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While Harry and I were temporarily protected by the magical dome I had conjured, the Death Eaters kept hurling spells and curses at us incessantly... trying, and failing, to break through the semi-translucent blue barrier.
Voldemort, standing beside them, simply watched us with his serpentine eyes, as if everything was under his control.
He, of course, could easily break my shield if he wanted to. With his immense magical power, a single powerful spell would be enough to shatter it.
In fact, even the other dark wizards present in the graveyard could do it if they used a powerful dark curse or one of the Unforgivable Curses, which could pass through nearly any magical defense.
But the Dark Lord didn't allow them to do that, nor did he try to break the shield himself, fully aware that the magical barrier wouldn't last long.
He also knew it was only meant to buy Harry and me some time — time we would use to come up with a strategy.
However, due to Voldemort's extreme arrogance and inflated pride, he had complete confidence that any plan or strategy we might create would be useless against his power, which was one of the reasons he remained inactive.
As for the other reason, it was even more twisted — he didn't want to defeat us in such an unremarkable and easy way. He saw it as unworthy, almost humiliating, for someone like him to end the fight this way.
Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived, was seen by many as his greatest enemy and rival — the only one to ever defeat him. And at some point, even Voldemort himself began to recognize the green-eyed boy as his mortal foe.
As for me... well, I was the boy that the last Riddle considered talented enough to offer a special and private invitation to join his army... And I was also the same one who had unfortunately and 'foolishly' refused his offer.
Because of that, Voldemort believed that our defeat deserved a more impactful and dramatic conclusion... A spectacle that would end with our death.
An ending that would forever remain etched in the memory of his loyal followers present, carving in stone his cruelty and dominance over those who dared challenge him.
And well, to tell the truth, beyond those reasons, there was a third one: Voldemort was curious.
He wanted to know what we would do to try and get out of this situation... Interested to see if I truly was as clever and skilled as he had heard.
But, unaware of the Dark Lord's intentions or thoughts, Harry and I were still busy thinking furiously of a way to keep ourselves alive and safe, knowing that we were racing against time.
"Ethan, I know you're an expert at getting out of tight spots and disastrous situations..." Harry began, glancing around at our enemies with his lips pursed in concern, "But how exactly are we going to escape from here without the cup?" he asked.
"How? With the power of friendship, of course," I replied, nodding firmly.
...
...
...
"Power of friendship...? Really, dude?" He stared at me in disbelief, "What are you? One of the Care Bears?"
"For your information, a lot of people would love to be a Care Bear," I replied with a dignified expression.
In response, I received nothing but a blank stare from Harry, who remained completely silent.
Seeing his blank face I looked away, "Ahem... Actually, I already have a plan to get us out of here" I 'subtly' changed the subject.
"Oh, how wonderful," he said sarcastically, "So please, tell me... What plan has your brilliant and daring mind come up with?"
Hearing the Golden Boy's question, I felt my left eye twitch. I had the feeling he was mocking me, but I had no way to prove it.
Shaking my head, I decided to refocus on what truly mattered.
"Well, the plan is actually quite simple..." I quickly reviewed the steps in my mind.
"I managed to deactivate the ward that was suppressing our magic using some runes, but when I did that, I noticed there was another ward layered on top of it... A ward that prevents Apparition and the use of Portkeys," I began explaining.
"So, in order for us to escape from here using one of these means — which are unfortunately the only ones available to us — we'll have to break that ward."
"Right, break the ward," Harry nodded. He then paused, turning to me with a confused look. "And how do we do that?" he asked.
"How?" I laughed, my eyes gleaming with excitement. "Easy... We just need to destroy everything in this graveyard."
"Destroy... everything in the graveyard?" the young lion repeated, staring at me, stunned.
"Yep... We need to destroy every place and thing that might have runes inscribed on them."
"And since we don't know exactly where those runes are carved, we're going to have to destroy everything in front of us... That means the trees, the ground, bushes, gravestones, graves, and statues."
"And remember, these runes can only be destroyed by magic, so don't focus too much on spells that have physical attacks as their main effect," I finished.
"But wait, Ethan," Harry looked at me with a strange expression, "Wouldn't us doing that be, like, super disrespectful to the dead who are buried here?" he asked, clearly uncomfortable.
"Well, if we don't do it, we'll end up joining them too," I shrugged.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Okay, you have a point," Harry conceded, without much conviction.
But even though he acknowledged that my plan had some merit, he couldn't help but point out a small problem he saw in it.
"But Ethan, even if your plan could actually works, it's still going to be very hard to pull it off, since we'll have to deal with all these dark wizards while doing it."
"And I don't know about you, but I have the feeling they won't just stand around and watch while we destroy everything here," he added dryly.
"That's obvious," I rolled my eyes, "And that's why we're going to cover up our plan by pretending we're attacking them, when in fact we'll be targeting the graveyard itself."
"Oh..." Harry slowly nodded in understanding.
Seeing that my troublesome friend had understood —and apparently accepted — my plan, I nodded in satisfaction.
"Fine, so now that everything is settled, get ready for the fight... My shield won't last much longer" I said.
Looking at the dome-shaped barrier around us, Harry could see I was right. On the surface of the shield — where the Death Eaters' spells and curses still rained down like heavy hail — cracks had begun to appear and spread.
It obviously wouldn't take long for it to shatter, and when that happened, we'd be standing under the threatening tips of more than ten murderous and cruel dark wizards' wands.
'Okay... Here we go again,' Harry thought to himself, getting into a combat stance.
In his eyes, filled with a desperate desire to survive, there was only fierce and unwavering determination — unshaken even in the face of the danger surrounding him.
He knew this would be the biggest and most important battle of his life so far, and he had every intention of walking away from it alive and well — returning to the arms of his family at Hogwarts.
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention..." I suddenly said, drawing the Boy-Who-Lived's attention back to me.
"This time, let me take care of the Death Eaters... You can handle the pale bald guy over there."
"Wait, what?!" Harry quickly turned to me, shocked and slightly terrified.
But unfortunately for the green-eyed boy, I couldn't answer him — I was far too busy preparing to cast a big spell.
*Crack!*
*Crack! Crack!*
The shield, under the pressure of countless attacks, was hanging on by a thread... And that was exactly the moment I had been waiting for.
'Okay, now's the time!'
End.
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