By the time Armandina, along with the Aurors who had rushed to Hogsmeade, had brought the scene under control and finished handing over the Death Eaters to the emergency team from St Mungos Hospital, the time had quietly slipped to six o'clock in the evening.
As the sun set, a brilliant sunset glow appeared on the horizon, enveloping the town of Hogsmeade in a warm and soft light.
The weather today was truly good. Looking into the distance, Adelaide could still see the buildings damaged by the vines and the shattered bricks and dust all over the ground in Hogsmeade. This backdrop, combined with the light and shadow of the setting sun, gave the entire town a sense of dilapidated beauty.
Armandina led Adelaide back toward the school with a heavy heart. Although they had achieved the purpose of their trip, the exaggerated impact caused by the vines left a depressing and heavy atmosphere between the two of them throughout the journey.
Adelaide felt uneasy, harboring two deep anxieties.
On one hand, she was afraid the Ministry of Magic would hold her accountable for the damage to Hogsmeade and impose harsh demands on the Wizengamot; on the other hand, she worried that Cho Chang would enter a cold war with her for using a bathroom break as an excuse to escape for the entire day, which would cast a shadow over their originally close friendship.
Sigh, if all else fails, she could only take out two pieces of hotpot base stored in her space and give them to Cho Chang as an apology.
At this moment, Adelaide didn't notice that Armandina, who was half a step behind her, was watching her with a complex gaze.
Armandina's current mood was very complicated. She was amazed by Adelaide's rapid progress in magical strength and proud that her young mistress had not only inherited the leader's talent but also his intellect and style of handling things. At the same time, she felt a serious sense of crisis; at this rate, it might not be long before Adelaide no longer needed her guidance and help.
At the thought of this, a pang of pain rose in Armandina's heart. There was already an age gap between her and Adelaide—if Adelaide truly decided to appoint Alice MacFusty, who was of the same age, as her right-hand person in the future, could she accept it?
Where would she go then?
These thoughts were like a tangled mess, constantly intertwining in Armandina's mind, making her mood increasingly heavy.
The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. Finally, Armandina made up her mind that this summer, she must visit Vinda Rosier, Gellert Grindelwald's deputy and her great-aunt, hoping this experienced elder could offer some guidance and teach her some tricks to make her relationship with the young mistress even closer.
The two of them, each with their own thoughts, returned to Hogwarts in silence. As they approached the Quidditch Pitch, Adelaide found it was still brightly lit and bustling with noise.
Looking from afar, she saw the Gryffindor and Slytherin players still darting through the air within the pitch. She could hear the sound of the wind whipped up by the brooms even from a distance—it seemed the Golden Snitch had not yet been caught by either side.
Adelaide breathed a sigh of relief and secretly thanked Gryffindor's Seeker, Charlie Weasley, and the substitute Seeker of the Slytherin Team. It was thanks to them that the match was so deadlocked.
This way, she could use the excuse of "finding the match too boring and going straight back to the dormitory for a nap after using the bathroom" to deal with Cho Chang.
Thinking of this, Adelaide couldn't help but show a smug smile, as if she had already successfully avoided a disaster.
But things often don't go as smoothly as one imagines.
Just as Adelaide was immersed in her beautiful fantasy, she and Armandina had just entered the Great Hall when the scene before her eyes instantly dumbfounded her.
Cho Chang was sitting near the entrance of the Great Hall with three Ravenclaw seniors and her beloved Dean, Professor Filius Flitwick, seemingly waiting for something anxiously.
Seeing Adelaide return, Professor Flitwick breathed a long sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted, then hurriedly turned to the people beside him and said, "See, I told you, Adelaide would definitely return safely. No need to worry!"
Cho Chang's eyes, originally clear as water but now slightly red, widened. There seemed to be unshed tears swirling in her eyes, and her voice trembled slightly with a sob as she shouted forward, "Adelaide, where on earth have you been!"
While shouting, she hurried toward Adelaide's direction.
As the distance closed, Cho Chang suddenly pulled Adelaide into her arms and hugged her tightly, as if afraid the other would disappear the moment she let go.
This sudden action gave Adelaide quite a shock because, in her impression, Cho Chang usually presented herself as a gentle and lovely lady who could remain calm and composed no matter what happened.
Being held so tightly by Cho Chang, Adelaide was at a loss. After a long while, she finally stammered, "Cho, I... I..."
However, the words were on the tip of her tongue but she didn't know how to continue, stumbling for a long time without being able to say anything coherent.
Finally, under Cho Chang's resentful gaze, Adelaide surrendered like a deflated balloon.
She took a deep breath, calmed her nervous heart a little, then reorganized her words and said slowly, "After I finished using the bathroom, I intended to return to the pitch, but I didn't expect to run into Headmaster Dumbledore halfway."
"At that time, both he and Professor Rosier happened to be free. Learning that I had modified a new spell, they took me out to test its power."
"Who knew that once we started, we'd lose track of time. By the time I realized it, I was already back late. I'm really sorry for making you worry."
Seeing this, Natasha hurriedly came out to smooth things over, saying, "Oh, Adelaide, if you encounter such a situation next time, you must tell Cho in advance. You have no idea, about fifteen minutes after you left, Cho started becoming restless."
"She kept muttering to herself about why you hadn't come back yet, whether you had run into some trouble on the way or if an accident had happened, worrying herself to death."
Adelaide's eyes also widened upon hearing Natasha's words. Looking at Cho Chang's flushed cheeks, a warm current couldn't help but surge in her heart—she never expected Cho to care so much about her. She truly was her best friend!"
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