Dumbledore gave some brief instructions and then walked straight through the fireplace and left.

With Lockhart's incident, the Grand Arcana Council, like a war machine that had been awakened, began to operate quickly and seamlessly.

In less than fifteen minutes, the "emergency force" at the headquarters of *The Quibbler* was fully assembled. Except for the night guards who were on their regular shifts, all the other wizards boarded the Hyperion, ready to travel to Armenia on a rescue mission, radiating a murderous aura.

A few minutes later, Xenophilius Lovegood heard a thunderous roar in the distant sky above.

The massive war fortress appeared suddenly and then vanished in an instant, the clouds swirling back like the eye of hell.

In the Lovegood family's living room, a group of "Black Cloak Wizards" executives stared at the unfathomable middle-aged wizard in front of them.

With the popularity of *The Quibbler* and the interpretation of numerous news media, Lovegood's quotes were almost equivalent to the bible of the news industry.

Compared to the young, flamboyant Gilderoy Lockhart, who rose to power on his exquisite memory charms, Xenophilius Lovegood, or more precisely, the Grand Arcana Council's "Hermit," had always been shrouded in a thick fog in the eyes of most members.

No one knew how he managed to sort out the truth of the world from those fragmented, seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

But all the "Black Cloak Wizard" executives, including Kurt Mael, understood that he was a big shot whose wisdom was no less than Dumbledore's.

However, at this moment, the "Hermit" kept looking at the sky and then around, seeming a bit bewildered himself.

As one of the Grand Arcana, Xenophilius naturally knew the "Black Cloak Wizards"' role:

This was a branch under the command of fate, mainly responsible for battlefield cleanup, internal purges, clue destruction, reconnaissance and espionage operations...

From Xenophilius Lovegood's perspective, it was like a strengthened version of the Ministry of Magic's Obliviator Headquarters, or the magic version of the former Soviet Union's KGB. At the same time, it was both a combat force and a covert intelligence agency, a considerable armed force.

In fact, Xenophilius had put forward a similar conjecture in *The Quibbler* several years ago.

In the shadows of the magic world, there must be many mysterious organizations obeying dark forces, maintaining order in the dark world.

For example, the Ministry of Magic's Obliviator Headquarters probably helped senior Ministry officials deal with some shady matters in addition to their normal work.

And now, he had actually become one of them—perhaps the biggest one—the boss of the Black Cloak Wizards?!

Xenophilius Lovegood had no doubt that any of the wizards in his living room waiting for orders could disarm him with five spells and turn him into a poor tool who could only think about writing.

Although he had often commented on current affairs in *The Quibbler*, he had never been the boss of a dark organization!

What if there were traitors? What if someone disobeyed orders or raised questions?

Most importantly, what if Gilderoy Lockhart didn't come back...? Wouldn't he have to keep doing this forever?!

As the clock ticked, a buzzing commotion began among the "Black Cloak Wizard" executives standing in the Lovegood family's living room.

Unlike wizards in other business lines, as an external department directly under Gilderoy Lockhart, all members of the "Black Cloak Wizards" were notified within ten minutes of Lockhart destroying his Grand Arcana badge—the "Hanged Man" was suspected of encountering a level one or higher emergency, the "Hanged Man"'s authority within the organization was completely frozen, and the supreme command of the Black Cloak Wizards was reassigned by the Grand Arcana Council.

No one knew what had happened specifically, but the oppressive feeling of an impending storm had silently explained a lot.

War might be about to break out.

The "Black Cloak Wizard" executives standing at the front of the crowd exchanged glances.

Kurt Mael waited a few more seconds before he couldn't help but ask:

"Hermit, what should we do now?"

Several old wizards with graying temples next to him also frowned and echoed anxiously:

"Yes, the 'Hanged Man' is now missing, and the enemy and the battle situation are all a mystery to us. Maybe the Hyperion can secure a victory for us, but when we go to clean up the mess, we can't just cast Obliviate on everyone, right?"

"Yes, even if we indiscriminately cast memory charms, we still need to know the specific scope of memory erasure and the direction of modification..."

"Before previous operations, the 'Hanged Man' would give us pre-written scripts..."

"This time, there's no information reconnaissance or guard duty for the surrounding environment..."

"After all, we haven't even identified a hypothetical enemy yet..."

The crowd talked about it one after another. They saw that Xenophilius Lovegood hadn't said anything, as if tacitly approving of the discussion, so many senior executives began to discuss it seriously. Although Lockhart was the supreme commander of the "Black Cloak Wizards," he was only responsible for the overall direction. In some small and medium-sized tasks and long series of operations, these executives made their own decisions.

