Amanda waited until the two Death Eaters had finished reporting to Voldemort and the others before she waved her hand, using a Levitation Charm to pluck them from the building's shadows.
The two who were pulled out were on the verge of tears. They had originally thought Amanda hadn't noticed them and felt a glimmer of hope, but who knew she had discovered them long ago?
"Don't—don't touch us!" one of the Death Eaters threatened Amanda with a hollow show of strength. "We—we've already sent word to our Master. He'll be here very soon!"
"That's right, our people are coming right now," the other Death Eater beside him chimed in.
"I know," Amanda's cold gaze swept over their faces. "I only pulled you out once I was certain you had finished reporting."
The two Death Eaters' breath hitched. She caught them only after confirming the message was sent, meaning Amanda's goal was to lure Voldemort and even more Death Eaters here.
Realizing this, they completely abandoned their fantasies and opened their mouths to shout for surrender. After all, the so-called side of justice couldn't possibly kill them after they surrendered, right?
As for going to prison, that was a minor matter. After all, there had already been a mass breakout from Azkaban; it was just that Fudge had been suppressing the news, so few in the Wizarding World knew about it.
Unfortunately, before they could speak, Amanda, having analyzed their intentions, directly released two Stupefy spells. The purple Charms struck the two of them.
The two Death Eaters were instantly sent flying, crashing heavily onto the ground and smashing several large, crack-filled craters into the asphalt road.
The Muggles hiding in the buildings were dumbstruck, discussing among themselves whether a movie was being filmed and if they were just extras who hadn't been notified in advance.
Of course, they knew deep down that this was just a way to comfort themselves.
Many had already given up on calling the police. With this kind of scale, what could the police even do if they came?
They would only be able to stare blankly at the scene; this level of incident required the military to intervene to be of any use.
The Muggle military certainly wouldn't be arriving tonight, but Fudge and his faction rushed over in a hurry after receiving the emergency transmission from the Aurors.
Upon arrival, Fudge looked at the massive crater and then at the Ministry of Magic, which had been opened up by Amanda like a tin can.
He was so angry his back teeth were nearly crushed from grinding.
"Miss Amanda! You have beyond a doubt violated the laws of the British Wizarding World, and you have also violated the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy!"
"Mm, and so?" Amanda unhurriedly stroked her wand with her left hand.
She indifferently scanned Fudge and those he had brought. Excellent, the turnout was complete; almost everyone from Fudge's faction was here.
"And so you will be arrested!" Fudge roared loudly, as if he were certain Amanda would be caught by him—no, as if he were certain Amanda would surrender without a fight.
"You seem to have misunderstood something, Fudge. I will not be surrendering."
"Therefore, on that point alone, the International Confederation of Wizards should consider themselves lucky that I'm not making a move against them. As for holding me accountable, do they even have the strength to do so?"
"As for you lot," Amanda slowly raised her wand, and Fudge's group took a step back in unison as if they had only just reacted, "don't act as though you are innocent."
"You denied Voldemort's resurrection just to stabilize your own positions, and you meddled in Hogwarts' internal affairs just to prevent others from threatening your status."
"And just moments ago, Umbridge used four Stupefy spells to knock out a Hogwarts student. That student was Marietta Edgecombe, my senior."
"The ones who are truly wicked, the ones who truly deserve to die, are all of you!"
Amanda's wand emitted stray sparks. The Hogwarts seventh-year Young Wizards rubbed their hands together, gripping their wands as they stepped forward to close the perimeter, surrounding everyone from Fudge's faction.
"You—you really do intend to oppose the Ministry of Magic!" Fudge denounced them loudly.
"Stupefy!" Before he could say another word, a spell shot out from the circle, heading straight for Fudge.
"Protego!" Fudge shouted as he waved his wand, yet nothing appeared. It was only because an Auror beside him timely used a Shield Charm that the hit was blocked for him.
Even so, that Auror nearly fell to the ground.
"Hahaha, the Minister for Magic can't even cast a Shield Charm."
Mocking laughter immediately rang out from the circle of Young Wizards. Just as a frantic Fudge was about to say something, an overwhelming barrage of spells rained down upon them.
Now, no matter how hard the Aurors on Fudge's side tried, it was useless. These Young Wizards, who belonged to Amanda's era and had experienced the Defense Against the Dark Arts class she taught, were far superior to them in both spell proficiency and magical strength.
Fighting them was truly like child's play.
Fudge's faction members kept falling. As Fudge loudly cursed Amanda and the students, Amanda's eyes flickered slightly, and Fudge was levitated from the midst of his supporters.
Watching himself leave the ground, Fudge began to tremble uncontrollably all over.
He looked at Amanda with terror in his eyes and stammered.
"You—you can't—you can't kill me, or the entire British Wizarding World will know that you—you are the next You-Know-Who!"
"The people of the British Wizarding World will know that I killed you to seek justice for my senior. They will know that I killed you to replace a Minister for Magic who dared not oppose Voldemort. They will know that I killed you for their better future."
"They will cheer."
As Amanda spoke, she gave her wand a light flick. Bang!
Accompanied by a series of explosions, Fudge was directly blown into countless fragments.
Seeing Fudge blown to bits, the legs of those in Fudge's faction below went weak. Many couldn't even hold their wands steady. They hadn't expected that Amanda would actually dare to kill someone—and that it would be Fudge, the current Minister for Magic.
"We—" Before the words'surrender' could be uttered, Amanda was the first to look down at the surrounded members of Fudge's faction.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Continuous explosions rang out as members of Fudge's faction blew up one after another. Not a single person had time to shout a surrender.
By logic and morality, once someone surrenders, one should no longer take action.
Therefore, put another way, as long as you kill the opponent before they surrender, no so-called moral problem exists.
Seeing Amanda start her straightforward 'massacre,' the seventh-year Young Wizards forming the perimeter immediately decided they couldn't fall behind.
Penelope saw her opening. Before the Auror facing her could use a spell, she directly whipped an Expelliarmus at him. The powerful Disarming Charm struck the Auror squarely in the chest.
His ribs suffered comminuted fractures on the spot, and his heart exploded within his chest cavity. The Auror's eyes widened, and he fell straight back, maintaining his combat stance against Penelope.
Penelope looked at the dead Auror with a cold sneer. Weren't you just blocking her spells for Fudge? You won't be blocking anything now.
On the other side, because there were enough seventh-year students, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were assigned to just one person from Fudge's faction.
The three, who had spent five years together and possessed extremely tacit cooperation, didn't look like they were fighting at all; instead, it looked more like they were playing around.
The three constantly shifted positions, taking turns attacking the Fudge-faction Auror they had surrounded. Whenever the Auror tried to attack one person, he would be struck by the other two.
In less than two minutes, he was covered in wounds.
Just as he wanted to shout for surrender, Hermione caught the moment before he could speak and gave her wand a fierce flick. "Diffindo!"
Crack... The Auror's body instantly went limp. Looking down at the Auror who had been split into two on the ground, Ron silently swallowed. "Thanks for your generosity back then, Hermione."
"You're welcome, Ron." Hermione arched an eyebrow and casually waved her wand; a violent explosion immediately sent another Auror flying nearby.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, deeply understanding just how much Hermione usually restrained herself. Such power... as expected of Hermione!
Just as Fudge's faction had been mostly wiped out and the ground was covered in blood, more members of the Ministry of Magic finally arrived after receiving the news.
How could those first few Aurors Amanda had levitated from the Ministry not know that her target was Fudge? Thus, they were very sensible and notified Fudge's faction first, then everyone else.
This was to give Amanda and the others a time gap to do what they wanted to do.
As a result, they witnessed what a true river of blood looked like.
You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters basically only used the Killing Curse to kill—one shot and it was done, leaving no other traces.
But these Young Wizards were different. They were very 'well-behaved' and didn't use Unforgivable Curses; they just used Expelliarmus to shatter chests, Stupefy to strike heads with heavy force, and Diffindo aimed at necks... That scene was more blood-soaked and terrifying than when Voldemort was at his most arrogant.
