Mysterious Journey
Chapter 1139: Shadowfire Spreads
The Hyperion was unusually quiet. A semi-transparent, giant magical screen hung in mid-air, with a dozen small window displays flashing and changing constantly. A waterfall of text and numbers occasionally floated from the screens, leaving faint traces of light in the air of the bridge.
The Ministry of Magic had fallen, not just one, or a few—but most of the European magical governments.
"Headmaster, the operation is progressing extremely smoothly. All departments have captured all targets according to the original plan."
This was the first sentence Dumbledore heard after boarding the Hyperion, followed by real-time images of the main halls of various countries' Ministries of Magic.
Decades ago, what Grindelwald had failed to do, that "little witch" had made a reality overnight:
While high-ranking officials and Aurors from various Ministries of Magic went to the Armenian Forest to conduct a "righteous siege" against werewolves, black-robed wizards, the Foundation's personnel, the Destiny Group... all the forces that Hermione could mobilize were dispatched, launching a blitzkrieg against various countries' magical governments under the cover of night.
The Floo Network, built over hundreds of years by the magical world with tens of thousands of fireplaces, fell into complete paralysis under the dual offensive of money and magic.
The Ministries of Magic buildings in various countries were like undefended shops, allowing the "dark wizards" to plunder and destroy at will—magical research, alchemical objects, wizard registry information, prophecy spheres, long-standing files, internal meeting records of the Ministry of Magic... everything with a physical form was a target for looting.
Dumbledore couldn't imagine what a magnificent tsunami would appear in the European magical world when the sun rose tomorrow.
"Hermione, oh no, Miss Fool, where is she now?"
The old wizard took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice calm.
"There were no casualties. This operation follows 'Proposal 17—Seizing the opportunity to steal some information from the Ministry of Magic.' This is the document and message that Captain Cassel entrusted us to pass on to you. She does not want you to misunderstand this operation. For specific details, you can contact Mr. 'Tower'..."
"I want to know... Captain Cassel, where is she now?" Dumbledore slowly exhaled, asking softly.
"England, Little Hangleton, she is personally responsible for the personnel evacuation in London—"
The goblin first mate said carefully, swallowing hard as he recalled the extra performance bonus promised by Her Majesty.
"Miss Fool suggests that instead of spending time arguing and discussing with her, it's better to help the Ministry of Magic officials trapped in the Armenian Forest return to their respective countries smoothly, at least help repair some fireplaces... After all, with the efficiency of the Ministry of Magic, they might miss tomorrow morning's news. As the most powerful wizard in the magical world today, your appearance can also alleviate the anxiety of those politicians—"
"And Mr. 'Tower', you'd better be in the Hyperion's bridge as a contingency..."
"Oh? Do I have a new task tonight?" Grindelwald raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yes, but it depends on whether the action groups encounter any top wizards..."
A light cough rang out unexpectedly. Grindelwald turned his head and saw the guardian of the current magical world looking at him calmly. The azure eyes had no waves, just like the sea before a storm, patiently asking with "peace of mind."
"So, can Mr. 'Tower' first explain to me what exactly is going on?"
Dumbledore glanced at the magical screen not far away, his eyes twitching, and once again took a breath.
"If I'm not too senile, the content of Proposal 17 should be 'stealing information', not occupying the Ministry of Magic, right? And what's going on with the Floo Network being paralyzed? And the 'theft' target we discussed before should only be the British Ministry of Magic, right?"
"Of course, of course it's not occupying the Ministry of Magic—there was no occupation, just taking some things while no one was there."
Grindelwald's eyes swept across the flashing magical screen, and he grinned, his face full of heartfelt joy.
"The Floo Network is to prevent wizards from being accidentally injured in this 'material gathering' operation. Simply closing the fireplaces for a short while at midnight can eliminate dozens of conflicts. What a kind and clever idea. As for the target selection issue you discussed, if I remember correctly, we have been talking about the 'Ministry of Magic' from beginning to end, not the British Ministry of Magic or the French Ministry of Magic. I thought you wouldn't be surprised?"
"Rest assured, Albus, that child has a sense of propriety—the Wizarding War will not break out for the time being."
Grindelwald casually took the stack of documents from the goblin first mate and stuffed it into Dumbledore's hands.
"But you may be busy later. The most dangerous, cunning, and insane dark wizard of this century... oh no, in the history of the magical world has returned. As the head of the International Confederation of Wizards, this time your enemy is the dark world that is secretly colluding together."
It must be said that that lovely little witch was too surprising, truly surpassing them in every aspect.
Capturing most of the European magical world overnight, that one thing alone was enough to make her the most dangerous dark lord of this century.
And what Grindelwald admired even more was that the child didn't seem to want to come to the forefront for the time being—compared to them old fellows, the child clearly preferred to be a "good person," and the quickest shortcut to becoming a good person was to find a way to participate in the process of defeating dark wizards.
Of course, before that, there must first be a "notorious" dark wizard, and it must be the kind who has "done all kinds of bad things."
The politicians in the Ministry of Magic are not fools. If it is not an unavoidable situation, in order to avoid chaos and uncertain disputes, their first reaction when they find signs of dark wizards returning is mostly to cover it up, rather than try to solve and deal with the problem. This situation does not only exist in the British magical world. Almost all wizards who have become high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic during peaceful times will make similar choices.
In fact, in Hermione's model deduction, even after the large-scale "theft" of the Ministry of Magic, there is still about a 20% chance that the Ministries of Magic in various countries will choose to minimize the situation, after all, considering various factors, tonight's actions will not escalate conflicts with casualties.
In this case, the magical society, and even the Ministry of Magic officials, may be temporarily fooled by the Ministry of Magic for a period of time.
Unless...
"Morsmordre!"
In the main hall of the British Ministry of Magic, a huge green light shadow rose high.
The magical canvas that originally hung Cornelius Fudge has now become tattered strips, and above the tattered strips that seem to have been cruelly torn by someone, a huge green skull hangs in mid-air, with a snake emerging from the skull's mouth, like a tongue.
At the same time, above the British Ministry of Magic, in the London night sky, the same green light shadow is rising higher and higher.
Against the backdrop of the dark night sky, it looks like a green, eerie constellation.
And in more distant places...
The same spell and the same magical mark are lit up in the halls of various Ministries of Magic one after another.
Perhaps outside the British magical world, people may not understand the meaning of this fancy and chuunibyou mark for the time being.
However, after the news magazines of various countries start working, they will soon know why the British call Voldemort the "most dangerous and terrifying" dark wizard of the modern era, and the first story they come into contact with is about his and his followers' madness...
"That's about enough, we can evacuate—"
Kurt Meyer glanced at the ugly mark he had practiced for a long time and waved his hand to the people behind him with a look of disgust.
"Okay, burn this place down!"
Behind the middle-aged wizard, crimson flames suddenly rose.
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Yay!