"Harry!"
As soon as Harry pushed the door and walked into the principal's office, he heard a scream and almost bumped into Mrs. Weasley who was coming out.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Ally."
Fleur also came forward and hugged Harry, kissing his cheek.
"What's going on in the Astronomy Tower?" Professor Slughorn asked nervously. "What about the Death Eaters, and what about the Dark Mark?"
"The battle at the Astronomy Tower is over. Everything went smoothly and basically no one was injured. By the time we had dealt with the Death Eaters blocking our way, Dumbledore had already successfully dealt with the Death Eaters who were trying to murder him."
Harry placed the phoenix chick in its ash-covered nest, took out the Marauder's Map from his robe pocket, turned to the Astronomy Tower, and asked casually, "Are there any other members of the Order of the Phoenix coming?"
"Only Wade Darrow Digger came here first," said Fleur. "But he must have gone out a while ago. Didn't you run into him?"
"No, Mr. Diggle probably went to the school gate to help. Some Death Eaters destroyed the school gate and directly led people to invade Hogwarts. Everyone is now going to the gate to reinforce. I suspect that group of guys is actually trying to attract our attention." Harry found the location of the Astronomy Tower on the Marauder's Map, and the expression on his face froze, because he did not see Dumbledore's name on the Astronomy Tower, but Snape and Malfoy were still there.
"How is this possible!" Harry couldn't help but scream, unwilling to believe his own guess.
"I have to go to the Astronomy Tower." Harry ran towards the Astronomy Tower at an astonishing speed.
Mrs. Weasley and Fleur exchanged glances and hurried after him, leaving Professor Slughorn with a confused look on his face.
At the top of the astronomy tower, Bella, who was reawakened by Snape, looked at Dumbledore's body in disbelief. She could not imagine that Snape had succeeded in killing Dumbledore by sneak attack.
Then what was the meaning of her and others’ previous efforts and sacrifices
"That was the original plan. What made you doubt my loyalty to the Dark Lord?" Snape glanced at Bella and said coldly, "There's no need for you to be angry. If I can't even fool you, I'm afraid I can't fool Dumbledore so easily and kill him by surprise when he's relaxed."
"But, then again, Alecto is much smarter than you. He probably saw through this, so he ran away first."
"How do you know that coward didn't run away because he was scared?" Bella's face turned red and she roared at Snape angrily.
However, no one cared about Bella's excuses.
At this moment, the Death Eaters looked at Dumbledore's body with disbelief, and some of them even shouted excitedly.
After witnessing Dumbledore's overwhelming strength, they never thought that they would be the ultimate winner.
"If I were you, I would keep my voice down instead of yelling at the top of my lungs to let everyone know we're here." Snape glared at Bella in dissatisfaction and continued to help other Death Eaters undo Dumbledore's spells. For those who couldn't be fully awakened after using the Restoration Spell, Snape would just slap them a few times and force them to wake up.
"Without Dumbledore, do you think those professors and members of the Order of the Phoenix can be our opponents?" Bella said contemptuously.
"Don't forget Albert Anderson. God knows if that guy will suddenly jump out." Snape looked at the group of Death Eaters who were eager to make trouble and reminded them with a frown, "I still want to go back to the Dark Lord to claim the glory that belongs to me. If you want to die, don't drag me down. I plan to leave this damn place now."
"There are still people down there being subdued by members of the Order of the Phoenix. Aren't you going to save them?" Charles couldn't help but ask.
"I'll leave them to you!" Snape looked at the stranger. "When the time comes, take them away from the Forbidden Forest. I won't wait for you."
Charles cursed Snape countless times in his heart, but he did not move. Those so-called colleagues were just strangers who had chatted with him for a few words. It was not worth risking their lives.
"Bella, you brought them here, so you can handle it yourself."
After saying this, Snape motioned for Malfoy to follow.
"Are we really going to jump right down from here?"
Malfoy stood on the battlement of the wall and looked down, his face twitching in the night wind from the high tower.
"Why don't we take the stairs?" he suggested, "and rescue those who have been subdued by the Order of the Phoenix..."
At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, scaring the Death Eaters who were whispering.
"That's too slow. The sooner we leave, the better. Don't forget Albert Anderson. That guy is as powerful as Dumbledore. I don't believe this ambush was not his doing." Snape didn't give anyone time to hesitate and jumped down from the top of the Astronomy Tower.
Malfoy hesitated for a moment, then jumped as well. He now had no choice but to trust Snape.
A scream came from below, and finally Snape chanted a shock-absorbing spell, successfully making himself and Malfoy temporarily suspended in the air.
“I definitely don’t want to experience that again.”
Malfoy felt his pants were wet. Jumping down from a high tower was definitely not a good experience, especially after looking at the body that was shattered into pieces next to him.
