Cornelius Fudge was having a very long nightmare.

In the dream, he received a Howler from Dumbledore in his bedroom.

Of course, Fudge quickly realized that the Howler wasn't a bad thing; the red letter showed him an opportunity to become the greatest Minister for Magic in the history of the wizarding world. Without hesitating too long, he and Scrimgeour gathered the Aurors and set off in a grand fashion for the remote Armenian forest.

On the way to Armenia, the British Ministry of Magic was like a torch in the night, constantly attracting other Ministries of Magic to join.

Up to this point, the dream was still full of hope and joy.

From what point did things start to go wrong?

Perhaps it was the sight of the werewolves struggling in the water cell, or perhaps it was Lockhart's annoying smiling face. Of course, none of these were as horrifying as hearing the news of the Ministry being attacked, or the speculation about the identities of those dark wizards.

Logically, the nightmare should have ended at this point... but in the middle of the dream, things seemed to get better?

At his persuasion, the Goblin Queen of Gringotts decided to go against ancestral teachings and stand on the side of the magical government against the dark wizards with a clear banner.

The Gringotts goblins finally succumbed to reality and began to obey and serve the Ministry of Magic. This was clearly a more milestone event than a large-scale extermination of werewolves. He walked through the vaults of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and even began to think about how he should answer if the goblins offered to cast a life-size gold statue for him, so that he could both not hurt the goblins' feelings, and express the magnanimity of a great Minister for Magic, and then...

The nightmare finally completely tore off its disguise, revealing its sharp fangs, and pounced over like a man-eating beast!

…………

Istanbul, the Turkish Ministry of Magic hall.

Cornelius Fudge stood in the rubble corridor like a ruin, staring blankly at the air.

After a long while, he had to accept the reality that the green "Dark Mark" represented only one thing: the terror that had lingered over the British wizarding world more than a decade ago, the evil magic that Voldemort and his Death Eaters cast at the scene after each crime—the Dark Mark.

"That person... is he really back, Mr. Fudge?"

Amelia Bones' voice trembled slightly, as if she was in a snowy forest in the dead of winter.

"I—I don't know—uh—I mean, the Dark Mark is the symbol of You-Know-Who—but not You-Know-Who—"

Cornelius Fudge said vaguely, looking around as if hoping someone could tell him what to do.

"I mean... after You-Know-Who disappeared, there were still Death Eaters who would cast it—in short—I suggest we better figure out the situation first. It may be too early to draw conclusions rashly—even if a war breaks out, we have to know who it is, right?"

He added in an almost whimpering voice, looking at the wreckage of the walls on the floor around him, his expression particularly nervous.

Around the British Ministry of Magic Aurors, officials from most of the European magical governments were gathered.

There is no doubt that everyone present now knows what that "Dark Mark" means. Cornelius Fudge wanted to loudly order all Aurors to stop answering the increasingly sharp questions from foreign wizards, so as not to spread panic, but he now seemed to be barely able to protect himself...

Not far away, Atif, the head of the Auror Office of the Turkish Ministry of Magic, walked over with a gloomy face.

Behind him were the Minister of the Turkish Ministry of Magic, the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement...

Dozens of wizards were approaching with some kind of almost visible suppressed anger, and the sound of wizards Apparating could be heard from time to time around them.

Even though some of them were still wearing pajamas and slippers, looking quite funny, Cornelius Fudge couldn't find any space to laugh now. He knew very well what topics would come up next, and every one of them was a nightmare he didn't want to admit.

"It seems there's nothing to say, Voldemort and his followers raided the Turkish Ministry of Magic—war has broken out!"

The Minister of the Turkish Ministry of Magic said with a roar suppressed in his throat, "I heard that Dumbledore had issued a warning, he must know something—oh no—you British must know something in advance—I hope for information sharing—Mr. Cornelius Fudge, you—the British wizarding world must tell us clearly—what exactly is that bastard called Voldemort—what's going on?"

