Before Harry could object, Sirius, like a lone wolf, charged out towards the dark wizards.
A violent explosion erupted between Sirius and the three Dark wizards, and countless debris and shards of stone flew in all directions like deadly projectiles. Charlie's reaction was one step faster - his burly arms firmly restrained Harry, who had tried to rush out to help Sirius, as an invisible shield froze all the fragments in midair.
"Sys and I'll deal with this Sirius. Melanov, you go control Harry Potter," the tallest of the three dark wizards said brazenly, not caring who heard. "With that little brat in our hands, I'm sure he'll surrender."
Sirius, who had jumped onto the steps in an attempt to occupy the high ground, looked very pale. He was afraid that Bill and Charlie could not cope with the onslaught, so he hurried back towards Harry. But before he could take a step, two spells with tricky angles were already attacking his face and knees.
A gust of evil wind suddenly whipped up, and two radiant floral halos blossomed around Sirius, who waved his arms like whips, making his tanned face look extremely pale. Harry watched helplessly as his godfather was sent flying like a Bludger struck by a bat, crashing hard into a wall and then falling to the ground.
"Sirius!" Harry roared furiously, about to rush out, but Hermione grabbed him firmly around the waist from behind.
"Don't be reckless, Harry, this is not something we can handle!"
Crack!
The wizard called Melanov waved his wand, and the dark magical mist swirling around him surged forward like a swarm of locusts, shattering Charlie's conjured shield in an instant.
"Get down!" Charlie roared, shoving Harry, Hermione, and the others aside, then dodging towards the railing.
A deafening roar followed, and Bill pulled the nearly-falling Charlie back. Bill's usual carefree face was now grim, his eyes focused and intense as he recalled the night in the Forbidden Forest when he had a conflict with Bryan years ago. Since that night, he had never encountered a situation as perilous as the present one.
Dazed by the collapse of the magical barrier, Charlie was momentarily unable to join the battle. Bill abruptly flicked his wand, and the broken chairs and steel on the floor began to levitate, transforming under the Transfiguration spell into gleaming blades that shot towards Melanov.
"Child's play--" Melanov's voice was so contemptuous amid the endless rumble.
Indeed, Bill's conjured blades had no effect. They flew to within ten feet of Melanov before disintegrating into brilliant sparks.
Fear had finally driven some to madness!
In the corner, a well-dressed middle-aged wizard, his suit covered in dust, seeing the three dark wizards' terrible might, had his mind clouded by terror and rushed towards the collapsed doorway, howling.
The young wizards still in Hogwarts, including the graduated Charlie and Bill, could swear that the sight they saw next was definitely the cruelest scene they had ever witnessed in their lives.
The terrified middle-aged wizard, having lost his reason in his haste to escape, recklessly charged towards Melanov. However--
The dark mist permeating the air suddenly merged in front of Melanov, forming a dark-shrouded skeletal figure like the Grim Reaper, which let out a bone-chilling, terrifying cackle and surged forward, directly piercing the middle-aged wizard's chest.
The middle-aged wizard's steps wavered, and he stared dumbly at his own chest--
His suit seemed to have gone through a lot of changes in an instant, and Harry watched as the fine fabric turned gray and crumbled into dust within a second or two, and then turned into powder and drifted away. Then the exposed skin darkened and rotted, from the outside to the inside, skin, muscle, bone, and heart - all dissolved into pus.
The flesh melted away, leaving a gaping, irregular hole in the middle-aged wizard's chest!
"Ugh, ugh--" The middle-aged wizard, who had been wealthy and influential, seemed unable to believe he was dying here. He lowered his head and saw the big hole in his chest. He was shocked and dazed. Then, his head tilted, and his body fell to the ground, his lifeless eyes still facing Melanov.
Vomit!
Ginny was the first to throw up unable to withstand the gruesome sight.
Thump--
Hermione's weak legs were unable to support her body. She knelt on the ground with a bang, her face covered in dust, and tears of fear still glistening in the corners of her eyes. The Weasley brothers, from Ron to Bill, were all stunned and demoralized.
Whoosh!
The vast dark mist transformed into a rope, coiling towards Harry like a venomous snake.
