Chapter 258: Fighting

"...Maybe he felt that several of his Horcruxes were destroyed?"

Lu Yunkai narrowed his eyes and put forward his own hypothesis.

Just now, he heard the news that Voldemort wanted to duel with Dumbledore in the Leaky Cauldron. Lu Yunkai immediately guessed various conspiracies, but he didn't think in the direction of what Dumbledore said.

Now that Dumbledore said this, it seems more reasonable!

"Maybe." Dumbledore nodded, "So, my battle actually has no meaning for us. Those who should oppose him will still do so even if I die. But those who are now following his orders will immediately abandon him if he dies... He is gambling. And I..."

"Why, you can still refuse his duel?" Lu Yunkai asked back with narrowed eyes, "Faith collapses very quickly. If you can't show the courage to fight him..."

"Of course I understand." Dumbledore smiled, "You are a smart kid, why don't you understand after I've said so much?"

"...I really don't understand." Lu Yunkai shook his head, "What I don't understand even more is why you are telling me all this."

"Because you are the only one I know who may choose to join Voldemort after I lose the battle." Dumbledore said with a smile, "And your importance to defeating Voldemort is second only to Harry, so of course I can't watch you become his helper."

"...Bah, even if I want to, Chris won't allow it." Lu Yunkai glared at Dumbledore.

"Not necessarily." Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "You contacted me, which proves that my guess is correct. Because you are afraid and worried. So you must be thinking of making preparations for both situations. For example, if I fail, what should you do? How can you protect yourself, Miss Greengrass... and even Miss Hill who is working for you now."

"..."

Lu Yunkai took a deep breath.

Indeed.

In fact, just before contacting Dumbledore, Lu Yunkai had secretly begun to plan his own way out in his mind in case Dumbledore was defeated and killed.

Surrender to Voldemort? Become his heir? And then how to bargain with him to save the lives of those Muggle-born wizards he knows...

Lu Yunkai has even been thinking about what he should do if Voldemort gives him the task of advancing the work of abolishing the International Statute of Secrecy in the future!

"It's not shameful. On the contrary, this is precisely your most valuable quality. You are calm and smart enough, and you don't mind being wronged temporarily to achieve your goals. This is a very important quality for us to defeat Voldemort." Dumbledore looked at Lu Yunkai's somewhat ashamed expression, smiled and comforted him, "So, I will also tell you that even if I can, I will not defeat Voldemort. I will let him have the advantage, but he can't kill me. And to do this... In fact, I don't need to remove the curse on my body."

"Then wouldn't it be better for you to defeat him directly?"

"In fact, I really don't have the confidence to defeat Tom! Although he has embarked on the wrong path, it is undeniable that he is indeed the most talented student I have taught in all these years... Well, if you didn't get only an E in Divination this time, maybe I would add the word one or two, but unfortunately, there is no one now."

"..." Lu Yunkai felt a tightness in his chest.

Damn it, Malfoy said yesterday that Lu Yunkai was disgusting for showing off his OWLS results, and today Lu Yunkai got his retribution in this life.

"Tom's magic talent is really too high. If I were fifty years younger, I might still have a chance to try. Now... I'm really old." Dumbledore shook his head, "So, defeating him, or even killing him, should be left to you young people! As long as I'm not defeated or even killed on the spot by him, I'll have completed my job."

"...Okay."

After hearing what Dumbledore said, Lu Yunkai didn't know what else to say, so he could only nod.

"You contacted me because you thought of someone who could help me remove the curse?" Dumbledore saw that Lu Yunkai had understood his good intentions, so he changed the subject.

"Yeah."

"Who? My brother? I don't have a very good relationship with him..."

"Grindelwald."

"..."

Dumbledore interrupted the mirror's communication.

Lu Yunkai finally used a very obscene trick to save a little of the shame of being lectured by Dumbledore, but he was in a bad mood.

Putting the mirror down casually, Lu Yunkai lay on the chair, unable to speak for a while.

Chris, who heard the whole conversation, did not say anything, closed her eyes, and seemed to be sleeping.

