Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 519 Hogwarts is surrounded, and Umbridge goes to issue a challenge!

Grindelwald, with his entire force and the core Saints as his generals, divided into more than a dozen groups and Apparated to various locations outside the Hogwarts grounds, achieving a complete encirclement of Hogwarts according to the pre-arranged plan.

The destinations of the core saints were all determined based on the memories of the British dark wizards that Eckeris had gathered.

The Hogwarts grounds are protected by powerful anti-Apparition/Revelation spells, but they couldn't stop the Saints from teleporting outside the boundaries and relying on sheer numbers to achieve encirclement.

One by one, the spatial briefcases were opened by the core saints from various directions, from which dense, sky-covering black smoke flew out, swirling in the air and emitting a series of unpleasant shrieks.

Outside the northern boundary of Hogwarts, the briefcases of two or three core saints did not release any dark wizards using the Smoke Flight Charm.

Because these suitcases mostly don't contain people.

The core saints opened the briefcase and cast an enlargement spell on it, instantly magnifying it a hundredfold. The opening became extremely wide, allowing giants over six meters tall, as well as shorter behemoths, to easily walk out.

Of course, it wasn't just giants and trolls that emerged from it.

Werewolves with ulterior motives, vampires, fairies, various fairy variants, even Dementors recruited by the saints from other countries, and house-elves loyal to dark wizards from various countries—it has everything.

It is bizarre in shape and enormous in scale.

From a distance, it looks like a city besieged by a horde of beasts in the apocalypse.

Following these approximately ten thousand intelligent magical creatures was Grindelwald's own team, whose briefcase contained the most elite group of saints, whose loyalty to him was also the highest.

Hogwarts is located in the Scottish Highlands, centered around the castle. Within its grounds, the vast Black Loch forms a natural barrier to the south, and the Hogwarts Express station is located on the southern shore of the Black Loch.

The Forbidden Forest is located northeast of the castle, covering a large area. After being expanded by planting trees, it now occupies the entire eastern defense line and connects with the Black Lake.

To the northwest of the castle are the Quidditch pitch, the school's communal broom storage hut, and the owlhouse, and apart from these buildings, there is a large grassy playground.

The open space of the playground extends eastward to Hagrid's Hut and Beating Willow on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and southward to the north shore of Black Lake.

At the northern end of the open field, where the wall encircles most of the Hogwarts grounds, a gate stands far away, directly opposite the castle. This is the North Gate of Hogwarts.

After exiting the North Gate, follow the path northwest of Hogwarts to reach Hogsmeade Village.

In summary, the eastern and southern parts of Hogwarts are protected by the natural barrier of the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake, while the only weak point, the northwest, is defended by an entire wizarding village outside the territory.

It is definitely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

If an attack on Hogwarts is absolutely necessary, and it is a full-scale, overt offensive, then even with Hogsmeade Village blocking the way, the northwest direction of Hogwarts would be the best point of attack and the main direction of assault.

Grindelwald commands tens of thousands of dark wizards, along with an alliance of around ten thousand flightless intelligent magical creatures. To maximize the legion's strength, an open area is needed for concentrated fire and a sweeping attack.

Crossing the Black Lake in the air using the Smoke Flight Spell would make one a sitting duck for mermaids and white wizards.

It's important to know that you can't cast spells while in the black smoke state; you can only attack by charging headlong into the enemy with all your might.

Moreover, without the magical cultivation of a legendary wizard, it is impossible to maintain the state of flying in black smoke for an extended period of time.

Choosing to cross the forbidden forest was the worst possible decision.

As the art of war says, never enter a forest.

Moreover, this forest is one that your enemies are very familiar with, and it has many native magical creatures to assist in the battle. Once you enter, the dark wizard team will inevitably be scattered, defeated one by one, and suffer heavy losses.

As for setting fire to the forest, the Forbidden Forest is protected by ancient fire-resistant magic set up by the ancestors of Hogwarts, which is very difficult to break.

