The moment Voldemort collapsed to the ground, the Hogwarts Quidditch stadium fell into a brief silence.
Then thunderous cheers erupted.
With Rhys and Rowena's intervention, the Society's Mages had already been almost completely wiped out, while the teachers and students from other schools who had been deceived by the Society into taking part in the "Hogwarts Destruction Plan" had all been captured.
The teachers and students who were now free naturally had time to watch the battle between Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor White, and Voldemort.
The moment Voldemort fell, even a Muggle who knew nothing about magic could tell who had won and who had lost.
Everyone immediately began celebrating, while Minister Bones was positively glowing with excitement.
Although it seemed they had failed to kill You-Know-Who completely, they had at least crippled him.
Just like more than a decade ago, You-Know-Who had fallen!
Of course, compared with his previous downfall, this one carried considerably less weight.
The last time, You-Know-Who had fallen while still at the height of his power.
Now, however...
His defeat at the Quidditch World Cup final had already caused him to lose a great deal of reputation.
But he was still You-Know-Who.
He was still the Dark Lord!
A starving camel was still bigger than a horse.
No matter how much deterrence or prestige this Dark Lord still had left, there was only one question that mattered.
Had the Dark Lord been defeated during her term as Minister?
Minister Bones had already decided to contact reporters from the Daily Prophet and have them write a proper feature interview.
The article absolutely had to emphasize just how powerful You-Know-Who was.
Only then would their own achievements look even more impressive.
Voldemort lay on the ground, his eyes still open in death.
The four pieces of divine remains inside his body were restless, showing signs of trying to escape from him and flee.
But Helga only mobilized a small amount of magic before suppressing all of them.
To her, so-called divine remains were nothing more than piles of decayed bones.
She could hardly even be bothered to look at them.
A damaged golden cup slipped from Voldemort's robes, fell onto the platform, and rolled a considerable distance.
Dumbledore extended his wand and immediately summoned the cup into his hand.
As a Horcrux, all the magic attached to the cup had already vanished after it was destroyed.
Now, it was no different from an ordinary piece of low-purity gold.
Looking at the badger-head decoration engraved on the cup, Dumbledore could not help glancing toward Professor White beside him.
"This appears to be a relic left behind by Madam Hufflepuff."
Dumbledore knew a little about Tom Riddle's habits, so the moment he saw the cup, he felt he understood everything.
As a Founder's relic personally chosen by Tom Riddle, this cup probably held extraordinary significance for Helga Hufflepuff.
Since its function as a Horcrux had already been destroyed, Dumbledore felt that he ought to return it to its rightful owner.
With that thought in mind, Dumbledore turned toward Professor White beside him.
"Please accept this. It's only a pity that it's already been damaged."
Helga: "Hm?"
For a moment, she failed to understand what he meant.
She simply waved her hand, indicating that she had no need for such a small amount of gold.
She was still receiving orders for automated combat puppets, after all, so she was hardly short of money.
At present, there was probably no one in all of Hogwarts richer than her.
Now it was Dumbledore's turn to be confused.
"Er... what I mean is, this cup may have held some special significance for that particular Founder of Hogwarts. Professor White, perhaps you'd like to study it?"
"Huh?"
Dumbledore spoke with such certainty that even Helga became confused.
Could this cup really have some special significance?
She even began doubting herself.
But even after searching through all her memories, Helga could not recall anything of the sort.
After taking the cup from Dumbledore and examining it carefully, she confirmed that it was nothing more than an ordinary mass-produced golden cup.
Before it was damaged, it could make plain water taste like wine.
After hearing Professor White's conclusion, Dumbledore also fell silent.
He felt as though he had misunderstood something.
Nearly a thousand years had passed since the era of the Founders, so an ordinary everyday object from that time surviving until the present could indeed be called a Founder's relic.
But to the people who had actually lived back then, such an object naturally held no commemorative significance whatsoever.
To put it crudely, even a chamber pot used by Albus Dumbledore could be called a Dumbledore relic a thousand years from now.
At that thought, Dumbledore decided that before he died, he absolutely had to destroy all those strange everyday items.
While the two were talking, Minister Bones had already hurried down from the stands and quickly made her way to Dumbledore's side to congratulate him.
"Minister Bones, perhaps you shouldn't celebrate just yet..."
Helga, completely oblivious to the mood, stepped forward and poured cold water over Bones's excitement.
Since Professor White had also played a major role in defeating You-Know-Who, Bones decided to hear what she had to say.
"The Statute of Secrecy is probably going to be broken. And I don't mean a few minor incidents. I mean a complete, systematic collapse."
Professor White's words struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving both Bones and Dumbledore too shocked to speak.
Dumbledore in particular had only just seen the turmoil surrounding Tom Riddle temporarily come to an end.
He had thought he could finally catch his breath and rest for a while.
Then he heard the disastrous news that the Statute of Secrecy was about to collapse.
At that moment, Dumbledore felt his vision darken.
"How... how is that possible..." Minister Bones was equally frightened by Helga's words.
Ever since it was formally established in 1692, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy had been one of the fundamental policies upheld by Ministries of Magic across the world, and it had been strictly enforced for more than three hundred years.
A young wizard from a Muggle family could receive a warning letter from the Ministry simply for casting a basic Levitation Charm outside school.
And now Professor White was telling her that the entire law was about to collapse.
How could Bones possibly accept that so easily?
"Who? Who would dare do such a thing?! Anyone who dares to do this will become an enemy of the entire wizarding world!" Bones declared indignantly.
Someone like that deserved the Dementor's Kiss.
"The Society. While they were attacking Hogwarts just now, they also infiltrated the dungeons beneath the castle..."
Helga told Dumbledore and Bones everything about the secret hidden beneath the dungeons, while clearly explaining the disastrous consequences caused by the destruction of the seal.
Dumbledore: "???"
There was such an important seal beneath the Hogwarts dungeons?
How had he never known about it?
But considering who the information was coming from, there was no reason to doubt its authenticity.
"I've never heard anything about..." Bones began to object, but Dumbledore stopped her.
"Minister Bones, Professor White's words are extremely trustworthy."
Dumbledore's eyes were filled with seriousness.
"So the evil spirits of the Underworld really are going to return to the living world."
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI