Support me and be 20 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
******
The once-roaring bonfire had dwindled to warm embers, leaving only a faint glow. Six watchmen were stationed in pairs atop the newly built lookout towers. All lights were extinguished, but the moonlight lingered. Enhanced senses granted by the heightened perception spell and low-light vision spell allowed them to navigate the dark without trouble.
"George, have you noticed something?" Fred whispered, his lips barely moving. Although the low volume wasn't necessary, the unidirectional silence barrier would prevent their voices from being heard outside.
"You mean the insects stopped chirping?"
George raised an eyebrow, equally alert to the strangeness around them.
"There's movement in the forest! Look at the trees!"
Fred pointed sharply ahead. Hundreds of meters away, the treetops rippled like water, an unusual sight that instantly set his nerves on edge, even though the forest sounds had yet to reach them.
A glaring red light accompanied by a hum echoed within the watchtower, the vibration-sensing charm delivering an alert of incoming danger. Red spots began clustering at the far edge of the magical map, advancing rapidly towards the castle.
"They're coming!"
"Enemy attack!"
George pulled the cord attached to a brass bell, while alarms from the other two watchtowers echoed simultaneously.
A spell of illumination flared up, brightening the hundred-meter expanse in front of the castle's defense line. The friction from trembling treetops sounded like a continuous, ominous rustling.
Although the off-duty personnel were supposed to be asleep, this was their first night on guard in the dense forest, so no one had truly relaxed. As the alarm resounded, those wrapped in blankets with their wands quickly rose.
The Hufflepuff students had rebuilt the outer defensive walls to a height of six meters and a width of over three meters, using iron-reinforced stone blocks. They had even dismantled nearly finished sections of the castle's third floor and its completed second floor to construct this defensive wall. Comfort could be sacrificed, but not the fortifications.
Although it seemed like an outdated defense method, it proved effective. Unlike modern warfare, magical creatures, despite their power, relied primarily on their physical bodies. Their thick hides served as strong anti-magic shields, and their brute strength was their primary asset when raiding camps.
Before everyone could reach their posts, hundreds of dark figures broke through the forest's edge. Most were non-magical creatures—snakes and rats, mainly, whose teeming numbers drew startled gasps from the girls and uneasy shivers from the boys as they glanced at the approaching horde.
"Don't worry; they're just ordinary animals."
"Prepare the beast-repelling spells! There are too many of them, and the pre-set spells aren't strong enough."
Without a central command, scattered voices called out warnings, but the spells cast were somewhat chaotic, with a few misfires due to nervousness. Seventeen or eighteen spells flew out in quick succession, landing among the snake and rat hordes already at the outer perimeter's bell trap.
Unlike the Muggle-repelling charm, which makes Muggles suddenly remember pressing business elsewhere, the beast-repelling charm frightens them away. Though the path ahead was clear, the creatures abruptly halted, sensing something terrifying. Survival instinct pushed them to veer away.
The castle's position by the rocky seaside cliffs not only offered a stunning view but also limited the vulnerable sides to the front and sky.
The swarm split in two, the animals unwilling to advance. They crowded toward the cliff, and under the pressure from those behind, jumping off became the trend of the moment.
Before they could fully relax, the snapping of trees accompanied by a nerve-grating creak announced more threats. Magical creatures, trampling over the snake and rat corpses, emerged from the forest, unfazed by the repelling charms. Under ordinary circumstances, they would have retreated in fear, but a terrifying presence chased them from behind, and stopping wasn't an option. The beast horde charged toward the castle.
"They're boarmen! Why are those things here instead of raiding farms for milk?"
Chris muttered in frustration. If it had been the old wall, it wouldn't have held up to the boarmen's relentless assault.
"There are wild boars too!"
With a keen eye, Cedric pointed to a line of wild boars heading for the cliffs, only about ten of them, but still enough to catch attention.
"No worries; we'll handle them."
Wood swallowed nervously. Though a bit shaken, he tried his best to appear calm.
"It's our turn!"
"Standard spell group: Shatter Defense, free targets!"
"Let them come into the bell traps! Shoot when they're within fifty meters! Second group, prepare Deep Cut—focus on the injured ones! Aim carefully!"
Having completed his fifth-year studies, Wood pulled out his prized possession—the HK G36. The other Gryffindors had only managed to transform their wands into submachine gun forms, but as the boarmen flinched at the sudden ring of the bell traps, Wood pulled the trigger. The Shatter Defense spell group, a combination of Petrify, Shatter, and Explosion spells, launched three successive beams of light toward the boarmen.
Caught in a panic, the boarmen had no room to dodge. The gray hue of the Petrification spell marked a small ten-centimeter spot on their hides, which immediately shattered as the Shatter spell followed, cracking their now-brittle skin. As blood spurted, the Explosion spell's searing flames engulfed their flesh, sending up dark smoke and filling the air with anguished howls.
As the first group finished firing, the second group took aim at the writhing, injured boarmen, pulling their triggers. Several beams of red light, symbolizing the Deep Cut spell, penetrated the beasts' blood-soaked wounds. Their screams ceased instantly as the spell tore their organs into countless pieces, leaving them helpless.
"Reload the magazines, reset the spell sequence, quick! The big one's almost here!"
The spells fired were preloaded in the magazine with pre-set magic sequences. Reloading a three-spell sequence took just a second or two, as wizards only needed to channel magic into the clip. The number of spells a magazine could hold varied by wand form—Wood's HK G36, using the standard 30-round clip, could handle up to ten Shatter Defense spell groups at once.
