The atmosphere of the war had not spread throughout Great Britain. The Clock Tower had controlled the course of the war to prevent it from spreading too far, so almost all of England seemed unaffected by this civil war. Well, partly because Voldemort was losing and did not want to divide his already scarce troops.
Hogwarts.
"Rose, wait for me!" Hermione quickly caught up with Rose, carrying a second-year spellbook in her arms.
"Don't be slow, Mione, let's get to the library," Rose said without looking at her friend, continuing toward the library with hurried steps.
She was swamped with homework due to her private lessons with Dumbledore. The man was not going easy on her, especially with the tons of homework he was giving her.
Honestly, if she didn't have the Six Eyes and the ability to process information extremely quickly, she wouldn't be able to keep up with Dumbledore's insane teaching pace. Sometimes Rose thought Dumbledore was in a hurry to teach her as quickly as possible, as if he might die at any moment.
Upon arriving at the library, Rose and Hermione found Ron studying. This made both girls think they were under some illusion spell.
Ron Weasley studying in the library!
This would certainly be surprising news that would spread throughout Hogwarts.
Rose no longer felt the animosity toward the boy she had at the beginning of the school year. She saw that although Ron was somewhat tactless about certain matters, he was a decent boy with a good heart.
Hermione, on the other hand, upon seeing the boy, snorted coldly, glaring at the redhead. Throughout her time at Hogwarts, Ron was the person she argued with the most. Besides being insulted with nicknames like "bookworm" and other degrading names, she was insulted only for wanting to help the boy speak some spells correctly!
After that, Hermione and Ron were officially mortal enemies; they didn't like each other and didn't hide their animosity.
Rose just laughed at her friend's reaction. She knew Hermione didn't like the boy, so she didn't greet him despite his obvious attempt to approach her.
Despite her wishes, as soon as they sat down at the table and placed their books on it, Ron approached them, undeterred by the death glare he was receiving from Hermione."Rose..."
Ron said but hesitated to continue. He finally mustered the courage to ask, "Can you help my dad get his job back at the Ministry?"
Rose was truly taken aback by the red-haired boy's request; she really didn't expect Ron to ask her something like that.
"Clock Tower," Hermione corrected Ron's words.
Ron was surprised by the correction and glared at the girl with thick brown hair; no one liked being corrected by others, especially a teenager.
"No one asked you, Bookworm," Ron said almost instinctively, his tone irritated, not caring about Hermione's particularly calm gaze.
After experiencing a real war and seeing people die, Hermione had matured a lot. Perhaps in the past, she would have been upset and hurt by the insults, but now she saw how childish and extremely spoiled Ron was.
"Do you think I'm offended by that? You need to read the dictionary more, Ronald." Hermione opened the second-year spellbook and subtly returned the insult, calling him stupid for not coming up with a better word to insult her.
Ron's cheeks flushed with Hermione's words, anger and shame making him look at her with a gaze full of rage, ready to draw his wand at any moment.
"Let's not fight, the librarian is looking our way." Seeing Ron's face turn a shade similar to his hair, as if he were about to explode, Rose spoke to calm things down. She didn't want to be kicked out of the library again...
Hermione and Ron exchanged glares in a battle of stares, but both relented and remained silent.
"I don't think you need to worry about your father's job. Headmaster Dumbledore wouldn't stand by while one of his colleagues needed help," Rose whispered to Ron, feeling the cold stare of the librarian on their group for a moment.
Rose's words and the mention of Dumbledore seemed to calm Ron's tension, as his shoulders relaxed and he showed a happy and relieved expression again. Almost as if Dumbledore's name was a very effective calming agent.
"Did you hear? They say the war has become even fiercer on the battlefield," Ron lowered his voice and shared the information he had gotten from other students.
Seeing Ron sit down and start talking to Rose, Hermione's eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe someone could be so shameless. Didn't he see the two piles of books next to Rose?
Clearing her throat, Hermione gave Ron a dissatisfied look, growing even more frustrated as he ignored her and continued talking to Rose.
"We're busy, Ronald!" Hermione couldn't take the whispers disrupting her concentration any longer and spoke sharply, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the library.
"Miss Granger, silence or you'll be expelled from the library," Irma Pince, the librarian, looked at Hermione and spoke in a reprimanding tone.
Hermione, who had always been the exemplary student to the teachers, felt a wave of embarrassment as she noticed the eyes falling on her.
Sitting back down, she glared at Ron with a vengeful and malicious look.
Even Ron swallowed hard in the face of that deadly look, as if it promised revenge.
Rose couldn't help but curl her lips into an amused smile. She felt that this was the school life she wanted, just silly and meaningless fights. For a moment, she wished that every day could be like this.
Shaking her head to clear these unrealistic thoughts, Rose focused on her reading, occasionally jotting down relevant notes in a notebook.
---
Battlefield – Death Eater Camps.
Everyone watched Bellatrix limping toward the main tent with shocked eyes. Although Bellatrix was crazy, no one ever questioned her strength. Seeing her in this state made everyone feel a chill run down their spines. Deep in the hearts of each one, the seed of desertion began to grow.