A few minutes later, these "Black Cloak Wizard" executives quickly identified the core problem.

"We need to determine who the enemy is first, otherwise any discussion is meaningless."

"How to determine? Guess names? Or just mark the entire area?"

"What's wrong with that! Count in the entire Armenian magic world, anyway, it's a hypothetical enemy, that way we definitely won't miss anyone!"

"Since the Hyperion's recovery project began, we've been extra careful at every step. Who doesn't know that the odds of winning a direct fight are not low, but if a large-scale conflict really breaks out, do you want to see the Third Wizarding War? Counting everyone in, you'll be a war criminal then!"

"Me, a war criminal? The Grand Arcana may have already been tortured by the enemy and is ready to be destroyed..."

In a short period of time, fierce arguments rang out again.

This was almost a daily occurrence between hawks and doves. During the debate and alignment, more senior executives were still looking at the "Hermit" who seemed to be wandering off. Just then, a flash of fire suddenly appeared in the center of the room, and a golden-red feather fell lightly.

Then, under everyone's gaze, it burst into a dazzling spark, turning into a small piece of paper and floating towards Xenophilius' hand.

Obviously, with the Hyperion's second arrival at the "front line battlefield," Dumbledore's information had also arrived.

Xenophilius Lovegood subconsciously reached out, took the small piece of paper, and quickly opened it to read.

"Werewolves. Lockhart missing. Suspected wizard involvement, affiliation unknown."

There wasn't much information on the paper, just a few short words.

This wasn't Albus Dumbledore being deliberately mysterious, but a phoenix feather could only carry so much content—this was the fastest and safest way to communicate across thousands of miles without alarming any magical networks.

"Werewolf forces, that shouldn't be the case. With that gentleman's abilities, he should at least be able to protect himself and escape..."

"Didn't you hear that there were wizards involved? This might be a trap for the 'Hanged Man'."

"Well, but, in the end, it still doesn't say anything... How do we know who the enemy is?"

"Yes! What's the scope? Even if we're going to gather intelligence and prepare for the aftermath, what's the scope?!"

Several old wizards frowned and continued to discuss loudly.

They were beginning to suspect that the "Hermit" hadn't woken up yet.

Just then, Xenophilius Lovegood suddenly tapped the table, as if he had made a decision.

Xenophilius took out his wand and waved it gently at the living room wall.

The next moment, a huge world map silently fell from the ceiling, covering almost half of the living room wall. Under the gentle wave of his wand, the coordinates of Lockhart's last whereabouts began to quickly turn red and glow, spreading outward.

"From here as the center, all the adjacent forest areas and the magical societies that the forest areas may be connected to—"

Xenophilius Lovegood took a deep breath and said somewhat resignedly.

"In tonight's operation, they will all exist as hypothetical enemies, and the gathering points will start from the boundaries of each forest farm and converge towards the forest next to the Muggle town where the 'Hanged Man' last disappeared. If they are werewolves, they must be hiding inside."

"But... But..."

Looking at the small half of the map that was almost instantly dyed red.

Kurt Mael's mouth twitched, and he looked at the unfathomable Grand Arcana with a subtle expression.

"If we calculate the possible magical societies involved based on the direction of the forest connection, as hypothetical enemies..."

"Then, strictly speaking, we may be facing half of the European magic world, isn't that a bit too exaggerated? If we collect intelligence according to this logic, it may waste a lot of manpower and financial resources. Perhaps the Armenian magic world is enough?"

"No, my intuition tells me—this matter is definitely not as simple as imagined."

Xenophilius Lovegood shook his head solemnly and said seriously.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, he may have just been accidentally involved. I don't think he is the protagonist of the story. But he has always wanted to be the protagonist of the story. So I think the 'Hanged Man' may have found some special opportunity and temporarily become the protagonist of the story. Considering those legendary performances in the novels, with his current identity, the opponent will definitely not be so simple..."

Since Professor Dumbledore believed in him, he didn't need to be timid. Anyway, it was that white-haired witch's money he was spending.

"Okay, I've said what I needed to say. The rest is up to you..."

Xenophilius waved his hand, looked around at the wizards with troubled faces, and suddenly felt a bit apprehensive in his heart.

"That's right, the unusual movements of half of the European magic world—that sounds a bit exaggerated, eh. Is the operation budget from Gringotts Wizarding Bank not enough, or do we need to vote according to the 'Black Cloak Wizards' convention? I'm just giving a suggestion, if..."

Before Xenophilius could finish speaking, all the "Black Cloak Wizard" executives quickly restrained their expressions.

"Your will!"

"Yes, sir!"

"We'll set off immediately!"

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Yay!