days at Hogwarts

Chapter 603: Shocking Change!!!

A beam of pure white light gushed out like a flood breaking through a sluice gate.

The entire room of the Department of Mysteries was lit up as bright as day.

There was a bright blue light in Dumbledore's eyes, and his left hand tightly grasped the elderwood wand. The bright yellow phoenix flame in his body suddenly bloomed, moving his figure to the side of the light column.

He ordered the other personnel to retreat, almost abandoning defense and releasing fire with all his strength, ignoring the black fog along the way.

They are all waiting for the moment when Voldemort will counterattack.

This room was perhaps the most mysterious of all the rooms in the Department of Mysteries. It contained a power far more wonderful and far more terrible than death, the human mind, or the magic of nature. The power of love, something some wizards possessed in abundance, but which Voldemort never had.

In the round dark room, there was a dazzling white light.

A few feet in front of the wooden door, the black mist of Voldemort's incarnation mixed with the unstoppable pure white magic.

Finally, the light completely eliminated the black fog.

Voldemort could not maintain his magic, and turned into a bloody human form, falling to the ground with a bang.

Blood gushed out from his mouth and nose. Voldemort opened his eyes wide. His snake pupils had long been blurred after being washed by magic, and he could only barely make out the tall figure in front of him. Perhaps it was the upward perspective, or the inherent blurriness of snakes, or the faint pain in his brows, or perhaps it was the feeling of weakness from his body. Countless thoughts and memories he didn't want to recall quickly emerged and disappeared.

Suddenly, he felt as if he was back in the forests of Albania.

Possessed in lower creatures, it lingers on, crawling helplessly, from winter to summer, from spring to autumn, manipulating its narrow and weak body to hunt dirty rats, just to slow down the ghost's weakening speed.

During the dozen years that I don't want to recall, the occasional encounters with prey birds etched the most instinctive fear into the bodies of snakes.

Exactly at this moment.

This feeling suddenly stung him, and Voldemort felt a deep resentment and anger. Why was it always Dumbledore? Why did he always get in the way of his good deeds?

The wooden door had been closed at some point, and the flame "X" imprinted on it had gone out.

Dumbledore waved his wand, and the tip of the elderberry stick held horizontally in front of him burst into a bright orange light, and a blazing flame was ready to burst out.

……

Knockturn Alley.

A cloaked Death Eater did not look for wide and flat streets, but hurriedly identified the corners of the deserted alleys, confirmed the direction, estimated the distance, and his flashing figure caused the nearby air to emit a dull explosion.

The flashing speed slowed down as he approached the shabby Leaky Cauldron. He tilted his head slightly to look behind him with a sarcastic smile on his lips, and without stopping for too long, he strode towards the door of the bar.

Old Tom and the guests in the Leaky Cauldron were all old wizards. Less than a minute after the battle started, the bar was empty. The brave ones went to Knockturn Alley to watch the excitement, while the timid ones found a safe place to hide.

The hooded Potions Professor rushed out of the ambush of the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix, without even turning back to save his fellow Death Eaters, and stepped into the bar without encountering any obstacles, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and walked into the fireplace to raise a green flame.

"Ministry of Magic..."

A group of cloaked Death Eaters entered the bar one after another. They looked at the figure disappearing in the green flames and hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether they should continue to follow.

"Should we continue to follow Severus?"

August Rookwood asked in a low voice. In order to deal with the main force of Aurors, most of the Death Eaters' forces were gathered here. However, the situation after the release of the Dark Mark in Knockturn Alley was very different from what they expected.

There were not many Aurors who arrived at the scene, but almost all the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there. Those difficult Hogwarts professors caused them a lot of trouble.

The smart Death Eaters noticed something was wrong and did not fight. After Snape found a way to escape and left, these smart guys immediately followed him out.

"Follow them, of course we have to!" Bellatrix stood up with a pale face, her eyes flashing with madness, "If the master successfully takes control of the Ministry of Magic, we should go and join them. If the master encounters an accident, we should go and support him!"

"With such powerful magic, does the master really need our support?"

Antonius Dolohov's twisted long face was pale and he spoke in a very soft voice. After more than ten years in prison in Azkaban, his loyalty to the Dark Lord, his reverence for pure-bloods, and even the brutality and cruelty in his bones had long been absorbed by the Dementors.

