"The same group that attacked the Hogwarts Express before?" Miravia asked.
"Exactly. But I don't think they were the true masterminds. I'm more inclined to believe someone was manipulating things from behind the scenes..." Wade casually handed the letter to Tom beside him.
A faint red gleam flashed in Tom's eyes.
"Whether they were the real masterminds or not, they still have to pay the price!"
Because of these people's threats, the Riddle family did not even dare return home.
So in Tom's mind, these people had to be dealt with no matter what.
"Grindelwald asked whether I wanted to go." Wade looked up at everyone present. "Do any of you want to come?"
"I don't really mind..." Miravia said casually, though the hand gripping her wand was already itching for action.
Sure enough, she had never been the type to live quietly.
Fighting was practically one of her favourite things.
"I'll go too," Nagini said. "Teacher says I still don't have enough real combat experience."
Wade looked at Tom. "What about you? Are you coming?"
Strictly speaking, there probably would not be much opportunity for them to fight this time.
Grindelwald would certainly bring a large number of elite Alliance members and experienced Aurors.
In theory, the Scourers could not have too many people.
So there was a good chance that by the time Wade and the others arrived, Grindelwald would already have everything under control before they even saw the enemy.
At most, everyone would simply go along to experience the atmosphere and watch the excitement.
Tom, however, knew none of this.
He nodded decisively.
"Of course! I'll personally send those bastards to Azkaban!"
Wade could not help rubbing his chin.
Only send them to Azkaban?
Not kill them on the spot?
This Voldemort was far too kind.
...
Grindelwald was extremely busy.
To avoid anything going wrong, he had only mobilised members of his own Alliance.
After all, the pure-blood families within the Ministry were all under suspicion. If word leaked out, the Scourers might simply flee.
Of course, the Alliance members who had been openly mobilised were those who already held official positions as Aurors.
Those who had not entered the Ministry remained hidden in the shadows, closely watching the target location.
Grindelwald had chosen a Muggle household two kilometres from the target as their temporary base.
Naturally, the Muggle family was already asleep.
And sleeping very deeply.
Even now, people continued arriving through a temporary Floo connection established in the fireplace.
"The moment the operation begins, the first thing we do is activate the Anti-Apparition wards. Once they go up, the attack begins immediately. The wards are too conspicuous to conceal from them," Grindelwald instructed his subordinates inside the temporary tent.
"You must all act at the same time. We outnumber them and already have the place surrounded. To guard against Animagi, you are not allowed to let even a fly escape.
"And there's the matter of magic affecting the Muggles. We can't alert them, or the follow-up work will become troublesome. We'll need a large-scale Confundus Charm..."
While Grindelwald and his men gathered around a map, discussing how to capture everyone in one sweep, flames suddenly flared in the fireplace again.
A tall, slender figure emerged.
Grindelwald immediately recognised him and frowned.
"What are you doing here?"
"I heard you found the attackers, so I thought I'd come and help," Dumbledore said calmly.
"This is Ministry business. You're only a professor at Hogwarts," Grindelwald replied coolly.
He did not want Dumbledore here.
With him present, many of Grindelwald's more aggressive methods would no longer be possible.
But that was precisely why Dumbledore had come.
He was worried that Grindelwald, still angry over what had happened, might resort to excessive measures and hurt innocent people, especially the Muggles who knew nothing about any of this.
"That's true... I am only a professor at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said calmly. "But aren't you only the Director of the Department of Magical Education? Since when did surrounding and attacking dark wizards become the responsibility of the education department?"
Grindelwald lowered his head and returned his attention to the map, unwilling to waste time arguing.
He knew perfectly well that since Dumbledore had come, he would not leave easily.
Which meant some of the harsher measures they had originally planned could no longer be used.
Without a word, Grindelwald marked several locations on the map with crosses.
The surrounding Alliance members immediately understood and turned to leave.
"Who told you I had found the attackers?" Grindelwald asked, looking up.
"I noticed that all your people suddenly began moving at once, so I looked into it a little," Dumbledore said as he pulled over a chair and sat down.
Grindelwald frowned.
"That's not good news. If even a professor like you can notice my people mobilising..."
"You don't need to worry about the information leaking," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You've already been very discreet."
