"Fool, it's not a wand! Look!"
Everyone turned toward the voice.
The azure barrier shimmered between them like a fragile eggshell, fracturing inch by inch.
Yaxley's eyes bulged in disbelief. "Impossible! How can this be? He can't break Protego Totalum! It's impossible!"
But the evidence was plain. The shield had shattered.
Erwin, the eleven-year-old first-year who'd entered the wizarding world less than a year ago, had done it.
He met Yaxley's stunned gaze with a cold smile. Raising his arm high, he barked, "Attack!"
At his order, the rogue wizards, alongside the Selwyns, Malfoys, and Parkinsons, grinned wickedly and surged forward.
Yaxley patriarch bellowed, "Counterattack! Stop them now!"
His family raised their wands, but three figures closed in on him—the heads of the Malfoy, Parkinson, and Selwyn houses.
Lucius's voice was ice. "Yaxley, you die today."
He slashed his wand, firing a curse. Yaxley deflected it with a flick, but before he could strike back, Parkinson and old Selwyn unleashed their own spells.
Yaxley Apparated away in a swirl, but allying with Solent hadn't bolstered him enough against these three. Especially not with old Selwyn in the mix.
The Selwyns weren't the mightiest pure-blood line, but old Selwyn was the eldest patriarch alive, a survivor from Voldemort's early reign. In raw power, he outmatched them all.
His wand blurred like a machine gun, unleashing a storm of spells that drove Yaxley back. The others harried him from the flanks, forcing desperate blocks.
Yaxley's face darkened. "You three—do you mean to destroy us entirely?"
Silence answered, broken only by old Selwyn's wordless curses.
Erwin stood apart, replenishing his magic as he observed. The Yaxleys' defeat was certain. The three families' elites, backed by vengeful rogues, fought without mercy. Pure-blood feuds allowed lethal force, and the Ministry turned a blind eye—it thinned their ranks without cost.
Outnumbered, Yaxleys fell screaming. The patriarch's eyes burned with rage, veins throbbing as blood soaked the ground.
"Damn you all! Erwin Cavendish—you did this! I'll kill you!"
He Apparated toward Erwin in a fury, but the three patriarchs matched him, materializing at Erwin's side. Their combined curses hurled Yaxley into the dirt, blood dripping from his lip.
He lay amid the slaughter of his kin, tears mixing with the mud, hatred boiling as he glared at Erwin.
Old Tom hovered nearby, fetching a chair from nowhere. Erwin sank into it, legs crossed, twirling his amethyst wand. His silver hair caught the breeze; he might have been at a garden party, not a massacre.
Half an hour later, the Yaxleys were eradicated. Corpses littered the scarred earth, Yaxley Manor a ruined shell.
Bound by Selwyn's spells, the patriarch was dragged by the hair and dumped at Erwin's feet. Erwin pressed a boot to his shoulder, looming down.
"Seems you've lost, Mr. Yaxley."
The weight of loss and Erwin's foot ignited Yaxley's roar. "Don't gloat, boy! Someone will end you. I'll be waiting in hell—you're next!"
Erwin's grin widened, chilling amid the blood and death. "Your kin are already there, impatient. Time to join them."
Yaxley's eyes blazed crimson. "You bastard—I'll kill you!"
Selwyn silenced him with a slam to the ground. Erwin ground his heel into Yaxley's skull. "Empty threats. Any last words?"
Yaxley lifted his gaze, venomous. "Erwin Cavendish, I curse you with my dying breath! You'll be crushed like this—everything you love stripped away, your life snuffed like an insect's!"
The onlookers bristled with fury, itching to finish him. But Erwin's smile only grew.
"I'll carry that curse gladly. In return, you and yours vanish."
He nodded to Selwyn, who hauled the broken man to the manor gates and dropped him.
Erwin channeled his restored magic—forty percent—into his wand.
"Fiendfyre, clear the way!"
...
Power Stones:[85]/100
5 Star Reviews: [6]/10
WANT 15 BONUS CHAPTERS?
Finish this milestone and they are yours! Hit the Power Stones and Reviews now to trigger the next big drop.
— MrGrim