From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

...

“Go talk to Professor McGonagall and see if there’s any room for negotiation… She should be able to give you some advice on this,” William said after a moment of silence, finally deciding to entrust the matter to the headmaster. He had no idea what to do.

'I need to teach the students that unless a case is from a long time ago or the reference subject is dead, it should never be used as a descriptive subject for important events…'

He shook his head and thought about it for a moment before seriously considering the significance of the matter.

The indefinite suspension of the treaty—this is no small matter.

'They've already gained this much control over the American magical world?'

'How long until he can suppress all opposing forces and unite the entire magical world?'

'What can I do to make it less comfortable for him to do all this?'

According to the latest intelligence, the new Magic Congress has begun to integrate and distribute relief supplies, which has stabilized prices and boosted their approval ratings.

But he couldn't very well try to destroy the supplies...

'Never mind, I can't think of anything. I don't have that many cards. It would be better to tell Dumbledore and let him handle it…'

He was just an ordinary wizard; how could he possibly have the ability to annoy Voldemort in this situation?

Give Dumbledore an idea, and he might come up with a solution—this is a tried-and-true strategy.

-

"Make him suffer... or better yet, make public opinion spiral out of his control?"

"Ideally, the public should become tired of his approach beforehand, so that he can't easily change people's minds?"

Dumbledore stared at William's letter, stunned.

Are you kidding me? Is he some kind of wish-granting house?

However… there are people who can do it, but to really rely on him? That's too dangerous…

But… Dumbledore glanced at the ring on his hand, which had completely lost its Horcrux function, and then touched the small stone he had recently completed crafting around his neck. The scales in his heart, which had already begun to tip, tipped even further…

Chapter 586 Some Trivial Matters

"Completely intact..."

Susan breathed a sigh of relief, glanced around at her surroundings again, and then carefully tapped the lock with her wand—normally, she would have used the key to avoid leaving any trace of magic, but she had lost it during her escape.

The door unlocked with a click. She checked her surroundings again before cautiously entering the detached house. She headed straight for the kitchen, glanced at the refrigerator, and then decisively moved it with her wand, revealing a hidden door behind it.

'No one has been here…'

She confirmed this fact again, then lifted the hidden door and quickly went inside.

In the small, dark room, a man knelt on the floor, leaning forward against the rough wall. His head was tilted at an odd angle, and his mouth was stained with dried rust. A few short, grayish-black rodent hairs were slowly drifting down, probably from the draft brought in by the open door.

'It's over...'

Susan wasn't frightened, but a hint of regret welled up inside her.

She lit her wand and strode forward to check on the imprisoned man—without a doubt, he was dead…

'Things happened so suddenly. The Aurors and the Strikers turned on me, so I had to move quickly. The Imperius Curse was still working, but the food I left behind wasn't nearly enough—or maybe the rats stole it all…'

A wizard, possessed by the Imperius Curse and stripped of his wand, is strictly forbidden from leaving this place…

'Really…'

She began to blame herself, perhaps she should have thought of this little Barty sooner, after all, the other party's identity was still very useful.

But what's done is done—she had to worry about the lives of her wizards first, and the Auror's betrayal made her suspect she'd been exposed, so she wasn't paying as much attention to Barty anymore, which led to everything that happened…

"Sigh... the chips haven't increased much; in fact, they've decreased considerably because of Mr. Barty's death..."

As she spoke, she waved her wand and began to cast a transfiguration spell, preparing to fill the tunnel with dirt after transforming and finally bury it here—a dead wizard could not be used as a transfiguration target for Polyjuice Potion.

“Wait a minute… we might not need Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him anymore… since we’ve already verified his identity, we might as well continue impersonating him and extract as much information as we can. We can just hand it all over to Dumbledore and cut our losses.”

She considered it for a moment, confirmed that it was feasible, and then happily completed a series of tasks, completely burying that audacious, sneak-attacking fellow in the place where he was imprisoned, and then left quietly as she had come.

-

"I've made contact with Barty, Master!"

Bella, who had taken over the intelligence after Bertha took over the Magic Council, happily reported the latest information.

She trusted Barty—back when the Dark Lord disappeared, they risked their lives to kidnap the Aurors, tortured them to find out where the Dark Lord was, and then went to jail together, almost losing their lives in that godforsaken place, Azkaban.

