The war came very suddenly.
As if everything had been rehearsed in advance, the entire British Ministry of Magic was completely overrun in less than a day and a half. The Minister fled, the Auror squad vanished, and half of the Ministry's people were taken captive. A goblin army that appeared out of nowhere swept through most of Great Britain at lightning speed—
No one knows where they came from, and no one knows what their goal is…
Of course, the goblins of Gringotts seem to view this new rebellion as the official rise of the goblin race, announcing it loudly in the newspapers and taking over the custody of the wizard captives from the Ministry. This is because the goblins, with their blood-red eyes and dark foreheads, do not seem to have any desire to govern the magic realm. They simply ensured that there was no organized group of wizards left in England before they marched their army straight into Scotland—
And now, their target is clear.
It seems Hogwarts is destined to face a catastrophe.
"…Do you think our school is some kind of strategic stronghold?"
Beside the Gryffindor Long Table, Harry was poking at his mashed potatoes with a dining fork for a long time before he couldn't help but gripe—
In his left hand, he held a fresh issue of the "Goblin Gazette." It was hard to imagine what kind of contingency the goblins had prepared for such a situation. Just yesterday, it was still the "Prophet Daily" that the owls were delivering, but today everything had changed.
"Those goblins have always been restless. There have been two goblin rebellions in history already, and this is the third…"
Hermione gathered her hair into a ponytail before picking up her soup bowl, "Honestly, the people who decided to hand over the entire wizarding world's bank to a group of non-wizards, goblins who have rebelled multiple times in history, must be out of their minds..."
"Oh, I thought you were a staunch equal rights advocate. Dobby would surely be heartbroken if he knew you changed your stance."
"This is completely different, Ron! House-elves are still oppressed right now, but the goblins aren't—they control financial power and live better than many wizards, and they always jump out to cause trouble whenever there's a chance… Let me say it again, our House-Elf Rights Association's goal is to free the 'slaves'—"
"So, what do you think... is happening now?"
Seeing that Hermione was about to begin a long speech to defend her "regurgitation" organization, Harry quickly interrupted her and Ron's argument, folded the newspaper, and lowered his voice, "The prefect has gone missing again recently," he was still not used to calling him Professor, "he's never disappeared so completely before, could something unexpec—"
"Unexpected? No!"
Hermione confidently cut off Harry's guess, her suddenly raised voice attracting the attention of the surrounding students, but the looks didn't last long as everyone returned to their small groups to start discussing again, filling the entire hall with a buzzing noise.
Concern for this "war" certainly wasn't limited to Harry and his friends. After all, given the current situation outside, it seemed that no one could escape the battle. The "Goblin Gazette" clearly stated that the army from who-knows-where had its next target set on Hogwarts—
The headline article practically spelled out that as soon as Hogwarts fell, a new era for the goblins would begin.
However, this time, the students of Hogwarts were much more united, with no sign of a rout. Unlike a certain other timeline's Battle of Hogwarts where half the school seemed to flee. Of course, there were reasons for this—
First, the members of the rebel army weren't Black Wizards, but goblins who had been restless for centuries. This signified a war of races, leaving no room for surrender.
Secondly, there was no opportunity to surrender—They only received the news that the war had begun yesterday morning, and by evening, they were informed that the Ministry of Magic had been defeated.
Then, this morning, they were told those guys had already reached the edges of the Forbidden Forest…
This had to be a joke, right?
The school's classes were suspended, and the students had all gathered in the Great Hall. The goblins of Gringotts deployed countless owls to scatter newspapers into the school, seemingly wanting to use public opinion to break down the last line of defense for the British wizards—although they did not understand why they were still students yesterday and the last hope for wizards today.
But it seemed that the goblins outside were not bluffing.
Through the windows, watching the sky, which was almost painted red, Malfoy, sitting by the Slytherin Long Table, felt a knot in his stomach.
Of course, it wasn't just him; almost everyone in the Great Hall had trembling hands. No one could remain calm in the face of such a level of threat, even including Dumbledore, who stood unusually without a smile on his face behind the dignitary seats.
The old man looked expressionlessly at the red light beyond the window, indescribable emotions simmering in the depths of his light blue eyes.
He was angry.
Sitting on one side of the dignitary seats, Grindelwald turned his head, looking at Dumbledore's back, clearly aware of this fact.
"Boom—"
Suddenly, the Great Hall's door was pushed open from the outside. Almost everyone's gaze instinctively turned toward it. Snape walked in briskly; the black cloak draped over him did not flutter in the wind as usual. He walked grimly to Dumbledore's side and whispered two sentences.
The noise in the Great Hall appeared to quiet down, with most people instinctively holding their breath.
The old man nodded, turned around, and let his gaze drift aimlessly around the hall before finally landing on Grindelwald.
"…Are you sure this is still under control?"
He walked over to him, hand resting on the chairback, leaning down slightly to ask in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
"…I'm sure."
Grindelwald nodded, but what was their relationship?
"You're lying."
Just by looking into those differently colored eyes, Dumbledore almost instantly determined, "You don't have it under control—" "No one does, Albus." Grindelwald interrupted Dumbledore, defending himself, "How could I possibly decipher his mind? No one knows his entire plan—"
"Then you should have told me everything in advance, rather than helping him hide it—"
"…But now's not the time to talk about this, Dumbledore."
"…"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, no longer admonishing. Instead, he stood upright, moved to the front of the dignitary seats, to the owl microphone. As the murmurs faded, the Great Hall fell into a deep silence. Finally, the old man opened his mouth slowly—
"I'm sorry, but I must tell you all that we have reached a critical moment of life and death..."