The smoke blended into the white mist so thoroughly that almost no one noticed it.
The young wizards who inhaled it only felt their vision blur before their heads grew heavy and they slipped into sleep.
Before long, mass unconsciousness began spreading outward from several corners of the stadium.
Large numbers of young wizards fell into deep, peaceful sleep. Only those wearing masks were temporarily protected from the effects of the smoke.
Even then, not everyone who inhaled it collapsed immediately. Some students were clearly more resistant than others.
They would raise their heads in confusion, wondering why they suddenly felt so tired. Some fell asleep before they even had time to notice anything strange about the people around them, while others realised something was wrong but still had no time to react.
Some lasted only one or two seconds, while others held on for more than ten.
Soon, they were all asleep.
The smoke mixed into the white mist engulfed the student stands and rolled toward the faculty seating area.
That was when the problem was finally exposed.
Snape abruptly rose from his seat and shouted sharply, "Everyone, hold your breath!"
The surrounding professors and Headmasters looked at him in confusion.
Snape did not waste time explaining. He simply told them the mist was poisonous, tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve, and fashioned it into a crude mask over his face.
The moment he put it on, however, his movements suddenly froze.
His hand shot to his left forearm.
Karkaroff also sprang to his feet in panic, clutching his own left arm as he shouted at Snape, "It's burning!"
A wave of unrest spread among the professors and Headmasters.
What had just happened was already enough to put them on alert.
Dumbledore rose from his seat as well and drew his wand. Behind his half-moon spectacles, his eyes were already filled with anger.
Whoever had come to Hogwarts to cause trouble today would pay the price.
The disturbance in the stands did not interrupt the duel taking place in the arena.
Bang!
Astoria used a spell to drive away all the mist around her.
"If you were hoping this fog would bring you victory, then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," Astoria said coldly. "I'm going to start taking this seriously now."
Hide Yamashita laughed.
"Miss Greengrass, haven't you realised it yet? I don't actually care whether I win or lose this duel. If you insist, I don't mind surrendering at all. My mission is already complete."
"Mission?"
A trace of confusion flashed through Astoria's eyes.
She raised her head slightly.
What entered her vision was thick white fog filling the entire stadium.
Astoria's pupils contracted sharply.
Something was wrong.
Even if the entire stadium had been covered in fog, it should not have been this quiet.
There was something wrong with this mist.
Combined with Yamashita's earlier statement that he did not care about winning and that his mission was complete, she immediately formed a rough guess.
"How reckless. You actually dared to cause trouble at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore is watching from the stands!"
Yamashita burst into laughter.
"You really do have a good head on your shoulders. Unfortunately, it's already too late..."
He did not finish his sentence.
A metallic taste suddenly filled his throat, and he violently sprayed out a cloud of blood.
While Astoria had appeared to be chatting idly with him, her pseudo-domain had never relaxed for even a moment.
At last, while Yamashita was feeling pleased with himself and had let down his guard, she struck hard.
She instantly broke through his defences and successfully disrupted the flow of blood inside his body.
Yamashita suffered a severe injury, and the mist released by his sword could no longer maintain such a vast range.
Within only a few seconds, most of the fog over the stands dispersed, leaving only a considerable amount lingering over the duelling platform.
Now the abnormalities in the stands could no longer be concealed.
The attack officially began.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Dozens of spells came flying from every direction and crashed into the faculty stands, throwing the area into chaos.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Many of the incoming spells were ordinary curses, but several were killing curses filled with murderous intent.
One of them shot directly toward Karkaroff's face.
At the sight of that familiar green light, Karkaroff nearly lost his soul from fright.
He desperately threw himself to the side, only to be struck in the head by a Stunning Spell and knocked unconscious on the spot.
Snape abruptly looked toward one particular location.
The Killing Curse that had terrified Karkaroff had come from there.
A Mahoutokoro student was standing in that spot.
When he noticed Snape staring at him, he grinned and revealed a disturbing smile.
Then he stood up.
The hair on his head gradually vanished.
His nose flattened.
His nostrils and eyes became increasingly narrow.
Before long, his entire face had transformed into that of a snake.
Soon, a tall, thin wizard with a serpentine face stood before Snape.
"Polyjuice Potion is a wonderful thing, Severus."
His voice was low and cold.
The instant he spoke, everyone present understood who he was.
Voldemort.
He had disguised himself as a Mahoutokoro student and infiltrated Hogwarts.
Voldemort's appearance shocked everyone.
At that moment, Yuan Danxi also drew his wand from the faculty seats.
But the tip of his wand was aimed at Madame Maxime, who was standing not far in front of him.
A spell shot from the wand.
"Look out!"
Hagrid roared and threw himself at Madame Maxime, knocking her to the ground.
Yuan Danxi's spell barely missed them.
The two giants crashed down onto the stands, causing the wooden structure to tremble twice.
"Have you gone mad?"
Seraphina, who had witnessed what had just happened, shouted angrily.
Yuan Danxi gave no response.
He simply kept a stern expression as he continued waving his wand, while simultaneously drawing a katana.
Magic attacks combined with physical strikes forced Seraphina back again and again.
At the same time, the masked wizards from the other stands charged in and joined the battle against the professors and Headmasters who were still conscious.
Spells flew everywhere.
The entire scene had completely descended into chaos.
Dumbledore looked at the disorder before him without reacting.
He simply stood where he was and stared across more than a dozen rows of seats at Voldemort.
Professor N'Dulu, Headmaster of Uagadou, stood beside him, his dark face filled with solemnity.
"Using white fog to conceal the smoke from sleeping incense. A rather clever idea. Was this planned in advance?"
Voldemort shook his head.
Not in denial, but to indicate that he did not know either.
The entire plan had been arranged by the Society.
He had merely been handed a bottle of Polyjuice Potion that morning, disguised as a Mahoutokoro student, and slipped into the crowd of spectators.
To be honest, if not for Polaris's strict order, he would have acted long ago instead of waiting until now!
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI