After Snape left, the battle became more one-sided than the previous Hogsmeade one, and even the H.A. members of the students who were hiding by the wall bravely stepped forward and attacked the cornered Caro siblings and the other Death Eaters.

To the astonished gaze of almost half of the school's students, all the Death Eaters were subdued. Subsequently, all the teachers and students in the school, under the notice of McGonagall, began to gather in the lobby.

"What's going on?" Professor Slughorn and the others were the first to arrive.

"Our principal is on a break for a while. Professor McGonagall said, pointing to the large hole in the window. "The castle is now at the forefront of the rebellion against the Dark Lord.

"What?" asked the fat old wizard, shaking the fat on his face, in astonishment, "then- it would be unwise to do so, Minerva! he must have a way to break in, and it would be very dangerous for anyone to stop him—"

――

"We must lock down the school now," McGonagall said decisively, not giving Slughorn or the other professors a chance to inquire, but decisively began to call the shots. "Filch, take the Slytherin students to the common room, Hermione, you and Albert and whom, go and watch, no one is allowed to let them out without my permission!"

"Good. Hermione glanced in Harry's direction and left with Albert.

"Longbottom, and you Weasley siblings. McGonagall looked at Neville, Ron, and Ginny and said, "Bring all the H.A. members and students in the school who are old enough and willing to fight, armed and ready to fight!"

"Got it!"

"And you. McGonagall looked at the remaining Order of the Phoenix. "I and other professors will fight on the front line. ”

――

The entire school moved, all of Slytherin and the other three junior students were herded back into the common room, and the elves were called out of the kitchen and ready to recharge the school's defensive magic at any moment.

Hagrid led the horses into the campus and assembled in the lobby and yard. Sculptures jumped off the walls of Hogwarts and lined up in warehouses in the Requirement Room, blocking every entrance to the school.

――

At the same time that the people of Hogwarts were preparing for battle, the Death Eaters of the Ministry of Magic began to gather nervously: the remnants of the Renegade Aurors joined forces with the fugitive members of the Order of the Phoenix to attack the village of Hogsmeade. and took over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, abducted the children of a large number of Ministry of Wizardry officials, and tried to blackmail a rebellion against the Ministry of Magic - it hasn't happened in months!

Through the assembly order, a large number of Death Eaters and hired wizards gathered in the halls of the Ministry of Magic to apparinate the formation to Edinburgh, and use broomsticks to go to Hogwarts, where the Floo network had been cut off, to eliminate the rebels.

Above their heads, the periphery of London. The Aurors led by Scrimgeour were already sitting in a MI5-arranged vehicle approaching the Ministry of Magic, and he contacted some wizards on the table who were not strong or unfit to participate in the attack on the Ministry, and were also informed that they could go to Hogwarts to help.

――

On the seashore of the eastern outskirts of Thurso, the northernmost part of the United Kingdom, in a small forest not far from the coast. Illuminated by the dappled moonlight of the canopy, a black-robed man suddenly emerged from the void, and the moment he stepped on the ground, he alertly raised his wand to another man a few meters away.

"How's Nagini doing?" he recognized, but still didn't have a clue to the question.

"Nagini is waiting for you to call me. The young-looking man across from him said, "You're overly nervous, Severus. The people who have subdued me silently in this world and turned into me have not yet been born. ”

"Hmph. The black-robed man seemed a little disdainful, but did not refute. He tucked his wand under his cloak. Walk side by side with the young man towards the beach.

――

"The school has already done something. Seconds later, Snape was the first to speak. "There were no unplanned casualties. ”

"Very well, I just contacted all the wizards I could contact with the note, and asked them to help all of them go to Hogwarts to help with the defense. I don't care if I can go to a few...... Arthur told me that there was movement from the Ministry of Magic, and that all the Dementors watching the Burrow had left. His twin sons, as well as his wife, had also left for Hogwarts after the Dementors left. "But he won't go to Hogwarts to help." Tomorrow he will go to the Ministry of Magic normally, he is the only person in the Order of the Phoenix who can still swagger into the Ministry of Magic, and it would be good to have a big family as a backing. Although the treatment is not good, there is nothing to do. But to be a monk for a day and hit the clock for a day. ”

"We're here to ambush the Dark Lord and Nagini?"

