Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

The forests of Albania, like eternally burning green fires, paint the sky the color of death.

But today, a striking black and red hue has disrupted the original colors.

The Carol siblings fled for their lives. They originally had a group of elite Green Flame core members, but after their failed attack on Hogwarts, losing nearly half of their men, Voldemort ordered them to recuperate and lie in ambush in the forests of Albania.

But that evening, deadly flames descended from the sky, burning their camp, or rather, destroying the entire forest.

"Damn it! Have they lost their minds?! Why did they suddenly attack us?!"

Alecto Caro cursed loudly, behind her a group of silent wizards wielding identical wands and dressed in black robes.

They released fierce flames in unison from the tips of their staffs, but instead of restraining them, they allowed them to burn freely, forming all sorts of terrifying fire beasts that devoured the spells of the Carlo siblings one by one.

Amicus Carlo, Alecto's brother, fled in a cold sweat: "Say less. If we can escape to our master, there's still a chance of survival."

The arsonists weren't in a hurry to hunt them down. In fact, apart from the brother and sister, all the other Death Eaters had already perished in the fire. They were left alive only to see Voldemort.

The prayers of the Carlo siblings finally came to fruition, or perhaps the raging flames were too dazzling, drawing the attention of their master to everything that was happening.

A deadly wind suddenly swept in from the forest, meeting the raging flames and instantly halting their momentum.

In the woods, dark, damp mist gathered together, forming a shadowy, deep green humanoid figure—Voldemort, who had saved his two terrified subordinates.

"Lady Rozier?" Voldemort recognized the leader of the arsonists.

He narrowed his eyes and said in a dangerous tone, "Is the UMNO declaring war on the Green Flame Party?"

The black-robed figure at the front removed his cloak, revealing a graceful and charming old woman with a full head of silver hair. She held a wand between her fingers, her eyes fixed on Voldemort with indifferent gaze, as if he were not some embodiment of death, but an insignificant ant.

"Declare war? The Green Flame Party is not worthy to be the Saints' opponent?" she chuckled softly in her still melodious voice.

"Tom Riddle, I have come to proclaim the punishment my Lord has given you."

"Punishment?" Voldemort was momentarily confused.

The old woman pulled a skull from under her cloak, within which burned a profound and powerful black flame.

The skull's mouth opened and closed, emitting a dignified yet indifferent male voice: "Hogwarts is the cage that imprisoned Dumbledore, a tower from which he can never escape. Riddle, you have crossed the line."

It was the voice of the Dark Lord. Voldemort felt a sharp pain in his soul, as if he were facing the world's top king in person.

But soon, a burning anger ignited from the bottom of his heart.

Who do you think you are, lecturing me like that! Lecturing the embodiment of death! Lecturing an immortal god!

He's just an old dog born a few years earlier! Just a loser who was beaten down by goblins and Muggles and forced to retreat to Paris! This natural arrogance and self-righteous tone, does he really think he's the destroyer of the world?

He himself should be the future ruler of the world! An immortal god on earth!

With the overwhelming power of death gathering, Voldemort decided to teach Grindelwald a lesson. He would leave Rosier and his companions here forever, to make him understand that the embodiment of death should not be trifled with!

But the next moment, the skull in Rozier's hand opened its mouth wide, and from the black fire within the skull, a pale and aged hand suddenly emerged. This hand casually extended its finger and pointed at Voldemort.

The next moment, not only the avatar in front of them, but even Voldemort's true body in his lair was hit as if by a terrifying cannonball.

To the horror of the Carol siblings, their master was suddenly sent flying backward, crashing into dozens of withered trees. Deep within his lair, unseen by them, Voldemort lay sprawled on the ground, convulsing in agony. A piercing burning sensation, like a rolling log, relentlessly crushed him, making his once invincible soul tremble and weaken.

After an unknown amount of time, the extreme pain slowly subsided, and Voldemort, panting heavily, got up from the ground.

