allendalepharm Chapter 232 The Sudden Attack
Chapter 232 The Sudden Attack
Chapter 232 The Sudden Attack
Professor McGonagall was furious. All the young wizards present were sentenced to solitary confinement, and each of them had to write a self-criticism reflecting on their mistakes. Quidditch duels were banned until Percy returned.
But she seemed to selectively forget the dangerous cave in front of her, and made no decision regarding the young wizards' secret base. She simply glanced at it with interest and then left with the young wizards.
As for the records of the young wizards interrogating Peter Pettigrew, they were not confiscated directly. Instead, a copy was made using a copying charm, and then the originals, which each young wizard had signed as a witness, were taken away.
But the young wizard was still filled with sorrow.
Being confined is no comfortable thing, especially since they are enjoying the magical combat competition so much and feeling their own growth step by step. Being unable to do anything under such circumstances is worse than being killed.
Professor McGonagall's death stare was so terrifying that none of the young wizards dared to object.
On the way back, the young wizards were all discussing the person they had caught this time—Peter Pettigrew.
They were analyzing what kind of punishment this person would receive.
Harry and Ron's discussion was particularly intense. After Peter Pettigrew escaped their control, they were both somewhat anxious and worried that the other would not be properly punished if sent to the "adult world".
Hermione rolled her eyes, shoved the two of them aside, and walked over to Professor McGonagall at the front to inquire about the next steps.
"He will be sent to the Ministry of Magic to be tried by the Wizengamor Court, and Professor McGonagall said that we may need to testify in court."
Hermione spoke with great excitement, "I told Professor McGonagall about our situation, and it should be the three of us going!"
7
She had always been fascinated by the Ministry of Magic and longed to see what this most authoritative institution in the wizarding world was like.
Draco sneered from the side, "Our Malfoy family has never bothered with the Ministry of Magic, but we always maintain influence in this area. Granger, that's all your understanding is!"
Hermione turned to look at him, then suddenly smiled. "In my opinion, there are only two kinds of authority in this world. One is collective authority, of which the Ministry of Magic is undoubtedly the most legitimate. The other is individual authority, which is the magical power one wields."
"Times have changed, Malfoy. You'll never know how unfamiliar everything will feel when a powerful wizard becomes Minister for Magic!"
Malfoy's gaze suddenly turned serious. He recalled what his father had told him, about the changes these students at Hogwarts, whose abilities had improved dramatically recently, would bring to the British Ministry of Magic.
"Who knows what the future holds?" he sneered.
Looking around, apart from Hermione, the Muggle wizard, almost all the other members of the dueling club, regardless of whether they were wizard-centric or pro-Muggle, were descendants of pure-blood families.
Times have indeed changed, but the glory of pure-blood families does not necessarily have to be crushed by the wheels of time. They can also board the sails of the new era and embark on a new journey!
The so-called opposition between "pro-Muggle" and "pure-blood supremacy" may no longer be a mainstream topic in the new era.
Strength is always the most important thing.
Magic is the ultimate answer.
Walking behind the young wizards, Grindelwald listened to their discussion with a smile, then turned to Snape and asked, "Suppose you were on the 'pure-blood supremacy' side, how would you deal with these 'pro-Muggle' people?"
Snape shook his head. "I don't care about these kinds of topics anymore."
Grindelwald shrugged, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Have you thought about this before?"
Snape was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Magic is power, and strength is the only way to silence the opponents."
Grindelwald snorted. "No wonder Voldemort lost. They were all a bunch of idiots."
Snape's deathly pale face, which had been grim just moments before, finally brightened slightly. Intrigued by the topic, he asked curiously, "So, what should we do?"
"Simple. The opponent's foundation is the priority. Fighting and killing are always the last resort." Grindelwald chuckled. "The so-called pro-Muggle among wizards always stems from arrogance. If you observe carefully, you'll find that they don't side with Muggles because they like them. They say from a superior position that they are willing to accept Muggles and believe that tolerance is justice."
