Chapter 355: Terror Attacks

Another bright morning dawned.

In the Hogwarts Great Hall, young witches and wizards were enjoying their breakfast as usual.

However, the mood among the students was far from cheerful.

At the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott, and other Slytherins glared at Harry.

In their eyes, Harry was the one responsible for imprisoning their parents and loved ones in Azkaban.

This situation had persisted for over a week, and at Hogwarts, they had become a joke.

Even among Slytherin students, few were willing to associate with them, fearing being labeled as allies of Voldemort.

Yet, even with Slytherin's misfortune, Gryffindor's little lions, who should have been gleeful, did not look happy.

In fact, everyone appeared anxious.

The cause of their concern was the recent turmoil in the wizarding world.

Although Dumbledore and Bones had announced Voldemort's return months ago and had invested heavily in newspaper campaigns to publicize the truth, many wizards remained in denial, clinging to their ostrich-like delusions.

Since Voldemort had not yet launched an active assault and the Death Eaters were relatively inactive, these people took this as proof that Voldemort's return was a false alarm.

Moreover, under Fudge's encouragement, some had even suggested that Bones and Dumbledore's goal was to create panic to seize more power.

Such rumors had circulated, gaining traction, until a week ago.

The once restrained Death Eaters, after the Auror raid, could no longer contain themselves.

Under Voldemort's orders, they retaliated with acts of terror.

Of course, their diminished power made it impossible for them to target wizards directly.

The Ministry's surveillance and protection of wizarding communities were robust.

Their targets were Muggles.

Over the past week, various accidents and disasters of different scales had occurred across the UK.

Eight days ago, at Walberswick Beach in Suffolk, a sudden giant wave swallowed hundreds of beachgoers, with nearly a hundred drowning.

Seven days ago, in the narrow canal of Huddersfield in Yorkshire, a tunnel unexpectedly collapsed, burying two unsuspecting boats and their occupants.

Six days ago, in the Gran Height Ski Resort in Scotland, an unexpected out-of-season snowstorm struck.

Afterward, more than ten skiers went missing, likely due to an attack by a snowman?

Five days ago...

In short, continuous accidents and a frightening death toll over the week left Muggles in the UK terrified, and Prime Minister Major overwhelmed.

While these events primarily impacted the Muggle world, the wizarding world could not avoid being affected.

The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes had mobilized almost all its staff to cast Confundus and Memory Charms to obscure the truth.

Even the Aurors were called in to compensate for the shortage of personnel in the Department.

However, they found magical traces and unusual evidence at the scenes—such as giant footprints.

The facts were clear: these were Death Eater operations.

This was their retaliation against the Aurors.

In other words, the harsh reality had to be faced—Voldemort had indeed returned.

After all, if these families were trustworthy, no one would use such extreme and brutal means of retaliation.

Rumors spread rapidly in the wizarding world, affecting even Hogwarts.

Students began to worry, with some being urgently recalled by their parents and moving abroad to escape the Dark Lord's grasp.

Just then, a batch of owls flew into the hall, delivering the latest news.

Hermione expertly took the latest edition of the Daily Prophet from the owls.

"The situation outside is getting worse," she said, flipping through the newspaper and sharing the news with those around her.

As with a few days ago, the Death Eaters had once again caused accidents across Britain.

For them, although these incidents had caused significant casualties among Muggles, they were not considered major news.

Apart from condemning the Death Eaters' cruelty and expressing condolences to Muggles, there was nothing more they could do.

However, today's newspaper featured major news.

The Dark Lord had finally made a direct appearance.

Although he had not made a public appearance, he had sent a letter threatening the Ministry of Magic.

He admitted that the recent terror attacks were carried out by the Death Eaters and threatened the Ministry that if the Death Eaters imprisoned in Azkaban were not released, they would continue their attacks, even carrying out large-scale massacres of Muggles.

While the letter did not explicitly mention the pure-blood families captured a week ago, everyone understood that this was merely a show of bravado, leaving no real evidence.

In reality, this almost confirmed the identities of these captured individuals as Death Eaters and supporters of the Dark Lord.

Even Fudge, despite his cowardice and fear of Voldemort, rejected the demands outright.

No matter how frightened he was, he could not agree to such terms, or his political career would end immediately.

However, even though he made the right decision, it did not overshadow Bones' growing reputation.

Due to the terror attacks, Bones' already high standing had reached its peak after Voldemort's threat.

This proved that her actions a week ago were not reckless but prescient.

Imagine if she had not acted—how much help would these powerful pure-blood families have provided Voldemort?

If Voldemort had not been forced to act due to his followers being captured, who knew how long he would have remained in hiding?

Now, though Bones was merely the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, her position was equivalent to that of the Minister of Magic.

Apart from the Ministry departments directly under Fudge, all other departments had aligned with Bones.

She had effectively sidelined Fudge, and if not for the current emergency, she might already have been appointed as the Minister of Magic.

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