Meanwhile, deep within a certain gloomy Castle.
Lord Voldemort stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling window, his crimson snake-like eyes indifferently watching the thunder and lightning in the night sky outside.
He could feel that the Ministry of Magic had fallen completely under his control.
Dumbledore's death was only a matter of time.
The entire Wizarding World would soon be groveling at his feet.
However, at that moment, a sudden, excruciating pain—as if a piece of his soul had been violently torn away—caused his snake-like face to instantly contort!
"Ah—!"
He let out a painful roar that sounded barely human, his entire body curling up on the floor as his hands clutched his chest tightly.
Another one!
Another Horcrux had been destroyed!
It was the goblet! It was Hufflepuff's goblet!
It was hidden in the Lestrange family vault, protected by Gringotts' layers of defense and a Giant dragon.
How was it possible... how could it have been destroyed!
Who was it?
Who exactly was it?!
Was it Dumbledore? No, that old man's style of doing things wasn't like this.
Was it that damn Potter? He didn't have the ability!
One suspicious name after another flashed frantically through Lord Voldemort's mind, only to be dismissed one by one.
An unprecedented fear, one that reached into the very marrow of his bones, began to gnaw at his sanity like a venomous snake.
The very foundation of his immortality was being smashed to pieces, bit by bit.
He was no longer immortal.
He could feel it... the shadow of death.
"No... no!"
He struggled to stand up from the floor, a frantic fire burning in his crimson snake-like eyes.
"I can't wait any longer! I can't wait any longer!"
He roared, turning and rushing out of the room.
"Summon everyone! All the Death Eaters! All the Giants! All the Dementors!"
His voice echoed through the empty Castle, filled with hysterical madness.
"Get ready! Attack Hogwarts!"
"I will personally! Personally snap Dumbledore's neck!"
"I will turn every person in that Castle into fertilizer to nourish my immortality!"
He rushed over to a serpentine creature coiled by the fireplace.
That was his last Horcrux, and his most trusted companion, Nagini.
"Nagini..." he hissed in Parseltongue, his voice trembling with pain and rage, "you go too. Go and kill them, kill everyone who dares to resist me!"
The Giant snake raised its head, flicking its tongue, looking at its master with its cold, vertical pupils.
It could feel its master's pain and fear.
It let out a low hiss, its massive body beginning to glide.
The war had fully broken out.
12 Grimmauld Place.
When Hermione, riding the white dragon, landed with a crash on the small open space in front of the door like a descending god, the entire Black Manor fell into a deathly silence.
Ron and Sirius, who had just escaped the chaos of Diagon Alley through the floo network, stared at the scene before them in stunned silence, almost thinking they had been hit by some dark curse.
"merlins beard..." Ron's mouth was open wide enough to fit an egg, "Hermione... she... she stole a dragon?"
Sirius's expression was even more complex as he watched Hermione leap lightly down from the dragon's head.
He found it harder and harder to understand this girl who had once been merely bright and studious.
Lia immediately withdrew that layer of frantic disguise after Hermione landed and confirmed the situation was safe.
Hermione leaned on Lia and panted for a long while before she recovered her strength.
"This thing is really hard to use."
Lia had withdrawn that layer of frantic disguise covering the surface of her soul the moment Hermione landed.
A massive wave of exhaustion instantly swept over Hermione; her body swayed, but she was caught by Lia's quick hands.
"This thing is really hard to use," Hermione leaned against Lia, taking several deep breaths before she finally recovered.
The taste of grafting another's soul was like being forced to pour a bottle of spoiled poison into one's own veins, fighting against that frantic will every single second.
"Smells bad," Lia looked up at her with those clear blue cat-like eyes, her voice soft with worry.
"There won't be a next time," Hermione rubbed Lia's head, her voice noticeably weak.
Molly Weasley came rushing out of the house screaming, pulling Hermione and Lia into her arms.
"Oh, my poor children! What you did was too dangerous! Too dangerous!"
Lupin followed behind, his face also carrying a lingering fear and a hint of a wry smile.
He looked at Lia, who was nestled in Hermione's arms as well-behaved as an ordinary kitten, then at the chaos caused by the dragon's appearance on the street in the distance, feeling that the world was becoming increasingly surreal.
"Alright, Molly, they're back safe," Mr. Arthur Weasley walked out, patted his wife's back, and turned his gaze to Hermione, "The situation at the Ministry... we need to handle it quickly."
"No need," Hermione shook her head, pulling herself out of Molly's embrace and standing up straight, "I attacked the Death Eaters in the name of Bellatrix Lestrange. Lord Voldemort will only think Bella has gone mad, or that there's internal strife."
"He doesn't have time to worry about Diagon Alley right now." Hermione's gaze swept over everyone, "With the goblet destroyed, he should have a massive headache right now."
The group fell silent.
They knew that what Hermione said was the truth.
Lord Voldemort was likely in the throes of the agonizing pain of a torn soul and the fear of the unknown.
"You need to rest," Lupin finally spoke, breaking the silence, "Especially you, Hermione. Forcing yourself to wield that kind of power has taken a huge toll on your mental energy."
Hermione didn't deny it.
She indeed felt as if her brain had been stirred into a pot of porridge, every breath accompanied by a needle-like sting.
"Lia and I will stay here to rest for a day," she made a decision, "He and I will go to Hogwarts tomorrow."
Harry and Ron hesitated, as if they wanted to say something.
Sirius frowned: "Leaving the two of you here? That's too dangerous!"
"No," Hermione looked at Lia and smiled, "With Lia here, it's safer than Hogwarts."
That sentence left Sirius with no rebuttal.
He remembered the scene in the Room of Requirement, where that girl had slaughtered Death Eaters like she was clearing out trash.
True, with this little monster around, who could hurt them?
Finally, at Hermione's insistence, the group agreed to this plan.
The members of the Order of the Phoenix began to get busy, heading to Hogwarts in secret batches through the floo network to prepare for the upcoming great battle.
As the night deepened, the door of 12 Grimmauld Place, which had been damaged by the dragon, was temporarily sealed with magic.
The manor, which had been bustling all night, finally had only one window on the second floor still lit with a dim yellow light.
In a dark corner across the street, a wretched man in a tattered cloak was staring fixedly at that lit window with greedy and fearful eyes.
It was Mundungus Fletcher.
He saw it, he saw everything.
The dragon that burst out of Gringotts, Hermione Granger standing on its head like a Valkyrie, and those Death Eaters who were easily blown to pieces.
He had intended to slip back during the chaos to see if he could swipe anything valuable from Black Manor, but he hadn't expected to witness such a terrifying scene.
He saw even more: the people from the Order of the Phoenix had all left through the fireplace, leaving only that mudblood and her cat!
A perfect opportunity! A perfect opportunity to claim credit with the Dark Lord!
Mundungus was trembling all over from extreme excitement.
He fished a black Galleon from his robes and tapped it lightly with his wand.
"Master... I have... wonderful news..."
...
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