Chapter 589: Ambush and Counter-Ambush
Chapter 589: Ambush and Counter-Ambush
After entering the Room of Requirement, they quickly arrived in front of the Vanishing Cabinet. The current state of the Vanishing Cabinet was far worse than before; most of the cabinet appeared to have been burned, and one of the doors was completely charred.
"Is this the trap you mentioned? It looks like it worked pretty well", Hermione said, a statement that left Malfoy somewhat shocked.
"Of course it did. You should trust my skills as an Alchemist", Liam replied, turning to look at the stunned Malfoy. "Who's the sixth one coming over?"
"——I don't know", Malfoy shook his head. "I only know it's a Dark Wizard from Turkey who is skilled in illusions."
"Alright, today we took down a non-Core Death Eater from Turkey", Liam said as he examined the Vanishing Cabinet. Malfoy, unable to contain his curiosity, finally asked, "What did you say? A trap?"
"Yes, a trap", Hermione said, crossing her arms. "At the start of the term, Liam discovered you were up to something here, so he set a few traps on the Vanishing Cabinet just in case. We didn't expect you to actually fall for it. But it looks like the trap worked well."
"You—how did you do that? Why didn't I notice any traps while repairing it?" As someone who had spent the entire term working on the Vanishing Cabinet, he was shocked that he hadn't noticed anything.
"Someone who spends an entire term just to fix this thing wouldn't stand a chance of noticing my work", Liam said with a look of disdain at Malfoy. At this moment, he had just confirmed that his trap had functioned perfectly. The only thing he didn't know was the identity of the person who had been hit by three Nuclear Bombs at Borgin and Burkes, but he figured they would get the information tomorrow. "We're done here. Let's go out."
"What's our next move?" Hermione asked.
"Go and bring out his mother. We did promise him that", Liam said, turning to look at the cowering Malfoy in the corner. "Oh, and once we're out, check if his hand is still there. If it is, help him reattach it. He's on our side now."
Fortunately, Malfoy's left hand was still lying at the entrance of the Room of Requirement, though it was pinned under the body of a bearded Death Eater. Hermione only took a couple of minutes to reattach his hand.
"Let's go and get her. I think the Dark Lord might already know that the operation at Hogwarts didn't go well. We need to move quickly", Liam said, removing the protective barriers blocking the corridor.
Just as the three of them reached the staircase, a figure in black robes appeared, and a deep male voice spoke. "I didn't see any patrolling figures on the seventh floor. Why were you all hiding upstairs instead of patrolling?"
"Professor Snape, I—", Malfoy started, sounding a bit panicked, but Liam cut him off. "Professor, there were a few intruders trying to infiltrate the Room of Requirement just now. They've been taken care of, thanks to Malfoy's help."
"I didn't—", Malfoy's face changed dramatically at this, but he felt Hermione's wand pressing into his lower back. He quickly changed his words. "I mean, it's my duty as a Prefect."
"Very well", Snape said, lowering his head to look closely at Malfoy's face. Malfoy was extremely nervous, even breaking into a sweat at the temples. However, Snape either didn't notice Malfoy's discomfort or dismissed it as a result of the recent battle. He pointed downstairs and said, "You can go rest now. I'll handle things upstairs."
"Then we will take our leave." Liam gave a slight bow and started walking downstairs, but he sent a message to Hermione through the Phoenix Mark. Upon receiving the message, Hermione gripped her wand tightly and became alert.
Just as Liam and the others reached one-third of the way down the stairs, Liam abruptly turned and cast the Armor Charm, blocking a silver-glowing spell that Snape had sneaked in. At the same time, Hermione fired a red and black beam that forced Snape to retreat from his ambush position.
Liam then sprinted upstairs, rapidly tapping his wand to cast a series of silver-white orbs with wisps of electricity. Feeling the power within the orbs, Snape was forced to abandon his planned spell and cast a Protective Shield. The orbs struck his magical barrier, bursting into dazzling lightning that forced him to step back repeatedly. The stray stones that missed their target exploded into the floor, creating craters and sending shards that tore through Snape's robes.
Reaching the Eighth Floor corridor, Liam waved his wand at the chandelier, which immediately transformed into a metallic skeleton with only a body and limbs, clawing at Snape with sharp talons. Snape deftly flicked his wand, turning the floor tiles into giant serpents that shattered the metal skeleton and charged at Liam.
Liam waved his left hand, adorned with rings, and the serpents disintegrated, returning to the floor tiles that floated in the air. Pointing his wand at Snape, he turned the tiles into lava, sending them hurtling back at Snape.
Snape cast a spell at the ceiling, causing large chunks to fall and block the lava, creating a cloud of dust that filled the corridor. Liam had to use a spell to clear the dust, all the while nervously watching for any sign of Snape's ambush.
A few seconds later, the dust settled, and Liam saw Snape fleeing with his back to him. He immediately gave chase, but just a few steps in, Snape turned into an empty classroom, and the sound of shattering glass echoed from inside.
When Liam entered the empty classroom, he found the window glass shattered. Through the broken window, he saw a large, bat-like figure flying through the darkness toward the wall.
"How is Snape?" Hermione asked, her left hand gripping Malfoy's neck and her right hand pressing her wand against his chin as she approached the classroom door. "I heard a lot of commotion upstairs and came up."
"I think I won; Snape fled." Liam pointed to the large hole in the window. "By the way, could you ease up a bit? Malfoy has already passed out."
"I was a bit tense and used too much force, but I promise he's still alive", Hermione said, somewhat embarrassed, and then placed Malfoy on the ground. She cast "Recovery" on his face, which had turned purple from the tight grip on his neck.
Malfoy gasped for air and started coughing violently, then burst into tears. "You've doomed me. Snape will tell the Dark Lord that I messed everything up today. I'm really going to die now."
"Don't worry. The Dark Lord's goal is to have you die anyway. No matter how bad it gets, you can't die twice", Liam tried to reassure him, but it seemed to have no effect, and Malfoy continued to look despondent.
"Alright, let's go." Liam pulled Malfoy up from the floor. "If you want to save your mother, we can't afford to waste any more time."
"But how do we get there?" Malfoy asked.
"Grab my arm."
Malfoy did as he was told and asked, "What's next?"
"Next, we leave. Hermione, the usual spot." With a sound like a whip crack, Liam vanished with Malfoy, and Hermione disappeared a moment later after spinning on the spot.
(End of Chapter)
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