From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Ambush?"

He was somewhat unaware at the time—Azkaban had only produced one Black in all these years, yet someone still dared to rob and kill him.

But after the minister gave him a long warning to be careful, the assistant began to give another, roundabout order.

"Regardless, it's a disgrace for a deputy minister to become a Death Eater. I think we need to consider the minister's situation and prevent some people from continuing to tarnish the wizarding world's reputation."

The meaning is simple and clear: take advantage of the chaos to kill off Umbridge, the minister's thorn in his side.

Although it was the minister's assistant who gave the instruction, he felt it must have been the minister's idea.

Furthermore, judging from the assistant's other remarks, it was inevitable that several die-hard Death Eaters would die during the rescue operation—especially those with relatively good businesses who were accused by Malfoy during last year's purge.

Therefore, the robbery and murder operation cannot fail from the start without causing any ripples—the person must be rescued; how can they be legally killed if they are not rescued?

In the words of their assistant, some people would be unhappy if they survived the riots…

"They seem to be releasing prisoners, and they're carrying a lot of wands!"

The sniper in charge of reconnaissance quickly ran over and reported the situation at the front.

'That's great. If it were just a few small fish and shrimp... I really wouldn't know how to explain it.'

"Distribute manpower to stop their actions, and allocate two squads of Dementors to assist you. Those wizards are no match for Dementors!"

"What do we do here, sir!"

"Leave someone to guard the area. If there is no hope, lethal spells may be used!"

"Yes!"

The Auror's orders were quickly carried out, and the strikers, with the help of the Dementors, began to counter-encircle the outer part along another route, dealing with the stragglers who had left the prison.

When Dementors appear, wizards wielding wands they don't recognize are powerless to even attempt to cast insulting spells, let alone seek revenge. Upon sensing the Dementor's presence, their wands become limp and powerless.

"Return to your cell and hand over your wand, or your sentence will double. Anyone who resists will be killed immediately!"

The strikers rapidly cast spells to remove the wands of the helpless wizards while loudly proclaiming the solution.

Seeing that even the Dementors couldn't be defeated, the prisoners who were holding wands dropped them without saying a word. The prisoners in the outer cells were all light offenders. Although they couldn't be said to be extremely intelligent, most of them had their own little schemes. They figured they wouldn't force their way in if they couldn't gain an advantage.

Everyone's touched their wands, cast spells, and had their fun. There's no need to become cannon fodder for those audacious fools—once the initial excitement of holding their wands again wears off, a little calculation will reveal what those people were up to.

If the other side really succeeds, then it's not too late to escape—they're not stupid; they're just scouting ahead!

-

"The strikers have been drawn away, let's set this place on fire!"

While observing the situation, Barty issued orders. He didn't dare use the Fiery Blaze, fearing it would block their retreat, but the other flames were successfully ignited.

"Hurry, hurry and save them!"

As he spoke, he opened the door to the inner room—the lock had been slightly reinforced, but that was about it.

"Hurry up and get out!"

He shouted anxiously as he took the wand and placed it in the hand of the rescued person, while also showing off the Dark Mark on his arm.

Such a symbol was incredibly inspiring at that moment—upon seeing it, the Death Eaters, still somewhat eccentric and wielding their wands, immediately considered them as their own and joined the battle.

'No...it's too slow, save Bella and the others first...'

Barty assessed the situation and realized that there were far too many Strikers and Dementors, and they were surging at a speed that could overwhelm them. He quickly ran back to his previous cell.

After their master went missing, only a few of them were searching for him, so naturally, these loyal fellows were given priority.

"The enemy is too powerful. Relax all magical restrictions!"

They didn't know whose voice was shouting, but Little Barty and the Purifiers instantly felt the strain.

Fortunately, he had already reached a place he was familiar with before—wait, how come that cell opened by itself and the person is still on the ground?

And that one—how did it die?

Fortunately, Bella and the others who helped with the rescue were unharmed...

I can't worry about that anymore!

"Set it on fire, and charge out that way!"

He gritted his teeth and gave the order. The person in charge was rather incompetent; there were too few Dementors standing there, and the attackers weren't strong enough.

...

"They actually got away! How am I going to explain this to Minister Fouché?!"

"So many prisoners died! Those vicious bastards!"

The Auror's roar echoed throughout the entire Azkaban prison block.

Chapter 540 Compromise and Concession

"They escaped."

Barty, who had been gripping his wand tightly, finally let it fall. He first checked the number of Purifiers passing through, and only put it down after confirming that none were missing. Settlement One was jointly confirmed, and if there was a shortage of personnel, he would have to lead his people to Settlement Two, which he had arranged separately.

After confirming that the gathering place was safe, he nervously looked at the Death Eaters he considered absolutely loyal.

Bellatrix Lestrange, Rabastein Lestrange, and Rodolphus Lestrange were the four who relentlessly pursued the Dark Lord's trail even after his disappearance, and even kidnapped two Aurors.

