Harry and Hermione both chose to keep their mouths shut.
Not only that, they even forced Ron, the loudmouth, to swear an oath that he wouldn't leak a single word about it either.
Because they knew exactly what would happen if this got out.
Even though there was no solid evidence at all that the French were behind any kind of retaliation, most of the time, evidence like that didn't really matter anyway.
When the time came, the angry students wouldn't care about evidence or no evidence.
They would band together and start boycotting Gabrielle.
And it might even turn into outright bullying.
Things like that had happened at Hogwarts far too many times.
Neville had been a victim of something similar before.
After all that was settled, the feast was pretty much over.
This time, Dumbledore didn't make another speech, because ever since he left the Great Hall with Emily and Newland, he hadn't come back.
In the end, Professor McGonagall had to stand up and carry out Dumbledore's duty, announcing that everyone could return to their dormitories to rest.
"I'm telling you, Dumbledore definitely went to back up Link. Whatever's going on over there must be really tricky! They might even be surrounded by Death Eaters!"
Even after they were lying in their beds, Ron kept talking nonstop.
His brows were scrunched together, and he looked extremely anxious.
Like he was the one actually fighting Death Eaters and trapped in a siege.
To be fair, the way he spoke was pretty contagious.
At least the other roommates in the dorm were all stirred up by him, filled with worry, itching to throw on their clothes and rush out to help Link.
It was their responsibility as D.A. members.
Harry, on the other hand, just felt helpless.
He knew Ron was acting up again.
He shook his head and kept focusing on the letter he was writing to Sirius.
This was part of their agreement. They had to stay in touch at least once a week.
Normally, they could handle it easily with the two-way mirror.
But unfortunately, after Dumbledore's announcement in the Great Hall earlier, he had officially entered a state of strict control, almost like being at war with the Ministry.
Under those conditions, students weren't allowed to use any communication methods other than paper letters.
"Phew!"
As he finished the last letter, Harry let out a long breath.
He set the letter beside his bed, planning to send it the next day. Then he cast a Muffliato spell on himself and, ignoring Ron and the others still making noise, quickly closed his eyes.
As sleepiness washed over him, Harry drifted off.
———
Bang!
The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the Gryffindor tower, the door to Harry and Ron's dorm was kicked open.
"Harry! Ron! Get up! Something big happened!"
Hermione rushed in through the kicked-open door, shouting as she yanked the blankets off both of them.
The sudden commotion startled them awake.
Still half-asleep, they stared blankly at what was happening. When they finally realized, they hurriedly grabbed the remaining pillows to cover themselves.
"Bloody hell! Hermione! You seriously need to learn some manners from Miss Victoria. This is the boys' dormitory, and you're a girl!"
"I swear I'm reporting this to Professor McGonagall later! Why can't boys enter the girls' dorms, but girls can just barge in here whenever they want? That's not fair!"
Ron muttered complaints under his breath, completely unaware that...
from the moment he mentioned Emily, Hermione's expression had been growing darker and darker.
Finally, Hermione swung her fist.
Ron's muttering instantly turned into a miserable howl.
Meanwhile, Harry was curled up in the corner of his bed, hugging a pillow, looking lost and unsettled.
The reason he'd gone to bed so early last night was to relive the dream from the night before.
That feeling of being wrapped in warmth, like being held in his mother's arms, had been too good.
So good that Harry felt like he was getting addicted to it.
But reality was disappointing.
Last night, he hadn't dreamed at all.
It should have been a good night's sleep, but right now, it left him feeling deeply disappointed.
"Hey! Harry, you need to wake up too. I've got huge news for you!"
After beating Ron, Hermione, still catching her breath, turned to Harry.
Hearing that, Harry slowly pulled himself out of his gloom.
Still curled in the corner, he said weakly, "What news?"
Hermione shook her head and tossed a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of him.
"See for yourself. Let's see if you can stay sitting after reading it."
Harry didn't move.
His whole body felt limp, like he had no strength.
He couldn't even be bothered to sit up and pick up the paper right next to him. He just stretched his neck out to look at it.
The next second, a flicker of surprise crossed his otherwise blank face.
Because on the front page of the Daily Prophet, in huge bold black letters, was a headline, "Hogwarts Express and Diagon Alley Suffer Terrorist Attacks! Multiple Aurors Dead!"
Harry rubbed his eyes in disbelief, wondering if he'd misread it.
Beside him, Ron, who had also leaned over to look, suddenly jumped up excitedly.
"I knew it! I told you it wouldn't just be the Hogwarts Express! See? I was right!"
"You're happy about this?"
Hermione said coldly, her tone sharpening. "People died in that attack!"
"No, no! I didn't mean it like that! I just... just..."
Ron froze, waving his hands in panic.
Hermione ignored him and turned to Harry, her face serious.
"Keep reading, Harry. And… brace yourself."
What did she mean?
Were the losses really that bad?
Frowning, Harry kept reading below the headline.
What came into view next was a short section of enlarged bold text.
