"Fear of death hung like a veil over the wizard's heart, making most people shiver with cold."
The three wizards, wearing black cloaks, stood calmly in front of the gap in the wall they had blown open, staring at the 'bigwigs' in the box who were frozen in fear. Although there was a huge difference in numbers between the two sides, they did not feel any tension from them. It was as if they were just facing a group of pigs waiting to be slaughtered.
"Hmph—"
"It was impossible to differentiate the three black wizards by appearance, but the one on the right was obviously weaker in physique. She glanced at the struggling Connie Flore, who had been blown away by the recent blast, and sneered softly,"
"Ministry of Magic, huff huff, it's getting more and more unsightly!"
"Who are you?"
Behind Sirius was Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the entire bunch of ungrown-up Weasley children. Bill and Charlie stood on the flanks, holding wands and concentrating on defense. But the sweat on their foreheads showed that they were under tremendous pressure.
Sirius became calm at this moment, his gray eyes flashing with determination, like the alpha wolf guarding his territory.
Remus didn't know where he had been pushed in the crowd. These 'gentlemen' in the compartment, who were considered 'powerful wizards' in their everyday lives, had all been afraid to take out their wands when they were actually on stage. At present, no one could protect Harry and these children except for him.
"It's necessary to identify the identities of the three black-robed people in front of us," Sirius, tentatively, asked,
"Let me guess, Malfoy, Dolohov, and the Carrow siblings? Old friends, aren't they? Why not pull off your cloaks so I can see your faces?"
"Impossible!"
Fudge finally showed the airs of a Minister for Magic, and he and the Bulgarian Minister for Magic both drew their wands and pointed at the three dark wizards standing on a pile of rubble. Hearing Sirius's guess, Fudge's face turned red as if he had been insulted,
"The three people you mentioned are all imprisoned in Azkaban, Sirius! They absolutely could not have escaped!"
"I don't share your confidence, Minister!" Sirius replied unkindly.
The battle broke out abruptly without any warning, making Harry, who was protected by Sirius behind him, realize that a true life-and-death duel was nothing like what they had seen in their classes with Professor Lupin. It was far more treacherous and perilous.
The smallest of the three black wizards who had burst in, who looked like a woman, suddenly pointed his wand at the ceiling. With a dazzling flash, the steel beams and roof that supported the building collapsed immediately, and a huge amount of building materials rained down like rain, burying both Fudge and the Bulgarian Minister for Magic under it without them casting a single spell.
"Fall flat!"
Sirius shouted loudly, waving his arms in succession, firing two crimson spells that whistled like arrows. However, they had no effect.
The middle black wizard thrust his dark wand into the ground, and a dark, watery curtain like a waterfall quickly rose from the floor. Sirius's spells were absorbed by the curtain and extinguished without making any noise.
This scene made Sirius' heart sink immediately.
"Bill, Charlie, find an opportunity to get them out!"
After saying that, without waiting for Harry to voice any objections, Sirius charged out as if a lone wolf.
A fierce explosion occurred between Sirius and the three black wizards, sending countless pieces of debris and broken stone flying in all directions like bullets. Charlie's reaction was even faster. With his thick arms, he firmly stopped Harry from trying to help Sirius, and an invisible force field kept all the fragments pinned in mid-air.
"I'll take care of Sirius myself, while Melanov will control Harry Potter. With that kid in hand, we're sure he'll take a bite out of them!"
The tallest of the three black wizards boldly stated his plan, as if he didn't care who heard him.
Sirius, who had tried to climb up the steps to gain an advantageous position, suddenly changed his expression. He was afraid that Bill and Charlie couldn't handle it, and hurriedly returned to Harry's side. However, before he could take even a step, two precise magical beams were already flying towards his face and knee!
Whew!
A sudden gust of wind suddenly blew up, and Sirius, with his arms waving like a whip, created two brilliant flowers of light in front of him. The reflection on his dark face was incredibly pale. Harry watched in horror as his adoptive father flew out like a wild pitch, hit a wall hard, and then fell to the ground.
"Sirius!"
Harry howled in anger and was about to charge out, but Hermione grabbed his waist from behind.
"Harry, don't be impulsive! We can't handle this!"
Click!
The wizard named Melanov waved her wand, and the black magical smoke swirling around her body descended like locusts. The iron shield spell Charlie had cast shattered upon contact.
"Get out of the way quickly!"
Charlie roared, forcefully pushing Harry and Hermione and the others to one side, while he darted towards the railing.
A deafening boom followed, and Bill pulled back Charlie, who had almost fallen from the railing. On his handsome face, which was usually carefree, there was now an unyielding severity. In a flash of memory, he recalled the night years ago when he had clashed with Amos at the Forbidden Forest. Since that night, for many years, he had never encountered a situation as dangerous as the one now.
Charlie, dizzied by the broken magical barrier, couldn't immediately join the fight. Bill suddenly raised his wand and caused the broken pieces of benches and steel to float up in mid-air. Under the transformation spell, they formed sharp knives that whistled towards Melanov!
"Toys for kids..."
Amidst the continuous explosions, Melanov's voice was so scornful.
Bill's turned knives indeed had no effect, they flew to a distance of ten feet from Melanov before melting into brilliant sparks and disappearing.
Fear finally drove some people mad!
In the corner, a middle-aged wizard in an elegant black suit, covered in dust, saw the three black wizards displaying their terrifying power. Driven mad by fear, he screamed and rushed towards the collapsed door.
The young wizards who were still at Hogwarts, including Charlie and Bill who had already graduated, could swear that what they witnessed next was the most brutal scene they had ever seen in their lives.
The middle-aged wizard, who had lost his mind in fear and was eager to escape, rushed forward blindly, straight into Melanov. However--
The black smoke dispersing in the air suddenly gathered in front of Melanov, forming a black shawl-covered skeleton with a skull like death, looking like a skeleton of a corpse. It issued a terrifying laugh that made one's intestines contract as it flowed forward like the wind, directly piercing the chest of the middle-aged wizard.
The middle-aged wizard stopped in his tracks, stunned, and looked at his chest——
The wizard's suit appeared to have undergone a transformation in an instant, like the ebb and flow of the sea. Harry watched in horror as the expensive fabric turned gray and powdery in just a few seconds, then disintegrated into fine dust. Next, the exposed skin on his chest turned black and rotten, spreading from the outside inward. The skin, muscles, bones, and even his heart became a thick, putrid liquid.
The flesh melted away, leaving an irregular large cavity in the middle-aged wizard's chest!
"Eh, eh—"
The wealthy middle-aged wizard seemed to doubt that he would die here, and he lowered his head to see the large hole in his chest. He was stunned and confused, then his head nodded weakly and he fell to the ground, only his eyes still stared in the direction of Melanov.
Gag!
Ginny vomited immediately.
Bang!
Hermione's trembling legs couldn't support her, and she fell to the ground with a thud, tears of terror still hanging on her face covered in dust. And the Weasley brothers, from Ron to Bill, were all in a state of shock.
Splatter!
The countless black shawls transformed into a rope, like a poisonous snake, wrapping around Harry.
In a split second, Harry's instinctive reactions saved him from the rope. And just before he landed from a roll, Harry launched his most proficient spell.
The Disarming Charm illuminated the compartment for a moment, but it was promptly extinguished!
"A child capable of defeating the Dark Lord, oh, interesting. Let me see, what kind of abilities do you have--"
(End of this chapter)
