Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 187 Madness and the Last Trump Card
Donald's last sentence was the rational choice.

Preserving as much of the family’s strength as possible is indeed a top priority for the Graves family, which is now facing a split.

Otherwise, even if they don't die here today, they will die at the hands of other families someday... In the Federation under the aristocratic political system, the 12 pure-bloods may stand together, but they are far from being affectionate.

If the Graves family were to lose its military power, then the first to strike would likely be its "brother" families...

The teams were quickly assigned.

The three Auror captains, each with their own men, went to rescue the survivors according to Donald's plan, while Donald himself led six Aurors to the area he was responsible for.

It was a small villa area shrouded in night.

The black is deep and somber.

Donald knew that it wasn't an illusion caused by the darkness, but an effect created by magic.

Dark Curse.

A kind of protective barrier spell, similar to the Peace Guardian, can be cast by the cooperation of multiple wizards, shrouding things within a certain range in a magically created "shadow". People who fall into the barrier will have their senses obscured to a certain extent by the shadow, mainly in terms of vision, and their hearing will also be weakened.

This spell, like the triangle tactic, is one of the Graves family's signature moves.

Most of the magic that Graves knows, which allows him to blend into the shadows, comes from a simplified version of this enchantment.

As the group walked to the roadside, out of the light's reach, and as the surrounding light was gradually replaced by darkness, a strange scene unfolded before them:
A shadow extending to the left and right, like a curtain floating from bottom to top, emerged from the soil and "fell" into the air.

One of the wizards following Donald stepped forward, carefully touched the shadow with his wand, and then shook his head at Donald.
"The barrier they set up is very strong, there must be a lot of people involved, and they have also modified the recognition spell. It will take some time to break it."

“...Jack…”

Donald's eyes dimmed slightly. Not long ago, he had instructed Jack Graves to drive out the Muggles and then cover the area to prevent any magical leaks should a fight break out with the WAC.

result……

With a complex mix of emotions, Donald shook his head, shaking off his inner turmoil, and said, "We don't have time to waste. Let's go in. Everyone keep your glow spells up. They're not very effective against the barrier, but at least they can dispel some of the darkness."

“But that would make us easy targets, as the Fluorescent Charm is very conspicuous within the barrier.”

“There’s no other way but to be more vigilant.” Donald glanced at them. “I hope everyone can work together… If you were trapped here right now, would you want to see everyone working hard to rescue us, or would you hesitate and think twice?”

I never expected to want to see myself abandoned.

The Aurors nodded and said nothing more.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Donald let out a soft breath and stepped into the darkness.

In an instant, the darkness, like dried snow, stretched into wisps of black smoke as Donald approached, gradually dissipating and receding.

But Donald did not show any joy.

The Fluorescent Charm is not an antidote to the Dark Veil Charm. Decades ago, the Graves family developed the Dark Veil Charm for tactical purposes. To prevent outsiders from developing a corresponding antidote, its casting, incantation, and ritual are quite different from the modern spell system, instead referencing many ancient magical rituals.

Currently in the magical world, the only spell that can truly counter the Dark Curse is "All Curses End," which requires the cooperation of many people.

Sure enough, although the surrounding darkness was dispelled by the fluorescent spell, as they continued to go deeper, the darkness that resembled smoke or an ocean pressed down on them again.

The originally invisible light of the Fluorescent Spell, suppressed by the darkness, gradually took on a halo-like shape, shrinking "viscous" within a range of about one foot from the seven people's bodies.

This "oppression" was real pressure; the arms of the seven gradually tensed, especially Donald, who was walking at the front, whose wand trembled slightly.

The surrounding darkness churned and pressed in.

Like real seawater, they carried enormous resistance, attempting to drown and crush the light, thus greatly depleting his magic and emotions.

At the same time, the Dark Curse was gradually stripping away the group's senses, with sight and hearing being the first to be affected.

"My vision is starting to blur!"

