Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 186 Phoenix Tears and Participation in the War

She stared excitedly at Kingsley's legs: "Shall we begin?"

“No.” Kingsley’s face was serious. “Lupin’s condition is more serious than mine. You treat him first.”

Tonks didn't care who he treated first.

Lu Ping, who had been staring blankly ever since she got close, was even less likely to care!

Then, not long after, Lupin's trembling, suppressed groan of pain echoed from the ruins:
"Gently...gently...it's going to break, it's going to break..."

In the Auror training curriculum, battlefield first aid is a compulsory course, and fracture reduction is of paramount importance. After all, for wizards who can use potions, as long as the head and heart are not injured, even the most serious injury will not significantly affect their combat effectiveness.

Only a broken bone will truly affect a wizard's performance—being unable to stand steadily or wield a wand is far more serious than having intestines spill out!

Tonks had certainly taken these kinds of courses... but she had never actually put them into practice...

Ignoring Lupin's resentful gaze, which was brought back to his senses by the pain, Kingsley endured the pain and picked up the gilded box that he had specifically asked Tonks to bring out.

"Kingsley, what is this?"

Seeing Kingsley open the box, Tonks, who was tending to Lupin's injuries, curiously leaned over and asked a question while subconsciously adjusting the strap in her hand.

Kingsley caught a glimpse of Lupin's thigh twitching suddenly.

A faint, suppressed groan of pain could be heard.

snort!
Live it!

Kingsley didn't feel sorry for Lupin at all. This 30-something-year-old man was still indulging in wishful thinking all day long. He deserved to be taught a lesson!
Ignoring Lupin, whose chest was being constricted and whose ribs were aching so badly he could barely breathe, Kingsley deliberately slowed down and gently opened the box.

Driven by curiosity, Tonks leaned out at an increasingly wider angle.

Lupin's thigh was already sticking up, and it looked like he was about to have a spasm.

Kingsley finally opened the box completely, showing Tonks what was inside. He deliberately tested her, stalling for time and making her suffer more: "Can you tell what this is? I can give you a hint—a natural potion with extremely powerful effects!"

Actually, there was no need for him to stall for time at all.

The moment the box was opened, Tonks couldn't help but hold his breath, his eyes almost blinded by the golden light.

The gilded box, lined with soft red silk, held two small bottles, each about the size of a thumb, and were crystal clear.

The bottle is small in size and has an even smaller capacity.

Like some kind of glasswork, the liquid, radiating golden light, has only a small space in the center of the bottle, holding two teardrops.

Brilliant and gorgeous.

Tonks stared at the two bottles, mesmerized:

"This is... Phoenix Tears?"

“Yes, it seems you did well in Herbology and Potions in school, haha…” Kingsley laughed heartily twice, then coughed in pain because of the aggravation of his ribs.

Tonks scratched his face: "Actually, I've seen it before."

"Huh? Hogwarts is using real objects for teaching now?" Kingsley asked, somewhat surprised.

Could it be the one that was with Dumbledore?
Tonks scoffed, "How could that be? I've always felt that the school textbooks should have been changed long ago. What era are we living in? Still using illustrations to introduce medicinal herbs... It's Hermione. She has a bottle too. She even showed it to me. It's the same bottle and packaging. Vaughn gave it to her. I used to be so envious. How romantic! Only Vaughn could do that..."

As he spoke, Tonks suddenly remembered something, and his expression turned strange: "Hey, this wasn't given to you by Vaughn either, was it?"

"..."

Kingsley's expression also stiffened; when he heard Tonks say "romantic," he felt the box was getting hot.

Seeing Tonks' strange expression again, he couldn't help but cough: "You'd better keep an eye on Remus first. If you keep choking him, I suspect he's going to die."

Tonks then noticed Lupin, whose face had turned bright red.

What followed was a flurry of activity, hurried apologies, and unusually gentle but clearly short-breathed words of comfort.

