I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 200 Healing, A Magical World Amidst Endless Storms (10,000 words)

"Headmaster?" Dumbledore was taken aback, then said in a strange tone, "I thought you would become the headmaster of Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Me?" Grindelwald suddenly revealed a flamboyant and unrestrained smile. "I don't have time to play games with you about who's better at raising little wizards, Albus."

He slowly stood up from the chair, his hands behind his back. His long, fitted trench coat accentuated his muscular physique. Compared to Dumbledore, he looked much younger and still retained the devilish and arrogant air of his youth.

Grindelwald slowly surveyed the group of people around him, all of whom were Dumbledore's men. "It's clear that I've already won this game."

"Albus, you have to admit, I won decisively this time." His eyes glanced at Owen, who was still unconscious.

The meaning is clear: which one is better than all of you.

"He," Dumbledore looked at Owen with affection, "is very good."

"But he's just too outstanding. There are many things you need to experience to understand. Do he really understand those principles he always talks about?"

Gellert, you're pushing him too hard.

"Am I supposed to make him blend in with everyone else and sit in class with those idiots?" Grindelwald scoffed. "Don't you know that attending classes is bad for your intelligence?"

"I think~~"

"Okay, I don't want to argue with you about this anymore. I'm not here to fight," he said.

Then, Grindelwald extended his wand and pressed it against his temple, from which a strand of silver thread was pulled out.

Scattered, they conjure a mirror image in the air.

"This is..." Dumbledore frowned. The location in the image was somewhat familiar to him; it was Samothrace in Greece.

Memories of the past~

Samothrace, the most mysterious place in the magical world.

During their two-month infatuation, he and Grindelwald made a pact to go on an adventure to Greece.

If it weren't for her mother's sudden death, the old headmaster would have been forced to stay in Godric Valley.

Perhaps everything will be different.

"About the past," Grindelwald murmured, his expression reflecting the same sense of loss as Dumbledore's.

"About your sister."

"Stop talking." Dumbledore hesitated, his chest heaving slightly, before finally letting out a sigh.

"No, if I killed him, then pretend I did, and I apologize to you," he said.

Grindelwald knew that was the past that Dumbledore least wanted to recall.

He didn't want to delve into that day when the boys, dreaming of a "greater good," planned to find the Deathly Hallows. To take care of his sister Ariana, young Albus proposed taking her on a world tour, an idea that was naturally opposed by his brother, Aberforth.

The three of them broke out into a fight, and in the chaos, someone's spell struck Ariana, who was already on the verge of collapse due to the Obscurus parasite.

The sudden curse instantly detonated the dark power within Ariana, silently tearing her to shreds.

This marked the beginning of the rift between Albus and Gellert.

The great principal learned a lesson from that time: rather than pursuing a vague future, one should cherish what is in front of them.

This became a lifelong pain for the principal. He was afraid, afraid to know the truth, afraid to know that the curse that struck his sister came from his magic wand.

Grindelwald, in the past, couldn't understand Dumbledore's hesitant attitude.

In his eyes, his frail and sickly sister was the biggest obstacle preventing him and Dumbledore from conquering the world, and now that obstacle was dead. Wasn't that a good thing?

Moreover, Dumbledore did not have a good relationship with his family, including his younger siblings.

It wasn't until much later, during his time in Nurmengard, that he slowly came to understand some of these truths.

When he learned that his followers had been killed by the Federation, and that even after his downfall, they were still unwilling to give up on him and were still plotting to rescue him, and when he learned what Wenda had done in Norway...

This brilliant and talented dark wizard finally understood those principles.

Those were the things Dumbledore often spoke of: love, loyalty, and the path of sacrifice.

"You know, I've never blamed you." Dumbledore's tone became extremely painful, his body trembled slightly, and his blue eyes were filled with remorse. "I've done many wrong things. In my youth, I foolishly pursued power, and then I stubbornly refused to reconcile with you, watching Tom gradually fall into darkness, trusting people I shouldn't have trusted, which led to the deaths of Lily and James, but I have never regretted knowing you, Gellert."

"I know."

The two of them fell silent as they spoke.

An atmosphere of pain, brewed by time, lingered in the principal's office.

But this only applies to the two of them.