After walking for a while, Donald heard a faint voice behind him. It was a witch named Maiev. Donald, who was also experiencing blurred vision, could not see her expression clearly, but could barely make out her lip movements, which she was making very forcefully: "And hearing, I can hardly hear anything now."

Judging from her lip movements, Maiev should have been shouting very loudly, but what Donald actually heard was barely a whisper.

This is the deprivation of the senses by the Dark Veil Curse!

“Just a little longer,” Donald responded just as loudly, his voice also weakening. “Don’t let your guard down. Those guys we chased away earlier are probably hiding nearby.”

The voice just fell.

Donald noticed that the smoke-like darkness ahead suddenly churned more violently, and in the next instant, a streak of fiery red flew out from the heavy shadows.

Donald reacted with lightning speed, waving his wand.

The light trail of the Ironclad Curse flashed and disappeared in an instant, and the raging flames that were flying towards it were immediately deflected.

This burst of flames seemed to be a signal; the next second, more spells poured forth. Donald spread his arms, and a hemispherical armor spell instantly enveloped him and the other six Aurors. Three of them simultaneously abandoned their fluorescent spells and shouted incantations to assist Donald.

The sounds were chaotic and the vibrations were intense.

Donald grunted, and cracks appeared visibly on the Ironclad Charm. But instead of blindly defending, he took advantage of someone sharing the defensive burden and quickly chanted a spell to create a cloud of dirt at his feet. With a flick of his wand, his superb polymorph transformed the dirt into a multitude of weapons that shot into the darkness.

Although the location of the enemy is unknown, such actions seem reckless.

But Donald remained calm. Since his first magical outburst at the age of eight, he had been learning and using family magic. Over the past 30 years, he had thoroughly understood the strengths and weaknesses of family magic.

The Dark Veil Curse is indeed very powerful, but there is no absolutely invincible magic in this world. Even the Killing Curse can be deceived by the life created by a high-level Transfiguration Curse, let alone a barrier with little lethality.
Similarly, the more powerful any magic with a wide coverage, the more magical power and emotion it requires as "energy."

"There must be a node nearby."

Donald thought.

The so-called nodes are actually the wizards who maintain the darkness.

The weapon he fired was not intended to attack the attackers, but rather to strike a key point!
As one ventures deeper into the barrier's range, the world becomes increasingly desolate.

A halo appeared suddenly.

He raised his hand and flicked away a disarming spell.

Donald stepped back, and two Aurors took his place, their wands raised high to support the Ironclad Charm, blocking the spells that came rushing in from all directions.

Donald then muttered two incantations under his breath.

With a flick of his wand, the ground cracked open, and cement, clods of earth, blades of grass... everything usable was transformed by his magic.

They transformed into lions, elephants, tigers, and even fire dragons, unicorns, venomous leopards, and so on, roaring silently as they pounced in the direction from which the muffled groan came, under Donald's command.

Before long, even after being weakened by the Dark Curse, the noise from that side could be heard gradually increasing.

[Move over there]

Donald gestured, indicating that they were finding it difficult to communicate verbally now.

Upon seeing the gesture, the Aurors nodded and began to coordinate with each other to change direction and speed up their movements.

Perhaps sensing their intentions, the attacks from the surrounding area intensified.

The protective shield of the Ironclad Curse was on the verge of collapse.

There are also some people trying to stop Donald's magic!
But Donald, no longer fighting alone or solely on the defensive, was now fully committed to the battle and was simply unstoppable.

In the aristocratic politics of the Federation and the Magic Congress, ministers may be judged by their family background, seniority, and political value, with magical strength taking a backseat. However, the deputy minister is usually the most powerful wizard from the same family at the time!
Especially the Magic Security Department controlled by Graves.

As the largest violent institution in the federal government, the ability to fight is the only requirement for selecting a deputy minister.

Donald, a master of shapeshifting magic, constantly gathers random objects from the ground and then uses his ingenious transformation skills to turn them into beasts and weapons.

Life is brought to life, enchanted with special effects such as lightning, fire, and ice, and flocks of birds fly...

