James exited through the portrait of the Fat Lady. His expression was one of caution and looking all around as he began to walk carefully through the dark corridors of the castle. He had to act a little for the eyes that were watching him.
Sirius and the others followed behind him under the invisibility cloak and with the spell Silencio Barriera.
'I wonder where they'll be...' thought James, who held his wand in his left hand. He felt watched, but he didn't know where and how many people they were from. It was a strange feeling.
They must have been following him with the disillusioning charm, so they should be close to the walls to take on color and texture like a chameleon.
The spies did not know that James was aware of their presence, and having the wand in his hand was not unusual, as he could find himself in a dangerous situation if the janitor and his cat found him, so they did not think they were in danger of being attacked.
'Homenum Revelio,' James thought, making a motion with his wand. The movement was very natural, and his expression remained unchanged. Also, no light came out of his wand, so everything stayed the same, or so it seemed.
After a few seconds James already knew where the people spying on him were. They were four students, divided into two groups of two. Each on a different wall followed him from behind.
Homenum Revelio is a spell that reveals the presence of other humans in the surrounding environment. The incantation indicates a body using a marker. It is a more advanced variation of the Revelio incantation. The best thing about this spell is that if you can pull it off non-verbally no one will know you cast, it as the spell does not create flashes of light when cast.
James continued walking as cautiously as before without arousing suspicion in the people spying on him. From one moment to the next he suddenly turned around and waved his wand at an incredible speed.
'Stupefy Duo!' thought James, pointing it at a dark wall where no one was. From his wand came a flash of red that hit the wall with great power.
Instantly, two boys in Ravenclaw and Slytherin robes appeared. Both fell helplessly to the ground unconscious. They only had a second of shock when they saw James turn around and cast a double Stupefy spell at them.
The Stupefy spell is used to knock a target unconscious instantly. It is the most useful method to end a fight instantly if you manage to catch your enemies by surprise as long as you don't want to assassinate them and do light damage.
All this happened in a few seconds. The other two students watched in surprise as their classmates were defeated. They quickly came out of their hiding places and attacked James without hesitation.
'I knew it was the Homenum Revelio spell,' thought a boy with long blond hair, light blue eyes, pale skin, and Slytherin robes. He had noticed the strange movement James made with his wand, but seeing that his mouth didn't even move and his expression remained the same, he thought he was just being paranoid.
James calmly watched the two different colored flashes head towards him in anger. Nonverbal magic meant that these Slytherin students were sixth years minimally and it was true. He recognized them both: Lucius Malfoy and Mark Selwyn.
'Protego,' James thought, waving his wand proficiently. A translucent shield protected him from the two flashes.
Mark clicked his tongue in fury. Ever since the humiliation he suffered at James' hands, he wanted revenge, and this was the perfect opportunity for him. All his concentration was on James. That was his big mistake.
Sirius and the others had already emerged from the invisibility cloak and attacked. Since they didn't know non-verbal magic yet, they all screamed at the same time, but thanks to the Silencio Barriera their screams were contained. Otherwise, Filch would not be long in coming.
Toby and Peter aimed at Mark. Both cast stun spells that hit the target at the same time. When they combined, they not only knocked Mark unconscious but also pushed him several meters, causing him to collapse to the ground after spinning a few times.
Lupin and Sirius aimed at Lucius. The former cast a powerful Expelliarmus and the latter a stun spell.
Unlike his friend, Lucius did pay attention to his surroundings. He knew Potter had friends, so his guard was up. This allowed him to cast a non-verbal Protego and fend off Sirius and Lupin's attacks.
However, that distraction gained by his friends was all James needed to cast an accurate and swift Expelliarmus at Lucius. His Protego had run out, and he didn't have time to cast another one in time. James calculated very well to make it impossible to defend yourself unless you have divine reflexes.
The red flash sent Lucius' wand flying, and he made an ugly expression as his wand flew through the air and landed far away from his position.
Lucius wanted to mediate words with the group of juniors, but he didn't have time. The last thing he saw was three stun blasts heading his way. Then his world went black, and he lost consciousness.
"Will he be all right?" asked Toby, approaching Lucius' unconscious body lying near the rocky wall. Besides being hit by three stun spells, he went flying until he hit the wall and fell like dead weight to the ground.
"Stun spells leave no lasting damage. His back must hurt, but nothing Madame Poppy can't deal with," Lupin commented, walking over and looking down. The others did the same.
"I read once that there was a case where a dark wizard was hit by multiple stun spells simultaneously which amplified the effect, and he had to be moved to St. Mungo's," James commented.
"Did he die...?" asked Sirius with a strange and worried expression at the same time.
"No, but he was left with serious injuries for the rest of his life in Azkaban... I don't think this case is the same though. There were only three. He was hit by more than six and from adult wizards," James said.