He paused.
"You simply couldn't hide it from me."
"You've been watching me?" Grindelwald asked coldly.
At that moment, the fireplace flared again.
Wade and the others stepped out one after another.
Dumbledore stared at them in surprise.
"You called them here?"
Grindelwald frowned. "I only invited Wade."
"But Tom came too," Dumbledore said unhappily.
Wade was powerful, so there was no issue with him being here. But Tom...
In Dumbledore's impression, Tom was still only a third-year student.
His excellence was currently only relative to students his own age, aside from Wade. No matter how talented he was, at most he was around the level of a fifth- or sixth-year student.
So Tom really should not have been here.
It was too dangerous.
"Professor, you're here too..." Wade walked over casually and glanced at the map on the table.
"What do these crosses mean?" Wade asked.
"Nothing. Just a few plans we abandoned," Grindelwald replied without changing his expression. "I seem to remember only writing to you..."
"But they all happened to be at my house," Wade said. "So they came with me."
Grindelwald turned toward Dumbledore.
"See? Just a coincidence. And it's fine that Tom came. I'm not going to send him charging into battle anyway. Once we capture the Scourers, we can throw them into Azkaban right in front of him. That can count as revenge for his family."
"No, no! I'm not staying here! I want to fight," Tom objected firmly.
He had come specifically to gain real combat experience. How could he possibly agree to sit here and do nothing?
"Tom..." Dumbledore said helplessly. "Those people are desperate criminals. They're very dangerous..."
"My abilities aren't what they used to be, Professor," Tom said firmly.
"That's true, Professor. Tom is already very strong now. Compared with elite Aurors, what he lacks is mostly practical combat experience," Wade said.
Tom gave Wade a grateful look.
But the surrounding Alliance members looked at Tom strangely.
This kid?
He actually dared to claim he was comparable to an elite Auror?
Not everyone was Wade.
Dumbledore frowned. "But..."
"Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore. I'll stay beside him. You should be able to trust me," Miravia said with a smile.
Seeing that Miravia was saying the same thing, Dumbledore hesitated before finally agreeing.
"All right..."
Miravia's nightmare magic was extremely powerful.
It was no exaggeration to say that Tom would probably be safer beside her than beside Dumbledore himself.
Based on Dumbledore's understanding of nightmare magic, Miravia was even capable of preventing every enemy present from noticing Tom at all.
Grindelwald looked at the woman in confusion.
He had no idea who she was, yet Dumbledore seemed to trust her completely.
"Tom... if you insist on going, then we need to make two things clear beforehand. First, you obey orders. Second, if something happens to you, none of us will be responsible," Grindelwald said sternly.
"Of course! But... I don't think anything will happen to me." Tom's voice rose slightly.
Although he understood why, he was still unhappy with the contempt in the eyes of those Alliance members.
Slytherin students had one very obvious trait.
They were always eager to prove their abilities.
Tom was naturally no exception, especially after Wade had strengthened him with purified magic.
As mentioned before, a sudden surge in power inevitably made people a little overconfident.
Although Wade had knocked Tom back down to reality shortly after he absorbed the purified magic, there was still only one student at Hogwarts who could defeat him.
Wade.
Even André, who had already graduated, could not compare with Tom, whose foundation was deep and who had been personally taught by Slytherin.
So Tom remained proud.
Grindelwald looked toward Wade as though asking what exactly he had done to make the boy suddenly so confident.
"Let him try, Director," Wade replied with a polite smile.
"All right. I've already warned him, and I'm not the one approving this anyway. So if anything really happens, that's your problem. Don't blame me," Grindelwald said, making his position perfectly clear.
He had not agreed.
Dumbledore and the others had.
"In that case... you'll come with me and attack from the east." Grindelwald pointed to a corner of the map.
There were no buildings there, only a large open area.
Judging from the movements planned in the other directions, the Scourers would ultimately be driven toward this side.
Barring anything unexpected, this would become the main battlefield.
Concentrating the strongest wizards on the main front was indeed the most reasonable arrangement.
Tom immediately became serious, then very prudently began putting on the equipment Wade had given him, one piece at a time.
Confidence was one thing.
His life was still very important.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69