The strategic rotation of spell groups and the grouping of individual spells were core to second-year charm studies. Many spells within different groups, like Shatter Defense and Piercing Blast, used the Explosion spell. If the cooldown of one spell hadn't yet ended when another group was cast, it would weaken the overall effect.
The rhythm of firing, arrangement of spell groups, and cooldown management all required precision. A skilled caster could empty a 30-round clip in three seconds, but unless all spells were unenhanced basics, the internal cooldown couldn't keep pace.
The sound of heavy footsteps and the splintering of trees reached their ears as a towering creature, nearly the height of the castle walls, crashed out of the forest. It was drenched, with hundreds of thick tentacles whipping wildly around it as it bolted forward—a horrifyingly familiar sight that had everyone cursing.
"Mother—what the hell, a kelpie here on the island?!"
Standing five meters tall, this kelpie was far bulkier than the one used for lessons at Hogwarts. The problem was, this was an XXXX-rated magical creature, infamous for luring people to watery graves to consume their organs—not exactly friendly or tame.
And it could transform! Apart from a size increase, it could fully alter its form!
A piercing roar sounded as the kelpie, charging toward the castle, began to twist and reshape. In moments, it morphed into a five-meter-tall Graphorn, barreling down on them with unstoppable force!
A real Graphorn only stood around four meters tall, but this kelpie-transformed one added more bulk to an already formidable "land tank." Thankfully, it wouldn't use the poison or explosive abilities typical of a Graphorn.
"The wall will hold!"
Chris's eyes turned red as he shouted, "Even a troll couldn't break through this wall! I tested it in practical class!"
"Shut your mouth, Chris! Do you know what you just summoned?!"
Wood, seeing red, nearly lunged to strangle Chris's jinxed words out of him. Behind the kelpie-transformed Graphorn, several rancid-smelling sea trolls emerged—an amphibious troll sub-species capable of breathing underwater.
Though they were only about three meters tall and wielded no weapons, these were real trolls.
"We'll handle the trolls. We might even gain some allies."
A Ravenclaw nearby spoke quickly, a hint of nervousness in his voice, "Confusion Charm and Bewilderment Hex—if we're lucky, we might control them."
"Then do it fast!"
Without looking back, Wood shouted, "Everyone, prepare the Heavy Pitfall! We can't let this thing get any closer—who knows what it might transform into next!"
"Behind the spike traps, hurry up—it's charging at us!"
In an instant, spells exploded, creating a ten-meter-deep, 5x5-meter pitfall along the charging Graphorn's path. The combined magic of a dozen students allowed the trap to take shape immediately. The double-spell combination of Dig Three Feet and Sudden Drop was a deadly trapping technique everyone knew well. The massive, charging beast stumbled into the pitfall, its head pressed down by the force of the multiple Sudden Drop spells, and the charging "land tank" vanished from sight as earth and stone crumbled above it.
"Take this!"
A Hufflepuff student tossed a handful of fist-sized packets, chanting, "High-Growth!"
The seeds, long soaked in a special nutrient solution, quickly took root and sprouted under the magic's power. Several Devil's Snares unfurled their tendrils, interwoven with fiery red dots—Dragon's Breath Chili, a volatile plant known for its explosive temperament.
The tentacled beast in the pit found itself ensnared by the Devil's Snares, while the Dragon's Breath Chili, with a muffled snort of anger, flashed into a burst of flames. The pit trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and the crumbling trap seemed on the verge of collapse. The Hufflepuff student grinned, exuding a rather innocent look.
"Though we can't bridle it like a horse, kelpies are terrified of dehydration."
"Desert moss would've been perfect, but since we don't have that, the Dragon's Breath Chili should make it sweat enough to faint from dehydration."
"Got any more tricks up your sleeve, Chris, you rascal!"
Seeing that the biggest threat, the kelpie, was handled, Wood let out a relieved laugh, throwing in a playful jab.
Meanwhile, the Ravenclaws had nearly finished dealing with the sea trolls. These dumb brutes could withstand most magic, but their resistance to "mind-affecting" spells was practically zero; their walnut-sized brains were easily confused.
"I do have a Chinese Biting Cabbage, but I only brought one," Chris said. "Professor Sprout is strict with these seeds since they're a menace that can chomp through limbs. You can only see them in Greenhouse No. 6."
"Don't give me that look! We didn't bring many seeds, and even with growth spells, these plants only last five minutes tops. They're just for emergencies."
Chris spread his hands innocently. If they could survive longer, he'd have already set up plant traps. Growing plants with magic wasn't as simple as tossing seeds; the preparation was complex—a specialty taught exclusively in Hufflepuff's classes.
"Now's not the time to relax, Wood," said a Ravenclaw student, his brow furrowed. "We're trying to control the trolls to block anything else coming out of the forest, but they refuse to turn around. There must be something worse back there."
"Could it be… a slime?"
The only thing Wood could think of was the mutated slime Harry had warned him about several times. Truth be told, without having seen it himself, he was skeptical. After all, it was just a slime…
But Wood's luck seemed to match Chris's jinxed reputation: a few dozen bouncy, gooey blobs emerged from the forest, not long after his words fell. The sea trolls, barely controlled, were knocked over by the globs, and to everyone's horror, the trolls were soon enveloped and dissolved. In mere seconds, bones and all, they vanished without a trace.
The slime blobs, like clumps of mud, continued bouncing forward until they merged into a single, massive, five-meter-wide mud ball.
The rolling mud ball grew limbs, transforming into a hideous clay monstrosity, towering nearly eight meters tall. It held a thick, one-meter-wide club formed of its own mud.
"Think the Biting Cabbage can chew through that thing?"
(End of Chapter)