Finally, in a room resembling a conference hall, the Death Eaters caught up with Harry and his companions who were frantically fleeing.
"Stop!" Bellatrix suddenly cast a charm, and Ron, running last, immediately fell to the ground, grabbed by the throat and lifted up.
"Caught you, you rats who only know how to run away." Bellatrix glanced at Harry and said excitedly, "Guess how long he can last under the Crucio Curse."
"I remember the Longbottoms held on for three hours, the delightful screams were truly entertaining..."
Bellatrix glanced at Ron in her hand, "Can you surpass them? I hope you can."
She asked herself and answered, laughing excitedly.
"Don't mind me." Ron was terrified by this crazy woman, his legs trembling non-stop, but he still said stiffly, "Don't mind me, Harry, the Crystal Ball must not fall into You-Know-Who's hands."
Bellatrix directly raised her wand, "Crucio Curse!"
Ron screamed miserably, curling up into a ball.
"Ron!" Mr. Weasley shouted anxiously.
He wanted to save Ron, but was entangled by two other Death Eaters, unable to break free.
Seeing Ron in pain and hearing Mr. Weasley's roar, Harry had no choice but to stiffly raise his hand and hand over the Crystal Ball.
"No, Harry, the Death Eaters won't keep their promises." Mr. Weasley roared, "If they get the Crystal Ball, they'll kill Ron immediately!"
"No, no, no, we'll let him go." A Death Eater wearing a mask rushed up and took the Crystal Ball from Harry.
A cruel smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth under the mask.
"Let go first, then kill..."
"Stupefy!"
At this moment, a nearby door was slammed open, and Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley charged in from outside.
A red flash appeared on Kingsley's wand, and the Death Eater fell backwards to the ground.
"No, damn it!" Bellatrix roared, she directly threw Ron and raised her wand.
"Crystal Ball fly..."
But Harry's actions were faster than hers, as the Death Eater fell, he darted forward to pick up the Crystal Ball, gripping it tightly.
Taking this opportunity, Tonks also saved Ron who was thrown away.
"Good thing we made it in time." Kingsley panted, "Alastor, you really shouldn't have separated us."
"This was the most prudent way..." Moody dodged another charm, his Magic Eye spinning almost out of sight, yet even so, he was hit by a charm from the shadows.
Moody's back was blasted bloody and mangled.
Although he was once a Legendary Auror, he was old and his reactions slower, dealing with two Death Eaters was his limit, while the number of Death Eaters present was more than twice that.
Seeing this, Kingsley immediately joined the fight, helping to relieve some of the pressure on the injured Moody.
"Don't worry about me, go help those kids." Moody gritted his teeth and picked up his fallen Magic Eye, shoving it back, "Lucky it's not the Killing Curse, these despicable scoundrels."
Kingsley merely glanced at him, then resolutely went over to Hermione nearby, helping her fend off a sneak-attacking Death Eater while loudly shouting:
"Watch your back, girl, fight closer to the wall when you can."
Hermione, experiencing such a scene for the first time, was speechless and could only nod laboriously.
"Well, all the damned folks have arrived."
Elsewhere, Bellatrix laughed crazily while aiming her wand at Tonks, who was the closest.
"Avada..."
"Confringo!"
Almost deliberately confronting her, Bellatrix's charm was interrupted again.
"Come on, let me see how strong you are now!" Sirius taunted.
And in response to him was a dazzling red light.
Sirius seemed to anticipate it, skillfully transforming into a black dog to evade the Crucio Curse, then changed back.
"Is this all you've got?" He mocked, "Really disappointing."
Bellatrix was infuriated too, and next, the two seemed to be wielding fireworks rather than wands, with various charms continuously blasting at each other.
Judging from their strength, Sirius and Bellatrix seemed evenly matched, neither gaining an advantage over the other.
But it was different for the others.
The Death Eaters ultimately had the advantage in numbers, before long, the weakest Hermione and Ron couldn't hold on and were disarmed.
Then, Moody, fighting with all his might, also fell, rolling from one set of steps to another, while a nearby unmasked Death Eater laughed wildly.
Antonin Dolohov pointed his wand at Moody, "Stand up and catch me, you scum... Crucio Curse!"
The balance of victory began to tip, and faster.
Sirius, focusing on battling Bellatrix, now faced not only the enemy in front of him but also had to beware of attacks from the shadows, pressure rising.
And beside him, Harry was left unattended.
Perhaps fearing breaking the Crystal Ball, or for some other reason, he faced only one Death Eater, who hardly seemed to care, only casually casting a charm if Harry tried to run.
"Looks like we've won..." Bellatrix's triumphant, shrill laughter echoed in the room, as if playing cat and mouse, toying with Sirius.