After a while, Tonks finally finished treating Lupin's injuries and came over to stabilize Kingsley's ribs. Only then did she ask again, "Vaughn gave you all the Phoenix Tears, so you planned this all along? You and Lupin drew the enemy out to lure out those traitors, but why didn't you tell me?"

Watching Tonks take out a chest strap and hastily tighten it around his chest, Kingsley suddenly felt a little uneasy.
"Um, could I have a piece of chewing gum?"

Tonks snorted and tossed him a piece.

Chewing gum to distract himself, Kingsley raised his head, ignoring Tonks's actions, and muttered, "I promised your mother I wouldn't let you take on any dangerous missions until you're a proper Auror... Bringing you to America was already a huge risk for me... Ugh—"

Tighten the bra strap!

Kingsley finally understood the pain Lupin had felt not long ago.

Chewing gum to distract myself didn't relieve the pain much!
Although it hurt, Kingsley knew that Tonks' technique was correct; he was just deliberately using more force, so he continued:

"Moreover, at the time we weren't sure where the third-party forces were. Mr. Weasley only guessed that there was such a group of people. Before everything happened, everything was unknown. They might be hiding among that Muggle named William. Knowing too much might be detrimental to you... Just like I told you before you left, if you encounter any accidents, don't resist, just raise your hands. Anyway, you don't know anything."

Seemingly accepting his reasoning, Tonks finally softened his approach.

After bandaging Kingsley, she glanced at the ongoing battle on the street outside, and at Muggle William, who was huddled on the ground screaming desperately as the fog gradually dissipated due to the strong wind, exposing him to the battlefield. She curled her lip in disapproval.

“Those traitorous Aurors don’t seem to be in cahoots with him.”

She paused, a slightly bewildered look on her face, and asked, "Kingsley, I'm actually a little confused. Why are we involved in this? Weren't we here, and Vaughn is here, for the development of WAC? But now..."

She felt that she could no longer understand the current situation.

They joined forces with the Federation, helping them investigate the Purifiers. Then a Muggle who knew about the Purifiers appeared before them, and they risked contacting the Muggle, only to encounter the Congress Aurors who were also looking for classified documents.

Then, these Congress Aurors split up!
She had a direct feeling that they were stepping into a quagmire, something they shouldn't have been doing.

Kingsley didn't think Tonks's confusion was wrong; after all, she was just a young woman under 20.

They also lack the ability to correctly view complex issues.

“Darling, many things in reality are like this. Sometimes you can’t do what you want just because you want to… Many times, you are not in control of your own destiny.”

Just like him, when Amelia added him to the delegation list, he initially only wanted to do his job as an Auror.

But reality does not conform to his will.

Even though he had never provoked anyone, he was still gradually forced to join Vaughn's ranks.

With a wistful and random thought, Kingsley checked the fixation that Tonks had made, then took out the two bottles of Phoenix Tears from the gilded box, handed one to Lupin, unscrewed the cap on the other, and gently poured it into his mouth.

The amber-colored liquid looks viscous, but it feels as light as a wisp of air when you taste it.

Before you can even taste or feel it, it slides quickly down your tongue and esophagus into Kingsley's stomach.

The moment it slid in, a warm feeling spread from my stomach and throughout my body.

Before long, I felt soreness and numbness in my chest.

That was the powerful healing function of the Phoenix Tears, starting to take effect.

This relieved Kingsley, who seemed to be completely immersed in the warm, languid state. However, he still didn't forget to instruct Tonks:

"The situation is actually quite simple. WAC and the Federation have reached a cooperation agreement, as you know. Mr. Akimbad of the Federation is investigating a group called 'The Purifiers.' We infiltrated Third Salem before to find them, as you also know."

"Similarly, the mastermind behind those traitors outside also knows about this. Although it's unclear who he is, that cowardly fellow is obviously not satisfied with the current cautious state between the WAC, the Federation, and the Magical Congress. So he sent over Muggle William and a confidential document."