For other people around them.

Aside from Professor McGonagall's composed demeanor, she had long known about the love-hate relationship between her principal and the formidable villain of achievement.

Everyone else was dumbfounded.

Sirius, in particular, never imagined that the so-called greatest white wizard in the world would have that kind of relationship with the infamous Dark Lord.

A helpless smile appeared on his lips.

The words Irving had once said to him echoed in his mind.

Now he was certain that the world was neither black nor white, but a delicate shade of gray.

Some of the stances he has always upheld may indeed not be that important compared to the outcome.

Xiancheng remained silent for a long time.

Only the drifting images kept playing automatically.

That was a memory of someone, and the image depicted a malevolent priest who made people feel physically uncomfortable.

"This is something I scavenged from the head of that guy named Peter Pettigrew," Grindelwald said after a moment.

"It's roughly the same as what I shoved out of Bella's head," Professor Snape said coldly from the side. "To deal with those stubborn fellows, I used two bottles of Veritaserum, Dumbledore. That exhausted my entire collection."

"His potions are the most effective I've ever seen," Mad-Eye Moody praised, referring to the interrogations he conducted on those stubborn Death Eaters.

It has to be said that with the help of truth serum, this job is the easiest one he's had in the past few months.

"I remember you obtained quite a bit of venom from the Forbidden Forest last year," Dumbledore said calmly, seemingly having calmed down. "You know, strictly speaking, the Forbidden Forest is Hogwarts property, and the giant spiders were bred by Hagrid."

"Hmph~~~" Professor Snape snorted rather unhappily.

He immediately fell silent.

He has already acquired quite a few good things this year.

A basilisk in a secret room, an eight-eyed giant spider in the forest.

There are also precious and magical plants cultivated by Professor Sprout from the Far East and Europe.

He didn't want to spill all of this.

He preferred to continue preparing wolfsbane medicine for the beast every month.

Well, it's possible that preparing wolfsbane for Professor Lupin for six consecutive months brought his dissatisfaction with Dumbledore to a certain peak.

Simply put, he needed to vent.

"Alright, let me get back to the point." Dumbledore glanced at Snape, a hint of worry in his crescent-shaped eyes. He knew that with Voldemort's return, the pressure on Severus was increasing day by day.

It's normal for him to need to vent.

Then the old principal withdrew his gaze and focused his attention back on the illusory image in the sky.

"It's hard to imagine that such a thing exists in our world."

"A god."

"Perhaps it's a demon?" Grindelwald sneered.

"Clearly, your student doesn't trust his subordinates. Neither that rat nor that stupid woman knows much. We'll have to wait until the boy wakes up and ask him the truth."

"You mean Owen?" Dumbledore asked, puzzled as to why Owen would know about the Outer Gods.

"I saw him use the Patronus Charm to destroy the unborn in the Forbidden Forest," Grindelwald said solemnly. "He must have received guidance from someone."

"I asked that little girl named Luna, and well—I must say, your student seems to welcome me? Before I could even open my mouth, she told me everything that happened in the centaur castle in the Forbidden Forest."

"Oh, then I should reinforce their teaching that they shouldn't talk to strangers," the old principal joked.

Then I turned my gaze to the child who had his legs propped up on the armchair, his head tilted back, and clear liquid running down his cheeks from the corner of his mouth.

"What exactly did he see?"

-----

When Irving woke up, it was already the afternoon of the first day of Christmas.

After washing his face, he began to answer questions from his maternal grandparents.

He didn't hide it; there was nothing to hide.

He told Dumbledore everything he had encountered in the spiritual realm of the centaurs.

Especially when it comes to the mysterious Outer God.

He emphasized the key points again. How terrifying was that so-called Lord of Corruption and Souls, the master of the illusionary realm, the Outer God banished by the gods?

In short, it seems unlikely that eliminating him is possible.

Even the age of gods couldn't kill him, let alone in this age where magic is dwindling.

All they could do was destroy those towers, severing the foundation upon which the Outer Gods projected their power into the main world.

According to Teacher Chiron, two of them have already been destroyed.

Irving speculated that this might be the direct cause of the sudden riots by the Dead in recent months.

