Homecoming from Hogwarts

The drop-off platform at Diagon Alley where they had just landed was in a mess. The wall that blocked off the access to the former industrial area of ​​Diagon Alley had been knocked down, leaving bricks and stones strewn all over the ground with smoke and dust everywhere.

In front of Harry were the twenty or so Ministry of Magic strikers stationed throughout Diagon Alley to enforce order.

They drew their wands one by one and confronted the people who caused the riot with nervous expressions.

"Those people are."

Hermione didn't care how Harry suddenly appeared. She covered her mouth and looked at the people confronting the striker with an expression of disbelief.

"At least it won't be a Death Eater—"

Harry said, his expression sinister and the uneasy feeling rising in his heart became even stronger.

That wall, which was several hundred feet long, was not blown up by people, but knocked down by people--
At a glance there was a black crowd of several hundred people, and the style of their clothing was a bit like the villagers Harry often saw when he went to Hogsmeade.

"Did you notice, Harry--"

Hermione's voice tightened.

"None of them wore wizard robes—"

"yes--"

Harry swallowed and stared at the faces of the people in the front.
"If a wizard wanted to riot, he would have used a wand, not a poker and a hoe -"

Not only Harry, but also those who were not scared away broke out into discussion.

Harry listened to the noisy whispers around him, people who shared his views.

These people who tore down the wall probably had nothing to do with the Death Eaters or the Dark wizards who participated in the Battle of Diagon Alley.

"What are you trying to do with these useless Squibs?"

A key word reached the ears of Harry and Hermione, and they immediately turned their heads and looked at the wizard with a contemptuous expression.

"Need I tell you?"

Another wizard whispered,
"They are just trying to stir up some trouble. The Ministry of Magic has destroyed their livelihoods, right? In my opinion, this is pure nonsense. Do they expect that they can compete with the Ministry of Magic with the support of Blaine and Dumbledore? You-Know-Who can't do it!"

"Oh, since the ministry has destroyed their jobs, they should at least be allowed to cry foul."

The first wizard's joke caused a burst of laughter around him, and the people watching became comfortable.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, their faces somewhat gloomy.

“The ministry destroyed their jobs”

Harry's breathing quickened.

"I don't quite understand, Hermione, they -"

"Don't ask me, Harry, I don't know -"

Hermione bit her lower lip, her brown eyes filled with worry, and asked Harry,
"What do you think the Ministry will do, Harry? Will the Ministry arrest them?"

Harry also couldn't answer this question.

Under the worried, mocking or angry gazes of the crowd, the workers gathered from the industrial area began to move.

They did not launch an aggressive charge towards the strikers in the drop-off square. Instead, they stepped like a torrent, stepping in a disorderly manner through the gap in the wall that they had pushed down, and slowly approached the commercial area.

"What are they going to do!"

Hermione's voice suddenly became shrill, and Harry knew that Hermione was worried about the strikers who were whispering and exchanging opinions with each other, worried that they would attack these civilians.

call out!
Under the bright sunshine, a firework exploded in the air like an inconspicuous flower.

One striker fired a warning signal into the air in an attempt to stop the protest.

But this move ended in failure. The people in the protest team did fall into a brief panic when they saw the striker release magic, but then they took another step and moved forward firmly!

From Harry's perspective as a bystander, the Ministry of Magic's strikers, who had experienced the baptism of war, were even more panicked.

Although their 'opponents' were just a group of clumsy wizards who couldn't even cast a levitation spell.

"What on earth do you want to do!"

Finally, an idea suddenly occurred to one of the strikers. He pointed his wand at his throat and thought of using magic to shout.

At this time, more than half of the black protest team had already stepped onto the drop-off square, and the attackers were forced to the edge of the square.

"We want to see Bones!"

"Let Brian out!"

The vanguard of the protest team finally stopped being silent. Their sparse shouts gathered together and echoed in the sky above the ruins of Diagon Alley!
"You want to see Minister Bones, Mr. Blaine?"

The shouting striker's voice tightened,

"This is wishful thinking. They are both very busy and have no time to meet with you rioters!"

Rioters? Harry frowned, and Hermione shouted angrily.
"How can he say that? These people are not the same as Death Eaters, are they!"

But what surprised the two was that the voices of approval around them actually dominated!

"Who do they think they are, You-Know-Who?"

Some people laughed loudly at these duds for overestimating their own capabilities.

The striker's words undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, and those who were already a little fearful in the protest team became angry.

Harry could already see the anger flashing on the dark faces of the civilians in the front row.

The protest team moved forward again, and now they had occupied the drop-off platform. The twenty or so strikers from the Ministry of Magic were squeezed to a position not far in front of Harry and his friends.

"Ministry, you guys are not afraid of a bunch of Squibs!"

Someone in the crowd watching the excitement shouted this, making Harry's anger rise. He turned his head to find out who had just shouted.

"Hey, show them what you can do!"

The man shouted again, and Harry immediately found the busybody among the crowd.
"Shut up! If you dare to cause trouble again, I'll teach you a lesson!"

Harry yelled at the man.

The breeze lifted Harry's bangs, exposing the lightning-shaped scar to many people's eyes.

"Harry Potter."

"Look, it's the one who defeated the mysterious man"

"Yes, it was him. My acquaintance in the Ministry told me that he was in the previous Battle of Diagon Alley."

The respectful looks did not make Harry happy. He turned his face away gloomily and endured the murmurs of discussions around him.

"They've gone to the Ministry to call for backup, Harry -"

Hermione held Harry's arm and looked at the tense drop-off platform with worry.
"Do you think we should do anything, Harry?"

Harry was also in trouble.

This is not the same as fighting a Dark wizard.

The protest team became even more excited when they saw the Ministry of Magic's strikers leave. They obviously knew that the two strikers who left were not going to invite the Minister of Magic and the most powerful wizard of the time.

Boom!
Boom, boom!

Boom, boom, boom!

The angry protesters began to take more violent actions.

These ordinary villagers were holding farm tools and iron tools brought from the workshop, and began to beat the ground rhythmically.

"We have to work!"

“We want income!”

"We want to live!"

"Ministry of Magic, stop your tyranny!"

"Bones go away, Fudge come back!"

The angry shouts were deafening and shocking.

The wizards who were originally there to watch the fun could no longer laugh and began to retreat at the same time.

"Harry, Hermione!"

Ron and his girlfriend passively 'stood out' from the crowd, and he rushed to the two of them, pulling Lavender with him.

"Hello, Harry and Hermione."

Lavender's face turned pale and she greeted the two nervously.

For Ron's sake, Harry and Hermione also smiled at Lavender, and then looked at the drop-off platform with a grim face.

"Ministry of Magic running dog, get out of here!"

The tense atmosphere between the two sides reached its peak. At the front of the protest team, a thin villager suddenly stood out from the team and threw a bottle at the strikers!
"Armor protection!"

The strikers with their alert values ​​fully raised were not unable to defend against this. A striker who seemed to be the team leader stepped forward and blocked the wine bottle with a magic barrier!

boom!
The dark brown wine bottle that attracted everyone's attention suddenly exploded. The liquid splashed all over the sky and made a hissing sound after hitting the ground, and the rising white smoke made Harry's breathing stop.

"damn it!"

This move completely angered the strikers from the Ministry of Magic. They raised their wands and prepared to fight back!
"Wait, don't do that, they're just civilians!"

Seeing that a bloody conflict was inevitable, Hermione finally couldn't help it and rushed forward while shouting. (End of this chapter)