Chapter 1542: The Formula for Victory
Chapter 1542: The Formula for Victory
"See, I told you they definitely don't need our help!"
As the last Dark Wizard, who had attempted to turn and flee, was blasted to the ground by a barrage of spells from behind, a familiar voice suddenly rang out, startling Neville and his companions, who had just finished defeating their foes and had not yet had time to rejoice.
"Don't panic, it's us," said Fred, George, and Cedric, leading the Giant Hunting Squad, as they abruptly appeared out of thin air behind Neville and his group, who were already on high alert.
If they had been enemies, they would have been wiped out in an instant.
"What are you lot up to? If we hadn't been careful, we might have accidentally hit you," Neville said, masking his earlier loss of composure with a complaint.
"Not bad," Fred said with a smile, giving Neville's shoulder a light thump. "But you still need to be more cautious."
"How did you get here? I thought..." Hannah frowned, eyeing the spirited elite squad, a bad premonition forming in her mind.
According to the original plan, Fred's group was supposed to return to the castle to reinforce the other squads after completing their hunt for giants.
Apparently guessing Hannah's thoughts, Cedric explained, "Those Dark Wizards have started to group up, so we need to do the same. Otherwise, they'll pick us off one by one."
In fact, they had considered hunting down the Dark Wizards to reduce their numbers, but after ambushing two squads, they realized the enemies had started to move in larger groups, and their numbers were growing like a snowball—far beyond what their small team could handle. Even if they won, it would be a costly victory.
So, after discussing it, they had decided to join forces with Neville's squad and, conveniently, get some Mandrake from them.
The cry of the Mandrake was a powerful weapon against groups of Dark Wizards. No matter how many of them gathered, a single Mandrake could easily accomplish what they found difficult: taking them all down.
"Er... about the Mandrake..."
Neville and his companions exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat unnatural.
This reaction gave Fred, George, and the others a bad feeling.
"Well... you know we have a lot of werewolves on our side, and Mandrake is difficult to carry. It's easy to accidentally hurt our own people..." Neville's expression was awkward, and he stammered as he spoke. They knew Fred and the others were here for the Mandrake, but...
"So, you used it all up and have none left?" Cedric felt the urge to cover his face.
"That thing doesn't discriminate between friend and foe. We dared not carry it with us, so we used it all at once," Hannah said. She had also considered keeping some Mandrake, but after witnessing the power of its cry, she had abandoned that suicidal idea.
They couldn't afford to take the risk of accidentally wiping out their own team.
"If you need it, I'll go back and look. I should be able to find a few for you," said Nelson Tobin, turning back immediately. He obviously regretted not keeping a couple of Mandrakes.
Otherwise, those Dark Wizards daring to move in a group would have been the perfect target. He could have made them perish in batches, just like the werewolves crowded on the bridge, under the cry of the Mandrake.
As for accidentally injuring his teammates in the process, that was not something Nelson Tobin concerned himself with.
After all, with prior discussion, this issue could be easily managed, and even if someone was accidentally injured, it couldn't be helped. As long as they stayed away from the core area of the Mandrake's cry, even if they heard it, they would only fall unconscious at worst.
"What do we do now?"
Everyone looked to Fred, George, and Cedric, awaiting their decision.
With the two squads combined, they numbered over thirty, still a considerable force, and one that could strike hard at the enemy from an unseen position.
"Wait a moment. I'll ask the command center about the situation in the castle and see where we're needed," said Cedric, remembering that Shan Na was monitoring the entire castle from the kitchen and would surely know better than them where help was required.
In fact, before Cedric could even ask, a house-elf appeared before them with a briefcase, startling everyone. Then, urged on by George, they entered the case as quickly as possible to allow the house-elf to take them away with its Disguise and Portkey abilities.
However, what surprised them the most was that there was another house-elf inside the case, briefing them on their next task.
"So, we need to help the professors block that group of nearly two to three hundred Dark Wizards on the third floor?"
After hearing the house-elf's explanation of their mission, the group felt even more that they needed the Mandrake.
With it, they could probably end all their troubles in one go.
But they had no time to regret not having any Mandrake left, for in the blink of an eye, the house-elf had transported them to the boys' bathroom on the third floor.
The girls, upon exiting the case and noticing their surroundings, looked bewildered for a moment, but soon recovered and began casting Disillusionment Charms on themselves before heading toward the battlefield, where both sides were locked in a stalemate. They intended to strike hard at the enemy from behind, taking advantage of the element of surprise to crush their morale.
Whether the entire plan would fail or not was not something they considered, and the group never thought they would lose. This overconfidence came not only from the Felix Felicis they had taken but also from Albert's thorough preparations for this Wizarding War.
In fact, whether it was the Felix Felicis, the Mandrake, or the house-elves' surveillance of the entire castle, as long as they utilized these advantages well, their side would hardly suffer any casualties. Even with their limited numbers, they could use the house-elves' Disguise and Portkey abilities to reinforce any area with astonishing efficiency.
However, things couldn't always go as everyone wished, and in this battle, the disparity in numbers still put them at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, this situation would not arise for them, at least not for now.
A spontaneous ambush indeed worked as expected, stunning the Dark Wizards, who had relied on their numerical superiority to suppress their opponents. They never imagined that they, too, would be sandwiched between foes.
After being stabbed in the back, figuratively and literally, the panicked Dark Wizards didn't hold out for long and scattered immediately. Ultimately, they had relied on their numbers to gain the upper hand, and without that advantage, they crumbled.
(End of Chapter)
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