I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 366 Artillery Barrage

As Tonks stepped onto the deck.

Gemini realized that someone had boarded the ship.

Their ship was equipped with sensory magic, making it easy for them to detect intruders.

"Someone's coming!" Fred said.

"But—how did someone find us?" George rushed to the helm, checked it over, and said, "No problem! The Disillusionment Charm works perfectly."

"It must be something else," Hermione interrupted. "It's Tonks."

Hermione recognized her immediately as she watched the figure enter the cabin.

That pink hair is so iconic.

She had seen this girl before at Sirius's brother Regulus's funeral.

During the World Championship, she was also responsible for security around Hogwarts.

We're practically acquaintances.

"What, it's you guys?!"

When Tonks entered the cabin, he glanced at everyone.

His expression immediately turned serious.

"You should be in London, in your own homes, not here."

"I need to inform Professor McGonagall immediately!" she said.

These little guys are really fearless.

As expected of a Gryffindor student—oh! She forgot, there's also a Gryffindor heir over there.

She knows best what the situation is like in the sea ahead.

As a liaison, she knew both information about wizards and Muggles.

And she didn't mention that there was a strange glass screen on the Muggle ship that was broadcasting the battle situation in real time.

In short—wizards are now dying.

The corrupting fire of the Ominous Legion caught most wizards off guard.

On the one hand, it is indeed because this kind of creature is too strange and they have never encountered it before. On the other hand, it is also due to the spellcasting habits of wizards. After all, modern wizards mostly deal with dark wizards. They would never see such a strange creature even once in their lives, so it is normal for something to go wrong.

A battlefield where even adult wizards can be injured or killed is nothing short of hell for young wizards.

Of course she'd be anxious.

"Wait!" Fred jumped out, puzzled, and demanded, "Tell me first, how did you find us? Do you also have Professor Moody's kind of magical eyes?"

He stared at Tonks' eyes for a long time, but couldn't discern the possibility that those dark pupils were the Demon Eyes.

"On Muggle warships, there's something called—um—whatever it's called, radar. Anyway, your ship is just a perfectly clear little green dot on their screens. They can spot you from several nautical miles away."

"They just weren't sure of your identities, otherwise they would have opened fire already."

Tonks' pink hair was soaked with rain, and he held a wand in one hand and a broom in the other, looking at everyone with a stern face.

"Radar?" The twins scratched their heads. What was that?

"Radar!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise. "Radar can detect ships afflicted by the Disillusionment Charm! Oh, right—the Disillusionment Charm only makes the ship transparent, not make it disappear. So, the Invisibility Cloak won't work on radar either!"

"Yes." Tonks shook his head rather unhappily. "They also have several kinds of glasses—called thermal imaging devices, infrared sensors, and the like. Although they can't see them with the naked eye, they can definitely detect our presence."

When this was mentioned, Tonks' face immediately showed indignation.

Judging from her reaction, she must have been exposed by Muggles before, which is why her tone suddenly became so harsh.

"Huh?" The twins exclaimed in surprise, then immediately their faces lit up with excitement. "Do you have one of those? Could you lend it to us so we can study it?"

"No, I'm busy. You all turn around and go back to the island right now—" Tonks was about to speak when he suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence.

She then took a few steps back, pressing the hand holding her wand against her right ear, where it was clear that she had something like an earpiece hanging inside.

After a few seconds, she spoke again, "Well—I'm busy again. The Muggle fleet commander is going to launch an artillery barrage on the eastern front. He wants me to go and disperse the wizards now."

"I really don't understand, how did I become a subordinate of Muggles?"

As she spoke, she looked back at the group of young wizards present.

"Never mind, I know you won't leave, that's how it is in Gryffindor—I don't have time to keep an eye on you."

You guys stay on the perimeter and help with the rescue. There are too many Muggles drowning. Remember, don't go near the whirlpool! Don't go near the whirlpool! Don't go near the whirlpool!!!

"I'm not responsible if you lose your life!"

After saying that, Tonks immediately turned around.

The commander of the Muggle fleet was very rude to him.

They even gave her the codename Mystique, and on the ship, the surveillance of her never stopped.

After they learned that they could change their appearance at will.

She knew that—not just the Muggle fleet—the governments of all Muggle nations were very unhappy with them!

In the eyes of world leaders, this whole thing was caused by your wizards.

Whatever the reason!

Today, the losses in Mediterranean coastal cities alone have exceeded one trillion US dollars.

This doesn't even include casualties and subsequent reconstruction work.

Such enormous losses are enough to bankrupt countries like Italy and Greece.

Can wizards compensate Muggles for their losses?

It's impossible no matter how you look at it—how could the Muggle leaders possibly have a good look on their faces?

They didn't give the order to blow the wizard to bits, and they even gave us a heads-up beforehand—that was the most conscientious thing they'd done in years.

As Tonks left, the young wizards in the cabin looked at each other, Ron, George, and Fred filled with confusion.

When did wizards and Muggles become so close?

Is the sun about to rise in the west?

I don't understand.

Since they didn't understand, they stopped thinking about it. Fred took the sailboat back in the helm, turned the engine up to full speed, and continued sailing into the depths of the sea.

Hermione and Harry—they actually prefer to see wizards interact with Muggles, so that wizards might not have to hide anymore in the future.

At least some cooperation can be achieved.

Although the current communication is not very pleasant, communication is better than no communication. Hopefully, this incident is a good start.

----------

Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea.

Eastern front of the battlefield.

The towering brown sea was surging and crashing against the wizards' lines.

Although the wizards from various countries finally showed some real skill after being supervised, the battle lines were still being pushed back continuously; they had only slowed the trend.

Originally, after some wizards began to use some powerful black magic, the front line was barely able to hold on.

However, some wizards were injured or killed.

The ominous signs born from the flesh and blood of wizards are far more powerful than those of Muggles.

The brown flames turned into a cold, black and white fire.

This flame seemed capable of burning souls; when it was unleashed, the Ironclad Curse was utterly powerless to resist, and a large number of wizards died instantly.

Their bodies were swallowed by the sea, and in the next second, they became part of the twisted limbs, and a new child of ominous signs was born.

To deal with such flames, wizards could only barely resist by using the Curse Stop, but—their numbers were still too few.

Wizards cannot possibly deal with both the Child of Omens and this new enemy wielding black and white flames at the same time.

This is why their lines kept moving backward.

"Where are Egypt's support troops? Africa, request aid from the Waggadu Magic School!"

Theseus asked the Auror beside him with a gloomy face.

He was a Greek Auror, about fifty years old, with short, dirty blond hair and a pure white robe with gold trim on the cuffs and collar.

The family crest on his chest gleamed; he came from an ancient, pure-blood wizarding family.

Another guy who got to power by relying on Galleons.

Theseus's eyes flashed with disgust, but he still patiently questioned the man, who was the deputy director of the Auror Command Office of the Greek Ministry of Magic. Now was not the time for internal strife.

"The Federation's liaison for the Vagado Magic School has already arrived. In Northern Europe, the Durmstrang Magic School has arrived and joined the northern route. The Cordosdoris Magic School is on the southern route."

"Most of the Aurors in Egypt joined the fighting on the southern front."

"The Cordos Doris Magical School? Russians?" Theseus's eyelids twitched. "They've come too."

The Cordos Dorris Magical School is located in Russia, but its exact location is unclear; it is said to be near Moscow.

The Russian Ministry of Magic—no, it should be the Soviet Ministry of Magic—had a very strained relationship with the Federation because they didn't really adhere to the Law of Secrecy, and their wizards and Muggles were very close, and they also rejected the infiltration of European wizarding culture.

For example, in Quidditch matches at Cordostadtourism School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, young wizards ride on giant, moving war trees to compete; only the Russian national Quidditch team uses brooms.

This is a compromise!

They wouldn't ride brooms if it weren't for participating in the World Cup!

This is exactly the same as the major power in the Far East.

They're even more extreme over there; they treat the Secret Service Act as a worthless piece of paper and have their own set of rules for wizards and Muggles to get along.

In principle, the Ministry of Magic of the Ming Dynasty agreed to allow wizards to remain hidden as a whole.

However, they had a huge disagreement with the Federation on how to hide themselves.

Theseus heard that the wizards there adhered to a philosophy called "great hermits live in the city."

Wizards and Muggles live under the same roof.

Normally, the Federation would send someone to criticize the Ministry of Magic for disregarding the laws of the Federation, and in the past, they might even intervene.

However—as the saying goes, conflicts between small countries disappear after the Federation mediates; conflicts between small and large countries disappear after the Federation mediates; and conflicts between large countries and the Federation disappear after the Federation mediates.

Based on its population, the Ming Dynasty Ministry of Magic, as one of the most powerful magic ministries in the world, can rival the entire Federation.

