Chapter 411: I Am Talking to You, Voldemort (2 in 1)
Chapter 411: I Am Talking to You, Voldemort (2 in 1)
Paris, France.
The wizards of the Witching Horizon have surrounded the French Ministry of Magic again after less than a year.
After all, they had been operating in the French magical world for almost a full year, social order had been restored, and after losing their freedom and power and now regaining it, the muggle wizards naturally cherished it even more than before.
And because of this, their obsession with the complete liberation of all of France and the complete eradication of the so-called Pureblood supremacy theory from the land of France was very deep.
It was only because they had been bound by the blood pact between Dumbledore and Voldemort regarding the Triwizard Tournament that they had taken a break.
But this time, Dumbledore himself returned from Britain and once again announced the action that would take place today.
Apart from the Order of the Phoenix, which is led by Dumbledore's inner circle, the other forces of the Witching Horizon were shocked by Dumbledore's move.
"Why would you abandon the Blood Pact like that? Doesn't Jon Green have a huge advantage right now, being in Hogwarts Castle for the third task? Just wait until we win the championship, and we can simply get it without a fight, which is why you were willing to make this blood pact with the Dark Lord in the first place, no? Or do you actually have no confidence in your student? Thinking he's bound to lose this competition today and that's why you're breaking the blood pact early and taking Paris over for good?"
Javier Iniesta, who was now appointed as the acting minister of the temporary French Ministry of Magic from within the Witching Horizon, was very puzzled by Dumbledore's decision and asked his doubts without masking his doubts at all.
Dumbledore simply said calmly.
"It's not that I'm not confident in Jon, it's because I'm confident in Jon that he will definitely win this tournament, that I'm going to besiege Paris early."
Iniesta was no fool, he could hear what Dumbledore was saying beyond his words.
"What do you mean? You're thinking the Dark Lord will tear up the Blood Pact after we win the Triwizard Tournament."
Dumbledore didn't give a definite answer, he simply said.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he wouldn't do that, but I think he might also get around the consequences in some other way, or he'll find a way to make up for it somewhere else. I dealt with him for a long time, Javier, before he took over Britain, and the reason his mind was hard to guess at that time was because he was crazy back then, but after he became master of Britain, everything he did and decided was never only geared in the direction of success."
"Since he came up with this Triwizard Tournament, it means that he has already thought about the choices he will face in both winning this tournament and losing it, I can't guess what his choice will be at this moment, but one thing is for sure, we can't give up the war completely just because we may win without fighting, instead we must be even more ready to fight at all times, like now, while the third task is underway, we have to surround Paris and move into the Ministry of Magic as soon as the final results declare Jon's victory."
Javier had no more objections to Dumbledore's decision, but he couldn't help but ask.
"I know you trust him, and I certainly hold the utmost trust in him, but what if, I mean it seriously, what if it happens at the end, where Jon Green loses?"
Dumbledore's gaze deepened, and he was silent for a long moment before finally answering this question of Javier's.
"If that does happen, you take all the others, who are, willing to leave and withdraw from France to the Nordic Witching Horizon territory, while I will stay here."
As if guessing exactly what Dumbledore wanted to do if that did happen, Javier didn't make a sound, he just quietly signed his name to the mobilisation order for all the wizards of the Witching Horizon.
And so, on the afternoon of the same day that the third task was in progress, the French Ministry of Magic in the centre of Paris was re-encircled.
Selwyn and Luke Wood, the two Death Eaters Voldemort had left to guard Paris, stood guard in front of the entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic with grim expressions on their faces.
Dumbledore stopped just before the tie of the French Ministry of Magic with the Witching Horizon members, wands in each hand and a shield charm on each body, putting an unusual amount of pressure on the Death Eaters, who were less than a tenth of their number, who had been left behind.
"What do you mean by this! The Triwizard Tournament is not even over, France is still within the protection of the Blood Pact, are you trying to tear up the Pact made in blood!"
Selwyn's questioning was clearly tinged with some horror, he was afraid to bet on whether Dumbledore had the guts to tear up the Blood Pact or not and wasn't sure what kind of changes had taken place at Hogwarts Castle, whether Jon Green had won the tournament, and it was just that Witching Horizon had blocked the news and wanted to wipe them out straight away.
Dumbledore didn't make a sound, nor was he inclined to answer Selwyn, he simply looked towards the deepest part of the French Ministry of Magic, where a man with a wand in his hand wearing a black standing collar robe was slowly walking toward where they stood with their wands.
Behind Dumbledore, the wizards of the Witching Horizon all held their breath after seeing the man's face, while Selwyn and his party also noticed Dumbledore's gaze, and as they turned back to look over, a look of ecstasy appeared on each of their faces.
"Lord!"
Voldemort did not respond to their shouts, but simply looked at Dumbledore as he always had, with a cold and sneering smile on his face.
"Dumbledore, it's been a long time."
***
Jon of course didn't kill Emil.
It wasn't that he was afraid of breaking the rules of the Triwizard Tournament or being moved by compassion.
The tournament had already reached this point, and the Lestrange father and son had made it clear that they were going to kill Jon at this castle, and even if Jon was found out to have used a killing curse and killed the competing champion, no one would or would dare to dispute it as long as they managed to win the final task of the tournament.
But Jon was not that murderous, Emil could not get away with it, and Voldemort will ultimately lose the castle according to the terms of the Blood Pact, not to mention an outcast whose family had been killed by Jon.
If you are talking about retribution, wouldn't it be more painful to keep him alive than to kill him outright?
