Austria, Austrian Alps – Nurmengard
A man clad in a black robe and hood, also wearing a silver mask, approached another man by the window.
"Archbishop," greeted the newcomer respectfully.
Unlike the man in black, the Archbishop was dressed in a red robe and wore a golden mask, indicating his high status within the Aurora Society.
"Any problems, Father?" asked the Archbishop, without turning his gaze away from the snowy mountains beyond the window. His voice was muffled by the mask, yet it was still possible to discern the masculine tone.
"Our lambs are ready to depart, Archbishop," replied the man identified as Father, maintaining a respectful tone.
"Very well, today our lord shall bathe in the blood of the wicked!" declared the Archbishop with a calm that barely disguised the excitement hidden behind the icy mask.
"Yes, Archbishop," responded the man in black, his voice brimming with excitement and reverence.
-Grindelwald descended the stairs and found all his acolytes standing, respectfully awaiting him. They were dressed in black robes adorned with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows embroidered on their chests with pride. There was no need for them to hide their faces; to them, they were heroes not yet recognized by the world.
With a satisfied glance over his followers, Grindelwald turned his attention to the army beside the acolytes: hundreds of zealots dressed in black robes and hoods, their identities hidden by black and silver masks, a look reminiscent of the inquisitors of the Middle Ages.
At the forefront of the zealots stood a particularly striking man, dressed in red priestly robes and a golden mask. Grindelwald recognized him as a Special Grade Wizard.
As for his true identity and the magical signature he was sensing, Grindelwald had no idea. He had never seen the Red Archbishop of the Aurora Society before; it was also possible that this man had managed to deceive his senses with an alchemical item or an Innate Technique.
Grindelwald then shifted his focus to the third Special Grade Wizard involved in this atack.
He was a man of Middle Eastern features, dressed in an elegant black suit and with a meticulously groomed beard. This was Mustafa Al-Husseini, the wizard who had attacked Nottingham the previous day and fought with the young Asterion.
Despite the gentle smile that Mustafa displayed, Grindelwald merely scoffed inwardly at that smile. Having known the young Mustafa before, he knew him to be an honorable man, devoutly pious to his God. The man before him, however, was not the true Mustafa Al-Husseini, but rather an ancient monstrous creature using his body.
(Note: Mustafa was based on Ishamael from The Wheel of Time; I simply loved the man's performance in the series.)
Faced with the situation, Grindelwald remained indifferent towards the man and positioned himself in front of the three groups, displaying a serene expression.
"Let us begin," he said simply. In response, his acolytes began rhythmically beating on their chests, creating a melody that sounded serious and sacred.
"Yes, My Master!!!"
Without hesitation, Grindelwald Apparated, immediately followed by all his acolytes.
"May our lord bless this holy crusade," declared the priest in the red robe to his followers, before Apparating himself, chasing after Grindelwald.
The other members of the Society of Dawn responded in unison, their voices filled with excitement and fanatical reverence:
"Our lord will bless our holy crusade!!!"
Soon after, they all Apparated, following their leader into the glorious battle they anticipated.
Left alone in Nurmengard, Herpo merely shrugged and murmured, "The youth today are too hasty."
He smiled and Apparated away.
Indeed, things were getting very interesting.
-
Hogwarts.
Rose leaned against the window with the Potter family heirloom book in her hands. She was reading, more specifically, about the Domain Expansion section.
She didn't find the supreme technique of innate witchcraft difficult—it involved raising barriers around and manifesting the innate technique within the barrier, simple as that. Although it consumed a lot of magical energy for others, this wasn't a problem for her, who could virtually have infinite magical energy.
"The only problem is with merging blue and red, it's almost like creating a black hole in space in an instant. The amount of calculations for that is insane, even for me," Rose murmured to herself, turning the page of the book.
Merging Blue and Red was something Rose theorized after her studies and calculations. Theoretically, it was possible, but the amount of information she would have to process was insane even for her. The worst part was that she had to perform all these calculations within a millisecond; any longer, and everything would explode in a massive burst.
"I guess I know why my ancestors didn't want to innovate; manipulating space is tricky, even with the help of magic that distorts reality, it's quite complicated." She continued to murmur, focusing on the words on the pages.
Suddenly, Rose heard Hermione's voice from afar.
"Rose! I finally found you!"
Looking down the corridor, she saw her friend approaching, holding a book.
Reaching Rose in less than a second, Hermione started scolding her friend without any hesitation. "I told you we have History of Magic class, you can't just skip lessons!"
Rose just pretended to listen while nodding her head seriously at Hermione.
However, a massive tremor caused Hermione to lose her balance and fall into Rose's arms.
"What was that? An earthquake?" Getting out of her friend's arms, Hermione grumbled.
Suddenly, she noticed Rose's dignified face looking up at the sky through the window.
Following her friend's gaze, Hermione approached the window and looked up.
Then, her eyes widened in pure horror.
Outside Hogwarts, a huge blue barrier covered the entire castle!
Above the barrier, three gigantic pillars of light descended from the sky and collided with the barrier. The barrier remained intact without any ripple or even a sign of breaking.
"Heretics are really creative." On top of a hill not too far from Hogwarts, the Red Archbishop spoke coldly. Behind him, hundreds of fanatics ready to attack at any moment.
"It's impossible to destroy the Hogwarts barrier by attacking from the front." Next to the man, Herpo spoke, looking at the blue barrier with veiled admiration on his face. "Rowena and Helga are two impressive women, both masters in Barrier formations."
"What do we do?" Herpo smiled and looked at the Archbishop with a gentle gaze. Grindelwald also looked at the man in red.
"We wait for our friend inside Hogwarts." The Archbishop spoke coldly, staring at the enormous blue barrier protecting the majestic castle atop the hill.
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Author's Thoughts: Let the games begin
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Next Chapter: Chapter 69 - Invasion of Hogwarts (2), Chapter 70 - Invasion of Hogwarts (3), Chapter 71 - Invasion of Hogwarts (4), Chapter 72 - Invasion of Hogwarts (5), Chapter 73 - Invasion of Hogwarts (6), Chapter 74 - Invasion of Hogwarts (7), Chapter 75 - Invasion of Hogwarts (8), Chapter 76 - Invasion of Hogwarts (9), Chapter 77 - Invasion of Hogwarts (10), Chapter 78 - Invasion of Hogwarts (11), Chapter 79 - Post-War (1), Chapter 80 - Heir of Salazar Slytherin (1), Chapter 81 - Heir of Salazar Slytherin (2), Chapter 82 - Heir of Salazar Slytherin (3), Chapter 83 - Salazar's Heir Slytherin (4), Chapter 84 - Sequels, Chapter 85 - Civil War (1), 86 - Civil War (2), 87 - Civil War (3), 88 - Civil War (4), 89 - Civil War (5), Chapter 90 - Civil War (6), Chapter 91 - Battlefield (1), Chapter 92 - Battlefield (2).