England, deep in Dartmoor Forest.

A python struggled to slither across the moss among the misty swamps, canyons, and rocks.

After a moment, it stopped amidst the rough, twisted branches that had grown between the rocks. A vague, weak black shadow slowly floated out of the python's corpse. It hovered in the air for a few seconds, identified a direction, and silently drifted deeper into the dense forest.

The life force of small animals like snakes and lizards was too weak, but he didn't have much choice at the moment.

…………

Malfoy Manor, Lucius sat on the sofa in the living room, staring blankly at the newspaper in his hand.

In the air above the ruined Ministry of Magic hall, a Dark Mark floated. The bold headline on the cover looked particularly glaring.

He exchanged a look with his wife, and something cold gradually seeped out from their bones and blood.

Undoubtedly, the Dark Lord had returned, but—

As "former" Death Eaters, the two of them still hadn't received a summons from the Dark Lord...

…………

United States, Louisiana, a rural farm.

Thompson sat on a wooden stump by his cowshed, glanced at his busy wife not far away, and then looked at the old wizards in front of him.

"Lotnikov? Yes, that was my name in the past... You've finally come—"

He tapped his pipe on the wooden stump, a self-deprecating expression appearing on his face.

Ever since the wizards from the Magical Congress of the United States of America came to his home to inquire about the matter some time ago, that shadow had begun to transform from a nightmare into reality.

In fact, after learning that dozens of wizarding families involved in "that case" had mysteriously disappeared, Lotnikov knew that his time was running out—once those wizarding families were properly settled and stabilized, the first thing they would do was come to him to collect their debt.

However, what he didn't expect was that Yermolaj Ivanovich would be the one to carry out the "judgment".

"—That's it then. If possible, please convey my apologies."

The old man sighed deeply, as if relieved of a great burden.

He still couldn't escape this judgment...

…………

Armenia.

Old Hashi looked up at the creaking ceiling of the living room.

Being young is truly wonderful—

His gaze swept over the sumptuous lunch on the table, a gentle smile flashing in his eyes.

In Aghasi Hacyan's memory, such a lively scene had only occurred decades ago, when he had just graduated from school.

The old wizard shook his head, ignored the young couple celebrating their birthday upstairs, adjusted his thick reading glasses, and continued to study the instructions in his hand. To his right was a brand-new metal badge, three inward-pointing silver arrows shimmering in the morning light.

A Chartered Senior Consultant for the Foundation? Sounds good.

Unfortunately, he was getting old, and could only pass on some of the sparks as much as possible, letting the young people go and see that new world.

…………

Hogwarts, Hufflepuff girls' dormitory.

On the spacious, warm yellow and black bed, four girls were nestled together, sleeping soundly.

At some point, the owl-shaped alarm clock placed on the bedside table suddenly started ringing.

A hand reached out from under the covers, groping to grab the yelling alarm clock and casually toss it away.

Splat—

Clatter, bang, crash—

The alarm clock drew a less-than-graceful arc in the air, hitting squarely against the edge of the dressing mirror on the other side of the room. The mirror resisted for half a second before quickly tipping over, landing squarely on the desk next to it, knocking down the quill and ink on the desk, and making a series of clattering noises.

Meanwhile, the magically reinforced owl-shaped alarm clock remained buried in the pile of debris, faithfully emitting its shrill ringing.

"Ugh, someone turn off that... that damn alarm clock..."

In the blanket, the girls groggily jostled each other a few times, and a girl with messy hair was accidentally pushed off the bed.

The poor little badger sat on the carpet for a few seconds, quickly realizing what had happened.

She glared angrily at her "plastic" besties, who were shrinking back into the covers like quails.

"Oh, you asked for it..." She grabbed her wand from the side of the cabinet and waved it.

"Aguamenti!"

…………

A cold jet of water appeared out of thin air.

With exclamations, the girls quickly sat up.

Soon after, a very bloody revenge would unfold here...

The view rotated outwards from this bedroom, and Hogwarts, which had been asleep all night, gradually began to awaken.

Perhaps for the vast majority of adult wizards in the magical world, that night, and the day that was beginning, would be an exceptionally long and confusing period of their lives, but for the little wizards of Hogwarts, it was merely the last day before the weekend arrived.

And at this time, the biggest gossip among the students was still the magical conflict that had occurred in Transfiguration class yesterday.

Many people were speculating about how the Ministry of Magic and Umbridge would deal with this "audacious" problem student, Elena.

Most importantly, the first class scheduled for the second years this morning was Defense Against the Dark Arts—and the professor was none other than Umbridge herself. On the way from the dormitory to the school's Great Hall for breakfast, the little wizards' gossip still revolved around the second clash between Umbridge and Elena.

Some busybodies even started a betting pool, guessing whether the two would fight again in class later.

However, all the speculation was off the mark from the start.

Halfway through breakfast, Umbridge was the first to receive a pile of letters and newspapers.

Immediately afterwards, everyone saw the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic knock over her goblet in shock and stand up, hurriedly leaving the Hogwarts Great Hall. And with the visit of owl messengers, the whole school quickly learned what was happening outside.

The storm outside the school finally began to ripple through Hogwarts Castle.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back!"

"The Dark Lord broke into the Ministry of Magic last night!"

"Ministry of Magic in Ruins: The Second Wizarding War has begun!"

"Nineteen magical governments have declared a state of emergency, jointly responding to attacks by the dark forces."

"How many Death Eaters are still lurking around us?"

"Cornelius Fudge claims that the Aurors of multiple magical ministries are cooperating and have now controlled hundreds of werewolves!"

"The Dark Lord has returned, what is his purpose?"

"Be wary of foreign wizards of unknown origin!"

"The Ministry of Magic will soon publish a basic defense guide for families and individuals..."

In the midst of the uproar, Elena and the others yawned as they focused on drinking their bowls of milk and oatmeal.

When she returned to Hogwarts last night, it was almost three in the morning. She had thought that the other little wings would definitely be unable to stay awake and would have fallen asleep, but to her surprise, they were all wearing pajamas, drooping their heads, and huddled in the bedroom waiting for her to return with news.

Naturally, under these circumstances, a simple explanation was unavoidable.

By the time everything had been explained, the clock was almost pointing to five.

"Hermione, you remembered to bring your pillow, right? Catch up on sleep in class later—"

Elena yawned again, looked at the little wings next to her, "Remember to cast the illusion charm, Luna, I taught you... Luna, you and Hannah have to rely on yourselves. I heard that drinking too much invigorating potion is not good, we should try to catch up on sleep during study hall instead..."

"As for more stories... we'll chat slowly after Professor Lockhart returns..."

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Sob sob sob~

ps: Just found out that the book my grandfather participated in revising and compiling can also be found on the Qidian App~

"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" (1979 Edition)