The various combinations of spells surrounding the Transfiguration Charm were vividly displayed under his wand, creating shapeshifting creatures that seemed to be real life, some running and pouncing, some lurking, some flying, some wrapped in lightning, and some breathing fire.

They come in an endless stream, rushing toward the target in all sorts of unpredictable ways.

The ground shook.

As they drew closer, the six Aurors faced increasing difficulties in their defense, and they finally heard a faint yet incredibly frantic sound coming from not far away—

"Protect the node!"

"Stop those damned shapeshifters—ah!"

"Damn it, the Sith is dead."

Donald opened his eyes wide; his vision had been almost completely robbed by the Dark Curse.

The view was hazy, like looking through several layers of frosted glass; I could only vaguely see the flashing light effects over there.

Even their voices sounded muffled, as if their ears were filled with water.

But that's enough; it's enough for him to determine the exact location of the node!

Donald finally stopped the transformation magic, and the endless army of shapeshifting creatures came to an abrupt halt.

But the traitors lurking in the darkness showed no sign of letting up.

Because they saw Donald gently raise his hand, and his smooth, incredibly flexible willow wand slowly emerged from behind the shield erected by the Aurors.

An obscure incantation escaped his lips:
"Evanesco!"

There were no light effects, no sound, and no warning signs.

A traitor who had just cast a curse and was facing the tip of Donald's wand suddenly widened his eyes in fear. He opened and closed his mouth twice as if he wanted to say something, but only a wisp of dust mixed with his breath came out of his mouth!
He collapsed!

Under the terrified gazes of the traitors, the wizard, like a sandcastle swept by a whirlwind, turned to dust, crumbled, and vanished at a visible speed.

And this is not the end.

After the wizard disappeared, the silent power of the spell continued to spread, and the flowerbeds, lawns, ground, and even the node wizard who was trapped by Donald's shapeshifting creatures and unable to escape all collapsed under the power of the spell.

Within the fan-shaped area, everything vanished in that instant.

A perfectly shaped, huge crater appeared in the ground!

As the wizard maintaining the barrier node disappeared, the dense darkness around them vanished in the blink of an eye, and the glowing spell that the Aurors had been maintaining spread out, illuminating the night.

It also illuminated the traitors who, just moments before, had been recklessly using the Dark Curse spell. They had scattered and were hiding in the nearby Muggle houses!
But no one paid attention to that; they just stared in shock at the abrupt pit, completely silent.

After a long while, one of the traitors murmured in a trembling voice, "Disappearance spell..."

"call--"

Donald let out a long breath, his face somewhat pale. Using such a large-scale vanishing spell over such a distance was a great burden for him.

He felt waves of dizziness and pain, signs of excessive magic consumption, a significant drop in physical strength, and a near-collapse in his emotions.

This is a very dangerous act, meaning that his magical power will be greatly reduced for a period of time.

However, Donald believed it was worthwhile.

As the darkness dissipated and his vision returned, Donald saw a faintly flashing red signal floating above the courtyard of a villa not far ahead.

Those were magical marks left by the survivors at his command; as long as they exist, it means the wizard who cast them is still alive.

Donald glanced at the signal again, took a weak breath, and then ordered, "You guys are in charge of clearing out the traitors around here. Maiev, you come with me to mark that spot and rescue the people."

The Aurors readily agreed and quickly formed groups. Before long, the battle resumed, but this time the remaining traitors in the area, no longer concealed by veils, were swiftly suppressed by several elite Aurors.

Donald and Maiev Graves, a witch in her early thirties, casually flicked a few spells away, ignoring the battlefield over there, and walked to the outside of the villa with the magical markings.

"Vice Minister, let me do it."

Seeing Donald raise his wand with a pale face, Maiev quickly stopped him: "You should rest for a while. There are many people who need you."

After thinking it over, Donald didn't insist any further and took a few steps back.

Watching Maiev blast open the courtyard wall, she cautiously raised her armor and walked in through the billowing smoke and dust.

