Hermione reached out, her fingertips carrying a tenderness enough to melt snow and a hint of post-satisfaction lethargy.
She gently stroked the soft back of Lia's cat form, smoothing from the warm neck all the way down to the base of the fluffy tail.
The touch under her fingertips was warm and delicate, making her unable to help but recall how this body had blossomed beneath her.
The "cat" in its sleep let out a soft, comfortable purr.
The tip of the furry tail twitched uncontrollably, like a soft feather, unconsciously brushing against her palm, bringing a slight itch that reached deep into her heart.
A smile of infinite tenderness and deep-seated satisfaction curled at the corners of Hermione's mouth.
For her, this war was no longer about some ethereal justice, but about protecting this warmth that belonged solely to her, which she could knead at will.
Suddenly, Lia's cat ears twitched alertly, shifting from a completely relaxed state to standing straight, pointing outside the window.
Beneath that smooth white fur, her muscles tensed slightly.
Almost at the same moment, Hermione also slowly raised her head, her brown eyes shimmering with lingering passion.
Tenderness was instantly replaced by icy sharpness as she snapped her gaze toward the window.
The attacks outside the Castle had stopped.
The magic roar that had lasted for two days and two nights, seemingly endless.
At this moment, it came to an abrupt halt.
A deathly silence, like the suffocating ebb before a tsunami, instantly enveloped all of Hogwarts.
Only the hum of the magic shield and everyone's heavy heartbeats remained in the air.
The storm was coming.
Hermione leaned down, her warm breath brushing against Lia's ear tips, her scent still carrying the unique aroma of their entanglement.
She spoke in the softest, most doting voice, her breath fluttering the fine hairs inside Lia's ears.
"Lia, my kitten, wake up, it's time to eat."
The moment the words fell, the white cat on the bed disappeared in a flash of soft light.
A slender, sleepy-eyed cat-eared girl emerged from under the covers.
The blanket slid smoothly from her shoulders, revealing skin as white as snow.
It was dotted with the ambiguous red marks left by last night's intense battle, spreading from her collarbone down to unseen depths.
Hermione's gaze fell upon them, her breath catching, her eyes darkening as she admired the perfect artwork marked with her own exclusive seal.
Lia rubbed her sleepy eyes and gave a big yawn, every strand of hair radiating a lazy aura.
She skillfully opened her arms, like a boneless koala, and clung affectionately to Hermione.
She buried her face deep into the warm, soft crook of Hermione's neck, rubbing vigorously, her nose sniffing contentedly at the scent that belonged only to Hermione and made her feel incredibly safe.
"Sleep after you've eaten."
Hermione dotingly gave the girl's round, perky buttocks a light pat, the feel so good she couldn't help but linger for half a second.
Like coaxing a child, she brought a piece of roast chicken—already kept warm by magic, golden-brown and fragrant—to her lips.
Just then, outside the Castle, a sharp, piercing horn blast shattered the midnight silence, echoing through the sky.
That was the signal for the general offensive.
Hermione's movements only paused very slightly, then, as if nothing had happened, she continued to patiently feed the girl who belonged only to her, bite by bite.
She even carefully reached out her fingertip to wipe away the grease from the corner of her mouth, as if the blood and fire about to sweep through everything outside were merely an insignificant, even slightly annoying, play... In front of the main gates of Hogwarts.
Seamus Finnigan lay flat against the cold battlements, his heart pounding as if it were about to jump out of his throat, his palms slick with cold sweat.
He stared fixedly at the writhing darkness at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in the distance, feeling his teeth chatter uncontrollably.
He had been personally handpicked by Professor McGonagall to observe the enemy because she remembered he had "unique insights" into Muggle explosives.
At this moment, beneath the stone bricks beside him lay his proudest, and possibly last, masterpiece—a vast pile of Muggle fireworks and explosives enhanced with Geminio and Incendio.
Then, skillfully linked together by his magic, they formed a deadly minefield.
Just now, a figure had emerged from that darkness.
A tall, pale, snake-like figure.
Lord Voldemort.
He just stood there quietly, elegantly raising his hand and giving a light wave forward, like a conductor performing a symphony of destruction.
In that instant, a black tide surged from the horizon.
Hundreds and thousands of Death Eaters, Giants wielding massive clubs, Werewolves running in the shadows, Dementors bringing a chill of despair... The enemy let out earth-shaking roars, like a bursting dam, launching a world-shaking charge toward the main gates of Hogwarts.
That aura, mixed with tyranny and madness, made Seamus feel as if his soul were about to be blasted out of his body.
But he did not retreat.
The orders from the war council flashed through his mind.
"Seamus, your mission isn't to kill, but to create chaos.
I want you to detonate everything when they are fifty meters from the gate.
Blast the ground into ruins for me, and completely disrupt their charging formation."
Now was the time!
Seamus suddenly pulled out his wand from his robes and roared at the stone bricks beneath his feet with all his might: "Incendio!"
He thrust the tip of his wand hard against the Rune stone that served as the fuse!
"BOOM—!!!!!"
A light more dazzling than the midday sun erupted instantly from the ground in front of the main gates of Hogwarts!
A terrifying explosion swept through everything, the deafening roar even drowning out everyone's screams!
The earth trembled, and the Castle walls hummed.
Countless amounts of dirt and rubble were blasted hundreds of meters into the sky, then came whistling down like hail. The heatwave from the center of the explosion rushed toward him, scorching Seamus's cheeks.
The dozens of Death Eaters in the lead didn't even have time to scream before they were torn to pieces by the violent airwaves, their severed limbs and blood rain knocking down the teammates behind them.
The following Giant army was blown off their feet, and one unlucky Giant was flipped right over.
His massive body crashed down like a landslide, crushing a large group of Death Eaters, and the charging formation instantly became a chaotic mess.
Seamus's masterpiece had an effect far beyond anyone's imagination.
But this was only the beginning.
"For Hogwarts—!"
Professor McGonagall's aged but resonant voice, amplified by magic, rang out in every corner of the Castle. She stood at the highest point of the Astronomy Tower, wand held high, her robes snapping in the fierce wind.
Behind her, all the Professors, members of the Order of the Phoenix, and upper-year students raised their wands simultaneously.
In an instant, hundreds of magic spells of various colors, like a brilliant and deadly meteor shower, poured down from all sides of the Castle, carrying the fire of vengeance, covering the enemies caught in the chaos.
The war had fully erupted.
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