Chapter 572: Battles (2 in 1)

Traces of that great battle still remained at the edge of the Hogsmeade village, and Voldemort took a moment to reminisce.

Although he had escaped last time, he had sort of fought two of the world's greatest wizards in quick succession, and the threat rating of Voldemort had risen sharply in various countries' ministries of magic.

With the Headmaster of the Ilvermorny School in the United States as a warning, no one dared to underestimate this evil power rooted in Britain, and even the duel half a century ago has been repeatedly mentioned, with many newspapers openly referring to him as 'Second Dark Lord'.

Voldemort wandered through the streets of Hogsmeade at that moment, looking for his target.

He was looking for a foolproof place, not some slimy lovers' teahouse or an owl post office littered with bird droppings and noise. He saw the Three Broomsticks Inn from a distance and weighed his options for a moment when he spotted a dark alleyway.

A distant memory was triggered as he walked in with a little melancholy and stopped at the door of a shabby Inn.

Nothing seemed to have changed here - the battered wooden sign with its rusty frame, swayed along as the wind blew. Rude shouts of drunks drifted out through the old windows that were accumulated with thick grime.

"Sigh!"

Voldemort pushed the door and walked into the Hog's Head Inn, bringing the chill of the early February night with him. The scene before him was even more familiar: the bar was occupied by a dozen or so cloaked customers, wearing veils and hoods as if it was the latest trend.

With just a cursory glance, he could tell that at least three tables of customers are engaging in illegal transactions.

The barman on the counter was pushing a glass of flaming blue wine to a hooded fellow, after which the barman - Aberforth - continued to polish the empty glass, and looked up absently as he did so when his movements suddenly froze.

The sound of the glass shattering drew the attention of the other customers, who looked at Aberforth and then settled their wary eyes on Voldemort.

"Hiss~"

There was a loud gasping sound. The temperature in the filthy, cramped, dimly lit room seemed to drop instantly to the freezing point.

"Merlin, the You-Know-Who!" A male wizard by the fireplace cried out.

He is wrapped in blood-stained bandages, a get-up that would hardly be welcomed in the Three Broomsticks Inn not far from here, but he is allowed to swagger into the Hog's Head Inn, which is what keeps this little bar in business.

The male wizard scrambled to his feet, knocking over the table in front of him with too much force, and took out his wand - not to attack - but to cast Apparition.

Then there was a flash of green light, and he fell flat on his face, his wide eyes showed the unrest he felt before he died.

Voldemort bowed with a lazy grip on his wand, "I am planning to receive a guest, so gentlemen, I hope you can all do me a favour."

For a moment, the air in the bar seemed to freeze.

A thin wizard with dark circles under his eyes who looked suspiciously like a vampire shouted shrilly, "He wants to kill everyone!" Voldemort's gaze moved up slowly, a sneer appeared at the corners of his mouth as he raised his wand, and then the strange and bizarre customers of the Hog's Head Inn fell like wheat -

The struggle began, so did the slaughter.

Another man attempted to Apparate, only to be strangled alive by a shadow from the darkness that wrapped around his neck. Desperate cries and the faint glow of the spell cutting through the air were confined within the dimly lit bar, from which no one could escape.

Within a minute, there were only three people left in the room.

Aberforth summoned his Patronus, which would deliver the news of Voldemort's arrival to Dumbledore. The substantial goat Patronus passed through the wall and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Voldemort calmed down after the killings and gazed intently at the face that looked identical to Dumbledore.

If it was just a resemblance, he wouldn't have cared at all and would have just killed him in passing, but rather than being weak, Aberforth is far above the level of the average wizard, and his will for resistance is extremely tenacious, giving Voldemort some trouble - insignificant, but enough to make him look at the other party differently.

For Voldemort, who is obsessed with the power of bloodline, being strong and looking like Dumbledore were traits that made him associate Aberforth with Dumbledore. The more he stared at Aberforth's bright blue eyes that erupted with anger beneath his dirty glasses, and the strands of metallic, wiry grey hair and beard, the more he really did see the resemblance.

The memory of that failed job application decades ago rushed back to him.

With great ambition and the intent to spread his influence throughout the wizarding world, he had chosen the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts class Professor as his springboard, but his plot had ended even before it had begun. Dumbledore had turned him down mercilessly, pointing out the fact that his minions were staying and doing business at the Hog's Head Inn.

He recalled Dumbledore admitting personally at the time that he had a good relationship with the local barmen ...

