Two hours had already passed since midnight.
But only now had the real battle begun.
Wizard against wizard, spells flying in all directions, werewolves driven by bloodlust.
Dark creatures filled the skies, banshee wails ready to erupt at any moment.
A massive hand clawed its way up over the bridge—it was The Gurg.
He wasn't dead.
He had climbed back up again.
When the giants saw that their leader was unharmed, they let out earth-shaking roars.
It took two students working together just to deal with a single wizard. Yet the number of enemy wizards was several times greater than that of the students. This was an unfair fight.
Unicorns were being hunted down by wizards, the Zouyu was brought down by ropes, and Hagrid was being beaten by more than a dozen giants.
Harry and Ron found Hermione; the trio reunited and fought side by side once more. Their first opponent was a wizard with tattoos covering his face.
He spoke in a language they couldn't understand before Hermione knocked him down with a Binding Spell.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look.
Ron sighed in admiration. "I really do love her."
"Don't be stupid," Harry snapped, elbowing him irritably.
Then he brought up Dumbledore's poisoned condition—there had to be a way to cure him.
"You could call Slughorn. Isn't he a Potions Master?" Ron felt this was something best left to a professional.
Harry wasn't optimistic. After all, it was Slughorn—but the poison had been laid by Voldemort. "Are you sure the 'universal potion' can cure Dumbledore?"
Hermione was more clear-headed. "Do you really think Voldemort's poison would be that simple?"
Hearing that, Harry hesitated as well. Indeed. If it were that easy, phoenix tears wouldn't have failed to cure him.
Hermione said seriously, "John will have a way. He'll definitely come back."
Harry said nothing. Whether John could return at all was still an open question. But Hermione's words reminded Harry of something.
The 'universal potion' might not be able to save him, but there was one thing that certainly could. A flicker of realization crossed Harry's face as he reached into his pocket. The badge was still there.
…
Malfoy slid across the ground to dodge an incoming spell, then ducked behind a flowerbed in the courtyard as cover and shouted, "I think it's time."
Percy deflected a spell, then swung his wand and sent a man flying before smashing him into the ground. "Not yet," Percy said.
"Waiting for what?" Cedric asked in confusion as he pulled Cho Chang out of harm's way. "Who else are we waiting for?"
Seeing a werewolf behind Fleur being strung up by Daphne, Percy replied calmly, "For Voldemort to come out."
At the moment, Voldemort still hadn't made a move. If they summoned the Constellation Society now, they would only be handing him an advantage.
Inside the castle, an unlucky man was thrown out of a window.
A silver steed leapt down after him, charging straight into the surroundings.
Wherever the horse passed, nothing escaped being trampled under its hooves. Kim Ledislay had arrived.
"Where's Neville?" Malfoy suddenly realized that the boy hadn't appeared at all from start to finish.
"He's waiting for an opportunity," Percy said.
Daphne, who knew Malfoy's personality all too well, added, "If you can't hold on anymore, you could always let Neville come save you."
"Me? Can't hold on?" Malfoy snapped angrily. "That's ridiculous!" He stood up immediately to prove that he absolutely could hold on.
The moment he exposed himself, five or six spells forced him to duck and scramble for cover.
Then he suddenly saw Mrs. Wick appearing and vanishing like a phantom, her blade flashing as it cut across a wizard's throat.
"That's John's mother—protect her!" Malfoy shouted.
He saw Daphne rush out at once. Just as Mrs. Wick finished off one wizard, a werewolf lunged at her from behind.
"Watch out!" Daphne appeared in an instant, slamming down a golden bell that sent the werewolf tumbling head over heels.
Daphne smoothed her hair, wand clenched between her fingers, and said nervously, "H-hello, ma'am. My name is Daphne. I'm John's… friend."
"John's friend?" Mrs. Wick studied the girl closely.
This made Daphne unbearably nervous. John resembled Mrs. Wick far more closely, so looking at her face gave Daphne the distinct feeling that John himself was staring at her. The tension in her heart was even greater than when facing Voldemort.
As a woman, Mrs. Wick was nothing like her foolish son. Mrs. Wick seemed to see through Daphne's thoughts.
She smiled faintly and said, "I'm very glad John has a friend like you."
Joy surged in Daphne's heart, but she didn't dare show it too obviously.
She raised her wand and returned to the fight. From then on, Daphne stayed by Mrs. Wick's side the entire time, protecting her closely.
But in truth, Mrs. Wick's ferocious way of fighting made Daphne start wondering how she was supposed to get along with this Mrs. Wick in the future.