"Don't scare us like that..." muttered Lupin, sighing in relief. He didn't want to leave anyone behind. No matter how much of a supremacist he was.
James then walked over to the two students he knocked unconscious. They were George Parkinson and Amycus Carrow.
"We've already eliminated the older students," Sirius said, and a mischievous grin formed on his face.
James nodded with a grin just as mischievous as his friend's. There were only the students in the same year or a few years older like Anastasia Nott, who is in fourth. Much easier than beating Lucius Malfoy, sixth-year prefect.
Lucius was unlucky. His reflexes were very good as he was able to fend off the two attacks from Sirius and Lupin, who were hidden under an invisibility cloak and had cast a Silencio Barriera which made their spells look like non-verbal magic.
"Come on. Let's free Gwen, Snape, and Regulus," Lupin said, and the others nodded, leaving the battle site. It would be bad if Filch arrived after all the commotion, as there were loud bangs on the walls and flashes of light flying here and there.
James cast a disillusioning spell on himself and started walking towards the dungeons. Sirius and the others followed him under the invisibility cloak. This time, they would make a surprise attack. They were not to be seen.
In total, the students behind them numbered eleven, according to Diana. They had already defeated four, so seven remained. They were still outnumbered, but the five of them knew they had the advantage for several reasons. They knew it would be an easy battle. The difficult battle was over.
They had the sneak attack in their favor and were to face students from their years such as Rabastan, Mulciber, Rosier, and Avery. Then Emma, and Anastasia from the fourth year. Finally, Alecto Carrow from the fifth year.
'We defeated sixth-year students,' Peter thought with a proud smile under the invisibility cloak as he headed with the others to the dungeons.
It was not the first time the group had visited the entrance to the Slytherin common house. With a brisk walk, they arrived there in a few minutes.
The hiding places that could be used to observe the sliding rock door of the Slytherin common room were not many. So it was very easy for James and the company to observe the hidden people watching the door to the common room.
As they expected, they were standing guard and waiting for Gwen and Snape to come out to follow them or attack them and question them about the vaults.
'None of them are using a disillusioning spell. This will be easy,' James thought with a slight grin, moving halfway up the wall to get a full view of his enemies.
His disillusioning spell was perfect. It made no difference to the rocky wall, so it was unseen by Rabastan and the others. Also, he had a Silencio Barriera which silenced their footsteps and breaths.
James extended his wand as high as he could and thought, 'Lumos Solem!'
A blinding flash of sunlight shot out from his wand completely illuminating the dark dungeon corridor. Anastasia, Rabastan, and the others seeing a sudden light appearing out of nowhere looked in that direction and were more effectively blinded. They grunted in pain and quickly covered their eyesight.
James acted instantly, aiming at Alecto Carrow. Within seconds, he knocked her unconscious with a stun spell. Sirius and the others also acted. Like James, they possessed contact lenses with a spell that protected them from the blinding flash. This gift was courtesy of James.
The contact lenses he gave his friends had only that function. To protect them from blinding glare and the sun. Nothing more. Their views remained the same as before.
The glare disappeared after a few seconds. Rabastan opened his eyes with difficulty and confusion. What he saw made his blood boil. Five of his allies lay defeated on the ground unconscious, and five people he recognized very well had appeared.
Anastasia the person, who was saved from being knocked unconscious also looked at this with surprise and shock. In a normal situation, she would scream angrily at her attackers, telling them how they dared to attack her, but seeing James she swallowed hard and began to back away slowly. Her only salvation was to get back to her common room. She was only a few feet from the door.
"Hey, Rabastan. Long time. How have you been?" asked Sirius with a smile as if he was seeing an old friend.
Rabastan grimaced at Sirius' comment and started walking backward. He had the same thought as Anastasia. To his bad luck, he was further away from the entrance to the common room than the fat girl.
Anastasia stopped abruptly when she heard the sound of the stone door shifting. She turned her head with her heart pounding in her chest, expecting to see an opportunity for escape, but instead met Gwen's cold gaze.
"Glacius," Gwen said in an icy, almost whispery tone.
A cold, biting air emerged from the tip of Gwen's wand, advancing toward Anastasia with terrifying swiftness. The icy mist reached her in an instant, starting at her feet. Anastasia felt an intense shiver run through her body as her feet were caught in a layer of ice that spread rapidly upward.
The ice moved up her legs, completely immobilizing her, and continued its inexorable advance toward her torso. Anastasia tried to scream, but her breath caught in her throat as the ice closed over her chest and arms, enveloping her in a crystalline prison.
When the spell ended, Anastasia was completely frozen in a block of ice, an expression of terror etched on her face. Her eyes, wide open, reflected the light from the nearby torches, giving her an almost spectral appearance.
Gwen lowered her wand slowly, her light blue eyes showing no trace of emotion, and looked at Rabastan, who paled at the scenario he found himself in. Surrounded on all sides and without any allies.