Shattered stone burst apart.
Magical light scattered through the air.
Minerva McGonagall, who had no shortage of real combat experience, immediately pulled back from Bellatrix the moment she realized she had been saved.
And at the first opportunity, she did not make the same mistake twice by turning to see who had saved her. Instead, she swept her gaze toward the area behind her from the corner of her eye.
"I never thought the reinforcements I waited so long for would be you... No, if reinforcements were going to come at all, I suppose it could only be you."
Minerva McGonagall did not turn around as she spoke, and her expression was complicated.
However, although her expression and tone were tangled with conflict, once she saw clearly who had arrived, the deep worry in her eyes faded considerably.
It seemed the identity of the arrivals had given Minerva McGonagall, who had already resolved to die here, a renewed courage to keep resisting and a sliver of hope that they might survive.
...
The time went back to a little earlier.
Because of the barrier, everyone inside Draco Constellation had been unable to sense what was happening outside.
They had no way of knowing that Hogwarts was currently under attack by Voldemort's army.
It was not until Kreacher appeared that Pansy and the others finally learned just how far the situation outside had developed.
It might not be enough to affect the entire magical world.
But it would absolutely affect how the situation unfolded from this point onward.
In any case, just as Pansy and the others had gathered in the Round Table Hall to discuss their next move, the House-elf, whose entire body seemed to give off a gloomy aura, suddenly appeared in the middle of the round table.
Crack!
"Who's there?!"
"Everyone, on guard!"
"Goyle!"
"Reducto..."
"Everyone, wait!"
Their long period of training made Pansy and the others react immediately.
But Hermione and the others, startled into such an instinctive response, seemed to have forgotten one thing.
With Hogwarts' barrier in place, under normal circumstances, no wizard should have been able to use Apparition and appear directly here.
Even Voldemort had to follow such magical rules.
Unless Hogwarts had already fallen, and the enemy had lifted this restriction.
Or perhaps... the one using this magic was not a wizard at all.
The intruder was precisely a House-elf, a being not restricted by the barrier.
In any case, after seeing clearly who it was, Pansy and Hermione, who had met him a few times before, hurriedly shouted to stop everyone from attacking.
Especially Fleur Delacour.
Her charm magic could be described as an indiscriminate area attack.
Hm... speaking of which, whether House-elves could be attracted by Veela was actually a rather curious question.
Hermione put away her wand and frowned at the House-elf before her. "I remember... your name is Kreacher, isn't it?"
"Yes. Good evening, Madam." As he spoke, Kreacher bent at the waist.
And just as Hermione remembered him, although he had his head lowered in a respectful posture, his mouth kept opening and closing. He was definitely silently saying something unpleasant about her.
After all, she was the Mudblood he despised most.