Chapter 442: Free-for-All (Part 1)
Chapter 442: Free-for-All (Part 1) (Please subscribe, favorite, and vote)
Harry burst into laughter. "Hand it over, and wait for you to kill us? Not a chance. Unless you let us leave here, I'll smash this thing. I doubt your master would be pleased to see that."
As he spoke, his eyes darted nervously around, stalling for time with various excuses. He kept glancing in Sirius Black's direction. Suddenly, he saw Sirius Black clench his fist, and then Liam slipped a wand into his hand. Liam gave Harry a barely perceptible nod.
Harry felt a sudden sense of relief. Even if Sirius Black couldn't fight, being able to move was enough.
"Give me the Prophecy Orb, or we'll use our wands", Lucius Malfoy threatened, raising his wand, worried that the longer this dragged on, the more dangerous it would become.
"Fine, then come and get it." Harry raised his wand to his chest, and the others did the same.
"Are you really willing to defy your master's orders?" Harry lifted the glass orb as if to throw it. At that moment, a female Death Eater shrieked, "Prophecy Orb, come—"
"Disarm." A red light shot from Liam's wand, interrupting the Death Eater's spell and forcing her to break the Accio. Harry seized the opportunity to grab the Prophecy Orb, which had almost flown from his fingertips.
"Filthy Mudblood, how dare you attack me?" she snarled, her eyes blazing with fury from beneath her hood, "Very well, then—"
"Enough." Lucius Malfoy barked at the witch, "If you break it—"
"I just want to teach a Mudblood a lesson—"
Harry had already realized that the Death Eaters were after the glass orb in his hand. Whatever it was, it mattered far less to him than his godfather and friends. He wanted to get everyone out alive, to end the rescue mission on a high note, not to let his friends die for his sake.
"If I break it, Voldemort will be furious, won't he?" Harry said, watching his friends holding hands, apparently passing something between them. He knew he needed to create chaos to give his friends a chance. "I really don't understand why you chose such a temperamental boss."
"Shut up!" The female Death Eater pulled down her hood, revealing Bellatrix's distorted face. She screamed, "You dare to speak his name from your lowly mouth, you dare to defile it with your mongrel tongue, you dare—"
"Lowly? Voldemort is a Halfblood too. Why don't you call him lowly?" Harry said in a calm tone, but the more he spoke, the more sarcastic it sounded, and the more it agitated some of the Death Eaters. At that moment, he felt Ginny tug at his sleeve and draw something on his back with her finger. He strained to make it out and realized she had written "ok."
"Stupefy—" "No." "Close your eyes." The words were shouted simultaneously by Bellatrix, Lucius Malfoy, and Liam. Harry, who had been prepared, immediately closed his eyes. Even so, he felt a sudden burst of light through his eyelids, like looking at the sun at noon, followed by a scream from nearby.
Harry immediately bent down, dodging a few spells, and then opened his eyes. He saw a Death Eater lying on the ground near Liam and Hermione, who were firing spells at the Death Eater while gesturing for everyone to retreat. One of the Weasley twins was supporting Sirius Black, who was staggering forward.
"Go, quickly." Hermione shouted at Harry, who was staring at her. Liam was holding up a shield of glowing white mist to block the spells from the Death Eaters, and under the faint glow, Harry saw that Liam's face was pale.
"What about you?" Harry asked.
"Go first. We're the strongest, so we'll buy you some time. The faster you run, the sooner we can follow." Hermione fired a spell with an eerie red light at a Death Eater who was trying to rush forward.
Harry knew this wasn't the time to waste any more moments, so he immediately dashed through the gap in the encirclement where everyone had retreated, sprinting towards the entrance. As he ran past the fallen Death Eater, he caught a glimpse of a pool of blood beneath the body.
This was also the handiwork of Liam and Hermione. After distributing the Sunlight Crystals to everyone and shattering them simultaneously, they took advantage of the moment when everyone instinctively closed their eyes. They both drew their swords and lunged, thrusting their blades towards the closest Death Eater they could remember. The nearest one was a tall, muscular figure who seemed to lack practical combat experience. Caught off guard, he froze, unable to react effectively.
As the sword tips approached his skin, they felt a slight resistance, likely from a defensive Magic Artifact, a common possession among many Pureblood Families. However, the artifact was clearly of inferior quality, and the defense crumbled instantly under the combined assault of the two Magic swords. Thus, they successfully pierced the Death Eater’s throat and heart, twisting their swords habitually before withdrawing them.
"Move." About twenty seconds later, as they watched the Death Eaters attempting to flank them, Liam and Hermione quickly pulled out several black, coal-like objects from their pockets and tossed them. These were the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder they had obtained from the Joke Shop. The effect was immediate, enveloping the area in pitch-black smoke. The Death Eaters, caught off guard, were unable to dispel the darkness and could only charge towards the entrance based on their memory. In the process, several of them were tripped by the portable swamps Hermione and Liam had set up along the way.
"Damn Mudbloods, I'll flay your skin off." As Liam and Hermione sprinted, they heard Bellatrix's furious shout from behind, followed by a small, muffled groan. Liam could sense that Rose Crystal and the others were taking advantage of the black smoke to attack, quickly dispatching an isolated Death Eater.
"Kill as many Death Eaters as possible in this room. Once everyone is out, immediately retreat with the bodies." Liam issued the command to the Miniature Dolls through the soul chain as they ran towards the door. "Remember, stay hidden and strike with lethal precision."
"Understood." The Miniature Dolls responded in unison. Soon, Liam and the others saw a door slightly ajar ahead, the same one they had entered through. As they burst out of the door, it slammed shut behind them. One of the Weasley Twins pointed his wand at the closed door and cast "Impedimenta!"
"You were taking a huge risk—" Sirius Black, leaning weakly against the wall, said. Liam's potion had temporarily restored his ability to move, but Voldemort's damage was still too severe. His current strength was on par with the weakest here, Ginny.
"We need to leave this place. I've heard that most rooms in the Department of Mysteries have multiple doors connecting them. It’s not safe here, and they’ll find other routes soon. We need to retreat to the main hall to find support." Sirius Black, being a seasoned veteran, quickly laid out the next steps after briefly scolding Harry.
However, just as they reached the door leading to the circular black foyer, it burst open, and two hooded Death Eaters stormed in.
"I found them, they’re still—” The Death Eater didn’t finish his sentence as he and his companion were immediately overwhelmed and knocked unconscious. But the message had been relayed, and the door that had been magically sealed was blown open. Several Death Eaters rushed in, firing spells wildly, causing the wall-mounted cabinets to crash down and shatter.
Strangely, the cabinet quickly returned to the wall, repeating the process of being destroyed. At that moment, Liam noticed a small pile of golden sand near him, as if an hourglass had broken there. He instinctively extended his hand, adorned with Magic Rings, and the sand particles rapidly flew into the gemstones embedded in the rings.
Although this was peculiar, there was no time for Liam to ponder it. He stood up and joined the others in retreating to the black circular hall. As the door to the Hall of Time closed, the walls began to rotate again. When they stopped, everyone realized that the silver Flame symbol they had left was completely gone.
"What do we do now?" Ginny cried out, her voice tinged with fear.
(End of Chapter)
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