The atmosphere of the war had not spread throughout Great Britain. The Clock Tower had controlled the course of the war to prevent it from spreading too far, so almost all of England seemed unaffected by this civil war. Well, partly because Voldemort was losing and did not want to divide his already scarce troops.
Hogwarts.
"Rose, wait for me!" Hermione quickly caught up with Rose, carrying a second-year spellbook in her arms.
"Don't be slow, Mione, let's get to the library," Rose said without looking at her friend, continuing toward the library with hurried steps.
She was swamped with homework due to her private lessons with Dumbledore. The man was not going easy on her, especially with the tons of homework he was giving her.
Honestly, if she didn't have the Six Eyes and the ability to process information extremely quickly, she wouldn't be able to keep up with Dumbledore's insane teaching pace. Sometimes Rose thought Dumbledore was in a hurry to teach her as quickly as possible, as if he might die at any moment.
Upon arriving at the library, Rose and Hermione found Ron studying. This made both girls think they were under some illusion spell.
Ron Weasley studying in the library!
This would certainly be surprising news that would spread throughout Hogwarts.
Rose no longer felt the animosity toward the boy she had at the beginning of the school year. She saw that although Ron was somewhat tactless about certain matters, he was a decent boy with a good heart.
Hermione, on the other hand, upon seeing the boy, snorted coldly, glaring at the redhead. Throughout her time at Hogwarts, Ron was the person she argued with the most. Besides being insulted with nicknames like "bookworm" and other degrading names, she was insulted only for wanting to help the boy speak some spells correctly!
After that, Hermione and Ron were officially mortal enemies; they didn't like each other and didn't hide their animosity.
Rose just laughed at her friend's reaction. She knew Hermione didn't like the boy, so she didn't greet him despite his obvious attempt to approach her.
Despite her wishes, as soon as they sat down at the table and placed their books on it, Ron approached them, undeterred by the death glare he was receiving from Hermione."Rose..."
Ron said but hesitated to continue. He finally mustered the courage to ask, "Can you help my dad get his job back at the Ministry?"
Rose was truly taken aback by the red-haired boy's request; she really didn't expect Ron to ask her something like that.
"Clock Tower," Hermione corrected Ron's words.
Ron was surprised by the correction and glared at the girl with thick brown hair; no one liked being corrected by others, especially a teenager.
"No one asked you, Bookworm," Ron said almost instinctively, his tone irritated, not caring about Hermione's particularly calm gaze.
After experiencing a real war and seeing people die, Hermione had matured a lot. Perhaps in the past, she would have been upset and hurt by the insults, but now she saw how childish and extremely spoiled Ron was.
"Do you think I'm offended by that? You need to read the dictionary more, Ronald." Hermione opened the second-year spellbook and subtly returned the insult, calling him stupid for not coming up with a better word to insult her.
Ron's cheeks flushed with Hermione's words, anger and shame making him look at her with a gaze full of rage, ready to draw his wand at any moment.
"Let's not fight, the librarian is looking our way." Seeing Ron's face turn a shade similar to his hair, as if he were about to explode, Rose spoke to calm things down. She didn't want to be kicked out of the library again...
Hermione and Ron exchanged glares in a battle of stares, but both relented and remained silent.
"I don't think you need to worry about your father's job. Headmaster Dumbledore wouldn't stand by while one of his colleagues needed help," Rose whispered to Ron, feeling the cold stare of the librarian on their group for a moment.
Rose's words and the mention of Dumbledore seemed to calm Ron's tension, as his shoulders relaxed and he showed a happy and relieved expression again. Almost as if Dumbledore's name was a very effective calming agent.
"Did you hear? They say the war has become even fiercer on the battlefield," Ron lowered his voice and shared the information he had gotten from other students.
Seeing Ron sit down and start talking to Rose, Hermione's eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe someone could be so shameless. Didn't he see the two piles of books next to Rose?
Clearing her throat, Hermione gave Ron a dissatisfied look, growing even more frustrated as he ignored her and continued talking to Rose.
