Harry Potter: Returning from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 355: Chapter 355

"You all did splendidly!" Ludo Bagman said, leaping lightly into the tent with a beaming, jubilant air, as if he himself had just triumphed over a dragon.

"Well, I’ve only a few words to say—the second task will begin on February 24th next year at nine-thirty in the morning. Until then, you’ll have a good long rest—though we’re leaving you something to ponder! Look down at those golden eggs in your hands, and you’ll see they open... See the seam there? You must solve the clue inside the egg—that’ll tell you what the second task is, so you can prepare! All clear? No problems? Good, off you go!"

Harry hadn’t expected the second task to be so far off...

That meant nearly four months of relative idleness ahead.

After the task, Harry didn’t rush off. Instead, he wove through the cheering crowd and made his way to the VIP stands.

"Nice work," Veratia said with a faint smile when she saw him.

Harry cleared his throat and asked, "I really didn’t think you’d come to watch my task. Honestly, when you said you were busy, I figured you wouldn’t show."

"How could I miss your task?" Veratia replied with a light smile. "Besides, I’m just a regular department head. I don’t have that much to worry about..."

As she spoke, Veratia suddenly flashed a sly grin, leaned close to Harry, and whispered, "Actually, I’m here in my official capacity as the Head of the International Magical Cooperation and Exchange Department of the Greater German Ministry of Magic to observe the Triwizard Tournament. Technically, it’s on the public dime... I even bought a few little trinkets outside just now, and the Ministry will reimburse me when I get back~"

With that, Veratia wore a look that screamed praise me, clearly hoping Harry would commend her cleverness.

"You’re brilliant," Harry said, a bit speechless. You’re not exactly short on cash, big sis...

When you become Minister of Magic, will you— No, probably not. Knowing Veratia, she’d treat every Knut in the Ministry’s coffers as her own and wouldn’t spend a single one...

Old Viennese habits die hard, scared of poverty.

Harry’s mind conjured a vivid scene: someone in the Ministry trying to expense travel costs, only for Veratia to slam the table in a fury, roaring, "My money!"

"What’re you thinking about?" Veratia asked, noticing his daze and waving a hand in front of his face.

"Oh, nothing," Harry said, snapping out of it.

"He’s thinking about your stinginess, Grindelwald."

Cassandra’s voice rang out. She’d somehow appeared behind Harry without him noticing.

"I’m just saving a bit for our little household, that’s all," Veratia said, her face betraying no embarrassment. She even reached out and looped an arm through Harry’s.

At this shameless display, Cassandra’s eyelid twitched violently.

"You haven’t changed a bit, Grindelwald. You still don’t care about propriety—a dignified department head of the Ministry, tangled up with a fourth-year student, all touchy-feely..."

"And stealing kisses in the heat of passion," Veratia added, blinking innocently with a cutesy tone.

Cassandra took a deep breath.

"Hey, what’re you two talking about?"

Poppy suddenly bounced over, latching onto Harry’s other arm. "Are you fighting over Harry? Then give me an arm too!"

"Are you trying to tear me apart?" Harry said helplessly.

Yeah, fragments of a legendary wizard—who wouldn’t want to collect them?

"No way!" Poppy protested. "How could I be that mean? I think the one who’d most want to tear you apart is Karkaroff. He looked super jealous. Didn’t you notice?"

"People have their likes and dislikes. It’s normal," Harry said, brushing it off. Forty-seven points or fifty, neither was a score Viktor could catch up to.

He was long past the age of needing external validation.

"So, where are we celebrating?" Poppy looped her other arm through Cassandra’s. "Come on, let’s celebrate together! How about the Hogwarts kitchens? I’m super tight with the house-elves."

"I’ll pass," Veratia said regretfully. "The Ministry’s got a mountain of work waiting for me. You know how it is—merging two Ministries is a massive undertaking. Coming to watch Harry’s task was already pushing it..."

"Then I won’t keep you," Harry said, reaching out to give Veratia’s thigh a couple of playful squeezes. "When I’m on break, I’ll come to Vienna to hang out."

"I’ll be waiting~" Veratia said with a grin, ruffling Harry’s hair before Disapparating with a pop.

Once Veratia was gone, Harry turned to Cassandra. "What about you? Not coming to celebrate with me?"

Cassandra tilted her head up, all haughty pride.

"I’ll just..."

She didn’t finish before Harry grabbed her hand.

"Come on, yeah? Let’s think... How about the Gryffindor common room? I heard there’s a huge party tonight. I think we should join in. What do you say?"

"Hmph." Cassandra’s lips twitched, but the corners turned up.

Harry, who knew Cassandra well, recognized the silent agreement. He turned to Poppy. "And you?"

"Me? You’re both going?" Poppy said with a gleeful chuckle. "Heehee, count me in—but does the Gryffindor common room welcome us?"

"Of course!" Harry thumped his chest. "Gryffindors are the friendliest!"

Sure enough, when they stepped into the Gryffindor common room, another wave of cheers and noise erupted.

Tables and chairs were piled high with mountains of cakes, jugs of pumpkin juice, and butterbeer.

Lee Jordan set off some Wildfire Whiz-bangs, filling the air with sparkling stars and bursts of flame.

Dean Thomas, the artist, had hung several bold new banners depicting Harry blasting the Hungarian Horntail with spells and pelting the dragon with rocks.

The common room wasn’t just Gryffindors. Cedric Diggory had brought a pack of Hufflepuffs, sitting nearby and cheering for Harry. Even Draco Malfoy from Slytherin wasn’t about to be outdone, shouting with Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

Those two goons... looked as dim as ever.