Harry's instinctive and trained reflexes allowed him to dodge the binding coils just in time, and as he rolled to the ground, he cast his most potent spell.
The Disarming Charm briefly illuminated the compartment, but was soon extinguished.
"The child who defeated the Dark Lord, oh, how interesting, let me see how capable you are--"
The air in the Quidditch stadium crackled with tension as Harry's eyes strained to pierce through the inky darkness. Though the mysterious figure's face remained hidden beneath the cloak, Harry could have sworn he glimpsed the flicker of a cruel mocking smile across the unseen lips.
"Stay away from Harry!" The words erupted from Sirius's throat, raw and primal, filled with fierce protectiveness.
In the span of a single heartbeat, chaos erupted. The world around them exploded into a dizzying turmoil of motion and light, spells crackling through the air like deadly fireworks.
Everything had happened in a flash. But Sirius hadn't fallen from the violent impact just now. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he stood with a face full of fury. The storm of spells erupting from his wand tip even forced back the other two dark wizards. However, he was still unable to break free from being cornered against the wall and couldn't reach Harry at the front of the box!
"What should we do? Think of something--"
Hermione knelt on the ground, tears in her eyes and body trembling slightly, but was still trying her best to calmly analyze the situation.
Charlie and Bill rushed forward bravely to fend off the dark wizard who had attacked Harry. But even to Hermione's untrained eye, the disparity in skill was painfully apparent. If that dark witch called Melanov didn't want to kill anymore, Charlie and Bill might already be done for. And Harry, though braver than imaginable, had no chance to use magic, He could only frantically dodge the attacks of the ghostly black rope with reflexes honed through countless hours of Quidditch practice and physical education class.
But it was Sirius whose situation truly chilled Hermione to her core.
Unlike Melanov, who seemed intent on capture rather than killing, the two dark wizards focusing their attention on Sirius showed no such restraint. Every spell that left their wands crackled with lethal intent, each one aimed to end Sirius's life. The air around him was active with silver flashes and thunderous explosions as Sirius was forced to retreat repeatedly. The battle had already spilled over into the neighboring box, leaving a trail of destruction.
'What could they do?'
Hermione's mind raced, searching frantically for a solution.
'Where were the reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic? Surely, they must have been alerted by now!'
But Melanov was also very cunning, she continuously blocked the exit, cutting off all escape routes. They couldn't flee through the corridor, and jumping over the railing... Hermione had glanced down earlier - they would certainly break their necks!
Then, in a moment of desperate inspiration, Hermione scrambled to her feet. She pointed her wand towards the sky, and a brilliant burst of light shot out from the tip, soaring into the air above the Quidditch field before exploding spectacularly. In an instant, colorful fireworks illuminated the gloomy night sky.
The unexpected commotion caught the Bulgarian Quidditch team completely off-guard. They now hovered uncertainly in midair, their heads craned upwards to stare at the unexpected fireworks blooming above them. But one player, sharper and more alert than his teammates, immediately looked for the source of the disturbance, and there he saw Hermione, sprawled at the edge of the box, desperately waving her arms.
After only a moment's hesitation, Victor Krum made up his mind.
To those watching, it was as if Krum had apparated while riding his broomstick. One moment he was hovering with his team, the next he materialized before the box packed with various wizarding dignitaries. His dark eyes swept across the scene of carnage, widening in shock as he took in the battle raging around him. When he spoke, his thick accent mangled the words, but the urgency in his tone was unmistakable.
"You... what's happening?"
Ron despite the mortal danger surrounding them, couldn't help but gawk at his Quidditch idol with a dreamy expression.
Hermione, equally surprised that it was Krum who had come, opened her mouth to call for help. But before she could utter a sound, her face contorted in terror. With a desperate lunge, she threw herself backwards, narrowly avoiding the black rope that had pierced through Bill's Shield Charm and was now aiming for her neck.
A few strands of her bushy brown hair drifted through the air, visibly disintegrating into ash as they fell.
