Hogwarts Homecoming

In the end, Harry still couldn't find where Malfoy was hiding.

He couldn't spend too much time there because Filch limped back after lunch.

"Oh, my dear baby, why did you fall asleep here? You will catch a cold!"

Seeing Mrs. Norris lying on the corridor basking in the sun, Filch quickened his pace.

He carefully held Mrs. Norris into his arms, and in front of Harry, he used his red nose to cup Mrs. Norris's beard, and then walked away humming a brisk tune. Go into the office.

The students in the auditorium also began to disperse, and Harry had to take off his invisibility disguise before the number of people going upstairs became denser.

Throughout the afternoon, including Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, Harry was distracted, wondering where Malfoy was hiding and what he was going to do.

"I think that's enough, Harry -"

During the exercise after dinner, Hermione became a little impatient with Harry's endless speculation.

"I think you should focus more on your studies. I don't think you will forget that this is the year of OWLS!"

"But what if a Death Eater infiltrates Hogwarts?"

Harry was quite shocked that Hermione was so indifferent to this matter.

"That's just speculation on your part, Harry."

Hermione gasped slightly and said,

"I don't think Malfoy could do anything detrimental to the school under Professor Blaine's nose."

Harry looked at Ron, hoping to get some support from him, but Ron didn't seem to listen to him at all. He was just running with a few students practicing flying on broomsticks on the lawn.

Biting his lip, Harry suppressed the unwillingness in his eyes and shut up.

For the next two days of the first week of school, Harry stared at Malfoy every chance he could, watching for anything fishy about his movements.

It was as if the devil was stunned.

And he himself couldn't explain why he cared so much about this matter. Maybe he was just unconvinced.

He was discovered by Malfoy when he was following him in Diagon Alley. He wanted to prove his ability to figure out what conspiracy Malfoy was up to?

But unfortunately, in the past two days, Malfoy's every move was very normal. At least where Harry could see him.

On Friday morning, when Harry and Ron arrived at the Great Hall, they were shocked by the changes here.

The original four long tables in the Great Hall that had remained unchanged for ten thousand years suddenly had an extra one, sandwiched between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. This resulted in the gap between each table for pedestrians. A lot more narrow.

Harry was stunned for a few seconds before he recalled that the so-called study exchange group would arrive at Hogwarts this evening.

If Harry remembered correctly, Professor Brain said that this exchange group was filled with all kinds of intelligent magical creatures.

Even Dobby and the cliche Kreacher and Dom who serve the Black family will be involved.

Just thinking about such a mixed group sitting in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and having a meal with them is a very interesting thing.

However, Hermione will definitely be busy because there will definitely be trouble.

After a pause for a few seconds, Harry and Ron walked towards the table again.

"How are you feeling, Hermione?"

Harry pulled up the chair next to Hermione, picked at the items, stuck a piece of sausage in his mouth with a silver fork.

"Very bad!"

Hermione's face was hidden behind the Daily Prophet, and Harry and Ron couldn't see his expression clearly, but when he heard what she said, Harry was stunned.

"I thought you were looking forward to it, Hermione?"

"I'll be looking forward to it?"

Hermione's face poked out from behind the newspaper and glared angrily at Harry.

Harry immediately realized that what he and Hermione were talking about were not the same thing at all, and his eyes turned to the newspaper in Hermione's hand.

"Oh, no. I thought, what, something bad happened?"

"Look at it!"

Hermione didn't say much, just handed the newspaper to Harry, and she looked worriedly at the professors at the faculty table who were reading the newspaper with the same solemn expressions.

Harry took the newspaper and glanced at it, his expression immediately fell into gloom.

The photo on the front page shows a bridge in London.

The wizard's magic photo is showing a large-scale bridge. The steel cables on both sides of the bridge were broken one by one. The steel bridge collapsed and fell into the Thames River below, and the cars on the bridge were like dumplings. Car after car fell into the water!

The text below the picture tells Harry the number of victims in the accident!

Two hundred and seventy-six Muggles died directly in the disaster, including forty Muggle students on a school bus.

On the surface of the river where huge waves arose, the struggling figures of those who fell into the water could still be vaguely seen. Through the photos, Harry could feel their despair!

"Death Eaters did it"

Ron was also frightened by the tragic situation in the photo, and he murmured with a pale face.

"Who else could it be!"

Harry said through gritted teeth.

In the auditorium, there were many students reading newspapers. They were all saddened by this tragic incident. As more and more students entered the auditorium to have breakfast, the news spread, and a gloomy atmosphere enveloped the auditorium.

During the summer vacation, the massive war that took place in Diagon Alley ended with the Ministry of Magic winning.

The mysterious man's strength suffered a huge setback.

Some Death Eaters were shot dead on the spot, while some were thrown into prison.

As for the followers who were recruited by Voldemort and his minions from all corners of the world, they abandoned Voldemort after suffering heavy losses. The security situation in the British wizarding world has been greatly improved.

At the press conference of the Ministry of Magic, all reports in the Daily Prophet now no longer refer to Voldemort as the "mysterious man" when mentioning Voldemort, but start to call him by his name.

In addition, Mr. Braine, who led the victory in the war, signed the "Plaza Accord" with many pure-blood families to restore the prosperity of the British wizarding world's industry and commerce.

All kinds of good news made many people mistakenly believe that the war was far away and Voldemort's strength had fallen apart.

And this tragedy in London, the Muggle world, was like a heavy slap in the face, shattering all those who held unrealistic fantasies!

Voldemort did not give up creating fear and massacres. The failure of the Battle of Diagon Alley only stimulated his ferocity and made him more cruel!

"Is there no way to stop the Death Eaters from hurting Muggles?"

Harry read the report while suppressing his anger.

Hermione remained silent.

Muggles who didn't even know the existence of magic were too vulnerable when they were attacked by wizards. They were simply unable to resist!

"Is there any way to prevent it, Amosta, Albus?"

At the same time when Harry asked the question, Professor McGonagall, who looked distressed, turned her head and asked sadly at the staff table.

The two nominated people were silent like Hermione.

Want to prevent the Death Eaters from attacking Muggles?

This is too difficult to do!

Muggles are scattered across a vast country, and it is too easy for the Death Eaters in the dark to create some terrorist incidents.

The limited manpower in the Ministry cannot achieve foolproof defense within the country.

Admittedly, the Ministry of Magic can monitor whether magic has appeared in a certain area and make targeted controls.

However, the Ministry could not accurately distinguish whether the magic was directed at Muggles or was just the daily magic of wizards.

They couldn't just run over to see if they noticed a wizard casting a spell in Muggle territory. If that happened, even if the Ministry increased its manpower tenfold, it wouldn't be enough.

As for using spies to learn about Voldemort's horrific plan in advance?

This is indeed feasible, but there is a risk of the spy being exposed, and Voldemort always assigns tasks to different Death Eaters and doesn't allow them to communicate with each other.

"It's impossible to completely prevent the evil deeds of the Death Eaters--"

After a long time, Amosta sighed slightly,

"If you are willing to pay a huge price, you can achieve limited prevention and rescue injured Muggles as soon as possible." (End of this chapter)