And then... nothing happened!

Donald frowned, instinctively tightening his grip on his wand. Just as he was about to ask Maiev a question, his eyes suddenly lit up. A blazing, brilliant fire suddenly expanded within the courtyard walls!

A long time ago, about 20 years ago, not long after he graduated, Donald went to Nevada on his graduation trip, following the rules set by the founder of Evamon.

That's where the Muggle army conducts nuclear tests.

He witnessed the nuclear explosion firsthand there, and was nearly burned in the eyes as a result. Because of this, he will never forget the scene he saw.

The white flash pierced the eyes like a sharp sword, turning the world into a white blur. After a few breaths, when the brief flash disappeared, what appeared in the field of vision was no longer the earth and the sky, but a golden fireball that kept churning, rolling and expanding, as if it wanted to devour everything!

Just like now!

boom--

Frequency that the human body cannot perceive assaults the eardrums, and Donald goes deaf in an instant, plunging the whole world into deathly silence.

The trees and lawns burst into flames in an instant.

He instinctively summoned the Ironclad Spell, and then watched it ripple and crack before his eyes...

As the fireball rolled and expanded, engulfing and engulfing everything in its path, they witnessed it surge forward!

Nuclear bomb!

Why are there nuclear bombs here?

His mind went blank. The overwhelming impact made him forget how to react. He just stared blankly as the fireball destroyed the villa and engulfed it.

Then, it stopped a short distance in front of him!
"...How..." This bizarre sight finally brought Donald back to his senses. He stared in astonishment at the stopped fireball.

Yes, it paused completely, just like a Muggle TV; you press a button and the image freezes.

The fire cloud stopped expanding, the flames froze in their final, swirling form, and even the light seemed to stop. He saw several beams of light extending not far from him, forming a grid pattern across the sky.

Outside of the fireball, everything was functioning normally, with air hissing and whistling past his feet as it hurtled toward the center of the explosion.

But this is undoubtedly the most abnormal situation.

In this world, only magic, and extremely powerful spells, powerful wizards, or alchemical artifacts, can accomplish this!
"Donald!"

"Vice Minister, are you alright?"

The sudden turn of events caused the Aurors who had gone to eliminate the traitors to rush back. They stared in shock at the frozen fireball and frantically surrounded and protected Donald.

"I am fine."

Shaking his head to signal to the Aurors that he was alright, Donald stared blankly at the fireball: "But Maiev, she..."

In his hoarse, somewhat dazed voice, as if he hadn't yet fully recovered from the ordeal, a voice rang out:
“I’ve always felt that you’re the most hypocritical one among us.”

"who!"

The Aurors instinctively cast spells in the direction from which the sound came, but it was a shadowy place where a few glimmers of light flashed, and the spells were deflected.

A man wearing a woolen overcoat and a suit jacket came out.

In the darkness, only his silhouette could be vaguely seen, but that was enough for those who knew him to recognize him.

“Jack Graves, you traitor!” one of the Aurors roared, trying to rush forward, but the other Aurors held him back.

The Aurors huddled around Donald, glancing at Jack Graves and then at the frozen fireball, their expressions tense and wary!
Ignoring the roaring Auror, Jack Graves, to be precise, had no interest in anyone except Donald.

He slowly stepped out of the shadows, slightly raised his head, and the bright moonlight cast by the unclouded sky illuminated his face. It was a typical Graves-like face, with a dignified and serious appearance, more like a scholar than a wizard.

Upon seeing him, Donald's eyes were bloodshot: "You dare show your face in front of me?"

"Hmm? Why don't you dare?"

"You betrayed the family! You...you just killed Maiev, your cousin!"

"And then what? Do you want to accuse me of being inhuman? Or do you want to stand on the moral high ground and criticize me for being cold-blooded and heartless? Do whatever you want, after all, I am not your beloved brother, Donald."

