"Stupefy!"
A clear, girlish shout rang out from the smoke, and simultaneously appearing in Peter Pettigrew's line of sight was a lovely girl with brown curly hair.
And hanging on her was an extremely familiar and annoying cat.
Yes, the very one that had been chasing him relentlessly.
"So it's that stupid cat's owner? Just a little witch—nothing to fear!"
Peter Pettigrew immediately reacted, encouraging himself mentally, then instantly deflected Hermione'sStunning Spell with a beam of magical light.
"?!"
But what made Peter Pettigrew's momentarily calmed heart leap again was the red beam that followed closely behind the deflected blue one, radiating familiar magical energy.
"Disarming Charm? Double casting?!"
With no time to release magic to block or roll away in evasion, Peter Pettigrew could only twist his body immediately, trying to keep his wand-holding right hand as far as possible from the Disarming Charm about to hit him.
A Disarming Charm only worked best when it struck the opponent's weapon-holding hand. When hitting other body parts, the success rate of weapon displacement decreased based on the distance from the weapon-holding hand and the magical power output of the spell.
Clearly, Peter Pettigrew was gambling.
He won his gamble—his wand didn't fly from his grasp.
But the impact force of the Disarming Charm still existed. His short, fat form flew backward, rolling on the dust-covered ground like a ball, leaving him completely disheveled.
"This wizard's abilities aren't outstanding, but his experience is quite rich."
Hermione made her assessment mentally.
Double casting combined with a Disarming Charm hidden in the second layer was a classic guided spell combination, designed to make opponents raise their wands to deflect the first-layer spell with magical beams, allowing the hidden second-layer Disarming Charm to hit their raised wand-holding hand.
Such spell combinations often had remarkable effects when facing wizards whose abilities weren't particularly strong or whose reactions weren't quick, and could also roughly gauge the opponent's overall strength through their response methods.
Like now, that Animagus's response method was quite intriguing.
Though he couldn't block the second-layer Disarming Charm in time, he could adjust his posture based on how the Disarming Charm worked and minimize his losses as much as possible. While luck played a large part, it also showed that person had rich combat experience.
She needed to be more careful.
"Confringo!"
Hermione unceremoniously fired a Blasting Curse at Peter Pettigrew, who was still rolling on the ground. The explosion's firelight spread out but was immediately swept away by Hermione'sScourgify, revealing the situation within the blast radius.
A rat with a singed black tail was scurrying toward the corner.
"As expected, he's fine. This guy is indeed troublesome."
Hermione grimaced internally, then continued preparing her next attack, but her heart suddenly filled with inexplicable palpitations.
Then sickly green light filled her vision. In the distance, a shrill voice accompanied by killing intent shrieked:
"Avada Kedavra!"
Peter Pettigrew's speed in canceling his Animagus transformation was unimaginably fast. With a roll on the ground, he immediately returned to human form, and quite cunningly maintained a crouched position. Hard to see clearly in the darkness, he extended his wand from under his armpit and fired a Killing Curse at Hermione.
In this critical moment, Hermione's heightened vigilance toward her enemy, the concentration she'd developed in actual combat, and the reaction speed and physical capabilities from years of self-training all came into play. Almost simultaneously with sensing the bad premonition, her body moved on its own—her feet touched lightly as she dodged sideways.
The beam flickering with dark green light nearly grazed Hermione's wizard robes as it flew past.
"He can even use the Killing Curse... I need to be even more careful."
Hermione's heart was beating rapidly, but the girl who had just escaped death's grasp showed not the slightest trace of fear or desire to flee.
When facing a wizard who knew the Killing Curse, turning your back to run was the most foolish choice possible.
To overcome this crisis, she could only face the predicament head-on.
In this critical, tense moment, the fierce combativeness hidden in the girl's heart was completely unleashed.
The opponent's Killing Curse wasn't cast skillfully, and she'd basically figured out his capabilities. Weighing both sides' strength in her mind, Hermione judged: this battle—she could win!
"Why... why could this little witch... why could she dodge it! Why isn't she afraid of me! Why won't she run away!"
Peter Pettigrew, who had thought the little witch facing him would die and this matter would end there, watched in horror as Hermione dodged what he considered a sure-kill Killing Curse. Now she was looking at him with not the slightest trace of fear, but with determined seriousness and even a hint of fervor. The cowardice hidden in his bones began spreading throughout his limbs.
He couldn't understand why, knowing the path ahead might lead to death, that little witch still showed no signs of fear or desire to escape.
Shouldn't she immediately turn around crying and running away, or kneel on the spot begging him for mercy?
Then why was she now showing him such an expression full of determination and courage?!
Incomprehensible.
Incomprehensible incomprehensible incomprehensible incomprehensible incomprehensible incomprehensible!!!!!!
Finally, under the collision between his consciousness's explosion and what he perceived as the absurd reality before him, the string that had been taut in Peter Pettigrew's mind for so many years—snapped.
"Ahhhhhhh die die die!!!!!!"
An extremely unpleasant shrill voice erupted from Peter Pettigrew's throat, and bursting forth with it were various spells fired from his wand.
Killing Curse, Disarming Charm, Blasting Curse, Reducto, Corrosive Curse...
Colorful magical beams accompanied by the crackling sounds of violent magic shuttled through the air. Hermione waved her wand with her right hand while hooking her fingers with her left, either releasing pure magic to deflect incoming spells, casting counter-spells to neutralize them in the air, transfiguring pellets and rubble into solid barriers to block spells, or lightly stepping on ground and walls to weave and dodge between flying spells while delivering powerful counterattacks.
Focus, focus—in such a high-pressure and dangerous combat environment, Hermione experienced a sensation she'd never felt before.
It was a feeling people could only comprehend in life-and-death struggles.
Hermione's movements became increasingly fluid, and an unconscious smile gradually appeared on her face.
"Indeed, besides studying, I still need some activities to properly vent the pressure in my heart!"
Though her thoughts had somehow gone slightly off-track, as long as the girl was happy, that was what mattered.