"Another damn rat!"
A curse rang out from the cave entrance, followed by the appearance of a maimed Black Prison Wizard. He was missing his left leg, propping himself up with a rough wooden peg attached below the knee.
Standing at the mouth of the cave, he glanced at the tiny white skeleton on the ground, then ground his remaining good heel into it viciously.
Black Prison Wizards held a special kind of hatred for rats. During their incarceration, their diet had consisted of raw rat meat—if they hadn't eaten thousands, they'd certainly eaten hundreds. No wizard from the Black Prison could look at a rat and remain calm.
The wizard leaned on his wooden peg and stepped out of the protective ward. He moved with a natural grace, as if the missing limb were a minor inconvenience.
He glanced at the shredded remains of the stag in the clearing, then began to scan the perimeter.
The presence of animals didn't rule out the possibility of intruders. However, after a quick look around, he dismissed the idea.
At this very moment, the Church was launching a full-scale assault on Hogwarts. The castle was besieged by layer upon layer of House Elves. The wizards inside couldn't fly out if they had wings, so how could anyone have sneaked all the way here?
Furthermore, there were twenty Fallen Werewolves guarding the entrance. Unless it was someone on the level of the Four Founders themselves, he couldn't imagine anyone surviving a brute-force entry.
Still, regardless of what he thought, duty was duty. If there was a noise outside, he had to check it.
He scanned the darkness from his well-lit position—a mostly perfunctory gesture. Standing in the light and looking into the pitch black destroyed his night vision; his eyes couldn't adjust that fast. It was ironic, really. Black Prison Wizards excelled at observing from the shadows, yet here he was, blinded by the light.
It was putting the cart before the horse. There was no way he could spot Rey and Helena hiding in the dark.
Finding nothing, the one-legged wizard turned and slipped back through the barrier into the cave.
Rey watched his movements intently, specifically focusing on the fluctuations of the ward at the cave mouth.
The barrier acted like a translucent curtain of water. As the wizard passed through, it contoured perfectly against his body. To Rey, it looked exactly like a magical 3D scan.
This observation gave Rey a deeper understanding of the defensive ward. He decided to run another experiment to test the barrier's specific triggers.
Less than two minutes after the wizard disappeared, Rey cast several Transfiguration spells in quick succession. This time, he didn't create a rat, but a litter of wild rabbits.
It was perfectly normal for a few rabbits to wander into a clearing in the wild. After all, skittish rabbits were known to run headfirst into trees when panicked.
---
Roar...
The moment the rabbits crossed the boundary, a deafening roar shattered the silence of the night.
Rabbits vary in size, but that didn't matter to the twenty Fallen Werewolves that peeled themselves off the rock face. They descended in a frenzy, and within moments, not a scrap of the rabbits remained. They were reduced to trophies for the pack.
Rey hadn't directed the rabbits to run deep into the cave. His primary goal was to lure the Black Prison Wizard out again.
Sure enough, as soon as the furious howling subsided, the one-legged wizard practically stormed out of the cave.
However, Rey noted a crucial detail: no matter how angry or impatient the wizard was, he waited until the werewolves had merged back into the stone wall before stepping out of the ward.
It seemed that if he stepped out before the pack reset, he would be torn to shreds just like the rabbits.
This implied that once the Fallen Werewolves detached from the wall, they were indiscriminate killing machines. Friend or foe, anyone in their attack range was prey. The wizard and the wolves could not occupy the space outside the cave at the same time.
It was a strange engagement rule, but for now, it was only Rey's theory.
"Damn rabbits... and those endless rats..."
Once the wolves were back in the stone, the one-legged wizard didn't hesitate. He rushed out of the cave, stomping furiously on the bloody remains of the rabbits.
He was venting. This was the fifth false alarm tonight.
The cave defenses had been completed before the mass summoning of the House Elves, and he had been stationed here ever since.
Usually, there were maybe five disturbances in an entire night. But tonight was excessive. It wasn't even midnight yet, and they had already hit the average quota.
If this frequency continued, he'd be running out here ten more times before dawn.
This kind of patrol was annoying and mentally exhausting. The wizard, his wooden peg now slick with rabbit blood, was a prime example of fraying nerves.
Rustle, rustle...
The low sound of leaves and grass being pushed aside drifted through the air.
It sounded exactly like a large animal moving through the brush in the surrounding darkness.
The venting wizard wasn't deaf. Having lived in darkness for so long, his hearing was exceptionally sharp.
He froze, crouching slightly. He gripped his wand tightly, his entire demeanor shifting from annoyed to lethal. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning the source of the noise, ready to deliver a killing blow.
The rustling sound came again. He stared at a patch of tall grass that was parting slightly to the sides, as if something—or someone—was crawling on the ground, pushing the vegetation away.
" Avada Kedavra! "
With a low shout, a bolt of green lightning shot toward the edge of the clearing, blasting into the grass.
---
Rey had Transfigured a small wild boar. He was controlling it, forcing it to burrow through the underbrush. Its position was right on the edge of the clearing—just outside the trigger zone for the wolves.
Rey had been watching the wizard closely. Before the spell hit, he forced the boar to dodge. He had also used a charm to silence the animal, so it didn't squeal in panic.
The boar scrambled backward, causing the grass to wave frantically. To the wizard, it looked perfectly like a human spy trying to crawl away in a panic.
"Who's there?!"
Days of boring guard duty had made the wizard irritable. The prospect of a fleeing person—or even a fleeing animal—piqued his interest.
Without overthinking it, the one-legged wizard charged.
After all, if the intruder was scared enough to run, they clearly weren't that dangerous. In his agitated state, he didn't stop to think; he rushed past the safety of the clearing's edge.
The boar ran for its life, perhaps sensing the genuine danger of the dark wizard. In the chaotic, overgrown brush, and at this distance, even a Black Prison Wizard couldn't tell it was just a pig.
" Locomotor Mortis! " (Leg-Locker Curse)
" Expelliarmus! "
" Silencio! "
The boar's escape route was a trap designed by Rey. The one-legged wizard was fast, easily keeping pace with the animal, but that led him right into Rey's crosshairs.
Hidden in the shadows, Rey fired three spells in rapid succession.
The Leg-Locker Curse hit first. The wizard's legs snapped together, and he tipped over like a rigid board, slamming into the dirt. He realized instantly he'd been ambushed, but he held onto his wand.
Face in the dirt, the pain sharpened his senses. Even with his legs bound, he used his upper body strength to twist around, raising his wand to counterattack.
But Rey gave him no chance. The second spell, Expelliarmus, tore the wand from his grip.
Whoosh. The wand went spinning into the darkness.
Rey didn't let up. The third spell, Silencio, hit the man squarely. He opened his mouth to shout or curse, but no sound came out. He couldn't speak, couldn't cast verbal spells, and couldn't even bite his tongue to commit suicide. He was completely neutralized.
There was no need for conversation. The wizard writhed and struggled on the ground silently.
Rey, finally letting out a breath he'd been holding, stepped out of the shadows. He walked over to the captive, pointed his wand directly at the man's head, and whispered:
" Imperio. "