https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-922-The-Blasted-Bridge-and-the-Biting-Cabbage/12938108/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-924-Snape-s-Choice-the-Unconscious-Conna/12938110/
Chapter 923: Escalation, The Elder Wand's Transformation
Chapter 923: Escalation, The Elder Wand's Transformation
Harry felt the environment around him change suddenly. He saw the wizard who looked a lot like Dumbledore... the owner of the Goblet of Fire Pub.
He had never imagined that the scruffy old wizard was so powerful. He had been fighting Voldemort since a while ago, and the battle had continued until now.
Although he clearly looked more exhausted than before, being able to hold on for so long was already impressive.
After all, it was Voldemort.
"No, that's not right..." Harry shook his head.
What he needed to do now was find the Basilisk, not watch what Voldemort was doing.
"Transform, transform quickly..." Harry kept muttering to himself, trying to change his perspective and possess the snake through this method.
Unfortunately, this was not something he could control.
Perhaps because the Horcrux's thoughts were relatively weak, most of the time, Harry could only enter Voldemort's mind through his scar, and only occasionally could he see the snake.
In other words, Harry had the right to watch Voldemort's thoughts but not the right to choose.
He tried hard, taking deep breaths and blinking continuously, but he couldn't change his perspective. Every time, he saw the increasingly grim face of the Goblet of Fire Pub's owner.
"No, he can't hold on much longer!" Harry suddenly shouted loudly.
"Harry, what's wrong..." Hermione was startled, thinking something had happened to Harry, and quickly checked on him.
But Harry didn't speak.
At that moment, he didn't have time to worry about the Basilisk. He was nervously watching the scene in his mind.
Just then, he suddenly saw the Goblet of Fire Pub's owner's hand tremble, almost dropping his wand.
He was no match for Voldemort, and if this continued, he would be killed sooner or later. Harry couldn't help but feel anxious.
If the owner of the Goblet of Fire Pub was killed, would anyone else be able to stand up to Voldemort?
"Professor McGonagall can, right?" Harry couldn't help but think.
...Yes, she can, she must be able to. Professor McGonagall is a powerful witch who has served as Headmistress of Hogwarts.
Harry tried to convince himself.
But just then, his vision changed abruptly... the Goblet of Fire Pub's owner disappeared, replaced by a dark starry sky.
In the corner of his vision, he could faintly see the Astronomy Tower of the castle, but it was getting smaller.
After a few seconds, Harry suddenly realized that Voldemort had fled.
Strange, wasn't Voldemort just in the lead?
Why did he run away?
Harry quickly informed the others, and Ron and Hermione both stared with wide-open mouths, equally incredulous.
Kyle didn't speak, just ran out of the castle and looked up in the direction of the Whomping Willow.
Sure enough, only Aberforth was left there, holding his waist and panting heavily.
As Kyle approached, he could still hear Aberforth muttering:
"Albus, that shameless bastard... actually didn't come out... just wait, I'm going to break his nose again..."
Kyle paused, then continued walking, pretending not to hear Aberforth's grumbling and curses.
It was understandable; after all, he had almost been killed by Voldemort, so it was normal to have some resentment.
"Mr. Aberforth, you actually defeated Voldemort..." Kyle walked over and cleared his throat, "It seems no one realized that you are a more powerful wizard than Professor Dumbledore."
"Hmph!" Aberforth snorted, but his face looked a bit better.
Although he could tell that Kyle's flattery was insincere, he still liked hearing those words, even if he knew they were false.
"I've done what I promised, now it's up to you all!" he said, "And I didn't defeat that Dark Wizard; there was a problem with his wand."
"Wand?" Kyle asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"It means his wand is malfunctioning, can't you understand that simple thing?" Aberforth glanced at Kyle and patiently explained, "I could feel it; the wand was rejecting him, especially when he used powerful spells. The feeling was particularly strong then.
"Just now, the wand even cracked, which is why I'm still alive."
Aberforth didn't hide the fact that he couldn't defeat Voldemort, or that he was still somewhat shaken by the battle.
It was a kind of unreasonable power that far exceeded his imagination. In Voldemort's hands, those devious and powerful dark spells came easily, without the need to incant them...
In terms of spell intensity, this Voldemort was no less formidable than Grindelwald of seventy years ago.
He almost thought he was going to die there, but fortunately, the wand betrayed him at the crucial moment...
"Let me ask you something," he suddenly said, "Was that the Elder Wand in his hand, the one Albus gave him?"
"Huh?" Kyle, who was deep in thought, didn't react immediately, but after a moment, he nodded,
"Yes, it's the Elder Wand, but he stole it."
"Before that, the Elder Wand was always in Professor Dumbledore's possession. Voldemort somehow got this information and plotted a scheme to steal the most powerful wand."