"We're busy, Ronald!" Hermione couldn't take the whispers disrupting her concentration any longer and spoke sharply, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the library.
"Miss Granger, silence or you'll be expelled from the library," Irma Pince, the librarian, looked at Hermione and spoke in a reprimanding tone.
Hermione, who had always been the exemplary student to the teachers, felt a wave of embarrassment as she noticed the eyes falling on her.
Sitting back down, she glared at Ron with a vengeful and malicious look.
Even Ron swallowed hard in the face of that deadly look, as if it promised revenge.
Rose couldn't help but curl her lips into an amused smile. She felt that this was the school life she wanted, just silly and meaningless fights. For a moment, she wished that every day could be like this.
Shaking her head to clear these unrealistic thoughts, Rose focused on her reading, occasionally jotting down relevant notes in a notebook.
---
Battlefield – Death Eater Camps.
Everyone watched Bellatrix limping toward the main tent with shocked eyes. Although Bellatrix was crazy, no one ever questioned her strength. Seeing her in this state made everyone feel a chill run down their spines. Deep in the hearts of each one, the seed of desertion began to grow.
If the powerful Bellatrix was so injured in this war, imagine them, mere wizards and witches of grades 3 and 2.
Even the Aurors from France and Germany frowned. They had come to participate in this war to weaken Dumbledore's forces, but the way this war was going, they would die on this foreign land before even completing their respective missions.
Bellatrix didn't care about the eyes falling on her. She held her head high and walked proudly despite being in a relatively grave condition.
She walked to the main tent and entered, finding the Dark Lord sitting in a chair holding Nagini. A black diary lay on the table in front of him. His red eyes, which reminded her of Asterion's, stared at her with a cold and calm gaze.
"My master," Bellatrix kneeled, ignoring her body protesting in pain.
"I see you are suffering, Bellatrix," Voldemort commented, stroking Nagini's scaly head. His gaze fell on the visible burns on her arms and legs.
"Hehehe~" Bellatrix laughed joyfully. Despite the excruciating pain she was feeling, her lips curled into a cold smile. "You should see the other side, master. I left a huge hole in his stomach."
Voldemort nodded, not doubting her words. He knew his loyal subordinate well. "We will be starting," he said, drawing Bellatrix's attention.
"Recover yourself and begin. You and three other grade 1 wizards will attack Diagon Alley," Voldemort ordered, a strange gleam in his eyes, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table in front of him.
Fear, he needed fear to turn this war in their favor.
Bellatrix nodded and didn't question him, although she was clearly confused. Removing four grade 1 wizards from the battlefield at this moment would leave a huge gap in their defenses, exposing their flanks too much to the enemy.
"Yes, my master," Bellatrix replied and stood up, preparing to leave. However, she halted her steps upon hearing Voldemort's voice again.
"Bellatrix, you won't betray me, will you?" The cold, hissing voice sent shivers down her spine.
Bellatrix looked over her shoulder with a cheerful smile.
"I will never betray my true master," she said, her voice tinged with insane fanaticism.
Voldemort looked at her and nodded, a satisfied expression on his face.
"Dumbledore and Asterion, you don't want others getting involved, but this is war. By nature, war is cruel and treacherous. And war is always written by the victors," Voldemort murmured, staring directly into Nagini's serpentine eyes. The Maledictus simply hissed as if responding to her master.
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Next Chapter: Chapter 96 - The War Intensifies (2), Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3), Chapter 102 - The Black Sisters (1), Chapter 103 - The Black Sisters (2), Chapter 104 - Rose's Past (1), Chapter 105 - Arrival of Country Representatives (1), Chapter 106 - Arrival of Country Representatives (2), Chapter 107 - Arrival of Country Representatives (3), Chapter 108 – Party (1), Chapter 109 – Party (2), Chapter 110 - Back To Hogwarts (1), Chapter 111 - Back To Hogwarts (2), Chapter 112 – New Students (1), Chapter 113 – New Students (2), Chapter 114 – Ophelia (1), Chapter 115 – Ophelia (2).