Barty faked his death and escaped, and she, in turn, was rescued by Barty—they were naturally allies, especially after the Dark Lord gained so many Purgers and that lucky girl named Bertha.

"Have you made contact? Tell him to come back quickly; our strikers need a strong leader."

The crimson gleam in Voldemort's eyes wasn't as chilling anymore, and the smile on his face became more genuine. Although Barty's actions hadn't worked as intended due to the sudden change, and his abilities and luck might have been lacking, his unwavering loyalty was undeniable.

Because the Magic Congress was acquired hastily, he needed more of his own people to sort out the current situation, and contacting Barty was undoubtedly a good thing.

“Master…he…” Bella gritted her teeth, finally deciding to say something good about Barty. “Barty said his mission isn’t finished yet. He hopes to gather the opponents outside, lure them out in one fell swoop, and completely resolve those troubles for you…”

"He...refused...my order?"

Voldemort's eyes turned cold. He stood up and looked at Bella, who was bowing her head humbly. "Is he refusing his master's orders?"

“No, Master, no, he merely expressed this idea in the letter and humbly begged you to allow him to do so, and if your will is not to, he will immediately return to Iphamoni…”

“Then let him do it… even if they are just some insignificant rebels.”

-

"Dad got a promotion and even hired an employee who shares his hobbies..."

Ron whispered to Harry about things at home, "Those two seventh-years are already doing their internships in the ministry, and they don't even need to worry too much about their final seventh-year exams—but the three of them almost locked themselves in the office for interrogation..."

"what happened?"

Harry asked in a low voice. The Ministry of Magic's recruitment had just ended, and he was also curious about it.

"Magic Car".

Ron mouthed the words, and Harry burst out laughing, the stress of studying all day almost completely gone.

"Huh?"

Ron opened the dormitory door and found a book lying on his bed.

Whose book is it?

He glanced at the book title curiously. "Strange and Bizarre Curses? Huh? I've been researching this lately..."

He had almost mastered the basics of voodoo dolls, had some understanding of curses, and was quite attentive to the related content. After a quick glance and finding no danger, he flipped through a few pages.

Whose prank was this?

He called Harry over and complained, pointing to the messy handwriting in the book.

[The person who possesses this book will be cursed, and will encounter various minor troubles for a year, including those related to money, competitions, studies, and love...]

[Personal experience is the most profound way to remember a curse.]

You've been targeted, you unlucky bastard!

Don't even think about getting rid of it!

[Please pass this curse on to someone else immediately after you've cast it—unless you intend to remain cursed for another year.]

"curse?"

Harry took out his wand, looked at the words on it, and casually cast a few detection spells.

"It's just a harmless book."

"Perhaps..." Ron didn't care much; he couldn't sense even the slightest bit of the curse's power.

"Go back and ask them if any of them accidentally lost this prank book."

Harry checked again and gave Ron a suggestion.

“That’s the only way,” Ron glanced at the book, then closed it.

However, before going to bed that night, something unexpected happened. No one in the entire dormitory was willing to admit that the book belonged to them, and they all agreed that it was a clumsy prank.

-

"Hey buddy, watch out!"

On the stairs, Ron's backpack suddenly ripped open, but luckily several students around him reacted quickly enough to save his belongings.

"Thank you."

He thanked the students around him, and Harry helped him fix his backpack.

It's a small thing.

However, when he went to the classroom, he found that his quill was broken and he had brought the wrong textbook—to make matters worse, the class was Snape's Divination class.

"Oh…"

Ron covered his face, then discovered that yesterday's book was tucked inside his textbook.

"I must have gotten up in too much of a rush..."

He looked at Harry pleadingly, while Harry picked up his wand and, before Snape could notice, transformed the cover of Ron's book and the page he was looking at into the shape of his own textbook, thus fooling Ron.

"I'll throw it away after class..."

Ron started complaining.

-

“Harry…”

"What's wrong, Ron?"

"It's back..."

Ron looked at his schoolbag in horror.

“I remember it very clearly… I left it in an abandoned classroom.”

He quickly clutched the voodoo doll he carried with him, his eyes filled with disbelief—could that book really be real?