For the past two years, that Outer God had always acted furtively, never making such a grand display as he has now.

Upon hearing this, the old headmaster raised an eyebrow slightly and then looked at Grindelwald standing to the side.

I have something on my mind.

As for the other professors, each of them wore a trembling expression.

For them, the sudden appearance of a mysterious divine enemy was far more terrifying than Voldemort.

The mere thought of dealing with a single god is enough to inspire despair.

Then Owen briefly told Dumbledore about his mother, Gabriel.

Upon hearing Owen's account of a mother sacrificing her life for her child, triggering a protective spell of love, Dumbledore was more moved than anyone else.

He was almost in tears.

This was the first time Owen had ever noticed Dumbledore being so sentimental.

Professor McGonagall, who was standing to the side, also had tears in her eyes, which made her gaze towards Owen soften.

The last time she looked at him so tenderly was during the Sorting Ceremony.

As for the other professors, their reactions were also deeply moved.

Even Snape, who had always been at odds with him, wore an inscrutable expression.

Perhaps he saw Lily's shadow in Irving.

—The questioning continued into the evening.

Owen, who was starting to feel drowsy again, returned to the Hufflepuff common room with Professor Sprout's help.

He was still very tired.

It's as if fatigue has never left.

Aches and pains in the limbs, fatigue and weakness, dizziness.

It's like my kidneys are overdrawn.

Back in the dorm, I ate a few bites and Justin brought me pumpkin juice.

He pulled back the covers and lay down again.

And after lying down, he woke up again.

It was already the next morning.

"It feels like I've been drinking fake alcohol."

I woke up this morning with a splitting headache.

I drank several bottles of energy drinks before I felt a little better.

When the blurred vision cleared up again.

Irving then noticed the pile of packages stacked like a small mountain beside the bed.

That was a Christmas present the little wizards gave him this year.

"You're finally awake." Justin had been up for a while.

He sat on the edge of the bed, holding a box of toffee in his hand.

They devoured them one by one.

"Your Christmas presents have steadily increased again this year compared to last year!" he said with a hint of envy.

Because Justin saw it among that huge pile of packages.

There were several packages, and the packaging boxes alone were covered with various gold patterns.

Even without opening it, you can tell from the box alone that the contents are definitely very valuable.

The most valuable thing he's received over the years is probably the five Galleons Kyrie Irving gave him last year. (Muggle items excluded.)

Indeed, as a Muggle-born wizard, most of the people he knew were his classmates.

Those little wizards were long gone and there wasn't much left to squeeze out of them.

Thanks to the meticulous efforts of Owen and the Weasley twins, the financial situation of the young wizards at Hogwarts, while not exactly steadily improving, was certainly as dire as that of beasts of burden.

Guided by the great concept of sustainable development and the principle of not exploiting resources to the point of exhaustion.

Irving and the Twins' methods can be described as ruthless and merciless.

Let me put it this way!

If Hogwarts hadn't provided meals, the young wizards in the castle would have been starving long ago!

"Why are you staring at me so eagerly?" Owen glared at him.

Don't think I don't know what you're thinking.

All you want is Galleons, right?

He hasn't prepared any Christmas gifts yet!

Hehe~

"Hey, you son of a bitch!" Owen rolled his eyes at him, then started unwrapping his own gift.

First, there's a huge pile of Christmas cards.

Thanks to his heroic act on the train back to school and the Merlin Medal, Owen has a small but devoted following in Britain—most of whom are quite young.

Those Christmas cards were mostly sent by them.

Most of them are asking for an autograph or a photo, maybe even a nude photo.

Some of the Christmas cards were burned to ashes.

Next, he tore open a package.

It was a small package wrapped in some kind of animal skin, and Owen knew without guessing that it was from Hagrid.

Inside were two snakebird eggshells.

The snakebird, a magical creature, is mainly distributed in the Far East and India.

It is a winged, bilegged animal with the body of a snake and feathers on its body.

His eggshells have long been used by locals as gifts to each other. Because they look like they were made of the purest and softest silver, they are very valuable.

Irving just glanced at it briefly.

Like the eyes of a barcode scanner, the value of these two eggshells automatically popped up.

It's in very good condition, probably worth over twenty Galleons.

Next up was Harry's gift, something he'd tricked Malfoy out of (the summer before last): a Quidditch model toy, a giant glass ball containing the Quidditch arena, which would automatically fly up and start a match when touched with a wand.

Ron gave him a sweater.

A brown, fluffy sweater with a large L embroidered on it.

That was the first letter of his name capitalized; it was clearly Mrs. Weasley's handiwork.

Ginny gave him a quill pen.

Colin then sent him several handsome photos.

The Weasley twins gave him a huge pile of candy, which was obviously loot from Zonko's Magical Joke Shop.

Then there was Hannah, who gave him a pair of red socks.

I don't know what this means.

Luna gave him a photo of them together.

It was a photo Colin took of the two of them around the time the school started.

The back of the photo also reads: "For my most precious friend."

Next up is Hermione.

Her Christmas gift was a scarf.

It looked like she had knitted it herself; the scarf's lines were crooked and there were many knots in it.

A small, indistinct animal was embroidered on the collar.

Owen guessed that she probably wanted to embroider a badger, but unfortunately, the crafting was too difficult, and she simply couldn't complete such a complex weaving without the help of magic.

Finally, Owen opened a Christmas gift with gold patterns and a large emblem of Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

There was a book inside.

"The Book of Nature's Mysteries: The Fifth Element"

Well—no need to guess, this is definitely a Christmas gift from Nicholas Flamel to him.

But—books, books, books again! I get annoyed just seeing books these days!

He has read far more books this year than he did in the previous two years combined!

He plans to take it easy in the second half of the year.

It seemed as if they had heard Irving's inner monologue.

When he took the foot-thick book, "The Book of Nature's Mysteries: The Fifth Element," out of the box.

A small, shimmering object caught his attention.

"A moon-viewing mirror?"

It was a moon-viewing mirror about half a foot in size, with exquisite metal engravings on its surface.

Irving instinctively raised his hand and looked around.

"What a load of rubbish! It's completely useless, it doesn't even have a telescope. You gave me a broken one?"

"Maybe it has other uses!" Justin said, popping a few more toffee candies into his mouth.

"Other uses?" Owen pressed his right eye against the moon-viewing mirror and turned to Justin.

"Holy shit!"

Fearing he might get a sty, Owen immediately put away the Moon Gazing Mirror.

Generous crab gift~~~

No wonder he's an old monster who's lived for over six hundred years; he's got some tricks up his sleeve.

They can even manufacture X-ray glasses.

Fortunately, this thing fell into the hands of a righteous gentleman like him! If it had fallen into the hands of some lecherous scoundrel, things would have been terrible!

With that thought in mind, Owen quickly stuffed the real spyglass into his inner pocket.

Such an evil item must be kept close to his body!

"What's wrong? Is there some secret about that Moon Gazing Mirror?" Justin asked curiously, seeing Owen's sudden strong reaction.

"It's nothing, it just broke. I'll send it back to Nick in a while," Owen said earnestly.

Then I started preparing to open the next package.

"Really?" Justin didn't believe a word of what Irving said.

If it were really broken, you would have thrown it away long ago, why would you still put it in your pocket?

Are you kidding me?

However, he didn't delve into it further; wasn't it just a moon-viewing mirror?

Even with the most precise measurements, you can only look at the moon; what's the difference between that and the ordinary moon?

Soon, his attention was drawn to the next package in Irving's hand.

Feigning composure, but secretly feeling elated, Irving continued unpacking the package.

He was looking forward to the next package.

It's like opening a blind box.

He had just been given some rare items, but the sudden appearance of a legendary golden item instantly boosted his enthusiasm.

"Um?"

Irving was somewhat surprised.

Because there wasn't anything special in the package.

It wasn't some magical alchemical tool, nor was it some priceless treasure.

The box contained letters and a photo album.

He curiously flipped through the photo album.

Turning to the first page, a young, silver-haired girl who looked not much older than him appeared in the photo frame.

She held her wand and looked at the camera with an impatient expression.

Beneath the girl was a table covered with various parchment scrolls, and she was writing and drawing something.

In short, she didn't want to be disturbed when this photo was taken.

Irving continued flipping through the pages, and the next picture showed her wearing a white coat, looking like a researcher.

