The match concluded with the unexpected ending of Krum catching the Golden Snitch.
Ireland won the match, while Bulgaria won the respect.
The Wizards' passion was completely ignited, and the entire campsite was immersed in a sea of celebration.
Inside the Weasley Family's tent, Fred and George were animatedly haggling with Ludo Bagman, who had lost the bet, while Ron held his Krum doll, alternating between excitement and dejection.
Hermione sat in the corner, the heat on her cheeks not yet fully faded.
Every now and then, she glared at the culprit, but the other party looked as if nothing had happened, lying contentedly on her lap and enjoying the repeated strokes.
That kiss in public—or rather, that lick—had been far too impactful.
It was no longer just a playful act between young girls, but a blatant declaration of intense possessiveness.
Especially in front of the entire Weasley Family and Harry.
"You're not allowed to do that again next time," Hermione warned in a low voice, but her words lacked any real deterrent power, instead carrying a shyness she hadn't even noticed herself.
Lia let out a soft murmur from her throat, the tip of her long, fluffy tail hooking around Hermione's wrist and swaying gently in an utterly coquettish manner.
Hermione was completely helpless against her.
However, beneath Lia's lazy appearance, her mind was stretched to the limit.
Ever since stepping into this campsite, the stinging sensation on the back of her neck caused by Danger Intuition had never stopped.
And now, that stinging sensation was rapidly intensifying.
Beneath her skin, countless red-hot steel needles were swarming and churning, about to pierce through her flesh.
In the air, the pungent smell of celebration—a mixture of alcohol and sweat—was being quietly replaced by another scent.
A familiar decay and coldness, carrying the scent of death and fear.
Lia suddenly sat bolt upright, her long silver hair sliding off Hermione's lap.
Her deep blue eyes scanned the outside of the tent alertly, her cat ears twitching uneasily as they caught distant strange noises that normal people couldn't hear.
"What's wrong, Lia?" Hermione noticed her abnormality and stopped her stroking.
"Outside..." Lia's voice was a bit tight, "the smell is wrong."
Before she could finish her sentence...
"Boom—!"
A massive explosion sounded from the distance of the campsite, followed immediately by the terrified screams of the crowd.
That sound pierced the night sky and tore apart the illusion of celebration.
Mr. Arthur's face changed drastically, and he immediately rushed out of the tent.
"Something's happened! Quick, children, stay in the tent and don't move!"
But it was already too late.
More explosions rang out one after another, and the firelight reflected half of the sky in an ominous orange-red.
Outside the tent, people were fleeing in panic, with cries, curses, and the whistling of various spells blending together.
A group of people dressed in black robes and wearing white skull masks were holding their magic wands high, unscrupulously creating chaos and panic in the campsite.
Death Eaters.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Run! Run to the woods!"
Mr. Arthur's anxious voice came through the chaos, nearly distorted.
Hermione immediately grabbed Lia's hand, while her other hand gripped Ginny, who was also paralyzed with fear. Harry and Ron led the way, and the five of them merged into the counter-flowing crowd, rushing toward the dark woods in the distance.
The crowd had gone completely mad.
Just then, a huge tent to their side was hit by a spell and exploded violently. The scorching airwave and the screaming crowd formed a massive wave that slammed into them.
Hermione felt an irresistible force; she gripped Ginny's hand tightly, but in the chaotic shoving, her fingers slipped away from Lia's inch by inch.
"Lia!"
She cried out and looked back, only to see Lia and Ginny being swept away in another direction by a surging tide of people, instantly submerged by countless panicked figures.
"Hermione! Go! We'll wait for them at the edge of the woods!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs, pulling her arm.
Hermione was dragged away, looking back with every step, but her vision was filled with nothing but running people and soaring flames.
Meanwhile, Lia and Ginny, separated by the crowd, were struggling to maintain their balance.
Lia shielded Ginny behind her. Her Eye of Truth allowed her to see the trajectory of every spell, and her Danger Intuition let her predict the flow of the crowd.
She led Ginny through the gaps in the chaos, trying to circle back toward the direction they had agreed upon with Hermione.
They turned past a massive burning display stand and ran straight into two Death Eaters wearing skull masks.
"Look at this, two lost little mice," one of them rasped with a laugh.
