#553 - Chapter 553: Battle Song

The silver-white protective barrier trembled violently, layers of ripples spreading out in the night, like a lake being battered by a rainstorm, reflecting the flickering light on the faces of the wizards in the city.

Ron slowly released his hand, which he had unconsciously clenched. He swallowed, looked at the still-resilient barrier above, and forced a relaxed smile, saying, "Honestly, I really thought this barrier would be smashed to pieces by them in one wave. Didn't expect it to be so sturdy."

Ginny glanced at him, a sly smile on her lips: "Ron, look at you, you almost broke Hermione's hand, didn't you?"

Hermione rubbed the back of her hand, giving Ron a reproachful look, but she didn't blame him.

Ron's face flushed instantly. It was his first time participating in such a large-scale battle, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

Faced with the overwhelming barrage of spells, he had been so tense that he had almost forgotten to breathe, and he only slowly relaxed when he saw that the barrier was as resilient as ever.

Even so, facing Hermione and Ginny, Ron was still unwilling to admit his nervousness, and could only stammeringly retort.

"W-What are you talking about! I—I was just tensing up, preparing to deal with emergencies! If the barrier breaks, I'll be the first to pull Hermione to find cover! This, this is called tactics, you wouldn't understand!"

Ginny snorted and crossed her arms: "Is that so? Then why didn't you pull me?"

Ron choked, and immediately changed the subject: "It's you who should stop grinning like an idiot. Don't think I didn't see what Harry said to you just now. Your big brother hasn't agreed yet."

Hermione watched the bickering siblings and couldn't help but giggle, the tense atmosphere seeming to dissipate a little at that moment.

"Hmph," Ginny snorted, the tips of her ears turning slightly red, but she quickly regained her composure, "If it weren't for Harry, I wouldn't bother teaming up with you two. Let's get this straight, when the fighting starts, I'm the main attacker."

This time Ron didn't object. Compared to her older brother, Ginny's magic level was slightly inferior, but her fighting style was much more violent, proficient in the spell 'Confringo,' and usually adopted a quick-attack style in duels. Replacing Harry as the main attacker in the trio was not a problem.

"Alright," Ron said decisively, "Anyway, we've cooperated before during special training at the Swann Manor. After the barrier disappears, we'll just act according to the plan."

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, looked up at the silver-white protective barrier in the night sky, still firm, and frowned slightly: "I wonder how long this barrier can last..."

He wasn't the only one who was worried. The representatives of various countries standing on the top of the Swann Alchemy Building were even more shocked and frightened.

What was going on?!

They had only come to New Town to attend a meeting, how could they suddenly be caught in a war?

What was even more deadly was that most of them had come alone and had not brought any Aurors with them. Now they had to face the overwhelming Death Eater army outside the city. In this situation, who wouldn't be afraid?

Truth be told, they really wanted to find an excuse to take the opportunity to evacuate. After all, New Town's Floo Network had not been completely closed, only allowing exit but not entry. They could completely leave and stay away from this war that shouldn't belong to them.

But the problem was, if they fled in panic as soon as the fighting started, wouldn't they be nailed to the pillar of shame?

To put it another way, even if New Town was destroyed, these people didn't believe that Sebastian would be in any danger. If they escaped at this time, they would be settled by this new president sooner or later.

Don't forget, besides the mysterious person in front of them, there was also Grindelwald waiting for this new president to come forward.

"Sebastian..."

Just as everyone was hesitating, Aginbard finally couldn't help but walk towards Sebastian, who had been with everyone from the beginning.

Compared to everyone's anxiety, Sebastian appeared extraordinarily calm. A smile that couldn't be concealed hung on the corner of his mouth, his fingers gently turning an alchemical ring, as if the battle in front of him had nothing to do with him.

Aginbard lowered his voice and persuaded: "The strength comparison between the enemy and us is too disparate. New Town has too few guards, and the Death Eater army is too large, and there are werewolves, giants, Dementors, and so on. Perhaps we can let the representatives of various countries summon their Aurors to come to support. More strength is always a good thing, what do you think?"

"Don't worry, just watch here." Sebastian smiled slightly, his eyes leisurely sweeping towards the distant Death Eater army, his eyes full of contempt.

In his opinion, the rabble outside the city were just pretenders, and Voldemort's command was extremely clumsy—this army was disorganized, its tactics relied entirely on brute force, and it was even bold enough to expose its back to Hogwarts.

"To be honest, I don't underestimate the mysterious person." Sebastian shrugged easily, his tone revealing a hint of mockery, "But let him break this barrier above his head first."

Different from the magic wars seen in previous lives in film and television works, Sebastian at this moment personally participated in the construction of this protective magic. In addition to him, Dumbledore also personally participated in the construction of the barrier, but he was disguised as a middle-aged man mixed in the crowd, and no one could recognize him.

Two legendary wizards joined forces, the defensive power of this barrier far exceeded ordinary people's imagination, and it was definitely not something that could be easily broken.

Moreover, although the Death Eater army looked powerful, nearly half of the undercover agents were slacking off throughout the process. And even those who were seriously attacking could not concentrate all their firepower on one point at the same time.

Therefore, more than ten minutes passed, and even though the magical bombardment continued, the silver-white barrier remained as firm as ever.

A surge of energy, then a decline, and finally exhaustion. With an unfavorable start, the morale of the Death Eater army was extremely low.

Voldemort's face became increasingly gloomy, his red pupils revealing a grim coldness in the night.

"Useless!"

His patience finally ran out. With a flick of his wrist, the Elder Wand was raised high, and accompanied by a burst of violent magical fluctuations, a thick spell shot towards the protective barrier!

Everyone's eyes instantly converged on that spot, trying to witness the moment when this barrier was torn apart.

However, to everyone's surprise, the barrier only trembled slightly, rippling in circles, and then returned to its original state, still standing tall.

The air suddenly became still, and even the Death Eater camp experienced a brief silence.

Voldemort's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip from it. He lowered his head, staring at the Elder Wand in his hand, wondering what he was thinking.

Seeing Voldemort being deflated, the corners of Sebastian's mouth widened more and more.

"Just being beaten is not my style, it's our turn to fight back next."

Saying that, he took out his magic phone and dialed a special contact.

"Luna, play the war song..."