She stood in front of a pile of bottles and jars as tall as a person.

The glass container was filled with all sorts of magical creatures.

She was holding a sketchpad, jotting something down.

The next photo is of a dinner party in the living room/auditorium.

She was dressed in a gorgeous long dress, chatting with a group of equally elegant people.

Irving flipped through the album quickly; it was almost entirely filled with photos of her mother when she was young.

He also saw the red-haired girl standing with his mother.

Together, they fight a giant monster.

Then, the collection of photographs abruptly ended.

Irving was well aware of what was about to happen.

He put the photo album away.

Then, in silence, he opened the letters.

He could tell from Juanjuan's small handwriting that it was her mother's handwriting.

She appears to have maintained contact with Roy for quite some time.

Most of these were letters exchanged between the two of them.

The records only contain some trivial details.

But for Irving, this is something invaluable.

He didn't open the remaining ones.

Because Justin's light bulb was too bright, he planned to take it apart when he was alone.

As for the remaining gifts—I'm too tired, I'll continue opening them later!

It's time to eat now.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

They arrived at the castle chapel together with Justin.

From afar, he saw Luna sitting with Harry and the others, talking animatedly about something.

Upon seeing him approach, the little witch's eyes lit up, and she immediately got up and rushed towards him.

I gave him a hug.

"Welcome home," she said.

"Hmm~" Irving nodded.

"Hey! Owen, over here!" Harry waved and invited him to sit down.

There—Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Hannah, the Weasley twins, Neville, and Seamus were gathered around.

They looked at him as if welcoming a hero.

"I can't wait to hear your story." Harry winked at him, then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Irving returned the smile.

His smile deepened, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and he spoke in a drawn-out, louder tone: "That all started when I, with my great wisdom, discovered the secret of time."

He walked over laughing.

Like a proud grand duke.

He began to ramble on about his great adventure.

Everyone listened with smiles on their faces, given that it was the Christmas holiday and what had happened before.

Everyone needs to relax.

And this rambling continued until almost noon.

They only reluctantly ended the story-telling session with Owen when they saw a familiar face walk in with a smile from the front of the auditorium.

That's Sirius Black.

He was wearing a brand-new sky-blue robe, and his hair was combed until it shone, clean and neat.

He looks much younger.

"What good thing happened?" Owen turned his head and asked lazily.

"Lupin, he's awake!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

Professor Lupin was transferred to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Sicknesses yesterday.

Lavender Brown was in better condition than Professor Lupin, but in order to avoid any lasting effects, he was also transferred to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries.

"Is the professor alright?" Harry asked quickly.

He has a very good relationship with Professor Lu Ping.

He had given Harry extra tutoring before.

"Very good, but there are still some issues with the continuity of his body. The doctor said he needs to rest for a while. Dumbledore guesses that the part of his soul that left his body needs time to integrate," he explained. "Most awakened wizards experience this aftereffect."

Upon hearing this, the young wizards all showed relaxed expressions.

Only Hermione frowned, looking directly at Sirius and saying, "Then, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class for the second semester..."

"It will fall on my head as expected."

"What!" Harry jumped up in surprise. His eyes widened in disbelief as he said, "You're going to be our professor."

"That's right."

"But—" Harry's voice was hesitant, because Sirius was still accused of murder at this time.

The others, however, had learned from Harry months earlier that Sirius Black was innocent.

But—they knew it was no use.

The Ministry of Magic itself needs to intervene and reopen the trial.

The key to all of this is capturing Peter Pettigrew!

As for Irving—he was willing, but he didn't have the time.

"Luna and the others did a great job, especially that...that gentleman, he caught Peter Pettigrew." Sirius's face clearly showed admiration.

Whatever Grindelwald's motives, he helped him in the end.

At least this would allow him to live openly with Harry, instead of continuing to hide from the Ministry of Magic.

"?"

"I told Mr. Grindelwald about Sirius being wrongly accused," Luna said softly from behind Owen, "shortly after you passed out."

"He easily found Peter Pettigrew by following your route from the past."

"Huh?" Irving was taken aback.

Did his grandfather save Peter Pettigrew?

Hmm—then the first reason to rule out is that he wants to clear Sirius's name.