The other Death Eater's magic wand tip turned toward them—more accurately, toward Ginny, with her signature Weasley red hair.
He didn't chant a spell, but an extremely evil magic, filled with the aura of decomposition and annihilation, condensed at the tip of his wand.
A dark red light appeared; wherever the light reached, even the air distorted.
The Obliteration Curse, a Dark Arts spell even more vicious than the Killing Curse, sought not to kill, but to completely erase the target from the material plane.
Lia's Danger Intuition let out an unprecedentedly shrill alarm.
Even the Soul Protection within her was frantically warning her; this power exceeded the threshold she could currently resist.
The moment the Death Eater swung his magic wand, Lia violently pushed Ginny away.
"Run!"
She shouted those two words with all her might, her petite body meeting the dark red beam of light.
Ginny was pushed by a massive force and rolled backward, crashing into a pile of discarded wooden crates. She looked up in terror.
She saw the dark red light hit Lia.
There was no explosion, no scream.
The silver-haired Cat-girl silently and rapidly turned into ashes within the light.
Starting from her feet and moving upward inch by inch, she decomposed and dissipated into the air along with the dress Hermione loved most.
The last to vanish were those deep blue eyes.
The fifth death.
Silent and soundless, without leaving even a trace.
Ginny slumped on the ground, her whole body trembling, her mind a complete blank.
"How boring." The spell-casting Death Eater seemed bored by such a defenseless death. He turned to his next target—the red-haired girl who was already paralyzed with fear.
Just as he raised his magic wand, a sudden change occurred.
Where Lia had disappeared, on that empty patch of ground, the air began to vibrate slightly.
A wisp of black smoke, deeper than the night, appeared out of air, circling uncertainly.
Within the black smoke, a figure was taking shape.
Bones were drawn out from the void at a speed visible to the naked eye, attached with blood-red fascia, and then wrapped layer by layer in new muscle.
Finally, snow-white skin covered everything.
The entire process was eerie and rapid, filled with a sickening vitality.
Ginny covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming.
When the figure was fully formed, Lia stood on the ground again, barefoot.
She was back.
But she was soaked through, as if she had just been fished out of water, panting heavily, her body trembling uncontrollably from pain and weakness.
In those deep blue eyes, the usual softness was gone, replaced only by a coldness and malice originating from the depths of her soul.
"You... what kind of monster are you!" The Death Eater took a step back in terror.
Lia didn't speak; she simply raised her hand and pointed it at him.
A dark red light glowed from her palm—it was the same Obliteration Curse he had just cast.
"Ah—!"
He let out a shrill scream.
He watched helplessly as his feet turned to ashes, then his calves, his thighs... that obliterating power was slowly and steadily consuming his body upward.
The other Death Eater was scared out of his wits; he let out a strange cry, turned, and fled, disappearing into the chaotic crowd.
Amidst the caster's shrill screams, Lia's body went limp, and she collapsed to her knees, retching violently.
The painful memories of death and the immense exhaustion of reshaping her body left her nearly collapsed.
"You... you..." Ginny pointed at her, unable to even form a complete sentence, "You died... I saw it..."
"I... I have many lives," Lia panted, her voice weak. "But... but every time... it hurts so much."
She grabbed Ginny's arm, "Ginny, don't tell Hermione. She'll worry, she'll be afraid... I don't want her to worry about me."
Ginny looked at her, at this girl who had just returned from the dead and even killed a terrifying Dark Wizard, yet was now trembling all over because she feared "Hermione worrying."
She nodded vigorously.
"I won't tell."
Just then, Mr. Arthur finally found them and held the two terrified girls tightly.
When they finally met up with Hermione at the edge of the Bosque Prohibido, Hermione practically lunged at them.
"Lia! Ginny! Are you two okay? Thank goodness!"
She pulled Lia into a tight embrace, feeling the real warmth in her arms, but also noticing the damp coldness of her clothes and the abnormal trembling of her body.
"Why are you soaked through? Are you hurt?"
Lia buried her face in the crook of Hermione's neck, greedily inhaling the scent that put her at ease, and simply shook her head.
Hermione thought she was just frightened and stroked her back repeatedly.
At an angle Hermione couldn't see, Lia's eyes met Ginny's eyes not far away.
The two girls, with a single look, exchanged a heavy and dangerous secret.
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