The news that Hagrid was about to be publicly executed had already spread throughout the British wizarding community through newspapers and radio, and almost all wizards were quietly paying attention to this matter.
This was the first public execution in hundreds of years, and it was a brutal and brutal beheading that was simply unbearable to watch.
Everyone who knew about it knew that this public execution was a retaliation against the Order of the Phoenix and a deterrent to wizards in the entire British wizarding world.
The reason was that the Order of the Phoenix had previously launched a surprise attack on the Death Eaters' lair and rescued all the imprisoned wizards.
The Death Eaters obviously could not tolerate themselves suffering such a loss, and could not tolerate the decline in their deterrent power to other wizards, so this execution took place.
However, ordinary wizards always make up the majority of this world.
Except for a few newspapers and radio stations that believed that Hagrid had colluded with the giants and hated him because the description of the incident was too realistic, most people were actually skeptical.
This is also thanks to Lee Jordan of Wizard Watch, who insisted on explaining the truth in the newspapers to everyone every day, so that the Ministry of Magic did not completely control all channels of communication.
As for the whole incident, the Wizard Watch also gave a reasonable explanation:
A few years ago, Dumbledore sent Hagrid to persuade the giants to remain neutral in the Wizarding War. The giant who lost his head was a neutral giant who was unwilling to follow the mysterious man. The Death Eaters asked the giants under their command to kill the traitors among the giants to discredit Hagrid for colluding with the giants.
I have to say that Lee Jordan's explanation was very thoughtful. It not only helped Hagrid clear his name, but also made everyone ignore the fact that Hagrid and Grawp were half-siblings. He didn't tell a single lie during the explanation, which was very justified.
"The Death Eaters are scared, so they resort to such despicable means."
Lee Jordan's excited voice came from countless radios. "However, I can guarantee that they will not succeed. I cannot tell you the specific reasons, but please believe me, believe Harry, believe the Order of the Phoenix, and believe all those who resist the You-Know-Who. We will not give up our partners easily, and we will not let the enemy's conspiracy succeed."
Lee Jordancon's passionate speech touched the hearts of Harry's supporters. On the one hand, they were worried about Harry's safety, but on the other hand, they didn't want Hagrid to become a victim.
They want to do something, but they dare not do anything, and they dare not even talk about it, for fear of getting themselves into trouble.
In the end, he could only stare wide-eyed and watch the incident silently, praying in his heart that Hagrid could be successfully rescued.
Of course, there are always people who like to watch the fun and are not afraid of trouble no matter where they are.
It is said that Ludo Bagman opened a betting in the Hog's Head Inn, asking everyone to bet on whether the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters would go into battle, whether Hagrid would die, whether Harry Potter would appear, and how many people would die as a result.
It's just that Ludo Bagman's reputation in this regard is so bad that no one is willing to bet with him, for fear that the guy will run away without paying.
But there are always people willing to be the banker and set the odds. According to the owner of the Hog's Head Pub, a Death Eater revealed that the Dark Lord would appear at the execution ground, causing the dark wizards to unanimously believe that the big Hagrid would definitely die, forcing the bookmaker to lower the odds. There was even a rumor that the bookmaker was preparing to run away overnight.
To this end, the crowd kept the few people who opened the market in the Pig's Head Bar, waiting for the day of execution to make a fortune.
On the day of the execution, the head of the Auror Office, Walton McNeill, personally took several Death Eaters to Azkaban to escort the prisoners in order to show how seriously he took the matter.
After arriving at the heavily guarded Azkaban prison, McNeill met the big man Hagrid who was imprisoned there.
"Hey, big guy, are you dead?"
Walton McNeill kicked the iron gate a few times, and when Hagrid slowly looked up, he threw the newspaper through the bars in front of Hagrid.
The latter looked up and glanced at the people outside the room, then continued to keep his head down and said nothing.
"Why, you don't like the good things I brought you?"
Walton McNeill looked at Hagrid, who didn't want to pay attention to him, and sneered, "You will be publicly executed today."
Hagrid reached for the newspaper and looked at the picture on the headline.
"No, that can't be true."
