"Your wish, I've heard it. Then, let it be as you desire.", Liro spoke softly.
As his words fell, the ball of light condensed in his hand suddenly shot out.
But its direction was not the air cannon and the Vanishing Spell above his head, but Beauxbatons Island behind him.
The faint light sphere and countless soul phantoms exploded, turning into a thin layer of light that covered the entire Beauxbatons Island.
In the next moment, a violent explosion rang out.
Maxime, who took the brunt of it, was directly vaporized. Liro behind her also smiled as he turned into flying ash.
Only Beauxbatons Island remained.
That terrifying shockwave and the beam of the Vanishing Spell, under the deliberate control of Link and Dumbledore and the protection of the light film, suddenly collapsed and dispersed.
It shook the entire island to the point of nearly falling apart, but did not cause any further major damage.
The halo behind Dumbledore's head gradually faded, and a trace of sorrow appeared on his indifferent face.
He gazed at the Beauxbatons Island below, almost reduced to ruins and filled with smoke and dust, and sighed, "Maxime, you were an outstanding headmistress, even more competent than I am."
After speaking, Dumbledore lowered his head in silence.
Link also lowered his head and closed his eyes, but unlike Dumbledore, he was not mourning. He was checking the information drifting past before his eyes.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Voldemort has been killed!]
[Golden Skill Point *1 obtained!]
[Hidden Mission: I Am the Headmaster! Current Completion, Durmstrang 100%, Hogwarts 94%, Beauxbatons -100%!]
[Hidden Mission: I Am the Minister! Current Completion, German Ministry of Magic -20%, British Ministry of Magic 100%, French Ministry of Magic -100%!]
[Hidden Mission: Savior! Triggered!]
[Savior Mission Requirement, Kill Voldemort (1/1)! Completed!]
[Title, Savior! Obtained!]
[Arcane Master! Skill upgrading!]
[Disarming Charm LV6 obtained!]
[Petrification Spell LV5 obtained!]
[Shattering Spell LV6 obtained!]
[Summoning Charm LV5 obtained!]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
A massive amount of data washed through Link's mind.
But it didn't matter.
After the last time he absorbed the King's Blood and was knocked unconscious by the overload, Link had already become quite experienced with this.
To prevent data overload from triggering the protective mechanism (fainting) again, Link directly mobilized Occlumency at full power to assist.
This was the safest method.
Although it would still cause him to lose combat capability for a period of time.
But Dumbledore was right beside him.
So Link wasn't too worried.
What surprised him, however, was that the data input, which he had expected to cause intense pain, was completed very quickly this time.
Moreover, the increase in skill experience this time seemed to have dropped by more than one level compared to last time.
Aside from skills like the Disarming Charm and Petrification Spell, which had already reached the threshold for upgrading after absorbing the King's Blood previously, most other skills not only didn't level up, but their experience bars barely moved.
To be honest, this upgrade still brought another round of enhancement to Link's total magic power and control.
And the increase was quite considerable.
But it still fell far short of what Link had expected.
Instead, the title called "Savior" gave Link a surprise.
Link opened his eyes and brought up his title panel.
[Savior: White Magic faction favorability +50 (minimum fixed)! Death Eater faction favorability -100! Magic affinity +100%]
[Note: This title is a fixed-type sub-title. Once obtained, it is automatically equipped and can coexist with a main title!]
Looking at the description behind the title, Link smiled.
Because this thing was essentially one of Harry Potter's protagonist auras.
Why was Harry Potter respected and loved by other wizards as soon as he entered the magical world?
Because he was the "Savior" who killed Voldemort, which was reflected as "White Magic faction favorability +50."
Why did the Malfoy family and other Death Eaters hate Harry Potter so much?
Because he was the "Savior" who killed Voldemort, which was reflected as "Death Eater faction favorability -100."
Why did Harry Potter never pay attention in class, even copying Hermione's homework, yet still remain powerful in the end?
Because he had the passive buff of "Magic affinity +100%."
This buff was something Link had never seen before.
But after personally experiencing it, he could confirm that it essentially represented a wizard's magical talent.
Harry Potter himself was the child of Lily, a once-in-a-century genius. His talent was already excellent, and with the buff doubling it, his strength would steadily grow even while sleeping.
When such a buff was placed on Link, the amplification became even more terrifying.
At the very least, even without equipping the title "British Minister of Magic," Link's total magic power would not decrease by much.
Other aspects of his abilities had also increased by nearly 50%.
And the most terrifying part of the Savior title was that its effects could coexist with a main title.
This meant that Link could equip both "Savior" and "British Minister of Magic" at the same time.
With the two stacked together, Link could barely suppress the surging magic within his body.
Dumbledore, who was still sighing beside him, also noticed this.