Someone was riding on the back of the Peruvian Vipertooth—it was Watson.
Earlier, Watson had complained that his "owl's" flying skills were atrocious and decided to re-enter his Gold Canary Wharf God street-racing persona to properly teach this "owl" a lesson. Now a dragon rider, Watson grabbed two upturned scales on Kiki's back as a steering handle. He guided Qiqi through the battlefield, breathing fire everywhere to provide support.
"Woohoo—!"
Knowing that his son would show up eventually, the weight on Watson's heart finally lifted. Returning to his true nature, Watson rode the fire dragon and shouted freely.
That posture left even Professor McGonagall staring in stunned silence.
"That is… John Wick's father?"
As the only one who had ever summoned a student's parent to Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall's impression of Watson was still very vivid.
After all, a Muggle driving a flying car into Hogwarts and smashing the Whomping Willow left a deep mark. But compared to today, Professor McGonagall felt that flying a car clearly hadn't been Watson's limit.
Now he'd moved on to riding a dragon.
Even among wizards, very few could manage something like that.
"Merlin's beard…" Slughorn gaped. Where on earth had this terrifying figure come from?
Watson rampaged across the battlefield, controlling the fire dragon from the sky as it constantly harassed the giants.
The Gurg was caught completely off guard, as if an endlessly buzzing fly were darting around him.
He grabbed a wizard chess piece and hurled it at Watson.
The moment it came close, two Ironclad Charms flared into existence around Watson, knocking it straight back.
The Gurg suffered the consequences of his own action, getting bonked on the head.
Watson shrugged off his coat, revealing layers beneath—anti-curse amulets linked together like a bulletproof vest.
After wizards blew up his house, Watson had simply gone to his son's basement and hauled everything out.
"Haha! From now on, please call me Watson Aegon I Targaryen Wick!"
Watson began tossing items out of a small handbag.
Each sturdy wooden dog carving hit the ground and immediately transformed into a massive dog the size of a cow, charging after the giants and snapping at their toes.
"This bag is really handy." Watson beamed as he held the Seamless Extension Charm bag John had made himself and pulled out a box connected at both ends by magical crystals.
Relying purely on instinct, he pressed down on one of the crystals. The moment the crystals made contact, they reacted rapidly.
The object he threw was caught midair by two opposing streams of magic, twisting together before erupting into a massive explosion.
Boom!
The Gurg hurriedly shoved a nearby giant in front of himself, yet he was still blasted off his feet. And there were more than a dozen such things still inside Watson's handbag.
…
George and Fred ran with their heads down, sprinting at full speed.
Bellatrix chased after them like a rabid dog.
The swamp from earlier had filled Bellatrix with seething hatred.
When they truly couldn't run any farther, George and Fred finally stopped. They watched as the woman slowed her pace, as tireless as ever.
Bellatrix raised her wand and fired a streak of green light, which the two narrowly dodged.
The Weasley twins immediately counterattacked, flashes of spell light flickering through the night. Back and forth they traded blows, but they were steadily forced to retreat.
Their Defence Against the Dark Arts had never been outstanding to begin with, and now they were facing Bellatrix, Voldemort's most formidable subordinate.
After only a short exchange, their eyes began darting as they searched for a way out. Fighting Bellatrix head-on was clearly not a wise choice.
Fred reached into his pocket and found he still had one smoke bomb left. Sharing the thought with George without a word, he immediately tossed it down.
The two of them veered sharply and ran toward the castle.
Bellatrix kept firing spells.
When she realized she'd been tricked again, a trace of black malice surfaced in her eyes.
In her fury, cracks spread through the surrounding buildings. Blood seeped from the wooden spikes embedded in her body as she chased after them toward the castle.
The Weasley twins hadn't expected her to be so fast. They ran for their lives and finally managed to reach the castle a step ahead of her.
Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief— They looked up and saw a banshee tilting her head as she stared at them, then opening her mouth and unleashing a piercing scream that caught them completely off guard.
When the sound passed, both of them were dizzy. They raised their wands toward her just as the banshee opened her mouth again.
"Reducto."
Red sparks struck the banshee and sent her flying. With the banshee dealt with, the two exchanged a look and grinned, that familiar unrestrained smile returning to their faces.
"Ginny!"
George spotted his sister being chased. He immediately ran toward her.
Fred took a breath and muttered, "I really should train more." He stepped forward to follow—when suddenly, a vicious, maddened curse rang out.
"Bombarda!"
Fred didn't have time to get away.
He saw the wall beside him explode, and a powerful shockwave slammed into him from the side.
George turned back and let out a terrified scream.
"Fred!"
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