Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 506: Hogwarts Express

Evan nodded, and there really was nothing to worry about.

Krum looked so gloomy that everyone wanted to go up and beat him up, and he had the same idea.

But Crouch was obviously very unusual, and it seemed that the show was ready to begin!

“There is no sign of vampires, but there are a lot of bad things going on.” Sirius said, “After the World Cup attacks, people seemed to go mad all of a sudden. Attacks and fights happened everywhere and all needed to be dealt with by Aurors. When I came this morning, I also heard that Mad-Eye Moody had another problem. He said that someone attacked him in the middle of the night, but all people saw was the exploded dustbins. It was really terrible.”

“I know. Mr. Weasley had gone to take care of it before you came!” Evan replied.

“I hope he won’t get any serious punishment!” Sirius continued, “Dumbledore invited Moody a few days ago to become the school’s Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He seems to think that under the current circumstances, it is really necessary to have a professional teacher at Hogwarts. This proved to be indeed necessary, and he was clearly aware of what was going on.”

Dumbledore’s idea was really good, but he didn’t expect Voldemort to hit this trump card of his before even returning.

Hiring Moody to teach at Hogwarts was originally made as an insurance policy. But things go as they went in the books, he would become the fuse for all what’s about to follow.

“Moody’s sometimes a little crazy, but he is absolutely reliable, he has a lot of experience fighting Dark wizards.” Sirius looked at Evan. “If something happens at school, you can go to see him right away.”

“I know!” Evan nodded.

If nothing unexpected happens, the fake Moody who was about to teach at Hogwarts would be willing to help them in the early stages.

Evan felt that he might even be able to get close to him to a certain extent and gather information through that.

“Don’t forget to write to me about everything!” Sirius patted Evan on the shoulder and they both walked back to the platform. “By the way, Evan, you take care of Harry at school. Don’t let him get too impulsive and get into trouble, especially this year. Hogwarts will be holding the Triwizard Tournament competitions, and everything must be handled with great care.”

“Don’t get into trouble!” Such words sounded awkward coming out from Sirius’s mouth.

On top of that, most of the time, it was the trouble that came for Harry, not the opposite, and he couldn’t escape no matter how far he ran away.

Sirius probably thought Evan and Harry would be bystanders in the Triwizard Tournament. He never thought either of them was going to compete, becoming the youngest contestants ever.

When they returned, everyone was saying goodbye on the platform.

“I might be seeing you all sooner than you think.” said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.

“Why?” said Fred keenly.

“You’ll see,” said Charlie, “Just don’t tell Percy I mentioned it … It’s classified information, and can’t be released until the Ministry of Magic deems it appropriate.”

“Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year,” said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.

“Why on earth?” said George impatiently. “You’ve been hiding all summer!”

“You’re going to have an interesting year,” said Bill, “I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it…”

“A bit of what?” asked Ron.

At this moment, Evan and Sirius just walked past, and Harry quickly asked Sirius what was going on.

“I can’t say, Harry!” Sirius said with a smile. He and Harry hugged each other tightly. “You will know when you get there, and you will definitely be satisfied. It’s a rare big occasion.” 

“But…”

Harry wanted to say something more, but the whistle of the train blew, and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the doors.

“Goodbye, Sirius! Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley, thanks for having us to stay,” said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to Mrs. Weasley.

“Oh it was my pleasure, dears!” said Mrs. Weasley. “I’d invite you and Evan and Harry for Christmas, but … well, I expect you’re all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, with what… one thing and another.”

“Mum!” said Ron irritably. “What do you all know that we don’t?”

“You’ll find out this evening, I expect,” said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. “It’s going to be very exciting… mind you, I’m very glad they’ve changed the rules…”

“What rules?” said Harry, Ron, Fred and George together.

“I’m sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you… Now, behave, won’t you? Won’t you, Fred? And you, George?” shouted Mrs. Weasley.

Her words were covered by the loud hiss of the pistons, and the train began to move.

“Tell us what’s happening at Hogwarts!” Fred bellowed out of the window, “What rules are they changing?”

Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charlie waved at them and sped away.

“That’s enough. I want to know what’s going on?!” said Fred unhappily.

Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to their compartment.

The thick rain splattering the windows made it very difficult to see out of them.

Ron undid his trunk, pulled out his maroon dress robes, and flung them over Pigwidgeon’s cage to muffle his hooting.

“Dad and Mum won’t say anything. There’s bound to be something big going on in the school this year.” said Ron sullenly.

“Evan, do you know about it?” Harry suddenly turned and asked.

In his impression, Evan knew almost everything, and there was nothing that could be concealed for him.

Since all the rules had been revised, Evan could really just pretend that the matter was no longer a secret.

He was just about to talk, but Hermione pressed her finger to his lips.

“Shh!” she whispered, pointing toward the compartment next to theirs.

At this moment, a familiar drawling voice drifted in through the open door.

“Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore … the man is such a Mudblood-lover … and Durmstrang doesn’t admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn’t like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang’s students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do, and the messy people and teachers we hire…”