Hagrid reached out and picked up the newspaper. When he saw the headline, he froze completely, as if he couldn't believe what he saw.
Maybe this wasn't enough, but McNeill deliberately had someone throw the well-preserved giant's head in front of Hagrid.
"Glop, no, no..."
Hagrid held Grawp's head and cried, shaking all over.
When McNeill and the Death Eaters saw this scene, they laughed unscrupulously. One Death Eater even took a camera and took a lot of photos of Hagrid who was crying bitterly.
"You murderers, you all deserve to die."
Hagrid, blinded by rage, jumped up angrily, broke the chains connected to the wall, and pounced on the Death Eaters outside, ready to tear this group of scum to pieces.
With a "bang", the huge impact force caused the solid fence door to deform, but Hagrid still failed to tear the scum into pieces as he wished.
McNeill, who was well prepared, easily suppressed the violent Hagrid with the help of the Dementors.
"Come on, take another picture for me."
McNeill held his wand and stepped on Hagrid's head, and asked the Death Eaters with cameras to take a few photos of him to show everyone that they had stopped the big guy from escaping prison again.
"How about letting the Dementors suck away his soul first to avoid any accidents?" suggested a Death Eater who preferred to play it safe.
"No, no, that's too easy for this big guy." McNeill refused decisively, "He should be executed by me in front of everyone. Before that, he should be allowed to taste the hatred and fear before death. I believe his expression before death will let everyone know what the consequences of defying the Dark Lord will be.
The Death Eaters had no objection. Although letting the Dementors suck away Hagrid's soul could indeed reduce a lot of trouble, McNeill's words undoubtedly made them more excited. They would rather watch Hagrid die in despair.
With the help of the Dementors to subdue Hagrid, Walton MacNeill personally put shackles on Hagrid and had someone take a camera to take a lot of photos. He planned to have someone sell them to the newspapers later. Who could be more arrogant
"Well, I hope you won't let your guard down because of this. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may come to rescue us at any time, and that Mudblood is even harder to guard against. If they succeed, I think you definitely don't want to feel the Dark Lord's wrath."
After beating up his fellow Eaters, McNeill led the Eaters to the execution ground, taking the furious Hagrid with him.
The Floo Network was not used during the process. Instead, after leaving Azkaban on a ship, he was taken to the execution ground by several Death Eaters using Apparition.
"How about it?"
MacNeill asked the Death Eaters and Dementors who came to meet them.
"The Dark Lord has arrived."
The Death Eater who had just joined the Auror Office reported to McNeill, "The Dementors patrolling the surrounding area have not found any trace of the enemy yet. I suspect that the Order of the Phoenix guessed that this was a trap and have given up on this big guy."
"Don't let your guard down," McNeill warned again.
Under the gazes of countless people, Hagrid was finally taken to the pre-built execution platform and was roughly pressed on the gallows by a Death Eater.
The whispers below became more intense, and countless flashes suddenly lit up. Reporters frantically pressed the shutter to capture this scene, not affected by the Dementors around them at all.
"You think the Order has given up?"
Listening to Yaxley's report, Voldemort frowned slightly. They originally thought that the Order of the Phoenix would break into the prison and rescue Hagrid, but now it seems that they may have completely given up on the big guy on the stage from the beginning.
"Yes, my Lord," Yaxley said respectfully, "Knowing that it was a trap, the probability of Harry Potter coming here to die is not high."
In fact, no normal person would do that.
Voldemort fell into a brief silence. Knowing Potter, he knew that guy would not give up easily.
However, Porter did not take any action in the meantime, as if he had completely given up on the big guy.
Perhaps I didn't know Harry Potter as well as I thought.
"Since the Order of the Phoenix has completely given up on that guy, there is no need to wait any longer. Announce his crime and execute him!"
Voldemort sentenced Hagrid to death.
Despite this, Voldemort still did not leave directly. His intuition told him that Potter would not give up easily, not to mention that there was an even more difficult Mudblood.
On the execution platform, Umbridge looked at Hagrid, who was being pelted with things by countless people, and a delighted smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She had wanted to do that when she was working at Hogwarts, and now the opportunity had finally come.
