Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 945 Stay away

Hawthorne's laughter echoed in the deathly silence, hoarse, desolate... insane.

He laughed so hard he almost fell over, tears welling up in his eyes, as if he had never encountered anything so ridiculous in his life.

People around him looked at him with various expressions—astonishment, disdain, and wariness, but mostly with a condescending indifference as if looking down on a madman.

They stood as if on an invisible bleacher, looking down at the distraught, deranged chairman, their last trace of doubt and guilt seemingly erased by this "madness"—

See, he's definitely not acting normally anymore.

Leila Picqueli frowned slightly, a cold look of disgust and impatience flashing in her eyes. She waved her hand lightly and said indifferently:
“Grim, arrest him.”

Rex Grimm gritted his teeth and strode toward Hawthorne, who was still laughing, reaching out to make the arrest.

However, just as his fingertips were about to touch Hawthorne's arm—

A silent yet terrifyingly powerful red spell suddenly struck from the side and rear, hitting Grimm's ribs with precision and ruthlessness!

"Ugh—!"

Grim let out a short, painful roar, his entire body flying through the air like a sandbag being hit by a giant hammer, tracing an arc before crashing heavily onto the stone slab several meters away!

Upon landing, he curled up and coughed up a mouthful of blood. He struggled to get up, but couldn't muster the strength.

Lyra turned around abruptly, looking in the direction from which the spell had come.

At the edge of the crowd, Mrs. Serafina Picqueli was already standing there.

The elderly former chairman looked haggard. Because she had rushed over, she was still wearing a pair of fluffy slippers, and her shawl had slipped halfway off.

Her body trembled slightly from excitement and emotional turmoil, but her hand holding the wand remained as steady as a rock, the tip pointing straight and unwaveringly at Lyra.

Her eyes were no longer filled with the restraint and turbidity she had when she was under house arrest, but instead burned with a raging fire and a resolute determination born of utter betrayal and unbearable frustration.

Her gaze was sharp as a knife, so much so that even the "judges" around her were momentarily silenced.

Everyone avoided her gaze, and the people closest to her subconsciously took a few steps back.

The air seemed to freeze.

Hawthorne's laughter abruptly ceased. He stood rooted to the spot, his dark gaze fixed on the frail Serafina.

“Mrs. Picqueli!” Leila said coldly, “What are you trying to do? Attacking an Auror and harboring criminals! For that alone, I can arrest you!”

"Then pin a crime on me too and arrest me! Otherwise—"

Serafina's chest heaved violently, her aged voice trembling with rage:

“Leila Picqueli! I will not allow... I will absolutely not allow you to use such dirty tricks to trample on the law and frame your colleagues!”

Leila's face instantly darkened. She took a deep breath, quickly transforming the shock and anger on her face into a pained and stern expression of "sacrificing family for the greater good," and her voice suddenly rose:

"Aunt! Have you been blinded by Hawthorne's sweet talk?! Look here! Look at Perez's corpse, look at the horrific state of Director Hughes!"

“Nicholson Hawthorne has committed an undeniable heinous crime! Are you really going to make an enemy of the entire Magical Congress to protect a murderer who harmed his colleague?!”

Having said that, she no longer hesitated and gave the order sternly:
"Lady Serafina Picqueli has suffered a mental breakdown and is behaving out of control! To prevent her from harming herself or others, she must be temporarily restrained!"

Several Aurors and officials hesitated for a moment, then steeled themselves and approached Seraphina. "Don't make things difficult for us, Mrs. Picqueri..." one of them whispered, "Hawthorne is destined to step down, you don't need to..."

"Collapse!"

"Collapse!"

Lady Serafina showed no sign of backing down, her wand flashing out precise and sharp spells that sent the two who approached first flying.

She roared angrily, "I don't care what benefits Lyra gave you, but you! You've stooped to this level! Gilbert, I never thought you were one of them!"

Fontana, whose name was called, raised her eyes and said, "Believe it or not, Seraphina... everything we've done is for the American wizarding world. Hawthorne is old-fashioned and out of touch with the times. He may not be a bad person, but he is certainly an obstacle to the development of the Magical Congress..."

Before he could finish speaking, and as everyone's attention was focused on the two of them, a scream, distorted with extreme terror, suddenly erupted from the other side of the crowd—

"Put it down! Hawthorne! What are you trying to do?!"

All eyes instinctively turned to look, only to see that Hawthorne, who had been laughing maniacally and lost in thought, had quietly taken baby Hughes into his arms, and there was something else beside him:
It was a dazzling golden sphere, like a star plucked from the night sky, hovering above Hawthorne's palm, slowly rotating.

Inside the sphere of light, fine golden particles swirled like a nebula, exquisitely beautiful yet also extremely dangerous.

At that moment, everyone who witnessed the tragic state of Hughes and Perez changed color and stared at Hawthorne in horror.

Hawthorne's face had lost its madness and smile, leaving only a calm, chilling hatred and indifference.

His gaze swept over Leila, over Fontana, and over every face present, whether familiar or unfamiliar.

He once thought these faces represented the future of the American magical world, the people he wanted to support and protect.

Finally, he looked at Serafina.

"Thank you, Serafina."

He said calmly, "I'm sorry, but I can no longer keep my promise to you. So now, stay away, madam!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the golden sphere of light suddenly rose into the sky, bursting forth with dazzling light!

"He's going to detonate time particles!"

"Run—!"

"Stop him!"

Terrified screams and roars erupted instantly as everyone ran desperately in all directions. Some even forgot they were wizards, stumbling and falling before scrambling away.

Some people remembered that the golden powder couldn't withstand the most ordinary wind, so they hurriedly used a weather spell. However, they weren't the only ones who had this idea, but the direction of their spells was different.

In an instant, the airflow in the arena became extremely chaotic, with countless whirlwinds rushing around like headless flies, and no one could predict where the next gust of wind would come from.

Seraphina did not run away. She waved her wand, and her cloak suddenly grew several times larger, enveloping her entire body.

On the other side, Leila was not panicked, because Fontana was right behind her. With Principal Ilhamoni's abilities, not even a speck of dust could land on them.

She coldly observed the panicked crowd, watched the sphere of light explode in the sky, and uttered only one sentence:
"Don't let him escape in the chaos, sir."

(End of this chapter)