Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 288 King vs King
To be exact, it was 9 o'clock in the evening according to London time zone when Jon dived into the ice pit.
It's just that because it is at the pole and covered by polar day, there is no difference between day and night for him.
But for the wizards in France, the situation is very different.
This was definitely an extremely difficult night for the employees of the French Ministry of Magic.
After the "rebels" occupied all areas except Paris, the French Ministry of Magic began to implement the highest state of alert, and every pure-blood member of parliament dared not leave the underground square for a moment.
Not only that, there are also many pure-blood wizards here who actively responded to the pure-blood policy as soon as it was promulgated.
Most of them fled in a hurry before the Wizarding Line occupied their cities, thus avoiding the fate of being liquidated, but they could only hide in the French Ministry of Magic and live in fear all day long.
All French Aurors were required to be on standby at the Ministry of Magic 24 hours a day. In addition, those support Aurors, who came from unknown backgrounds and only spoke pure British English but never French, were also guarding the French Ministry of Magic.
This was the final bottom line Voldemort drew for them. Other parts of France could be lost, but Paris must not fall into Dumbledore's hands.
Both Voldemort and Dumbledore clearly understood what it would mean if the entire France was occupied by the Wizarding World.
If the nearly ten years of exile in the Hogwarts carriage was Dumbledore's strategic defense, then after the victory at the reformatory, the organization led by Dumbledore had reached a strategic equilibrium with Voldemort.
Once the entire France was lost, it would mean that Voldemort was doomed, and even his prestige in Britain would be greatly shaken, thus opening the way for Dumbledore's strategic offensive.
Therefore, whether or not Voldemort can defend Paris is of great significance to him. This is the bridgehead for him to rule the whole of Europe, and it is also the starting point for him to bar the fangs of his ambition.
Likewise, the liberation of Paris is extremely important to Dumbledore.
This would not only completely destroy Voldemort's personal reputation, but also allow this failure to shake the theory of superiority that is the basis of his bloodline rule, directly shake the foundation of his rule, and lay the foundation for the subsequent attack on the British mainland.
Therefore, these pure-blood wizards in France are still defending the Ministry of Magic, while the wizards on the Wizarding Horizon have not stopped their offensive.
At nine o'clock on the evening of March 29th, an explosion at the only entrance to the Ministry of Magic caused panic among everyone stationed there.
The violent vibration caused the entire ground to tremble. Every floor of the French Ministry of Magic was shaking, and broken stones and dust were scattered everywhere.
The noise reminded many French wizards of the night half a year ago.
It was just a few days after Voldemort was announced as the Minister of Magic. On a midnight even darker than tonight, seven mugwort wizards in white robes used their lives to blow up half of the Ministry of Magic.
That night was also earth-shaking, but besides shocking the purebloods at the determination of these "Mudbloods" to resist to the death, it was also the beginning of Voldemort establishing his absolute authority.
That power was so strong that no one dared to even look up to it, and every pure-blood who decided to stand on his side at that time did not feel that there would be any obstacle to the implementation of the bloodline policy in France.
This was indeed the situation at the beginning, and everything was clearly moving in a good direction.
But why is it that now, these people who are supposed to be in a high position are hiding in the "burrows" like rats?
Such a huge change before and after is unacceptable to every pureblood who escaped here.
But no matter what emotions they were feeling at the moment, after the alarm sounded after the loud noise, everyone hurriedly gathered towards the location of the Wizard Court Tribunal, which was a designated wartime shelter.
Most of the Aurors from the French Ministry of Magic were already guarding the entrance.
Each of them held a wand in their hands, swallowed nervously, and looked at the entrance covered with thick dust. In fact, they had anticipated the current situation long before.
After the wizards of Wizarding Peace won the victory in the reformatory, they never stopped invading France. Under the leadership of Dumbledore, the French Ministry of Magic continued to shrink its defenses, and now only the Ministry of Magic is left as the only isolated island.
So in fact everyone expected that a situation like today would happen, but when Dumbledore and his men actually appeared in front of them, the psychological pressure that came with it could not be eliminated just by thinking about it in advance.
The dust gradually dissipated, and at the bomb-damaged entrance, standing there were countless wizards in white robes.
And in front of everyone was Dumbledore himself.
He held an ordinary cherry wood wand in his hand and looked calmly at the French Aurors who were blocking their way.
"I think if you are generous enough and willing to lay down your wands, then perhaps this war that should not have happened can be resolved. What do you think?"
His words made the Aurors' palms holding their wands sweat, but no one wavered at all.
The Aurors who were able to defend the Ministry of Magic to the end must be die-hard pure-bloods. They themselves had already done some things that “pure-bloods” should do during Voldemort’s rule.
Such things could never be forgiven by the wizards of the Wizarding Horizon. If they resisted, there was a great possibility that they would die, but if they surrendered, it would mean they would be 100% certain to die!
Then, the first spell was uttered by an extremely nervous Auror, and a pale green light suddenly flashed at the tip of his wand!
"Avadaso..."
"boom!"
But behind Dumbledore, the wizards on the wizarding horizon reacted faster than him!
No one uttered any spell at all. Although the power of the blasting spell cast by the silent spell was reduced, the effect of countless spells combined together was far beyond the imagination of normal people!
There was a fierce confrontation between the blazing flames and the armor spell on the Auror's body!
Countless teeth-grinding sounds were heard, and the terrifying explosion effect forced most of the Aurors to retreat under the pressure.