Looking at the powerful magic continuously leaking from Link's body, he said with a complicated expression, "It seems your gains this time are quite substantial. You should be satisfied now, shouldn't you?"
Link took a deep breath, pulling the scattered magic around him back into his body before looking at Dumbledore. He first nodded, then shook his head.
"What do you mean by that?", Dumbledore frowned.
"It means that while the gains from this hunt are indeed great, they are far from enough to satisfy me."
Link spoke slowly. Seeing that Dumbledore still didn't understand, he explained further, "Didn't you notice?"
"I barely absorbed any King's Blood. If the King's Blood from that severed arm last time was like a cup of tea, then what I absorbed this time was only a single drop."
After speaking, Link looked at his palm with some disappointment.
The Savior title's effect was indeed astonishing.
It also brought Link a powerful increase in strength.
But in comparison, what he wanted more was an increase in skill levels.
Especially for the Severing Curse and the Continuous Casting Spell.
The levels of these two skills determined when he could truly break through the barrier and become a legendary wizard.
"Have you ever considered that a mere clone might only contain this much King's Blood?"
Dumbledore said with a smile. His expression was somewhat strange, as if he felt a bit relieved that Link hadn't absorbed much King's Blood, yet was trying to hide that emotion. "After all, King's Blood is something quite precious."
Link looked at Dumbledore expressionlessly.
He instinctively felt that something was off.
But the information he currently had was too limited.
So he couldn't figure it out.
In the end, he shifted his gaze and looked into the distance.
The shy moon had emerged from the rapidly rolling clouds at some unknown time, generously scattering its light across the earth.
Under the soft, gauze-like moonlight, the mountains that had been hiding like monsters in the darkness revealed their vague outlines.
But what Link was looking at was not the magnificent mountain scenery.
It was the large mass of magic fluctuations rapidly approaching from that direction.
"The people from the French Ministry of Magic are here," Link said. "It's time for us to leave."
"Indeed. If they recognize our identities, it will be troublesome."
Dumbledore sighed.
As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of orange-red flames exploded behind him.
The phoenix Fawkes emerged from the fire, circling beside Dumbledore.
It seemed very curious about the massive Fiendfyre phoenix beneath Link, chirping constantly as if greeting it.
Unfortunately, the response it received was an extremely terrifying and greedy aura.
If not for Link's suppression, the Fiendfyre phoenix would probably have swallowed Fawkes in one bite.
This was the nature of Fiendfyre creatures, the greed inherent in cursed power. It was not something that could be changed by simply giving it the appearance of a phoenix.
In the end, Link had failed to create a true phoenix embodying virtue, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust.
Watching the two "playing," Link waved his wand, and the Fiendfyre phoenix immediately dissipated.
Along with it, the scattered Fiendfyre still burning faintly within the Beauxbatons buildings below also vanished.
Seeing this, Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction and called for Fawkes to unleash a great burst of courage-fire, carrying the two of them away from the scene.
———
[Five Hours Later]
The moon, satisfied after witnessing last night's spectacle, quietly retreated from the sky.
In its place rose the blazing sun, shining over the ruins below.
The French Ministry of Magic Aurors, who arrived late, were struggling to clear the wreckage.
Even with magic to assist them, it was still no easy task to completely clean up this place.
Fortunately, although Beauxbatons was devastated, there were still many survivors.
At the very least, all the younger students Maxime had left in the Beauxbatons Great Hall survived.
Under the protection of the French Ministry Aurors, they walked out of the castle and looked at the ruins below, their expressions filled with grief beyond words.
Their once beautiful home had become like this.
A sense of despair, mixed with suppressed sobbing, spread through the air.
Many of the surrounding Aurors clenched their fists and lowered their heads in silence.
Most of them had also graduated from Beauxbatons.
They could deeply understand the pain of these younger students.
"What… exactly happened here?"
The white-haired head of the French Ministry Auror Office spoke weakly.
His once elegant attire was now covered in dust, making him look extremely disheveled.
This was the result of carrying out rescue work in the ruins alongside his companions.
Such high-intensity labor was too much for an old man from the previous century.
Hearing this, Norton, wearing a pointed wide-brimmed wizard hat, raised his head slightly and said in a heavy tone, "Last night, two wizards suspected to be at the legendary level invaded Beauxbatons."
"Professor Liro discovered them first and engaged them in fierce battle. Then Headmistress Maxime led the sixth- and seventh-year students to provide support. And now, all of them are missing!"
At this point, Norton was so grief-stricken that he could barely stand, nearly stumbling.
The white-haired director's body trembled violently upon hearing this, and he instinctively glanced at the ruins behind him.
If it really were two legendary wizards, then such destruction would make sense.
