But just then, a skinny, dark figure suddenly leaped out of the nearby bushes. It bit down hard on Harry's collar and frantically dragged him into the foliage. Harry felt a chaotic force tugging on his shirt, and then, a moment later, the tension suddenly vanished. Harry immediately turned to see who had saved him, but there was nothing there except for trees and bushes.
At the same time, a tattered figure picked up Harry's wand. He faced the massive Dementors and tried to cast his Patronus Charm, but after years in Azkaban and filled with burning hatred, he couldn't muster the magic.
"Who are you?!" Harry finally noticed that someone had picked up his wand and was standing between him and the Dementors.
The figure instinctively turned around. Harry's eyes widened when he saw the face—it was both unfamiliar and strangely familiar. "You're Sirius Black!!!"
Beneath his knotted, reeking hair, Sirius's eyes were filled with a mix of excitement, suspicion, and madness. He looked at Harry's bright green eyes and the face that so closely resembled his best friend's. With a wave of his wand, he first repelled a few Dementors, then suddenly turned to Harry and shouted frantically, "What's your name?!"
"What?" Harry asked, confused.
Facing the criminal with a 10,000-Galleon bounty on his head from the Ministry of Magic, Harry's eyes remained vigilant. At the same time, one of his hands was secretly drawing a magic circle behind his back.
"Tell me! Who are you?! Tell me now!!!" Sirius yelled again, with a crazed look in his eyes.
But before Harry could say his name, a brilliant silver-white light flashed from a distance, accompanied by a resounding cry.
In an instant, hundreds of Dementors were engulfed in the light, instantly turning into ash. The remaining Dementors scattered in panic.
"Let's go, you lot, it's time to raid! Crush them for me!!!"
Harry looked up and heard Victor's voice coming from the sky. He immediately let out a sigh of relief, and a happy smile spread across his face.
But the next second, he remembered that there was still a vicious criminal in front of him!
He quickly looked down to see that the spot where Sirius Black had been standing was now empty. Only a wand lay on the ground.
"Harry!!!"
Just then, a familiar voice came from above, which caused the still-hidden Sirius to tremble. Ron, who had just defeated a Dementor by smashing it with a rock, had followed the burning traces and found Harry.
"Harry, are you alright?!" Ron landed on the ground and asked anxiously.
"Ron!" Harry ran over to his friend. "I'm fine, thankfully you guys arrived in time!"
"Phew, good thing you're okay," Ron sighed in relief. "When the Guild Master told me to get everyone from the Guild, I was worried you were in some kind of danger."
"Everyone from the Guild is here?" Harry asked in surprise. "Isn't this a bit of an overkill?"
"The Guild Master said this was a good opportunity to use the Dementors as opponents for a practical training session for everyone in the Guild. We barely passed the test before the school year started, and the Guild Master said it was time for us to step up our game," Ron explained helplessly.
"Practical training? But ordinary spells don't kill Dementors," Harry asked, confused.
"That's exactly why they're perfect."
"...I guess so."
The two of them chatted for a bit before joining the Dementor hunt.
The Aurors who had rushed over to take control of the Dementors looked at the explosions and the various flashes of blue, red, and green lights in the distance. They were so terrified that they just stood there, afraid to go forward.
After more than two hours of battle, all the Fairy Tail members were completely drained of their magic power and collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
The surrounding forest had become a wasteland. Broken branches and fallen trees were scattered everywhere. The surviving Dementors were either frozen in blocks of ice, trapped in small spaces by trees, or pinned to the ground by a giant rock, unable to move.
Victor nodded in satisfaction. As expected, practical training was the best way to improve their abilities. Pressure creates motivation! Practicing magic circles every day and not using them in a real-world setting was pointless!
With a wave of his hand, a blinding Fiendfyre cleared the area. He then cast a group healing spell, and everyone's exhaustion was instantly alleviated.
"Alright, everyone! Get up! Stop acting like you're dying!" Victor clapped his hands and shouted. He also praised their performance. "You all did great! When we get back, I'll have Kururu prepare a feast for everyone!"
