Chapter 880: The Damaged Wand
Chapter 880: The Damaged Wand
Cedric led the group in a specific direction.
For some reason, the once lush vegetation on the Hesidiri Archipelago had been mostly cleared, leaving the area bare and visible even at night.
After crossing a hill, the group gasped in unison.
It was evident that this was the site of a duel, but the aftermath seemed a bit exaggerated.
They immediately spotted a large, grayish swamp, almost the size of a Quidditch field, with a nearly three-foot-wide crack in the ground. The crack seemed bottomless, and the cliffs on either side were pockmarked, likely from the impact of magic.
It was hard to imagine the intensity of the battle that could have caused such destruction.
Mr. Weasley approached a boulder nearly as tall as himself, standing in a slight daze.
The boulder was perfectly positioned on the crack, seemingly crushing something beneath it, leaving dark traces around the area.
On the adjacent cliff, there was a similarly shaped indentation.
"This was probably pried out directly with magic," Scrimgeour concluded as he approached.
He attempted to use his wand to move the boulder, but to no avail. The massive rock merely wobbled before settling back into its original position.
It wasn't until Mr. Weasley and another Auror assisted that they managed to levitate the boulder with a floating charm and placed it upright over the indentation.
It fit perfectly.
"Is this the Dark Lord's doing as well?" someone asked, swallowing nervously.
Such a massive stone would surely leave bruises if it hit someone.
"I'm not sure, it could be someone else," Mr. Weasley said, crouching down to examine the dark traces.
They resembled fragments of stones corrupted by dark magic, retaining their corrosive properties even after being shattered.
Mr. Weasley pulled out a scroll from his pocket and tossed it onto the traces. In the blink of an eye, the scroll withered, turning dry and yellow, and was reduced to powder by a gentle breeze.
It was unimaginable what would happen if a wizard came into contact with such a substance.
"This is more like the Dark Lord's handiwork."
Several older Aurors nodded in agreement, having encountered the Dark Lord and his endless dark magic a decade ago.
This situation indeed fit the Dark Lord's modus operandi.
Of course, in most cases, the Dark Lord would simply use the Killing Curse against his enemies, only employing other spells when fighting Dumbledore.
They had witnessed this on a few occasions.
"Arthur, are you saying someone fought the Dark Lord here?" Mrs. Weasley clutched her chest.
What if the Dark Lord was still here and hadn't left... Fred and George's reckless intrusion made her feel dizzy.
"Molly, the Dark Lord should have already left," Mr. Weasley said softly.
If the Dark Lord were still present, he wouldn't have missed their presence, but his prolonged absence was telling.
"Someone must have come here before us and driven the Dark Lord away."
Could someone drive away the Dark Lord? "Headmaster Dumbledore, perhaps?" an Auror suggested subconsciously.
In their minds, only Albus Dumbledore could defeat the Dark Lord.
"Yeah, probably," Mr. Weasley agreed, sharing the same thought.
Cedric, standing nearby, fell into a slight reverie.
He considered another possibility.
Kyle.
After all, Kyle was the one who sent him the message, indicating that he was also on the Hesidiri Archipelago and had arrived before them.
But the question was, could Kyle drive away the Dark Lord?
That seemed unlikely.
It wasn't that Cedric didn't trust his friend; he acknowledged that Kyle's abilities had far surpassed theirs. But to say that Kyle could drive away the Dark Lord... He didn't believe it.
After all, in everyone's perception, only Headmaster Dumbledore could defeat the Dark Lord. Could a recently graduated student like Kyle rival Headmaster Dumbledore?
No one would believe it if they said so.
But if it wasn't Kyle, where was he?
Cedric discreetly retreated to the back of the group and anxiously wrote a line on his sending scroll.
There was no response.
But Cedric also breathed a sigh of relief.
The writing on the scroll remained clear and hadn't faded, indicating that the recipient was too far away, beyond the range of the sending scroll.
