I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 538 At the Black Family Mansion

(This chapter has been revised)

Dobby looked extremely flustered as he cautiously walked to the center of the living room.

He said anxiously, "It was a duel! That unnamed villain dueled with Mr. Dumbledore and Mr. Grindelwald, and he won! Dobby saw Mr. Dumbledore fall from the sky with his own eyes!"

Like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

The ripples instantly engulfed everyone present.

"What?!" The four were shocked!

Even Irving was somewhat surprised.

In the original story, Voldemort and Dumbledore were of equal magical ability, and when they fought, with the help of Fawkes the Phoenix and the Elder Wand, the old headmaster was even able to gain the upper hand.

This is why Voldemort was always wary of Dumbledore. He didn't have an absolute chance of winning against this legendary wizard. Although he was confident that Dumbledore couldn't defeat him with the help of Horcruxes, he avoided a one-on-one duel with Dumbledore from the very beginning.

His grandfather, Grindelwald, was portrayed as weaker than Dumbledore and Voldemort in the original stories.

However, in this world, Grindelwald left Nurmengard much earlier, and even gained some ancient magic by defeating the Outer God's essence in the Indian Divine Tower, so he should be stronger than in the original story.

Owen was unsure what kind of power Voldemort had obtained from the Outer Gods upon his return, but the fact that Voldemort could remain undefeated and even defeat one of the two legendary wizards was enough to shake the entire wizarding world.

"Did you see it with your own eyes? What happened after Professor Dumbledore fell to the ground? What happened to Grindelwald?" Hermione stood up abruptly from the sofa and asked hurriedly.

Dobby saw Mr. Grindelwald leave with Mr. Dumbledore. That devil, whose name I mustn't mention, seemed to be injured too. He was furious and blew up a lot of buildings. Then—he left.

"Is the battle over?" Koyatl asked.

"No." Dobby shook his round head. "It's more intense now. There are wizards everywhere, and the Death Eaters seem to have received a demonic reward, becoming stronger than ever before—it's terrifying." Dobby shuddered, and his two pointy ears drooped.

"."

In the living room, everyone remained silent.

Dobby brought back very bad news: Dumbledore's prestige in the wizarding world was unparalleled, and his defeat would cause many things to develop in unpredictable directions.

"We have to do something!" Hermione said anxiously.

Staying here and doing nothing is suffocating.

"No—" Owen stopped her. "I suspect that Tom's attack on London this time, besides announcing his return, is also for the sake of us."

"How many of us?" Ron asked. "Does he want revenge?" Voldemort was definitely still brooding over the Tower of Brazil, and he believed that if given the chance, the other party would definitely seek revenge.

"I don't know if it's revenge!" Owen said calmly. "If I'm not mistaken, his goal is to seize ancient magic—Harry aside for now. Ron and Coyatt, you both revealed your ancient magic during the battle at the Tower of Divine Gift in Brazil, although it was only temporary, which Tom doesn't know. And Granger—even though Tom now knows you're not the heir to ancient magic, you were made a princess by the Queen during the last Muggle War, attracting too much attention. He'll definitely see you as a thorn in his side, and the level of magic you displayed is very powerful; he might contact the ancient magic faction—as for me, even if Tom doesn't know I'm the heir, the Purifier knows all too well what silver hair represents."

Owen paused, took a moment to catch his breath, and then continued, "Bellatrix was in charge of the coordination between the Death Eaters and the Purifiers before, and many things were kept from Tom, but that was only temporary. Even if he still doesn't know that I am the successor, he can guess that I have some contact with ancient magic."

"So as long as we don't show ourselves, Tom won't get too entangled with the Order of the Phoenix or the Union. But if we show up on the battlefield, it will definitely escalate the war."

Irving made it very clear.

The other three also fell silent.

Because they all know it deep down.

"But—" Hermione pursed her lips, somewhat unwillingly saying, "Are we just going to hide here forever?"