No explanation was needed now; Krum knew what to do. He extended his hand towards Hermione, his blood-smeared and grim face showing urgency,
"Quick, I... you leave, broom--"
But before Hermione could say anything, Melanov's inky black whip suddenly retracted. It coiled back on itself like a striking serpent before lashing out towards Krum's broomstick. In a display of aerial prowess that left even Harry impressed, Krum executed a perfect barrel roll on the spot. The black whip sliced through the empty air where he had been hovering just a split second before. Without missing a beat, Krum retreated several dozen feet, his eyes never leaving Melanov as he stared at the dark wizard with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
Hermione, seizing the momentary gap, scrambled to her feet frantically waving her arms and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Go find our Ministry of Magic, we need support!"
"Ministry of Magic, support!"
Looking at the disheveled girl amidst the dust and debris, Krum was slightly taken aback. Then, with determination in his, he gave a curt nod, uttering a quick "Wait" before tilting his broomstick into a dive so steep it made the infamous Wronski Feint seem mild in comparison.
Melanov's voice tinged with disdain cut through the ruckus. "Does Hogwarts only teach mice?" The sneer was audible even without seeing the dark wizard's face.
At first, Harry had been desperate to shake off Melanov and help Sirius, but now he had calmed down. Sirius was currently holding off two attackers by himself; if Harry approached, he would undoubtedly bring the third person to Sirius as well, which would only hinder him.
The wisest course of action, he realized, was to use himself as bait to pin down the dark wizard called Melanov, under the cover of Charlie and Bill. If they could just hold out until reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic arrived, they would be victorious. It was a desperate gamble, but their options were rapidly dwindling.
The quick thinking displayed by Harry and Hermione's narrow escape seemed to push Melanov over the edge. The dark wizard's anger was palpable, filling the air with an almost suffocating aura of malice. With a gruff shout of rage, Melanov's signature weapon – the long, snaking whip of darkness – suddenly dissipated into its original black smoke.
But before anyone could feel a moment's relief, the inky blackness combined once more to form an enormous net. With terrifying speed, it swooped down towards Harry and the badly injured Bill and Charlie!
In that instant, multiple spells blazed through the air, all aimed straight at Melanov.
"Diffindo!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Confringo!"
"Canrady Leviosa!"
Everyone present knew the power of Melanov's black net. Seeing Harry cornered with nowhere to dodge, Fred and George, Ginny and Ron, and even Fudge hiding by the wall, all lent a hand. The combined power of so many spells forced Melanov to defend herself. Most of the magical assault was absorbed by hastily erected shields, but—
Whoosh!
With a sound like tearing silk, a sharp piece of broken steel bar pierced through her magical shield, heading straight for her chest. In a life-or-death moment, Melanov threw herself to the side, but Hermione's magically controlled object still penetrated her body, leaving a thumb-sized hole in her shoulder!
Whoosh--
A beam of dim, brilliant red light, wrapped in the aura of death, pierced the black net that hadn't yet settled, easily shattering it. Melanov looked on in shock - it was Sirius who, in a gap between being surrounded by his two companions, had fired a Blasting Curse (Confringo) to save Harry Potter.
"Well done, Hermione!"
Bill, leaning on his knee and panting, turned to give Hermione an approving look.
Ron, his face slick with cold sweat and his lips dry from fear, found his voice.
"Professor Watson's charm," he said, a note of awe creeping into his words. "I can't believe you thought of it, Hermione--"
Seizing this brief moment of breather, Harry and Hermione gathered towards each other. They stood side by side, wands pointing firmly towards Melanov who had fallen to the ground, not daring to show the slightest carelessness.
"What's going on, Sys, Cancun!" Melanov's voice rang out, filled with a mixture of pain and barely contained rage. The wound in the dark wizard's shoulder didn't seem to bother her much, a fact that sent a chill down Harry's spine. She glared towards the box where Sirius was still locked in combat with the other two attackers. "Why is he still alive?!"
A grim voice floated back from that direction.
"He's a bit tougher than we imagined!"
Melanov's face twisted into a sneer of disgust. "Pah, this thing doesn't even deserve to be called a wand--"
She slowly stood up from the ground, coldly observing the wizards before her who had now united against a common enemy. Then, to everyone's astonishment, she threw away her own wand!