Jack Graves smiled casually: "Always the image of caring for other kin. Even when surrounded by us traitors, your first reaction was not to evacuate, but to passionately declare that you would rescue everyone. Just now, after the nuclear explosion, you were the first to express your pity for poor Maiev... It's both admirable and disgusting!"

He tilted his head, a hint of curiosity in his expression: "Donald, aren't you tired? You always put on this kind elder's act, wearing a mask of hypocrisy. Others may not know, but I remember clearly that you weren't like this when you were a child."

Donald looked at Jack in disbelief.

He never knew that he was seen this way by the other person, but at this moment he didn't want to care about that anymore.

He would not allow his thinking to fall into Jack's fallacies and prejudices.

Donald's gaze shifted slightly, sweeping over the frozen fireball, and he took a deep breath: "What exactly do you want?"

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the Aurors who noticed his gesture immediately dispersed, surrounding Jack Graves.

However, Jack didn't care. He just looked at Donald, smiled, and asked, "What are you referring to? This frozen fireball? Or my betrayal?"

"All!"

Donald's wand glowed with magical light.

Looking at the light, Jack's expression was very calm: "Let's talk about betrayal first. When Evelyn was chatting with you before, she should have made her meaning very clear. There is no other reason for our betrayal. I, and others, all hate the exploitation and oppression of the main line and do not want to be slaves to those lords anymore. I think this reason is sufficient, and you should be able to understand it."

As they spoke, the traitors gathered around Jack.

Two groups of people stood facing each other in an eerie standoff, surrounding their respective leaders in the darkness, under the silvery moon, and beside a huge, frozen golden cloud of fire.

As Jack said, his reasons were indeed very valid.

Faced with his statement that he no longer wanted to be oppressed, Donald couldn't even find the words to refute him and could only remain silent.

This made Jack Graves somewhat bored: "I thought you were going to spout some grand principles and persuade me to abandon the betrayal and return to the family. It seems that although you are hypocritical, you are still not out of your mind."

As he spoke, Jack became enthusiastic again: "I think Evelyn was right to suggest it before. You could consider joining us. After all, you're not part of the main branch, and you're one of the people being exploited and oppressed. Why should you be manipulated by those incompetent parasites?"

“Like Jacob, as the captain of the Auror, he got a beating from Michael just for delivering some bad news. Dear Donald, what other country in the world would have such an outrageous thing happen? Do you know about Vaughn Weasley? He once threw Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge out of the courtroom. Can you imagine what Vaughn Weasley's fate would be if that happened in the Commonwealth?”

Based on the fact that imagination is unnecessary.

In the United States, no one dares to challenge the 12 purebloods; those who did are long gone!
Facing the silent Donald, Jack extended his hand, appearing very sincere: "Donald, dear cousin, why not try joining us? The Federation is rotten to the core now, with 12 purebloods, a corrupt clan system... a bunch of filthy worms ruling over noble people. Instead of being their slaves, why not join us and work together on a great cause, a cause to sweep away the deep-seated ills and restore the Federation to its pure state?"

Jack felt he had been very forgiving.

He was so moved by his speech that he almost cried.

But Donald's response disappointed him greatly—the other man didn't even glance at his outstretched hand, a symbol of peace.

Donald just stared intently at Jack, his bloodshot pupils reflecting his image, and beside him, the frozen golden fire cloud.

As Jack's expression shifted from anticipation to impatience, and then to a grimace, Donald shook his head slightly.
“Yes, Jack, I have no answer to your reasons for betrayal. I think many Aurors might feel the same way now…”

Hearing this, Jack's expression relaxed a little.

The Aurors surrounding Donald, however, were somewhat uneasy.

However, Donald changed his tone the next moment: "...But when you betrayed us and pointed your wand at your own people, you were already dead to me."

“Jeffrey, Jacqueline, Maiev… they are not people who oppress and exploit you, they are your brothers and sisters, but how have you treated them?”

Donald's eyes grew even more bloodshot: "You killed them... This shows that your so-called reasons don't represent what you really think. You're just using the name of resisting oppression to package your greed, shamelessness, tyranny, and selfishness, just to glorify yourself. Your betrayal has not an ounce of sanctity. Behind the grand facade is your maggot-like, stinking true face—including you!"