[At approximately 16:57 yesterday, the Hogwarts Express departing from King's Cross Station in central London was attacked by terrorists composed of Death Eaters and Dementors.]
[The train was forced to stop in the northern outskirts of Manchester. Subsequently, the train's defensive mechanism was activated, and under the leadership of Ministry Tri-Committee member Link Flamel, the students on board carried out self-defense. All Death Eaters and Dementors were eliminated.]
[At approximately 18:05 the same day, a similar terrorist attack launched by Death Eaters occurred in Diagon Alley. The attack was suppressed following countermeasures by Auror forces and Committee member Link Flamel.]
[According to statistics, the attack resulted in 7 Auror deaths, 19 minor injuries, and economic losses amounting to 1,400 Galleons.]
[As of the time of writing, all individuals directly involved in the attack have been apprehended and, after trial by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, have been executed in Diagon Alley Square!]
[Below is the execution list.]
———
"Ex… executed?", Harry stammered as he stared at the paper.
"…Yeah. Exactly what you think.", Hermione sighed and helped him turn the page.
The next five pages were packed with names.
Under each name were two photos... one from before execution, and one showing the condition after death.
Harry felt like he couldn't breathe.
A tingling sensation spread across his scalp, making him shiver.
That was over a hundred lives.
Just… executed like that?
Even in wizarding history, something like a publicly announced mass execution on this scale had to be extremely rare.
"This edition was released urgently by the Ministry through the Daily Prophet early this morning. And just now, another edition came out with follow-up reports. That's the bad news I wanted to tell you."
Hermione spoke with a complicated expression, placing another newspaper in front of him.
"Breaking News! The Mastermind Behind the Attack Has Been Captured!"
At approximately 02:41 today, the Ministry's Tri-Committee held an emergency press conference and announced the results of the investigation.
A total of eight suspects responsible for planning and inciting the attack have all been captured.
According to the investigation, these eight individuals are not Death Eaters, but are all from France and were employed by a Beauxbatons professor named Norton Titart.
One suspect revealed that this was a retaliatory operation specifically targeting Hogwarts and the British Ministry of Magic.
Their employer, Norton Titart, firmly believed that the previous attack on Beauxbatons was related to Britain, and thus gathered them to impose the same punishment on the British wizarding world.
After joint deliberation, the Ministry's Tri-Committee and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement have decided to hold the French Ministry accountable and file a protest with the International Confederation of Wizards.
Of the eight individuals involved in planning the attack, one will be temporarily detained as a witness, while the remaining seven will be publicly executed at approximately 07:00 this morning in Diagon Alley Central Square.
———
Seeing this, Harry didn't think further. He pulled his gaze away from the paper and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table.
The hands clearly pointed to seven-thirty.
"They moved fast. Less than half an hour after the execution, the paper was printed and distributed across the Ministry by owl post. Right now, everything outside is in chaos!"
Hermione spoke, looking drained.
Harry quickly flipped another page.
On the back was a large magical photograph.
Seven people were being pushed onto a hastily built platform in Diagon Alley Square by a group of solemn, hooded executioners, ropes hanging around their necks.
Notably, unlike typical hangings, none of the seven had their heads covered with black hoods or anything to hide their faces.
So when the mechanism was pulled, Harry could clearly see their faces gradually twist and turn as they suffocated, growing gray and lifeless.
"Ugh..."
Harry threw the paper aside and leaned over the bed, retching.
The impact of that scene was overwhelming.
Anyone with a normal mind would feel physically sick seeing it.
That was human empathy at work.
But Ron rushed forward like a cheetah, snatched the paper, and stood there in his messy pajamas, waving it around and cheering.
"This is great! This is really great! They deserved it!"
Harry's other two roommates gathered around him, fighting over the paper, bursting into cheers from time to time.
Hermione frowned deeply at the scene, her voice trembling.
"That's over a hundred lives!"
Ron turned back, surprised.
"Yeah, over a hundred Death Eaters and French spies got punished by the law. Isn't that something to celebrate?"
"No, no… it's worth celebrating that criminals were punished," Hermione said, her voice shaking.
"But they shouldn't have been executed like this! Judging by the timeline, they didn't even go through a full trial. It's more like someone skipped the process and just made a decision on the spot!"
Ron's lips curled into a cold smile.
"Hermione, so what are you suggesting? Lock them back up in Azkaban? And then what? Let them escape again?"
"Or like more than ten years ago, wait for their families to bribe their way into getting them declared innocent, so they can come back out and hurt people again? How does that honor the Aurors who died in this attack?"
Hermione fell silent.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
Because Ron wasn't wrong.
Looking at history, if those Death Eaters were kept for long trials, many of them would inevitably escape justice.
And in the end, society would suffer.
But still… that was over a hundred people, executed just like that.
And seven of them had been publicly hanged.
Harry felt much the same as Hermione.
Having witnessed his mother being killed by Voldemort as a child, he understood death more clearly than most.
He knew that death was the ultimate despair.
So even though part of him felt it was satisfying that those Death Eaters had been executed, he couldn't feel the same excitement as Ron and the others.
