"Ladies and gentlemen, unbelievable as it may sound, I have to tell you that five minutes ago, this place was still nothing but ruins!"
Over the roar of the helicopter, renowned BBC presenter Frost had no choice but to raise his voice. The powerful gusts from the rotor left the nearly sixty-year-old man a little breathless.
But he had no complaints at all.
He had fought hard for this on-location assignment, even using a few personal connections to secure it.
He had interviewed multiple British prime ministers, even American presidents, but his instincts told him that this assignment would take his career to an unprecedented height.
Especially when a magnificent castle suddenly appeared before his eyes in the sunlight, his heart had pounded so hard that he nearly thought he was having a heart attack.
"I know this is difficult to believe, but... everyone, this is real!"
Even after boarding the helicopter and receiving the documents supposedly provided by the government, Frost had not believed it.
But after seeing this majestic castle with his own eyes, and the flashes of light that rose from it from time to time, he quickly tapped the seat in front of him, signaling the pilot to speed up.
"If possible, I suggest maintaining our current altitude. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what sort of accident might happen."
Bulstrode, the other guest in the helicopter, suddenly spoke.
"What do you mean?" Frost froze for a moment.
"I mean that if you ignore the warning and get too close to Hogwarts, the helicopter's electronic components may be affected and fail," Bulstrode explained patiently.
Although Tver had removed many spells, that did not mean electronic devices would be completely unaffected by Hogwarts.
Especially something like a helicopter, where one accident could cost lives.
He did not want a crash to happen out of nowhere and make the ordinary people who were supposed to learn about the wizarding world become afraid of magic instead.
Frost glanced at the lively battlefield below. After a moment, when the pilot asked for confirmation, he reluctantly withdrew his gaze.
"All right. In any case, we can see the fighting from here."
Hearing that, the cameraman who had been filming the castle quickly turned the lens toward the area in front of it.
The distance was still relatively far, but fortunately, the camera could adjust its focus.
"If I'm not mistaken, those people flying through the sky are riding broomsticks, aren't they?" Frost looked at Bulstrode with a strange expression.
"But even stranger than the broomsticks, Mr. Bulstrode, I'd like to ask you something. Do wizards usually fight with grenades?"
Watching the cheerful Weasley twins, even the usually cold Bulstrode could not help showing an awkward expression.
"Ahem. That is only a personal hobby of a few individual wizards."
Frost withdrew his gaze, half convinced, and turned back toward the battlefield.
"Some of you may still be confused. Yes, this is a very real battlefield, but unlike the wars we usually see, this is a war fought purely with magic!"
"One side consists of Dark Wizards who seek to destroy the peace of this world. Their leader is known as Voldemort!"
He pointed toward the battlefield. Though the figures were too far away to see clearly, the green vests representing Hogwarts and the black-gray colors of the Dark Wizards were extremely distinct.
"And today, Voldemort is attempting to destroy Hogwarts, a place that can only be called the sacred ground of the British wizarding world!"
Perhaps anticipating the audience's reaction, Frost changed tack.
"Yes, you may think I've gone mad. How could anyone treat the world of a novel as real?"
He deftly pulled a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from beneath his seat and showed it to the camera.
"But I have a duty to tell you the truth. Magic is real, and the wizarding world described in this book truly exists."
"Wait." As if he had noticed something, he quickly turned the camera downward. "What are we seeing? The Dark Wizards are actually retreating!"
Compared with Frost's blurred view, the camera focused on the Dark Wizards could capture far more.
Although it was still early for the morning news, thanks to the BBC's fame across Europe and even the world, the number of viewers watching BBC News at that moment was already in the millions.
And among them was Harry's uncle.
"Petunia, I think you need to come and look at this. Is that the strange school?" Vernon Dursley pointed at the large television in the living room, utterly dumbfounded.
He had once been very proud of how advanced their television was, but at that moment, he seriously suspected it had broken.
Or perhaps he had woken up too early, and both his brain and his eyes had broken instead.
Petunia yawned hugely, not knowing what had gotten into her husband, but she still walked over with a cup of strong tea.
"Isn't it just a group of people suddenly running away like lunatics? Though the beams attacking them do look rather pretty. I wonder what film this is..."
"Wait. Is that Harry?!"
Staring at the familiar excited face on the television, Petunia's eyes widened.
On the screen, opposite the fleeing Death Eaters, Harry and the other five were chasing down the Dark Wizards with ferocious enthusiasm. Even Sirius could not hold them back.
Of course, because Sirius had been around, Harry had rarely returned to the Dursleys' house over the past few years, so they were somewhat unfamiliar with how quickly he had grown.
On top of that, the camera footage was not especially clear, so they were only suspicious at first.
"...You may not know this, but the child named Harry Potter, the protagonist of this book, is currently fighting fiercely down there. And this battle will affect the peace of the wizarding world, and even the entire world!"
Frost's voice came clearly from the television, instantly confirming Petunia and Vernon's suspicions from the side.
Although they did not want to admit it, on the very first day they learned of the book Harry Potter, they had not only bought it at once, but had even studied it several times.
Now that Frost mentioned it, their memories of the book's plot were immediately stirred.
"I think, if this isn't some sort of prank, then it must be real..." Petunia murmured.
"No. This must be a prank. Magic doesn't exist!" Vernon insisted loudly.
But just then, the image on the television suddenly switched back to the normal news studio.
Of course, they were still talking about magic.
Vernon immediately grew anxious and slammed his fist hard against the sofa.
"Damn it, couldn't they keep the camera on that wizarding school?"
…
Noticing his wife's strange look, he immediately gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Er, I mean, if this is a prank, they should at least see it through, shouldn't they? Otherwise, it has no proper prank spirit at all!"