"Ha, that's not surprising," Aberforth sneered, "To dare take that cunning bastard's thing, anything could happen."
"Mr. Aberforth..." Kyle whispered, "It wasn't taken; Voldemort used Ollivander to threaten Professor Dumbledore and stole the wand from him.
"Naive fool," Aberforth muttered, though it was unclear if he was referring to Kyle or Voldemort.
Without further explanation, he switched his wand to his other hand and limped towards the school.
"Tell Albus I've done what I promised, and ask him not to bother me again."
He was already at his limit, and if Dumbledore had died, he might have chosen to stay and fight. But with Dumbledore still alive, he preferred to return and check on his goat rather than play the hero here.
He couldn't leave through the main gate; he'd have to use the secret passage from the school to the Goblet of Fire Pub.
Kyle didn't stop him.
Voldemort wasn't someone to be taken lightly, and Aberforth now had to grip his wand tightly to keep it from slipping.
In his current state, he couldn't even handle Voldemort, let alone additional Death Eaters.
"Oh, right," Aberforth suddenly remembered something and stopped to turn back. "That Dark Wizard will probably go after his wand. You'd better hurry and finish off those Death Eaters."
Before Kyle could respond, Aberforth turned and left without looking back.
"What a hasty man," Kyle muttered, rubbing his forehead.
Aberforth was right; they needed to deal with the Death Eaters.
Kyle looked around.
The area with the most Death Eaters was near the school gate, the same path the Nightmares had taken during the start-of-term feast.
Voldemort had somehow gathered a few Giants, only five, likely those banished long ago and now lured by the Death Eaters.
They led the charge, carrying thick wooden clubs, aiming to break through Hogwarts' defenses. But they were quickly felled by the stone armor statues guarding the entrance, who used their poleaxes to knock them down.
The Death Eaters following them suffered a similar fate.
The stone armor statues, immune to magic and armed with weapons coated in Eight-Eyed Spider venom, held their ground against the Death Eaters' main force.
Of course, the main force here was just in numbers. The powerful Death Eaters could fly and didn't need to follow the group.
Dark fog enveloped the Hogwarts castle, almost blocking out the moonlight.
Kyle returned to the castle, but Harry and the others were gone, likely executing a different plan.
He passed through the Great Hall and climbed the stairs... He wanted to find Conna first, but the castle was already in chaos. It was difficult to find anyone in this situation, and even the Mirror of Erised didn't respond.
On the sixth floor, a tapestry was suddenly torn open, and two masked Death Eaters emerged.
"It's you!"
They recognized Kyle, but before they could draw their wands, a powerful force pushed them back into the secret passage behind them.
A bald Mandrake root fell from the entrance, landing right between the two Death Eaters.
"Bang!"
Kyle blocked the secret passage with a table, trapping the Mandrake root's piercing screams inside.
By the way, the table was grabbed by Kyle from the side. Professor McGonagall was commanding them to charge forward, leading an impressive army of tables and chairs.
Her hair was loose, and there were fresh cuts on her cheeks, but she seemed unbothered, appearing even younger than before.
Professor McGonagall glanced at Kyle, acknowledging his presence, and then continued leading the furniture army around a corner, shouting, "Charge!"
"Indeed, worthy of the Gryffindor Head of House," Kyle remarked, continuing his ascent.
He searched every floor but couldn't find Conna. Instead, he found Bill and Charlie on the eighth floor.
The battle here was even more intense, perhaps due to its proximity to the Astronomy Tower. Many Death Eaters chose to descend here.
The corridor was packed with people. Masked and unmasked Death Eaters fought against the teachers and students, and the portraits were filled with onlookers shouting advice and encouragement.
Kyle opened the box for a moment but quickly closed it again.
The situation was too chaotic, with Death Eaters and Hogwarts students jostling together. The contents of the box were useless in this crowd, and he could only rely on more primitive methods.
Peeves flew overhead, cackling, "Hee hee hee hee!" as he threw Devil's Snare pods at the Death Eaters' heads.
"That won't work, Peeves!" Kyle shouted. "Go to Greenhouse Five and get Ironbark Gourd Pods! Remember, the ones with longer thorns!"
"Oh, and the dungbombs I gave you before, you should still have some left. Don't hide them, use them all!"
"Yes, sir!"
Peeves flipped twice and flew out the window towards Greenhouse Five.
The Ironbark Gourd Pods resembled sea urchins and were incredibly hard, making them much more effective than the Devil's Snare pods.
After Peeves left, Kyle drew his wand and aimed at the nearest Death Eater. With each wave, a Death Eater was knocked unconscious.
"Take this one out first!"
Perhaps his voice was too loud, as a masked Death Eater noticed Kyle's impressive performance and wanted to gather others to deal with this nuisance first.