"Get out of here, quickly!"
Snape reached out and pushed Malfoy, reminding him that it was time to go.
When the other Death Eaters saw Snape and Malfoy jump down, they all looked at each other in bewilderment. In the end, they did not choose to go down to save their colleagues.
After all, they are just unrelated strangers and no one would joke about their own life.
The Death Eaters who felt that they were tricked by Snape were angry at his actions, but they also admired him, because not everyone could successfully kill someone like Dumbledore.
Facts have also proved that only Snape succeeded in doing it.
However, as Snape said, there is an equally difficult Albert Anderson who has not appeared yet, so the wisest choice is to leave here as soon as possible.
The Death Eaters jumped off the Astronomy Tower one after another like dumplings.
By the time Harry rushed to the top of the Astronomy Tower, there was no one else there except two Death Eaters who had been knocked down by Dumbledore's spell in the previous battle and whose life or death was still unknown.
"Oh, no, no, why, why is this happening!"
Harry reached out and picked up Dumbledore's body, calling his name softly, trying to wake the sleeping old man, but he knew that Dumbledore was dead, he was dead.
"Traitor, you damn traitor, I must kill you, I swear I must kill you." Harry walked to the battlement of the wall of the Astronomy Tower and looked down. Seeing the unclear ground, he knew that the group of Death Eaters had jumped directly from the tower and escaped.
"You can do it, Harry, there's nothing to be afraid of!" Harry gritted his teeth, tightened his wand, stuffed a pill of Felicis into his mouth, and then jumped down from the roof of the Astronomy Building.
The night wind whistled in his ears, and Harry felt that his tears and snot were about to flow out.
Before falling to the ground and turning into a pulp, Felix Felicis pulled Harry up and used a cushioning spell at the most critical moment to successfully prevent himself from falling into a pulp.
Harry struggled to get up from the ground, glanced at the body of the Death Eater that was smashed into a pulp beside him, and continued to chase forward. He would not easily let go of the traitor who killed Dumbledore!
Outside the Forbidden Forest, Bella, who had just burned down Hagrid's hut to vent her anger, was laughing wildly, as if only this way could she vent her pent-up emotions.
"Who is there? Come out!"
Snape raised his wand suddenly and pointed it somewhere in the woods.
"It's us. It looks like you succeeded."
Alecto appeared in front of Snape with the first two people to evacuate. She looked past Snape and observed the remaining Death Eaters. She turned her head and said to her colleague beside her: "See, I was right. Snape succeeded. He succeeded in killing Dumbledore!"
"Well, you win!" Avery shrugged, not caring about the bet with Alecto at all. He turned his head and shouted to the people who fell behind: "Bella, and you guys, it's time to retreat."
As he spoke, Avery raised his wand and fired the agreed green retreat spark into the sky.
"What are you doing?"
Bella frowned slightly and glared at Avery who was acting strangely.
"I need to warn the people at the school gate to prevent them from being wiped out." Avery retracted his gaze and explained to everyone, "When Snape successfully kills Dumbledore and retreats, I need to emit the agreed green spark to remind them to retreat."
"We should go," Alecto reminded.
No one would go looking for trouble with Avery, even though his actions just now might indeed bring them trouble, but they were already outside the school and they could use Apparition to leave at any time.
"you… "
Snape, who was about to Apparate Malfoy away, noticed that something was wrong. They had clearly left the area of Hogwarts, but they still could not Apparate.
"Not here yet. We need to walk a few more steps into the forest." Avery seemed to see the confusion on Snape's face and explained, "We need to be far away from the school before we can Apparate and leave."
Snape frowned at his old classmate and continued walking inside with Malfoy. Bella and Alecto were arguing in the back, apparently because of Alecto's escape.
After Snape successfully killed Dumbledore, the Death Eaters were in a particularly good mood. Although they paid a huge price for it, it was all worth it.
Without Dumbledore as a roadblock, no one could stop the Dark Lord's progress, not even the Ministry of Magic.
However, no one noticed the dark shadow approaching silently. Without any warning, a magic flew out from the dark forest and silently knocked down Malfoy who was following Snape. Not only did it cause the wand in his hand to fly out of his hand, but it also made Malfoy faint.
"who?"
Snape drew his wand and looked ahead warily.
"Good evening everyone, it looks like you had a lot of fun tonight!"
A sudden voice came from the forest, and under the gaze of all the Death Eaters, Albert Anderson walked out of the forest and stood in front of all the Death Eaters, looking at them with a smile on his face, his eyes were a bit like he was looking at meat on a eucalyptus board.
"Albert Anderson!" Bella growled through gritted teeth, and the spell in her hand flew towards Albert faster than her voice.
