Ready—set—go!
A violet glow flared across Filch's shoes.
In that instant, he felt it.
That force pushing him faster and faster, as though he were about to take flight.
A gaunt body carrying boundless conviction.
Filch moved so fast he nearly vanished, leaping into the air and locking onto that colossal figure.
In that moment—swoosh!
Filch became light.
That kick, forged from more than a decade of belief poured into Hogwarts, transformed into a warhammer striking the enemy.
"Ever been kicked by light? Haa!"
The Gurg's advancing body jerked to a sudden halt, followed by a violent pain exploding in his abdomen.
It felt like being hit head-on by a speeding train, his organs churning violently.
Blood burst from his mouth as the Gurg's massive body flew backward like a kicked ball, retreating at even greater speed.
Filch let out a hoarse roar, his body turning into a living projectile, intent on piercing the skin that could withstand magic.
A Squib—about to defeat a giant even wizards could not handle!
At last— BOOM—!
The Gurg's massive body was kicked clear of the castle.
He staggered uncontrollably, reeling backward toward the Black Lake.
One step missed its footing. The Gurg let out a shrill scream as his enormous frame plunged downward.
"That was… Filch?" Ron stared wide-eyed, hardly able to believe it. That was their caretaker?
Filch turned back, spotted the two brats, and shoved them aside with a sour look before striding into his office.
When he came out again, Filch hurled a crate straight at Ron.
"These are inventions from those two bastards when they were students." Back when the Weasley twins were at school, Filch had confiscated countless prank items and locked them away in a special cabinet.
After tossing the box to Ron, Filch vanished from sight almost instantly.
Inside the castle, any enemy that appeared was sent flying by a single kick from Filch.
At the same time, he took on the role of a runner, relaying messages between the Houses.
Seeing even Filch fighting for Hogwarts, Harry's resolve hardened.
Even without the Emerald Potion, he would protect Hogwarts.
…
"Uncle, Auntie, ...I'm scared."
"Don't be afraid, child. We won't hurt you."
Malfoy was trembling.
He watched as Mrs. Wick—who had spoken to him kindly and gracefully not long ago—snapped a banshee's neck with her bare hands.
The people who had appeared from who-knows-where, speaking with foreign accents, were each more ruthless than the last.
Faced with dark creatures that even wizards had to seek out weak points to defeat, they simply swung their weapons and tore their heads clean off.
Malfoy swallowed hard. From these people, he felt a sense of danger, as if he could be thrown onto a pyre at any moment.
Watson put a bullet through the head of a wizard who hadn't managed to finish his incantation. He frowned and glanced at his weapon.
"What's going on?"
He saw rust beginning to creep across the gun. He'd only gotten this firearm a few days ago.
And some wizards were frighteningly resilient. Even after taking several shots that didn't hit vital spots, they were still able to keep fighting.
"Damn..." Malfoy looked at John's parents, who were cutting down enemies with brutal efficiency. Weren't they supposed to be Muggles? How were they more vicious than wizards?
"Draco, I'd like to know how my son is doing."
Hearing Mrs. Wick say that Draco was John's friend, Watson hurriedly asked.
A flying dark creature tried to approach, only to be torn apart by a Peruvian Vipertooth.
Behind Watson, flames burned as Inferi were reduced to ash.
"John isn't at school for the moment," Malfoy said. He didn't really know what John was doing either, but he added, "John will definitely come back."
"All right. I still have a lot of questions for my son," Watson said, "like how an owl can breathe fire."
Hearing that John wasn't here, Watson could only swallow his doubts for now.
Malfoy silently looked up at the fire-breathing dragon overhead.
Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about owls?
That's an owl?
Chirpy flapped overhead again, opening her beak and setting the dark creatures on the bridge ablaze with another burst of flame.
The hammer in Hagrid's hands was gone, replaced by a swarm of Red Caps crawling all over him, pounding at his body.
"Get lost, you nasty little blighters!"
Hagrid grabbed one Red Cap by the leg and swung it around, using it as a weapon.
Raising both arms to shield his face, Hagrid charged forward like a living battering ram, smashing a whole cluster away.
Their attacks were nothing more than itching to him. In fact, many of the creatures that struck Hagrid only ended up injuring themselves instead.
Several giants forced their way across the bridge. Grawp swung his club and smashed one of them to the ground.
The other two seized Grawp by the arms and legs and dragged him down.
"Grawp!"
Hagrid panicked and rushed toward him, only to be grabbed from behind by a massive hand and lifted into the air.
Just as Grawp was about to be beaten to death by the two giants, a Peruvian Vipertooth appeared and sank its fangs into the giant's tough hide.
Roaring in pain, the giant grabbed the Vipertooth by the head and swung it hard, slamming it into the ground.
