Giving yourself a house, the idea of ending the three or four years' time wandering abroad, the idea of his head has been obsessed for some time, especially after the new dormitory was built, the orphanage itself has a certain social funding and these children have a certain ability to survive on their own in circumstances. The idea is especially strengthened.
After all, his soul comes from a country that places great importance on settling down and taking root.
To be honest, Hogsmeade is not exactly the ideal place for Amost to live. The buildings here are too crowded, and they are too close to Hogwarts. Whether it's too noisy or too close to the headmaster of Hogwarts, it's not what he wants.
Of course, settling in the Muggle world is not a good choice either, because there are too many Muggles, which will make it inconvenient to conduct magical experimentation and research.
The best choice is to settle in a village where most people are wizards, so you don't have to feel constrained all the time.
At present, in addition to Hogmeade, which is a pure wizard village in the UK, there are significant numbers of wizards settled in Trevor in Cornwall, Upper Fringle in Yorkshire, Ottery St. Catchpole on the south coast of England, and Godric's Hollow in the southwest.
During the summer vacation, Amost took some time to think about this issue as well. Ultimately, he decided that after Black was caught, he would use that large sum of Galleons to visit these villages and choose a quiet estate as his future place of residence.
Amost stood in a narrow, gloomy living room, looking over the slightly musty silver-green wallpaper that adorned the walls on all four sides, wrinkling his nose in dissatisfaction.
Remembering that the last time he rented a room was after his graduation from college in his previous life, during the few years when he was a corporate slave, Amost had once shared a room with a young couple and an elderly man who rarely left his apartment.
The house was rented through the introduction of Mrs. Rosamunda, the landlady of the Three Broomsticks bar---Hogmeade does not have a role like a real estate agent in the Muggle society, so Amost, not familiar with the situation, had to seek help from the locals.
The original owner of the house was a middle-aged bachelor in his forties, who supported himself by delivering food to the kitchens of Hogwarts, which was not an unusual thing. Most of the villagers in this village were living on Hogwarts. When Amost asked why he wanted to rent out his house, that bearded bachelor responded with a matter-of-fact tone.
"I'm going on vacation, sir. I've been in the village for many years, it's time to change my living environment... Who knows, I might even meet love by chance on my journey!"
The middle-aged bachelor said this to Amost, but turned around and muttered something in a low voice.
"Oh, I've had enough of the dementors who have to patrol the village every day and break into houses to check on things every few days. Unless they leave, I'll never come back!"
Since the original owner lived alone and did the work of delivering vegetables, the house was not particularly clean or hygienic. Even the bedroom where one sleeps was filled with a strong smell of mixed cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. Of course, Amost had nothing to complain about, after all, the annual rent for this house was only a little over three hundred Galleons.
"...By the way, I should tell you something..."
The landlord, holding his suitcase and eager to leave the house, turned around seriously and said to Amost.
"This house is not allowed to be sublet, sir. I don't want to come back one day and find that my warm and comfortable home has become someone else's warehouse... Also, this house is my ancestral home, and I hope you can take good care of it while you live here!"
Can I not take care of it?
Amost walked into the bedroom and thought about the crack in the earthen wall opposite the bed that could be seen through a slight gap.
When he had previously cleaned the house, he was not too daring to rely completely on magic, fearing that a 'cleanse anew' might render the house beyond salvation.
Because the house was not facing south, when the sun set in the west, the room became particularly dim. Amost walked to the window in his bedroom and opened the window fan. The wind blowing in had a strong damp smell, and he looked up at the sky and saw a large area of somber black clouds being blown by strong winds towards him. He could foresee that a heavy rain was about to fall.
Amost did not want his first night in the house to end up like a drowned chicken. Seizing the opportunity before the rain clouds arrived, he wandered around the house and sealed up any cracks in the roof or walls. When he returned to his bedroom and reached for his travel sleeping bag from his suitcase, there was a sudden tremor of heaven and earth, thunderous thunder beneath him, pouring rain finally arrived.
The dazzling lightning that occasionally pierced the sky made the distant Hogwarts Castle even darker. Standing in front of the window, Amost gazed at the shadowy darkness, soaked in rain and turned into deep blackness, at the entrance of the school campus. Suddenly, a strange longing surged up in his heart, a longing he had felt before, but he hadn't expected it to become so intense...
"This heavy rain is a good cover... or... take advantage of the situation to bring back a dementor to study... My protection spell hasn't worked yet..."
Amost murmured, but hesitated, eventually giving up the idea. There are too many dementors around Hogwarts now, and tonight is the opening banquet. Amost is not Gilderoy Lockhart; he does not want to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow...
Suddenly, amidst the swirling storm, a grey raven spread its wings and soared above Hogmeade, a village resembling a medieval settlement, seemingly searching for something. After a moment, it found its direction and made a sharp dive, landing on the window of the house in an instant.
"Well done, little guy--"
Amost patted the owl's head, and as his hand left, the owl's damp feathers had already dried out and were warm and dry.
"I've cast a waterproof spell on you; this will keep your feathers dry on your way back."
The grey owl tilted its head in confusion, not understanding what the wizard was saying.
"Go--" said Amost with a smile.
After the owl disappeared into the oppressive layer of clouds, Amost closed the window shutter, lit the candle on the wall bracket, and unrolled the piece of vellum in hand under the flickering candlelight.
"Remus Lupin..."
This is the name at the end of the letter, a habit of Amost to read the letter before knowing who it is from.
Does that mean that they have found...
Amost's gaze wavered and he eagerly looked at the text written in those delicate handwriting.
The content of the letter was brief and unrelated to Sirius Black, but still made his eyebrows raise a bit.
"...Harry Potter was in the same carriage, and halfway there, the dementors stopped the train to check. No one was injured, but many people were frightened... Harry fainted..."
After destroying the letter, Amost shook his head and muttered a low laugh.
"Reincarnated One, wherever you go, there will always be some stories, uh... accidents..."
Dinner was simple, just a pile of fried potato slices and a few roasted sausages. Amost sat in the dining room, facing his own shadow on the wall, quietly enjoying the tranquility of being alone. By the way, by the way, he was also thinking about how to capture Sirius Black.
In fact, there is no good way to do this. There are many intelligent people in the magical world, not just Amost. If there were a way to catch Black instantly, the Aurors would have done it already.
Currently, the generally accepted scenario is that Black would sneakily approach Hogwarts and try to kill Harry Potter at the school. However, no one knows exactly how Black will act or when he will act.
Before today, Amost could only wait passively for Black to make mistakes in the assassination. However, since encountering Tonks this morning and learning from her that Black was related to the Potters and that the Aurors were also guarding his old house, Amost suddenly had an idea.
"Maybe... go to the place where the Potters were murdered and see if there are any clues..."
Amost chewed on the sausage, making indistinct sounds.
"Criminal psychology... maybe, it's better than just waiting..."
Reading Room