"You really are like a mad dog, Bella!" The tree next to Albert seemed to come alive, bending down to block Bella's Avada Kedavra on Albert's behalf.
"Let's go together and kill him!"
Bella was trembling with excitement. Now was undoubtedly the best time to surround and kill Albert.
However, just as Bella finished shouting, she heard the sound of someone falling behind her, as if in response to her words.
When Bella turned her head, she was shocked to see that several Death Eaters who had evacuated with them were now falling to the ground, and it was Alecto and his two companions who had attacked them.
Bella could never have imagined that a Death Eater would dare to betray the Dark Lord.
"Is it strange? Not strange, after all, Snape successfully ambushed and killed Dumbledore." Albert narrowed his eyes, but his gaze never left Snape and Bella.
When faced with Bella's impotent rage, Albert simply waved his wand and easily subdued Bella, like an adult knocking a child to the ground with one punch.
A duel was never won by who used more powerful magic, and Bella's series of rash actions led her to fall headfirst into the abyss.
After subduing Bella, Albert turned his attention back to Snape. This guy was much more cautious than Bella and did not take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack when Albert subdued Bella. This was undoubtedly a wise decision, otherwise his fate would not be much better than Bella's.
"It looks like you want to duel with me." Albert said softly, "Don't worry, I won't kill you. After all, everything has to go according to the script: you will escape my encirclement with Malfoy, Alecto and Avery."
Snape glanced at the Death Eater who was subdued by the sneak attack, then looked at the arrogant guy in front of him who was smiling at him, and fell into a brief silence. He had expected this moment to come, but he didn't expect it to be like this.
When did this guy use the Imperius Curse to control the three of them? Just now, or... a long time ago.
Snape didn't have time to ponder these questions.
The two spells collided in mid-air, deviating directly from their original trajectory and blowing a tree as thick as a thigh in half.
Snape's silent spellcasting was fast, so fast that he could easily counter most wizards, and yet, in front of him was the youngest duel champion in history.
After several spell collisions, Snape realized that the situation was not good. When facing Albert, he felt as powerless as if he were facing Dumbledore.
Just as Snape was thinking about how to solve the current problem, he was blown away by a powerful force and hit a big tree heavily. The vines on the tree seemed to come alive and entangled him tightly before Snape could react.
"I have never understood why Dumbledore wanted to exchange his own life for your two lives. Is it because he only has a few years left to live?" Albert stretched out his left hand and gently hooked it. The wands that had fallen on the ground automatically flew into Albert's hand and were stuffed directly into his robe pocket.
Snape pursed his lips and said nothing, but Bella next to him couldn't help it anymore.
Unfortunately, Albert didn't have time to listen to Bella's nonsense, so he sealed his mouth.
"In fact, there is a better choice, but Dumbledore finally chose to do that." Albert looked at Snape and murmured softly, "He wanted to save your life."
"Who knows?" Snape said expressionlessly. He knew that there was a huge gap between him and Albert, but he didn't expect the gap to be so big.
No matter how cautious Snape was, he was still disarmed, and this guy didn't even use any dark magic.
"Don't get excited Bella." Albert glanced at the madwoman struggling fiercely next to him, and said calmly, "If Dumbledore had not volunteered to die, how do you think Snape could have killed Dumbledore?"
After saying that, he suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction and said gently, "Oh, it's Potter, come out, I know where you are hiding!"
"You caught him, you caught the traitor!"
Harry glanced at the three Death Eaters who were attacking his colleagues, looked at Snape who was tied to the tree trunk with hatred, and raised his wand: "Avada..."
Before Harry finished reciting the Killing Curse, his wand flew out of his hand and was caught by Albert.
"Why?" Harry roared at Albert angrily, "Why stop me? He killed Dumbledore. This beast killed Dumbledore. I want to avenge him."
"I know." Albert said calmly, "But that was Dumbledore's intention. From beginning to end, everything was going according to the script designed by Dumbledore: Snape killed Dumbledore by surprise when he was most relaxed. Oh, I have to say that this script is really bad, but Dumbledore is unwilling to follow the script I wrote, and I can't do anything about it."
"Wait, you mean... Dumbledore volunteered to be killed by this beast." Harry's brain froze for a moment, he really couldn't accept this answer.
"Why, why would Dumbledore do this?" Harry roared with tears on his face, "Is he crazy?"
"Perhaps it has something to do with Dumbledore's impending death," Albert said calmly. "The injury to his arm is incurable, and he won't live for many years."
Harry stared at Albert with wide eyes in disbelief, but the Felicis Follicles told him that Albert was not lying.
"Although I have always believed that he did not need to do this, Dumbledore still intended to put the future on you and chose to end his life in this way. I can only respect his choice because I can't convince him to change his mind."
"Honestly, I still admire Dumbledore. That guy risked his life to plot against You-Know-Who without even blinking an eye. I can't do such a thing anyway."
