Voldemort appeared so suddenly that Dumbledore didn't have time to react. Holding his wand, Dumbledore turned, but Voldemort had already raised his...
Time seemed to stand still.
A harrowing green flash erupted from the tip of Voldemort's wand. At this critical moment, Voldemort chose his favorite and deadliest curse, the Killing Curse, to send his guide into the world of magic, the respected professor, his eternal enemy, Albus Dumbledore.
Voldemort's unexpected trick granted him an opportunity that barely comes once in decades. At that precise moment, Dumbledore had cast a spell and was in a state of transition between old and new magic, while Voldemort appeared in his blind spot. The combination of both factors provided Voldemort with a real chance to kill Dumbledore.
But Dumbledore was not easy to defeat. Seeing he had no time to counterattack and that the Shield Charm would not withstand the Killing Curse, Dumbledore vanished like the wind, only to reappear a few meters away, easily dodging Voldemort's Avada Kedavra.
However, there was no disappointment in Voldemort's serpentine eyes. He smiled maliciously. Albus, did you really think I would forget that you had such a trick up your sleeve?
The fragments of fire produced earlier by the fire snakes made a turn and headed towards Dumbledore's back. There was an unsettling black tone on the edges of the flames. Clearly, being hit by these fragments would mean more than just a burn.
Now Dumbledore was truly cornered.
Voldemort's eyes lit up with joy. He knew perfectly well that even Dumbledore, despite all his power, would not survive this attack.
At that critical moment, Hermione moved.
She took a quick step to stand behind Dumbledore, extended her arms, and tried to be a barrier to protect him from the spell.
Everything happened so fast that neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort had time to react.
At the crucial moment, a small semi-transparent shield materialized in front of Hermione's chest and met Voldemort's spell.
From Dumbledore's perspective, he would call it "the magic of love." But for Tom, he would simply say it was a protection prepared for his girlfriend.
The small shield flickered twice before shattering, but it fulfilled its mission, stopping most of the flames. Only a small streak, like a shooting star, cut through the air and fell onto Hermione's delicate neck.
The fire entered her smooth skin without leaving any marks, but the next moment, a faint darkness spread across Hermione's neck, as if ink had been spilled on white paper.
Seeing that his deadly blow had been blocked, Voldemort roared in anger, but Dumbledore only felt every hair on his body stand on end.
Hermione, struck by the magic, gently fell to the ground. Her wand slipped out of her hand and rolled to the side.
The young girl lay on the ground, unconscious.
Voldemort, seeing that his carefully prepared attack had been neutralized, understood that it was pointless to continue the fight and transformed into a cloud of black smoke, quickly fleeing. Dumbledore had no intention of pursuing Voldemort; he hurriedly approached Hermione and lifted her carefully, holding the brave girl in his arms.
Unconscious, Hermione felt weak. It was as if all her bones had been removed, and she was fading away in Dumbledore's arms.
Dumbledore looked at Hermione with a rare flash of panic in his eyes.
First, he tried to use his wand to undo the curse where Hermione had been hit, attempting to remove the curse. Accompanying his spellcasting, a black shadow enveloped the tip of his wand. Seeing this, Dumbledore was glad, held his breath, and tried to extract the curse from Hermione's body.
At first, he succeeded. The black smoke was drawn out centimeter by centimeter from Hermione's body. However, just as it was about to be completely removed, the black smoke suddenly dissipated, reentering Hermione's body and covering the girl's smooth, white skin.
Dumbledore didn't despair. He extended his wand again, attempting to trap the black smoke as he had done last time. But this time, the smoke seemed to have learned and refused to fall into the trap.
Dumbledore sighed; the worst-case scenario had occurred.
He tried several more spells, but they had little effect. He only managed to suppress the curse in Hermione's body. Now, she didn't seem to show signs of anything strange, even the dark mark on her collarbone had disappeared. It looked like she was merely sleeping.
Dumbledore, amidst the spell battle with Voldemort, managed to grasp the true nature of Hermione's injury. Unlike what he had initially thought, she wasn't poisoned but cursed by Voldemort. The curse was like an abscess that rooted itself firmly in Hermione's body, consuming her vitality.
Dumbledore felt relieved that the curse had been mostly countered by the Shield Charm; otherwise, Hermione might have died at that moment.
Looking at the pale girl, Dumbledore was filled with guilt. How would he face Tom? Tom had placed so much trust in him and had handed Hermione into his care, but he had betrayed that trust...
If Tom were to find out... Dumbledore pushed that thought out of his mind. He was certain that the consequences of Tom knowing would be disastrous.
He turned his gaze toward where Voldemort had disappeared, his anger burning in his eyes. He vowed to make Voldemort disappear from the world forever.
But now, he had more urgent matters to attend to.
Dumbledore lifted the unconscious Hermione and rushed to the infirmary. He needed Madame Pomfrey's help to stabilize Hermione's condition until Snape returned.
The curse was difficult to remove, but perhaps a magical potion could be effective.
Dumbledore planned to wait for Snape and discuss the treatment plan for Hermione together.
...
Outside the Lestrange mansion, Tom led his Dementors to a successful encounter with the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore's side had significantly increased in strength, surpassing the remnants of the Death Eaters. If they joined forces to attack the Lestrange mansion, the Death Eaters were destined to be defeated.
Facing the Dementors, the hope of escaping with Apparition assistance was simply an unattainable dream.
After the reunion, Tom instructed the Dementors to take control of the captured Death Eaters. While the Dementors went about their task, Dawlish engaged in a conversation with the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix.
With just a few exchanged words, Dawlish understood the situation and felt as if he were about to achieve another notable accomplishment.
As for Tom, his mood suddenly worsened, as if something bad had happened.
An inexplicable rage burned within him, filling him with fury.
He looked around and finally fixed his gaze on the captured Death Eaters.
"Give them a kiss," Tom ordered indifferently.