Chapter 229: Who Are You, Really?
Hogwarts, Forbidden Forest.
In the damp, drizzling weather, the animals of the forest were all in hiding. A few Fwoopers, soaked to the bone, stood motionless on tree branches, occasionally letting out a jarring screech.
Suddenly, a fast-moving figure whizzed past, causing the stunned birds to widen their eyes in shock, so terrified that a few of them simply fell off the branches. Before the remaining Fwoopers could wonder where their companions had gone, another figure streaked past, stirring up rain and a howling wind, and a few more birds plummeted.
Whoosh!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
One fast-moving figure after another sped by, leaving only a single, bewildered Fwooper on the treetop, looking left and right in confusion.
"Immobulus!"
A loud spell, sharp and piercing, reverberated through the air. A powerful rush of magic swept through the area, causing leaves to scatter wildly. This was a common defensive spell used widely in Quidditch matches, but today it was being used in a competition to counter the extreme speed of brooms.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled. "Don't go too fast, stay in formation! You'll be left alone!"
From a distance, Draco's sinister laughter drifted back. "Too late!"
Spells came from every corner of the canopy. No matter how skilled Harry was on his broom, there was no way to dodge them all. The technique of coordinated hunting and trapping was the most valued skill in the Dueling Club, and with day-to-day practice, the students' teamwork had begun to compensate for their individual differences in broom-handling ability.
Harry immediately waved his wand, casting the counter-curse to the Slowing Charm and deflecting spell after spell. But it was inevitable that he'd eventually be hit. One spell after another struck him, and even though they weren't offensive spells, they were enough to knock him off his broom.
Fortunately, in that moment of delay, Ron and Neville swooped in. Neville grabbed Harry and pulled him back onto the broom, while Ron braced himself, using the lowered attack frequency—a result of Hermione, Ginny, and Luna's attacks on the 'enemies' in the canopy—to steady himself.
Just then, a magical spell, cast from behind a tree with extremely sneaky intent, flew silently. The nonverbal Slowing Charm hit the broom under Ron's backside. The fast-moving broom came to a screeching halt, and Ron, stumbling and shouting, was flung off.
Neville tried to catch Ron, but he wasn't used to flying with someone else on the broom. He stumbled in midair, almost throwing both himself and Harry off.
Thankfully, Harry's reflexes were quick enough. He aimed his wand at Ron.
"Immobulus!"
Thud!
Ron's back hit and broke a thin branch of a large tree. As he continued his rapid descent, his speed suddenly slowed to a crawl. He now floated gently, gracefully, like a feather.
The Slowing Charm and its counter-curse—these were the main spells the students of the Dueling Club had been practicing lately. They were learning how to deal with the enemy's use of a slowing spell that targeted their brooms, and also how to save themselves after falling.
The students of the Dueling Club were now subtly divided. The upperclassmen and underclassmen didn't mix, splitting into two factions, and within each faction, there were different leanings, forming four teams in total. This particular session was a duel between two underclassman teams, with the two upperclassman teams acting as battle supervisors and rescuers.
"Ron, you're out!"
Fred, flying on his broom, was concerned about his younger brother, but unlike a certain bat-like professor who liked to pull sneaky tricks, he abided by the rules and loudly called out the referee's verdict.
"No!"
Ron yelled, hastily waving his wand. "I haven't hit the ground yet! Accio, broom!"
Whoosh!
Ron's broom flew back toward him.
Fred froze for a moment, then turned to George. "Did our idiot brother secretly practice the Summoning Charm?"
The Summoning Charm was not an easy spell. The fact that it wasn't taught until fourth year showed its difficulty. It was also one of the oldest spells in the wizarding world, with a long history of accumulated experience if one wanted to study it in depth.
George chuckled. "He always hopes to shock everyone."
And they were, indeed, shocked.
Because Ron's hastily cast spell failed. As a result of his casting, the Slowing Charm on him immediately vanished, causing Ron to plummet. He began to fall even faster and smashed into the ground.
"Merlin's beard!" someone yelled.
George and Fred quickly aimed their wands at Ron. "Immobulus!"
In that critical moment, the twin brothers showed their incredible magical control and stability. Ron's body came to a sudden halt just before he hit the ground, losing all acceleration, then finally fell to the floor.
"Owww!"
Ron cried out. "My backside!"
"Hahahaha..." Fred and George were the first to laugh. Their laughter was so infectious that it made everyone else laugh as well.
"Ron! Is your backside okay?!" Harry yelled nervously.
However, his concern only made more people laugh. Even the battle happening in the canopy stopped. Hermione, Draco, Pansy, Goyle... everyone steered their brooms and gathered nearby.
"Shut up!" Ron yelled, embarrassed and annoyed. "Harry, you shut up!"
As he yelled, his face suddenly went pale, and a look of horror spread across it. "Damn it, I think I accidentally sat on some animal!"