She walked up to the execution platform and, with the help of the Auror's wand light, read out the crime she had fabricated for Hagrid:
…colluded with the giants to murder the students of Hogwarts.
Before Umbridge could finish her words, a flash of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky, followed by a loud "bang". A thick streak of lightning struck, illuminating the surroundings, as if even God could not stand Umbridge's lies and was expressing his anger.
The thunder just now seemed to have touched a switch.
The Death Eaters who were originally responsible for keeping an eye on the surroundings suddenly raised their wand like a possessed person and cast the Cruciatus Curse on Umbridge who was speaking on the stage, causing Umbridge's voice to be replaced by screams.
The sudden change stunned the wizards who came to watch.
"Catch him!"
McNeill pointed at the guy who was casting the Cruciatus Curse on Umbridge.
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind suddenly blew around him and heavy rain began to fall from the sky.
The winter rain was icy and cold, and there was chaos under the execution platform.
Voldemort, who was hiding behind the scenes, also realized that something was wrong. Just as he raised his wand to prevent Albert, a large cloud of immovable fog came in from afar like surging waves, instantly engulfing the area around the execution platform, leaving only a vast expanse of white in front of him.
Yaxley didn't expect the other party to really come, but fortunately he had made arrangements long ago. Anyone who tried to use the fog to cover up and rescue the big guy would not be able to escape the Dementors' pursuit. Such fog would be of no use to the Dementors.
"Keep an eye on that big guy, don't let him get away."
Yaxley led the remaining Death Eaters towards the execution platform, and did not forget to remind the people on the platform.
"How stupid! Do you think you can save someone from under my nose like this?"
Voldemort didn't care about Hagrid's life or death, he just thought this method was ridiculous. Perhaps only Harry Potter would be so naive.
I'll die here today!
Voldemort waved his wand, and a strong wind blew up in the heavy rain.
However, when he blew away the fog around him, people were surprised to find that Hagrid, who was originally pressed on the stands, actually... disappeared out of thin air.
The former head of the Auror Office actually swung the scythe in his hand and took advantage of the chaos to injure several colleagues.
Even Umbridge fell in a pool of blood. This sudden change stunned everyone present.
So... the Order of the Phoenix infiltrated the Death Eaters
And the Head of the Auror Office, Walton McNeill, is actually a member of the Order of the Phoenix
No one knew what had just happened, no one knew how Hagrid escaped, and no one knew what the situation was now.
In short, Hagrid escaped, or was rescued, right under Voldemort's nose, under the surveillance of Death Eaters and Dementors, and disappeared in front of countless people.
This was simply a beating in front of everyone, hitting Voldemort and the Death Eaters in the face.
Voldemort looked at the chaos on the execution platform with indifference, with flames of anger burning in his eyes. He had realized who had played a trick on him, and he was even more aware of how Hagrid had been rescued.
He seemed to have sensed something and suddenly raised his head to look at the beam of light passing over the landslide.
A phoenix mark suddenly appeared above their heads, as if silently announcing to everyone that it was responsible for the chaos.
"Albert Anderson!"
Voldemort squeezed out these words through gritted teeth. He didn't believe that Harry Potter had such ability. The only possibility was that Mudblood.
"Let's go, he's coming."
Albert said to Dobby the house-elf.
"Yes sir."
Dobby the house-elf trembled all over.
It was not fear, but excitement, excitement about having the honor of facing Voldemort with Albert and making a fool of him.
Dobby reached out and took Albert's hand, Apparating away.
Not long after they disappeared, Voldemort rushed towards them with murderous intent.
However, he had already lost his target, and the cowardly guy actually ran away.
This was something he could not tolerate under any circumstances.
"Don't think you can get away with it."
Voldemort has found the traces left by Albert after he Apparated and left. He just needs to follow the traces.
Forehead
Voldemort nearly lost his balance and fell. He was surprised to find that he was still in the same place, instead of following the traces left by the other party, and even his Apparition failed.
The Death Eaters who had followed Voldemort and saw this scene suddenly felt a little panicked, but after seeing several colleagues around them, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.