Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 697 News from the Daily Prophet

Chapter 697 News from the Daily Prophet

"Cheer up, Severus, this is the last Quidditch match of the school year." In the stands at the Quidditch pitch, Dumbledore glanced at Snape beside him and said with a smile, "It's going to be a great match, isn't it?"

Snape remained silent, his face cold.

In fact, he hadn't uttered a single word since leaving the headmaster's office. Especially when he saw Harry riding a Firebolt on the field, his face darkened to the point of being almost dripping with gloom.

The next second he turned his head sharply and looked at Xilen, who seemed to be doing nothing.

His intuition told him that Dumbledore's strange behavior today must be related to Siron; otherwise, he would never have interfered with Harry Potter's confinement.

Faced with Snape's questioning gaze, Siron simply pretended not to see anything.

Just then, Harry, in mid-air, and Hufflepuff's Seeker accelerated simultaneously, and with a beautiful turn, Firebolt left his opponent far behind.

A roar of cheers erupted from the stands, like a tidal wave. When the cheers reached their peak, Harry finally stopped, raising his hand high to reveal the Golden Snitch between his fingers.

We won! 390 to 80!

Harry caught the Golden Snitch a second before Hufflepuff could make his tenth shot.

As Madam Hooch blew her whistle, the screams and cheers of the Gryffindors echoed almost throughout the entire Quidditch pitch.

Professor McGonagall wept with joy, and Dumbledore clapped enthusiastically. Everyone was celebrating Gryffindor's spectacular five-peat.

Only Snape looked ashen-faced as if he'd been force-fed a skewer of raw cockroaches.

That evening, the Gryffindors held a wild party in the common room that lasted until late into the night. They had never been so happy; even the thick walls couldn't block out their laughter and merriment.

However, a news item in the Daily Prophet the next morning plunged Hogwarts Castle back into a somber and heavy atmosphere.

Voldemort attacks the Ministry of Magic, and Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour is killed in the battle.

Everyone who saw the newspaper remained silent; the auditorium was so quiet it seemed empty.

Harry looked at the newspaper, feeling like something was stuck in his throat.

Judging from the timing of the reports, Voldemort forcibly broke into the Ministry of Magic last night. Minister Rufus Scrimgeour was at a disadvantage after fighting him for fifteen minutes and was later killed by the Killing Curse.

At that time, they were partying in the common room, celebrating Gryffindor's victory in the Quidditch Cup.

"But why would Voldemort attack the Ministry of Magic?" Ron asked in a low voice. "That's not like him, is it?"

Since escaping from the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort has hardly appeared again; recently, it has been the Death Eaters causing trouble.

The reason is simple: anyone who visited the Ministry of Magic last time knows that Voldemort was so afraid of Dumbledore that he took the initiative to hide.

But no one expected that he would suddenly appear last night and even attack the Ministry of Magic.

"Isn't he afraid of Dumbledore?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"I'm afraid, but only if Dumbledore can find him," Sirius said. "I think Voldemort should really change the snake on the Dark Mark to a rat; he's much better at digging than Peter Pettigrew."

Siron's voice was loud, and several students around him who heard Voldemort's name immediately trembled and looked over.

The voices suddenly disappeared, and the students looked at Xilun in horror. Their hands, holding the cutlery, trembled uncontrollably, making a clattering sound on the plates.

Their minds weren't completely filled with fear yet. Knowing that this was Hogwarts and Voldemort wouldn't dare to break in, they didn't do anything else outrageous.

But Sirius seemed not to notice any of this, and said again in a clear and extremely standard voice: "Voldemort, yes, I'm talking about Voldemort. He shouldn't have kept a snake by his side. Rats are the most suitable pet for him."

"That's enough, Siron. Once is enough," Ron whispered. "Otherwise, we'll be all alone—well, well, we're all alone now!"

Xiren looked up and realized that everyone around him, except for Neville, had moved to a more distant place.

Neville was also putting on a brave face; the sandwich in his hand was almost crushed into mush by him.

At this moment, Ron suddenly puffed out his chest and glanced at the others with feigned composure.

Both Sirius and Harry liked to call Voldemort by his name, and after spending a lot of time around them, Ron gradually got used to it.

Although he still finds it difficult to directly replace "Mysterio" with "Voldemort" like Siren and Harry did, he won't be as terrified just by hearing the name as before.

Is this what it feels like?

Recalling how those people had trembled just moments before, and his own complete indifference, Ron suddenly felt a strange sense of pride and straightened his chest again.

Harry was stunned, wondering what had suddenly gotten into Ron, but he was too embarrassed to ask, so he pretended not to see anything and turned to Siren.

"You did this on purpose!"

"Yes." Xiren nodded, forked a fried egg and stuffed it into the sandwich.

"Voldemort can hear people calling his name, right? I'll test it out—by the way, did the scar on your forehead hurt just now?"

"A scar?" Harry didn't understand what Hillon meant, but he shook his head and replied, "It doesn't hurt, and nothing has changed."

"That means Voldemort isn't angry." Cyril took a bite of his sandwich. "Looks like he agrees with me."

Harry felt that this was probably not the case, but he didn't say anything more, after all, what they cared about was not Voldemort's feelings.

"Did the newspapers say why he attacked the Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked. "Was it because of the prophecy crystal ball in the Department of Mysteries? But I smashed it that day."

"No, it shouldn't have anything to do with the Department of Mysteries," Hermione said. "Look here—"

She pointed to the bottom line of the newspaper.

"The mysterious attack threw the Ministry of Magic into chaos, but some clear-headed individuals reacted in time."

"Just as Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour was killed and Vander was about to go on a killing spree, the man he feared most—Albus Dumbledore—finally arrived and stopped him on the sixth floor."

Dumbledore?

Harry looked up instinctively and realized that apart from Professor Trelawney of Divination and Professor Sinestad of Astronomy, no one else was in the teachers' table, including Dumbledore.

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