Chapter 880: The Damaged Wand
Chapter 880: The Damaged Wand
Cedric led the group in one direction.
For some reason, the lush vegetation on the Heshidi Islands had been almost entirely cleared, and even in the evening, visibility was unobstructed.
After traversing a hilltop, gasps echoed among the crowd.
It was evidently a dueling site, but the aftermath was a bit over the top.
Their eyes first landed on a large patch of ashen swamp, nearly the size of a Quidditch pitch, with a nearly three-foot-wide fissure cleaving the ground, its depths unseen. The cliffs on either side were pockmarked, likely the result of explosive spells.
It was hard to fathom how intense the battle must have been to result in such devastation.
Mr. Weasley stood before a boulder nearly as tall as himself, looking slightly dazed.
The boulder straddled the fissure, seemingly crushing something beneath it, as evidenced by the dark traces surrounding it.
On the adjacent cliff face, there remained a similarly shaped gap where the boulder had once fit.
"This must have been directly pried out with magic," Scrimgeour concluded as he approached.
He attempted to manipulate the boulder with his wand, aiming to move it off the fissure, but to no avail. The massive stone only wobbled before settling back into place.
It took the combined efforts of Mr. Weasley and another Auror to nudge the boulder aside with a levitation charm, eventually standing it upright in the matching gap on the cliff face.
A perfect fit.
"Was this the work of the mysterious man as well?" Someone asked, their voice laced with apprehension.
Such a large stone could have caused severe bruising if it had struck someone.
"I'm not sure. It could have been someone else," Mr. Weasley replied, crouching down to scrutinize the dark traces.
They resembled shards polluted by dark magic—even in their crushed state, they retained their corrosive properties.
Mr. Weasley pulled out a piece of parchment and tossed it onto the dark traces. In the blink of an eye, the parchment withered, turned a scorched yellow, and was reduced to powder by a gentle breeze.
It wasn't difficult to imagine the fate of a witch or wizard who came into contact with such substances.
"This is more like the mysterious man's style."
Several older Aurors nodded in agreement. They had encountered the mysterious man and witnessed his diverse dark magic a decade ago.
This scenario certainly fit his modus operandi.
Of course, in most cases, the mysterious man relied on the Killing Curse when facing enemies, only employing other spells during his battles with Dumbledore.
They had been fortunate to witness a few of those encounters.
"Arthur, are you saying someone fought the mysterious man here?" Mrs. Weasley clutched her chest, her eyes wide.
What if the mysterious man was still here... The thought of Fred and George's reckless intrusion made her dizzy.
"Don't worry, Molly. The mysterious man is likely long gone," Mr. Weasley assured her quietly.
If the mysterious man were still around, he wouldn't have failed to detect their presence. The fact that he hadn't shown up in all this time was telling.
"It seems someone arrived here before us and drove him away."
Could someone drive away the mysterious man?
"Professor Dumbledore?" An Auror blurted out, voicing the thought that came to their minds.
In their opinion, only Albus Dumbledore could accomplish such a feat.
"Yes, probably," Mr. Weasley concurred.
Cedric, who stood nearby, fell into a thoughtful silence.
He considered another possibility.
Kyle.
After all, it was Kyle who had sent him the message, indicating that he was also on the Heshidi Islands and had arrived before them.
But the question remained: Could Kyle drive away the mysterious man?
Probably not, he admitted to himself.
It wasn't that Cedric didn't trust his friend, but he acknowledged that Kyle's abilities had far surpassed their own. However, to suggest that Kyle could drive away the mysterious man... He found that hard to believe.
In everyone's perception, only Professor Dumbledore could defeat the mysterious man, and for Kyle, a recent graduate, to match the professor's prowess?
That would be a tough claim to sell.
But if it wasn't Kyle, where was he?
Cedric discreetly retreated to the back of the crowd and, with a hint of trepidation, wrote a message on a piece of message parchment.
There was no response.
But Cedric breathed a sigh of relief.
The writing on the parchment remained clear and hadn't faded, indicating that the recipient was out of range, beyond the reach of the message parchment.
It seemed Kyle had left the Heshidi Islands.
Cedric was relieved, as his greatest fear was being able to use the message parchment but failing to locate Kyle.
"Hey, come look over here!"
A shout from a short distance away snapped Cedric back to the present.
He immediately turned toward the source of the voice.
It was a damaged cliff face, seemingly collapsed by magic, and from the traces left behind, it appeared to be the origin point of the raging inferno that had swept across the island.
Drippings of lava-like substances still fell from above from time to time, serving as a reminder of the intense heat and destruction that had occurred.