Harry and Hermione exchanged a confused glance. 'What was happening? Had their combined efforts actually managed to break her spirit? Was this dark witch preparing to surrender?'
But their hopes were dashed in the very next instant. A staff, easily three feet in length and adorned with a jewel-encrusted tip, suddenly appeared in Melanov's hand.
The change was immediate and terrifying. Melanov's ordinary figure suddenly seemed to grow taller in the eyes of Harry and the others, and a feeling of suffocation suddenly came over them!
The black smoke that had been drifting lazily through the air suddenly came alive. A sharp, dangerous light flashed in Melanov's eyes as she thrusted her palms forward. In an instant, the amorphous darkness combined once more – but this time, it took the form of a whip crackling with Lightning, as black as the darkest night, arcing and dancing along its length.
With Melanov as the epicenter, countless bolts of shadow-wreathed lightning leapt forth. They spread in all directions, filling every corner of the box with their deadly presence. Wherever the black lightning touched, it left behind horrifying scars and even the air seemed to carry the pungent stench of burned flesh.
"Quick, dodge!" Harry's shout cut through the chaos, his voice cracking with urgency. He threw himself to the side, desperately seeking shelter beneath an upturned section of flooring. But even his finely honed reflexes weren't quite fast enough.
A vine of black lightning grazed his wrist, and in that split second of contact, it left behind a terrible burn. White-hot agony pricked up Harry's arm, causing his fingers to spasm. In pain, his wand slipped from his grasp. It spun through the air, striking the back wall of the box with a clatter before rolling across the floor.
As the black lightning continued its rampage, the steel frame supporting the main structure emitted a teeth-clenching metallic screech, a sound that set everyone's nerves on edge. All around them, the walls began to buckle and collapse, showering them with debris. Massive holes stretched open in the floor, revealing the dizzying drop to the Quidditch pitch far below. It was clear to all that this once-sturdy VIP box was about to completely collapse.
"Harry!" Sirius's anguished cry pierced through the chaos of battle and the creaking of debris. His heart sank as he saw Harry trapped beneath the floorboard he'd sought for shelter, his face twisted in pain as he desperately fought to free himself.
Across the ruined box, Hermione and the Weasley children each found themselves in equally dire straits, dodging falling debris and fending off attacks with rapidly dwindling strength.
In that moment, something seemed to snap within Sirius. A primal roar erupted from his throat, echoing off the walls and momentarily drowning out even the noise of the battle and debris falling. He pointed his wand directly at a thick steel beam supporting the nearby section of the box's structure.
To the horror of the survivors, the beam was severed as cleanly as if cut by a giant's axe. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, with a groan that seemed to shake the foundations of the stadium, the surrounding supports began to twist and buckle. In the span of a few seconds, a chain reaction had been set in motion. Tons upon tons of steel, concrete, and magical reinforcements – all the materials that had gone into creating this luxurious viewing box – were now transformed into a deadly avalanche about to crash down upon their heads.
"Have you gone mad?!" The shout didn't come from Harry or Hermione, but from Sys and Cancun, the dark wizards who had launched the initial attack. Even these hardened criminals had their faces bleached at Sirius's Suicidal move. Their eyes flickered between the collapsing ceiling and the open expanse of the Quidditch field. In the next moment, self-preservation overpowered their mission. Abandoning their assault on Sirius, they lunged toward the gaping hole in the wall, desperate to save their own skins.
But Sirius paid no mind to their retreat, nor to the impending collapse of the structure around him. His eyes, blazing with fierce, almost manic determination, were fixed solely on Harry. With a roar that seemed to rise from the depths of his soul, Sirius charged forward. His wand became a blur of motion, hurling spell after spell at Melanov, despite his nearly depleted magical reserves.
"Hmph, seeking death!"
The storm of black lightning suddenly converged, merging into a single, concentrated beam. It lanced out with the speed and precision of a laser, aimed directly at the center of Sirius's forehead.
Crack!
The sound reverberated through the collapsing box, as if the world itself had shattered. Sirius's reckless charge also came to an abrupt halt, his feet freezing mid-step.
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