met free Chapter 516 Plans Changed! Is Scrimgeour Going to Turn Against Us?
Chapter 516 Plans Changed! Is Scrimgeour Going to Turn Against Us?
"News of our raid on the Ministry of Magic has been leaked. Send out all those whose injuries are not serious to check the vicinity for any white wizards lurking around. Be quick; I need definite results within fifteen minutes!"
After a moment's thought, Grindelwald dispelled the spell that had restricted spatial teleportation and communication, and at the same time, issued orders to the more than seven hundred elite soldiers in front of him.
Everyone was startled, but there were no objections. Except for the seriously injured, the rest obeyed the order, using Apparition to transform into a twisting spiral and head to the area around the Ministry of Magic to investigate the situation.
Even Eckeris joined the effort.
In an instant, inside the main hall of the Ministry of Magic, besides a dozen suitcases, were the captured Ministry of Magic members, more than a hundred seriously wounded Saints, Grindelwald, and Umbridge.
According to Grindelwald's original plan, he was to both help Dumbledore train the British white wizards and achieve an overwhelming victory in this final battle.
After achieving victory, they will then implement the pre-planned measures to paralyze all surviving saints and intelligent magical creature allies, thus triggering a shocking defection of wizards worldwide.
This would garner support from the international magical community and win Dumbledore's heart.
Therefore, his battle plan was to first launch a surprise attack on the Ministry of Magic to shut down the Floo Network, and then send his Saints to act separately, using Apparition to instantly reach various wizarding communities in Britain, to quickly encircle and destroy them one by one.
Finally, he assembled his army and launched a fierce attack on Hogwarts.
The first step of this plan is to resolve the battle quickly and keep it secret, both to eliminate an important official wizarding force in the British magical world and to increase the difficulty for British white wizards to provide support and request assistance.
The second and third steps were designed with loopholes; instead of sending saints to ambush and surround the enemy in advance, they gave the British white wizards some opportunities to escape and seek help.
This was Grindelwald's backup plan.
He can't do things too perfectly, lest he end up making a mess of things and shooting himself in the foot.
More than 40,000 dark wizards, plus about 10,000 intelligent magical creatures—this power was immense, and Grindelwald had a direct sense of it.
If the dark wizard achieves a crushing victory, his schemes might go awry.
This resulted in the dark wizards' side being affected, yet still retaining a strong ability to resist.
Then he could refrain from turning against Hogwarts and instead smear his own methods as a curse on the Hogwarts side, using the claim of being protected by the spirits of the Hogwarts founders to create an atmosphere of panic and persuade his men to retreat first.
Slow down the retreat, leak some information, and wait until the fleeing British white wizards bring in foreign white wizard reinforcements before betraying them all and completing the defection.
Of course, when discussing the battle plan with the Saints earlier, Grindelwald couldn't possibly reveal his scheme to sabotage his teammates.
When some believers questioned why the wizarding quarters and Hogwarts in England weren't secured in advance, Grindelwald's reason was that there's no perfect way to secure them; having a large population was both their advantage and their disadvantage.
With so many locations under surveillance, it would be necessary to send out a large number of people, which greatly increases the likelihood of being discovered in advance.
It would be better to wait until after the raid on the Ministry of Magic, then use Apparition to instantly strike, catching the British white wizards off guard without the risk of being exposed prematurely.
However, plans can't keep up with changes. Grindelwald never expected Dudley to come up with something as absurd as the Dream Realm, which caused problems in the very first step of his raid on the Ministry of Magic.
They neither achieved an easy and quick victory nor kept it secret.
Even excluding the possibility that the mastermind behind it all, Dudley, deliberately leaked information to reduce the difficulty of training for British white wizards, the news that a group of powerful dark wizards attacked the Ministry of Magic must have already spread among the British white wizard community through the dream realm.
Upon learning this news, the British white wizards faced two paths.
First, come to the Ministry of Magic for rescue; second, go to Hogwarts to hold out.
At the same time, seeking assistance from the magical communities of other countries may also be on the agenda.
Without knowing the exact number of people Grindelwald brought, the British white wizard is most likely to choose the first path.
That's why Grindelwald sent the saints to investigate the area.
Choosing the second path is not incomprehensible. Once the news spreads, Dumbledore will inevitably have to step in to take charge. There are also smart people in the White Wizards' camp who will surely realize that their ultimate goal is to attack Hogwarts and destroy the blessing magic of the founder of Hogwarts.
As long as the blessing magic is preserved, members of the Ministry of Magic will not die.
Having figured this out, from the perspective of the dark wizard, before he and the Saints organization were fully exposed, Grindelwald either sought speed and directly relied on his superior numbers to launch a swift attack on Hogwarts, achieving a quick victory before the arrival of foreign wizards' reinforcements;
They could either play it safe by taking the captured British Ministry of Magic members with them and then launching frequent attacks and raids on the Ministries of Magic in various countries, causing panic and making it difficult for the magical communities of those countries to support Hogwarts.
They waited until the British wizarding world was exhausted and complacent from their long period of defense before launching a surprise attack on Hogwarts.
However, considering the speed at which the Dream Realm enhances the power of British white wizards, taking a conservative approach is clearly not a safe bet.
Therefore, even without considering the plan to defect, the best option facing Grindelwald was to raid Hogwarts and finish the job quickly.
"Fate is truly unpredictable; my precognitive abilities haven't worked for a long time."
Grindelwald's mind raced. He didn't rely on his precognitive abilities, but at this moment, he really wanted to foresee the course or outcome of the battle and gain some intelligence advantage.
Unfortunately, he didn't know that, in order to prevent him from losing confidence, Dudley had secretly erased his precognitive abilities several times using a conceptual restoration spell.
At this moment, what Grindelwald needs is unwavering determination.
Grindelwald himself understood this principle. He was not weak and was determined to eliminate any potential rescuers after the Saints' investigation, and then launch a full-scale attack on Hogwarts.
In those fifteen minutes, he needed to arrange the aftermath for the captured Ministry of Magic members.
Grindelwald glanced around and saw that most of the Ministry of Magic members had been subjected to the Crucifixion Curse by his men, were still convulsing in pain and unable to sleep, and had their ability to speak sealed to avoid causing them trouble.
There were also some people who, like Umbridge, recognized him by his eyes and expressions.
Moreover, judging from his body language, he has a strong desire to confide in someone, as if he has something he wants to say to him.
Grindelwald immediately waved his wand, restoring the ability of these Ministry of Magic members to speak.
In an instant, all sorts of insults, accusations, and words of advice reached Grindelwald's ears.
Grindelwald remained unmoved and silenced those who only knew how to curse and criticize.
Only those whose emotions were relatively stable were allowed to speak.
“Mr. Grindelwald, stop! You won’t win, and Professor Dumbledore certainly wouldn’t want to see you like this…” Minister for Magic Kingsley Shackles earnestly advised.
However, Grindelwald only glanced at him and did not reply.
At this moment, Rufus Scrimgeour, the Auror Commander standing next to Kingsley, suddenly spoke up and said something different:
"Grindelwald, let me go, and I can do things for you."
"What?! Senior Scrimgeour, how could you..."
Kingsley could hardly believe such words came from the mouth of the upright and tough Scrimgeour, and immediately asked in shock.
Unexpectedly, Scrimgeour interrupted Kingsley forcefully: "How could you? How could you even ask that! How did you get the position of Minister of Magic?"
In terms of achievements, seniority, and ability, in what way am I not far superior to you?
The only thing I lost to you was that I refused to be Dumbledore's puppet!
As a white wizard and the head of the Auror clan, I fought the invaders with all my might. Now, I'll make Dumbledore regret it!
Grindelwald smiled upon hearing this and applauded Rufus Scrimgeour: "Excellent awareness, Rufus Scrimgeour. I know you, and I'm glad someone like you has joined my ranks."
From this day forward, you will be the Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom, under my supervision.
As Grindelwald spoke, he cast a spell to remove the binding magic from Scrimgeour and had the heavily injured saint, who was responsible for collecting the wands as spoils of war, return Scrimgeour's wand to him.
Scrimgeour showed no joy. After taking back his wand, he silently tucked it into the sleeve of his wizard's robe.
He then adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, strode towards Grindelwald, and offered suggestions as he walked, trying to distract Grindelwald:
"If we don't have enough troops, we'd better retreat from here now and wait..."
"Sir, be careful!" The astute Umbridge keenly noticed the faint green light emanating from Scrimgeour's cuff and anxiously warned Grindelwald.
She has now sided with the dark wizard, so Grindelwald can't afford to get hurt, or she'll be in big trouble.
"Avada! Let's eat a melon!"
However, it was too late. Scrimgeour had already raised his hand and cast the Killing Curse. A brilliant green beam of light shot straight at Grindelwald at short distance, leaving him no way to avoid it.