"Hooray!!!"
"Long live the Guild Master!!!"
Zoe and Scarlia cheered with their hands raised.
"But after dinner, everyone has to write a post-battle report for me. While your performance was good, it was only good." Amidst the praise, Victor pulled out a trick his primary and middle school teachers had used on him: writing a report about his feelings.
"Oh nooo..." many people began to groan in despair.
And so, the Fairy Tail Guild concluded their impromptu Dementor hunt.
Meanwhile, the Ministry Aurors had finally arrived. They looked at the empty ground and sky and at each other, not knowing what to do.
At the same time, the Aurors in Azkaban were frantically calling for backup. The deaths of a large number of Dementors had caused an unprecedented riot, and the prisoners in the prison were screaming in fear.
In the evening, at the Fairy's Abode.
Today's main dish was roasted, braised pig knuckle: first, the pig knuckles are stewed until they are soft and tender, then the liquid is drained, and a few cuts are made on the surface of the skin. They are then roasted over a charcoal fire and finally sprinkled with cumin and other spices. The taste was absolutely divine!
The fatigue from the battle made the Fairy Tail members devour their food, but Harry couldn't eat a thing. A strange person was watching him with a weird gaze.
"Mas... Master, if I did something wrong, can you just tell me? Don't look at me like that, it's really creepy..." Harry said, his face pale and his voice trembling.
"Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong," Victor replied seriously.
"Then why are you staring at me?"
"I'm just thinking about why the Dementors were so fixated on you."
"I... how should I know!"
Harry was also very upset. He had become the Dementors' favorite snack for no reason.
"Harry, can you tell me what your happiest memory is?" Victor suddenly asked.
"Happiest memory..." Harry thought for a moment before slowly saying, "To be honest, I can't really say. But ever since I came to Hogwarts, I've been happy about everything."
"And before you came to Hogwarts?"
"Well... Master, you should know the answer to that without me telling you."
"Oh, I see. I get it now." Victor nodded in sudden understanding, muttering softly to himself. "The contrast between before and after is a quality issue."
To the Dementors, if the criminals in Azkaban were like plain steamed buns, Harry's existence was a fragrant roasted chicken.
Harry had no parents and an unfortunate childhood, so he never had much happiness.
However, after he came to Hogwarts, the wonderful life in the magical world created a huge contrast with his tragic childhood, which gave rise to a happiness that was rarer and more intense than what ordinary people had.
Not everyone has a similar upbringing to Harry's, and not everyone can get a piece of precious, beautiful happiness with such a huge contrast. That's why Dementors loved to stare at Harry.
If you eat steamed buns every day, and suddenly a delicious roasted chicken is served in front of you, who wouldn't be tempted?
Hearing Victor's explanation, Harry was left speechless.
So it's my fault?!
And on that note, where did Hedwig fly off to?!
At the same time, after a two-day long ordeal, the Ministry of Magic finally quelled the Dementor riot at Azkaban.
But just as Fudge was about to storm off to Hogwarts to settle the score with Victor, the new Daily Prophet made him stop in his tracks.
Sirius Black's wanted poster was finally replaced after half a month. In its place was a picture of Dementors swarming in the sky and a photo of Victor calmly directing his guild members to hunt down the Dementors.
Fudge's face turned beet red with anger. Just looking at these two photos, he didn't even have to read the content below to know how this front-page story was going to shame the Ministry of Magic and praise Victor Dreyar and the Fairy Tail Guild.
Logically, the Ministry of Magic was already in a precarious position regarding the Dementor attack on Dufftown, and this news was only adding fuel to the fire. It was now impossible for him to use flimsy excuses to deal with Victor Dreyar and regain the initiative.
"That blasted Dreyar, blasted!!!"
The sound of things being thrown could be heard from Fudge's office again. The Ministry of Magic staff outside heard the commotion and shook their heads, sighing helplessly, and then returned to their work.
After all, they had seen and heard similar scenes many times before...
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