Kyle raised his wand and waved it forcefully. Within seconds, a painting on the left wall suddenly enlarged and slammed into the Death Eaters' heads.
Dazed and Confused (Physical Edition)
Kyle initially intended to transform the castle walls, but his magic failed to affect them. As a result, he had to settle for the portraits.
Thankfully, it worked.
"Well done, young man! That's it, crush them all!" The knight in the portrait was ecstatic, dancing with excitement.
Although Kyle couldn't do much, his portrait had knocked out a Death Eater, which was as good as helping. For a moment, the portraits seemed to find hope, and they began promoting their frames to the students and teachers around them.
"Hey, young man, do you want a handy weapon? How about this frame?"
"Check out mine, a pure ash frame. It's not special, but it's tough!"
"What's the use of being tough? Use me; I'm heavier than a rock!"
...
With the portraits' relentless recommendations, some students even removed them from the walls.
Putting aside using them to attack, they were at least useful as shields.
After all, in a sense, the portraits were also a part of Hogwarts, possessing the same characteristics as the surrounding walls. They could at least deflect a few curses.
With Kyle and his new weapon, it didn't take long to clear the surrounding Death Eaters.
"Kyle, you came just in time!" Charlie approached, suspending several Death Eaters with a net while shouting to the students, "Hurry to the Astronomy Tower! The Aurors will be here soon. Keep holding on until they arrive!"
Led by Dean and Padma, several students immediately climbed the Astronomy Tower and formed a circle to ensure they wouldn't be ambushed from any direction.
"What are you doing?"
"Sirius was knocked down, and we must hold this position," Bill said, wiping blood from his face. He handed out potions to those around him and looked up at Kyle, "You should join us too. We need more people here with all these Death Eaters."
"I'm fine..." Kyle replied, then asked, "But have you seen Conna? She and Fleur returned from France before the war started."
"Ah, the Hunter," Bill said, tightly wrapping a bandage around an injured student. "She was with us until Sirius was ambushed."
"Was Conna attacked too?" Kyle asked anxiously.
"No, she wasn't," Bill paused, "I don't know how to tell you this... Do you know who ambushed Sirius?"
From his expression, Kyle immediately thought of someone.
"It was Snape," Bill whispered the next second.
As expected... Kyle rubbed his forehead.
"At that time, we were helping Sirius prevent Death Eaters from entering the castle," Bill continued. "Then Snape arrived and attacked Sirius as a Death Eater."
"Conna witnessed it all, and Snape saw Conna too. He looked surprised, or rather terrified, and then he ran off."
"Where did he go?" Kyle asked urgently.
"I don't know," Bill shook his head. "Sirius tried to stop him, and they both fell from the Astronomy Tower... But they're fine. I checked; there's no trace of them under the tower. They must have gone somewhere else."
"Then Conna disappeared too," Bill continued. "It must be hard for her to accept that her own family is a Death Eater. I should go look for her, but as you can see, I can't leave the tower."
As he spoke, two more Death Eaters dragged black smoke and flew towards the tower.
Before they could land, a fire dragon's head, formed solely from flames, appeared out of thin air and bit down on them.
The fire dragon's head was larger than the entire Astronomy Tower, and the two Death Eaters had no chance to resist before being devoured.
The giant jaws closed, and red flames splattered everywhere, but soon, there was no trace of the Death Eaters, as if they had never existed.
"Kyle, you..." Bill's throat moved, and he stared at Kyle's wand tip, where a thin flame flickered, in disbelief.
He knew Kyle was powerful, even surpassing most members of the Order of the Phoenix, but to casually conjure such intense Fiendfyre was a bit excessive.
This was the Fiendfyre Curse, not the Fire-Making Charm... And it didn't require any preparation?
Moreover, within this short time, the fire dragon outside had grown a body and wings. Its massive size and scorching heat almost set the entire Astronomy Tower ablaze.
"Ah, I'm fine," Kyle took a deep breath, his face calm as he waved his wand.
The flame at the wand tip vanished, and the Fiendfyre dragon outside also disintegrated in an instant.
Although Kyle wanted it to fly around below, he couldn't... Fiendfyre was too unpredictable. If he let his guard down for a moment, the students and teachers of Hogwarts might be affected, and that was absolutely unacceptable.
"Where did Snape and Sirius disappear to?"
"I think it's over there!" Bill pointed to a shattered window below the tower and no longer mentioned asking Kyle to stay and help.
"I suggest you ask the portraits and ghosts in the corridors. Maybe someone saw them."
"You're right," Kyle said, then turned around, "I'll go check it out and come back later."
"It's fine here. It's not that tense," Bill said, glancing at the students in the tower who had almost been scared unconscious by the Fiendfyre dragon.
(End of Chapter)
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