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Chapter 488: Felix's Death and Return (10,000 Words) (Part 2)
Chapter 488: Felix's Death and Return (10,000 Words) (Part 2)
"Let's bow to each other, Harry", he said, bowing slightly, but his snake-like face never left Harry's. "Come on, etiquette must be observed... Dumbledore would want you to be very graceful... bow to death, Harry..."
Harry stubbornly stared at him. Voldemort's wand pressed down lightly, and Harry was bent over. To humiliate him further, Voldemort deliberately kept him in that position for a while. Laughter filled the air.
This was good... Harry thought, at least it bought time.
"Then, let the duel begin."
Harry quickly raised his wand, red light gathering at the tip, but Voldemort struck him with even greater speed. It was the Cruciatus Curse. Harry fell to the ground in agony, feeling white-hot knives slicing through his body. He screamed in pain, stumbling into the wall of Death Eaters. He saw one of them, with pale blond hair under the mask, reaching into his pocket.
What is he doing? Harry wondered. The next second, he was pushed back by the surrounding Death Eaters.
"Does it hurt, Harry?" Voldemort asked, his nostrils flaring with excitement. "Need a break? You must learn to endure, because I will keep using this spell... the Cruciatus Curse... until the end of your life."
The surrounding voices were hushed, and the Death Eaters looked at Voldemort with reverence. Voldemort was thoroughly satisfied.
But Harry noticed something strange. Apart from the initial strike that disarmed him, Voldemort had only used one spell on him. And the wary expression he thought he saw... Harry suddenly understood.
"You're afraid of me! Voldemort, you're afraid of me!" Harry shouted loudly.
"What did you say, Potter?" Voldemort asked softly.
"You don't dare use the Killing Curse on me, do you!" Harry shouted, stating his guess regardless of whether it was true or not, at least to buy some time. "You fear the magic my mother gave me with her life, worrying that the spell might rebound on you again, which would be the end for you! You'd be a complete laughingstock!"
The surrounding Death Eaters were silent, only the cold night wind rustled through the grass and the branches of the yew trees.
Voldemort was briefly silent, then a cold smile appeared on his face. "I just wanted to torture you—Cruciatus Curse!"
The spell hit Harry, but this time he didn't fall. He trembled all over, but his eyes remained fixed on Voldemort. "You're afraid, Voldemort! I wasn't sure before, but now I am one hundred percent certain. My mother's protection is in my blood, and you can't stand the pain, can you!"
"Thirteen years ago was once! Three years ago, when you were attached to the back of Quirinus Quirrell's head, it happened again! You were so pathetic back then, it would be good to show these people your pitiful state!" Harry mocked loudly. Voldemort looked furious, and his pale, slender hand trembled for the first time.
"Cruciatus Curse—Cruciatus Curse—Cruciatus Curse—"
Harry fearlessly spread his arms, giving up resistance. At that moment, a blood-red light descended from the sky, striking the ground in front of Harry with a loud thud, "Clang! Clang! Clang!" The Cruciatus Curse missed.
Harry's eyes widened. In front of him stood a steel knight, indistinguishable as a magical automaton or a spell. He could only barely make out that the knight was wearing medieval armor, covered in blood, as if he had just been in battle. The knight held a massive shield in both hands.
"What—?" Voldemort suddenly turned his head, looking up into the sky, gritting his teeth. "Felix Hep!"
"It's me", Felix said calmly, standing in the air with a pair of shimmering silver wings gently fluttering behind him.
"You came just in time", Voldemort said with a cold laugh. "I've been suppressing the urge to find you, but I didn't expect you to come to me—Avada Kedavra!" Green light filled the sky, and Felix's silver wings flashed as his body abruptly disappeared from the air.
When he reappeared, he was standing next to Harry and the knight, holding a ball of black lightning in his left hand. With his other hand, he slashed, and the ropes binding Ron and Hermione immediately loosened, causing them to stumble and kneel. "Take Ron and Hermione and go, use the Triwizard Cup as a Portkey. The 'knight' will protect you temporarily", he told Harry.
A surge of hope welled up in Harry's chest.
"Stop them!" Voldemort's snake-like face contorted, green light filling his vision. The knight grabbed Harry and dodged to the side, while Felix nimbly turned to avoid the spell. He reappeared in the air, and the black lightning in his hand poured down, striking the ground with over a hundred bolts.
The Death Eaters scattered, but a few unfortunate ones were hit.
Felix noticed Barty Crouch Jr. moving towards Harry, his eyes flickering, but he pretended not to see.
Harry found himself being led by the 'knight' to Ron and Hermione. "Thank you—" he didn't know what to say. There might be a wizard inside the armor, but he was suddenly stunned because the knight had been partially dissolved by the green light of the Killing Curse. The upper part of the shield and the right shoulder were gone, the edges neatly corroded by some green substance.
"Harry, the Cup—" Hermione said weakly, helping Ron to his feet.