The two did not know each other.

He didn't think his grandfather could be that enthusiastic; he wasn't Gryffindor.

Irving guessed that his grandfather was probably trying to get some information out of the Death Eaters!

"You're absolutely amazing, Luna!" Harry exclaimed happily.

Then he gave her a big hug.

Then they ran all the way to Sirius.

His eyes were red, but his face was full of a longing smile for the future. "So, you'll be able to soon..."

"Yes, Harry." Sirius gently patted his head, his face full of kindness and affection. "Once the Ministry of Magic has calmed down from its recent turmoil, they will re-examine my case."

"Then it may take them some time."

Irving chuckled softly, then glanced at the Daily Prophet on the long table.

That was a corner of the fifth edition.

A photograph of a smiling Sirius Black and a haggard, miserable Peter Pettigrew lying in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries presents a stark contrast.

Below the photo is a small article title: Black is innocent? The real killer from thirteen years ago is Peter Pettigrew, who has been dead for many years.

"Yes! They're going to be busy." Sirius sighed. Christmas night was a visible battleground.

Countless Aurors perished tragically.

Many commoner wizards in Hogsmeade were also injured.

The main issue was not the Death Eater attacks.

It was an attack from the Deadborn, those monsters who were far more difficult to deal with than the Black Wizard.

Although Owen later destroyed many of the Deadborn and released many souls, only a small number of wizards were lucky enough to regain their senses.

Most of them—their bodies were already destroyed, and it was probably no different from true death.

"This is already the best outcome!" Harry said, wiping away his tears, his voice trembling.

He hugged Sirius tightly once again, his body trembling, looking incredibly excited.

"Alright." Sirius patted Harry on the back, and only spoke slowly after Harry calmed down.

"You'll be staying in the castle for now. The chaos outside isn't over yet, and I reckon it'll take several months to completely calm things down."

He said.

A gentle breeze blew by.

The Daily Prophet on the long table was blown around loudly.

The newspaper flipped through the pages frantically, finally settling on the headline on the front page.

"The Battle of Hogwarts, the fall of Hogsmeade, the death of the Minister of Magic, the death of the Vice President of the International Confederation of Wizards—a catastrophe for the world's wizarding community."

"War! The Second Wizarding War has begun."

For the past few days.

The British wizards felt as if cold water had been poured into a frying pan—it was a chaotic mess.

Thanks to the various mysterious events and attacks that have occurred over the past six months.

From the train attacks that occurred at the start of the school term, British wizards already had enough preconceived notions.

No one expected that the disaster that followed would be so terrible and its impact so widespread.

The British wizards were immediately dealt a huge blow.

As the only pure wizarding village in Britain, Hogsmeade Village has an appeal far exceeding that of other places, and since it was Christmas Day, many wizards from other places came here to spend their Christmas Eve.

A major battle affected almost every wizarding family in Britain to some extent.

Everyone has friends, and everyone has family.

Those who died tragically, whose friends and whose relatives were they!

While Owen and his friends were at Hogwarts, they didn't experience the turbulent waves of the outside world, but they could guess some of it.

Until the holiday ended.

After the young wizards who had left school gradually returned from outside,

The explosive public opinion outside only became known to the people inside the castle.

simply put.

Some parents have already written to Dumbledore to arrange for their children to transfer schools.

Families with some assets are already eagerly arranging for acquaintances to make connections with Beauxbatons or Ilfamoni.

Because in this attack, some young wizards were injured, or more accurately, nearly killed.

Lavender's injuries could not be hidden at all.

Moreover, Dumbledore had no intention of hiding anything.

However, these parents who were clamoring for transfers to other hospitals soon proved themselves wrong.

Because, one day later.

The Daily Prophet published an even more explosive piece of news.

The Mysterious Man is Back!

In an instant, public opinion exploded.

Parents who were hoping to transfer their children no longer dared to let their children leave Hogwarts even for a moment.

After all, he was the person Voldemort feared most.

Hogwarts, where Dumbledore resides, is probably the safest place in all of Europe.

"Oh my god! It feels like the world is ending!"

Is the Second Wizarding War about to begin?

