Chapter 1421: Reliance
Chapter 1421: Reliance
A few days later, the "breaking news" of a Muggle village being brutally massacred by a Dark Wizard made the front page of the Daily Prophet for the first time.
In the past, this would have been unthinkable, yet here it was, boldly presented as the top headline.
Surprisingly, in this concise and powerful article, there was not a single word of criticism towards the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic, nor any mention of the Dark Wizard responsible for the massacre, Lord Voldemort. Instead, it simply and calmly stated:
A group of Death Eaters had destroyed a remote Muggle village, resulting in numerous Muggle casualties.
And that was it.
It left readers baffled and bewildered.
After all, similar incidents had occurred countless times since Lord Voldemort gained control of the British Ministry of Magic.
However, in the eyes of the wider anti-Death Eater groups, this was a blatant act of ridicule and provocation by the Death Eaters.
In response, there were indeed many who were indignant and outraged, and even more who whispered curses against the Death Eaters. But what angered them the most was the fact that the two major organizations resisting Lord Voldemort, the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Association, seemed indifferent to the situation, allowing Voldemort and his followers to massacre Muggles and create more Inferi.
In addition to the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Association, there were indeed other anti-Death Eater groups within the British magical community.
Many of these groups had emerged during the recent efforts to suppress the Death Eaters, and they tended to be all talk and no action—the kind who were brave enough to whisper in private but lacked the courage to take any actual steps. Moreover, a portion of these individuals were those who had been rescued from Azkaban and now had nothing better to do while hiding in safe houses.
Don't be impressed by their bold words; if they were truly faced with Death Eaters, it was questionable whether they would be scared witless.
"Ahem!"
Kingsley Shacklebolt cleared his throat gently, rapping his knuckles lightly on the wooden door beside him to bring everyone's wandering thoughts back to the present. Then, he stepped into the room to share the news he had just received.
"You've all seen the recent issue of the newspaper. The Death Eaters are trying to wipe us out. Both the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Association believe that we should intensify our combat training so that we have the ability to resist them in the near future. So... our training load will be doubled from now on."
Kingsley surveyed the group with a mischievous smile, taking in their sour expressions, and added, "There will be training this afternoon, so remember not to be late."
As Kingsley turned to leave, someone deliberately exclaimed, "Double the training? Are you mad?"
"It's obviously necessary," Kingsley replied with a quirky expression. "You may very well have to face Death Eaters or those hooligan Dark Wizards in the future. While they may not be that impressive, given our current level, we could still suffer unfortunate fates if we encounter them."
"But I thought we didn't have to fight the Death Eaters?" someone else blurted out, unable to contain themselves any longer.
"Who knows, but we have to be prepared for the worst," Kingsley said, his expression turning strange as he looked at those who had been the most vocal earlier.
"But this is different from what we were told before," another person interjected, sounding anxious.
"Then you'll have to take that up with the 'mysterious person,'" Kingsley said as he turned to leave. "Remember not to be late."
Everyone was left confused and unsure of the specific reason behind these changes.
However, Albert understood perfectly well.
All of this was related to Severus Snape's intention to become the third teacher for the Death Eaters.
It was almost like a bad omen.
Especially after learning that Snape had successfully convinced Voldemort to target him, Albert felt the need to take some proactive measures.
Thus, he chose to intensify the training regimen for everyone, which would benefit all of them and also prevent some of the more leisurely individuals from spouting bizarre opinions. Moreover, it would better prepare them for the challenges that lay ahead.
However, was Snape planning to defect?
Well, that didn't seem quite right; it should be said that he was planning to turn traitor again.
Albert was unclear about Snape's mindset when he went to persuade Voldemort and devised ways to strengthen the Death Eaters' combat capabilities. But this development was certainly not good for their side and could significantly reduce their advantage.
However, what Albert didn't know was that Snape thoroughly regretted mentioning this foolish idea the first time he conducted a training session for the Death Eaters.
Even though Snape was Voldemort's right-hand man, he couldn't get the newly inducted Death Eaters to obediently learn useful combat techniques from him.
No one wanted to admit that they were inferior or of lower status than others.
If Albert had known this, he would have certainly been in a better mood.
Unfortunately, Albert was completely unaware, so he had to motivate himself to be more diligent. At the very least, he increased the frequency of his lectures for the group, which delighted most of the members because they always gained something valuable from listening to Albert's lectures.
In this way, a brief period of peace was maintained between the two sides.
Well, the main reason for this peace was that Voldemort was still in Britain, causing the entire Defense Association to dare not act rashly.
This situation frustrated Voldemort and his eager-to-go Death Eaters. Just when Voldemort's presence in the British wizarding world seemed to be a source of support for them, they were dismayed to find that any traps they set were simply ignored.
During this period, the persistent Yaxley arranged for several more tragedies to occur, directly leading to the massacre of several villages.
However, the enemy seemed blind to these incidents, as if they hadn't noticed at all.
On the contrary, it was the exposure of the Muggle massacres that caused a great panic in the Muggle world, and the new Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, received a severe warning from the International Wizarding Confederation because of it. But that was the extent of it.
As a result, the previously busy-firefighting Kingsley felt his head was about to explode. Even after reporting the situation in Britain to the International Wizarding Confederation, he still failed to obtain any effective assistance.
Those hypocritical people simply didn't dare to interfere in Britain's affairs, especially since the enemy was Voldemort.
If they really got into a conflict with Voldemort and lost their own people, that would be a catastrophic loss, wouldn't it?
"What did the International Wizarding Confederation say?" Arthur asked, seeing the exhausted look on Kingsley's face.
"They didn't intend to interfere at first, but after much persuasion, they finally agreed to send a warning to the Ministry of Magic," Kingsley replied.
Even though he had expected this outcome from the beginning, Kingsley couldn't help but feel a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
"Aren't they afraid that wizards will be completely exposed to Muggles?" Hermione asked indignantly.
"I guess... they're not afraid," Arthur said with a bitter smile.
"No, they're just cowards," Sirius snapped.
"What should we do now? Just let them run rampant?" Ron suddenly asked.
"What else can we do? Welcome the Death Eaters with open arms?"
"Maybe we should come up with a plan and take the opportunity to strike hard at the Death Eaters," Harry suggested suddenly.
"What about the 'mysterious person'? Who will persuade him to cooperate? And Harry, have you perfected the Blasting Curse yet?" Sirius was highly skeptical of this so-called counterattack plan, as its success hinged entirely on Albert's cooperation. If he wasn't willing to play along, the plan would become a laughingstock.
(End of Chapter)
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