If everything goes well and the Dark Mark once again covers the wizarding world, he can use the power of the mark on his arm to spread fear. He can rely on his identity as a Death Eater to torture the weak, and perhaps he can restore his mentality from sixteen years ago.

But now, the scene from half an hour ago still lingered in his mind. Mulciber's shrill wail after his limbs were twisted by the stone sculpture was still ringing in his ears. Rabastan was hit by dozens of spells, and his eyes were full of disbelief before he fell. Selwyn was tightly entangled by poisonous tentacles, his face flushed, and veins bulged...

Perhaps it was because Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration was too superb, or because Professor Flitwick, a half-goblin, was too frightened to cast hundreds of spells at the same time, or perhaps it was because they were afraid of the twisted poisonous tentacles and devil vines growing everywhere, and the Auror couple who worked in perfect harmony...

In short, Dolokhov just wanted to find a place to catch his breath.

Bellatrix glanced at her companion who had been imprisoned in Azkaban for more than a decade and was still strong and muscular. The tip of her staff flashed a scarlet light, and she sneered and asked, "Do you want to quit, Anthony?"

Dolohov subconsciously clenched her wand, but considering Rodolphus beside her, she shook her head slightly.

"Then let's go!"

The green flames flickered frequently, and the Death Eaters disappeared in the Leaky Cauldron.

……

Ministry of Magic, eighth basement floor.

The non-combat staff were scattered in the middle of the aisle, planning to evacuate via the fireplace. Just when everyone let down their guard, a figure wearing a cloak and a hood suddenly appeared and blended into the scattered crowd.

Bertha Jorkins gritted her teeth. Although there were many experienced Aurors in the main hall, the Death Eater who suddenly appeared was mixed in with the non-combat staff and could not launch a siege. Instead, it would be very convenient for him to attack other people. As a recently promoted assistant minister and a recently recovered victim of the Oblivion Curse, she just wanted to curse. She had been muddled through more than ten years, and not long after she recovered her memory, she ran into the Dark Lord's comeback. As a witch with ordinary combat ability, she was already working hard to follow Dumbledore and Scrimgeour to pass on messages.

He is obviously just a civilian staff member, why should he command the battle now?
Why did it appear at this time? Why didn’t it come earlier or later?
Loren's originally dark eyes were faintly floating with crystal blue light and shadow, and the whole person had some indescribable mysterious meaning. He looked at the familiar magical brilliance under the hood of the cloak, reached out and squeezed Hermione's hand, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Don't worry, it's Professor Snape."

Ignoring the surprised little witch, Loren turned to look at the minister's assistant next to him and found that Miss Jorkins was tense all over, her wand trembling slightly, and she looked even more nervous than Ginny.

Jorkins clenched his wand and stared at the figure. "No matter who you are, before the battle begins, I hope you understand that the Death Eaters who attacked the Ministry of Magic have all been arrested, and your master, the Dark Lord, is also under siege. Headmaster Dumbledore will soon win. I advise you not to resist stubbornly, think rationally, and actively cooperate..."

The hooded Death Eater stood there quietly, looking over, seeming to be in a difficult position.

Loren, who was standing in the middle of the crowd, rolled his eyes and showed a thoughtful expression. Why did Professor Snape choose this time to come back? Did he know about Dumbledore and Scrimgeour's plans...

Before he could figure this out, the fireplaces on both sides of the aisle began to emit green flames again, and more figures wearing cloaks and hoods stepped out one after another.

The main hall was silent for a moment, and was instantly shrouded in all kinds of spells.

Hundreds and thousands of swift and powerful spell beams were flying wildly.

On one side were the Death Eater fugitives who had escaped from the Order of the Phoenix not long ago, and on the other side were the Aurors and civilian staff who had just retreated here. The two sides broke the stalemate as soon as they met, and started a chaotic battle by casting spells at will.

Spells fell like torrential rain, but both sides had not lost their minds. In such a mixed crowd, considering the possibility of accidentally hurting friends, no unforgivable curses were released. Binding spells and stunning spells became the mainstream on the battlefield.

"Stay there..."

As Jorkins finished his words, he saw Harry and the others rushing out.

