The advance team fell silent as they looked at Abraxas's corpse.
"What should we do next?" Apolline's fair face was dotted with sweat. With Minister Arnaud dead and Sporting Goods Department Director Bonaparte captured, the entire French Ministry of Magic was in chaos, and she felt a heart-wrenching pain.
"First, tell the follow-up teams not to come. Have them conduct a carpet search of the entire Fuveau Mountain. Their alchemical array definitely couldn't have gone very far."
The American Auror was exasperated; no one would be happy being teased like this.
Steve summoned his Patronus—a seahorse—using the Patronus Charm to notify the others.
"Let's continue searching forward. There's no better option now," Apolline suggested.
"What about him?" An Auror behind them pointed at Abraxas lying on the ground.
"...Keep his body safe..." Steve picked up the snake-headed cane next to Abraxas's hand and examined it carefully.
The Auror behind him hesitated, looking at the lead Auror from before. Only after receiving permission did he pull out a large gray bag from his pocket and put Abraxas inside.
Steve couldn't help but smile at the performance of these Aurors.
The group left the church and continued forward.
Gary held a pile of wands in his arms. The situation was urgent; he couldn't spare a glance at Alfrina and Lily, who were lying unconscious on the ground. With a forceful pull of the wand in his hand, the wands in his arms flew outwards in unison.
As long as these wands reached everyone, over eighty people fighting against a dozen Death Eaters would surely be able to escape successfully.
"How naive." Gary heard a cold, emotionless voice sound in front of him. Space distorted, and Lord Voldemort actually appeared directly in front of him.
His tall, thin figure stood there, becoming an insurmountable wall for the pile of wands.
He raised his hand, and the pile of wands flying towards the crowd seemed to freeze, suspended motionless in the air. Lord Voldemort lowered his hand again, and the wands clattered to the ground.
Gary's heart also dropped to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"You still want to resist?" Lord Voldemort's voice grew louder. He raised his hand in mid-air and squeezed forcefully. As his fingers tightened, Gary felt his own neck being choked. Suffocation rushed over him, Gary's head swelled, his face turned red, and his eyes bulged.
"Ugh..." He let out a painful sound, pressing his hands against his neck, trying to break free from the invisible restraint.
"Well done, Lucius." Lord Voldemort didn't look at Gary, who was struggling, and turned to look at Lucius standing by his side.
"Master, I..." Lucius was drenched in sweat. He had only wanted to show off in front of Lord Voldemort, to help Lord Voldemort block a spell, but he hadn't expected Gary, that brat, to seize the opportunity and try to steal the wands.
Lucius lowered his head and looked at Gary with resentful eyes.
"How about this, Gary," Lord Voldemort's wand hooked in the air, "You don't want to kill your companions, do you?"
He released his hand, and Gary felt the choking force on his throat disappear. He collapsed to the ground, his face flushed, coughing uncontrollably.
Behind him were the unconscious Alfrina and Lily, and beside him were Howard and the weak Kona. Gary glanced at his companions and nodded.
"That's fine too," Lord Voldemort seemed very generous, and Gary breathed a sigh of relief, but Lord Voldemort's next sentence instantly plunged him into an ice pit.
"How about you give each of them a Crucio?" Lord Voldemort toyed with the wand in his hand. "But don't think about going easy. If I find out, it won't be something a Crucio can solve. Lucius, you keep an eye on him."
Lord Voldemort specifically arranged for Lucius, who was at odds with Gary, to watch him.
If he were to cast the Crucio on his friends, and it couldn't be too weak, then he would need enough hatred.
Only with this emotion's blessing could the Crucio Gary cast be strong enough.
There was a way, though. He could imagine his companions' faces as Lord Voldemort's, which would provide an endless supply of hatred for him to use.
But how could he bring himself to do it?
Gary was so helpless and sad. No one could help him now. Mr. Bonaparte lay on the ground, his body still twitching uncontrollably. He had previously attracted Lucius's and Lord Voldemort's attention, allowing Gary to cast Accio; Lily and Alfrina had used their bodies to block an Expelliarmus for him.
Who could he rely on now?
Gary Shafiq is truly a delicate coward, he thought. Even at this point, he's still hoping for others to save him.
What dared he do? If Alfrina hadn't dragged him to the Shrieking Shack with Lockhart, he would never have gone.
It was a good thing Alfrina dragged him, otherwise Lockhart might have been bitten to death or turned into a Werewolf by Lupin.
It was the same when he faced Alfrina's feelings. Lily was right; he was stringing Alfrina along back then, but he didn't dare admit it.
He was too indecisive, sometimes unable to be ruthless in handling things. In short, he was too soft-hearted.
He was just a coward.
The more Gary thought about it, the angrier he got, feeling like a good-for-nothing. He gritted his teeth and hardened his heart. It's just a Crucio. In exchange for their lives, most people would probably agree with his approach, right?
Gary's wand first pointed at Howard. He noticed that Mr. Bonaparte, Corella, and Kona had different reactions to the Crucio, guessing that those who were more robust would be less affected by the Crucio.
"Crucio." Gary tried hard to imagine Howard's chubby face as Lord Voldemort's.
Howard looked up, his gaze shifting from Kona's face to Gary's wand. The red light struck him. He bit his lip tightly, not making a sound, only faint red marks appearing around his lips.
"This won't do, Shafiq." Lucius's smile was repulsive. For the first time, Gary felt how disgusting the Pure-blood noble's fake smile was. "Go ahead and use the Crucio. The Master won't let you go to Azkaban."
Gary always felt like he was talking about himself, that no matter how many Unforgivable Curses he used, he would never go to Azkaban...
"Do you want me to give you a demonstration?" Lucius's wand pointed at Alfrina on the ground. "Crucio!"
The moment the red light shot out, Gary's powerful Shield Charm blocked in front of Alfrina, intercepting Lucius's spell one step ahead.
Lucius was furious, "What are you trying to..." Before he could finish speaking, he was knocked to the ground by a fierce punch from Gary.
"I don't need you to teach me how to do things, Malfoy." Gary's face was grim, his eyes filled with an indescribable ferocity.