Even though Lucius and Snape had repeatedly ordered them to stay low-key until the Dark Lord was resurrected, it would take a miracle for a madwoman like Bellatrix to obediently listen to either of them.
Since they would soon no longer need to live in the shadows as they were now, what reason did they have to hesitate?
Why not use a grand ceremony to announce the re-emergence of the Death Eaters?
And what ceremony could possibly be grander than raiding the Quidditch World Cup campsite?
That was Bellatrix's line of thought.
Bellatrix was a woman of action. Once this idea began growing inside her mind like wild weeds, she immediately sought out her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange.
She felt not the slightest shred of affection for Rodolphus—the person Bellatrix truly adored in her heart was Voldemort. Seeking Rodolphus out to discuss this matter was merely because he obeyed her every whim without question.
The two quickly linked up with several other Death Eaters.
This group of people had almost all lost their sanity due to their long years of imprisonment in Azkaban.
As for the few other Death Eaters who had managed to evade the Ministry Aurors' net after Voldemort's downfall back then, they too had gone utterly mad after years of living on the run.
All they wanted now was revenge on the Ministry of Magic, giving zero thought to what kind of impact this might have on Lucius and Snape's plans.
Bound together by their shared foul nature, the group hit it off almost instantly.
If Lucius were here and knew what they were planning, he would absolutely treat every single one of them to an Avada Kedavra, then grab Bellatrix by the throat and roar at the top of his lungs: Do you people have any idea how serious this is?!
The Ministry of Magic had known about their Azkaban prison break for a long time; they simply kept it quiet to ensure the smooth execution of the Quidditch World Cup.
Cornelius Fudge attached an unprecedented level of importance to this tournament.
If he pulled off this event successfully, it would not only help solidify his position as Minister—which had become rockier than ever due to the series of stupid things he had done—but also allow him to rake in a massive pile of Galleons.
Ever since the Gringotts break-in, Fudge had been reduced to a complete pauper.
Even the Weasley family, widely recognized as the poorest family in the wizarding world, was far richer than he was.
A tournament of the Quidditch World Cup's caliber could bring in an enormous amount of income for the Ministry, especially for him as Minister for Magic.
Selling ticket stubs? How much money was that really?
The bulk of the tournament's revenue came primarily from advertising fees and sports gambling.
There was no doubt that ticket sales went straight to the Ministry's net bottom line, but when it came to advertising fees and sports gambling, the room for lining one's pockets was endless.
Fudge estimated that, no matter what, he could make back at least a third of the wealth his vault used to hold.
If he played his hand ruthlessly enough, maybe even half.
Therefore, Fudge went all out. Even if it meant leaving the Ministry's defenses completely hollowed out, he was determined to drag every single fighting force in the Ministry out to guard the tournament venue.
Lucius was naturally aware of this.
Apart from the Aurors and Hitwizards who had turned out in full force, two entity-level great Demon Kings had moved into the campsite.
Ghost knows whether Grindelwald might have hundreds or thousands of Acolytes traveling alongside him in secret.
Relying on a ragtag group of trash fish like them, did they really expect to go up against a combination of the Ministry + GGAD + the Acolytes?
If they actually possessed that kind of strength, why would they even bother resurrecting Voldemort?
Flattening the entire wizarding world would be more than enough.
That was precisely why Lucius had told the bunch of idiots mooching off him at his manor to behave themselves and stop messing around before the Dark Lord fully returned.
However, Bellatrix and the others, who had been cooped up inside Malfoy Manor to the point of rotting, were completely unaware of these details.
Their sole channel for outside information was a daily copy of The Daily Prophet, but this group of fools didn't have the slightest interest in reading newspapers.
Even if they did, it would be useless anyway, given The Daily Prophet's habitually unreliable reporting.
They still assumed that the security forces deployed by the Ministry for this year's UK-hosted Quidditch World Cup were no different from previous tournaments.
In just a short half-hour, a massive, swarming crowd of Death Eaters assembled.
Standing on the steps at the mansion's entrance, Bellatrix slowly swept her gaze across the large crowd before her, a sickly smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
With their force of over four hundred people, sweeping through a Quidditch World Cup campsite would surely be more than enough, wouldn't it?
"Now!" With the help of the Sonorus Charm, Bellatrix's voice carried into everyone's ears. "Move out!"
At her command, over four hundred people vanished from Malfoy Manor via Apparition and the Floo Network.
To avoid alerting the enemy, Bellatrix even played it smart-alecky by ordering her subordinates not to inform Lucius.
She went so far as to knock unconscious the few house-elves that had attempted to report to Lucius.
Now, everything was set. All that remained was to wait until the match concluded tonight, when everyone returned to the campsite exhausted and drifted off to sleep, and the Ministry Aurors and Hitwizards lowered their vigilance to its absolute lowest point.
Meanwhile, as the time gradually reached noon, the wizards in the campsite also began fussing over lunch.
Outside the Dumbledore family's tent, Kyle, Konan, Hermione, and Ginny were squatting neatly off to the side, watching Grindelwald put on a grand display of his culinary skills.
Kyle had run into Hermione and Ginny while wandering aimlessly around the campsite.
Due to Hermione's personality, her popularity in the Gryffindor girls' dormitories was admittedly quite poor.
Only Ginny didn't dislike Hermione's disposition.
Furthermore, as a member of the Golden Trio, Hermione frequently offered Ginny advice and strategies for pursuing Harry.
As a result, the two had become inseparable, exceptionally close best friends.
Even for this trip to watch the Quidditch World Cup, Hermione stayed in the Weasley family's tent, sharing a room with Ginny.
However, the moment Hermione caught sight of Konan beside Kyle, a sense of crisis surged to maximum capacity inside her heart, transforming her overnight from shopping with her best friend into guarding her boyfriend every step of the way.
Now that she had a boyfriend, who needed best friends?
It wasn't until lunchtime drew near that Hermione finally pulled Ginny along to take her leave.
Grindelwald saw right through the young girl's feelings toward his son. In the spirit of enjoying a good spectacle without caring if things got out of hand, he cheerfully persuaded the two of them to stay for lunch.
Furthermore, the old Demon King declined Alfred's suggestion to have the family house-elves deliver a meal, volunteering to take to the kitchen personally.
And that was how the four of them came to be squatting together on the sidelines, watching Grindelwald showcase his master culinary skills.
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