Their wizard population is nearly one million.

The total number of wizards in Europe and America combined is only about one million.

If the Federation divides its power according to population, then the Ministry of Magic of the Great Ming Dynasty alone would have nearly a quarter of that power.

This is why the Federation is so influential in Europe, but has little presence in the Far East.

The mighty British Empire, as one of the founding members of the Federation, would have long since become a third-rate country if it weren't for the financial support from India and its overseas provinces.

"What about other countries?" Theseus shook the troubling thoughts from his mind.

"What about the ministries of magic in other neighboring countries?"

"We've mobilized all the available manpower," the Greek replied. "The only region we can still spare is the Middle East, but—you know, the Federation can't mobilize them."

"Theseus!"

Just as the two were talking, Tonks suddenly appeared beside them. "Muggle cannons are coming. Get out of the way."

"What?"

"Artillery, bombs, don't you understand?"

"Okay, I understand." Theseus nodded. He had just been thinking about something else and was a little absent-minded. "Notify the Aurors to withdraw one nautical mile." Then, he ordered the Greek beside him.

"Understood!" The Greek nodded, then also Apparated away.

Tonks, however, did not linger, but instead Apparated to another location.

The Muggle fleet's firepower wasn't limited to the eastern front—it also extended to the southern front.

The collapse there was much faster than in the other three directions.

Egypt and Libya were extremely anxious. Those monsters were about to invade their homeland. How could they not be worried?

The Russians—they're a little late.

The wizards fled in panic.

Theseus was both angry and sighed at the sight.

He had known for a long time that the Ministry of Magic's Auror system was problematic.

Aurors—essentially the wizards' police force—are perfectly capable of apprehending dark wizards or something.

However, when the power dynamics shifted from individual combat to massive magical battles involving tens of thousands of players, the disadvantages of the Auror system became apparent. Compared to a wizarding army, the individual strength of an Auror was negligible.

This is why Grindelwald's sorcerer army—the first and only wizarding army—suppressed the entire European Aurors despite being outnumbered.

After the First Global Wizarding War, he suggested to the Federation that a wizarding army be formed—unfortunately, this proposal was shelved.

First, they thought it was unnecessary, as Grindelwald had already been defeated. Second, the magic ministries of various countries disagreed—a wizarding army could not be formed by any single country's magic ministry (except for the Ming Dynasty), so this matter could only be led by the Federation.

However, for the national ministries of magic, the Federation had already been too powerful during the war, stripping them of many administrative powers, and now they were even forming an army!

Why not just let the Federation rule them? What's the point of having the Ministry of Magic then?

But now—if we had an army of wizards at our disposal, dealing with such emergencies would be much easier.

"Alas—" Theseus sighed.

The magical world has too many drawbacks, both in its systems and in its people.

He was tired of these troublesome things and that's why he chose to leave politics.

But leaving doesn't mean ignoring the world; as it turns out—when trouble comes, he has to be pulled out of the mire.

Just as Theseus was feeling lost about the future of wizards.

A rumbling sound suddenly came from the distance, on the horizon.

The firelight illuminated the dark sky beneath the clouds.

The clouds burst into flames.

It glows with an orange-red light.

Then the light fell, like a meteor shower, crashing into the sea.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"

"boom!"

The explosion rang out instantly.

Less than a minute after that salvo ended, the roar of fighter jets could be heard in the sky again.

Hundreds of bombers, escorted by fighter jets, began to rapidly descend to their lowest altitude.

Upon reaching the designated location, countless cluster bombs rained down from the sky.

The roar resumed.

After the first round of bombing ended, the bombers continued to drop bombs in the second round.

Similarly, in the Greek direction, long-range rocket artillery along the coastline began unleashing its firepower.

In an instant, the sea turned into a sea of ​​fire.

The seawater reflected the firelight, the shimmering spots of light like stars twinkling.

However, this light was more of a fiery orange-red.

At first glance, the sea looked like hell.

It's a pot of thick soup cooked by Satan!

"Although these bombardments aren't very effective against wizards," Sirius Black appeared beside Theseus in some apparition, panting heavily, and said intermittently, "I must say, it was really satisfying to see them explode like that!"

"When will wizards have such weapons? Then we can sit comfortably in our offices and eliminate all enemies with the push of a button."

"Instead of thinking about these things, you should think about how to build up the defenses after the bombing is over." Theseus remained calm, his eyes reflecting the flames, but there was not a trace of joy on his face.