He looked at the traitors surrounding Jack Graves, his tone utterly merciless!
Now it was the traitors' turn to feel uneasy.

Jack's expression gradually darkened. After a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled and clapped his hands lightly. "You're something else, Donald. It's a real loss for those old fogies that you didn't get the position of Minister of Magical Security. If you were representing the Graves family, perhaps... things wouldn't have come to this."

As he spoke, he shook his head, seemingly feeling that his hypothesis was impossible and there was no need to continue.

"Alright, since we can't see eye to eye, let's leave it at that..." Jack paused, turned to look at the frozen fire cloud, and his smile returned to its bright shape.
"I remember you used to travel around Muggle society, so you should recognize this as a nuclear bomb, right?"

Donald's face darkened. "That's right, so I want to know, what exactly are you up to? That's the Muggles' most powerful weapon, and here, not only are your brothers and sisters here, but millions of Muggles live here, along with yourself and these people who follow you. You—"

"Peace of mind."

Jack waved his hand dismissively: "Its yield is only a few hundred tons. According to the parameters Muggle told me, its effective kill radius is only about 100 meters. It's nothing special, and besides..."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out something that looked like a remote control, shook it, and laughed, "Besides, I also have this, a time stop device, a powerful alchemical artifact that can temporarily freeze time in an area. So, for the time being, you don't need to worry about it harming us... Oh, poor Maiev is an exception. She shouldn't have been so reckless as to barge into a strange place."

Donald took a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore Jack's final, nasty words.

He stared intently at the "remote control" in Jack's hand, and couldn't resist shaking his wand.

Noticing his movement, Jack immediately pressed his finger on a button on the remote control and shook his finger with his other hand: "Don't move around. If you scare me, the consequences of pressing the button and undoing the time stop might be more than you can handle."

"..."

Donald took a few deep breaths to barely control his inner turmoil: "What exactly do you want?"

Jack chuckled: "What I'm going to do is actually quite simple... As for Vaughn Weasley, I wonder if you've paid any attention to the other members of his family?"

"Ok?"

Donald was somewhat puzzled.

“I suppose you haven’t paid attention to this, otherwise, you should be able to guess.” Seeing Donald’s questioning look, Jack shrugged, a gesture that sent a chill down Donald’s spine, fearing he might accidentally press a button…

But Jack didn’t seem to realize how dangerous his actions were. He continued, “Vaughn Weasley has twin brothers, Fred Weasley and George Weasley. I’m mentioning them because about two months ago, the twins, who were still at Hogwarts, co-authored a paper with their younger brother.”

"In their paper, they proposed a concept called 'magic field,' which is said to have originated from Vaughn Weasley. The paper discusses the interference relationship between magic fields and electromagnetic fields, but of course, that's not the main point..."

As he spoke, Jack revealed a strange smile: "The key point is at the end of the paper, where they proposed an interesting idea—since a magic field can interfere with an electromagnetic field, then conversely, could a sufficiently strong electromagnetic field also interfere with a magic field?"

The nuclear explosion Donald witnessed during his graduation trip 20 years ago in Nevada influenced his entire life.

It even directly affected his subsequent travel plans that year.

After the nuclear explosion, he gave up traveling the wizarding world and instead stayed in various Muggle cities in the Commonwealth. He even used magic to forge a Muggle identity for himself and enrolled in Muggle University.

His main subject was physics.

Therefore, he has some basic knowledge of physics, perhaps not in great depth, but he is very clear about the characteristics of nuclear bombs when they explode, which have left a deep impression on him.

That's why, when Donald heard Jack utter those last words with a sinister smile, his face suddenly turned pale—

A nuclear bomb, at the moment of explosion, can create the world's most "convenient" and most powerful electromagnetic pulse!

And at this moment, it exploded right inside the Dreamcatcher's magic field!
(End of this chapter)