No sooner had he spoken.
In the center of the hall, the Fountain of Magical Brethren, already heavily damaged during the battle, suddenly trembled violently!
Splash!
The water in the fountain surged upward as if it had a life of its own, converging in mid-air into a massive, lifelike water dragon!
The water dragon let out a silent roar, its massive body twisting to form an indestructible water barrier, shielding Harry, Hermione, and everyone else behind it.
Then, in the fountain sculpture, the golden statue representing the Wizard suddenly raised its arm!
The wand in its hand pointed at Lord Voldemort, while the Centaur statue drew its bow, an arrow made of pure magic instantly locking on!
The elements of the entire hall were responding to Dumbledore's will!
"Dammit!"
Lord Voldemort let out a roar, his wand waving as a massive black flame transformed into a sky-swallowing giant serpent, meeting the water dragon!
Water and fire, life and death, collided, intertwined, and annihilated each other fiercely in mid-air!
The spell fired by the golden statue was easily blocked by Lord Voldemort's shield, but the magical arrow bypassed the shield with a strange arc, piercing straight toward his face!
Lord Voldemort dodged clumsily, the arrow grazing his cheek and leaving a charred mark on his waxy-white skin.
He was infuriated!
"Die! Old man!"
Lord Voldemort no longer held back; he abandoned his suppression of the others and poured all his power toward Dumbledore!
For a time, the entire circular hall became a battlefield for the two greatest Wizards of this century.
Countless spells, whose principles mortals couldn't even comprehend, were fired wildly between the two. Space distorted, and time slowed down.
In a gap between spell collisions, Dumbledore even found the time to wink at Harry, who was protected by the water screen.
This ease, this nearly contemptuous power, completely ignited Lord Voldemort's pride.
"Aaaaaargh—!"
Lord Voldemort let out an inhuman howl. He abandoned all complex spells and condensed the most primitive and massive dark magic into an expanding black energy ball, hurling it fiercely at Dumbledore!
This was an all-out strike, betting everything!
Facing this strike capable of leveling the entire Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore's expression became serious for the first time.
Hoo—
A clear Phoenix cry rang through the heavens and earth. A ball of golden-red flame appeared out of thin air at the tip of Dumbledore's wand, then transformed into a massive Phoenix that blotted out the sky!
The Phoenix spread its magnificent wings and met the black sun without hesitation!
There was no sound. The entire world lost all sound at this moment.
Everyone's vision was consumed by the two extreme lights of gold and black.
When the light dissipated, Lord Voldemort's figure had already appeared beside Bellatrix Lestrange.
He gripped his most loyal servant tightly, his chest heaving violently. Those crimson eyes were full of resentment, malice, and a fear he himself was unwilling to admit.
He had lost.
In a direct confrontation of power, he had lost utterly.
"We will meet again, Dumbledore!"
Leaving behind these fierce-looking but weak words, Lord Voldemort took Bella and vanished in a swirl of black wind.
The battle was over.
With Lord Voldemort's departure, the remaining Death Eaters completely lost their will to fight and were soon subdued by the members of the Order of the Phoenix.
The water screen dissipated.
Hermione was the first to rush out. She threw herself at Lia, pulling her into a tight embrace with such force that Lia's ribs hurt slightly.
Her hands trembled as she checked her body, tears falling uncontrollably.
"Are you okay, Lia? Are you hurt? You scared me to death..."
Lia felt the warmth of Hermione's palm and her familiar scent; the magic that had almost frozen from the duel of Killing Curses finally began to warm up slowly.
She shook her head, her gaze shifting away. Her fluffy ears and tail drooped weakly, not daring to look Hermione in the eye.
And Hermione, seeing this disheveled and aggrieved little pitiful look, knew all too well that she was still blaming herself for what happened earlier.
She sighed in heartache but also felt a surge of nameless anger.
She took off her coat, wrapping her up both roughly and gently, then took that cold little hand.
Just then, a flurry of messy footsteps was heard.
Minister for magic Cornelius Fudge, leading a large group of Aurors and reporters, finally arrived late.
When Fudge saw everything before him—the destroyed hall, the dozen or so subdued and bound Death Eaters, including Lucius Malfoy, and Dumbledore standing calmly in the center—his face instantly became even paler than Lord Voldemort's.
"He... he's back?" Fudge's voice shook like a leaf in the autumn wind.
"Yes, Cornelius," Dumbledore said calmly. "Lord Voldemort has returned. Here is the evidence."
The evidence was irrefutable, caught red-handed; there was no longer any room for excuses.
Fudge's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground. His political career, and even the illusion of peace in the entire wizarding world, had come to a complete end tonight.
This shocking battle at the Department of Mysteries declared the official start of the Second Wizarding War to the entire wizarding world in the most startling way.
As for Lia, Hermione looked at the Cat-girl beside her, who was staring at her toes with an air of being ready for any scolding or punishment.
She leaned into Lia's ear and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, with a gnashing-of-teeth kind of doting:
"I didn't even blame you, yet you ran off on your own and got yourself in such a mess... You're getting bolder and bolder, hmm?"
Her breath brushed against Lia's sensitive earlobe, causing a shiver.
"I'll teach you a good lesson when we get back."
[Darlings, my 'teaching a lesson' was too wild!]
[It got blocked by the censor; wait for me to finish revising it before posting TAT]
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