Lestrange family manor, the battle was drawing to a close.

Having been tempered by the Ministry of Magic recapture battle and the werewolf encirclement, the Aurors from various countries had made rapid progress in coordinated spellcasting.

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And the carefully designed Apparition trap had predetermined the crushing situation from the start - the Death Eaters who arrived in a hurry didn't even have time to see their surroundings before being simultaneously struck by four or five spells. Following Gellert Grindelwald's suggestion, the three-shot volley, which was popular in the non-magical world several centuries ago, was reborn on the outskirts of the Lestrange family manor.

Dense, smooth, and relentless spell offensives, like a tide, continued for nearly half an hour from the sound of the first Apparition.

"It should be over, right? It seems like no new Death Eaters have arrived for a long time..."

A French Auror rubbed his sore arm and turned to look at the British Auror Director not far away, who was identifying "suspects" one by one.

Compared to his superior, this British Auror Director named Rufus Scrimgeour was obviously much more terrifying.

From the beginning, the atmosphere on that side was particularly solemn, as if they were not identifying and counting dark wizards, but executing those uninvited guests who had been hit by multiple spells on the spot.

"Alecto Carrow, Amycus Carrow, Selwyn... I didn't expect you to be here, Yaxley -"

Rufus Scrimgeour said coldly, looking at the wizard curled up in a ball not far away.

If anyone was most likely to take over as the next head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, then Yaxley would definitely be among the top candidates.

And the thought that Death Eaters had been hiding in the Ministry of Magic all these years, and in high-level positions in the core departments of the Ministry, made Scrimgeour's anger and coldness even more intense.

Obviously, Dumbledore's seemingly offensive guesses were correct - there were far too many Death Eaters hidden in the British Ministry of Magic. If today's operation had been notified to the Aurors and employees of the Ministry of Magic in advance, perhaps what awaited them would not have been a successful ambush, but a large-scale "counter-annihilation" ambush that was unimaginable.

Not far away, a group of reporters cautiously surrounded the perimeter of the Aurors' cordon, silent as cicadas in winter, daring not even to ask questions loudly except for taking pictures.

The atmosphere in this place was too suffocating, and almost all the Aurors looked very ugly.

Just a few minutes ago, a reckless reporter who broke into the front was directly hit by four or five spells on the spot, and was still lying one or two meters inside the cordon with no one bothering to pull him out.

Of course, most of the reporters were no less shocked than Rufus Scrimgeour when they saw the wizards curled up in the field.

Ministry of Magic employees, famous magical families, well-known merchants in the magical society...

Those who were temporarily labeled as "Death Eater" suspects were all, without exception, somewhat famous figures in the magical society.

This was unlike the secret arrests and trials that took place more than a decade ago. With dozens of magical media outlets witnessing, the newspapers would inform all wizards first thing tomorrow morning.

Perhaps the weight of this news was not as heavy as the "righteous execution" in the backyard, but the two combined could definitely become a landmark magical event of this century.

............

"Okay, that's roughly the situation."

In the backyard of the Lestrange mansion, Grindelwald lightly brushed the cookie crumbs off his robe.

"If you don't have any other questions, then I'll go to the house in the back to deal with other things..."

The old wizard stood up and walked to the "Dark Lord's corpse" in the rubble in front, picking up the black walnut wand as if no one else was there.

Around him, the Aurors and a group of reporters wanted to say something but stopped, but no one dared to stop the old man from acting.

After all, just a dozen minutes ago, they had personally witnessed how the once arrogant and perverse "Dark Lord - Voldemort" was easily killed by the old man as if he was playing with him.

Even if he had not spread too much infamy in Britain before, the names "Gellert Grindelwald" and "the person who killed Voldemort" were enough to make the old wizard's danger level in everyone's eyes reach an unimaginable height - if a dark wizard killed another dark wizard, then the former was definitely more terrifying than the latter. This logic was very simple.

Compared to Voldemort, who had "terror" written all over his face, Grindelwald, who was gentle, kind, and seemed to have a good temper, had other meanings in people's eyes.

"W-Wait... Mr. G-Grindelwald, I have one more question."

Just as Grindelwald was about to leave, Barnabas, the editor of the *Daily Prophet*, swallowed and mustered up the courage to raise his hand and ask.

"You just killed the most dangerous dark wizard in the magical world, does this mean that you are preparing to return to the magical society, and Professor Dumbledore..."

"Oh, child, that's not one question."

Grindelwald stopped, turned to look at the middle-aged editor with only a few hairs left on his head, and grinned.

Since he started playing the role of "Otto Apocalypse", the old Dark Lord unconsciously brought some old-fashioned tones into his words, but this did not affect his image at all.

In fact, as a figure spanning the modern history of magic, there were few wizards in the magical world today who were older and more influential than him - in the magical wars of the past, most of the older guys than him fell into his hands, otherwise the Ministry of Magic would not have regarded Dumbledore as the last hope. He almost interrupted the inheritance of the Russian magical world.

"But seeing your courage to explore the truth, I can give you some simple and clear answers."

Grindelwald raised his wrinkled, dry, and spotted fingers, looked around at the young people who were subconsciously moving backwards quietly, and said softly.

"First of all, the dead are not qualified to be called 'most dangerous'. I am here only because the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore asked me to -"

"Secondly, I have never left the magical world, but I don't intend to interfere with any magical government... The scenery of Nurmengard is much better than this broken place."

"Finally, and most importantly -"

The old wizard chuckled, waved his hand casually, and turned to walk towards the Lestrange mansion with a large hole in the back.

"Leave the rest of the questions to your Minister of Magic and the head of the Aurors. I'll wait for them in the house."

"Now, don't bother me and my 'old friend' catching up -"

There was some laughter in Grindelwald's voice, but everyone felt their hearts being squeezed tightly by some kind of monster.

"It's been half a century. We have a lot of past stories to discuss. If you don't want to die miserably... you better restrain that little curiosity, right?"

The old Dark Lord walked towards the Lestrange mansion unhurriedly.

Powerful, surging magic, like a tide, washed over the surroundings wave after wave, each wave stronger than the last.

In contrast, in a certain part of the Lestrange mansion, another fierce, flame-like wave of magic rose into the sky.

"Damn it! Grindelwald? Dumbledore!"

Rufus Scrimgeour raised his head, and a trace of worry flashed in his originally cold and angry eyes.

Just as the old man had secretly instructed before his departure, "defeating Voldemort" might not mean the end of today's battle.

In addition to what the Ministry of Magic had originally promised, Dumbledore might have to pay some extra price, and now, perhaps, was the final moment.

"...Notify Minister Fudge, and all the other Ministers, they can come over."

Rufus Scrimgeour was silent for a few seconds, then nodded to the young man who ran over from a distance to deliver the message.

Flames of magic silently ignited around the Lestrange mansion, golden and blue flames intertwined and churned, as if dragons and phoenixes were fighting to the death.

However, deep inside the mansion in the flames, there was no sound coming out.

No one could cross the "aftermath" spread out when the two top wizards confronted each other. All they could do was wait for the result.

............

Hogwarts Castle, afternoon.

Due to the school entering a state of emergency, the scheduled inter-house competition outside the castle was temporarily cancelled.

Under the organization of the professors, the young wizards reluctantly went to the classrooms in various areas of the castle to accompany their parents to attend Hogwarts' first parent-teacher conference.

However, before the parent-teacher conference was officially held, a sudden "school-wide magical announcement" temporarily broke this worry.

In front of Hogwarts Castle, a large group of Ministry of Magic officials were walking quickly through the high viaduct outside the castle gate, heading towards Hogwarts Castle.

Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour, and several other high-ranking officials of the magical government led the way, and behind them, a dozen Aurors held their wands tightly in their hands.

Before the Ministry of Magic officials arrived, the magical ravens circling in the sky above the castle announced the "arrival of visitors" and the "lifting of the ban" in advance.

The windows above the castle were opened messily, and the students stared at the wizards pouring in below, whispering to each other, while the parents also gathered on the other side, looking at the Ministry of Magic officials below with different expressions. As for the heads of the four houses, after simply arranging the classrooms, they all came to the school gate at the same time, waiting for the Ministry of Magic visitors to enter the castle.

"Minister Fudge, you seem to be here a little early. In the information left by Professor Dumbledore..."

Professor McGonagall frowned, looking at the Ministry of Magic officials entering the school. An invisible ominousness was growing at a terrifying speed.

According to the plan previously discussed between Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts' school closure should have lasted until this morning, but now the time... it was only four o'clock in the afternoon.

More importantly, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape exchanged a worried look. It seemed that there were still a few figures missing from this returning "team of wizards".

"The situation has changed, Professor McGonagall -"

"Could it be that Voldemort he -" Professor McGonagall's pupils shrank sharply, and asked with a trembling voice.

"No, we successfully killed Vol... well, that dark wizard. But -"

Cornelius Fudge breathed a sigh of relief, his expression not relaxed at all. After a few seconds of silence, he continued in a deep voice.

"After the Dark Lord was killed, another battle broke out."

"Professor Dumbledore, is missing."

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Missing people return!