"It's already begun. Didn't you see the Minister of Magic was killed by the Death Eaters?"

Within days, the British magical world was filled with unease and suspicion.

All the past attacks and mysterious invasions were seen by wizards as harbingers of Voldemort's return.

In this frenzy of public opinion, everyone is a loser.

Only Luna's father's edited book, "Singing a Different Tune," is comparable to Qin Shi Huang touching an electric wire—completely defeated!

Because they were among the first magazines to promote the idea of ​​mysterious invasions and cannibalistic monsters.

Although most of it was made up by Mr. Lovegood, reality is just that unreasonable, and sometimes things just happen by sheer luck.

Perhaps reality is just that dramatic; in any case, most of the news that Mr. Lovegood rambled on about actually had some truth to it.

How terrifying.

After news of the battle at Hogsmeade spread, their magazine sold out instantly.

The Ministry of Magic, of course, could no longer stand idly by and watch Britain continue to descend into chaos.

They quickly adjusted their strategy.

First, the new Minister of Magic took office.

Barty Crouch, who was found in a hollow tree in the Forbidden Forest, ascended to the position of Minister of Magic.

The day after the Christmas holidays ended.

He was in the Golden Hall of the Ministry of Magic, below Whitehall in London.

He delivered his inaugural address in front of the fountain.

Well—it was less of an inaugural address and more of a declaration of war.

"My fellow wizards, my fellow wizards."

"The day before yesterday, December 31, 1993, on this sad day, unfortunately, we were attacked by Death Eaters, dark creatures, and some malicious dark wizards."

"Right here in Hogsmeade Village!"

"Although our Aurors fought bravely, this shameful sneak attack still caused us heavy losses."

I must admit that in all these long centuries, we have never been plunged into such darkness for a period of time.

Even the First Wizarding War.

"Now, we have no choice but to have our hands stained with blood."

If the wizarding world does not wish for St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries to become our last bastion, then we will have no choice but to rise up in resistance!

"We must tell those ruthless dark wizards! Our people are not weak, our Aurors are not weak, and our Ministry of Magic is not weak."

If they continue their attack, then we will have no choice but to retaliate in kind!

We must tell them! The British wizards will win the final victory through their own righteous power!

We will fight on the seas, we will fight on the land, we will fight in every city, in every alley.

We will fight in the fields, we will fight in the mountains, we will never surrender!

In other words, I absolutely do not believe that such a thing could happen.

Even if this country or most of its territory is occupied by the enemy and plunged into chaos, we still have Hogwarts Castle and the entire Indian Empire. We will continue to fight.

Until Merlin believed the time was right, that a new world would come with vigorous power to save and liberate the old world ravaged by the enemy!

Now—my compatriots!

Wizards of the British Empire!

I, in my capacity as Minister for Magic of Great Britain, hereby declare:

Effective immediately, the Unforgivable Charm Restriction Act of the British Wizarding World is lifted, and the nation is officially under a state of emergency! Anyone, any wizard, any junior wizard, can use any spell that can harm enemies without restriction!

We will spare no expense, regardless of casualties!

Barty Crouch finished speaking.

Deafening applause and cheers erupted in the golden hall.

Countless flashes of light shone on him.

In a daze, he seemed to be the savior of this world in distress.

His tall and serious figure had a powerful psychological impact on ordinary people.

More and more people believe that they can win this war under the leadership of this tough new Minister of Magic.

Soon, news of this grand inaugural address reached Hogwarts.

The Daily Prophet used five sections to continuously portray the courage and pride of British wizards.

From a purely public opinion perspective, this is indeed very inspiring.

Even the young wizards at Hogwarts felt a tremendous surge of confidence spreading through their hearts.

In any case, at least we saw a glimmer of light in this dark night.

Dumbledore's reaction, however, differed from that of the general public.

Owen and Harry witnessed Barty Crouch and Dumbledore arguing loudly in a corridor of Hogwarts.

They happened to run into each other.

The old headmaster seemed quite dissatisfied with the new Minister of Magic, who was known for his tough-guy approach, regarding lifting the Unforgivable Charm Restriction Act.

Harry and his friends didn't understand.

They thought it was a good thing, but Irving knew what the old principal was worried about.

(End of this chapter)