He felt a small animal struggling beneath him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and anxiously looked at the spot where his backside had landed.
"Scabbers!!!!"
Ron was completely stunned! He felt the great cruelty of fate. He had always thought Scabbers had been eaten by Hermione's ugly new cat, only to find out it was still alive. But after finally finding Scabbers, he had, to his horror, almost killed him!
Scabbers was in a terrible state! He was struggling and squeaking miserably, covered in blood, as if he'd been flattened into a rat pancake. He was still twitching rapidly, and more blood was spurting from his mouth.
"No!"
"Scabbers!"
Ron fell to his knees, weeping and wailing, reaching out to touch Scabbers but not daring to. "Scabbers!!!"
You died so horribly~~~
"Crabbe, quick, Crabbe!" Draco instinctively called out to his friend who was studying Healing Spells with the professor, but then suddenly realized that his friend was out with the professor.
Hermione also reacted. "Healing team, now!"
Percy wasn't here, so Draco and Hermione, as the two deputies, were the leaders of this team and the first to react. A few of the upperclassmen quickly steered their brooms towards Ron, one of them already pulling a potion from his pocket and shouting, "Ron, don't touch it!"
But their action terrified Scabbers. He was in a daze from the pain, and suddenly heard laughter from every direction. He struggled to make sense of what was happening, and suddenly saw a bunch of wizards on brooms surrounding him. Having been through a war, he was hyper-sensitive to this kind of scene. This wasn't a fun Quidditch game; this was a war formation.
Damn it!
He was surrounded!
Before he could pull himself out of his painful spasms, the small eyes of the rat's body widened, and his pupils reflected a group of people waving their wands and charging at him.
No!
He couldn't die here!
He had always been a decisive man. His expression quickly changed from Scabbers' usual cowardly and shifty look to one of viciousness and severity. Magic surged within his body. His transformation speed was so fast that even with everyone on their state-of-the-art Firebolts, his transformation was still a few levels faster.
Bang!
The rapid, violent transformation was like a bomb, creating an explosion. He instantly turned into a balding, chubby, middle-aged wizard, and, enduring the pain in his body, he snatched the wand from Ron's hand and waved it upward.
BOOM!
There was another loud sonic boom. A huge wave of wind and terrifying air pressure surged, throwing all the students and their brooms away.
A Blasting Curse! A full-power Blasting Curse! A nonverbal spell!
The spell was incredibly powerful. The surrounding trees rustled violently, and one poorly rooted tree was even uprooted and sent flying forward. As soon as he finished casting, he quickly turned to flee.
But he had obviously underestimated this group of students. After an entire year of Lockhart's Dueling Club lessons and now half a year of rotating instruction from Professors Lockhart, Snape, Lupin, Grindelwald, and Kettleburn, they were no longer who they used to be. Several of them instantly performed a tactical maneuver, reacting quickly by either attacking or charging toward him.
"Damn it!"
Pettigrew, who had transformed from Scabbers, cursed. He looked left and right, then suddenly grabbed the neck of a terrified and disbelieving Ron. With immense force, he held Ron in front of him. The end of the wand in his hand suddenly became a sharp blade, and the tip dug directly into Ron's neck. Blood began to flow.
"Everyone stop, or he dies right now!"
Peter Pettigrew shouted, his voice given volume by magic and a chilling calming effect. He coldly stared at the group of half-grown children around him. He wouldn't underestimate these students at all. When he was fighting in the war, he had only just graduated, and he was only a few years older than some of these students. He was keenly aware that age meant nothing.
Pettigrew quickly analyzed the situation in his mind, desperately looking for a glimmer of hope. He was beginning to feel hopeless.
These students were nothing like the ones he had gone to school with! That's right, they were completely different! Even his idol and respected friend, James Potter, with all his talent, couldn't compare to the people here.
They had slowly gotten back on their brooms and were now surrounding him, forcing him to constantly watch his back, to be on guard against a spell that could come from behind at any moment.
These students! They were so different!
Everyone seemed incredibly calm, as if they had a predetermined strategy. They silently completed the encirclement, one layer after another, one ring connected to the next, leaving him with the feeling that he didn't even know who to attack first.
He couldn't find the main person in charge! He didn't even know who to talk to! This was awful!
Oh! He understood now. Gilderoy Lockhart, that damn underclassman, had purposely singled him out in school when he was alone and had cursed him out for defending Snape. He hadn't even bothered to find out that Pettigrew hadn't actually participated in bullying Snape back then; he had only just been standing by and cheering. But Lockhart didn't care. He just singled him out and cursed him, acting like he was some kind of righteous person.
Pah!
Pettigrew shook his head violently, looking around in fear. He yelled, "Who! Who is casting spells to affect my thoughts?! Damn it, if I feel you trying to attack me again, no matter what method you use, he's going to die!"