"So that's it." Voldemort smiled, with a wicked look on his face, he waved his arm twice and two more wizards fell, leaving only Aberforth behind.

Aberforth's face looked grave, he knew he could not escape, there was hope before, but he had insisted on fighting, and it had proved to be the wrong choice, he was no match for him. Now that he is left alone, it would be hard to Apparate in front of Voldemort any longer.

"What are you to Dumbledore?" Voldemort asked softly.

"Ptui!" Aberforth spat on the ground, which mixed with the trace of his blood. Then he raised his wand.

The battle ended swiftly.

Despite all superficial attempts of resistance by Aberforth, and despite the fact that half of the wall of the Hog's Head Inn was reduced to rubble, Voldemort won easily. He slowly and deliberately swung his snakewood wand and from its tip a few snake-like ropes sprang up, trapping Aberforth firmly in place.

He was hung upside down on the wobbly ceiling.

Satisfied, Voldemort paced up to Aberforth and watched him struggle on, as he leisurely beckoned a bottle of wine and a glass from the bar shelf, but both the bottle and the glass were too dirty for him to use, so he threw them away in disgust and asked in an almost whispering voice, "Can you speak now? What are you to Dumbledore? A relative, or ... a blood brother?"

"You ... goat turd ... scum ...," a few scattered words spewed from Aberforth's blood-oozing mouth, which didn't exactly sounded like a good word.

"You need to learn to respect the strong, has nobody taught you that? Or perhaps you're illiterate?" Voldemort said, and with a wave of his hand, the snake-like rope wrapped around Aberforth's neck as he calmly said, "Crucio-"

A stifled scream rang out.

"I hope you can hold out until Dumbledore comes to rescue you."

Compared to the tragic events in the Hog's Head Inn, the Sword Castle in Diagon Alley looked like a blazing sword that attracted everyone's attention. The sharp blade of the sword that pointed straight upwards, billowed black smoke. A dozen black-robed wizards continued to add the fire in the darkness, and the building debris that fell from the sword castle smashed the ground into a deep, burning pit.

The Hit-Wizards stationed in Diagon Alley battled fiercely with the black-robed wizards.

"Damn it, they're using Fiendfyre! Are they trying to completely destroy this place?" One of the Hit-Wizard, hiding behind Ollivander's window, coldly stretched out his arm to throw a few magic spells, which knocked down an advancing enemy.

But Holt's heart sank, he didn't know what was happening at the Ministry, but five minutes had passed since the distress call had been sent, and the Ministry's backup wasn't here yet. At the moment there are only two emergency squads in Diagon Alley, which are perfectly adequate for daily patrols, but they are outnumbered in the face of a sudden attack.

It didn't take long before they had to abandon the public fireplace in Diagon Alley and fight their battles in the streets and alleys.

With a few loud bangs, Holt knew that the historic fireplace had been blown to pieces. There will be no more support for a short time.

He gasped and looked out over the distant sword castle, the magical building seemed to be crumbling, he hoped there wouldn't be too many people inside, maybe they had Apparated and escaped. Suddenly, he rubbed his eyes, suspecting he had gone blind.

A man silently appeared at the entrance to the sword castle, gazing up at the blazing torch-like building.

With the help of the swaying firelight, Holt saw the side of the man's face, with short black hair, blue eyes, and a tall, thin figure. Holt wanted to shout, but he was too far away, and then he saw a shocking sight. The surrounding fire spontaneously gathered into the man's hand, condensing into the shape of a long sword, and with a flash of light, a dark wizard who was standing proudly a short distance away was pierced through the chest by the flaming longsword, and in the next instant, a mass of flame burst from the dark wizard's body, burning him to a crisp in the blink of an eye.

Holt felt like he seems to have been nailed in place and couldn't move. At that moment, a spell came from around the corner and hit the window glass, clipping half of the metallic grid with a crisp blow. He hurriedly crouched down with his head shrunken and threw out a few spells haphazardly, knowing for sure that he had missed his target.

"Boy, get in here! Hurry!" A voice said from overhead, and Holt looked up to see a white-haired Ollivander waving at him through the window.

Holt almost dropped his jaw, didn't this old man leave for a holiday abroad? He crawled into the house, and the door slammed shut as he asked urgently, "Are you really Mr. Ollivander?"

"As true as you are." Ollivander said as he hid behind a stack of old boxes, watching for movement outside.