If the powerful Bellatrix was so injured in this war, imagine them, mere wizards and witches of grades 3 and 2.
Even the Aurors from France and Germany frowned. They had come to participate in this war to weaken Dumbledore's forces, but the way this war was going, they would die on this foreign land before even completing their respective missions.
Bellatrix didn't care about the eyes falling on her. She held her head high and walked proudly despite being in a relatively grave condition.
She walked to the main tent and entered, finding the Dark Lord sitting in a chair holding Nagini. A black diary lay on the table in front of him. His red eyes, which reminded her of Asterion's, stared at her with a cold and calm gaze.
"My master," Bellatrix kneeled, ignoring her body protesting in pain.
"I see you are suffering, Bellatrix," Voldemort commented, stroking Nagini's scaly head. His gaze fell on the visible burns on her arms and legs.
"Hehehe~" Bellatrix laughed joyfully. Despite the excruciating pain she was feeling, her lips curled into a cold smile. "You should see the other side, master. I left a huge hole in his stomach."
Voldemort nodded, not doubting her words. He knew his loyal subordinate well. "We will be starting," he said, drawing Bellatrix's attention.
"Recover yourself and begin. You and three other grade 1 wizards will attack Diagon Alley," Voldemort ordered, a strange gleam in his eyes, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table in front of him.
Fear, he needed fear to turn this war in their favor.
Bellatrix nodded and didn't question him, although she was clearly confused. Removing four grade 1 wizards from the battlefield at this moment would leave a huge gap in their defenses, exposing their flanks too much to the enemy.
"Yes, my master," Bellatrix replied and stood up, preparing to leave. However, she halted her steps upon hearing Voldemort's voice again.
"Bellatrix, you won't betray me, will you?" The cold, hissing voice sent shivers down her spine.
Bellatrix looked over her shoulder with a cheerful smile.
"I will never betray my true master," she said, her voice tinged with insane fanaticism.
Voldemort looked at her and nodded, a satisfied expression on his face.
"Dumbledore and Asterion, you don't want others getting involved, but this is war. By nature, war is cruel and treacherous. And war is always written by the victors," Voldemort murmured, staring directly into Nagini's serpentine eyes. The Maledictus simply hissed as if responding to her master.
-------------------------
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
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(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
Next Chapter: Chapter 96 - The War Intensifies (2), Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3), Chapter 102 - The Black Sisters (1), Chapter 103 - The Black Sisters (2), Chapter 104 - Rose's Past (1), Chapter 105 - Arrival of Country Representatives (1), Chapter 106 - Arrival of Country Representatives (2), Chapter 107 - Arrival of Country Representatives (3), Chapter 108 – Party (1), Chapter 109 – Party (2), Chapter 110 - Back To Hogwarts (1), Chapter 111 - Back To Hogwarts (2), Chapter 112 – New Students (1), Chapter 113 – New Students (2), Chapter 114 – Ophelia (1), Chapter 115 – Ophelia (2).
At 9:15 in the morning, when Diagon Alley was bustling with witches and wizards going about their daily shopping, a massive explosion sounded.
*Boom*
After the attack on Gringotts, Diagon Alley was once again attacked. The blast shattered all the windows and storefronts along the street, sending sharp shards of glass raining down. Terrified screams echoed through the commercial hub, followed by people running without regard for one another. In a moment of fear and desperation, humans and wizards were not so different; both ran for their lives.
One of the Death Eaters pointed his wand to the sky and incanted a spell.
"Morsmordre!"
In the sky, a gigantic green skull with a serpent emerging from its mouth appeared, making some older individuals feel as if they had returned to the hell of the war thirteen years ago.
Bellatrix, now healed, pointed her wand at the street filled with witches and wizards with a cruel smile. She flicked her wrist and silently cast a spell.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
An invisible spell shot from the tip of her wand, and in the next moment:
*Boom!*
Bellatrix's black hair was blown back by the forceful winds of the explosion. She narrowed her eyes, a sadistic smile on her lips.
A scene worthy of being mistaken for hell unfolded before her.
Faced with such destructive power, hundreds of people turned into a cloud of blood, painting the walls and ground. It all happened in an instant; no one had time to react or counterattack.
The other three grade 1 wizards showed no mercy either and began to bombard all of Diagon Alley.
A greater pandemonium had erupted in the magical commercial center of England.
When the Aurors arrived moments after the attack, they were met with a horrific scene. Even the veterans, who had seen it all, averted their eyes from the gruesome and cruel display. The younger Aurors couldn't bear it and vomited everything they had eaten that morning.
It took a while for everyone to compose themselves and start protecting people and counter attacking the Death Eaters.
Rufus, head of the Aurors, even after the dissolution of the Ministry of Magic, pointed his wand at one of the Death Eaters, and a life-and-death battle ensued.
The veteran Auror seemed like a deadly machine, unleashing spell after spell without giving his opponent room to breathe. Everything around them was torn apart by the magic, brutally ripping through houses and entire buildings.
Other Aurors who were not as strong as Rufus, gathered into a formation and attacked the other Death Eaters. Even though they could not truly kill the opponent, they could fight for hours like this, delaying the enemies until reinforcements arrived.