"That document is something the Federation and we desperately need, and it's something the Magic Congress is trying its best to keep from the Federation. Look, this small document almost caused a war between the WAC, the Federation, and the Magic Congress."

Tonks listened, instinctively retorting, "But judging from the behavior of those Congressional Aurors, they don't want to clash with us. Mr. Donald Graves is very restrained..."

"So his men betrayed him."

Kingsley interrupted her: “I’m also surprised by Donald Graves’ restraint. I don’t know if it’s because he’s sensed something, but it’s clear that his attitude and behavior aren’t that important. Donald Graves doesn’t want conflict. The people behind the scenes will force him to ‘create conflict.’”

As he spoke, Kingsley felt the strange sensation at the site of his broken rib gradually dissipate.

He tried to sit up and move his arms, but a vague, indistinguishable phantom pain lingered in his chest.

However, there are no problems with free time.

He stood up and looked at Lupin: "Remus, how are you feeling?"

“Great, I can take a few more big explosions.” Lupin chuckled self-deprecatingly, then added, “You shouldn’t have taught Tonks these things; she’s only 19…”

"When you were 19, you were already fighting the Death Eaters alongside Jaime."

Kingsley interrupted him impatiently: "The world is changing so fast. Look at Remus outside. Do you think England will one day become like America is now? The conflict between purebloods and non-purebloods is intensifying, and ambitious people are running rampant."

“And ambitious people don’t care how old you are. Whether you’re old or young, you’re just a pawn on their chessboard… Believe it or not, since the mastermind arranged for Jack Graves to betray us, maybe they never intended to let you, me, Tonks, or even those Congress Aurors outside go?”

As he spoke, Kingsley drew his wand, his eyes reflecting the firelight as he looked out of the house:

“As long as we die here, war will be inevitable. Even if the Magical Congress suspects something is amiss, even if Mr. Weasley has foreseen the existence of the mastermind, it will all be meaningless if we die.”

"Our deaths will incite hatred in public opinion, hatred will destroy reason, and once people lose their reason, the Magical Congress, the WAC, and the Ministry of Magic will all be drawn in and thrown into a real war that should never have happened!"

"That's the kind of environment that ambitious people love, but for a wizard like Tonks, war is always synonymous with hell!"

After hearing this, Tonks was stunned and at a loss for words.

Seeing Kingsley clutching his wand, seemingly about to walk out, and Lupin shrugging and following behind, she snapped out of her daze and exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing?"

“We have to go help those Congress Aurors outside.”

Kingsley's face was solemn.

Even without Vaughn's orders, he couldn't just stand by and watch hell descend upon the people he cared about!

……

call out--

"Cough cough..."

Donald barely dodged a curse, and casually retaliated against a flock of birds that were driven back by arrows formed from mud.

He was coughing violently when he finally managed to squeeze out a little time to cast another spell to stop the coughing.

The negative effects of the curse are accumulating in the body, while the negligible anti-curse effect provided by the Curse Stop is becoming weaker and weaker.

Normally, even if he, as the vice minister, went to the front lines in person, he would never have ended up in such a predicament.

Because someone will share the burden for him, and similarly, curses from outsiders cannot take effect on him so quickly—many powerful curses require the object of the curse as a medium.

Used on a toothbrush, water cup, or... hair, blood, dander!
The latter, in particular, are the most important mediums for some ancient and intractable curses.

The curse Donald is currently facing may be one of those spells, which makes him smile bitterly.

As one of the heads of the Magic Security Department, his body tissues could not possibly be leaked, and only traitors who were originally from his family would have the opportunity to obtain them.

"How long have Jack and Evelyn been preparing for this betrayal?"

Memories of his past interactions with the two flashed through his mind. Jack and Evelyn were both Auror captains, usually active on the front lines, while he had long since left front-line work and only had the opportunity to meet them once every one or two months.

