Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 305 Different Stances

The meeting with Scrimgeour took place three days later.

They were sitting on a bench in a small park in London, having been informed of Dumbledore directly by Scrimgeour. In the current situation, this was the only way to maintain secrecy.

Everyone knew perfectly well that the Ministry of Magic was not a safe place, and that countless people inside would be willing to tell Voldemort about their meeting.

"Rufus, it's been a long time." Dumbledore pulled a pinch of breadcrumbs from a small bag and scattered them out. As a flock of pigeons flapped their wings and flew over to snatch them, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

"Long time no see, Dumbledore." In contrast, Scrimgeour looked serious, sat down next to Dumbledore, and said with a frown, "You're really intrigued."

"Things can't get any worse, can they?" Dumbledore said. "We need to find some fun and relieve some stress."

"Is your method feeding pigeons?"

"Of course not, this is just a temporary pastime while waiting for you. You know, candy makes me happy."

"Alright..." Scrimgeour decided to drop the subject and said directly, "Let's get straight to the point... What do you think about eliminating a portion of the Mystic's forces and capturing those despicable werewolves?"

"I'd love to, Rufus. We really shouldn't let things get any worse," Dumbledore said calmly, putting away the small bag.

"Very well, then I hope you and the people of the Order of the Phoenix..."

"Excuse me, I must interrupt you for a moment," Dumbledore said. "You mean we should work together?"

"Do you have other ideas?" Scrimgeour frowned, his tone becoming lower.

"Of course not." Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm just worried that the Order of the Phoenix might cause you trouble, Rufus. You know, neither Sirius nor Alastor are very willing to be ordered around..."

Scrimgeour stared at Dumbledore's calm face, as if trying to read his thoughts. After a long pause, he finally spoke, "It is perfectly reasonable for the Ministry of Magic to lead this operation."

Dumbledore nodded and said, "I completely agree with that and am willing to offer all my help. However, I feel there are some details regarding the operation that need to be discussed further..."

"You probably don't know this yet, but we have a dragon that can join the battle."

"dragon?"

"Yes, a Norwegian Spinosaurus."

"Someone can make dragons obey?" Scrimgeour's eyes gleamed. "Even dragon tamers need three or four of them to control one... Wait! Scamander is back?"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "He and his family went to America, but Newt, my old friend, is happy to offer us some help at this time."

Scrimgeour took a deep breath, his eyes darting towards Dumbledore, but quickly returning to a calm, still expression. He nodded slightly and said, "With Mr. Scamander's help, there certainly won't be any problem... So, your idea is to let the dragon lead the attack?"

"That's right, this will greatly reduce our losses," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, that's right... So how can we make sure we can unleash the dragon's full power? Those disgusting werewolves won't just stay together obediently."

"That is indeed a problem." Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps we could inflict some pain on them first, forcing them to huddle together?"

“I can mobilize all of the Ministry of Magic’s combat personnel, and you can also get the Order of the Phoenix involved to drive those werewolves together,” Scrimgeour said. “This should be easier than before. You probably don’t know this, but a group of foreign wandering werewolves have smuggled themselves in. Their movements won’t be as swift anymore, and we’ll have many opportunities.”

"Really? That's wonderful!" Dumbledore clapped his hands, somewhat excitedly. "Then only one question remains: where should we choose for the final battle?"

"How about the north? Set up an anti-Apparition Charm in advance in that valley outside the Dark Forest, guard the entrance to the Dark Forest, and we can easily wipe them out in one fell swoop!" Scrimgeour said sharply, his eyes sharpening as he stared directly into Dumbledore's eyes.

Seeing this, Dumbledore nodded slightly and said, "I agree, Rufus, let's go with your plan... However, I think it's unnecessary to let the Order of the Phoenix join the Ministry of Magic's combat ranks; they all have free spirits."

"Furthermore, they also have to stop the Death Eaters. If I may be so bold, there's probably no one in the Ministry of Magic who can match Strayder and Lestrange."

Upon hearing this, Scrimgeour gave Dumbledore a deep look, his face calm and expressionless. Dumbledore, on the other hand, returned his gaze with a faint smile and without flinching.

"Yes." After a long silence, Scrimgeour finally uttered a sentence. He then stood up and straightened his robes slightly.

"So, the plan begins in two days?"

"I have no objection."

"Very good." After giving Dumbledore one last deep look, Scrimgeour Apparated away, scaring the pigeons in the square away in the process.

Dumbledore sat on the bench for a while longer, watching the pigeons gradually return. He took out the small bag, opened it, and grabbed a handful. After a pause, he simply scattered the remaining breadcrumbs out. The pigeons immediately fluttered their wings and gathered around, but Dumbledore casually stood up and slowly walked out of the square.

He had just left the square when he stopped again. He saw an old man with gray hair standing quietly on the side of the street, a worn-out suitcase at his feet, smiling and waving at him.

"It's so good to see you, Newt." Dumbledore came to Newt's side and gave him a warm hug. "You have no idea how happy I was when I heard you were back!"

"Rolfe is still at Hogwarts. I happened to run into the Weasley kid in Romania, so I came back," Newt replied.

"So... Tina doesn't know about this?" Dumbledore's expression was somewhat strange as he looked Newt up and down, asking, "Or rather, how long have you been out this time?"

"A little over a month," Newt chuckled, picking up the suitcase from the floor and casually fastening the latch that had somehow popped open. "Even better, Queenie invited her over... and besides, I always have to see my old friend one last time." He then looked at Dumbledore's intact right hand and asked, "How much longer?"

"A year? Maybe less?" Dumbledore said nonchalantly, reaching out to grab Newt's arm and saying, "Let's not talk about this anymore, I have plenty of time."

"But you, are you really not considering getting a new suitcase? How old is this one? Fifty years?"

"More or less..."

Before he could finish speaking, Dumbledore waved his wand, and the two of them vanished from the spot.

(End of this chapter)