The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 615 In the Shadows

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Dumbledore was met with silence. In that silence, he slowly turned and looked toward the main entrance to the minister's office.

"Pat-pat-pat".

A figure dressed in black robes walked in. In front of Dumbledore, he slowly removed the cat toy, revealing his true appearance.

Yes—it really was him—

"Dumbledore, you don't think I'd hand over the Ministry of Magic to you so easily, do you?" Voldemort said, twirling his wand, his black eyes flashing with a hint of coldness.

Dumbledore chuckled softly upon hearing this: "Tom, I never intended to take over the Ministry of Magic."

"I'm just here to let them do what they're supposed to do."

Voldemort watched Dumbledore laugh, and he couldn't help but smile back, though compared to Dumbledore's leisurely, gentle smile, Voldemort's smile was far more venomous.

"Then you are truly foolish, Dumbledore," he said slowly. "Wizards are born to rule."

""

"And I was born to rule over wizards."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he spoke: "Now you're all alone, without Hamilton—without the Order of the Phoenix, what can you do?"

As he spoke, several more people slowly emerged from behind him.

There were four figures, all wrapped in robes.

As they removed their hoods, their faces were revealed.

"Bella Lestrange—Antonin Dolohoff—and the Caro siblings—" Dumbledore read their names and then shrugged slightly. "It's been a long time."

"Dumbledore, your only way to survive in the face of our master is to surrender!" Bella raised her wand and pointed it at Dumbledore with a fierce look, but Dumbledore only smiled slightly.

He showed no fear whatsoever, no surprise at being ambushed by Voldemort, no terror at being surrounded by Death Eaters, and not even the unexpected events Voldemort had imagined. Dumbledore was simply Dumbledore; he calmly looked at the group as if he had anticipated all of this.

"Tom, is this all you have up your sleeve?" he asked casually. "If that's all, it might not be enough."

""

"I think it's more than enough," Voldemort said, looking at Dumbledore with a mocking gaze. "No matter how much you try to hide your panic, it won't help."

"The Order of the Phoenix, Hamilton—they're not here, and they won't be."

But Voldemort's words seemed to hit a brick wall; Dumbledore merely shrugged and didn't even bother to respond.

Seeing his expression, Voldemort didn't want to waste any more words with him. He snorted and raised his wand.

"Kill Dumbledore!"

The conspiracy within the Ministry of Magic naturally didn't reach Hogwarts, but an ordinary-looking Auror in a tent outside Hogwarts sensed something was amiss.

She had come here to find Scrimgeour on Dumbledore's orders—but just as she arrived, she witnessed Fudge replacing Scrimgeour.

Nymphadora Tonks looked at Hogwarts, which was shrouded in a huge barrier, and then at the Aurors behind her who seemed to have no intention of attacking at all.

For a moment, I didn't know what was going on—why did that guy named Riddle say to wait a bit?

As the replacement for Scrimgeour, Tonks, though he had never met this so-called Mr. Riddle before, subconsciously assumed that he would issue the order for a general offensive, and Tonks was also prepared to cause trouble during the attack.

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The result was beyond her expectations—Mr. Riddle simply told the Aurors to wait quietly while he went into his tent and hasn't come out yet.

This left her completely bewildered—after all, not knowing that Riddle was Voldemort, she could never have imagined that it was all just a ruse, merely a way to distract those still at Hogwarts.

So, after a brief moment of thought, Tonks boldly walked to the vicinity of the tent, wanting to quietly find out what was going on inside.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic camp was in complete chaos at this time. Aurors who wanted to attack, Aurors who wanted to retreat, and Aurors who did not want to be enemies of Hogwarts were all mixed together. They were arguing and quarreling. Without a leader, they were like a swarm of headless flies.

Amid the chaos, Tonks managed to quietly open the tent flap.

"ah?!"

Upon seeing what was inside the tent, Tonks was speechless with astonishment.

Because Mr. Riddle, who had just entered the tent, was nowhere to be seen! It was as if he had vanished into thin air—what on earth happened!

No—I have to tell Dumbledore—but isn't Dumbledore too much?—Tonks looked at Hogwarts not far away, pursed her lips, and then took a deep breath.

"We've captured an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, Professor Hamilton!"

As Loila stood at the entrance of Hogwarts, looking at the strange and chaotic Auror camp not far away, she suddenly saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron walking towards her with an Auror from the Ministry of Magic.

"She tried to sneak into Hogwarts, but we caught her!" Harry said proudly.

"That's right!" Ron nodded. "She actually thought about resisting—"

Only Hermione pursed her lips and said, "We caught her by surprise—"

"Ah————" Upon hearing this, Loila pursed her lips, looked thoughtfully at the Auror they had caught, and then widened her eyes after a moment of surprise.

"Tonks—Miss Tonks?!"

"Ah—it's Roy—" Tonks looked up at Royla somewhat awkwardly: "The students of Hogwarts are really—impressive—"

"So you two really do know each other!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes wide. "I thought you were just making this up!"

"I already told them I'm with the Order of the Phoenix!" Tonks said, on the verge of tears, "but they still don't believe me."

Um... Looking at Miss Tonks in her Auror uniform, Roy thought that even if it were his first time, he might not trust her.

But why is Miss Tonks here? Loila only knows that she went on a secret mission, but how did this secret mission end up at Hogwarts and get captured by the students?

Is this what happened?

"Loila—I have something very important to tell you!"

"Fudge just arrived with some guy named Riddle, and they dismissed Director Scrimgeour!"

Riddle—isn't that Voldemort?

So, the Aurors outside are now under Voldemort's command? Does that mean they'll soon be—

"And then Riddle disappeared too!"

"what?"

Loila stared wide-eyed at Miss Tonks in surprise.

"Voldemort... he's gone too?"

"What?! Riddle is Voldemort?!"

Well, now it's Miss Tonks' turn to be surprised.

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