"Right now, the most important thing is to figure out Professor Dumbledore's situation," Owen said, walking over and patting her on the shoulder. "And I don't believe Professor Dumbledore has absolutely no plan. Tom, no matter how powerful his magic is now, is a brainless idiot. Perhaps this retreat is part of Professor Dumbledore's plan?"

"For now, we should refrain from launching a rash attack."

"Hermione—" Koyatl looked at Miss Granger, "He's right. Intelligence is the most important thing now."

"."

How could the little witch not know what's most important right now?

She—she didn't want to just stand inside the house and keep looking out. Just observing.

The girl looked up, her brown eyes reflecting the boy's image.

Just as he concealed from himself.

Ultimately, Irving stopped sending Dobby out to scout.

The war outside has escalated. Even if he's a sprite, he might still be targeted unexpectedly.

In the living room, everyone continued to wait in a daze.

But it was as if 12 Grimmauld Place had been completely isolated from the world; not a single word came through.

No more wizards came.

At first, they thought it was because the battle was very intense, but later they realized that it was probably arranged by the Order of the Phoenix.

The purpose was to prevent them from contacting the outside world.

A few days later, Sirius and Owen's aunt Roy visited once and told Hermione that, with the help of the Order of the Phoenix and the Saints, her parents had been taken away and should have arrived in New Zealand by now.

No matter how much they pressed them for details, the two didn't reveal anything more. After taking something from the room, they left in a hurry.

Koyatl couldn't stay any longer and went back to Downing Street on the fifth day of summer vacation.

The good news is that Downing Street was not captured by the Death Eaters, but the bad news is that many parts of London were attacked and suffered heavy losses.

The photos of wrecked buildings and the death toll brought back by Koyatl from various parts of London give a sense of just how horrific the battle was.

In the following days, Owen secretly took Hermione to Hogsmeade.

As expected, the village was now deserted, with few people on the streets. If it weren't for the few buildings along the street still having lights on, Owen would have thought it was a ghost town.

The shadow of war caused many wizards to flee England.

Dumbledore's defeat was a huge blow to ordinary wizards.

"I have a feeling that Hogwarts might be missing more than half its students in the second half of the year." Hermione kept repeating this since returning from Hogsmeade Village.

Irving didn't explain much, because her prediction was too conservative; it was uncertain whether they would even be able to return to Hogwarts in the second half of the year.

The main focus now is on the Ministry of Magic—as long as Voldemort hasn't taken over the Ministry, there are many things that can be done.

For example—picking Harry up from his aunt's house.

According to the plan devised by the Order of the Phoenix, they were to pick up Harry on his birthday and escort him to the Burrow.

But this news was just a smokescreen.

To prevent the Death Eaters from ambushing them that day, they would definitely leave a few days in advance.

This has caused some problems.

If they evacuate earlier, Harry will be under seventeen, and the Ministry of Magic can track him down using the Threads of Magic. While the Ministry could do this before, it was because Dumbledore was in charge, and they turned a blind eye. But now, if the wizarding community falls into Voldemort's hands, the Death Eaters will definitely use the Threads of Magic to find Harry.

If they wait until Harry turns seventeen to set off, the protective spell will break, Privet Drive's location will be immediately exposed, and the Death Eaters will be able to easily find him.

Therefore, the only option is to depart earlier.

The Ministry of Magic is untrustworthy; no one knows how many Death Eaters have infiltrated it, how many officials are under the influence of the Imperius Curse, and how many wizards are inclined to support Voldemort.

------

"Is there any news in the newspaper?"

Although life at 12 Grimmauld Place felt like being in prison, Dobby could still be asked to buy the newspaper every day. Many pure-blood wizards had this habit of having their servants buy the newspaper daily, and no one would suspect anything.

Even so, for safety reasons, Irving still instructed Dobby to avoid crowds and peak hours as much as possible. He told her not to come back immediately after going out, but to wander around outside a few times, buying other things to create a false impression.

Now, Dobby will bring back the things he bought around the afternoon.

dusk--

Irving is in room number 12 Grimmauld Place.

He renovated the place last summer.

Both the furniture and the size of the house have changed.

Various magical plants were displayed on the windowsill, all of which were brought back from school.

