According to the Daily Prophet, everyone learned that Voldemort responded with great cruelty on the very day the Minister of Magic rejected his demands.
That very afternoon, in Kent's Brogdale, Death Eaters destroyed a bridge, leading to the deaths of many Muggle swimmers.
But that wasn't all.
They also sent giants into the southwestern part of England, causing widespread destruction in the Muggle world—trees were uprooted, roofs were torn off, road signs bent, and there were numerous casualties…
To cover up these events, the Ministry of Magic was working around the clock.
The Misinformation Office staff were working overtime, while the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes sent multiple teams of Obliviators to alter the memories of Muggles who witnessed the incidents, trying to convince them that the chaos was caused by a sudden hurricane.
Most of the staff from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures were dispatched to Somerset, searching for giants but finding none.
Of course, the Ministry wasn't always in a frantic scramble, chasing after Death Eaters and cleaning up their mess.
The Aurors had been preparing to confront the Death Eaters for months, so they handled the troubles with more composure than expected.
They had already prepared plans and arrangements for all possible actions of the Death Eaters.
Now, they just needed to execute them step by step.
After the Ministry of Magic rejected Voldemort's demands, the Death Eaters' reaction was more intense than anticipated, with the frequency of their Muggle attacks nearly doubling.
However, thanks to the Aurors' efforts, although the destruction of bridge and the giant's rampage occurred, several other attacks were prevented in advance.
Many suspected Death Eaters had already been under surveillance by the Aurors.
When the attack frequency was not so high, these individuals had not revealed their true colors.
But when Voldemort gave the order for a full-scale attack to cause significant damage to Muggles and punish the Ministry, these individuals could not avoid detection, revealing themselves to the Aurors.
Of those under surveillance, about half were either not Death Eaters or had not been mobilized.
The remaining half attempted to carry out terror attacks on Muggles under Voldemort's orders.
Due to the Aurors' efforts, only a quarter of these attacks succeeded in causing harm to Muggles, and nearly half of them were stopped in their tracks.
Subsequently, the Aurors captured these Death Eaters.
However, the Death Eaters were not to be underestimated.
Even though the Aurors had the numerical and strategic advantage, about one-third of the Death Eaters managed to escape.
The fierce resistance from the Death Eaters also led to some Auror casualties.
Overall, while the Death Eaters still succeeded in causing terror attacks on Muggles, the Aurors' actions were a significant success.
Following the raid a week ago, the Aurors' covert surveillance and capture operation had successfully apprehended dozens of Death Eaters, dealing a heavy blow to Voldemort's forces.
Although Voldemort had once wielded immense power and had numerous followers, the revived Voldemort had not had enough time to gather a sufficient number of supporters.
Combined with the previous week's actions, even a few dozen wizards were a considerable loss for Voldemort.
He could not afford such losses.
Thus, the Ministry of Magic under Bones had indeed struck another crucial blow to him.
In response, Voldemort was once again furious and vowed to torment Bones severely in the future to avenge this significant grudge.
However, what he did not know was that this arrangement did not come from Bones but from Alaric, who was far away at Hogwarts.
Drawing from the original story and his own intelligence, Alaric easily guessed Voldemort's plans and made targeted arrangements.
It proved that Alaric's strategies were impeccable.
All of Voldemort's reactions were within his calculations.
Having taken the initiative, Alaric had significantly weakened Voldemort's forces with little effort.
Now, Voldemort had very few reliable forces left.
The number of Death Eaters remaining was around a hundred, mostly from small families or independent wizards, with only a few reliable and capable ones.
The elite Death Eaters, such as Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, and Bellatrix Lestrange, were almost gone.
Additionally, he had a group of werewolves led by Fenrir Greyback.
Although Voldemort had always looked down on werewolves, summoning and dismissing them at will, they had become his main reliable force.
Giants were also Voldemort's allies.
During the summer, Hagrid and Madame Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons and a witch with giant blood, went to the deep mountains in France to persuade the giant tribes there to join their side—or at least refuse Voldemort's recruitment.
However, they ultimately failed.
Under the leadership of Grawp, the giant tribe became Voldemort's ally.
This was all the power Voldemort currently had at his disposal.
At the breakfast table at Hogwarts, Alaric discussed the current situation with Hermione, Cho Chang, and Luna.
After understanding everything, Hermione sighed deeply.
"Will the Dark Lord take action again after receiving such a heavy blow?" she asked.
"If he is too severely affected and continues to stay hidden, won't we be unable to do anything about him?"
"No," Alaric shook his head.
"The Dark Lord's nature is arrogant and proud.
Even if he learned some lessons from the previous defeat, changing his core nature is difficult."
"So, he will still take action?" Hermione's expression brightened significantly.
"In that case, do we have a chance to fight against the Death Eaters?"
"There will be opportunities," Alaric said with certainty.
"And the opportunity won't be long. You need to be prepared at all times."
"Of course," Hermione's eyes seemed to shine with determination.
"I'm always ready to teach them a lesson."
Cho Chang didn't speak, but her resolute expression showed her stance.
Luna, with her vacant eyes, suddenly looked at Alaric.
"I want to go too!" she said.
"But it's very dangerous," Alaric was somewhat troubled by this.
"We'll be directly confronting the Death Eaters and even facing Voldemort…"
"But we're friends," Luna said seriously, her determined eyes holding Alaric's gaze. "Alaric is Luna's friend."
"Yes, we are friends…" Alaric said softly, finally looking at Luna with resignation.
"Alright, I agree to let you come, but you must stay close to me.
If I'm not around, you must stay with Hermione and Cho Chang."
"Okay, I promise." Luna said with a happy smile.
.
.
.
Guys, do leave some power stones and reviews.
✌patreon.com/bobthewriter✌
If you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Patreon and get access to 30 Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.