The two were clearly not preparing for this meeting, and their last meeting was three months ago when they returned to Woolworth to submit their performance reports.

"Was it then, or even earlier? Did they prepare the curse medium only for me, or did they also have Michael?"

Many questions were stuck in my throat, but I had no chance to ask them.

Another barrage of weapons "created" by transformation magic came hurtling towards them!
The triangle tactic is not simply about stacking up numbers.

The core of this tactic is that each of the three people involved uses a combination of spells, just like what Donald is experiencing now: Evelyn Graves uses polymorph magic, the wizard on the left uses curses, and the wizard on the right uses direct offensive curses or poisons.

Each of these three spells requires the target to choose a corresponding defense method. Curses and poisons can be blocked with the Ironclad Charm or deflected with a wand, but these methods cannot intercept curses and are also ineffective against polymorph magic.

If you use transformation magic for defense, you cannot resist curses and evil spells.

Similarly, methods that can resist curses are completely ineffective against transformation magic and evil curses!

Its core purpose is to force the target of the tactics to constantly switch between three or more defensive modes, depleting his magic, emotions, and even his thinking and reaction abilities, gradually causing him to lose his composure!
It must be said that the tactics summarized by the Graves family were very effective.

Especially when targeting a single enemy whose individual combat strength is slightly higher, but not by too much!
At first, Donald was able to launch a counterattack after each defense, but as time went on, he found it increasingly difficult.

After all, casting spells requires concentration, and the frequent switching of defense modes undoubtedly increases the burden on the brain and mind, not to mention the negative effects of frequently invoking different emotions.

Another faint reflection of light shone from ahead.

Donald instinctively conjured a shield, and just as the shield took shape and he dragged it in front of him, he suddenly realized that just two seconds earlier, Evelyn had switched places with the wizard casting the curse on her right.

So, this time it wasn't shapeshifting magic that came...

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Donald felt the shield in front of him suddenly shudder.

boom!
Amidst the deafening roar, a powerful shockwave suddenly spread outwards, and the raging airflow rushed into his ears like a hurricane. His entire head felt as if struck by lightning. In an instant, the sounds of the wind, the howling of the incantation, and the shouts, curses, and screams from near and far... all faded away in a flash.

Donald's vision went black, and his limbs were stiff from the tremors.

He acted entirely on his fighting instincts, adjusting his center of gravity the instant he sensed the loss, causing himself to fall heavily to the ground.

Almost at the same moment he fell, a gust of wind swept over his body, followed by a tremor in the ground and countless pieces of cement hitting his face and body.

"Damn it!"

Donald cursed inwardly, cursing both Evelyn and the other traitors, and himself for being swayed by habitual thinking!

But the curses were just in his mind. Donald knew better than anyone how critical the situation was. Fortunately, his eyes, which had been blinded by the sonic boom, regained their vision in a short time. He endured the double vision and the resulting physical discomfort, raised his wand, and jabbed it hard into his head.

hum-

The Awakening Spell is in effect.

After a long buzzing sound, the deaf ears regained their hearing, but like the eyes, everything was blurry and distant.

Donald struggled to get up.

But the shocking effect of the vocalization spell had already caused him to lose coordination and his hands and feet to go numb.

He strained his eyes and saw several tall, slender figures skipping and hopping towards him, hearing Evelyn's distant yet familiar laughter: "...Poor thing...We didn't intend to target you, this was all for Michael..."

Evelyn's shadow gathered and dispersed before my eyes.

Donald's head was spinning, as if he had been asleep for many days, and a sleep demon kept tempting him to give up the struggle.

"I……"

He wanted to say something but couldn't.

Evelyn seemed uninterested in his nonsense. Her overlapping shadows raised their wands, her smile vanished, and a distant, cold voice reached his ears:

"Goodbye, cousin Donald..."

Am I... going to die?

Donald thought blankly.

Then——

boom!
A loud bang, clearly audible even to his partially deaf ears, made Donald instinctively tremble, but to his surprise, he felt no pain.