Only the sound of waves hitting the rocks not far away brought by the wind seemed so noisy on this summer afternoon.

Lu Yunkai understood what Dumbledore said.

And after thinking through Dumbledore's logic, Lu Yunkai even felt that this was better than Dumbledore coming out to kill Voldemort himself.

And there is actually a sad reason for this: it turns out that not only Lu Yunkai, but even Dumbledore, the banner of resistance against Voldemort, seems to be thinking about whether the magic world he has worked hard for is worth it.

Logically speaking, the number of Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix is ​​about the same, and everyone is a resolute enemy of each other, but what else? Those employees working in the Ministry of Magic, those men and women who talked about the upcoming duel in the Leaky Cauldron, what are they?

Just the object of Voldemort and Dumbledore's struggle?

If they are of no use, what to do to win them over?

Those who oppose Voldemort must not only realize that they are not "acceptable even with Voldemort", but they must also understand that when Dumbledore cannot protect them from the wind and rain, they can only stand up and do what needs to be done. , can make this world a better place.

Dumbledore may have a positive attitude towards this, so he hinted to Lu Yunkai that he would agree to this duel and would lose, but he would not die. And after more other people realize this, they will bravely stand up and actively fight against Voldemort.

But it is undeniable that Dumbledore was actually gambling.

If Dumbledore had 60% confidence in what he said, he would definitely come to Lu Yunkai to help lift the curse and use his full power to challenge and defeat Voldemort.

After all, victory is always more inspiring than mourning. Wouldn't it be better to defeat the opponent directly from the front with absolute power?

In fact, Dumbledore wasn't sure either! Are the wizards he hopes to protect worth risking his life to protect? If it's not worth it... let the wizards make their own choices!

Sitting there, looking at the sea in front of him, Lu Yunkai suddenly realized, had Voldemort not thought of what Dumbledore said? He seemed to be slowly falling into a desperate situation and had to gamble, but didn't Dumbledore also have to gamble?

If the only advantage Dumbledore had was that Voldemort would never be at a disadvantage in this duel, while Dumbledore was relatively relaxed.

But... no one is much better than anyone else! !

With another long sigh, Lu Yunkai picked up the communication mirror again.

Forget it, even Dumbledore wasn't sure whether the magical world was worth it, so what did he have to worry about?

Soldiers come to cover up the water and earth! Now, it is better to manage your friends and relatives first.

For example, Daphne...

"Are you finally willing to talk to me?"

Daphne's angry voice appeared on the communication mirror along with her face.

Of course, there is also the deep worry.

"Don't worry, it was Voldemort who challenged Dumbledore and it has nothing to do with me."

"You said it doesn't matter! Look at what you look like now!"

…

Voldemort issued a challenge to Dumbledore at the Ministry of Magic. This matter spread throughout the wizarding world almost immediately. This time, the Ministry of Magic had no ability to prevent the spread of this news that seriously challenged the authority of the Ministry of Magic. .

On the one hand, the huge Dark Mark has been floating near the Ministry of Magic for most of the day, and they can't get rid of it at all. On the other hand, the communication mirror is really uncontrollable...

So the next morning's Daily Prophet no longer covered up the matter or reported it as explosive news on the front page, but directly came up with a "follow-up report."

"Dumbledore expressed his willingness to fight the mysterious man for the sake of the wizarding world"

The picture of Dumbledore holding a wand and casting spells in front of him, printed on the front page of the Prophet, along with this title, set the entire wizarding world on fire.

Everyone started discussing this battle.

Where to do it, how to do it, who wins and who loses...etc.

So throughout the first half of August, almost no wizard was not discussing this matter.

Of course, this includes Lu Yunkai.

And it seemed that neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort wanted to let this matter drag on any longer.

So, when the time came to mid-August, an issue of the Daily Prophet reported the final conclusion of the matter.

It was probably the smallest issue of the Daily Prophet ever written.

