Deep within the Armenian forest.

The smells of blood, steel, and plant sap mingled, emitting a nauseating stench.

The pungent, acrid heat of gunpowder permeating the damp air was gradually dissipating. After more than half an hour of intense volley fire, the ammunition scattered throughout this werewolf settlement was exhausted. However, this secret magical battle, waged against a hundred foes, was far from over.

Now, Lockhart was left with only his wand and magic. Around him, there were still at least twenty werewolves capable of movement.

Many of the werewolves had bloodstains, scorch marks, and frost on their fur. However, their roars grew fiercer and sharper, and their attacks became increasingly dangerous.

As time passed, the effectiveness of Lockhart's magic gradually diminished. The werewolves began to consciously avoid spells. Even though their wounds looked quite terrible, most did not affect their mobility. In contrast to their earlier all-out assault, the werewolves' hunting method gradually emerged. They attacked Lockhart in waves, patiently whittling away at his energy without giving him any respite.

Unlike normal beasts or wizards, the werewolves, bathed in the moonlight, seemed to possess endless regenerative abilities and vitality.

"Stupe— Stupefy!"

Lockhart croaked, quickly turning and waving his wand at the werewolf pouncing from behind.

As time went on, his magical errors increased. The multiple spellcasting, originally meshing together like precisely interlocking gears, inevitably developed dissonance.

He felt his throat was about to catch fire. High-intensity magical combat was more tiring than he had imagined. Perhaps some of this burden came from magical power and physical exhaustion, but more of it manifested in the more difficult-to-describe spiritual realm. He didn't know how long he had endured. Time had lost its meaning for Lockhart at this point. All he could think about was resisting the werewolves as much as possible and holding out until the "Miss's" meeting ended.

The scarlet beam of magic shot out like a sharp arrow, but the thing Lockhart feared finally happened. His spell had missed…

No –

These werewolves, they're getting smarter!

Lockhart looked at the black werewolf less than half a meter away from him. He could clearly see the cunning glint in its bloodthirsty eyes. The moment he raised his wand, this guy must have suddenly stopped in place for half a second before quickly turning and leaping. It was predicting and dodging the spell!

Half a meter was too close for a werewolf. Lockhart subconsciously took a half step back, his wand held steady forward.

More importantly…

Lockhart glanced around. Three more werewolves rushed out from the shadows to his left rear and right.

In this fast-paced spell suppression, once a gap for "finishing" spells appeared, the subsequent chain reaction would be more than just being flustered. As for Apparition and quick spellcasting… these magical techniques, belonging to top wizards, were still somewhat distant for him.

"Is this the limit? It seems I overestimated myself—"

Lockhart sighed softly, his second spell accurately blasting the werewolf in front of him away.

Immediately afterward, he quickly turned his wand, repelling the two werewolves to his left rear. The wand swept through the air in a wide arc, helping the last werewolf, which had just leaped into the air, to suddenly accelerate forward, flying over his head and crashing into the dense branches on the other side of the forest.

But in the area he could see, more werewolves, as if they had received a general attack signal, swarmed forward like a tide.

Perhaps… rescue would never arrive?

Would it have been better if he hadn't acted like a hero just now?

Lockhart looked at the tide of werewolves rushing in from all directions, took a deep breath, and raised his aching arm.

Boom! Rumble—

The decaying leaves and clods of earth on the ground suddenly exploded. An invisible shockwave spread out from Lockhart as the center, sweeping towards the werewolves in all directions. Dark brown waves of earth crashed towards the werewolves like an overwhelming avalanche, pushing them to the end of the forest clearing dozens of meters away in an instant.

Uh—what?

Lockhart looked around, then at the wand in his hand.

Could it be that there was still an ancient magical power hidden within him that he himself didn't know about?

"It's a little too early to give up now… Professor Lockhart."

Before the thought could fully form in Lockhart's mind, a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"Dumbled—"

"Shhh, don't speak. Cooperate with the scene arrangement while we explain the arrangements for the subsequent performance."

At the same time, another familiar voice appeared in Lockhart's ear, "Your previous performance was not bad, but the visual and sound effects were a little lacking. And you were a little too heavy-handed. The current state of these werewolves may not last until the performance begins…"

"Gellert, perhaps now is not the appropriate time to discuss the weight of the hand or the performance—"

"Of course, of course, then you can explain it to Mr. 'Hanged Man' first. I'll rewind the time a bit."

It seemed to be drizzling in the sky.

However, Lockhart quickly discovered that the so-called raindrops were actually tiny specks of light.

The cool "raindrops" landed on Lockhart, silently permeating his body. He felt as if he were immersed in warm hot water, and the exhaustion all over his body instantly vanished. But Lockhart didn't feel any relief because the raindrops also drifted toward all the groaning werewolves in the forest. The wounds on their bodies visibly began to heal, and their groans gradually became heavy and angry…

"In roughly fifteen minutes, most of the Aurors in the European magical community and mainstream magazine reporters will arrive here one after another."

The werewolves on the field seemed to be bound by invisible ropes, unable to move forward no matter how they struggled. Amidst the cacophony of werewolf roars, Dumbledore's voice, like a layer of shielding, surrounded Lockhart's ears, temporarily blocking out the noise from outside.