To destroy and set fires at the same time, while also being wary of any potential dangers in the forbidden forest, would be a foolish move that would greatly deplete military strength.

Therefore, Grindelwald and the Saints devised a battle plan to quickly wipe out the resistance forces in Hogsmeade Village, launching a main attack from the west and north, while encircling and harassing from other directions.

Eckeris was in charge of commanding the west, while Grindelwald controlled the north.

Meanwhile, the village of Hogsmeade was handed over to Grindelwald to lead his most elite group of saints for a swift resolution.

After Apparating from the Ministry of Magic, Grindelwald teleported to the entrance of Hogsmeade Village and quickly released his elite saints from his briefcase to join the attack.

As a result, Hogsmeade Village was deserted. When the elite saints searched each house, they were thwarted by various hastily set magical traps and returned empty-handed.

Clearly, knowing that the dark wizarding team capable of quickly suppressing the Ministry of Magic was no ordinary force, the wizarding residents of Hogsmeade Village, realizing they were no match for them, set a trap and gathered inside Hogwarts to prepare for a united front against the enemy.

Or perhaps they were acting on Dumbledore's orders.

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

After the news was leaked, the saints lost their advantage.

Grindelwald wasn't too annoyed by this.

This minor setback is nothing compared to his current power and strength; it's not even a scratch.

British white wizards may abandon Hogsmeade Village, but they will never abandon Hogwarts.

Even if all his previous efforts were in vain, it wouldn't change the fact that he was now commanding an army of dark wizards to surround Hogwarts.

Therefore, Grindelwald quickly encouraged his elite saints and led them to the designated second position.

That is, outside the northern border of Hogwarts, behind the Alliance of Intelligent Magical Beasts, which has already been released.

At this moment, more than 40,000 saints and about 10,000 intelligent magical creatures have completed the encirclement of Hogwarts.

However, they did not launch an attack, but merely roared and demonstrated outside the border, confronting the white wizards of Hogwarts across the walls of Hogwarts.

They will launch an attack as soon as Grindelwald gives the signal.

Although Grindelwald was not Chinese, he knew the principle of "winning hearts and minds is the best strategy, not conquering cities."

Instead of immediately signaling an attack, he prepared to throw a disgusting piece of rotten flesh into Hogwarts.

“Go, Umbridge, do as I say, go inside Hogwarts and issue a challenge, so that those stubborn white wizards will face reality.”

Grindelwald had already pulled Umbridge out of the suitcase and ruthlessly issued his orders.

"Sir, this...I..."

Umbridge was overjoyed to learn of the sheer size of Grindelwald's forces, believing he had made the right choice.

But the thought of her facing Dumbledore alone, facing most of the white wizards in the British wizarding world, or even provoking them, was difficult.

Seeing that Umbridge was reluctant, Grindelwald coaxed, "Now that the two sides are at war, you are an envoy, they won't do anything to you."

Besides, all the dark wizards in the world are here, serving as your backing and confidence. Hogwarts is on the verge of destruction, and the white wizards will soon have no hope of resurrection. What would they dare to do to you?

Umbridge thought it made sense, but she was still feeling uneasy.

Grindelwald immediately added, "Since you don't want to go, I'll let someone else go. I originally wanted you to be the Minister of Magic of England afterward, but it seems you can't handle the job and are not up to the task, so let's forget about it!"

"No... sir, please don't forget it!"

Umbridge panicked even more, but this panic was clearly different from before. She was afraid that the power that was being handed to her would slip away, so she quickly agreed, "I know Hogwarts very well, so the task of issuing the challenge is definitely mine!"

Grindelwald nodded in satisfaction, and with a wave of his hand, the saints made way for Umbridge.

The Allied Powers of the Wise and Magical Creatures, under orders from the core saints in charge of the liaison, cleared a path for Umbridge, allowing her to go directly to the North Gate of Hogwarts.