"Edith. You are... No, never mind..."
Before the decisive battle.
In the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore began to say something to Edith.
But, as though caught in deep thought, he shook his head and swallowed his words.
It was about Sybil's prophecy regarding Mirabel, a prediction of the world's destruction, and also about Edith's sister.
However, Dumbledore chose not to speak.
Telling her would only bring Edith unnecessary pain.
There are things in this world that are better left unknown, Dumbledore thought. Perhaps this was one of them.
"Professor... are we really doing the right thing by fighting Mirabel? Is there no way for us to reach out to her?"
"Unless we believe it is right, we cannot fight...
Surrendering and joining forces is tempting, but... in that case, I would have to betray and sacrifice many of my students' families."
That was something he could not do.
The elderly man, who spoke with a weariness unlike his usual self, looked more frail and unreliable than ever before.
Harry and the others likely felt the same way.
With their cause lost and righteousness seemingly on the other side, they were left with nowhere to turn.
And because of that, Edith could not abandon her friends.
"Mirabel... I'm sorry. I can't go with you.
I can't betray everyone..."
That day, Edith Lynagrul brushed aside her friend's hand.
"I see," Mirabel replied quietly, lowering her eyes.
Her expression showed neither anger nor sorrow.
Only a calm, unreadable stillness, like the surface of a placid lake.
"In that case, I have nothing more to say... From this moment forward, you are my enemy.
I kill my enemies. And you, Lynagrul, are no exception."
Mirabel meant it.
There would be no mercy, not even for a former friend.
The next time they met as foes, she would cast the Killing Curse on Edith without hesitation.
She was capable of it.
That was who Mirabel Beresford was.
"Never show your face to me again. Disappear, wherever you like."
With cold, merciless words, Mirabel spat out her final sentiment.
There was no longer a path for them to walk together.
Having parted ways, Edith was now nothing more than an obstacle to Mirabel's conquest.
Turning sharply, Mirabel walked away without another word, vanishing into the distance.
That day, the tension and fear within the Hogwarts castle reached its peak.
The younger students, unable to fight, were hidden away in the deepest parts of the Chamber of Secrets, while those who could fight took up arms and readied themselves at their positions.
There was Grawp, the last surviving giant, and a herd of centaurs.
A handful of Aurors and the staff of Hogwarts.
Graduates who had returned in the school's hour of need, along with their families.
What united them all was their love and pride for the wizarding world.
Even in the face of overwhelming evil, their unyielding resolve made every single one of them a hero.
This battle was a complete defensive stand.
Hogwarts was the last stronghold, the final line of defense against Mirabel's forces.
If the school fell, there would be no more places left in the wizarding world to mount a resistance.
"Damn it, let them come... I'll take them down with my magic."
Hearing someone mutter that beside her, Edith gripped her wand tightly.
Where would Mirabel attack from? How would she strike?
Surely, everyone was wondering the same thing, but Edith already knew the answer.
A frontal assault.
There was no way that girl would sneak around or hide.
Without a doubt, she would charge in head-on, with sheer force.
And, as expected, Mirabel's first move was a direct, preemptive attack.
The sound of something shattering pierced the air.
Everyone turned to look around, wondering what had broken.
But nothing seemed out of place—everything appeared perfectly normal.
That perception, however, was only due to their lack of skill.
The professors, especially Dumbledore, looked visibly alarmed, a stark contrast to his usual calm demeanor.
"This is bad! Everyone, re-cast the anti-technology spells immediately!"
At his shout, the situation became clear to everyone.
What had been broken was the protective enchantment surrounding the castle—magic that nullified technological devices.
It was an effective defense against Muggle armies, rendering machines completely nonfunctional within its range.
And yet, it had been shattered in an instant.
There was only one person capable of such a feat.
Yes—there she stood, silhouetted against the full moon, arms crossed as she gazed down at the castle: Mirabel.
"It's Mirabel Beresford! She's appeared 500 meters in front of the castle!"
Lee Jordan, who had been keeping watch through a magical telescope, shouted the warning.
His sharp eyes, honed by Quidditch, clearly captured the image of their greatest enemy.
The moonlight reflected off her waist-length golden hair, making it shine like a halo.
Her glowing golden eyes gleamed ominously, and her inhuman beauty seemed almost capable of stealing one's soul.
Behind her came flying objects—missiles, made of steel.
There were about ten of them.
"Missiles! She's launched missiles!"
It was an unrelenting and ruthless preemptive strike. There was no restraint, no mercy.
