Hogwarts Homecoming

"Christmas gift?"

Not to mention Dumbledore, even Amosta was a little confused.

"I got it some time ago—"

Horace was filling the third glass and nodded.

"It was the time when you two opened the International Confederation of Wizards in Paris."

"I'm so touched, Horace——"

Dumbledore understood what caused Amosta's mood swings. He smiled and looked at the wine bottle in Horace's hand.

"There are still two months until Christmas. I didn't expect you to have prepared a Christmas gift for me. Where did you get it? The Three Broomsticks--"

Horace straightened up and waved the wine bottle in his hand as if to show off.

"You're right, Albus. It was Saturday evening, so I went to the Three Broomsticks for a few drinks while I had nothing else to do.

I told Romesta some things from back then, probably, when I was the Head of Slytherin, I had a good relationship with you and knew a lot about you. The villagers in the shop kept buying me wine, and they loved hearing it. this--"

Speaking of this, Horace smiled a little shyly,

"I drank a lot and can't remember clearly, but it seems that a young man asked me what gift I would give you for Christmas, and then I told him that I might give you a bottle of aged mead. After all, this is Your favorite wine—"

"Oh, you remember correctly, Horace, this is indeed my favorite--"

"And you got this?"

Amosta also looked at the wine bottle with interest.

"When I got back to the office, I found it in my coat pocket--"

Horace was pleased to see that Dumbledore did not show any displeasure because he had not purchased the bottle himself.

"I think some admirer lent me my hand to give it to you. Hey, what the hell!"

Horace handed Amosta and Dumbledore a glass of wine respectively, picked up the remaining glass, looked at Amosta happily and said,

"Fake news is flying all over the newspapers, Amosta. Some of my students know that I am well-informed. They are all writing to me to ask me what happened to the joint force you created. Maybe you can tell me. ——”

"This is not appropriate-"

Amosta suddenly said with a straight face.

When Horace looked confused, Amosta quickly explained,

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Horace, I'm not talking about the Combined Forces, I'm talking about--"

Under Horace's puzzled gaze, Amosta took away the wine glass from his hand and from Dumbledore's hand.

snap——

After a crisp snap of his fingers, the yellow wine in the three wine glasses placed back on the coffee table flowed back into the bottle, and the cork that had been discarded was squeezed back into the mouth of the bottle.

"Since it is a Christmas gift that you, as an old colleague, gave to Principal Dumbledore to witness your friendship as colleagues for more than half a century, then-"

Amosta handed the aged mead to Headmaster Dumbledore,

"You should taste it alone, Headmaster."

"Haha, you are right, Amosta——"

Dumbledore chuckled,

"I plan to choose a snowy night, taste it alone before going to bed, and then go to bed after drinking to avoid causing any trouble-"

Judging from the look on Horace's face, he was still very happy.

After all, Dumbledore looked like he valued his gift.

"Oh, Albus, what trouble can a couple of meads bring--"

Horace said disapprovingly,

"Then let's change it to another bottle."

With that said, he trotted towards his wine cabinet.

Amosta and Dumbledore looked at each other under the crystal chandelier, and then Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it, sending the aged mead to his office.

"Then this is-"

After a while, Horace walked back to the two of them holding a bottle of sherry, unaware of the disappearance of the aged mead.

"Tell me about the joint force Amosta you advocate--"

After slumping down on the soft sofa, Horace raised the issue again.

"Will you lead this force?"

"This armed force is led by the International Federation of Wizards' Association Committee, Horace. It is not an independent armed force belonging to a certain person. Of course, this force does need a commander when it goes on a mission-"

Amosta said,

"I recommended Alastor to Minister Bones. He is a very experienced Auror. I think he should be qualified."

"Mad-Eye——"

Horace was slightly surprised.

"Yes. In the Auror profession, Mad-Eye Moody is indeed famous."

"Amosta--"

Dumbledore also intervened in the topic. During the previous meeting in Paris, Dumbledore showed tacit approval on this issue.

He didn't talk too much about his opinions, but now that he said this, he looked at Amosta calmly,

"Do you really think this joint force can always be effective?"

"It depends on the situation--"

Amosta leisurely approached the soft back of the sofa, stroking the wine glass with his palms, and his deep eyes seemed to be looking straight into the future through the fog.

"In the long run, supporting this army will cost a lot of money, and the Ministry of Magic of various countries that are willing to pay now may not still be willing in the future.

Although we have signed a mutual security treaty, it is impossible to use magic means to prevent members of various countries from going back on it.

In addition, this force will always fight on the front line against the most evil group of dark wizards in the world. The casualties will inevitably be huge for a long time, which will also cause dissatisfaction in non-involved countries and domestic countries——"

"Then you suggest forming it to--"

Horace asked curiously.

"Of course it's to deal with Voldemort--"

Amosta smiled at the trembling Horace and said,

"Although Voldemort only caused chaos in the United Kingdom in the past, the scope of damage he caused to wizarding society was far beyond the United Kingdom, and the types of damage were also diverse.

In order to eliminate the crisis, for more than thirty years, the righteous people in the British magical community have worked hard and bravely sacrificed their lives to barely contain the spread of darkness."

Dumbledore was silent, and Horace stared at the wine glass in his hand without saying a word, his eyes seemed to be crystal clear.

"But this heavy responsibility cannot be imposed only on British wizards. Peace needs more people to protect it."

Amosta said,

"That's why I used the International Federation of Wizards to form this army."

Dumbledore looked at Amosta with a calm expression from the corner of his eye and sighed in his heart.

Amosta's speech just now revealed a hidden message.

That is, he had a plan behind the fall of Uxta Prison.

After all, this incident was an opportunity for the formation of a joint force. The breach of Ukestar made the Ministry of Magic of various countries see the necessity of jointly resisting Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

But how did Amosta achieve this goal? He made the hostile Death Eaters act according to his ideas.

Such skill and wisdom are far inferior to Voldemort's!

"Is this okay?"

Horace looked a little confused. He stared at the wine glass in a daze.

"Gather more power so you can destroy You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters?"

"Oh, Death Eaters can-"

Amosta said calmly,

"But Voldemort can't rely on numbers alone. You know, Horace, he has the secret to his immortality-"

Under Horace's astonished gaze, Amosta put one hand on his chest and groped for a few times. After a moment, he dropped a black stone wrapped in a green star ring on the table.

"Here, Horcruxes. Voldemort has prepared many for himself. This is the latest one that Principal Dumbledore and I just destroyed -" (End of Chapter)