Chapter 169 - 169: Newspapers
Chaos. Chaos. Chaos.
The entirety of Wizarding Britain was in a state of unprecedented and unseen chaos. If you asked anyone, they would surely have agreed that the past few months in Britain had been a period of pure mayhem. One after another, unexpected, unbelievable, and shocking events had occurred in continuous succession. The atmosphere in Wizarding Britain had been disturbed and obviously the day to day life of common people had been affected by it.
But the events that had transpired in the Wizengamot, the power centre of Wizarding Britain, in broad daylight and in full public view, were completely beyond imagination. Never, even in their wildest dreams, had they thought something like this could happen. It had been utterly shocking and unbelievable.
The fearsome and terrifying Dark Lord had, for the first time, appeared in public. The people had finally seen his face. A battle of immense power and momentum had unfolded before them and a lot of people had been witness to that.
They had witnessed a respected Lord of the Wizengamot, Lord Edmund Bones, being killed. They had seen the insane amount of magical power and skill showcased by Lord Antonio Olario. They had seen him go toe to toe with the Dark Lord, and if not for an unfortunate coincidence, they might have even seen Lord Olario dominate the Dark Lord.
And ultimately, they had witnessed the might of one of the greatest wizards to ever walk the earth. Dumbledore had dominated Voldemort with such ease that the Dark Lord chose to flee rather than engage in even the slightest confrontation. This was not something they could have ever imagined. They had known that Dumbledore was powerful but this powerful that the Dark Lord would flee at his mere appearance? Utterly shocking.
They had seen massive, world-altering events, the kind one might not expect to see in decades, all in a single afternoon. It had unleashed decades worth of chaos in a few short hours.
Every lip in Wizarding Britain, and even beyond, was discussing the incidents.
Every Pensieve had been brought out and had been put to use. Common people were frantic to see what had occurred for themselves, and memories from those present in the Wizengamot were circulating rapidly across the country.
A few individuals, call them greedy or call them geniuses, were looking to profit from this chaotic time. They had started a service to show people the events of the Wizengamot via Pensieve for a fee, and long queues had already formed in front of their shops.
Dumbledore was sitting in his office of headmaster in the highest tower of Hogwarts. There was a lack of expression on his face. It was almost blank without the presence of any thought on it.
Finally, the expression on his face changed. He sighed. Again. He had at least sighed thrice already in the past few minutes. He looked at the newspapers scattered across his desk. With everything that had occurred, the press had gone berserk. They had gone mad. Insane.
Today's edition was three times as thick as it normally was. And that was not all. Apart from the standard issue, three or more special editions had been published by various outlets.
And every page was filled with only one thing. The events that had transpired in the Wizengamot. Every minute detail of the proceedings had been described with extreme precision. Dozens of moving photographs filled the pages, capturing every significant moment of the day. From Minerva killing the Death Eaters and Antonio in his full flow, to Antonio being pushed onto the backfoot, the formation of Voldemort's triangular rune, and finally, Dumbledore's own entry. And then Voldemort's fleeing away had been covered in great detail. Though the reporters were wary of the Dark Lord and were not being direct with their words, the hidden glee in their words at Voldemort's insult was quite obvious. A couple of reporters had gone a few steps further. They had shown some spine and had made sarcastic comments on the Dark Lord.
Dumbledore's eyes finally settled on one of the special editions. His own photograph was plastered across the front page. He stood tall in the photo, his Elder Wand raised high in his hand, authority radiating from his face. Next to it was another, smaller moving photo of the spell he had used to counter Voldemort's final attack.
"The White Lord, Albus Dumbledore: Our Only Beacon of Hope?"
This was what the headline read, and Dumbledore did not truly know what to think of it. The report continued.
Albus Dumbledore is a man who needs no introduction. He is someone who has been called one of the greatest wizards to ever walk the earth, and yesterday, he showed exactly why he is regarded as such. The power that Albus Dumbledore unleashed and the way he handled the Dark Lord was nothing short of unbelievable. The Dark Lord did not even try to resist the White Lord, choosing instead to retreat. And no. This does not mean that the Dark Lord is a weak wizard.
No, not at all. We all witnessed that he is a brilliant, genius, exceptional, and powerful wizard. The way he weaved spells and the way he defeated the enormously powerful Antonio Olario makes it quite obvious how formidable that man is. It was simply that Albus Dumbledore is on an entirely different level. His mere presence, when he unleashed his magical power, was awe-striking.
But moving beyond the personal level, what does this whole scenario imply for Wizarding Britain? Up until now, there were those who claimed that the Dark Lord was the greatest wizard ever. They claimed that there was no one who could stand against him in a magical duel.
Somehow, these rumors had begun to settle in the minds of everyone. It may sound shameful, but there was some truth to those rumors. With the abilities the Dark Lord displayed, we can all agree that he could not be defeated by anyone. Not by anyone, that is, except for one person. Albus Dumbledore.
When things had turned bleak, when it appeared that the Dark Lord would simply kill the man who had dared resist him, Albus Dumbledore made his appearance. And his entrance was exactly as I described in the headline. He came as a beacon of hope.
Just when it looked as if the Dark Lord was invincible, and that none of our Lords of the Wizengamot even had the guts to raise a wand against him, he emerged as our savior. It is comforting to know that there is someone whom the Dark Lord would treat cautiously, and that there is someone who could truly defeat him.
The report continued further, heaping praise upon Albus Dumbledore and portraying him as the central figure of the resistance against the Dark Lord. The report was exhaustive; it went as far as bringing the attack on Hogsmeade into the discussion, along with Dumbledore's subsequent announcement regarding the killing of Death Eaters.
Dumbledore sighed again as he finished reading this particular news article for the second time. Like the first, he did not know how to react to it.
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