Two-Toned Phoenixes Soaring Freely!

House-Elves were a subspecies of Goblins. Having been domesticated by wizards generation after generation for a long time, servility was deeply ingrained in them, and their loyalty was guaranteed.

Moreover, House-Elves possessed considerable spellcasting ability, and the Apparition they were born knowing was far more powerful than a wizard's Apparition. They could even use it within Hogwarts Castle, where Apparition was completely prohibited.

With two such little attendants secretly protecting his parents, Dudley could rest even easier.

But House-Elves were not cheap goods one could buy casually. Only prestigious pure-blood families owned them, and they were generally not sold to outsiders.

Hogwarts did keep over a hundred House-Elves, but they were loyal to Hogwarts itself and counted as school property. Dumbledore could not assign them for private use.

Therefore, Dumbledore could only use his own name to acquire them privately in the Wizarding World, hoping to buy some.

But several days passed without any news.

August 11.

Cornelius Fudge, who no longer held any office, suddenly visited the island wizard prison in the middle of the sea—Azkaban.

The Dementors stationed at Azkaban had yet to receive word that Fudge had been dismissed, and still regarded him as the all-powerful Minister of Magic.

They could only carry out the absurd orders Fudge gave them, albeit reluctantly.

Like black smoke with upturned mouths wrapped in tattered gray rags, they swarmed through the sky and found every cell holding die-hard Death Eaters.

First, they viciously sucked right in the faces of those crazed, numb prisoners, draining every scrap of happiness the prisoners had painstakingly brewed up recently. Only then did they open the cell doors.

The Death Eaters had just been drained to the point of collapse by the Dementors. Seeing the prison doors that had confined them for years open, they failed to react at first and continued lying on the ground as though dead.

It was not until the Dementors drove them out with strange cries that the Death Eaters realized they were about to regain their freedom.

"Wahaha! Voldemort! The great Voldemort must have returned!"

"Ah—we're free!"

"Ahahahaha! Gahaha!"

"..."

Having snapped out of it, the Death Eaters roared at the sky and cackled grotesquely. Freshly released adrenaline poured strength into their weakened bodies, and every one of them sprang up in excitement, charging out of their cells like starving wolves.

They gathered in the open area of the island, howling as they shared the exhilaration of regaining their freedom and fantasized about returning to the Wizarding World to rule everything. They even brazenly ordered the Dementors to remove their handcuffs and shackles and return their wands.

The Dementors filling the sky were already miserable over losing a large source of happy food in the future.

Yet these prisoners, who produced their food, were acting so arrogantly. Not only did they dare bark orders at them, they even dared dance about before the Dementors and radiate happiness!

Their brains might endure it, but their mouths could not!

So, in the next instant, countless tattered rags extended little black claws, puckered their little mouths, and dove down at high speed...

The Death Eaters' revelry and clamor came to an abrupt halt.

At that moment, an old wizard with white hair and beard, dressed in dark purple wizard robes, wearing half-moon spectacles, and sporting a crooked, broken nose suddenly appeared nearby.

His aged right hand raised an Elder Wand covered in knobby joints, aiming it at the feeding Dementors and the Death Eaters serving as their feast.

A heaven-shaking brilliance erupted!

August 12.

The front page of the Daily Prophet was filled by a huge animated photograph.

The central scene looping in the photograph was this:

Two lifelike magical phoenixes, two magical phoenixes ravaging heaven and earth with unstoppable force.

One was an orange-red Fire-Making Spell phoenix, burning large numbers of Death Eaters alive into ash;

The other was a silver-white Patronus Charm phoenix, purifying vast numbers of Dementors into drifting ash.

And in the lower left corner of the photograph stood a blurry elderly figure.

Though the image was indistinct, few in the entire British Wizarding World failed to recognize the person's identity.

That's right! Other than Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the twentieth century, who else possessed such power?

The British Wizarding World erupted!

It was the vast majority of common wizards who erupted. Just two days ago, they had been terrified by Voldemort's return, but now their hearts were filled with courage.

With Dumbledore around, what the hell was Voldemort's Main Soul, which could only parasitize others, worth?

Their thoughts now were: Voldemort? Pah! Just let us catch you, and we'll report you in a heartbeat!

The British Wizarding World also fell silent!

Those who fell silent were the fence-sitting pure-blood wizards who had once been Death Eaters. They knew full well that cowardly Fudge, who only knew how to line his pockets and grasp power, would never have the insane idea of going to Azkaban, releasing the Death Eaters, and pulling off something huge.

That gentle old lion Dumbledore had changed! He had bared his fangs and started playing political games!

That was simply terrifying!

Dumbledore, whose strength surpassed all in the British Wizarding World and even the international Wizarding World, now also possessed political skills to match it.

Before Voldemort returned at full strength, these double-dealers could only be law-abiding good wizards!

Every pure-blood wizard preparing to make some small moves immediately lowered their flags and behaved themselves after receiving the news.

Furthermore, these double-dealers began taking seriously the news that Dumbledore was privately acquiring House-Elves.

They had not wanted to sell before, but now they could not wait to give them away for free.

August 13.

Dumbledore, who had come to the Dursley household to teach, brought two House-Elves with him.

One was the male House-Elf Dobby, a friendly gift from Lucius Malfoy. The other was the female House-Elf Winky, acquired cheaply from Barty Crouch.

"Looks like the operation worked out very well, Dumbledore!"

Dudley watched Dobby and Winky swear loyalty to the Dursley household and smiled. "Also, that move of yours—no, those two moves—were very cool!"

"Dudley, you're right! And thank you for the compliment! Soon, you will master them too!"

Dumbledore was in just as good a mood as the results of his operation against evil.

To prevent Voldemort from using Azkaban's forces, he had not only wiped out all the Death Eaters, but also conveniently exterminated seventy percent of the Dementors.

The reason given was that the Dementors had colluded with the former Minister of Magic in rebellion and harbored ill intent.

Now, the Dementors remaining in Azkaban were completely obedient. Even when they sucked away the prisoners' happiness, they could no longer feel happy about it.

"There are some things I need to tell you and Harry."

After smiling, Dumbledore's expression grew more serious, and he took Dudley and Harry to the second floor.

He left Dobby and Winky downstairs to eagerly curry favor with their new masters, Petunia and Vernon, while Hagrid introduced the Dursleys to the traits and benefits of House-Elves.