"Harry Potter! It's Harry Potter!"

"..."

Snape heard the Death Eater beside him shouting in a low voice, and realized that it was one of the Death Eaters who escaped from Azkaban. He quietly stepped aside and immediately shot several spells at the open position, knocking the shouting Death Eater unconscious.

On the other side, Harry, who had been suppressed for a whole day, looked at the nearest Death Eater and swung his wand vigorously: "[Expelliarmus]"

Antonius Dolohov, a burly and well-built man, was knocked away by a beam of red light, as if he had been hit head-on by a giant dragon. He then slammed heavily into the nearest Death Eater and Ministry employee like a kite with a broken string. The three of them flew backwards together and hit the outer wall of the marble fireplace. They gasped for air, their faces turned pale with pain, and they were unable to get up for a long time.

Looking at the Ministry of Magic employee, Harry's figure that was rushing into the battlefield suddenly paused. After a moment of silence, he began to choose less crowded places to cast spells.

Ron and Ginny wandered around the battlefield, occasionally casting a few spells. George and Fred kept wandering around the two of them, always paying attention to blocking the flying evil curses. When they met the Death Eaters lying on the ground, they would stuff something into their mouths from time to time.

"..."

Loren vaguely guessed why Professor Snape rushed to the Ministry of Magic. The Horcruxes had not been completely destroyed, so no matter what, Voldemort could not be eliminated. The professor must have returned for a longer-term plan.

But their plans definitely do not include the current chaos.

We cannot allow this chaotic war to continue.

Loren's mind raced. He squeezed Hermione's hand and whispered, "Help me..."

Hermione was also sorting out her thoughts. She understood his idea with just one look. She took a deep breath, tilted her wand slightly to cover all the wizards present, and said in a deep voice; "[Mist and Clouds]"

Grayish-white mist gushed out, instantly covering the hall.

Looking out from the innermost part of the main hall on the eighth floor, or looking down from the top of the statue fountain, the thick gray-white fog engulfed all the wizards, no matter they were Death Eaters or Ministry of Magic employees. Only a few figures nearby could be vaguely seen. They were on guard against each other and did not dare to cast spells at will.

Bellatrix frowned tightly, she raised her wand, ready to summon a whirlwind to clear the thick fog, when suddenly she heard the sound of air whistling, the continuous rumbling sound became clearer and clearer, and then a huge shadow broke through the thick fog and approached quickly.

She turned her head suddenly and hastily met a pair of eyes as big as lanterns. She raised her wand and pointed it at the giant snake.

However, before she could utter the spell, her entire body was petrified and she was swept to the ground by the giant snake's tail.

The thick fog obscured the view and the rumbling sound echoed endlessly.

Snape's mentality was relatively calm. Compared with the Death Eaters and Ministry of Magic employees who were wary of each other and afraid of accidentally hurting their friends, he seemed more calm and composed. Because he had no friends, he didn't have to worry about whether the person he saw was a Ministry of Magic employee or a Death Eater. He could cast a spell as long as someone approached.

After knocking down a witch, Snape groped his way towards the stairs. He saw two blurry figures approaching him after taking two steps. Just as he raised the spell, a familiar voice suddenly sounded:

"Professor, come this way..."

……

Flames spewed out, and the unimaginable high temperature made the space near the tip of the staff unbearable, twisting and shaking like ripples on a lake.

Voldemort, who was lying on the ground, had bloodshot eyes and a festering face. He tried hard to support his body with his bloody hands, but he couldn't. He raised his head and could only watch the fire grow brighter and brighter.

Humiliation and torture brought about intense hatred and anger, which reached a peak at a certain moment and then dissipated strangely. Past memories flashed before my eyes frame by frame, and countless thoughts floated in my mind.

He got a new body and new strength. Just a few hours ago he was still so powerful. He never thought that he would fail again this time... However, the bloody facts were before him.

He failed again and again, to the point where he began to wonder if there really was some kind of fate, and if he was destined to fail from the beginning.

The scorching heat was getting closer and closer, Voldemort was a little dazed, his brain started to become dull, and he was unwilling to think anymore.

In the Albanian winter, the grass scales made a slight rustling sound when crawling across them, and the ten years of humiliation seemed to have come again.

(End of this chapter)