"The Cup—right, Accio Triwizard Cup!" Harry shouted, raising his wand. But the battle was too intense, and even though they were at the edge of the battlefield, they still felt the aftereffects. Large amounts of soil were thrown up, and black tombstones rose into the air, controlled by Voldemort to smash towards Felix.
"Hey, I think the Cup is in that direction", Ron said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, right!" Harry quickly said, changing the direction of his wand. "Accio Triwizard Cup!" He heard a whistling sound, and this time it was correct. Suddenly, a figure rushed out, shouting, "Reducio!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched helplessly as the Crushing Curse shattered the Triwizard Cup.
"Follow me, we need to deal with Potter and his friends! The Master will take care of Hep!" Barty Crouch Jr. shouted, and a dozen dark figures responded, firing a barrage of colorful spells at them. The knight stepped forward, holding the damaged shield upright on the ground, deflecting all the spells.
"Flank them from behind!" Barty Crouch Jr. saw the loophole.
"Let's retreat!" Harry shouted, extending his wand through the gap and casting a Disarming Charm silently. A Death Eater's wand flew out of his hand towards Harry. "Diffindo", Harry said, and the wand broke into several pieces in mid-air.
"Where should we retreat to?" Ron shouted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Harry didn't answer. He saw that the Death Eaters were circling around to their flank. He quickly cast several Stunning Spells, which missed their targets but startled the two overeager Death Eaters, making them hesitant to advance.
Hermione tugged at Ron. "There's a huge yew tree behind us."
Harry was at a loss. He didn't know how to make the 'knight' obey. From its previous behavior, it seemed quite intelligent, almost as if it wasn't just a magical construct.
"We need to retreat. Follow us, can you hear me?" Harry said to the knight.
There was no response. The knight simply stood indifferently in front of them.
By this time, the Death Eaters had closed in again.
"Retreat!" Harry said decisively, casting a Runic Script Shield Charm. They took a few steps back, and the knight, which had been motionless, moved back a step as well, always staying in front of them.
"It's working!" Harry exclaimed in relief. They quickly retreated to the yew tree, and with the protection of the massive trunk and the knight's shield, they managed to hold their ground.
"Here!" Harry pulled two wands from his pocket, which he had picked up earlier.
"Fantastic!" Ron shouted, his face pale. With Ron and Hermione joining the fight, the Death Eaters became more cautious, especially after Ron used Fiendfyre to turn one of them into a burning torch.
The Death Eaters tried to extinguish the fire, but ordinary water had no effect. After a short while, the fire died out on its own, leaving the Death Eater barely alive.
"They're afraid of this spell! We should have thought of it sooner—particularly effective against Dark Wizards!"
Hermione managed to use some Ancient Magic. Golden fire transformed into a phoenix, which flew swiftly to a Death Eater and pecked at his face, causing the Death Eater to scream in agony.
"Help me!" he shouted.
Barty Crouch summoned a stream of water, and the golden fire slowly extinguished. The Death Eater was left with burned and mangled flesh.
"Is he dead?" Hermione asked, trembling.
"Who cares!" Ron shouted.
However, Hermione then made the phoenix circle around the yew tree and the knight, sprinkling golden fire. Despite Barty Crouch's urging, the Death Eaters dared not advance.
"Use the Reducio spell!" Barty Crouch shouted.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry seized the opportunity and cast a Disarming Charm with all his might. The red light of the spell shot out like a long laser beam. Barty Crouch immediately cast a Shield Charm, and Harry intensified his magic. Sparks flew as the light beam struck, and three Death Eaters near Barty Crouch were hit, their wands flying out of their hands into the darkness. Ron followed up with a Stunning Spell—
"Only two of them", Ron said regretfully.
Harry glanced at the distance. The graveyard was in ruins, with deep pits and scattered debris. Professor Hep used continuous Apparition, creating seven shadowy figures at once. The spells formed a dense, impenetrable net, trapping Voldemort in the center. It was a carefully laid trap, and the spell Professor Hep used was—
the Killing Curse!
Voldemort summoned a silver shield from thin air. The Killing Curse struck the shield, making a sizzling sound. In the next second, the weakened Killing Curse struggled to pierce the shield, but Voldemort had already taken advantage of the moment to escape.
Voldemort grinned wickedly. "Not bad, but your Killing Curse is too weak. It's my turn!" He raised his wand, and his figure vanished. He hovered in mid-air, moving without any wings, appearing on Felix's right side. A blinding green light illuminated half the graveyard—
"Avada Kedavra—"
The spell shattered Felix into pieces.
The battle froze for a moment. Everyone looked up at the sky, where the green light had not yet dissipated. Fragments of Felix's body, glowing like crystals, floated down like petals.
Lucius Malfoy, who had been holding back, gaped in shock. He was dead? And Dumbledore? Are you so confident you can handle the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters? He quickly reached into his pocket, where he kept the communication device Felix had given him, now a hot potato.