In the distance, before the Carlo siblings, Rozier and his men drifted away, leaving behind only powerless skulls and raging flames.

On this day, the people living in nearby caves saw that the entire forest of Albania erupted with terrifying green clouds, extinguishing the raging black flames.

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Meanwhile, on the other side of Europe, in the council hall of Malfoy, people sat in circles, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

Today, leaders from all the wizarding communities across Europe have come, and even wizards from the Americas and Africa have come to witness the trial of Lucius Malfoy, the nominal master of Malfoy Castle, after hearing the news of Hogwarts.

"Do you think Dumbledore will come?"

"Don't even think about it. He hasn't shown up for several years. It's said that he's preparing a powerful spell to fight the Dark Lord again."

"But I suspect he's tied up with something troubling, which is why he couldn't even show up when Hogwarts was attacked!"

"But this is Lucius' trial, and it's in Malfoy, on their own turf."

"I guessed it was McGonagall, the vice principal."

"Hogwarts isn't having an easy time either," a plump wizard said gleefully. "I heard that the vice-principal went head-to-head with Voldemort. He was lucky enough to survive, but he's critically injured and won't be able to get out of bed for a while."

"Who else can Hogwarts send? The rest aren't very influential, are they? Don't you think so, Mrs. Sinta?"

"Dumbledore doesn't dare send Sprout. That old badger is too naive; he'll be easily manipulated by these nobles," said an old witch in a distinctive alchemist's robe, clearly representing Beauxbatons.

"It can't be Flitwick, can it? I don't want to share a room with someone who has goblin blood!" a wizard with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face said exaggeratedly. The wand at his waist was exactly the same as Lucius's, made of human bone, obviously from a pure-blood family.

"If he sends that wretched bird again this time, we can't accept it. Only a wizard's personal presence shows respect for the Inquisition!"

"Just watch. If the Hogwarts messengers can't effectively suppress these nobles, Lucius's trial will become a joke. A few insignificant Galleons and a few barrels of vegetables and meat will be enough to get it over with." This was a wizard from America, where the situation was different from Europe, but not much better. He watched coldly and said to his friend beside him.

The purebloods who sided with House Malfoy were rubbing their hands together, pondering how to cleverly exonerate Lucius. They were too closely tied to House Malfoy; if Lucius fell, the other families would greedily divide up their assets, leaving not a single nut, in order to make up for the huge compensation paid by House Malfoy.

Boom boom boom!

Seated in the high seat at the center was the current Speaker of the House of Malfoy – Barty Crouch Sr., who struck the gavel beside him to signal everyone to be quiet.

Sitting next to him was Narcissa Malfoy, dressed in black with a sorrowful expression.

"Time's almost up, has the Hogwarts representative arrived yet?"

The attendant leaned closer and whispered, "Since they brought the prisoner here yesterday, no one has shown their face."

Barty Crouch's lips twitched slightly, a hint of disappointment in his heart. Among the families of Malfoy Castle, he was on the side that didn't want the other side to have an easy time, but he also absolutely didn't want Malfoy Castle to bleed heavily and pay a huge sum of money to Hogwarts, which would be paid for by all the families.

Therefore, the best outcome would be for a representative of moderate weight to convict Lucius of the crime but limit the reparations to the Malfoy family itself.

"It seems Hogwarts really can't spare any manpower; they've opted out of participating in this trial."

He glanced around and said, "In that case, everyone, let's begin on our own."

Just as he was about to proceed with the procedure and have Lucius escorted onto the stage, a gasp interrupted him. The next moment, more and more wizards stood up and looked toward the entrance to the hall.

He turned his head in confusion, and his breath caught in his throat.

It's Dumbledore, the most powerful white wizard who disappeared for several years!

At this moment, he stood smiling at the entrance, just as he had been years ago, even stronger than before. A faint white light emanated from him, giving people warmth and strength.

No one knows who started it, but the applause grew from nothing until it resounded throughout the parliament hall.