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and was about to step in like usual to mediate between Ron and Hermione.
But Hermione shook her head.
Her expression was complicated, her dry lips cracking as she spoke in a rough voice.
"There's no point saying more, Harry. Almost everyone at Hogwarts is like this right now. The bad news I meant isn't this. It's… Gabrielle."
Harry and Ron both froze.
Right. It was obvious... once this report spread, the whole of Hogwarts would fall into frenzy.
Those with nowhere to vent their anger… would they turn it toward Gabrielle, the former Beauxbatons student?
"Let's go! We'll protect that little girl!"
Ron sighed, then suddenly waved his hand and said it with enthusiasm.
Harry and Hermione both looked at him strangely.
That didn't sound like something Ron would say at all.
He was usually the first to get swept up in the heat of things. The fact that he wasn't joining in to condemn Gabrielle was already surprising.
"Didn't expect that side of you.", Hermione said awkwardly.
Ron flushed red and muttered, "What do you take me for? She's just an innocent girl. This has nothing to do with her! Come on, let's go!"
As he spoke, his face grew redder and redder until he couldn't hold it in anymore and rushed out of the dorm.
Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, smiled, and followed after him.
———
[Diagon Alley]
With the release of the Daily Prophet, wizards from across Britain were gathering here.
They stepped out from fireplaces in Diagon Alley and various shops, then merged into the streets, flowing toward the square.
Throughout the entire process, everyone... young and old... remained silent, their faces filled with unease.
Ever since the end of the Second Wizarding War, they had long since lost hope in the Ministry of Magic.
Because they knew very well that the Ministry up there wasn't their Ministry.
Even though it had shown strong resolve during the war, and the Aurors had stood on the front lines fighting Death Eaters... was that really for the people?
Or was it just to maintain their own rule?
You could see it from how they handled war criminals afterward.
Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Igor Karkaroff…
Too many Death Eaters had been released for all kinds of reasons, escaping justice.
Sometimes the Department of Magical Law Enforcement didn't even bother coming up with a proper excuse. They'd just make up something flimsy and let people go.
Were they treating the public like idiots?
But were the people really that stupid?
Of course not.
When Lucius Malfoy walked openly in the sunlight with his family, everyone understood.
When members of the Wizengamot began swallowing up the wealth of old families like the Blacks and the Flamels, everyone understood.
People were just too afraid to speak.
But anger doesn't disappear.
When it builds up to a certain point, it turns into despair toward the Ministry.
Why was Fudge cursed as the worst Minister in history?
Was it just because he was vain and issued a series of terrible policies in his later years?
And why did Dumbledore refuse to take the position?
Was it only because he feared becoming a puppet of the Wizengamot?
Of course not.
Another major reason was that the previous Minister had already left behind a complete mess.
A Ministry that had burned through all its credibility and lost the trust of the people.
A Ministry like that collapsing was only a matter of time.
Dumbledore saw the danger and refused.
Fudge didn't... and paid the price.
But now, everything had changed.
The news of yesterday's attack couldn't be contained.
Wizards had communication methods far beyond what the Ministry could control.
Within just a few hours, the news had spread through most of the British wizarding world.
And once again, it ignited public anger.
Especially among parents with children at Hogwarts.
Knowing the Ministry's track record, and expecting this to be smoothed over again, how could they stay calm?
Some had even written Howlers, ready to send them to the Ministry and the Headmaster's office the next day.
But then something unexpected happened.
A new edition of the Daily Prophet was released in the middle of the night, detailing the attack, casualties, and losses.
Even more unbelievable... the Death Eaters involved had all been executed?
And the follow-up edition claimed the Ministry had already uncovered the truth, caught the masterminds, and hanged them in Diagon Alley?
How was that possible?
This wasn't the Ministry they knew.
Since when was the Ministry this efficient? Normally, wouldn't they drag out the investigation for months, let the heat die down, and then quietly drop it?
Or find a few scapegoats, pin everything on them, and hand down life sentences?
Or claim they were under the Imperius Curse, fine them, and release them as innocent?
So why this time had they captured everyone and executed them immediately?
"This has to be fake!"
Countless parents and citizens roared after reading the papers.
But in the end, most of them still set aside the Howlers they had prepared and made their way to Diagon Alley.
If those people were publicly executed... then they would see it with their own eyes.
Rumble! Rumble!
Amid chaotic footsteps, the crowd surged forward.
They got closer and closer to the square, and their hearts pounded faster and faster.
"Caw!"
A massive raven circled overhead, calling loudly, as if provoking them, or guiding them.
Many couldn't help but follow it with their eyes.
They watched it glide through the air, watched it fly farther away, then loop back in a wide arc and land on a wooden beam.
And beneath that beam... seven corpses hung.
Dozens of plump ravens clung to the bodies, feasting.
With every peck, the corpses swayed.
The scene burned itself into every pair of eyes.
In an instant, the unease on people's faces vanished.
In its place came excitement... and delight.
"Long live..."
No one knew who started it.
But soon, a tidal wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.