"Damn that mysterious man! Does he want to raze the Heshidi Islands to the ground?"
"Someone spoke up indignantly.
"That's the mysterious man; there's nothing he can't do," someone else said softly. "How many places has he destroyed?"
The person was immediately cut short as the reality of the situation sank in. Indeed, over a decade ago, he had even blown up the Ministry of Magic.
"All right, that's enough," Scrimgeour interrupted harshly. "Instead of talking about the mysterious man, we should be thinking about how to put out these raging fires. If we don't get them under control soon, the entire Heshidi Islands will be burned to the ground."
The Aurors immediately fell silent.
"If we're talking about extinguishing the fires..." Mr. Weasley thought for a moment. "I'd say the best spell for that would be the 'All-Ending Spell.'"
"Good idea," Scrimgeour agreed. "Larry, take a few people and keep watch around the perimeter. The rest of you who know that spell, form a line and drive your wands into the ground to maximize the range."
The group quickly divided, with some heading to the outskirts, while the rest made their way to the edge of the raging fires.
Following Scrimgeour's command, everyone drove their wands, glowing with an orange light, into the ground beneath their feet.
"All-Ending Spell!"
The ground seemed to split open with an orange fissure as surging orange flames erupted forth, engulfing and swiftly consuming the golden fires along with them, leaving no trace.
Once the fires were extinguished, the lava-like substances began to rapidly cool, solidify, and emit a pungent odor.
"Hmm, very effective," Scrimgeour straightened up. This time, the combined use of the All-Ending Spell by the group had managed to extinguish about fifty feet of the fiery trail, a significant achievement. All that remained was... well...
Scrimgeour glanced at the endless golden fire line stretching into the distance and heaved a soft sigh.
"Let's keep at it... We need to put out all these fires before daybreak, damn that mysterious man."
"Yes, damn that mysterious man," the others echoed, each harboring their own resentment.
While the patches of fire were not large, they were incredibly long. And despite their combined efforts, they had only managed to extinguish a small portion.
Fortunately, these fires didn't spread, or they would have been truly helpless.
"Arthur, stop daydreaming!" Scrimgeour prompted Mr. Weasley, who immediately snapped out of his daze and jogged to join the line, once again driving his wand into the ground and repeating the motion endlessly.
...
Scrimgeour's optimism was short-lived.
By the time they finished extinguishing the last stretch of the fiery trail, it was already midday on the following day.
Having worked through the night, the exhausted group slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.
Several people examined their wands, their faces bearing an expression of dismay.
Their wands were damaged.
Although the All-Ending Spell created a protective layer around the wands, the continuous use had taken its toll.
After repeatedly driving their wands into the ground countless times, the outermost layer had been completely worn away, exposing the core within. A few wands had even snapped in half.
Mr. Weasley's expression turned blank as he realized his wand was among the damaged ones. Replacing it would cost a pretty penny...
"Don't worry, Dad. Fred and I will take care of it," Fred and George reassured him as they approached.
Since they didn't know the All-Ending Spell, they had been spared this fate, but they had also missed the spectacle of so many wands being destroyed at once.
If given the choice, they would have loved to join in, just to witness Ollivander's reaction.
"Damn that mysterious man," someone muttered under their breath, a sentiment that quickly resonated with the others.
They weren't Hogwarts freshmen who got discounts on wands. Replacing their wands would cost a significant portion of their monthly salary.
However, some also felt a sense of relief. Compared to encountering the mysterious man directly, merely having to pay for a new wand was a fortunate outcome.
"Rufus, shouldn't the Auror Office reimburse us for the wand money?" someone asked, joining the conversation. "We don't need much, just about twenty galleons would do."
It was Mundungus, who had been missing in action earlier, but now that there was a chance for personal gain, he suddenly reappeared.
Normally, he wouldn't dare approach the Director of the Auror Office, but things were different now that he represented the Order of the Phoenix.
Scrimgeour frowned, his dislike for Mundungus evident. The man's flaws were numerous—a petty thief, timid, and disloyal... He couldn't fathom why Dumbledore had recruited such a person into the Order.
Had age caught up with the old wizard, clouding his judgment? And here he was, asking for money when he hadn't lifted a finger to help?
Scrimgeour took a deep breath, about to say something, when a sudden, unexpected roar of dragons interrupted him.
The sound multiplied, quickly filling the entire island.
Even without prior knowledge of dragons, they could hear the anger in the dragons' voices.
"They're... the black dragons of Heshidi Islands!" Cedric was the first to realize the gravity of the situation, his voice filled with dread.