As for retaliation, if Jon was really afraid of this, he would have committed suicide a long time ago, as those who wanted to kill him could have lined up from the British Ministry of Magic to Diagon Alley.
And just as Jon had cleared all the obstacles in the castle, and the only thing left between him and the Triwizard Cup was the wooden door, a figure peeking cautiously from in front of the library entrance caught his attention.
Seeing Draco, Jon's face didn't change much, instead, a smile appeared.
It was just that the smile narrowed his eyes and hid his golden pupils in a way that those who were familiar would find Jon approachable, and those who were not would just feel chills all over their bodies.
Take Draco for example, right now.
He scrambled out from behind the door and held up his empty hands to show that he had no intention of making a move against Jon.
"I have no intention of dealing with you! Grrr, Green, you know that. I only just heard the commotion over here in the great hall after I entered the castle, so I came over to check it out, and I'm definitely not going to fight you for the title!"
"What are you afraid of."
Jon said nonchalantly, he looked like he wasn't really wary of Draco and just turned his back to him and walked over to the wooden door at the far end of the forbidden book section.
The door really didn't look like it gave much of a clue from the outside, but Jon was more familiar with this current Hogwarts castle compared to Emil after all, and he saw the brass eagle-shaped door ring on the wooden door.
Perhaps many people had forgotten it in this day and age, but Jon, who still remembered the original story, would not forget it.
This door ring was the very same door ring that had once guarded the Ravenclaw common room when Hogwarts still had four houses, and only those who could answer its question could enter through the door.
Seeing that Jon had no intention of doing anything to him, Draco made his way shakily into the forbidden book section entrance, and, seeing Emil on the floor and the shattered and collapsed bookshelves, tables and chairs around him, he eventually made his way to the forbidden book section, all the while trying to show that he had no intention of fighting for the Triwizard Cup, or out of fear, he didn't get too close to Jon but stopped about five metres away.
"I, can I know what you will do with students like me after you finally win this tournament?"
Jon was looking down at the eagle-shaped door ring, trying to trigger it to make it tell the riddle.
"What will we do with you? Do you think you'll fall into our hands? Even without Hogwarts Castle, that Headmaster of yours wouldn't give up on a pureblood student like you, your parents were his pillars, so unless it came to a situation where you were already bound to lose the war, something like that wouldn't happen any time soon."
Draco gritted his teeth, looking as if he was debating something in his mind, and asked immediately afterwards.
"So what would you guys do to the pureblood students if Mr Headmaster were to lose?"
Jon finally figured out how the eagle-shaped door ring worked, it was like it had been modified by someone, it no longer had the effect of saying a riddle for people to guess, but was instead controlled by a specific command imposed on it, that is, a specific command had to be spoken in order for it to open the door.
This was obviously the design of the judges, who had probably left a clue somewhere else in the castle for the champions to find out for themselves what the command is.
But Jon had clearly run out of energy for guesswork, and he simply waved his ring and snapped the magic off the door ring, solving the riddle by the most elementary means possible.
Just as the wooden door gave a creak and was opened, Jon answered Draco's question.
"According to the more established practice we've already explored in France, adult students are held accountable for whatever mistakes they make, just like normal pureblood wizards, and even those who don't make mistakes are arranged for further education and labour compensation, no matter what position they're in, all these people are eating the dividends from pureblood oppression of the muggle-born wizard. As for people like you, you know very well what kind of role your father played for the dark lord, I'll be honest with you, your parents are definitely going to die, which is why I refused to cooperate with him at that time, it's important to correct what you did wrong, and if you can do that, you won't have to be responsible for the wrong you once committed. Of course, you're not guilty enough to die, but you'll have to pay the other price."
Behind the wooden door, there wasn't much room, but the Triwizard Cup was just displayed in the middle of such a room.
Jon saw it, and Draco certainly saw it.
Only neither Jon nor Draco focused on the trophy for a moment; Jon answered Draco's question thoughtfully, while Draco's body trembled as he heard it, and his eyes flushed red as he looked at Jon.
"But my mother and father, they just wanted us to have a better life as a family though! What's wrong with that?"
Jon looked at him calmly.
"So that means you don't even have the most basic idea of what's right. There's certainly nothing wrong with loving your own family, but why would your mother and father have to go out of their way to hurt other people's families? We are all human beings, you enjoy a rich life and the warmth of family, but have you ever thought that once right under this castle there was a group of people your age who were suffering because of you guys?"
"How can you blame us for that! It's not like it was up to our family to decide!" Draco looked irritated by Jon's words and instead of his previous caution, he erupted, "Why should we have to die! And how are you any different from us? How many of the purebloods would survive if that were the case!"
The fire in Jon's golden eyes leapt.
"It's a choice you made, the Weasleys, the Longbottoms, they could have stayed in Britain and enjoyed the benefits and privileges of being a pureblood too, but why were they still willing to follow a bunch of us into exile with their entire family, because they knew what was right and wrong, and your mother and father didn't, and they didn't teach you what was really right and wrong. "
"You are talking nonsense! It's up to who to decide who is right and who is wrong! We are obviously not wrong! There is no wrong!"
Draco fell to the floor after his outburst, and he pulled his hair out without making another sound.
Jon looked at him and didn't say another word either, only after a long time he suddenly and inexplicably said.
"Why haven't you done anything yet?"
Draco raised his head, and he was in tears by now.
"Do you want me to fight you? If that's the case you can let me out now, I know there's no way I can beat you!"
Jon was serious, never more serious than this and shook his head.
"No, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to you, Voldemort."
----
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