The note in his pocket began to heat up again, and Lockhart took it out and began to read.

"Fresh news," he put down the note, "Hogsmeade has been reoccupied by the first wizards to arrive, and the news of Harry's presence at Hogwarts should not have been leaked, so the fake Lockhart who took the lead issued an ultimatum that would give the professors and students at the school, including the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix, a night to consider - giving the former a chance to find a way to kill the rebels who hijacked the school themselves, and the latter to hand over Scrimgeur's right to surrender." If the time is not resolved, they will have to wait until eight o'clock the next day for a big attack that may lead to accidental injuries. ”

"Eight?" Snape asked nervously, "but you said that Scrimgeour was going to attack the Ministry at nine, and within that hour, we—"

"What I'm most afraid of now is that the Dark Lord will also participate in the attack on Hogwarts tomorrow, and it will be troublesome. "If he gets to Hogwarts, we'll have to lure him in at the beginning of the attack and find a way to hold him back for an hour." ”

"An hour?" Snape's face sank, "then we'll have to think of a way, the network of Floo paths around Wick has been cut off, and we can summon the Dark Lord there, and he will apparinate to the nearest reachable location, and then fly to the coordinates I provided, and drag on for a while." ”

"Eight o'clock is still acceptable, if it is too early, we will have to abandon the assassination plan against Nagini and rush back to Hogwarts overnight to participate in the defense-" Lockhart scratched his chin, slick, and then remembered that he had shaved his beard clean in the morning, "In addition to the plan you said, we will have to walk the mysterious man for a while...... Well, you'll say you've spotted Harry, but he's running fast on a broomstick and you're chasing. You have a Dark Mark mark, you should be able to sense it when he gets close. ”

"That's right, the function of the Dark Mark is much more complicated than the note you made, and when activated, the Dark Lord and I can sense each other. "But I need his permission to find him, and he can always know where I am and even torture me." ”

"Cut-I'll make a fully functional note later, too. Lockhart was a little unconvinced. "Maybe we can drag it out for a while, and then we'd better talk a little more nonsense for a while - the Dark Lord is a very likable villain boss in this regard, and he will never do anything without saying a few words every time we meet. ”

"He hasn't reached out to me through the Dark Mark yet," Snape said, "but I've told him about it, and I've told him that Hogwarts is being overrun by a bunch of renegade Aurors, but the Savior isn't among them. I took the initiative to run to Wick, and if I could catch the Savior and kill him, I could make the professors in the school who still had illusions about the 'Savior' surrender...... He agreed. ”

"Very well," Lockhart exclaimed, "what is he doing now, has he been to Hogwarts?"

"He doesn't feel love, he doesn't have a sexual urge—so he doesn't waste his time with a pretty witch. "How does his day end, let's guess, get up in the morning, have breakfast, and maybe drink some wizards' blood...... Then he began to toss the black magic, studying the black magic is his greatest pleasure, and while experimenting with the black magic, he can also find ways to strengthen his strength...... Are you tired, sit down and think about who else hasn't succumbed to your coercion, how to deal with them, etc......"

"Hehe, the more you talk about it, the more I feel like I can't beat him—there's no way I'm going to spend more time studying the dark arts than he is, and I'm going to eat, drink, and be a pretty witch—" Lockhart said with a laugh, "Besides, I can't be as ruthless as he is to do any modifications to my body, not to mention that I'm a half-blood wizard in the first place, and my mother is just an ordinary witch born into a small family, not as magical as his mother is a Slytherin descendant." ”

――

【Recommended Ticket】

――(To be continued......)