"Although his choice makes me a little unhappy."
"But..." Harry looked at Snape with hatred, he still couldn't understand.
"You made a deal with Dumbledore privately, right?" Albert looked at the silent Snape, curled his lips and said, "If you don't want to talk about it, forget it. You can go now. I promised Dumbledore that I would let you take Malfoy away.
The vines that had bound Snape loosened silently.
Albert made a gesture of invitation to Snape, and reminded him kindly: "If you want to Apparate, you'd better go far away. I have cast an anti-Apparate spell on this area."
"You're just as annoying as Potter."
Snape glared at Albert fiercely and was about to go find Malfoy when he saw Alecto and Avery walking towards him with the unconscious Malfoy.
Before Snape could walk over to join them, he suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ground, then was beaten all over his body by Harry.
The Felicis Felix told Harry that if he didn't teach Snape a lesson now, he might never have the chance again.
So, Harry took action.
He didn't stop until Albert reached out and grabbed him.
Looking at Snape and Malfoy being helped away, Harry suddenly turned around and asked Albert: "Why did Dumbledore do this? I mean, why did Dumbledore help Snape and Malfoy?"
"Snape has an unbreakable oath. If he kills Dumbledore, he will die." Albert said softly, "He probably thinks that since he is dying soon, he might as well make use of his last remaining energy. As for Malfoy, our headmaster hopes that he can walk on the right path instead of being completely corrupted by Voldemort's order to kill him. I have to say that he is a competent headmaster."
There were countless emotions contained in this sentence. Harry heard both sarcasm and sighs.
"If you want to know more, I suggest you ask Dumbledore yourself." Albert reached out and patted Harry's shoulder, returned his wand to him and continued, "If you can't get anything out of his portrait, I can go to Hogwarts in a few days to distribute Dumbledore's will to you, and I will tell you something I know."
"Now, please take these Death Eaters back and let them face justice at the Ministry of Magic, with the exception of this mad dog next to them."
"I thought you were going to just kill them." Harry said with his mouth slightly open.
"No, these are the fish that Dumbledore caught using himself as bait. I think if the Ministry of Magic kills them all at once, it will probably be able to deter the You-Know-Who for a while." Albert said to Harry, "You need this time."
"I know what to do. I hope you can tell me the truth when the time comes. I hate being kept in the dark like a fool." Harry reached out to wipe the tears from his face, cast a spell, and dragged the knocked out and bound Death Eaters back to Hogwarts.
"I have already arranged a future for you." Albert retracted his gaze, looked at Bella who was still struggling, and said happily: "Believe me, that place is definitely more suitable for you than Azkaban."
After Bella slowly closed her eyes, Albert took one last look at Hogwarts and murmured, "It seems that Dumbledore guessed that I knew the whereabouts of the last Horcrux? When did I reveal the flaw... When I was divining the snake or the Slytherin locket?"
"But why do you think I won't pursue power? Do you really think I will help keep the wand safe and just stuff it into my hand?" Albert took out the Felix Felicis from his pocket and put it in his mouth, using it to analyze the part he couldn't see clearly.
Dumbledore was actually right. Albert really didn't need this wand. He had very powerful magical powers and was more suitable to keep the Elder Wand than anyone else. And...
"Has he seen it a long time ago? Perhaps he has such a feeling. After all, he is an old man who has lived for a century. It is not surprising for him to have such a feeling."
Although Albert has been providing assistance to the Order of the Phoenix and helping the Ministry of Magic to fight Voldemort, he has never thought of taking on everything on his own. Instead, he chooses to guide the British wizards to fight against the mysterious man and the Death Eaters themselves.
It was obvious that the latter would have to pay a huge price to achieve peace, and Dumbledore obviously realized this, so he left the Elder Wand to him as a legacy.
"He kills several birds with one stone, but I'm not at a disadvantage either," Albert murmured.
Although he did not need the Elder Wand, he was well aware of its power, perhaps just as Dumbledore had said.
It may come in handy in the near future.
A win-win-win situation.
No, win-win.
After all, Voldemort's trap had already been dug after Dumbledore's death.
As for the British wizarding world…
"It's really hard to hate it." Albert murmured, "But I still want to say that your script is really bad. You should follow the script I wrote."
That's right, everyone has his or her own little calculations, especially geniuses, who are a bunch of arrogant guys. Don't expect others to follow his plans, which is obviously unrealistic.
He knew it from the beginning, and that's why he finally accepted everything calmly.
After all, everything has been written according to the script, and he is just an actor in the script.
"We should go!" Albert retracted his gaze and looked at the crazy woman who had fallen into a coma beside him, muttering, "You have tried to kill me so many times. Now it is your turn to bear my revenge."