We’re doing fine, right? Damn right!

Luna Lovegood sat in a corner, wearing odd spectacles that looked like tiny hands.

Gryffindor’s ghosts were all gathered too—such a rare occasion demanded celebration.

Among them were Slytherin’s ghosts, Sebastian and Ominis, who hung nearby, clapping for Harry.

"Blimey, it’s got some heft," Lee Jordan said, hefting Harry’s golden egg with both hands. "Open it, Harry! Let’s see what’s inside!"

"He’s supposed to solve the clue himself," Hermione said quickly. "The tournament rules say—"

"Rules are rigid, but people are flexible," Harry said with a grin. "As the saying goes, two heads are better than one. Getting everyone involved isn’t a bad idea."

"Come on, Harry, open it!" a few voices chimed in.

Lee handed the egg to Harry, who pried it open with his thumbnail along the groove.

It was empty—nothing inside. But the moment it opened, a horrific, shrill, ear-piercing screech filled the room.

Harry had only heard something like it at Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party, when the ghost band played musical saws.

"Shut it!" Fred roared, clapping his hands over his ears.

Harry slammed the egg shut.

"What was that?" Seamus Finnigan stared at the egg. "Sounded like a banshee... Harry, maybe you’ve got to get past one next!"

"Like someone’s being tortured!" Neville said, his face pale as he spilled sausage onto the floor. "You’ve got to face—he went white—the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don’t be daft, Neville, that’s illegal," George said. "They can’t use Cruciatus on a champion—I reckon it sounds like Percy singing... Maybe you’ve got to ambush him in the shower, Harry."

"Jam tart, Hermione?" he asked again.

Hermione eyed the plate suspiciously.

"Don’t worry," Fred said, grinning. "I didn’t tamper with those. It’s the custard creams you’ve got to watch—"

Neville, who’d just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out.

Fred burst out laughing.

"Just a little joke, Neville..."

Hermione took a jam tart and said, "You got all this from the kitchens, Fred?"

"Yeah," Fred said, grinning at her. He squeaked in a high-pitched voice, mimicking a house-elf: "’We is happy to prepare anything for you, sir, anything at all!’ They’re so eager... Soon as I said I was peckish, they’d roast me a whole ox."

"But they wouldn’t roast you a whole ox," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "They’re hardworking, but they wouldn’t waste food like that."

"No, they wouldn’t roast you," Fred shot back, "because they know you can’t eat that much—but me and George? We could polish off a whole ox."

Ron rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue.

"What do you think?" Harry looked up at Poppy, only to find her face obscured.

What’s blinding me?

"I think..." Poppy pondered, then lit up with a eureka expression. "They want you to sing to the egg—ow!"

Cassandra chopped her on the head with a hand knife before she could finish.

Poppy stuck out her tongue and went quiet.

"Maybe it’s tied to some magical creature?" Cassandra said, chin in hand. "Think about it—that weird noise could be from some creature—"

"What respectable magical creature makes a sound like that?" Neville muttered.

"And what would an unrespectable one sound like?" Fred and George said, cackling. "Go on, imagine it!"

No one paid the twins any mind. Luna’s dreamy voice floated up.

"Maybe we’re opening it wrong," she said, as if chanting. "I think the way we’re opening it might be the problem."

"Opening it wrong?" Harry asked, baffled. "Is there another way? Or should I try a different pose..."

Poppy looked up, feeling like she’d almost remembered something but couldn’t quite grasp it.

"No rush," Ron said, munching a tart. "We’ve got time. It’s only early November, and the second task isn’t until February 24th. No need to crack the egg’s secret right now, right?"

"You’re right," Harry said, taking Ron’s advice. He tucked the egg back into his pouch and raised his butterbeer with a grin. "Keep the music playing, keep the party going!"

Just then, Neville suddenly turned into a giant canary, drawing everyone’s attention.

"Whoops—sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over the laughter. "I forgot—that’s our enchanted custard creams—"

Luckily, in under a minute, Neville shed the feathers. Once they all fell off, he was back to normal.

He even joined in the laughter.

"Canary Creams!" Fred announced to the pumped-up crowd. "George and I invented them—seven Sickles each, real bargain!"

"I’ll take ten!" Poppy shot her hand up. "What a fun invention! I’ve got to get ten..."

"Trying to turn into a fat bird?"

As she said it, Cassandra shot an envious glance at Poppy’s impressive figure.

"Oh, no, just thought it’d be funny," Poppy giggled. "Imagine if Veratia ate one of these!"

At Poppy’s words, Cassandra couldn’t help but picture it...

Veratia eats the Canary Cream she’d prepared, poوف! She turns into a giant canary...

"I’ll take them all," Cassandra said, her eyes steely.

"Oh, noble Miss Malfoy," the twins said, looking at her like she was a goddess. "You’re too generous, too generous... Your generosity could light up all of Hogwarts!"

They pulled a pile of Canary Creams from their pouches. "We made two hundred total. Used four today, Miss Sweeting reserved ten, leaves one hundred eighty-six... Let’s see, how much is that..."

He grabbed paper and quill, scratching his cheek as he calculated.

Magic-world currency was a pain—one Galleon to seventeen Sickles made math a nightmare...

"No need to calculate," Hermione said. "Seventy-six Galleons and ten Sickles."

"Right," the twins said, grinning as they stood. "Then, noble Miss Malfoy... We’ll waive the ten-Sickle change. Seventy-six Galleons, please."

Cassandra didn’t say a word. She briskly paid from her pouch and stashed all the creams.

She was going to get Veratia with these...

The thought set her eyes ablaze.

That woman has to become a canary!

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