It seemed Kyle had left the Hesidiri Archipelago.
Cedric was most afraid that the sending scroll would work but fail to locate Kyle.
"Hey, come and see this!"
A sudden shout from a distance drew Cedric's attention.
He immediately looked in the direction of the voice.
It was a broken mountain, and from the traces left behind, it appeared to have been forcibly collapsed by magic. Moreover, it was the source of the Fiendfyre that ran through the entire island.
The Fiendfyre originated from here, and occasionally, molten-like substances would drip from above.
"Damn the Dark Lord, is he trying to destroy the Hesidiri Archipelago?"
"Someone spoke indignantly."
"That's the Dark Lord. Is there anything he can't do?" someone murmured. "Hasn't he destroyed enough already?"
The person was momentarily choked with emotion... After careful consideration, it seemed true. Over a decade ago, he even blew up the Ministry of Magic.
"Alright, enough talk." Scrimgeour sternly rebuked, "Instead of discussing the Dark Lord here, it's better to think of ways to extinguish these Fiery Flames. If we continue to let it burn, the Hebrides will truly be burned through."
The Aurors immediately closed their mouths.
"If we're extinguishing the Fiery Flames..." Mr. Weasley thought for a moment and said, "Final Spell, this is the most effective spell."
"No problem." Scrimgeour said, "Larry, you take a few people to keep watch around, and the others who can use this spell, line up and insert your wands into the ground to increase the range."
Upon hearing this, the group automatically split up, with some going to the surroundings and the rest actively moving to the edge of the Fiery Flames.
Following Scrimgeour's command, everyone immediately thrust their wands, emitting an orange glow, into the ground beneath their feet.
"Final Spell!"
The ground seemed to crack open with an orange fissure, and a surging orange flame erupted, covering the golden Fiery Flame and swiftly swallowing it, disappearing together.
After the Fiery Flame was extinguished, the lava-like substance also began to cool and solidify rapidly, emitting a choking odor.
"Hmm, very effective." Scrimgeour straightened up. This time, the Final Spell used by everyone together had extinguished about fifty feet of the Fiery Flame, and the effect was significant. There was still... Hmm...
Scrimgeour took a glance at the seemingly endless golden fire line and sighed softly.
"Keep going... Let's extinguish all of these before dawn, damn Dark Lord."
"Yeah, damn Dark Lord."
The others also silently cursed in their hearts.
Although the area of these Fiery Flames was not large, they were indeed too long. Even with so many people casting spells together, they had only extinguished a small section.
Fortunately, this thing wasn't spreading, otherwise, they would truly be helpless.
"Arthur, stop daydreaming!" Scrimgeour urged.
Mr. Weasley hurriedly jogged into the line and inserted his wand into the ground, beginning the endless repetitive motion.
...
Scrimgeour was still too optimistic.
When they finished cleaning up the last section of the Fiery Flame, it was already noon on the second day.
From night to day, the famished crowd sat on the ground, panting heavily.
A few people took out their wands and looked at them, their faces filled with a look of wanting to cry but having no tears.
Their wands were broken.
Even though a layer of magical protection was formed on the wand before using the Final Spell, it couldn't withstand continuous use.
After inserting their wands into the ground countless times, the outermost layer of the wands was completely worn out, revealing the wand core inside. Several people's wands had even broken.
Mr. Weasley's expression was a bit dazed. His wand was also broken, and replacing it with a new one would cost quite a bit of money...
"It's okay, Dad. We'll pay for it." Fred and George walked over and said considerately.
They didn't use the Final Spell, so they escaped this fate, but they also missed the scene of so many people replacing their wands together.
If possible, they would have liked to join in. At that time, Ollivander's expression would have been very interesting.
"Damn Dark Lord." Someone muttered, quickly resonating with the people around.
"I remember this is the territory of the Black Dragon, and these dragons particularly despise magic."
"It's over; the Final Spell we cast must have attracted their attention."