The earth shook with a thunderous crash, and the Peruvian Vipertooth was left dazed and reeling.
As the smallest of the fire dragons, the Peruvian Vipertooth lacked the overwhelming physical strength of the larger breeds.
The giant raised its fist and smashed it down, drawing a pained roar from the dragon.
At that moment, a figure sprang up from the ground and, with a fist that looked utterly harmless to a giant, drove a heavy punch straight into it.
Thoom—!
It was like striking a massive drum made of thick hide, a dull, heavy sound rippling out through the giant's face.
The giant's head snapped to one side, and its massive body crashed heavily to the ground.
That figure landed squarely on the giant's belly, both arms thick and brimming with strength.
"Valery, I told you to bring some weapons."
Seeing his younger brother charging into battle bare-handed, Sherioza Jovonovich had a splitting headache.
With a roaring brown bear talisman hanging around his neck, Valery clenched his fists until they crackled, then grinned innocently. "Bahaha! This is way more fun than wrestling a brown bear."
The fallen giant propped itself up again. That punch hadn't kept it down for long.
Valery's eyes lit up. He ran up from the giant's belly, planted himself on its neck, and unleashed a flurry of punches straight into its face.
Grawp had gotten back on his feet as well. Watching one of his own kind getting pummeled by a puny human, his not-particularly-sharp mind clearly couldn't figure out why this was happening.
But he did know one thing. To deal with giants, you had to charge them.
Grawp rushed forward and slammed into another giant, knocking it down.
Seizing the opening, the Peruvian Vipertooth got back up and blasted a stream of dragonfire straight at the giant's face.
Hagrid, meanwhile, hammered his fist into the hand gripping him.
The battle had reached a fever pitch.
The Inferi were restrained by the unicorns, while the giants were held back by Hagrid and the others working together.
Against the Jovonovich family, the dark creatures fared as if they were facing an open-book exam.
Fleur's large-scale deployment of airborne wizard chess pieces linked up with Hogwarts' enchanted suits of armor, forcing the dark creatures back out of the Entrance Hall.
Hogwarts' professors and students rallied, driving every last enemy from within the castle.
Voldemort's expression darkened with displeasure. Even without John, this place was still just as troublesome.
However, Voldemort believed the advantage was still in his hands.
"Quick, with me!"
Professor Flitwick rallied all the professors, raising their wands.
"Protego Maxima!"
"Fianto Duri!"
"Salvio Hexia!"
Thin strands of silvery light extended from their wands, linking together above Hogwarts and slowly spreading into a luminous barrier meant to envelop the castle.
Voldemort raised his wand. He intended to crush them head-on, breaking through Hogwarts' strongest magic and plunging them into despair.
His magic surged through his arm, flowed into the Philosopher's Stone embedded in the wand, then fed back into the wand and its core.
Empowered by the flagship treasure of the American branch of the Johnny Silverhand Specialty Store, a massive bolt of green lightning burst from the wand's tip.
Overwhelming magic collided with the defensive enchantments.
Boom!
Crackling arcs of electricity scattered across Hogwarts.
The barrier that had taken so much effort to erect was shattered in a single blow.
From the Headmaster's Office, Dumbledore witnessed the scene, his eyes filled with wariness and shock.
"Have you become this powerful now?"
Dumbledore had always known that Voldemort, with his soul restored, would be stronger.
But whatever Voldemort had done during this time had pushed him far beyond what he had been at the Ministry.
Dumbledore's gaze fell on the crystal wand. He had been caught off guard, and with his current condition, he did not know whether he could still force Voldemort back.
As Hogwarts reopened, at Voldemort's command, all the wizards surged toward the castle.
Hagrid was hit by dozens of spells the moment they met.
He was nearly turned into a sieve, knocked around like a ball, sent flying again and again.
Fortunately, the armor forged by the greatest alchemist of the age saved his life.
Once that wave rushed into Hogwarts, Hagrid could no longer hold them back.
The first to break through was Bellatrix.
Her target locked onto red hair.
The entrance hall of Hogwarts was breached.
Those deranged wizards attacked the students without a shred of humanity.
Professor McGonagall shouted orders for them to hide, but the advantage they had built up collapsed in an instant.
Bellatrix cackled madly as she used the Cruciatus Curse to torture a girl.
"Hey, ugly hag."
George and Fred fired spells at Bellatrix.
She blocked them, then turned back, her gaze sweeping over the red hair with venomous hatred.
Fred swallowed, but still shouted, "You should pick an adult to fight!"
"Yeah, at least then you wouldn't scare them," George added.
Bellatrix abandoned the girl and chased after the two of them, while the twins ran flat out toward the outside without looking back.
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