As he spoke, he desperately hunched over, holding Ron firmly in front of him. The sharp blade at the end of his wand pushed further into Ron's neck, causing Ron to involuntarily cry out in pain.
It worked! The distracting spell was gone!
He quickly tried to remember what Gilderoy Lockhart had taught these children. Damn it, his brain, having been in the state of a rat for so long, seemed to have become clumsy and he couldn't recall it immediately.
Ah! That's right! Lockhart had a detailed breakdown of a 'hostage situation' in his lessons, and the strategies for dealing with the captor. The next step should be...
"Who are you?" Harry Potter, the most famous of the kids, steered his broom at a non-threatening speed to a spot in front of him and asked.
Pettigrew ignored him and quickly looked back. Sure enough! The Weasley twins, Cedric, and a few others were secretly waving their wands. Seeing him look their way, their expressions froze.
"Do you want him to die?"
Pettigrew quickly yelled, and then looked frantically back and forth, and then his eyes widened as he suddenly looked to his back left. He saw a silently moving Hermione. "Try any more tricks and see what happens!"
"Hey, relax! Relax!" Harry called from the front, trying to get his attention again. "Tell me what you want. Maybe we can talk?"
"You shut up!" Pettigrew screamed anxiously. "I know what you're going to say. I know what you're going to do. I... I..."
He had never felt so helpless. He clearly remembered everything Professor Lockhart had taught, and then he watched as this group of children flawlessly and completely demonstrated it all right in front of him, like a well-trained army!
Yes! This was a wizarding army! And a terrifying one at that! Pettigrew even wondered if the old Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters could handle this group of people today.
He knew what was going to happen next. He felt such despair.
He... he couldn't move. In a single instant.
"Ha! Good job, Neville!" Harry suddenly yelled excitedly. Pettigrew looked in the direction Harry was looking and realized that a student had silently flown directly above him and had cast a nonverbal Full Body-Bind Curse on him!
Damn it! He knew it.
Soon, almost before Harry's words had even finished, several more Full Body-Bind Curses, a Relaxing Charm, a Levitation Charm, and other controlling spells hit him. Both he and Ron were lifted into the air. Ropes appeared on his body, tying him up like a mummy. The wand in his hand had been disarmed at some point without him even knowing.
Ron's wound was also healed by others. He walked up to Pettigrew, his wand in hand, his face filled with rage. He pointed his wand at him and shouted, heartbroken, "Who are you?!"
He was on the verge of a breakdown. He had done such a magnificent job of protecting his mind, and the power of that protection came from his lonely soul's companion, Scabbers. And now, Scabbers was right in front of him, transformed into this disgusting person?
The middle-aged, balding, chubby man he often held, occasionally kissed, and stroked the fur of when he was deep in thought?
No! He couldn't accept it! He was completely falling apart!
"Who are you?!!!!"
When he received no answer, he began to furiously kick Pettigrew, then cast various tormenting spells. Several of them were even illegal.
Harry glanced at the others, then finally stepped forward and gently pulled on Ron. "Ron, Ron, stop. Listen to me, you..." He had never seen his best friend so angry. He was like a raging lion.
Ron turned and looked at Harry fiercely, his eyes red. Unbeknownst to him, his face was already streaked with tears. He growled, "Don't interfere!"
Harry swallowed hard, finally forcing himself to say, "Hey, Ron, he's been hit with a Tongue-Tying Curse. He can't answer your question..."
But Ron completely ignored him. He just cast the counter-curse for the Tongue-Tying Curse, then glared at the man, gritting his teeth. "Who are you, really!!!"
Peter Pettigrew's cheek twitched. He looked at Ron with a hint of sorrow. "Master, I am your Scabbers!"
"Ahhhhhhh..."
Ron's world completely fell apart. He frantically waved his wand, shouting, "Crucio..."
Harry's face changed. But then Ron's body suddenly went rigid, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground in a faint.
From behind him, Hermione smoothly put away her wand, rolling her eyes. "He needs to calm down. He's too impulsive!"
With that, Hermione gave Harry a look, and Harry finally understood. Ron... had almost cast an Unforgivable Curse!
Fortunately, while the members of the Dueling Club had their own agendas, they were surprisingly united on certain matters.
Draco was the first to speak up. "I'll take Ron to see Madame Pomfrey. He's a little shaken up and needs to rest."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that meant Draco wouldn't tell anyone about it. He nodded and then looked at George and Fred, only to see that they had already gone to coordinate their stories with the other students.
"What do we do?" he asked Hermione.
Hermione shook her head. "While I want to tell Professor McGonagall immediately, I actually think we should try to get some answers from him first. You know how Professor McGonagall can be, sometimes she's a little too rigid and not flexible enough with her methods."
"If we handle it ourselves, it's just a bunch of kids being silly. We can do some things that are a bit... extreme."
"!!!" Harry stared at Hermione in disbelief.
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