Homecoming from Hogwarts

In the end, Harry still couldn't find where Malfoy was hiding.

He couldn't spend too much time there because Filch limped back from lunch.

"Oh, my dear baby, why did you fall asleep here? You will catch a cold!"

Seeing Mrs. Norris lying on the corridor basking in the sun, Filch quickened his pace.

He carefully held Mrs. Norris in his arms, and in front of Harry, he nudged the place where Mrs. Norris's beard grew with his red bulbous nose, and then walked into the office humming a light tune.

The students in the hall began to disperse, and Harry had to take off his invisibility disguise before the crowds of people going upstairs became dense.

All afternoon, including Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, Harry was distracted by where Malfoy was hiding at that time, and what he was planning to do.

"I think that's enough, Harry—"

During the exercise after dinner, Hermione was getting a little impatient with Harry's constant speculation.
"I think you should focus more on your studies. I think you should remember that this year is the OWLS year!"

"But what if a Death Eater sneaked into Hogwarts?"

Harry was quite shocked that Hermione was so indifferent to this.

"That's just your guess, Harry."

Hermione panted slightly and said,
"I don't think Malfoy can do anything detrimental to the school under Professor Blaine's nose."

Harry looked at Ron, hoping to get some support from him, but Ron didn't seem to be listening to him at all. He just ran while several students were practicing flying on brooms on the lawn.

Harry bit his lip, suppressed the unwillingness in his eyes, and shut up.

Over the next two days of the first week of school, Harry watched Malfoy every chance he got, watching him for anything suspicious.

It's like being possessed by a demon.

He himself couldn't explain why he cared so much about this matter. Maybe he just didn't accept it.
He was discovered by him when he was following Malfoy in Diagon Alley. He wanted to prove that he had the ability to figure out what Malfoy was up to?
But unfortunately, during these two days, Malfoy's every move was very normal. At least when Harry could see him.

On Friday morning, as soon as Harry and Ron arrived at the hall, they were shocked by the changes there.

The four long tables that had remained unchanged for thousands of years in the hall suddenly had an extra long table, sandwiched between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. This caused the space between each table for pedestrians to become much narrower.

Harry was stunned for a few seconds, then he recalled that the so-called study exchange group would arrive at Hogwarts this evening.

If Harry remembered correctly, Professor Brain said that this exchange group was filled with various intelligent magical creatures.

Even Dobby and the old, old Kreacher and Dom who served the Black family would be involved.

Just thinking about such a mixed group of people sitting in the Hogwarts Great Hall and having dinner with them is a very interesting thing.

However, Hermione will definitely be busy because there will definitely be trouble.

After a pause of a few seconds, Harry and Ron walked towards the dining table again.

"How are you feeling, Hermione?"

Harry pulled out the chair next to Hermione, picked and chose, then picked up a sausage with a silver fork and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Very bad!”

Hermione's face was hidden behind the Daily Prophet, so Harry and Ron couldn't see her expression, but when Harry heard her say that, he was stunned.

"I thought you were looking forward to it, Hermione?"

“I’m looking forward to it?”

Hermione's face popped out from behind the newspaper and she glared at Harry angrily.

Harry immediately realized that he and Hermione were talking about completely different things, and turned his eyes to the newspaper in Hermione's hand.

"Oh, no. I thought, what, something bad happened?"

"Take a look!" Hermione didn't say much, but handed the newspaper to Harry. She looked worriedly at the professors at the faculty table who were also reading newspapers with solemn expressions.

Harry took the newspaper and took a glance at it, his expression immediately turned gloomy.

The photo on the front page was of a bridge in London.

The wizard's magic photo showed a fairly large bridge. The steel cables connecting the two banks of the bridge broke one by one, and the steel bridge collapsed and fell into the Thames River below. The cars on the bridge also fell into the water one after another like dumplings!
The text below the picture tells Harry the number of casualties in this accident!

Two hundred and seventy-six Muggles died directly in the disaster, including forty Muggle students on a school bus.

The river surface was stirred up by huge waves, and the struggling figures of those who fell into the water could be vaguely seen. Even through the photo, Harry could feel their despair!
"The Death Eaters did it"

Ron was also frightened by the tragic scene in the photo. He murmured with a pale face.

“Who else could it be?!”

Harry said through gritted teeth.

There were many students reading newspapers in the auditorium. They were all saddened by this tragic incident. As more and more students entered the auditorium to eat breakfast, the news spread and a gloomy atmosphere enveloped the auditorium.

During the summer vacation, the massive war that took place in Diagon Alley ended with the victory of the Ministry of Magic.

The mysterious man's strength suffered a great setback.

Some Death Eaters were shot dead on the spot, while others were taken to prison.

As for the followers who were recruited from all corners of the world by Voldemort and his minions, they turned around and abandoned Voldemort after suffering heavy losses. The public security situation in the British wizarding world has been greatly improved.

The Ministry of Magic's press conferences and all the reports in the Daily Prophet no longer refer to Voldemort as 'the mysterious man', but instead call him by his name.

In addition, Mr. Brain, who led the victory in the war, signed the "Plaza Accord" with many pure-blood families, which aimed to restore the prosperity of industry and commerce in the British wizarding world.

All the good news made many people mistakenly believe that the war was far away and Voldemort's power had collapsed.

This tragedy that happened in the Muggle world in London was like a heavy slap in the face, shattering all unrealistic fantasies!
Voldemort did not give up on creating fear and massacre. The defeat in the Battle of Diagon Alley only stimulated his brutality and made him even more cruel!

"Is there no way to stop the Death Eaters from continuing to hurt Muggles?"

Suppressing his anger, Harry finished reading the report.

Hermione remained silent.

The Muggles, who don't even know the existence of magic, are too vulnerable when faced with an unexpected attack from wizards. They are simply unable to resist!
"Is there any way to prevent it, Amosta, Albus?"

At the same time Harry asked this question, Professor McGonagall, with a distressed expression, turned her head and asked sadly at the staff table.

The two nominated people were as silent as Hermione.

Want to guard against Death Eaters attacking Muggles?
This is so difficult to do!

Muggles are scattered across a vast country, and it is too easy for the Death Eaters in the dark to create some terrorist incidents.

The limited manpower in the ministry makes it impossible to provide foolproof defense within the country.

It is true that the Ministry of Magic can monitor whether magic has appeared in a certain area and carry out targeted control.

However, the Ministry was unable to accurately determine whether the magic was aimed at Muggles or was just the daily spells cast by wizards.

We can't just run over to check out the wizards as soon as we notice them casting spells in Muggle territory. If we do that, even if the department increases its staff tenfold, it still won't be enough.

As for using spies to learn of Voldemort's horrific plan in advance?
This is indeed feasible, but it runs the risk of exposing the spy, and Voldemort always assigns tasks to different Death Eaters and does not allow them to communicate with each other.

"It is impossible to completely prevent the evil deeds of the Death Eaters--"

After a long while, Amosta sighed slightly.
"If you are willing to pay a huge price, you can achieve a limited degree of prevention and rescue injured Muggles as soon as possible." (End of this chapter)