The suddenness of the attack threw Hogwarts into chaos, shattering morale in an instant.
But while Mirabel was a monster, Hogwarts had its champions.
Dumbledore and the other professors swiftly re-cast the anti-technology spells, halting the missiles' detonation and preventing the school's immediate destruction.
However, the spells couldn't stop the sheer speed of the missiles.
The steel projectiles, unleashed at incredible velocity, slammed into Hogwarts, shattering its sturdy walls and reducing over a dozen people nearby to mere fragments of flesh.
The panic spread like wildfire. The situation was already spiraling out of control, leaving no chance to mount a counterattack against Mirabel.
And yet, the worst was yet to come.
"This is terrible! Everyone, brace for impact!"
As Dumbledore barked orders, casting magical barriers, something massive loomed in his vision—
The Durmstrang Institute's castle.
It had been magically uprooted and hurled through the air like a colossal weapon, aimed directly at Hogwarts.
The impact was deafening.
Screams and tremors reverberated as the two castles collided, wreaking havoc and crushing several unfortunate souls caught in the impact zone.
But the calamity didn't end there.
From the remains of Durmstrang, now leaning against Hogwarts, poured an uncountable number of soldiers and vampires, swarming into the castle.
Mirabel had seized the upper hand entirely.
Every pre-planned defense strategy was rendered useless.
Undead and golems, unafraid of death, began to attack students and wizards indiscriminately, turning the battlefield into a nightmare of chaos and despair.
"BERESFORD!!!"
Hagrid, wearing an expression of rage unlike anything Edith or Harry had ever seen, charged toward Mirabel.
He leapt toward her with a single bound, closing the distance in an instant, and swung his massive fist, thick as a tree trunk, at her.
A sickening crunch echoed as blood sprayed.
"Got her!" Harry and the others clenched their fists in hope at the sight.
But—
"What's that? A handshake to welcome me?"
"What...?! No!!"
The blow hadn't landed.
Mirabel stood there, as flawless and composed as ever, her infuriatingly beautiful face showing no sign of pain or effort.
She had stopped Hagrid's massive fist with her dainty, girl-like hand—and was now crushing his fingers in her grip.
"Ugh... Aagh...!"
"What's wrong? Isn't brute strength supposed to be your specialty?"
The sight was horrifying, like something out of a nightmare: the over-three-meter-tall giant of a man being overpowered by a girl half his size.
Still holding Hagrid, Mirabel turned her gaze toward another massive figure approaching her from behind.
"Hagger... don't hurt Hagger! Give him back!"
Grawp, Hagrid's giant brother and the last of the giants, swung his massive fists to save him.
But his attacks couldn't connect.
Still gripping Hagrid, Mirabel soared effortlessly through the air, dodging every swing with ease.
"Oh, is he so precious to you? Shall I give him back, then?"
A sinister smile spread across her face as she spun around in the air, swinging Hagrid with her.
Hagrid's screams echoed as her grip on his fingers completely crushed them, threatening to tear them off entirely.
Then, after building enough centrifugal force, she let go—sending Hagrid hurtling through the air, straight into Grawp.
"Ugh!?"
"Ugh!?"
The two giants were sent flying, crashing through the ground before finally breaking through a wall.
On the other side, a chaotic battle between ghouls and Hogwarts students unfolded, and the giants landed on top of them, crushing them instantly.
Seeing this, Harry's fury boiled over, and he pulled out his wand.
"Mirabel!!"
He cast a more powerful cutting curse, Sectumsempra, stronger than the one that had severed Mirabel's wrist before.
But this time, Mirabel wasn't underestimating Harry.
With a mere flick of her arm, she deflected his spell, and in return, a flash of light sliced through Harry's shoulder.
"Ugh...!?"
"Don't rush, Potter. You're last. For now, play with the opening act."
"Opening act...?!"
An opening act?! After everything that's happened, she dares to call this an opening act?! What was she even talking about!?
Harry's anger boiled over as he watched Mirabel. Then, a man appeared beside her.
It was Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard who had once dominated the magical world even before Voldemort.
"He wants to settle things with Dumbledore after decades. That's why I'm leaving him to face Dumbledore," Mirabel said, stepping back and leaving Grindelwald to handle the situation.
She then leapt high into the air, as if ignoring Harry and the others entirely.
No, it wasn't that she didn't care—rather, the annoying insects buzzing around her were just getting in the way.
"I'll finish cleaning up the trash first. If you're still alive after that, I'll make sure to kill you then," she said, her cold voice full of contempt.