In addition to the Daily Prophet's letterhead and date, this day's newspaper has only a few simple words.

tomorrow. Azkaban.

…

"Meow!! Hurry up!! Keep up!!"

"...Can you please slow down! This is my first time in this terrible place!"

"I told you not to come! You have to come! Do you think Azkaban is some fun attraction, meow??"

"...Keep your voice down!! Someone is there!!"

Lu Yunkai covered the cat's mouth.

A wizard's figure flashed in front of Lu Yunkai, and then walked forward.

Lu Yunkai held his breath for a while before he breathed a sigh of relief.

"This broken cloak is really a trap." Lu Yunkai muttered, holding the invisibility cloak with both hands, and continued to move forward.

In the north of England, far away in the sea, there is an isolated island. There are always lightning, thunder and violent storms near here. Generally speaking, wizards and Muggles rarely think of visiting this place.

Here is the most notorious prison in the wizarding world, Azkaban.

Under the leadership of Chris, Lu Yunkai, who was wearing an invisibility cloak, flew on a flying broom for a long time before arriving at the outskirts of the island. He finally escaped the patrolling dementors and arrived at the island.

On one side of the island, there is a huge prison. It is so dark that you can't even see a trace of light from the outside. On the other side of the island, there is a little flat land. According to Chris, this is Ministry of Magic personnel escorted the prisoners to Azkaban where the dementors were guarded.

Lu Yunkai is now waiting at the edge of this flat land.

And with the sudden appearance of a person whom Lu Yunkai didn't know, this flat land that was so quiet just now suddenly became lively.

The sound of Apparitions rang out one after another, and soon, there were 17 or 18 people in this place.

After this group of people arrived, they did not delay for a moment and started working immediately. More than a dozen protective spells were cast on the vague protective shield outside the Azkaban prison, as if to strengthen the protection.

"Meow, is it useful? If Voldemort wins today, the first thing he will do is to release all the prisoners in Azkaban. Can these people stop him?" Chris, who was squatting on Lu Yunkai's shoulder, muttered in a low voice.

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate." Lu Yunkai shook his head.

"Meow, what do you think about what I told you?"

"... Forget it! Although most of the prisoners in Azkaban are serious criminals, not all of them deserve to die." Lu Yunkai shook his head.

"But being imprisoned in Azkaban is a good thing even if I die." Chris shook her head, "Give it to me! Hurry up! The duel will start in less than two hours, and I have to be ready before then."

"Or forget it..."

"Meow!! Do you know how much damage will be caused when the villains imprisoned in here are released by Voldemort?" Chris was a little anxious, "You will pity them then, will you pity the innocent wizards and Muggles outside? What if someone here targets Daphne, will you have regret medicine in your system?"

"..."

"Meow, stop wasting time! Hurry up!!" Chris angrily slapped Lu Yunkai.

Lu Yunkai sighed softly, took out a large bag of Skyfire Potion from the system, and handed it to Chris.

"Be careful, don't let yourself get burned before Azkaban is blown up."

"Meow! No! No!!" Chris looked at the huge backpack that was more than three times bigger than her body, and became more and more excited, "One hundred and thirty bottles, is that enough?"

"I prepared one hundred and fifty bottles for you..."

"Meow!! You actually want to see Azkaban blown up more than I do!!" Chris rolled her eyes at Lu Yunkai, "I'm leaving."

"Be careful!!"

"Meow! I know!! So nagging!!"

Chris opened her mouth and held the strap of the backpack that Lu Yunkai gave her, dragging the huge backpack, and disappeared behind the protective wall that was being reinforced by the wizards of the Ministry of Magic in a few flashes.

Lu Yunkai shook his head gently, and then moved to a more remote place.

At this moment, more than a dozen black lights suddenly flashed in the sky.

Voldemort appeared with his servants.

Lu Yunkai's heart suddenly rose to his throat.

Isn't there still a long time before the agreed duel? Coming so soon? ?

Can Chris make it in time? ?

Oh, I shouldn't have delayed earlier!

Lu Yunkai regretted it a little.

…