"No, it's probably unrelated to us." Charlie, a former dragon keeper, had some insight into dragon behavior.
"If it were the Final Spell, they would have gone berserk immediately and not waited until now."
"And don't forget, the Fiery Flame is also magic, and a more active Dark Art... It's strange why they were so quiet before."
Charlie couldn't understand why the dragons hadn't reacted to the Fiery Flame earlier, as he had assumed they were no longer in the vicinity.
Just as they finished dealing with the Fiery Flame, these massive creatures appeared.
"So, what do we do now...?"
No one cared about the dragons' thoughts; everyone immediately stood up and drew their battered wands.
Using these against dragons?
Even Scrimgeour's face turned serious, and he looked up, staring intently at the dragons in the sky.
"Don't take action, please, put your wands down."
Miles, breathless, ran over from a distance. "Quickly, put your wands down. Don't provoke them further."
"You are...?" Scrimgeour eyed Miles with caution.
"Miles MacFusty."
"Are you from the MacFusty family?"
Miles nodded. "Please, no more magic. You don't want to see these Black Dragons flying towards the Shadow Coast, do you?"
"What exactly happened here?" Scrimgeour asked sternly. "Where were you before?"
"On the other side of the island, calming the Black Dragons," Miles replied without hesitation. "To prevent them from being killed by the Dark Lord!"
"Can the Dark Lord kill dragons?" someone asked.
"If you had seen him, you wouldn't ask such a foolish question," Miles glanced at the speaker, a beater, and didn't bother to explain further.
In fact, some Black Dragons had already been killed by the Dark Lord, and not just one.
A hint of regret flashed in Miles' eyes, and he turned his head, whistling.
The Black Dragons in the sky quieted down slightly upon hearing the whistle, but they remained in the air, flying and roaring deafeningly.
"What exactly happened here?" Scrimgeour asked again.
"The Dark Lord is pursuing another wizard whose name I don't know," Miles said gravely. "As for what happened between them, as I said before, I was on the other side of the island and am not clear on the details."
"Then what's the deal with these Black Dragons?" Charlie asked. "I might be imagining it, but I sense fear in their roars."
It was indeed perplexing that dragons could feel fear.
"It is fear," Miles glanced at Charlie. "If you had witnessed the Fiery Flame's calamitous magic and the Dark Lord's act of shattering half a mountain, you would feel fear too."
"Do we need to help in any way?" Mr. Weasley stepped forward and asked.
"No, and you can't help either..." Miles paused for a moment. "Well, the situation is too dire, and it's difficult for us to calm the Black Dragons in a short time.
"If possible, could you contact a professional and ask them to come here?"
"A professional?"
"Mr. Chris Choppa from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He's been here before and is quite skilled in dealing with Black Dragons. He could be of great help."
Unconsciously, everyone looked at Cedric, the only one among them from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
"Well, I'm sorry," Cedric stepped forward, scratching his head. "The Minister has been dealing with the remaining Dementors for the past two days and hasn't been at the Ministry. I looked for him, but his office was empty."
"I see." Miles shook his head. "In that case, I'll write to Mr. Scamander and hope he has the time.
"Then we..."
Mr. Weasley wanted to say something, but Miles interrupted him.
"I appreciate your help in extinguishing the Fiery Flame on the island," Miles waved his hand. "But you're accustomed to solving problems with magic, which isn't suitable for calming Black Dragons. Staying here will only cause more trouble for us."
"If you have questions, please wait until we've calmed the Black Dragons. I'll tell you everything I know then."
Scrimgeour hesitated; he didn't want to let go of any clues related to the Dark Lord.
But a flame that descended from the sky made his decision for him; it was just a few feet away, and the Black Dragon seemed eager to rush over and kill them, but Miles' presence kept it at bay.
"We'll be back," Scrimgeour said.
With the Black Dragons on the island in disarray, it wasn't the right time for questioning.
Additionally, they needed to replace their damaged wands as soon as possible.
...
(End of Chapter)
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