There is a monitor on the bedside table on the right, which can monitor the outside of the room.

He also added several magical traps to the gate. Anyone who tries to force their way in will be caught in the trap.

Of course—not a deadly trap. What if a young wizard comes looking for him and habitually uses his wand to open the door?

Hermione, covered with a thin blanket and with a pillow behind her back, turned to a page of the thick newspaper on the other bedside table.

Almost two weeks have passed.

The Daily Prophet consistently avoided discussing the battle, publishing only useless junk news every day.

This disappointed Hermione.

Even the news of Dumbledore's defeat in his duel with Voldemort leaked from some Aurors or officials within the Ministry of Magic. In reality, it was never officially acknowledged.

But they didn't deny it, and that was enough to make ordinary wizards tremble with fear.

On the other hand, at least the Daily Prophet has not completely steered the narrative toward Voldemort, which suggests that the Ministry of Magic is not yet in his hands.

"Hmm, Muggle Studies Professor Kareddy Bubbaggie resigned. That's strange, isn't it?" Hermione said. "I remember she wrote an article just a few days ago condemning Voldemort's... the Dark Lord's pure-blood theory, saying she was determined to stay at Hogwarts, and now she's suddenly resigned!"

"Hmm—" Owen, sitting at his desk, responded curtly, "Then she's probably dead."

He is writing a letter.

Two letters, one to Snape and one to Aunt Roy.

For one purpose, I collaborated with Bella.

Since she wants her child to acquire ancient magic, this matter needs to be handled by her maternal grandmother, so she needs to ask her aunt to inform her.

"What?" Hermione frowned, put down her newspaper, and her gaze swept across the top edge before landing intently on Owen, who was writing furiously. "How could this be—"

She was somewhat familiar with Professor Kerridine Boubagi.

Because she had taken her Muggle Studies course in her third year.

She wanted to see how Muggles could be understood from the perspective of the magical world; she thought it would be very interesting.

However, she only took this course for one year.

He gave up in fourth grade.

She knew Professor Karedi Bubbaji well. Without a doubt, he was a kind person. He often said there was little difference between Muggles and wizards, and dedicated his life to promoting communication and reconciliation between the two worlds.

She liked the professor very much because of their similar values.

Now, upon suddenly hearing that the other party was dead, the little witch was momentarily stunned.

“That’s obvious.” Owen glanced back at the girl, then returned to the letter in his hands. “This isn’t a theoretical dispute. Publicly declaring her liking for Muggles and opposing Voldemort without taking any precautions isn’t very smart… Besides, she’s left Hogwarts—so—”

"But—" Hermione stammered. She knew perfectly well that Owen was right, but—"Professor Dumbledore is still alive, and Hogwarts—the Order of the Phoenix—the Ministry of Magic—the Union—"

She said a lot, but her voice grew softer and softer because she realized she couldn't even convince herself.

"Things are pretty clear now. Although we're reluctant to admit it, it seems the Death Eaters have the upper hand." Owen stood up from his chair, waved his hand, and two letters on the table automatically folded and jumped into the envelope.

He walked to the bedside and sat down. "Senior Tom must have obtained unknown power from the Outer Gods again. More powerful, a power from far beyond the past."

Owen frowned. "This is troublesome. Magic has a history of 100,000 years, leaving behind countless powerful spells, but only one in ten, or even one in a hundred, has survived to the present day. The power he has gained may completely exceed the limits that we can currently imagine."

"Besides, defeating Voldemort is of little use."

"It didn't work?" Hermione said, putting down her newspaper.

"What we need is to defeat the Outer Gods. Even—" He smiled, refraining from uttering his delusional thoughts. "Any further news?"

Irving changed the subject.

The little witch looked at him suspiciously, then picked up the newspaper again.

"It's all just bits and pieces of news. Someone spotted Death Eaters in Godric's Hollow, Diagon Alley was attacked, and many shops were destroyed. Among them was Ollivander's Wand Shop—" Hermione scoffed, "The Ministry of Magic is still spouting nonsense about having the situation under control."

(End of this chapter)