his expectations for this class and plunge this aspiring young man who wants to develop in the field of divination into the mud.

"I think the divination class should be quite interesting." Daphne said, "But... I don't think I have any prophecy talent."

"In a way, its exam is at least easier to pass." Owen raised the corners of his mouth in amusement. As long as you exaggerate in the exam and say that you saw terrible omens, Professor Trelawney will be willing to give you high marks.

Blaise raised his eyebrows, wrote down his name at the back of the divination class, leaned back in his chair, and threw the course list aside. As a qualified gangster, he likes classes where it is easy to pass the exam.

"The last Muggle Studies class. As you know, if you want to learn about Muggles, you can definitely choose this course." After Owen finished speaking, he squinted his eyes lazily and fell asleep.

"Haha..." Draco sneered, "Only an idiot would choose this course. I would rather study monkeys."

"Yes, I think so too." Pansy looked at Draco's form and happily chose the same course as him.

"Muggles are much smarter than you think, and they have many incredible magical inventions." Harry said seriously. He frowned and chose Ancient Runes, because this subject was essential for many magical studies. He hesitated again and signed up for the Care of Magical Creatures course. After learning about the basilisk, he was also very interested in this course.

"Wow, Harry, you actually have to choose three subjects?" Blaise yelled, "This will fill up your third-year course schedule!"

"What a fuss, Blaise." Daphne looked at him with a smile and chose Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.

"Tsk, you will definitely regret it." Draco shook his head, looking like he had seen through everything.

In fact, just after handing in the course list, Harry somewhat regretted the decision he had made in a fit of enthusiasm. Although he was considered a top student now, there was no need to spend his lazy time studying. He could already imagine the mountain of homework he would have piled up next semester.

Well, there's also some stupid bird who likes to burn his homework.

"I'm so stupid, really..." Harry slumped in the armchair, as if he had lost all his dreams.

…

The pace of time is walking leisurely, and in the ordinary daily life, a few more weeks have passed.

This semester's Quidditch match was canceled due to the threat of the heir, but the duel competition was still in full swing, and in the blink of an eye it was already the final.

Not surprisingly, the members of the study group all achieved very good rankings and even entered the finals. Compared with other second-year students, they have a clear advantage as they have trained more magic spells early on.

On a sunny Saturday, students gathered enthusiastically on the Quidditch pitch to cheer for the finalists.

Owen was sitting leisurely in the stands with Melete in his arms, and a beautiful black bird stood on his shoulder. The bird's posture was proud, but it also looked elegant and noble.

Now Nyx is getting more and more beautiful, with smooth black feathers reflecting bright colored halo in the sunlight, and several beautiful crests on the top of his head, floating gently and gracefully in the wind. The feathers on a pair of broad wings are straight and shiny, and the tail feathers have been growing and elongating rapidly these days, starting to look elegant.

Nyx proudly grabbed Owen's shoulders with his shiny black claws, raised his head high, and his red eyes were like shining gems. At this time, it looks like an elegant black swan. Although it cannot fly yet, it is much prettier than a black swan.

The little wizard sitting next to it cast curious and loving glances at it from time to time. Some even wanted to reach out and touch it, but the bad-tempered one opened its beak and took it back.

"Come down, it's so heavy. When will you learn to fly?" Owen patted Nyx down, and the soft feathers felt warm.

Nyx glared at him aggrievedly, then staggered away with a step that disowned him. The tail feathers that were beginning to take shape were dragged around on the ground, like a big broom.

"Hey... don't! Professor McGonagall, we don't dare anymore!" The miserable screams of the Weasley twins came from a distance. Professor McGonagall kept a straight face and mercilessly confiscated the money box from the brothers under their hoarse begging.

"The final showdown of the second years has arrived! Look, Harry Potter is on the court! His opponent is Draco Malfoy!" the commentator Lee Jordan shouted hard.

In the arena, Harry and Draco walked onto the ring, bowed to each other, and then began this highly anticipated showdown.

The top three in second grade are all members of the study group. Although Draco didn't work hard when practicing spells in the past, during the duel competition, his competitive spirit made him work harder than ever before, and he showed excellent dueling abilities during the competition. His style was unconstrained, he used many weird little magic spells very flexibly, and his moves were tricky and ruthless, and he finally made it to the finals smoothly.

Compared to Draco, Harry's style was much simpler and more direct. The three magic spells of Disarming Curse, Stunning Curse and Iron Armor Curse are skillfully combined, and he also masters more magic spells to make up for his weaknesses. He is often unexpectedly quick-witted in times of crisis, and his level is no worse than that of senior students.

Blaise was eliminated by Harry before the final, and Daphne lost to Draco. Although the little witch had a solid grasp of magic, she always seemed hesitant and not decisive enough in the duel.

The most surprising thing was Neville. Although he lost to Harry and Draco, he finally achieved third place in the grade. According to him, after getting rid of Voldemort's control, he seemed to have an enlightenment and his memory suddenly improved. In addition, he had worked very hard, so it was only natural that he achieved such results.