Humans are narcissistic, so even though Bella always felt that she was more favored by the Dark Lord, Barty still recognized her as a trustworthy Death Eater.

The four of us are enough…

He thought to himself, but the others who were rescued along the way could also be considered companions—at least they had been in Azkaban for quite some time, unlike those who were later betrayed by that bastard Lucius and had only been in there for a short time.

Eleven people went in and twenty-one came out, which can hardly be considered a success. Especially after this raid, the Ministry of Magic will definitely strengthen its defenses against Azkaban, which means that there is almost no possibility of rescue—unless the all-powerful Dark Lord intervenes personally.

'I messed up…'

He was somewhat agitated, even wanting to punish himself—especially Umbridge, the so-called Death Eater Number One, who died before he could rescue him, which made him feel incredibly guilty but also secretly pleased…

'I shouldn't have done that.'

But joy always inevitably surfaced.

Fortunately, Bella finally came to her senses. She looked very haggard after coming out of that hellish place, Azkaban, but after breathing some fresh air, she was able to make a judgment.

"who are you?"

She kept a close eye on Barty the Elder—she had already determined that this guy was the leader before he even came out. Although she saw the Dark Mark, she habitually only trusted herself, especially after being tricked by that Hogwarts professor into giving her some useless information.

“It’s me, Barty.”

Little Barty took off his mask—although he didn't mind using that face to cause his dear father any trouble, he didn't want to cause trouble for his master.

You're still alive?

Bella was somewhat surprised, then burst into maniacal giggles, "You're actually alive? I was wondering who would remember us..."

As she laughed, Bella's face suddenly turned angry. "Since you're still alive, why don't you secretly hide and try to find the Dark Lord!"

She disregarded the surroundings and directly threatened Barty with her wand.

“If I said,” Little Barty’s face was beaming with joy, completely unconcerned about Bella’s wand, “that I, who was trapped, was rescued by the Dark Lord’s servants, just as I went to Azkaban to bring you out.”

"The Dark Lord?"

All the Death Eaters who were rescued and watched the two clash were stunned for a moment, then their faces lit up with ecstasy.

"I knew it, I knew it..."

Bella's wand hung loosely, a carefree smile on her face. "He hasn't forgotten his loyal servant, he hasn't... yes, he hasn't forgotten his loyal servant."

Not only her, but the other Death Eaters who were rescued also showed wild joy on their faces, as if lost children had found their home, their faces beaming with smiles that should never exist on the faces of these dark wizards.

The scene horrified the surrounding Purifiers—they considered themselves sufficiently loyal to the Dark Lord, but compared to these people before them, they seemed utterly kind and harmless…

This incongruous scene naturally caught Bella's eye. "Who are they?"

"The Purifier, the servant sent by the Dark Lord to save me..."

Barty tilted his head slightly—he preferred to acknowledge these loyal Death Eaters as his companions rather than the Purifiers who rescued him. “As for the rest, we’ll talk about it in detail after you’ve changed your clothes and moved. With such a commotion, the Ministry of Magic must be extremely worried.”

He said these words, but his face was full of undisguised schadenfreude.

-

"Knock knock knock!"

A knock sounded at the door. William put down his book and looked at Sirius Black and Lupin, who were fighting on the sofa—which of you invited a guest?

As the two responded in bewilderment and the television screen froze, William casually drew his wand.

With the Christmas holidays still ongoing, a sudden visit might not be a good thing.

He waved his wand to create a fake body, then used the Disillusionment Charm to hide in the shadows at a location he had previously observed.

After completing all this, Lupin and Sirius found a slightly less desirable hiding spot and, mimicking Lupin's actions, pulled out their wands.

William frowned, then pulled out fake bodies for the two of them, and waved his wand to open the door from a distance, pointing the wand directly at the entrance.

"Good afternoon, Professor William, Professor Lupin, and Blake."

Dumbledore stood smiling at the door, greeted them, then blinked and turned his head toward the spot where Sirius was hiding.

'I told you he hid it too poorly…'

William shook his head, his wand still in place, but he emerged from his hiding place—Harry's protective magic was still in effect, the Dark Lord wouldn't show himself, and while he couldn't say he could handle one-on-one against the other wizards, three against one was no problem.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster Dumbledore. What has happened?"

"Hmm—it seems I need to use a revealing potion to prove myself?"

Dumbledore looked at William, shook his head, and the next second, William had already handed him the potion with his wand.

After a brief and somewhat comical attempt to prove himself, William finally put down his wand. "Well, sorry, Headmaster, I was a little nervous. It's mainly because I came here without any prior notice."

“This is not your problem, Professor, but…” Dumbledore glanced around to make sure Harry wasn’t there, “but a problem with the Ministry of Magic.”

"Ministry of Magic?"

All three of them were stunned, including William.

Are you really this calm about the problems at the Ministry of Magic?