He opened his eyes in astonishment, and as his vision slowly returned, he saw Evelyn being blasted away by a spell.

The next moment, he felt someone help him up.

Donald turned his head blankly and saw a dark face right in front of him, which slapped him twice and then raised a finger.

"Hey, are you alright? What's this number?"

Donald's sluggish thinking was temporarily unable to process what was happening.

The dark-faced man looked troubled: "Remus, this guy seems to have gone mad, what should we do?"

"How should I know what to do? Never mind him, let Tonks support him, you come and help me!"

The light of the spell flickered around her frequently, and Evelyn let out a hysterical scream. She and two others rushed over. Donald saw the dark face leave him, waved his wand and joined the fray, while another, shorter person helped him up.

Tonks...Tonks?

His sluggish mind finally began to work, and he started to remember who the dark-faced man was and who Tonks was.

As his vision gradually returned and the double images disappeared, Donald caught his breath for a few more breaths, enduring the lingering tinnitus in his ears. He turned to the witch supporting him and stammered, "You... how did you get here?"

Tonks rolled her eyes at him: "Don't ask me, I don't know."

"..."

Donald was puzzled as to why she was being so rude... He hadn't done anything to make things difficult for her before...

However, now is not the time to get to the bottom of things.

He quickly turned around and saw Kingsley and Lupin almost overwhelmed by the curse of Evelyn and the other two traitors.

Transfiguration magic, evil curses, poisonous curses.

Fortunately, Kingsley and Lupin were strangers to the Graves family, and those traitors had no medium to use their curses, at least for the time being.

Therefore, although the battles were quite busy, the two managed to hold on.

After watching for a while, Donald slowly recovered and thanked Tonks: "Whatever the reason, thank you for your help."

Tonks, who was typically more responsive to gentle persuasion than force, scratched his face upon hearing this: "Uh, I didn't do anything, it was all Kingsley and Lupin..."

The girl's straightforward personality brought a smile to Donald's face for the first time that night. He didn't say anything more, thanked Tonks for her help once more, and slowly straightened up.

Observing the battlefield, Kingsley and Lupin are skilled in magic and have rich combat experience. They should be able to hold off Evelyn and her two companions for a while without any problem.

He looked in another direction, at Jacob and the others who were still fighting bitterly against the traitors.

“With Kingsley Shackle and Remus Lupin holding Evelyn back, I can free myself to help Jacob and the others, and then go rescue the Aurors scattered elsewhere…”

Thinking about it, Donald breathed a slight sigh of relief. After a series of terrible situations tonight, he finally saw a glimmer of hope for getting out of his predicament.

Seeing him gripping his wand, seemingly preparing for another battle, Tonks asked in surprise, "Hey, are you alright?"

"...Thank you for your concern, I'm fine now."

As he answered, Donald hesitated slightly, but still dragged over a brick, turned it into paper, hastily wrote a few lines on it, and handed it to Tonks:
"This contains the core elements of the Graves family's triangle tactics, as well as Evelyn and the others' expertise in magic and spellcasting. You can pass it on to Mr. Shackle and Mr. Lupin later... Thank you again for your help, madam."

After saying this, Donald disappeared into the shadows.

When he reappeared, he was already near Jacob and the others.

"It's Donald!"

"Damn it, what are Evelyn and the others doing?"

"She was stopped by the wizards of WAC, that wretched John Bull!"

Donald's arrival brought cheers and excitement to his own side, but also caused great panic among the traitors on the opposing side.

He is the Deputy Minister of Magical Security. In the Graves family, the Minister can be anyone, even a Squib if circumstances allow (though that's impossible in practice), because the position of Minister is more politically significant than practically significant.

The vice ministers, however, are different; they are mostly senior Aurors from within the family.

Even though Donald has long since left the front lines, when he was still the captain of the Auror, countless traitors served under him.