...
"How is this possible?" Harry's mind reeled. He knew Voldemort was terrifying, but Professor Hep had always seemed equally powerful to him. He scanned the area in disbelief, hoping the professor had used Apparition and would reappear to deliver a fatal blow to Voldemort.
Everyone seemed to share this hope, gripping their wands tightly and watching the sky warily. The stars twinkled in the night.
Harry's heart sank. The knight, which had withstood Voldemort's Killing Curse, was now becoming transparent. It was breaking down on its own, without any attack from anyone...
Professor Hep really died?
Both enemies and allies needed a moment to accept this reality. Only Voldemort moved on the field, tilting his head back and taking a deep breath, his palm brushing over his bald forehead, as if savoring the moment.
A formidable enemy was finally dead.
Another person moved. Hermione took out her beaded purse and reached inside, muttering, "Please... please... it has to be in there." Her voice was tinged with tears.
She retrieved the Time-Turner, placed it around her neck, and turned the dial. "Just three hours earlier", she whispered, her fingers trembling. Harry and Ron both looked at the small Time-Turner, their eyes gradually brightening with hope.
At the same time, the knight that had been blocking them finally disintegrated into countless points of light, like fireflies scattering in the night.
"Ooh—" Hermione's hands shook as she turned the dial once, twice, three times. It worked— the Death Eaters were still unaware of what had happened.
"Reducio!" a voice called out, unable to hide its smugness. Harry's eyes widened, and he quickly cast a Shield Charm, the magical barrier forming almost instantly. However, a bright white light slipped through a gap and struck the Time-Turner.
The Time-Turner began to spin rapidly.
Hermione's figure vanished in an instant.
"Where did that girl go?"
"What did she do?"
"Was it a Disillusionment Charm or Apparition—"
At this moment, Voldemort's gaze also turned toward the scene. He was both surprised by the disappearance of the Muggle girl and by the fact that Harry Potter was still alive, having endured until now.
Harry had been right; Voldemort indeed lacked the courage to cast the Killing Curse on him, fearing a repeat of the nightmare from thirteen years ago. So, Voldemort had devised a method to torture Harry with the Cruciatus Curse, both to assert his authority and to avoid the risk of the spell backfiring.
But apart from Felix Hep's death, everything that happened tonight was far from satisfactory.
Voldemort remained silent, hoping someone would notice his "embarrassment" and help him deal with the Harry Potter problem. Barty Crouch Jr. and Lucius Malfoy had always been able to guess his thoughts in the past.
A faint sound of footsteps echoed in the silent night, like a bolt of lightning. Hermione ran out from behind the huge yew tree—
"Hermione!"
"Hermione!"
Harry and Ron were overjoyed. They understood how the Time-Turner worked; for Hermione, it might have been hours, but for them, it was just a blink of an eye. Harry had been worried that the Time-Turner might have been affected by Barty Crouch Jr.'s spell, but Hermione's reappearance meant she had succeeded.
"Hermione, Professor—he—" Harry started to say, but was suddenly pushed back by a surge of power from Hermione. Her body began to glow with a brilliant golden light. Her appearance rapidly aged... no, it was more like she had grown older, as if she had aged ten years in an instant, but the next moment, she returned to her original form, the previous changes seeming like an illusion.
"Click!"
The Time-Turner around her neck shattered.
"It's time—" Barty Crouch Jr. shouted, a sense of immense danger overwhelming him. He was absolutely sure of his feeling. "Master, save—"
But Voldemort had already moved. Standing on a high hill, he saw a bolt of black lightning pierce Barty Crouch Jr.'s head—he was dead.
"Felix Hep!" Voldemort looked around in shock. "Where is he?"
He saw Felix. It was more like a ghost, a vengeful ghost. Felix's body was covered in intricate, strange runes, glowing with a bizarre, multicolored light.
"Pro... Professor?" Ron gaped, Professor Hep's face seemed completely transformed by Runic Script, looking even more terrifying than Voldemort beside him.
"It's me", Felix grinned, his teeth also composed of runes, some of which Ron recognized.
"Put your hands on my arm", Felix said. As he spoke, a flood of light points swarmed from all directions, filling his body. Harry, Ron, and Hermione complied, and then Felix extended his other hand, a wand appearing in it.
He surveyed the surroundings, the Death Eaters avoiding his gaze. Only Voldemort looked down at him from above, his expression inscrutable. Felix smiled. Scared, huh?
He immediately Apparated, disappearing from the graveyard.
The next second, Felix, Harry, Ron, and Hermione reappeared outside the maze castle in a temporary tent.
"Professor, you really did it! You came back from the dead—oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed, Harry and Ron sharing her joy.
Felix smiled at them and then suddenly collapsed, weakly.
"Professor—"
"Professor Hep!"
"Professor—"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione shouted in unison. At that moment, chaos reigned both inside and outside the maze castle.
(End of Chapter)
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