"So, it's very simple: find the ambitious Muggles, those whose memories have been arbitrarily altered by the Aurors, even those whose lives have been affected by it, those who are jealous of wizards because they have no magic, and those who are guardians who regard wizards as outsiders and fear that wizards will harm Muggles."
Grindelwald sneered, "Give them a chance, and they'll let all the wizards know that being a Muggle is a joke."
"At that time, the pro-Muggle faction will disintegrate from within and lose the support of justice. Those who are truly acting in their own Muggle interests will be exposed, becoming plunderers of social resources and standing against many people."
Snape gasped, staring at Grindelwald in disbelief.
"Of course, pureblood supremacy is a joke!" Grindelwald curled his lip. "A boring struggle."
Snape ignored his sarcastic remarks, but a chill ran down his spine as he pondered the thought, "The Muggle attack Gilderoy encountered at the Muggle hotel?"
Grindelwald shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was just an accident. Maybe Gilderoy's appearance put Voldemort under pressure, and he started to seek other ways instead of just relying on his own strength."
Voldemort was an extremely proud man, and such a man only believed in his own strength.
Dumbledore's aging is a fact, so it's natural to feel that if Dumbledore were killed, no one could stand in his way anymore.
But now Lockhart has emerged.
Once arrogance is awakened, given Voldemort's influence and abilities, things really do become complicated.
"That's just how fate is sometimes—."
Grindelwald looked up at the sky and sighed, "The harder you fight, the more it likes to torment you. On the contrary, doing nothing actually reduces the trouble."
In Lockhart's words, it's called "There's nothing wrong with the world, but fools make trouble for themselves."
The young man agreed with the saying that the more you do something, the more mistakes you make, but he didn't show any anger. Instead, he looked forward to the uncontrollable and interesting future with a joyful expression.
They might even murmur expectantly, "Old Voldemort, you'd better stand up!" or "Tom, let me see your limits," and other such crazy things.
Night fell quickly.
A group of Aurors from the Ministry of Magic arrived at Hogwarts, taking Peter Pettigrew with them, along with Harry, Harry's trio, and Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress.
Having learned from their previous experience, the Aurors did not use the escort carriage this time, but instead went directly to the Ministry of Magic via Hogwarts' fireplace, hoping to avoid any further accidents.
They even used a group-based approach, sending a small team to enter the fireplace network first. Only after the other side confirmed that there were no problems would one person return to notify the others before allowing them to enter.
Everything is going smooth.
Until they reached the tenth basement level, and walked along a corridor with several iron doors towards the Sixth Trial Chamber, a very subtle magical fluctuation suddenly emanated from one of the iron doors in the middle of the corridor.
"There's something wrong with this door!" Professor McGonagall suddenly exclaimed, drawing her wand and standing in front of the young wizards.
In an instant, long, thin, black, snail-like legs suddenly sprouted from the iron gate's threshold, crawling rapidly and causing the entire threshold to rush towards them along the corridor.
It was so fast that the Aurors, who had returned to the Ministry of Magic and begun to relax, didn't have time to react, and nearly half of their hands were swallowed up by it.
After passing through the iron gate, those people swayed slightly, but continued to control Peter Pettigrew forward using the levitation spell, seemingly ignoring the calls from their Auror colleagues behind them.
"The illusion has vanished!"
An Auror attempted to cast a spell on these figures, but they burst like bubbles and vanished completely.
The center of the iron gate transformed into a twisted vortex, filled with billowing, thick fog.
"It's a door key!"
The other Auror realized what was happening: "Damn it, someone left the key here disguised as a door!"
Just then, a terrifying whistling sound accompanied by a surge of heat from the flames, and a strange-looking military green iron object pierced through the thick fog and flew towards them.
"What is this?"
Someone yelled and tried to rush forward.
"Those are cannonballs! Muggle cannonballs!" Hermione exclaimed from behind Professor McGonagall. She had seen these cannonballs on television before; they were the kind that were carried on the shoulder and fired, and they were extremely powerful.
Ron and Harry reacted swiftly, casting a spell towards the projectile: "Repel it with full force!"
!
The shell shook slightly, and a strange pale golden light appeared on the military green shell casing, dispelling their knockback spell.
Ironclad Curse!
Someone actually cast the Ironclad Charm on a Muggle cannonball!
The attacks from both the young wizards and the Aurors were instantly blocked by the Ironclad Charm. Even though everyone knew they should use the Ironclad Charm's counterspell at this moment, the projectiles were so fast that they didn't give anyone a chance to react and arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye.
But at that moment, the entire corridor began to expand rapidly.
The space stretched rapidly in all directions from where Professor McGonagall stood, as if it were expanding to the point where the boundaries were no longer visible. Harry, his friends, and their companions felt themselves getting further and further away from Professor McGonagall.
Amidst gasps of surprise, Professor McGonagall raised her wand and gently pointed it forward.
"A dramatic change in appearance!"
The incoming cannonball collapsed and shrank instantly, then expanded again, unfurling a pair of wings with gray-brown feathers. In an instant, it transformed into an owl, circled once in mid-air, and then fluttered down onto Professor McGonagall's shoulder.
At the same time, the corridor, which had been stretched to its maximum size by the "Seamless Stretch Spell," quickly shrank back to its original size. The rapid change in space caused everyone to gasp in surprise, and several people fell into a heap.
Professor McGonagall frowned, turned to look at Harry and his friends, then glanced around at their surroundings. After a moment's hesitation, she ordered, "You all follow behind me!"
"Yes!" The little wizards nodded in unison.
Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and the owl on her shoulder took flight again, heading towards the thick fog swirling around the Iron Gate. She beckoned, and they followed closely behind.
Harry felt as if a hook had suddenly and irresistibly pulled him forward from behind his navel, lifting him off the ground. He flew forward like a gust of wind, unable to see anything clearly.
Once their feet touched the ground again, the sounds of magical battles filled the air, along with the continuous booming of exploding cannonballs.
Terrifying fragments flew everywhere, and people would occasionally scream and fall to the ground, clutching the parts of their bodies that had been hit and crying out in agony.
This was a region shrouded in thick fog, likely a flat area on a high mountain. Terrifying shells or bullets would occasionally pierce through the fog, accompanied by various spells. One Auror after another was hit, and in no time, they seemed to be slaughtered.
Peter Pettigrew, being escorted by the Aurors, fell to the ground and was rapidly transforming into a rat with charred hind legs, which then used its two front paws to quickly crawl towards a ditch ahead.
Just then, one of the Aurors who had come in with Professor McGonagall suddenly leaped up and transformed into a huge black dog, pouncing on Pettigrew and viciously grabbing him in its mouth.
"Repel them with all your might!"
"Stop the curse immediately!"
"Disperse the smoke!"
Professor McGonagall strode forward, rapidly casting spells as she went, one after another. In an instant, the exploding bomb fragments and bombs...
The smoke swept forward, and amidst the cries of pain from the group on the other side, the view instantly cleared.
Three Muggle fortresses appeared directly in front of them, with guns and wands protruding from the small holes in the fortresses, firmly aimed at them.
Professor McGonagall manipulated the thick fog to surge into the fortress, causing the people inside to scream in terror. Occasionally, the sound of a cannon exploding could be heard, accompanied by chaotic shouts.
Boom!
A sound like a phantom teleporting through space rang out, and a wizard led the others from the castle to the open space behind the castle.
The two sides clashed fiercely once again.
"Who are you?!"
An Auror shouted, "How dare you attack the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic! I demand that you immediately cease resistance, or else—"
Before he could finish speaking, a writhing iron gate with many long legs suddenly appeared, carrying those people away in a rapid, twisting motion.
Only a few Muggles carrying guns and ammunition watched them in horror.
However, before the Auror could even step forward to interrogate them, the bombs on these Muggles suddenly exploded, along with some of the explosives in the fortress. It was as if countless explosives had been buried throughout the area, as if the entire hilltop was about to be blown apart.
A tremendous roar resounded throughout the heavens and the earth.