Consequently, when the majority of the rest of the Ministry arrived, they couldn't help but take two steps back as they looked at the Young Wizards, who were covered in blood and had murderous intent in their eyes the moment they looked up.
"May I ask if you are Mrs. Edgecombe?" After scanning the newly arrived crowd, Amanda's gaze landed on a woman who looked very much like Marietta Eckmore.
Slowly descending to the ground, Amanda looked at the woman politely.
"I am," Mrs. Edgecombe nodded, then reached out with a smile to help wipe a splash of blood from Amanda's face. "You must be Amanda. Marietta Eckmore mentioned you to me, saying you are a very good junior who has helped her and many others."
Amanda pursed her lips and bowed deeply to Mrs. Edgecombe. "I'm sorry. To find leverage against me, Umbridge ambushed Senior Marietta. She was hit by four Stupefy spells and fed half a bottle of Veritaserum."
"What?!"
"Ambushing a Young Wizard and using an excessive amount of Veritaserum on them—how did Umbridge dare!"
"She should be locked in Azkaban!" The person who said this only realized after two seconds that there had been a mass breakout from Azkaban, and they couldn't help but strike their thigh in frustration.
And yet Fudge had chosen to suppress the news rather than announce the truth to the public.
Mrs. Edgecombe's face went pale. She took a deep breath, trying to suppress the panic in her heart, and reached out to help Amanda up. "Marietta Eckmore... is she alright?"
Amanda shook her head. "She's fine now. Senior Marietta has been sent to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing."
"That's good," Mrs. Edgecombe breathed a sigh of relief and gently hugged Amanda, patting her back. "No need to apologize, silly child. Marietta Eckmore protected her friend's secret; that is something she should be proud of."
"I am proud of her too."
"Mrs. Edgecombe, you can go to Hogwarts to see her."
Amanda was released by Mrs. Edgecombe. After getting her consent, she used a Levitation Charm to send her down into the Ministry so she could travel to Hogwarts via the Floo Network.
"Harry," without pausing to address the Ministry staff still standing there, Amanda turned to Harry, "I'm sending you to the Department of Mysteries. Find that item and take it."
"If you can't find it, destroy everything there."
Take it if found, and destroy everything if not?! Most of the Ministry staff were stunned upon hearing this.
No, this... this isn't quite appropriate, is it?
But then, thinking of the ground covered in Fudge's faction, they felt it was quite appropriate after all.
Amanda lightly raised her hand, sending Harry, Ron, and all the seventh-year students into the Ministry below. Hermione remained above as she was still needed there.
"Everyone," turning back to look at the Ministry staff and Department Heads, Amanda's voice was clear and pleasant yet sounded extremely deterrent—especially combined with the 'mess' surrounding her, "I think you should understand the reason I led the seventh-year seniors to attack the Ministry."
"It is because Fudge's faction has long plagued the British Wizarding World. They didn't even hesitate to strike a heavy hand against Young Wizards!"
"How can such people be allowed to continue as the Minister for the Y Country Ministry of Magic?"
"Now, Umbridge is dead," the Ministry staff weren't surprised, "Fudge is dead, and everyone in Fudge's faction is dead."
"The Y Country Ministry of Magic needs a change in leadership—someone younger, more enterprising, and more capable of leading the Ministry out of its stagnation and into a new era."
Amanda shot a look at Hermione beside her and then took a step back, remaining alert to her surroundings to prevent Voldemort and the Death Eaters from suddenly arriving.
Hermione stepped forward with a dignified yet gentle smile, raising her hands to signal the Ministry staff to be calm. "Everyone, please stay calm and do not panic. We know right from wrong; we aren't like Voldemort or the Death Eaters who kill the innocent indiscriminately. You are all perfectly safe."
"Put another way, if we were to silence all of you here today, the Y Country Ministry of Magic would be completely empty. Then, no matter who becomes the new Minister, they would just be a commander without an army."
With just a few sentences, Hermione eased the atmosphere. The Ministry staff also relaxed, looking seriously at the girl before them, waiting to hear what she had to say.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.