"We don't call him that... You-Know-Who, my goodness, well, I'd like to figure out what happened too!"

Cornelius Fudge shuddered uncomfortably, waving his right hand irritably, answering breathlessly.

"But—here—I—we have to—"

"We'll sit down and talk about this after we've completely driven out the dark wizards who broke into the Ministries of Magic in various countries, counted the casualties, and sorted out the information."

Amelia Bones' monocle reflected a ray of light, and her voice was cold, like a blade cutting in.

"I hope you still remember your previous promise. The Turkish Ministry of Magic is by no means the only government that has been damaged tonight. Although we still don't know the purpose of those dark wizards, it is impossible for them to launch such a shocking attack just to demonstrate to the magical government—our top priority now is to restore the operation of the magical governments of various countries and re-ignite the Floo Network, instead of blaming each other here."

"Casualties—what casualties?!"

Atif, the head of the Turkish Auror Office, turned around abruptly, staring at Bones with wide eyes.

"The Dark Mark, this is not a mark like Grindelwald's that promotes ideas. Its horror has a reason—"

Ms. Bones looked calm, stood beside Cornelius Fudge, looked around, and then raised her finger to point at the Dark Mark above.

The glowing green skull and snake pattern still hung in the air, and some Turkish Ministry of Magic Aurors were casting various spells to try to eliminate it.

"Whenever a Death Eater or Voldemort kills someone, they leave the Dark Mark above the body or the house. Think about it, when you come home from work one day and find the Dark Mark floating above your house..." Bones pursed her lips tightly, as if she remembered something terrible.

"So, those guys leave this mark after killing people who disagree with their ideas?"

"Ideological differences? Oh, no, no, no—"

At this moment, Cornelius Fudge shook his head and corrected solemnly.

"You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters don't have much warning before killing people. Many of them are dangerous elements who enjoy killing and torturing people. I have judged many Death Eaters in the past. They cruelly kill a person, more often because the other person has Muggle blood or likes Muggles."

He glanced at Ms. Bones, then at the Dark Mark and the surrounding environment, his voice becoming more and more serious and terrifying.

"The Dark Mark must be accompanied by a corpse. If there is no dead person, it means they are preparing to commit murder."

"Okay, I understand now. It seems we've been targeted by a bunch of lunatics."

Atif raised his eyebrows, glanced gloomily at the mark in the sky, and then turned to order the two wizards behind him.

"Podak, Rayev... search each floor one by one, as well as the streets around the Ministry of Magic, to see if there are any unfortunate victims. You two will leave the team temporarily and stay at the Ministry of Magic to count the number of people. No matter what method you use, contact everyone in the Ministry of Magic by tomorrow."

"The Ministry of Magic here will be your responsibility, Minister. We will still follow the previous plan and regroup at Gringotts and set off again—"

A group of Aurors nodded solemnly and Apparated away from the Turkish Ministry of Magic hall.

The Turkish Ministry of Magic was only the second magical government they had recovered tonight.

Compared to Armenia, this place was obviously more tragic and chaotic, which undoubtedly increased the worries in the hearts of many wizards...

After all, based on the information currently available, the closer they were to the British wizarding world, the more likely they were to gather a larger number of Death Eaters. Not having an encounter may not be a good thing, because this will only make their public opinion situation more difficult during the day tomorrow.

Fortunately, compared to the British wizarding world, other magical governments are now feeling slightly more relaxed.

Even if Voldemort and the Death Eaters make a comeback, the British wizarding world will inevitably bear the brunt.

Cornelius Fudge was also clearly aware of this. According to the power displayed by the "Death Eaters" today, if Voldemort gathers his forces to "exterminate" the British Ministry of Magic, even if their current number of Aurors expands by a factor of two or three, it still seems to be not enough.

Perhaps... they have to start looking for more reinforcements...

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Hooray!