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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 297: Daphne's Blood Magic
Harry was too distracted by the two nundus to realize that Daphne had left the barrier and was now running across the chamber.
Luckily for her, the two beasts were completely focused on Harry and didn't care about chasing anyone else at the moment.
When she reached the pool of blood, she knelt down in front of it, touching the thick liquid with her wand, and began to chant in Old English.
"Seeketh those folk, seeketh those liketh thee..."
The blood began to stir.
"Findeth those folk, and killeth those folk all..." The pool of blood came to life. It divided itself into several equal parts and remained in the air… waiting for the final command.
"Sanguinus Caedum." Daphne's wand was pointing at the two nundus.
The orbs of nundu blood adopted the shape of sharp needles before flying to their targets, moving as fast as bullets.
Harry had noticed an intense magical current behind him but was not able to turn his attention away from these two.
He was using his wand in his left hand, forming a barrier to block one beast while using his staff to fight off the other one.
They did not give him even a second to breathe. And that was also starting to apply in the literal sense as the air around him became increasingly toxic to breathe.
Then, out of nowhere, some red spikes came flying and buried themselves into the flesh of the nundus, making them yelp in pain.
The blood needles were sharper than the average steel and were able to pierce the surface of their tough hides.
But Daphne's magic was not finished yet.
The needles used the wounds as an entry point to bury themselves into the bodies of the beasts and continue to cause havoc from the inside.
The two nundus let out roars of agony and Harry felt their pressure completely disappear.
The beasts knew they were in a dire situation now and did not think twice before turning around and trying to escape back into the opening they used to enter the chamber.
"You think you can leave?" Harry said.
As soon as the first one turned around, he plunged the tip of his staff into its back.
"Divulsa!" The corrosive curse was injected directly into the nundu's body.
The other one was already several feet away, albeit the damage caused by Daphne was making it move much slower than usual.
Harry removed the staff from one beast and used all his remaining strength to throw it at the other one like it was a javelin.
"Depulso!" As the staff left his hand, he added a wandless Banishing Charm for good measure.
The staff became a blur until it caught the nundu on its side, almost piercing it completely and sending it tumbling to its death.
Harry could feel his body complaining from the strain he was putting it through, so he hurried to cancel his enhancement charm and close the connection to the seven arkstone array before collapsing to his knees.
"Harry, are you okay?" Daphne saw the toxic smoke close to his face and used a wind charm to move it away.
"I doubt that would kill me, but thanks…" Harry stood back up.
"And I'm fine… just a bit tired."
He turned and looked at her worried face.
"Seriously… I'm fine. By the way… was that blood magic?"
Daphne nodded.
"I didn't want to learn it at first… that magic I just used...It is meant to kill people related to the target of the blood curse… seems very cruel."
"Magic is not cruel, just the people that use it," Harry corrected her statement.
"That's what Miss Yafel said…" Daphne replied.
"Is it over?... Can I come out?" Xenos asked from the other side of the room.
Harry gave his wand a flick and removed the protection.
"Totally safe. Those damn beasts are not standing up again."
Daphne glanced at the last two. Their bodies had dissolved completely like the first one, leaving only their bones and some blood.
"You know… the materials of the nundus would have been worth a fortune… what a shame, there is not much left."
"If I didn't use that curse, the ones dissolving on the ground could have been us," Harry said.
"I wasn't complaining!" Daphne huffed.
"I just thought it was a shame to lose such valuable materials. And… I think I helped you quite a bit this time, right?" She got a bit closer.
Harry turned around and went to retrieve his staff.
"I had everything under control."
"Really? Because those two last ones appear to have been giving you a hard time from where I was standing."
"Nonsense," Harry brushed her off.
"I was about to take care of them with…"
"With what?" She asked.
"Now you'll never know." Harry shrugged.
"But…" He stared at her directly.
"You were very helpful back there… so thanks."
He turned to face the Peverell vault.
"Well… if there are no more security measures… we can open this door now."
"I don't think it will open with your touch. Your Peverell blood must be too diluted to pass the safety protocols," Xenos said.
"Yes, I think we all noticed that…" Daphne said.
"But Harry may have another way."
"Sure, I do…" Harry tapped the gate with his staff.
"You may want to stand back for this…"
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