For Mirabel, Dumbledore and Harry were nothing more than the final dessert.
But before she could indulge in her dessert, those annoying insects had to be dealt with first.
She was confident that they would soon be at the table, so she would take care of them.
"Goodbye, Potter. Don't disappoint me."
With one last smug remark, Mirabel disappeared using her invisibility spell.
For now, the greatest threat had retreated.
But that didn't mean the danger had passed.
Inside the castle, Mirabel's subordinates continued to fight against the remaining forces of the magical world.
"Harry!"
Hermione rushed over to Harry's side.
Seeing that she was unhurt, he breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly refocused.
This was a battlefield. One could die at any moment if they let their guard down.
"Hermione, where is everyone?"
"I don't know. We got separated."
Before the battle had begun, their friends and members of DA were nearby.
But after Mirabel's surprise attack, they were scattered, and no one knew where they were.
They were probably fighting somewhere in the Great Hall, but were they safe?
"Harry, behind you!"
It was a mistake for Harry to let his guard slip for even a moment.
Before he realized it, a ghoul had snuck up behind him, raising its arm to strike.
I'm done for!
Thinking this, Harry closed his eyes instinctively, but before the ghoul's arm could reach him, a blue lightning bolt shot through the air, piercing the ghoul's body.
"Harry, are you okay?!"
"Edith! Sorry, thanks for saving me!"
In the nick of time, Edith had saved Harry, blasting nearby enemies with electric shocks, clearing the area around them.
But even though Edith had taken down a significant number of enemies, the situation had not improved.
The only way to turn things around was to defeat the enemy commander.
Which meant that defeating Mirabel was the only option left.
"Listen, both of you. If this keeps up, we'll be wiped out."
Harry's words rang true.
Having lost the only advantage of knowing the terrain, the battle had devolved into a pure contest of numbers and power.
But in both respects, the enemy held the upper hand. Worse still, they were swarmed by immortal creatures.
It was a hopeless situation to demand victory under such circumstances.
"That's why we have to find a way to defeat Beresford. Please, I need your help."
"Defeat her… Yeah, you're right… we have to.
But how? We can't stop her with ordinary methods."
Mirabel's strength was overwhelming, even alone.
If they were to draw her back into the fray, it would only result in mountains of corpses.
Edith voiced her concern, and Harry responded with calm determination: he understood.
"We're going to the Room of Requirement."
"The Room of Requirement?"
"Yes, that's where it is."
That was all Edith needed to hear.
She immediately understood Harry's intention and pressed her lips together.
The Archway to the Otherworld. Harry had already made the decision to use it.
Ideally, this was not the time to do so.
The original plan was to lure Mirabel there with the help of the professors.
But under the current circumstances, if they didn't deal with her now, the casualties would only increase.
"You're right… we don't have any other choice," Hermione said firmly, while Edith cast her gaze downward.
Every moment they hesitated meant more lives would be lost.
There was no time for doubt.
The three exchanged nods and started running toward the Room of Requirement.
Fortunately, most of the enemies had gathered in the Great Hall, so the path ahead seemed relatively unobstructed.
At least, until they reached their destination.
"So that's it. It seems you have something that can stand against my sister."
Standing in front of the door was a beautiful boy.
With long silver hair flowing down to his waist, he could easily be mistaken for a girl.
Edith recognized him immediately.
When he had enrolled at Hogwarts, she had taken notice of him as her younger brother.
"Sydney Beresford…"
"Edith, you know him?"
"No… I only know of him. He's Mirabel's younger brother."
Harry seemed unaware of Sydney's existence.
Edith thought it was understandable.
Unlike his attention-grabbing sister, Sydney had been completely inconspicuous.
Where Mirabel's domineering personality demanded attention, Sydney's quiet presence had made him nearly invisible.
Yet here he was now, standing in their way as a clear enemy.
"I will not allow anyone to interfere with my sister. You will be eliminated."
His voice was devoid of emotion, mechanical and cold.
As Mirabel's younger brother, and considering that the Beresford family's attack had unfolded exactly as Mirabel had planned, it was clear that Sydney had been spared deliberately.
This alone was proof of his considerable abilities.
But he was an enigma.
What kind of personality did he have?
What magic was he proficient in?
There was no information at all.
Sydney slowly raised his wand, and the very air around them trembled.
"He's coming!"
An opponent shrouded in complete uncertainty.
And his fangs were now aimed squarely at Edith and her friends.
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