After a fierce duel that made the young wizards scream and cheer, Harry created an opportunity and finally used "Expelliarmus" to knock away Draco's wand and win the second round. Grade finals.

Owen yawned and clapped his hands proudly.

The day passed in a blink of an eye, and in the evening glow, the duel competition came to an end amidst cheers that reached the sky.

Harry took home the first place medal and a set of rare magic coins as prizes.

Ginny Weasley placed second in the first year competition and was ultimately defeated by a Gryffindor boy. The Weasley twins were eliminated early. Who knows if they lost the game on purpose to facilitate their gambling. Cedric Diggory stood out and won the first place in the fourth grade group.

Percy Weasley refused his twin brother's coercion and inducement to fake the match, but he was still defeated by two students from Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively, and finally ranked third in the sixth grade group. name.

The duel match ended, and the little wizards argued with each other enthusiastically and returned to the castle. When the students' enthusiasm for the duel competition gradually subsided, early the next morning, a news article published in the "Daily Prophet" almost blew up the auditorium.

The newspaper's front page featured large portraits of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius's face was thin and haggard, his black hair and beard were messy, and a pair of gloomy eyes looked out through the photo; Peter Pettigrew lowered his head and wring his fingers timidly, trying hard to hide out of the photo.

The headline read: "Hero or Villain? Peter Pettigrew pleads guilty and Sirius Black is exonerated."

"Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, President of the International Federation of Wizards, Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, and recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class, requested that the case of Sirius Black be reopened. The day before yesterday, the Wizengamot Members of the Moroccan Forces held a special interrogation meeting at the Ministry of Magic.

"During the trial, Peter Pettigrew confessed to his crimes and admitted that he was the murderer who betrayed the Potters and killed Muggles on the street twelve years ago. According to him, he was an illegal Animag In order to escape the pursuit of Sirius Black, he cut off a finger and turned into a mouse to escape the scene.

“In the end, after the Wizengamot trial, it was decided that Sirius Black would be dismissed from all charges, Peter Pettigrew would be deprived of his status as a recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class, and he would be sentenced to life imprisonment.

“The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, took the lead in expressing a sincere apology to Sirius Black who was wrongly imprisoned, and several Ministry of Magic officials resigned...

"'This is a wake-up call for us.' Cornelius Fudge said, 'Next we will strengthen the management and supervision of the judicial department and maintain judicial fairness and justice...'

"It is reported that Sirius Black has been acquitted and will receive tens of thousands of galleons in compensation..."

In the auditorium, the owl flapped its wings and flew high, its feathers flying all over the sky. The students who saw the newspaper were already in a frenzy. People invariably looked at where Harry Potter was, casting strange and complicated looks at him.

Owen pushed away the cereal that had fallen into his feathers, flipped through it with a copy of the Daily Prophet, and said casually: "Escape the important and ignore the trivial. Why didn't they say that Black was imprisoned in Azkaban without any trial at all?"

"What a... shocking scandal." Draco glanced at Harry, held back his gloating words for a long while, and swallowed his words.

Harry looked at the newspaper pulled from Draco's hand in surprise and let out a long sigh of relief. Regarding Sirius Black, he was so anxious that he was almost angry at this time, but Dumbledore still took the trouble to tell him to keep waiting, which gave him a bad feeling.

"Fortunately...it's okay." He looked at the strange man in the photo and felt happy from the bottom of his heart.

At this time, Professor McGonagall walked through the crowd and came to Harry, showing him a smile: "Harry, someone is looking for you."

Harry put down the newspaper, feeling an inexplicable premonition. He followed Professor McGonagall under the gaze of his friends, his heart beating loudly with anticipation and anxiety that almost flew out of his chest.

Walking out of the gate of the castle, he saw a tall man standing in the sun, his long black hair carefully combed and his beard neatly shaved, staring unblinkingly. The man's face was thin and haggard, but his eyes were extremely bright. A particularly solemn suit looked out of place on his skinny body.

"Oh, hello, Harry..." the man said at a loss. He looked at Harry's expression carefully, and straightened his suit nervously, as if he was trying his best to look dignified and decent: "Well, I know it's very sudden for me to come to you suddenly. Maybe you don't know me yet." who is it……"

"I know, you are Sirius Black." Harry stared at him closely.

"Yes..." Sirius Black grinned unnaturally, looking like he was twitching, "I mean... I don't know if anyone has ever told you that I am your godfather?"

"I know." Harry smiled, "Welcome back." He stood on tiptoes and hugged the other person.

A real smile finally broke out on Sirius's haggard face, and he said hoarsely: "I've been wanting to see you for a long, long time... I didn't expect this day to come. Ah, I even brought it to you. Some gifts..."

Professor McGonagall stood quietly in the distance, watching this scene with a smile and shook her head. (End of chapter)