Chapter 122: Dumbledore's Army at Hogwarts

“What? You’re saying you destroyed Erkstag Prison?!”

In the brightly lit Hogwarts Great Hall, the Charms professor from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry asked in astonishment.

“Er, don’t say it so loudly, Professor Hicks.” Xiwen glanced around guiltily at the young witches and wizards eating nearby before continuing. “It wasn’t exactly destroyed. We merely eradicated the prison’s utterly inhumane method of punishment at its very source!”

“That’s right. The three of us killed a manticore!” Theseus said with a laugh, patting the magical creature carrier Newt had placed beside him.

Newt was seated at one of the long tables. Inside the transparent carrier beside him were two small, pale-orange magical creatures with a pair of crablike pincers and scorpion tails. The two manticore hatchlings no longer looked ferocious as they had in the prison. Instead, they appeared pitiful and woebegone.

“To be precise, Strange was the one who killed the manticore,” Newt said softly, moving Theseus’s hand aside. “The two of us merely provided assistance.”

Professor Kettleburn, who had only one arm and half a leg, came clanking over on his wooden prosthetic, staring curiously at the carrier beside Newt.

“Are those manticore hatchlings? They don’t look quite right!”

“The German wizards must have experimented on them and altered them,” Newt explained gloomily. “They removed the most intelligent part of the manticore—the human head—and completely transformed the creatures into beasts raised on human blood.”

“Those people are absolutely despicable!” Professor Kettleburn cursed furiously.

“Yes. I agree,” Newt said, nodding.

“…”

Newt had not seen Professor Kettleburn for a long time, and the manticores provided them with a shared topic of interest. Before long, the two were deep in conversation.

Theseus tried to join them by expressing his outrage toward the German Ministry of Magic. However, he could not get a word in edgewise during the two magizoologists’ highly academic discussion, so he silently turned toward Professor Hicks instead.

“Hey, so you rescued one of the candidates at the International Confederation of Wizards’ banquet?” Theseus asked, searching for something to say.

“That’s right.” Professor Hicks nodded. “Grindelwald tried to assassinate the candidate, Vicência Santos, by poisoning her goblet.”

Free reading on Romance Bar.

“Does Grindelwald have so little confidence in winning the presidency of the Confederation on his own merits?” Xiwen asked, frowning in confusion. “Assassinating another candidate would only turn the voters against him, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know what he was thinking.” Professor Hicks shook her head as she addressed Xiwen and Theseus. “But what he did may have been about far more than simply eliminating a candidate.”

“What do you mean?” Theseus asked, frowning as well.

“Grindelwald deliberately sent Queenie Goldstein to deliver the poisoned wine to Santos. It seemed almost as though he wanted to provoke Jacob intentionally.” Professor Hicks glanced from a distance at Jacob, who was chatting with the young witches and wizards, and lowered her voice as she continued. “Jacob was terribly worried about Queenie. Grindelwald quickly worked him into a rage, prompting him to draw that wand without a core. Grindelwald then secretly cast a spell, creating the illusion that Jacob was trying to attack him. In this way, he also framed Jacob for poisoning Santos.”

“I don’t know why Dumbledore gave Jacob that wand, or whether he had anticipated this from the beginning. But the fact remains that most of the people present, unaware of the truth, will probably believe that the assassination attempt was planned by Jacob, a Muggle.” Professor Hicks’s expression was grave.

“If the attempt succeeds, Grindelwald eliminates a rival. If it fails, he can blame a Muggle and stir up conflict between wizards and Muggles.” Theseus shook his head and sighed. “Grindelwald has certainly devised a fine scheme.”

“So now I want to know whether our so-called ‘plan’ is still proceeding as intended.” Xiwen folded his arms and fell silent in thought.

Just then, the corner of Xiwen’s eye twitched. He looked speechlessly toward the Slytherin table.

…

At the Slytherin table in the Hogwarts Great Hall, Abraxas was discussing something with the young wizard Xiwen and Mobley.

“How dare they? How can they allow a Muggle into Hogwarts?” Abraxas shouted indignantly at Mobley and the young Xiwen. “It is a desecration of Hogwarts! An insult to the entire magical world!”

“I think we need to teach him a lesson, Abraxas!” Mobley rolled up his sleeves and spoke furiously.

The young Xiwen hurriedly grabbed both of them by their hats and dragged the eager pair back.

“There’s no need for that. That Muggle was invited by Dumbledore,” Xiwen told them. “You don’t really want to offend Dumbledore directly, do you?”

Abraxas and Mobley hesitated visibly, though they still looked reluctant to let the matter go.

“How could Dumbledore invite a Muggle? This is a blatant betrayal of wizarding honor!” Abraxas said through gritted teeth.

Mobley was equally enraged. From the look of him, he might seek out Jacob at any moment and place a vicious curse on him.

“Don’t do anything rash. Ravenclaw is waiting to overtake us in the house standings!” Xiwen stared at them sternly. “If you maliciously curse the guest of the Gryffindor Head, I can’t guarantee what punishment you’ll receive!”

“All right!” Mobley sat back down and shrugged helplessly. “For Dumbledore’s sake—and Xiwen’s.”

At that moment, Abraxas noticed some sweets and snacks laid out on the table and suddenly had an idea.

“Xiwen, there shouldn’t be any problem with our giving that Muggle a few gifts, should there?” Abraxas asked.

“Probably not…” Xiwen stared at him in bewilderment. “Are you actually being kind for once?”

Abraxas picked up a packet of Chocolate Frogs from the snacks on the table and smiled delightedly.

Xiwen: “...You really are something.”

…

As lunch was drawing to a close, Dumbledore entered the Great Hall.

“It’s wonderful to see that everyone has arrived at Hogwarts safe and sound, without losing any limbs along the way.” Dumbledore greeted everyone with a mischievous smile.

“Dumbledore, I want to know whether our ‘plan’ can be considered a success.” Theseus immediately spoke up upon seeing him. “It feels as though we’ve ended up right back where we started.”

“Theseus, in fact, our situation is worse than it was at the beginning.” Dumbledore gently shook his head, though he gave a quiet laugh. “Grindelwald has now obtained the right to vote. It would be fair to say that circumstances are highly unfavorable for us.”

“What should we do next?” Xiwen asked, frowning.

Dumbledore smiled faintly but did not answer. He merely motioned for the members of Dumbledore’s Army to follow him, then walked straight to the front of the hall.

“Minerva, could you clear the young witches and wizards from the area?” Dumbledore asked a young witch seated at the professors’ table. “There are some important matters we need to discuss.”

…

…