Chapter 344: Halt
Chapter 344: Halt
The protesters stood frozen, thinking their eyes must be deceiving them. The hooded wizard who had been struck by lightning stared in disbelief at the blood on his chest, took a few steps forward, turned to look at his companions, and then slowly collapsed.
One of the leading hooded wizards bent down to check, "Severely injured, but not dead yet." He narrowly avoided the second bolt of black lightning, which struck the abdomen of the wizard behind him.
Felix's fingertips crackled with black lightning, which exploded in a series of fine arcs, like a massive net spreading over them. These smaller black arcs, though not as powerful as the initial bolts, were more troublesome. The protesters were struck like wheat stalks, twitching and falling to the ground.
The hooded wizards were the first to react. They dragged their two injured companions to the back and erected a series of magic barriers and shields, using the gaps to counterattack while continuously retreating, hiding themselves in the center of the protest crowd.
While this provided them some safety, it also put them further away from Felix. Most of their spells faded and disappeared in mid-air.
"Counterattack! He's just one man—" a red-faced wizard, clearly confused, shouted. He held a wand in one hand and a bottle in the other, his beard unkempt, and he was clearly drunk.
"He's too far away!" someone yelled in frustration.
The drunk, red-faced wizard shouted, "Follow me!" He and about a dozen others charged at Felix, closing the distance. Most of the protesters watched indifferently. As expected, a mass of black lightning struck at their feet. These people didn't even cast a basic defensive spell and fell to the ground like broken dolls, groaning in pain.
The next second, Felix vanished from mid-air and reappeared fifty feet in front of them. His expression was cold, like a layer of frost, and his eyes seemed to burn with fire.
"Fools", he said, his gaze not lingering on the charging wizards. They were just pawns. His eyes were set on the main group of protesters.
"Damn! Is he trying to take on all of us alone?" someone shouted angrily.
Before they could react, a powerful spell's glow erupted from the tip of Felix's black wand, the red light illuminating everyone's face.
Felix's target was clear: the hooded wizards hiding in the center of the crowd. They were likely the organizers of the chaos, dressed uniformly and working in coordination, suggesting they knew each other and had fought together before.
Names of famous and not-so-famous wizard groups flashed through his mind, but the most likely candidates were—
"Death Eaters", Felix murmured.
The protesters were a disorganized mob, with no coordination. Their magic was chaotic, and some even interfered with each other, causing casting failures. This allowed Felix's spells to pass through unimpeded, and a powerful Disarming Charm sent them flying one by one.
But the counterattack was swift.
Felix had to raise a golden shield, which seemed impervious to any spell. Various spells hit it with a series of pings, but individually, they had little effect. However, the sheer number of attackers made the spell connections dense beams. After about ten seconds, the golden shield finally gave way, crumbling into golden light particles. Felix had already moved to a new position.
Felix occasionally used apparition to suddenly disappear, dodging concentrated spells, and then reappeared a dozen feet away, each time accompanied by a few spells that arced from hidden corners, knocking out several people.
Spells chased his figure relentlessly but couldn't even touch the hem of his robes. When he felt pressure, Felix quickly switched to the other side of the crowd, each time claiming six or seven more victims.
The scene was chaos, and no one paid attention to the Roberts family floating in mid-air. When the Levitation Charm wore off, they screamed as they fell. Felix suddenly appeared, extended his wand, and immobilized them, moving them to the side to be handed over to the Ministry of Magic officials nearby.
The three remaining staff members narrowly avoided the protesters' wrath and followed the crowd from behind, hoping to rescue the Roberts family. However, they shared the same concerns as Mr. Weasley, hesitating to use magic for fear of accidentally harming others.
"Perfect opportunity—", someone in the crowd of protesters shouted.
They all raised their wands and fired spells of various colors at Felix. The dense magical glow illuminated the surroundings, turning everything red and bright. But these spells halted just three feet away from Felix, forming a wall of spells.
The spells didn't stop; instead, they moved forward in slow motion. Felix deftly sidestepped a few steps. A few seconds later, the spells whizzed by, creating small craters on the ground, some burned and others decayed, with grass clippings flying everywhere.
In those few seconds, the Roberts family safely landed in the hands of the Ministry of Magic staff. "Thank you, Mr. Heap!" one of the Ministry staff shouted, using a spell to catch them.
His gratitude was a mocking insult to the protesters. A vicious spell flew from the crowd, aimed at the Roberts family. Suddenly, several figures appeared. It was Mr. Weasley, who cast a Shield Charm, with Charlie and Bill Weasley guarding the sides. Sirius stepped forward and deflected the curse.
"Nice work, Arthur", the Ministry staff member said happily.
Felix suddenly turned around, his Ebony Wand thrusting out like a sword. A burst of golden fire exploded in the crowd, and the Wizard who had attempted the sneak attack was engulfed in flames, emitting a burning smell.
At this point, many people, including the hooded Wizards, realized the situation was dire and hastily used apparition to escape.
Felix couldn't focus on too many things at once. He cast a net-like spell, releasing a black arc of electricity, trying to form a sealed electrical grid. Once it was complete, it would be much harder for anyone to apparate out.
In the chaos, a hooded Wizard spoke with a hoarse voice, "I promise you—"
Felix's magic paused slightly, and the hooded Wizard took advantage of the moment to apparate, taking the two companions who had been hit by the black lightning with him. A second later, the black arc formed a complete, sealed cage.
"Was there something special about those two?" Felix recalled that they had been standing near the front, though not leading the crowd, they were close to the front.
If they were Death Eaters, it suggested that they held a relatively high rank.
Felix stood outside the cage, calmly casting a Stunning Spell, trapping the remaining hooded Wizards like fish in a barrel. Two of them tried to apparate away but screamed in pain, leaving behind an arm and a thigh.
At this point, Felix had to be more cautious. Most of these people were tourists from various countries. Even if he caused a disturbance, he couldn't kill anyone, or he would be in trouble.
His initial attacks were aimed at the hooded Wizards, and he didn't know if anyone had died.
Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Bill Weasley, Sirius, and three other Ministry of Magic staff members came to help. They cast spells through the gaps in the electrical grid, and the people inside fell like wheat stalks.
After a while, Felix dispelled the magic, revealing over a hundred protesters, including a dozen hooded Wizards. He lifted their masks, revealing faces that were not entirely unfamiliar. The scene was further gruesome with the scattered, mangled limbs left behind by the disintegration.
Sirius looked at the hooded Wizards with disdain and scoffed.
The unrest was completely quelled.
Silence, an overwhelming silence, enveloped the area, as if someone had pressed the pause button. Even the children's cries were stifled by their parents.
(End of Chapter)
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