His throat moved as he swallowed hard, lowering his head as he said,
"We found a large number of corpses burned by Fiendfyre at the very center of the ruins. Although they are no longer identifiable, we can preliminarily conclude that they are Professor Liro, Headmistress Maxime, and the others."
"Professor Norton, please accept our condolences. Professor Liro was a respectable hero. We will remember him."
Norton suddenly raised his head. Beneath the wide brim of his hat, his eyes were red, filled with hatred.
"How long will it take for you to catch those two intruders? They are most likely legendary-level wizards. They should be easy to find, right?"
"Well…" the Auror director said awkwardly, "This incident has had a huge impact. The Ministry has already reported it to the International Confederation of Wizards."
Norton let out a cold laugh.
"So in other words, you plan to dump this mess onto the International Confederation of Wizards."
"And the Confederation will definitely refuse the investigation, since this is an internal matter of the French magical world."
"Then you'll all argue and shift blame for several years until the impact of this incident gradually fades. Am I right?"
"But I can understand."
"After all, they are two legendary wizards."
"If you really anger them, the French Ministry of Magic might be completely wiped out by them!"
The Auror director's face looked extremely unpleasant, instinctively wanting to argue.
But seeing the sorrowful faces of the students around him, he ultimately said nothing and could only accept it.
Just as Norton said.
The combined power of two legendary wizards was simply too terrifying.
This was not something the French Ministry of Magic alone could confront.
In fact, after the death of Nicolas Flamel, there was probably no one left in the entire French magical world whose influence or strength could rival a legendary wizard.
Norton clenched his fists and continued, "And another thing. Why did you only mention Professor Liro just now, and ignore Headmistress Maxime?"
"Clearly… clearly she was also a hero, someone who gave everything for Beauxbatons! Are you erasing her contributions and existence because of her bloodline?"
"Am I wrong?"
"For a long time, you've looked down on Headmistress Maxime because of her giant heritage."
"Usually, you bow and scrape before her for the sake of your interests. But now that she's dead, you must be happy inside, right?"
"The person standing above you is no longer that half-giant!"
As soon as these words came out, the Auror director's expression completely changed.
He suddenly realized that the Beauxbatons students around him were slowly approaching him.
On their faces was thick, unmistakable hatred.
"Hiss..."
Taking a deep breath, the Auror director bowed again.
"Please accept our condolences, Professor Norton!"
After speaking, he quickly left Beauxbatons under the escort of several Aurors.
Only after their figures completely disappeared did the students gather around Norton.
"Pro… Professor Norton, what should we… do next?"
A boy at the front choked out.
The other students also looked at Norton with bright, expectant eyes.
The disaster before them was too overwhelming.
So overwhelming that it had nearly shattered their minds.
Now, the only person they could rely on was Norton.
Norton's previously twisted expression gradually softened.
He gently stroked the boy's golden hair and comforted him, "Don't worry. Everything will get better. I need to go out for a while."
"As for you, the first thing you should do is go to the kitchen, have a hot breakfast, and then return to your rooms and get some good sleep. When you wake up…"
Norton's words suddenly stopped.
He wanted to say "everything will return to normal," but he knew that was impossible.
"Professor Norton, are you going out to ask for help?" the boy wiped his tears and said firmly, "We can help too! Whether it's rebuilding Beauxbatons or avenging Professor Liro and Headmistress Maxime, we can help!"
As soon as he said this, the surrounding students echoed him.
For a moment, emotions surged.
They wished they could immediately join the Aurors and throw themselves into clearing the ruins.
Looking at those determined young faces, a mist slowly formed in Norton's eyes.
"Good children, truly good children!" Norton said, his voice choked.
"If necessary, Professor Norton will definitely ask for your help. But for now, go eat something and get some sleep."
"That is what you need to do right now. Remember, Beauxbatons does not refer to this castle we stand in, but to you students. So you must protect yourselves!"
As he spoke, Norton led the students back into the castle.
Watching them leave step by step, constantly looking back under the guidance of the other professors, Norton discreetly wiped away his tears. Then he turned and walked toward a fireplace on the other side.
With flickering flames, Norton left Beauxbatons.
When the sensation of solid ground returned beneath his feet, the originally luxurious room had been replaced by a gloomy, eerie castle.
Norton stepped out of the fireplace burning with ghostly green flames, patted the dust off his body, and walked forward step by step.
During this process, the pointed wide-brimmed wizard hat on his head slowly disappeared.
The middle-aged man's face hidden beneath the hat also gradually twisted and transformed, turning back into a young and handsome appearance.
He breathed heavily and finally stopped beside a black long table.
At the head of the table, the shadowy figure known as Number 1 was lazily slumped in his seat.
One hand supported his head against the armrest, while the other toyed with a semi-transparent ghost.
On either side of Number 1 stood a little girl, and a short, plump man with rat-like features...
Peter Pettigrew!