The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 673: Battle of Hogwarts (Part )

The attack on Dingworth also took place in Godric's Hollow and Fertile Plains. The Death Eaters launched attacks on the three wizarding gathering areas almost at the same time, and the Ministry of Magic also urgently dispatched a rapid response team to support Godric's Hollow, Fertile Plains, and Dingworth.

The relentless flames of war raged on British soil.

However, Hogwarts, which was supposed to be the main battlefield, was not attacked by the Death Eaters, or it was not attacked for the time being.

The enchanted ceiling in the auditorium was dark, twinkling with stars. The long tables representing the four colleges were removed, and the sleepy students gathered in the auditorium under the leadership of their respective deans.

The students were disheveled and had messy hair. Some wore travel cloaks, while others wore dressing gowns. It was past curfew, and many students were woken up from bed by the professor.

Professor McGonagall received two warnings tonight, one from the Ministry of Magic and the other from Harry's dream.

Both warnings indicated the same thing: Voldemort would attack Hogwarts tonight.

Therefore, in order to facilitate the transfer and evacuation of students, Professor McGonagall asked the deans of each college to wake up the students and gather them all in the auditorium.

Professor McGonagall did not hide the impending crisis facing the school. The Death Eaters might have already arrived in Hogsmeade and could attack at any time. The students must be transferred as soon as possible under the professor's protection.

Many students looked petrified. The tragic scene when the Death Eaters attacked the school last time was still fresh in everyone's mind. Less than half a year later, the Death Eaters attacked the school again, so the students were naturally panicked.

The last attack resulted in Dumbledore's death, but what about this time?
The evacuation was handled by the school caretaker Filch, Madam Pomfrey of the school hospital, and the Aurors who were protecting the school. The school's fireplaces would be briefly connected to the Floo network tonight to facilitate students' departure.

However, not all students choose to leave. Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff was the first to propose to stay in school and do his part to protect Hogwarts.

Ernie Macmillan was born into a pure-blood family that could trace its lineage back nine generations of wizards.

Although MacMillan is from a pure-blood family, he has no prejudice against wizards of other bloodlines, and even became good friends with Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was of Muggle origin.

Ernie's words won the applause of some students, and more people expressed their desire to stay.

Although their power may be small, many hands make light work. They are willing to contribute their own strength to protect the school. They are unwilling to flee the school weakly, nor are they willing to hand over Hogwarts to the Death Eaters.

Just when some students loudly expressed their determination to live and die with the school, the Slytherin students led by Pansy Parkinson jumped out and acted as clowns.

"We don't even need to leave school!" Pansy Parkinson said loudly, "Everyone knows that the Dark Lord wants Harry Potter. As long as we hand Potter over, nothing will happen to the school."

"There he is! Potter is there! Catch him!" Several more Slytherin students screamed, and they all pointed at Harry in the crowd, but no one rushed towards Harry.

Before Harry could say anything, his classmates had already taken action. All the Gryffindors around him turned to the Slytherins and drew their wands. Then the Hufflepuffs pointed their wands at the Slytherins, and the Ravenclaws did the same.

Hogwarts was divided before the Death Eaters even entered the school, and the students' last bit of patience with Slytherin was exhausted.

At this moment, the door of the auditorium was pushed open with a bang, and the Weasley twins walked in first. As they walked into the auditorium, they chatted in a relaxed tone, without any sense of urgency of the upcoming battle. Behind the Weasley twins, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell also walked in. The three girls were also not nervous, but instead discussed the Quidditch game a few days ago.

The last ones to walk were Ada and Cedric. They didn't chat, but walked straight to Professor McGonagall. With the appearance of Ada, the tense atmosphere in the hall disappeared.

The students all knew Ada's position, knew that she would firmly resist Voldemort, and knew that she would not hand over Harry Potter and let Voldemort get what he wanted.

"Slytherin students can leave first, especially Miss Pansy Parkinson." Ada said as she walked to the podium, "Of course, you can also go to your parents if they appear near the school."

Ada did not lose her temper on the spot, nor did she punish the second generation of Death Eaters led by Pansy Parkinson. She just looked at the Slytherin students with pity.

Until now, the Ministry of Magic has not touched these second-generation Death Eaters, but that does not mean that they will not settle accounts later. After the war is over, the Ministry of Magic will settle accounts with all the pure-blood families who support Voldemort.

After hearing that they could leave, the Slytherin students left the hall without any hesitation. Pansy Parkinson left with an arrogant look on her face, as if she was going to die.

After seeing the Slytherin students walk out of the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall shouted, "Ravenclaw, follow!"

As the students left in an orderly manner under the leadership of the professor, the hall gradually emptied. No Slytherin students chose to stay; when the Ravenclaws filed out, some older students sat still; even more Hufflepuffs stayed; and half of the Gryffindor students stayed in their seats.

Seeing this, Professor McGonagall had no choice but to step down from the podium and forcibly remove the underage students.

"Absolutely not, Creevey, go! And you, Perks!"

A moment later, after stuffing the younger students into the evacuation team, Professor McGonagall returned to the podium.

She looked at Ada and whispered, "The teachers have set up defenses around the castle, but they won't be able to hold out for long unless we continue to strengthen them."

"Professor, Mr. Weasley is gathering more Aurors. They will be here soon." Ada said, "If possible, we hope to stop the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade."

……

At the same time, the Death Eaters had quietly approached Hogsmeade, but they did not rashly attack the village guarded by Aurors. They were waiting for their master's orders.

Voldemort stood on a high mountain not far from Hogsmeade with a cruel smile on his face.

Voldemort was imagining how he would take over Hogwarts tonight and how he would kill his archenemy Harry Potter. As long as he kicked away this stumbling block, no one in the wizarding world would be able to stop him!
"Master." Antonin Dolohov came over and knelt devoutly at Voldemort's feet. He continued, "Master, Dingworth, Godric's Hollow, and Fertile Fields are all in flames. We are also ready for battle."

Voldemort's triumphant laughter echoed from the top of the mountain. The purpose of dividing the troops tonight was not to slaughter the Muggle-born wizards in the wizarding area, but to distract the Ministry of Magic and weaken its reinforcements to Hogwarts.

Voldemort put away his smile, looked at the towering castle opposite with his scarlet eyes, and said coldly: "Kill them!"

(End of this chapter)