They were terrified because they knew his magical abilities!
Although Donald suffered a great loss of magic and mental energy and was injured in the battle with Evelyn and the other two, it was because they were on the same level as him, while the guys who attacked Jacob and the others were just ordinary Aurors.

His arrival quickly helped Jacob and others stabilize the battle situation.

The traitors weren't stubborn either. Seeing that their advantage was gradually turning into a disadvantage as Donald joined, some of them backed down, casting spells and disappearing into the shadows as they turned into smoke.

But Donald knew they hadn't left.

call--

Donald waved his wand, and a blazing fireball detached from its tip, spewing intense heat as it streaked across the night sky, blasting away the last traitor who was struggling to escape while barely managing to maintain his armor.

Flames and streaks of light from the shattered Iron Armor Spell scattered across the night sky.

The traitor is gone.

Donald frowned, looking at the surrounding darkness. He hesitated for a moment. Even without the dreamcatcher to transmit information, he knew that those guys were definitely still hiding in the darkness, waiting for their chance to strike!

Just as the traitors knew him well, he knew them well too.

With the space sealed off and the use of Apparition prohibited, they wouldn't rashly use a "clumsy" way to escape, because that would only expose them more thoroughly to the Dreamcatcher's surveillance, which would be pointless.

Their only chance of escape is to completely annihilate Donald and his Aurors. Only by destroying their manpower to the maximum extent can they buy time and find a way to break free from the Dreamcatcher!

Donald turned back to look at another battlefield, where Kingsley, Lupin, and Evelyn were still locked in fierce combat. The darkness made the various spells glow brightly and dazzlingly.

The entire road was destroyed by their spell of throwing each other, large sections of the concrete pavement split open, exposing the soil underneath.

Just then, Jacob walked over, panting heavily. The continuous and intense battle had not only greatly depleted Jacob's magic power, but also made his already unhealed ribs even more painful.

With one hand clutching his chest, Jacob followed Donald's gaze: "WAC wizards? Why would they come to help us?"

"I don't know." Donald shook his head, and he wasn't going to think about it for the time being. He looked at his brother, who was breathing heavily, with concern: "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry!" Jacob laughed. "After driving away those traitors, my injuries are at least 70% healed."

"Don't be brave."

After giving one more word of advice, Donald turned his gaze back to the houses standing in the night around the street.

After a great battle, although they were on the edge of the battlefield, they were more or less affected by the flying spells. Some were still intact, but many more were already broken walls and ruins.

Suddenly, a red light appeared in the distance, and soon after, a red orb of light rose slowly.

That was an emergency signal from the wand, indicating that the wizard who cast it was about to collapse.

Upon seeing this signal, and knowing that the traitors who had escaped earlier were hiding in the shadows, Donald's eyes darkened, and he finally made up his mind: "Jacob, take three men to support Mr. Shackle and Mr. Lupin, drive Evelyn away... or kill her!"

Jacob paused, then asked, "And you?"

Looking at the emergency signal hanging in mid-air, Donald said, "I'm going over there to rescue people."

“Donald…”

"Don't try to persuade me. I know those traitors are still around, and the rescue operation is dangerous, but I promised not long ago that I wouldn't abandon them. Do you want me to break my promise?"

Faced with Donald's serious expression, Jacob's lips moved a few times, but he didn't say what he wanted to say. He simply nodded emphatically.
"Okay, you go first. I'll come help you after I finish supporting the wizards at WAC."

After saying that, he randomly selected three people and hurried off to Kingsley and Lupin's side.

Watching his younger brother's figure disappear into the distance, Donald shook his head, shaking off his inner hesitation, and instructed the remaining people: "Tom, Daisy, Pluto... each of you spare two people from your teams, and then lead your respective squads to the east, west, south and north to rescue our brothers and sisters, but remember—your primary task is to preserve yourselves!"

Upon hearing this, the three Auror captains exchanged glances, but ultimately, they did not raise any objections.

(End of this chapter)