"The ins and outs of this are rather complicated, and you can learn about them later. After an emergency meeting of the Major Arcana, we agreed to your previous suggestion: 'Rescue this group of werewolves trapped in Armenia as much as possible.' However, there will be some changes in the form and process. 'The Tower' and I will try to get you a little say tonight, enough to let the Aurors discuss with you calmly. "

"As for the final result and the development of the whole event, these are all up to you."

"Now, I will show you the magical scenes that may appear later, as well as the corresponding spellcasting actions and incantations for each magic. When the Aurors and reporters appear, 'The Tower' and I will release the corresponding spells based on your actions… Of course, we still control the magical effects and range. The Major Arcana Council only has one request for tonight. Please protect yourself and your ideals as much as possible."

"This is your fight, Mr. 'Hanged Man'—"

…………

At the same time, the border between Turkey and the Armenian forest.

Even from far away, the howls of wolves could still be faintly heard in the night wind.

"It seems those wolf cubs are having a great time at their gathering tonight—"

Cornelius Fudge glanced at the dark forest, unable to contain his excitement. "Draw your wands, gentlemen! The shadow of werewolves, hovering over the European magical community for thousands of years, is about to end in our hands! Aurors from other countries have already established a cordon around us. Once we arrest and defeat those werewolves, we will become the most dazzling figures in the European magical community…"

"I'm very sorry, members of the British Ministry of Magic—I haven't heard of any cordon."

Before Cornelius Fudge could finish speaking, a series of *popping* sounds suddenly rang out around them.

More than twenty wizards descended from the sky, appearing in front of the British Ministry of Magic members.

The wizards on both sides simultaneously drew their wands and pointed them at each other. The middle-aged wizard who was the leader looked at Cornelius Fudge with an unkind expression and coldly interrupted him. He was Attif, the head of the Auror Office of the Turkish Ministry of Magic, who had hurriedly rushed over from the Leaky Cauldron branch.

"We can handle those werewolves. The Armenian forest is very large and complex."

Attif glanced over the British Aurors, who outnumbered them by at least three to one, and his eyes twitched slightly.

These damn Brits were indeed prepared. Such a large number of people did have a chance to take down the "werewolves." If they hadn't urgently received the news, these guys would have almost taken the credit for their months of hard work.

"Oh? I don't think so—"

Cornelius Fudge looked at the Turkish Aurors who had descended from the sky and raised his eyebrows.

"Given the previous achievements of our British Ministry of Magic, no one in the magical community today should know more about how to deal with werewolves than us. If you have temporarily changed your mind and plan to join the encirclement team, we would naturally welcome you very much. After all—"

*Click, click—*

Just as Cornelius Fudge was speaking, a series of rapid shutter sounds suddenly rang out.

He looked around in confusion, only to see several wizards taking pictures excitedly at the edge of the crowd.

The Turkish Ministry of Magic… had actually brought reporters with them?!

Cornelius Fudge frowned heavily. He should have called the reporters from *The Daily Prophet* before leaving.

As a wizard who had worked in the magical government for decades, he was well aware of the biases of reporters from different regions in their news reports. More importantly, if there were reporters present, then whether he wanted to or not, the Turkish Ministry of Magic would definitely take some of the credit from the British Ministry of Magic.

"Uh, I'm very sorry, sir. Our Minister didn't communicate any of this to us beforehand."

Attif gave the Aurors around him a look, stood in front of the British wizards, and said unhurriedly.

"Perhaps we can wait here for a moment. The Minister should be on his way. After all, this is a large-scale joint operation. In terms of the division of labor, whether it's the British Ministry of Magic or the Turkish Ministry of Magic, we should discuss it clearly before—"

Boom!

Rumble!

Just then, a muffled sound suddenly came from the forest in the distance.

After a brief pause, the howls of the werewolves exploded again, interspersed with sporadic explosions.

"Damn it!"

"There are still people inside!"

Cornelius and Attif exchanged a glance, instantly seeing the same surprise and anger in each other's eyes.

Obviously, during the time they were entangled and negotiating, wizards from other magical governments had most likely beaten them to it. If the two sides continued to entangle and dawdle, they might all end up being border guards for that unknown "magical government" for nothing.

"Everyone, set off immediately—someone has encountered werewolves. We have to help quickly!"

"There are too many werewolves over there, they need assistance!"

The wizards on both sides quickly reached an agreement, did not continue to confront each other at the edge of the forest, and hurriedly began to Apparate in the direction of the sound.

It should be known that at least ten magical governments were participating in this joint "werewolf encirclement" operation.

Although the Auror command centers of each country had previously agreed that the time to act was at dawn.

But from the current situation, it was clear that more than one or two guys intended to "sneakily start early."

This was a once-in-a-century milestone achievement. Compared to sharing it with others, the temptation of exclusive possession was too great.

As huge magical sounds and lights erupted in the Armenian forest, the Aurors from various magical departments who had been hovering at the edge of the forest could no longer suppress their anxiety. They all issued orders to set off – and flooding into the forest along with them were the reporters who had come to the edge of the Armenian forest by various means to gather materials. The sparsely populated Armenian forest instantly became lively and crowded.

At the same time, Grindelwald's slightly excited whisper rang in Lockhart's ears, who was at the center of the vortex.

"Get ready to begin, Mr. 'Hanged Man' - the audience is starting to enter."

————

————

Yay!