"Mobiliarbus."
Hermione waved her wand, but instead of casting Scourgify to dispel the smoke ahead, she cast a Ground-Moving Charm at her feet, then applied various acceleration spells to herself one by one.
"Well then, let me see if my theory is correct!"
Hermione's body moved. Enhanced by various spells, the girl used a Shield Charm as a windscreen and plunged headfirst into the smoke raised by the Blasting Curse.
"The opponent knows his Blasting Curses are very powerful, with a wide area of effect, and the smoke they raise covers a larger area than expected..."
Navigating through the dark, dust-filled ruined corridor, Hermione continuously reviewed her thinking while staying completely alert, ready to defend against any attacks that might come from misjudging the situation.
"Scourgify takes time to take effect, starting from the smoke closest to me and working toward the smoke near him until it's all cleared—there's a brief interval..."
Though the corridor floor was badly damaged and Hermione's Ground-Moving Charm caused significant jolting, this didn't hinder her assessment of the situation or her attempt to think like her enemy.
"And if I'm right, the gap that Animagus left between his two Blasting Curses can also be explained..."
"His real purpose isn't to harm me with Blasting Curses—it's to buy time..."
Ahead, Hermione could clearly feel the dust density around her beginning to decrease, proving she was nearly at the other end of this dusty area.
So she raised her wand again. The light of Scourgify appeared at Hermione's wand tip, then immediately shot out in a spinning motion.
Upon contact with the dust floating in the air, the charm immediately took effect. The surrounding air cleared, and Hermione smiled.
Her final thought surfaced in her mind.
"So when the dust on his side gets cleared by Scourgify, that's when he'll cast his next delaying Blasting Curse!"
Almost simultaneously, just as the thought in Hermione's mind faded, a red light shot from farther away, passing by Hermione's shoulder.
The red light illuminated Hermione's lovely face smiling in the darkness. She knew her answer was correct.
Peter Pettigrew'sBlasting Curse crossed paths with Hermione and flew toward a more distant position—where Hermione had originally been standing. The explosion sounded, but it was useless now.
"What!"
Peter Pettigrew, who was running desperately toward the end of the corridor, already had somewhat scorched clothing on his back. When he turned to check the situation, he discovered Hermione—completely unharmed and nearly catching up to him—and his courage failed completely.
Under his first Blasting Curse, because he'd output too much magic, he'd been caught in his own explosion. But this was exactly what he'd wanted—Peter Pettigrew had gritted his teeth, turned his back, and endured the explosion's shockwave. He'd been blown away by it, opening up considerable distance from Hermione.
But... how did this little witch dare?
Why did she dare cross that smoke screen where nothing could be seen, with no visibility whatsoever, while facing the threat of his wide-area attack spells?!
In such an urgent situation, his thinking speed couldn't comprehend how Hermione had managed to reach this point. His brain not only couldn't think fast enough—it briefly crashed.
This caused Peter Pettigrew to miss the best opportunity to continue casting spells to hinder Hermione's approach.
But that didn't matter anymore. Not far ahead was the corridor window—the only place that could now allow Peter Pettigrew to escape Hogwarts castle.
"As long as I can get out, I can transform into a rat and hide in some dark corner. It'll be fine, it'll be fine!"
"Reducto!"
While running, Peter Pettigrew gasped and raised his wand, but he didn't turn to point it at Hermione. Instead, he aimed directly at the window ahead.
He would use a spell to shatter the window glass so he could jump out and escape!
But for some reason, seeing this scene, Hermione's expression became somewhat strange, and her movement speed slowed accordingly.
Finally, she stopped completely, standing at some distance from Peter Pettigrew. Unhurriedly, she took out a magic potion from her protective charm, sipped a few mouthfuls, and silently watched Peter Pettigrew's performance.
Pale light erupted from Peter Pettigrew's wand when he spoke the Reductor Curse, then struck the window glass.
The Reductor Curse—a spell that could blast solid obstacles to pieces, with the incantation "Reducto"—was also a type of high-powered destructive curse. Compared to the similar Blasting Curse, it had a smaller effective range but better results.
However, it had one limitation: it couldn't make gases or liquids explode.
"Crack!!"
The moment the pale Reductor Curse contacted the window glass, it caused the first layer of window glass to crack and shatter.
But why was it the first layer of glass...
"What?!"
"Why is there still glass!"
Peter Pettigrew stared with his small eyes in disbelief, his face contorting with rage.
Hermione cheerfully watched Peter Pettigrew raging helplessly at the window glass and attacking it again with Reductor Curses, then raised her wand.
"That's because Glenn considered that Hogwarts' windows were made of materials too fragile and unsafe. He thought about spells that could destroy windows and, based on those spells' characteristics, specially replaced all of Hogwarts' windows with custom alchemical glass."
"Quite coincidentally, the Reductor Curse—which can destroy solid obstacles very well—was among those he considered. If you want to break this kind of glass with magic, even Professor Dumbledore would need to put some thought into it~"
"Incarcerous!"
Ropes flew from Hermione's wand, wrapping around the now-desperate Peter Pettigrew's body without obstruction, binding him.
"Surrender! When the professors arrive, you'd better tell them everything you know, or face the consequences."
Hermione waved her left hand, warning him thus.
But before Peter Pettigrew could respond, a sound mixing thunderous roaring with layers of shattering glass echoed through the corridor. Blood bloomed in the faint moonlight filtering down, followed by a muffled thud immediately swallowed by thick darkness.
In the darkness, that pale mask's slight smile was so piercing.
"That will suffice."
Dumbledore's voice came from ahead of Hermione. From her perspective, the old man had raised his left hand, pressing from the side against a silver-white pistol emerging from a mass of dark red matter.
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