As he spoke, the sky quickly darkened as countless black dragons hovered overhead, blocking out the sun.
"We're done for..."
Someone collapsed to the ground in despair.
With so many dragons bearing down on them, their fate seemed sealed.
"I remember this place is the territory of the Black Dragons, and these Fire Dragons loathe magic the most."
"We're done for; it must have been our 'All-Ending Spell' that attracted their attention."
"No, I don't think it's us." As a former dragon keeper, Charlie had some knowledge about Fire Dragons.
"If it was the 'All-Ending Spell,' they would have rioted from the start; there was no need to wait until now.
"And don't forget, the Blazing Fire is also magic, and an even more potent Dark magic at that... Strange, why were they so quiet before?"
Charlie couldn't understand why the dragons hadn't made a sound when the Blazing Fire was still present. He had always assumed that the Black Dragons were no longer in the vicinity.
Just as they finished cleaning up the Blazing Fire, these massive creatures appeared.
"So, what do we do now...?"
No one cared about the dragons' thoughts, and the crowd immediately stood up, brandishing their battered and bruised wands.
Using these to fend off Fire Dragons?
That was a joke.
Even Scrimgeour's face was grave as he looked up, his eyes fixed on the dragons in the sky.
"Don't make a move, whatever you do, put down your wands."
Myles ran over, breathless. "Put down your wands, don't provoke them any further."
"Who are you...?" Scrimgeour eyed the newcomer warily.
"Myles MacFusty."
"Are you from the MacFusty family?"
"Yes." Myles nodded. "Please, no more magic. You don't want to see these Black Dragons flying over to Britain, do you?"
"What's going on here?" Scrimgeour demanded. "Where were you before?"
"On the other side of the island, calming the Black Dragons," Myles replied without a hint of fear. "To prevent them from being killed by the mysterious man!"
"Can the mysterious man kill Fire Dragons?" someone asked.
"If you had seen him, you wouldn't ask such a stupid question." Myles glanced at the Auror who had spoken, too lazy to explain further.
In fact, there were already Black Dragons slain by the mysterious man, and not just one.
A hint of regret flashed in Myles's eyes, and he turned away, whistling softly.
The dragons in the sky quieted slightly at the sound, but they didn't descend, continuing to fly overhead while emitting deafening roars.
"What's going on here?" Scrimgeour asked again.
"The mysterious man is chasing another wizard whose name I don't know," Myles said grimly. "As for what happened between them, as I said before, I was on the other side of the island and didn't see it clearly."
"What about these Black Dragons, then?" Charlie asked. "Am I mistaken, or do I sense... fear in their roars?"
It was unfathomable that anything could instill fear in Fire Dragons.
"It is fear," Myles acknowledged, glancing at Charlie. "If you had witnessed the apocalyptic Blazing Fire magic or seen the mysterious man blow up half a mountain, you would be afraid, too."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Mr. Weasley stepped forward and asked.
"No, and you can't help anyway..." Myles paused briefly, then continued, "However, this disturbance is too big, and it will be difficult for us to calm the Black Dragons quickly with just our efforts.
"If possible, could you contact a specialist and ask him to come here?"
"A specialist?"
"Mr. Christoph Joppe from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Myles said. "He's been here before and is quite skilled at handling Black Dragons. He should be able to help us a lot."
The crowd subconsciously looked at Cedric, the only one among them who was from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
"Well, I'm sorry." Cedric stepped forward, scratching his hair. "The director went to deal with the remaining Dementors two days ago and hasn't been at the department recently. I looked for him before I came here, but he wasn't in his office."
"I see." Myles shook his head. "In that case, I'll have to write to Mr. Scamander and hope he has time."
"What about us...?"
Mr. Weasley wanted to say something more, but Myles interrupted him.
"I appreciate your help in putting out the Blazing Fire on the island." Myles waved his hand. "But you're used to solving problems with magic, and you're not suited to help calm the Black Dragons. Your presence here will only cause us trouble."
"If you have any questions, please wait until after we've calmed the Black Dragons. I'll tell you everything I know then."
Scrimgeour hesitated, reluctant to let go of any clues related to the mysterious man.
However, a streak of fire that fell from the sky made his decision for him. The fire landed just a few feet away from them, and the Black Dragon seemed eager to rush over and kill them, but Myles's presence was the only thing holding it back.
"We'll be back." Scrimgeour made the call.
With the island's Black Dragons in chaos, it wasn't the right time to ask questions.
Besides, they also needed to replace their wands as soon as possible.
...
(End of Chapter)
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