Even if they had no intention of surrendering, it was impossible for them to defend the Ministry of Magic at the risk of their lives. Everyone had little hope that they could defend the Ministry of Magic on their own.
Just as Voldemort could rely on his personal strength to suppress everyone's resistance, in his absence, Dumbledore alone was enough to suppress the entire French Ministry of Magic in terms of mentality and strength.
Once there are signs that this place is completely lost, these Aurors will flee France with their families without hesitation and go anywhere else in the world, even to some remote valleys to live with giants or even trolls. They will never return to France in their lifetime.
Of course, the reason why they did not escape immediately was because there was still a glimmer of hope in their hearts, a glimmer of hope that Voldemort would not give up France so easily and would definitely stand up!
It was with this hope that they fought and retreated, relying on the complex terrain of the Ministry of Magic and the wizards of the Wizarding Horizon to engage in street fighting.
It is impossible for the wizards on the Wizarding Horizon to directly blow down the entire Ministry of Magic.
They are not a terrorist organization. Once they completely blow up the Ministry of Magic underground, it will inevitably have a direct impact on Paris on the ground. At that time, it will not be something that can be solved by a few Forgetfulness spells.
And they also have to prepare for what will happen after occupying the whole of France. The French Ministry of Magic must be reorganized, and the people in the current Ministry of Magic can be killed, but everything else must be preserved as much as possible.
Because occupying France is not the final victory, they still need to rely on the feedback from the French land to liberate Great Britain.
The battle between wizards became extremely fierce, but because of Dumbledore's existence, the Wizarding World always had the absolute upper hand.
The Aurors guarding the Ministry of Magic kept retreating, and finally retreated to the courtroom where all the wizards who did not participate in the war gathered.
Until now, there has been no sign of Voldemort appearing. Even those who had eyes could see that there were only a few Aurors supporting him from Britain left, and the vast majority had disappeared.
It was as if Voldemort had completely given up on them after that failure and dared not appear in front of Dumbledore again.
Just like that, the Aurors retreated into the courtroom, and the wizards on the Wizarding Horizon raised their wands and pointed them at everyone in the hall.
Dumbledore's face remained calm. In fact, he did not take action many times in this battle. Most of the time he just rescued a few wizards from the Killing Curse. But even so, he brought great deterrence to the Aurors.
Aurors and wizards from the Wizarding Horizon confronted each other in this courtroom full of crime and punishment.
Those pale-faced pure-blood wizards huddled together were like a group of prisoners in shackles about to have their crimes read out . They looked in fear at the wizards on the Wizarding Horizon who had firm faces and were moving forward step by step.
But suddenly Dumbledore stopped.
Behind him, the people who followed him also stopped.
The air suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of soft sobs, tense breathing, and swallowing in the throat mixed together.
"Riddle, now that you're here, why didn't you come out to see me earlier ?"
Dumbledore's voice echoed in the courtroom.
After hearing the surname he called, most of the wizards on the Wizarding Horizon turned gloomy, while the pure-blood wizards in France looked confused, as if they had never heard of this person with the most ordinary surname.
"Because I enjoy it, Dumbledore."
A faint voice came from behind the French purebloods. They all turned around and made way for everyone behind Dumbledore to see the young man sitting on the chair with his face supported by one hand.
His appearance seemed to be fixed forever on this handsome face. Even the years that could wear away everything could not leave the slightest mark on it.
Voldemort was still the same, his eyes were cold and his face was calm but mixed with cruelty, he stared straight at Dumbledore who was more than ten meters away from him.
"Pawns versus pawns, kings versus kings. Just like wizard chess, everyone has set up their positions, and people of equal status should play against people they can look at on an equal footing."
After seeing him, all the purebloods' originally fearful hearts turned into ecstasy.
They didn't want to give up everything they had in France, whether it was status or power, and now the only one who could ensure that they could have all of these was the man in front of them.
Even though this man had failed once not long ago, his reputation had spread for decades. As long as he stood in front of Dumbledore again, there would still be people who would have great hopes for him.
Just like after Dumbledore's failure in the Astronomy Tower, there were still people who continued to believe in him.
People were looking at the two people facing each other. They looked very different in age, but they carried the beliefs of different groups.
Dumbledore looked at Voldemort, his deep blue eyes seemed to be examining something, or considering something.
But Voldemort did not avoid Dumbledore's gaze. He was completely different from the self who had fallen from the sky like a black meteor and returned to the French Ministry of Magic in a panic to suppress those double-minded wizards.
"It feels like I'm my old self again, doesn't it?"
An intriguing smile appeared on Voldemort's face, and he casually held the wand with Fawkes' phoenix tail feather as the core between his index and middle fingers, as if this was not a battlefield filled with smoke, but a celebratory dinner.
Dumbledore frowned slightly. He could see that Voldemort was not just a coward. He had indeed gotten rid of his previous state and returned to his best period.
This was very strange. John naturally told Dumbledore about Voldemort's soul problem. The influence that obviously came from the soul was not something that could be easily gotten rid of.
But there was no possibility that Voldemort was lying in his current state. Moreover, based on Dumbledore's understanding of him, if he had not recovered to normal, he would not have the courage to appear here again.
It was only possible that something unknown had happened that caused Voldemort to recover so quickly.
However, whether he has fully recovered or is just holding on temporarily is unclear based on the current appearance.
But whether it is permanent or temporary, the recovery of Voldemort's strength is real, which makes the current situation deadlocked.
Dumbledore raised his wand first, his face still calm.
"Since there is no way to study the process in detail, let's look at the results."