"But aren't you-"

"That's false information, a lie, I've been hiding in the basement of the shop," Ollivander muttered, "I had to, a lot of wand makers have been harmed over a period of time, I didn't want to disappear like Gregorovitch for no reason.... ... How many of you from the Ministry are there? You don't seem to have enough people to deal with Death Eaters?"

"There are only two squads in Diagon Alley now, and the fireplace was destroyed." Holt explained, "But the turnaround has arrived."

"Why can't I see that?" Ollivander whispered.

The cries outside subsided a bit and Felix glanced into the hall, which looked like a mess but without any corpses. Remus and a dozen workers are being protected by a pack of tall, sturdy magic golems and fighting two dozen dark wizards.

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A watery glow rippled over the surface of these big golems, and ordinary spells that struck them simply had no effect. Rather than being evenly matched, it would be better to say that Remus and the group are dragging the enemies down.

Not to mention the fact that the employees are fully armed with a full range of anti-spell products.

Felix turned his head up and appeared high in the air, then he opened the Book of Rune and sent bolts of black lightning downwards. In a matter of seconds, the enemies outside the Sword Castle were purged out, after that he entered the hall of the castle, where the battle is still raging, and the group of dark wizards did not notice Felix's arrival, or rather - those who were guarding the outside did not have time to inform.

"Can we withdraw?" One of the dark wizards shouted, "We can't break in! Those lumps of stone are too solid, harder than metal!"

"No! We must wait for that man to come." Another one said, who is clearly superior in position and seemed to be the leader.

Felix noticed that man and quickly identified his name from the list of Death Eaters as well, "Lestrange ..." a member of the Lestrange family. "Are you waiting for me?" As he walked towards the battlefield, his finger sliced through the air and send the black smoke rolling out.

"It's Felix Hap! He's here, run!"

Someone shouted and they all Apparated, there was too little time for Felix to distinguish whether Bellatrix Lestrange was among them, he was slightly disappointed, but that hadn't been part of the plan, as Voldemort hadn't been that cornered and had no greater temptation to part with his only Horcrux now.

He waved his hand again and the hall was covered in a silvery glow, and in the blink of an eye, they seemed to be taken to a completely unfamiliar place. Before they had time to react, an overwhelming golden flame filled that particular space.

They were burnt to ashes in the mind space.

In reality, one by one, the dark wizards' eyes were lost in thought, their bodies stiffened and their eyes rolled upwards involuntarily, and Penelope took the opportunity to hit two of them in the head without noticing the anomaly.

" This is?"

Clammy pointed at Felix, and an expression of surprise dawned on Penelope. She stared at the dark wizards, who had been removed from their special state, " Hurry up-" one of them shouted, and before she could finish the word "run", their bodies went rigid again as if they had been struck by an invisible hammer on the back of their heads.

The others in the sword castle paused as the dark wizards took a few steps backward and forward before collapsing in unison.

Felix approached the 'Lestrange', crouched down and opened his eyelids, and looked him in the eye, the 'Lestrange's' eyes magically turned silvery grey, and after a short while, Felix stood up.

He waved his wand, and the Fiendfyre that were burning inside and outside the sword castle converged toward him. The tip of his wand seemed to contain a black hole with an infinite suction, and the Fiendfyres that were coiled around the building in various forms of creatures were torn out of shape, and eventually all converged and became a small orb.

Felix gently took it down and held it in his hand like holding a somewhat warm glass orb.

"Felix." Lupin came over, "These people ..."

"Lock them up for now, the Ministry of Magic won't have time to send someone to collect them for a while, how exactly did it go on your end, were there any casualties?" Felix asked in a low voice.

"No casualties." Lupin said under his breath, looking at the people who had slumped to the ground in the distance and couldn't help but smile, "The attack happened after work hour, so most people went back home, I managed to gather the remaining people together and escape the first wave of attacks. I then activated the Golem guards to send the employees who aren't good at fighting to leave through the fireplace, which took a while, and the rest of the people who volunteered to stay behind to defend the company followed the Golem guards to the lobby, just in time to bump into these people."

" To be honest, the enemy's strength ..." he frowned, "isn't exactly what I expected, it's like a makeshift group with only a few good fighters. In fact, I wanted to be more aggressive in the fight, but I refrained myself. Since Penelope and the group aren't exactly warriors."

"You're right," Felix nodded, "Voldemort is simply not powerful enough to fight Hogwarts, Future World Company, and the Ministry of Magic at the same time. I have roughly looked at their memories, these people are made up of a few Death Eaters and the dark wizards they have recruited and threatened to join them, with the task to create as much chaos as possible. Presumably, something similar is happening on the Ministry of Magic's side."