"This intense barrage of artillery fire still can't kill these monsters?"

"If they could kill them, why do you think the battle on the Western Front isn't over yet?" Theseus retorted. "There's a huge Muggle fleet over there."

"Damn it!" Sirius cursed. "Why are all the enemies I've encountered lately able to keep regenerating and coming back to life?"

After the baptism of the past few days, the dog godfather naturally immediately thought of the key to regeneration.

It seems that any monster associated with external gods can keep resurrecting.

"Stop complaining!" Theseus sighed. "Take advantage of the lull after the artillery barrage and quickly push the battle lines out."

Theseus's prediction was quite accurate.

After a bombing that lasted for more than ten minutes.

The sea was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

It resembles some kind of mist drifting across the surface of water.

But after the wizard dispersed the fog, tender shoots of those twisted limbs and remaining flesh sprouted vividly from beneath the murky water.

The sea surface is covered with thin red lines, like blood vessels, as shattered flesh begins to repair itself. In the not-too-distant future, this flesh and blood will reassemble into hideous evil harbingers.

The only difference is that the quantity may have decreased.

But when faced with an infinite number, reducing a portion still results in an infinite number.

The wizard couldn't understand how there could be so much flesh and blood to supply these monsters.

They did not realize that the Calibdis vortex had existed for a very long time, at least a thousand years, or even two thousand years.

Over countless years, the essence of the gods has accumulated countless amounts of flesh and blood.

Over the past two thousand years, countless creatures that have died in the Mediterranean have become its nourishment.

They were not fighting monsters transformed from the wrecked Muggle cargo ships of the past month, nor monsters transformed over the past century, but monsters that were thousands of years old.

In this final chapter, God gave it her all.

Meanwhile, Hermione and her friends watched the wizard's bombardment from afar.

The scene of artillery fire sweeping the ground left a deep impression on everyone.

Especially the Gemini and Ron.

Although wizards could easily evade these cannon shots using Apparition, the weapon still instilled some fear in them.

In their world, Muggle armies seem to be stuck in the era of horseback combat.

Even Sirius and his friends only knew about Muggles from World War I.

Who could have imagined that, just a few decades later, Muggles would master such a powerful weapon?

What if we gave them a few more decades, or a hundred years?

It's important to know that a wizard's lifespan is two or three hundred years. For some older wizards, when they were young, Muggles were still riding horses and fighting each other. In middle age, Muggles had already widely adopted linear rifles. In old age, Muggles were surrounded by cannons and missiles. And when they reach the end of their lives, what will the Muggles be like?

Just like Irving said, back then Muggles were already building space elevators to outer space and establishing lunar bases on the moon?

"I always thought Owen was just joking." George suddenly became somewhat lost in thought. "Now it seems that by the time Muggles build spaceships, wizards might really still be fighting amongst themselves. We can't even form a wizarding alliance between nations or internationally right now."

"Yeah! The Muggles are progressing too fast. They've at least broken our Disillusionment Charm, haven't they?" Fred added.

Harry didn't say much.

He and Ron were busy rescuing Muggles who had fallen into the water.

They waved their wands, and the people in the water floated up slowly, as if riding on clouds, and landed on the boat.

Regarding the Levitation Charm—because of the existence of a certain witch, they used it with considerable skill.

Harry could even use sophisticated summoning spells to pull drowning people from afar directly towards him.

"Thanks!"

"Oh my God! I thought I was going to die."

"Mother--"

They had probably already rescued a dozen or so people who had fallen into the water. As the sailboat ventured deeper into the water, there were no more cargo ships around.

It seems that the approaching cargo ships were all forcibly turned around and dispersed by the wizard.

"Oh, it's nothing, just a small favor." Harry scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

He was surrounded by a large crowd.

Although most people were somewhat afraid of the legendary magic, they still had a conscience and didn't say anything strange.

The languages ​​were different—English, Italian, and Greek were mixed together. But Harry could still tell they were expressing their gratitude, which gave him a real sense of being a savior.

"You're Harry Potter!"

Suddenly, screams erupted from the crowd.

Harry looked up at the sound and saw a dark-haired woman in her early thirties.

She pushed through the crowd and walked toward Harry.

"I've seen your photos; the picture of you and Mr. Lockhart has always been on my living room table."

"You are—" Harry looked at the well-maintained woman with curiosity. She was wearing an elegant evening gown and looked like a member of the upper class.

(End of this chapter)