Hogwarts Library.

A few scattered students were doing their homework at the wooden tables, or browsing books that were not allowed to be taken out.

And the long table in the corner of the library had almost become the exclusive seating area for Luna, Hermione, Hannah, and others. When there were plenty of seats in the library, Madam Pince would even deliberately leave this area empty for them—after all, these children were just too adorable.

Over time, the students also followed a certain unspoken agreement, avoiding walking around the long table in that corner unless absolutely necessary.

However, this unspoken agreement obviously only existed within Hogwarts...

When Xenophilius paced past Luna for the third time, Luna finally couldn't help but look up.

"Dad, if you're bored, you can find some books about magical creatures on the third bookshelf on the right to pass the time..."

"Uh, I'm just browsing—Luna, don't mind me. Have you finished your homework?"

Mr. Lovegood scratched his cheek awkwardly, quickly changing the subject.

"If you hadn't been giving me pointers and causing trouble, I probably would have finished it a few minutes ago—"

Luna rolled her eyes at Mr. Lovegood, saying it in a bad mood.

Beside her, Hermione and Hannah exchanged excited glances, enjoying the scene.

Having known her for so long, they had rarely seen Luna show such an impatient and confrontational attitude. However, since Mr. Lovegood had excitedly appeared in the library a few minutes earlier and enthusiastically offered to help them with their homework and give suggestions, Luna had rolled her eyes at least three or four times.

"It's not my fault. When I was in school, there was no such subject as mathematics and science—"

Xenophilius defended himself quietly, glancing at Madam Pince, who was patrolling the library with a feather duster not far away.

He originally thought those were astronomy assignments involving calculating orbits or something, but who knew that second-year students at Hogwarts now learned math.

"Then can you explain why you secretly changed my grammar homework?"

Luna glared at her best friends, who were trying to stifle their laughter, opened the composition book she hadn't had time to deal with, and said angrily, "Do you know how long it took me to write these reading notes and reflections? You haven't even read Professor Lockhart's works, so why did you modify my essay—"

"Because he's not originally—"

Xenophilius opened his mouth, helplessly opening and closing it a few times, staring blankly at his daughter's angry eyes.

Silver eyes, a calm, disgusted look, exactly like her mother, even her anger was so adorable.

"—Reading comprehension assignments are worth a lot of points, and there are so many people waiting to see mine..."

Luna became more and more angry. As the class monitor of Class B in the second grade at Hogwarts, the biggest change she had experienced since the beginning of this semester was that she had replaced some of Hermione Granger's original importance among the students, becoming the only true deity for some of the academic slackers when they rushed to finish their homework on weekends.

What made her even more angry was that Luna narrowed her eyes and looked at her embarrassing old father.

"Dad—Dad! You're spacing out again! This is the third time today—"

"Huh? No, no, I was listening..."

Mr. Lovegood came back to his senses, trying hard to recall what his daughter had just said.

Just then, a loud bang suddenly came from downstairs.

Luna turned her head to look at the corridor outside, while Hannah and Hermione had already stood up.

The list of Hogwarts student prefects was no longer limited to Hannah alone.

After several rounds of selection, Luna, Hermione, and Hannah were now all Hogwarts prefects.

"What was that sound—?"

The girls exchanged puzzled glances, murmuring softly.

Xenophilius vaguely heard the commotion coming from downstairs. He guessed it might be the entrance hall area because Gilderoy Lockhart had specifically reminded him earlier that some extremely dangerous witches might be lurking in that area.

Luna frowned, subconsciously looking at her father.

"Did anything unusual happen when you came up, Dad? Do you know anything?"

"Probably the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge leading the Aurors to arrest Quirrell... They're probably almost at the entrance hall now—anyway, it's nothing..."

Mr. Lovegood shook his head. Another loud rumble came from below.

This time, all the students in the library stood up from their seats. Even Madam Pince put down her feather duster and walked outside to see what was happening downstairs. Footsteps and curious, panicked discussions echoed in the corridor outside.

Luna, Hermione, and Hannah exchanged glances, took off their robes, and rushed out, wands in hand.

Mr. Lovegood hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly drew his wand and quickly followed.

…………

The source of the chaos was indeed the entrance hall.

As Xenophilius followed his daughter and her friends down the stairs, the noise outside became even louder.

Arriving at the hall floor, the group found the entrance hall already crowded with students from all grades—many students nearby who had heard the sound had gathered to see what was happening. Many people were crowded on the nearby stairs, looking around. A constant stream of students was still rushing towards this area, following the sound.

"Sorry, excuse me, I'm a prefect—never mind—rua! rua!"

Hannah pushed through the crowd at the front, leading Luna, Hermione, and others through the older students who were blocking the way to watch the excitement.

Mr. Lovegood also closely followed the girls' footsteps, squeezing past the students who were being pushed aside like straw. He saw that the onlookers had formed a large circle. Some seemed shocked, some looked terrified, but most were—excited.

Aileen was standing directly opposite Hannah and the others. She seemed quite satisfied with the scene before her.

Umbridge and Scrimgeour, along with a group of Aurors, stood in the middle of the empty space in the entrance hall, clutching their wands tightly, covered in dust, looking indescribably disheveled. Umbridge's usual fake smile had long disappeared. Her pink cardigan was covered in a layer of fine stone powder, and the black coats of the Aurors beside her were also stained with dirt and dust, no longer as neat and imposing as before.

Umbridge stared furiously at the front, seemingly never expecting to be stopped at the entrance in such a threatening manner.

Behind them, Quirrell, whose hands were handcuffed with warning bracelets, was quite calm—he knew the outcome as soon as he saw the old man.

"You're crazy!" Umbridge shrieked, "You're crazy! Do you know what you're doing... You're attacking Ministry of Magic officials in public! That's a serious crime!"

"Oh, is this... the first time you've seen a magical explosion?"

A gentle voice asked curiously, seeming amused.

Xenophilius leaned forward and saw Grindelwald standing lazily by the door, casually playing with his wand.

"Although this is a relatively peaceful and tranquil era, you should have also learned in class. The existence of magic and wands is not for wizards to better submit to power, but to have the ability to defend themselves and resist when they encounter injustice and persecution. I think my spell didn't hit you, otherwise you should be lying on the ground instead of standing here talking to me..."

"Persecution? Injustice? What nonsense!"

Umbridge roared angrily, her gaze sweeping fiercely over the reporters holding cameras around them.

"We have a search warrant! An arrest warrant! I am the Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic, and I have the right to arrest wizards suspected of violating the law! No one can hinder the Ministry of Magic from performing its duties! I order you to get out of the way immediately, otherwise you will be sent to prison before Quirrell is even tried."

"This is Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic's orders are not so effective here," Grindelwald said.

Seeing the frantic Umbridge and the terrified Aurors, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Besides, I remember I said from the beginning that as the caretaker of Hogwarts, I can't stand by and watch outsiders take away a formal professor from the school without permission. You can find a place to sit down first and ask for the headmaster's permission after he's finished with his work, or..."

The retired old demon king spun his wand into a beautiful wand flower, elegantly pointing to the ground.

"Temporarily abandon the decision to transfer and escort Professor Quirrell, and leave Hogwarts gracefully..."

"If I remember correctly, the caretaker doesn't seem to have this responsibility, Mr. Apocalis?"

Rufus Scrimgeour looked at the old man blocking his path, saying in a solemn voice.

He had learned the old man's true identity from Umbridge earlier:

The only two magic stone holders and refiners in the magical world today, one of the founders of the magical world's healer system, the legendary great alchemist Paracelsus.

In the two rounds of "magical warnings" just now, he had clearly felt that there might be a certain gap in strength between the two sides.

"Oh, is that so? Maybe I misremembered the job description."

Grindelwald raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat helplessly towards the stairs above.

Dumbledore was taking too long, he had stalled for at least seven or eight minutes.

If it were a different place, he would have evaporated all these young people, but under the various rules and restrictions of that girl Aileen—no lethal spells, no war magic, no obvious dark magic...

And he had to be careful to maintain his current identity, and must not have a situation where his disguise was exposed in public.

Grindelwald thought carefully for a moment, thought about it, and raised a finger to continue explaining seriously.

"Oh, right, you see, Hogwarts only has one Muggle Studies professor. If Professor Quirrell is taken away, then I will probably have to teach Muggle Studies for that period. Compared to the trouble of so many days later, I think the best option right now is for you all to wait here for a while. If Professor Dumbledore allows it, I naturally won't continue to obstruct..."

"The Ministry of Magic can temporarily appoint a wizard to serve as a professor. It's not difficult to find a Muggle Studies professor—"

Umbridge impatiently interrupted Grindelwald, looking coldly at the old wizard in front of her.

"Hmm, is this reason not so suitable either? Never mind, these are not important. In short, I won't let you pass through here..."

After thinking for half a second, the unremarkable caretaker spread his hands, giving up on finding new excuses to delay.

"So, if you plan to take Quirrell away just like that, then you might as well just do it—"

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Yay!