Bellatrix was trapped by ten aurors, she dodged a spell and used Protego the next moment to protect herself from the enemies' spells. She did not use her cursed spirits, not because she felt sorry for the aurors, but on orders from Voldemort.
She was ordered not to destroy Diagon Alley, only cause death and chaos. This greatly limited her means of attacks.
Blocking the more than twenty golden Expelliarmus thrown, Bellatrix knew she couldn't go on like this. Even though she was a grade 1 witch, she did not have infinite magical energy. At the same time, the worry of reinforcements arriving at any moment made her quicken her steps.
Dodging a Confundus, Bellatrix turned her wrist and launched an Expelliarmus at the Auror, catching him by surprise and throwing him back with force, but she didn't stop there. Reinforcing her body with 20% of her magical energy, she stomped heavily onto the ground.
The ground sank one meter into the ground and strong tremors occurred every twenty meters, throwing the aurors off balance. Bellatrix took her chance and Apparated to one of the houses above and ran across the roofs of the houses.
The Aurors followed her, still maintaining a strict military training, always casting spells to get in Bellatrix's way.
While running across the rooftops, Bellatrix stopped and spun in the air dodging the spells, when she was about to fall back onto the rooftops, she spun upside down in the air and used the hand that touched the roof to gain momentum again. Using her other hand, she aimed her wand at one of the Aurors and made a half-moon movement, as if cutting something invisible.
Across the street, on top of the roof of a house, the Auror didn't even have time to react before being cut in half by a Diffindo spell. His body split into two, with his upper body slipping and falling, leaving only his lower body still standing. Blood, viscera and organs stained the entire roof.
Seeing the death of their comrade in arms, the aurors attacked even more strongly, full of anger and hatred appearing on their faces.
As Bellatrix once again continued to stall for time, the battle between Rufus and the Death Eater came into full swing.
The entire street was completely unrecognizable, with charred walls and houses in complete ruin. Meanwhile, both wizards continued to exchange spells for five consecutive minutes.
Spell after spell, blow after blow, both faced each other putting their lives at risk, whoever made the first mistake would die.
*Snap!*
A sound resembling a car's exhaust echoed not far away. Gregory Goyle, Patriarch of the Goyle House, almost instantly cast a spell towards the origin of the sudden noise. The spell pierced through the air and hit the location of the sound, but it didn't hit anyone. Without hesitation, Gregory retreated while skillfully blocking every spell cast by Rufus. Meanwhile, his eyes scanned the surroundings for any wizard.
The patriarch of the Goyle House was absolutely certain he had heard someone apparating, and he trusted his instincts. There was someone present besides him and Rufus Scrimgeour! Suddenly, every hair on Gregory's body stood on end as he sensed imminent danger. The feeling that death was looming over him caused a significant change in the patriarch's expression.
What frightened Gregory the most was that no matter how much he distanced himself, the sense of danger didn't diminish; on the contrary, it grew stronger with each passing moment. He wanted to apparate away, but apparating wasn't instantaneous. Though there was only a small window of time until the spell was successfully executed, 0.5 seconds was enough for an experienced wizard like Rufus to kill.
Then, a drastic change in the situation occurred. Gregory watched in slow motion, unbelieving, as his chest was pierced by a spell, and his heart exploded. With widened eyes, the small figure of Filius was revealed before Gregory, who looked at the half-blood he considered filthy with a mix of rage and fear.
"Filthy—" Before he could finish speaking, his head was blown off by a Bombarda used by the Hogwarts professor. Filius might have lost to Voldemort, but to any other grade 1 wizard or witch, he was a deadly nightmare.
"Mr. Scrimgeour, I will continue hunting down the Death Eaters. Take the time to assist those in need," Filius turned to Rufus, who looked at him with respect, and spoke with a serious and courteous tone.
"Have they sent reinforcements?" Rufus asked, looking at the small man before him.
"No. With the gap in Voldemort's defenses, all grade 1 wizards and above have attacked with full force," Filius shook his head, informing Rufus about the ongoing situation in the main battlefield at that moment.
Rufus didn't ask anything further. Once Filius finished killing all the grade 1 wizards, he would use his Aurors to initiate rescues and aid. Seeing that Rufus had no more questions, Filius disappeared before Rufus's eyes.
------------------------
Author's Thoughts:
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
P-atreon.com/HPSCB
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
Next Chapter: Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3), Chapter 102 - The Black Sisters (1), Chapter 103 - The Black Sisters (2), Chapter 104 - Rose's Past (1), Chapter 105 - Arrival of Country Representatives (1), Chapter 106 - Arrival of Country Representatives (2), Chapter 107 - Arrival of Country Representatives (3), Chapter 108 – Party (1), Chapter 109 – Party (2), Chapter 110 - Back To Hogwarts (1), Chapter 111 - Back To Hogwarts (2), Chapter 112 – New Students (1), Chapter 113 – New Students (2), Chapter 114 – Ophelia (1), Chapter 115 – Ophelia (2), Chapter 116 – Doubts (1), Chapter 117 – Humbug (1).
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