Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 241 The Battle of the Bureau of Mysteries

Within the Department of Mysterious Things.

After an unknown amount of time, a few intermittent voices finally came from outside the door, and this glimmer of hope stirred up a slight restlessness among the Death Eaters.

But with a cold snort from Bella, the commotion immediately subsided.

“…Harry, if I had a 50% chance of being ambushed before, now I have an 80% chance!”

Thea recognized Hermione's voice.

She's always been smart, so it's not surprising that she could guess that.

"Something's really off with the Ministry of Magic today!"

Hermione frowned, gripping her wand tightly. "I heard Uncle Weasley mention that without the Ministry of Magic's permission, no one can freely enter any floor!"

Hermione's words left Ron speechless, his mouth agape in disbelief. His father had never said anything like that to him before!

"As the governing body of the wizarding world, the Ministry of Magic shouldn't be like this..."

Hermione once again made the mistake of becoming incessantly talkative when she was nervous. Fortunately, the people around her were used to this, and apart from gripping their wands tighter, no one said anything to tell Hermione not to disrupt morale.

"I remember it was in front of a shelf at some corner... I think it was the fifth... or the sixth row..."

Harry's description was vague, so Hermione and the others could only search in silence.

As the group slowly approached Thea and the others, they were able to see the total number of people in the group by the faint light emitted from the prophecy orb.

I don't know whether to laugh at their overconfidence, daring to storm the Ministry of Magic with only a few people.

When a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength.

Didn't you see that Voldemort even sent Bellatrix and Barty Jr. this time?

Thea was lost in her own thoughts, so much so that she didn't notice the short, sarcastic remarks that inadvertently escaped the lips of several Death Eaters behind her.

"—Harry?"

Ron's sudden call drew everyone's attention.

"You found it?"

Potter turned around abruptly, thinking that Ron had discovered the clues left by Sirius.

"...Your name is on this."

Ron stammered, even rubbing his eyes again, as if afraid he had misread a letter.

Harry was completely confused by Ron's description, so he went straight to the shelf in front of Ron, and Hermione and the others also moved closer to Ron.

As he got closer, Harry finally saw what Ron was describing.

It was a line of writing that appeared to have been etched with a magic wand:

"1980... exact date unknown, Sybil Trelawney at the Hog's Head, Harry James Potter and... the Mysterious Man."

Seeing his name listed alongside Voldemort's, Harry suddenly felt nauseous, as if someone had stuffed a clump of snow into his stomach.

He immediately looked away and began to observe the crystal ball above the line of text.

This crystal ball looks no different from the others, except perhaps... a bit brighter?

Harry couldn't see anything, so he tried to look away, but a sudden impulse surged within him: he wanted to pick up the crystal ball!

He slowly reached out and took it.

Thea hid next to Bella, and in that instant, she clearly heard Bella let out a long sigh of relief.

“Harry, perhaps you shouldn’t have taken it…”

Hermione frowned, but before she could finish speaking, a dark figure suddenly appeared not far in front of her!

Hermione immediately shut up and raised her wand.

It's Lucius.

Thea stared intently as he slowly walked out of the darkness.

“Very good, Potter, now slowly turn around and give it to me.”

Even though Thea couldn't see Lucius's expression clearly, she could imagine the fake smile on his face just from his tone.

"Peacock!" Bella muttered under her breath, clearly disapproving of Lucius's dawdling.

She stood up, casually tucking her hair behind her head, and the black-robed figure behind her followed her out of the shadows.

Thea remained where she was, and Bella didn't seem to care. The other Death Eaters also took their positions according to the original plan.

In the blink of an eye, Harry and his friends were neatly surrounded by 12 wands.

“Potter,” Bella said languidly, but her hand tightened on her wand without hesitation, “hand over the Prophecy Orb.”

Bella spoke casually, but the Death Eaters around her stepped forward in unison, raising their wands in a threatening manner.

"Where is Sirius?!"

Faced with the encirclement, Harry knew he had fallen into a trap, but he still insisted on asking the question that mattered most to him.

"Huh?" Bella was genuinely amused by Potter's foolishness. She smiled contemptuously, pointed at Hermione and the others, and said with malice, "Potter, have you forgotten about your friends? Your mind is full of your godfather, but you don't even have a shred of remorse for leading them to their deaths?"

Bella's hurtful words clearly stirred up Harry's guilt, and for a moment, he even lost the courage to turn around and look at his friend.

The regret in Harry's heart corroded like sulfuric acid. He hated his own stupidity, not only for falling into Voldemort's trap, but also for implicating his friends!

I'm the one who killed them!

Before it was my parents, now... is it my friends' turn?

"The one who should feel guilty isn't Harry!"

Neville, who had previously been timid, stepped forward. His voice was loud and clear, and he stood ramrod straight, firmly protecting Harry. He met Bella's gaze without fear.

"You cowards! You don't dare to storm into Hogwarts, and all you can do is threaten others with such despicable means!"

"Oh? Neville Longbottom?"

Bella wasn't angry when someone pointed a finger at her and insulted her, just like a giant elephant wouldn't care if an ant stepped on it.

But Thea saw the deep malice in Bella's eyes. Sure enough, the next second, a vicious smile appeared on her face, and she asked casually, "How are your parents?"

The scene fell silent for a moment.

“…Of course, that would be great,” Neville said through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his neck, as if he were about to unleash a spell.

In fact, he did just that.

"Flames are raging!"

The flames formed by their fury roared straight at Bella.

Bella, who was facing the fire dragon, didn't even look at it; she simply raised her wand lightly—

"Clear water like a spring!"

A water dragon shot up from Bella's side like a thunderbolt and swept over her in an instant, completely obliterating the menacing tongue of fire.

Only a few drops of moisture remained in the air, a testament to the battle that had just taken place.

Potter and his friends were stunned, their eyes fixed on the direction from which the water dragon roared out.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Thea slowly emerged from the shadows.