"If that's the case, there will be fewer casualties." Lupin said analytically, "What about the school side?"

"Well, everything was peaceful when I came over, but now, well, it's hard to say ..."

"Hurry back! I can handle it from here, and I promise you, when you come back everything will be back to the way it was." Lupin said quickly.

Felix chuckled softly and took a few steps forward as the scene before him changed rapidly-

At Hogwarts, Frank and Alice, who are disguised as students, are holding a Marauder's map, staring at the names 'Avery' on it, when all of a sudden a jumble of footsteps is heard from the Grand Staircase, and the two looked at each other, before lowering their heads to look at the extra string of student names on the map.

After getting their brooms, the students scattered to the various entrance of the school. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Fred, and George, along with some of the others, rushed to the castle's main door and were surprised to find it locked and Filch guarding it.

"By order of Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, all students are forbidden to set foot outside the castle." Filch said with a stern face.

"Oh come on," Hermione said, "we want to help, and we can help, the Professor is right behind the door, isn't she? Filch, sir, we can't let them fight alone, they're up against Inferi, dementors, werewolves, vampires, and whatever else ..."

"He won't get out of the way," Fred said under his breath, "why not let me give him a-"

But Filch thought about it and actually stepped aside.

"Thanks, Mr. Filch." Hermione said gratefully, taking out her wand and pointing it at the door, which opened noiselessly, and from a distance, they could hear the sound of Professors chanting out incantations. "They should be on the stone steps, yes, that's it!"

One by one they stepped out of the oakwood door and Filch caught Mafalda by the arm, her expression bewildered as she wondered why she was pulled out. So did Luna, who is standing next to her. "You can't go out! You're too young ..." Filch said with bulging eyes as he stared at Mafalda and spoke hesitantly, "You, you're a freshman? What's your name?"

Mafalda turned her head to Luna and pointed her hand out, "I don't know, ask her!"

"What's going on?" Ron came over in a huff, he had just barely sat on his broom when this unexpected situation occurred, he sucked in a breath when he saw Mafalda, "What are you doing here?"

Filch, Mafalda looked over at Luna and Ron stiffened and turned his head, praying he wouldn't hear an outrageous answer. Luna said cheerfully, "Didn't I greet you all earlier, she was there--"

"You found Mafalda behind that door?" Ron blurted out, remembering what had happened sometime earlier when Luna had attempted to open a door.

"Yeah, I saw both she and Umbridge walk in, and not long after she was the only one who walked out and locked it from the outside. I thought it was strange, so I knocked on the door but there was no response, and later I was surprised to find her inside instead of Umbridge ...," Luna said as she spread her hands.

"You idiot, Luna, obviously Umbridge had used a Polyjuice Potion!" Ron shouted at her.

"You're not allowed to yell at her!" Mafalda shouted.

"You don't make trouble!" Ron yelled back.

He shoved Mafalda roughly into Filch's hands like a rag in the process, "Well ... ahem, please, help me keep an eye on her, so she doesn't slip away."

"Ron!" Someone shouted in the distance.

"Oh crap, I've got to go and backup Harry." Ron said, jogging to the platform outside the main door and mounting his broom with the twins and Neville.

That's when another voice sounded behind them -

"Wait!" Alice panted, as she ran over, "You guys - shouldn't - go out - it's too dangerous out there - -"

"Aren't we done with this already? And who is this-" Fred snapped irritably, looking like he wanted to hit someone. When Hermione saw Alice's face she acted like she had seen a ghost and yanked his sleeve so hard that she almost hauled him out of his broom, "Ouch! Hermione, what are you doing?" "She's Neville's mum ..." Hermione whispered and Fred was taken aback.

"Does Neville know?" Fred asked in a lowered voice, and George tried hard to eavesdrop, but he was pushed back. Hermione shook her head.

Alice Longbottom stared at Neville, "You're still young-"

" Not that young." Neville said, looking anxiously into the distance, seven or eight minutes had passed since Harry had left. He said stiffly, "You chose to stay at the castle, I chose to backup Harry, we all have our own choice."

"No, I mean, they'll be fine, you just need to stay in the castle in peace, the adults will take care of everything, the children -" Alice stated anxiously, taking Neville's hand, "think about your parents !"

"I'm sorry," Neville said, "they'd be proud of me." He took a deep look at Alice and, with a strong push of his feet, flew high into the sky.

On the side, Fred gave a thumbs up. As he, George, and Ron flew off in the direction of Hagrid's hut.

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