On a starry and sparse night, a lively family dinner was taking place at the breaking pots bar. Apart from Charlie and Bill, the Weasley family was all present. Harry, Hermione, and Amortia were also invited guests for this dinner. Even the bar owner Tom, while serving them, was pushed down onto a chair by Mrs. Weasley, whose cheeks were flushed with blush, and she poured two cups of mead into his mouth.
"I don't know how to thank you, dear!"
Mrs. Weasley held onto Amortia's sleeve tightly and said, this was the fifth time she had said this to Amortia in the evening, "I can't even imagine what would happen if Ginny and Ron really... Oh, it's too terrible!"
"We were planning to go to Hogwarts ourselves to thank you, Amortia--"
Mr. Weasley wiped away the sweat that had gathered on his slightly balding forehead, smiling happily and said.
Since the escape of Black, Mr. Weasley had been on edge, but he had rarely encountered a joyful event recently. Therefore, although he knew his own limits in terms of drinking, he also indulged himself a little by drinking quite a bit of rum.
"About that incident..."
Mr. Weasley belched and said,
"By saying you and Bill and Charlie when you studied at Hogwarts, the terrible incident that happened that night after, my Molly and I wanted to go to Hogwarts and thank you in person, but Snape told us that you had been in isolation for a whole semester. We were not allowed to see you... In the first half of the year, after you pulled Ginny and Ron out of the Chamber of Secrets, we planned another visit. I wrote a letter to Dumbledore asking if it was appropriate. He told us that you had already left school and went missing!
The two brothers, Fred and George, who were sitting opposite Amortia, couldn't stop laughing at the sight of their already drunken parents. The other kids were also reacting in a similar way. However, the biggest child of the Weasley family, Percy, was not satisfied with his nose wrinkled and looked somewhat uncomfortable.
"Oh, Mom and Dad!"
Percy puffed out his chest, which bore the badge of the Head Boy, so that the badge would shine even more under the candlelight. He complained in a very serious tone.
"We are all very happy to see Professor Bran again, Mom and Dad, but you are being a bit too impolite!"
"It's okay, Percy--"
Amortia supported the dazed Mrs. Weasley with his shoulder and smiled at Percy, saying.
"Here is not a school, and we don't have to be too stuffy... Ah, by the way, I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on becoming the Head Boy. Dumbledore made a wise choice, didn't he? I think you deserve it as much as your brother Bill--"
Percy blushed and didn't know how to respond, so he had to glare menacingly at the twin brothers, who were making vomiting gestures on the side.
The family atmosphere of the Weasley family was indeed very good. Influenced by this atmosphere, Amortia's mood was also very good. It had been a long time since he last talked to the Weasley couple about his classmates who had graduated.
Among these people, a significant portion of them had faded into the background and some even had closer ties with the Muggle world. Exceptional individuals were relatively few, such as Nymphadora Tonks, who became an Auror at the Ministry of Magic.
"Oh, I know, that girl is very passionate and quite popular in the Auror office--"
Mr. Weasley held up his glass again and clinked it with Amortia's, saying, "By the way, Rufus and his gang have been quite unlucky recently... They met a tough nut and spent more than a month at St. Mungo's to recover. Just as they were about to make some achievements in front of Fudge and Barty, they encountered Black again--"
Ahem--
Amortia coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject,
"Speaking of which, I heard that Bill has been working as a Decimator at Gringotts in Egypt after graduation. How is he doing lately?"
"Oh, I see! That's quite a coincidence!" Mrs. Weasley, who had been smiling all night suddenly became angry, "Bill and his colleagues have been caught by those annoying goblins at Gringotts!"
"Goblins at Gringotts?"
Amortia blinked his eyes in surprise and asked, "Isn't he working for Gringotts?"
"Actually, this is related to the incident involving Rufus and his team meeting those dark wizards," Mr. Weasley said, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.
"Two months ago, Rufus and his team intercepted a group of dark wizards smuggling artifacts... The things they had in their hands were the very items that Bill and his colleagues had uncovered... Those dark wizards struck immediately after Bill and his team handed over the items to Gringotts. It was too suspicious, so the goblins thought that there must be a traitor among Bill and his colleagues, so they demanded that the Egyptian Ministry of Magic arrest them all and question them one by one..."
Amortia pursed his lips and lowered his head, suddenly becoming interested in the glass in front of him.
"Of course, the result of the interrogation was that Bill and his colleagues were innocent, but the goblins wouldn't accept this. They demanded that all wizard employees be under their surveillance until the items are found... In my opinion, those greedy goblins should look to themselves more closely; they're the kind who would be more likely to do such things!"
Mrs. Weasley, who finally had the opportunity to visit her eldest son, couldn't help but anger at the sight of such things happening.
"Ahem, you're right, Mrs. Weasley. Indeed... I think it's more likely that goblins sent people to do it!"
Amortia coughed a few more times, looking innocent, and nodded in agreement.
..............
The lively family dinner went on until after 9 p.m. before finally coming to an end. Amortia, who was used to drinking with clients in his previous life, had a successful evening. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were carried up the stairs by their three eldest sons. Their youngest daughter, Ginny, who looked much more energetic than she had at the beginning of the last term, went to ask the bar owner for two cups of mead and also made her way up to the floor above.
Amortia held a steaming cup of tea, leaning against one of the supporting posts, looking at the three kids who had hardly had a chance to talk to him, smiling brightly and said.
"I've noticed, you've all been wanting to say something to me, haven't you?"
After experiencing a summer and getting sunburned two shades darker, Hermione blushed and immediately looked at Harry with concern, saying.
"Harry told us something--"
Amortia's gaze immediately shifted to Harry, and his eyebrows raised.
This brat won't be foolish enough to gossip about the Breathe Manor and his lineage everywhere, will he?
"Oh, it's about the Black situation, Professor!"
Harry, who immediately realized his mistake in facing Lord Black's sharp gaze, shook nervously and hurriedly explained.
"I've told Ron and Hermione about my suspicions, that Black escaped prison to hunt me down... And that you've accepted Fudge's commission and are now hunting down Black... I haven't said anything else!"
Amortia nodded satisfied, his eyes softening. Lately, he had been studying the Blood Curse, and just happened to be lacking in experimental materials...
"You must have other secrets from us!"
Ron immediately figured out what Harry was implying, giving him a resentful glare.
Hermione was curious about Harry's hidden matters as well, but she seemed more concerned for Harry's safety.
"Professor, what should we do about Black?"
As Hermione's question was uttered, something in Ron's pocket began to stir, and soon enough, a faded-looking mouse poked its head out of the pocket, with black, curious eyes.
