Everyone's movements slowed for half a beat.
Voldemort, trapped within Dumbledore's wall of fire, narrowed his already thin eyes until they were almost slits.
He felt as though his domain had suddenly become stronger, like a water domain fighting over the sea or a fire domain fighting at the mouth of a volcano.
'That tearing sound just now must signify something extraordinary.'
Voldemort thought for a moment, then launched another probing attack.
To his immense delight, he discovered that Dumbledore, who had previously been evenly matched with him, now seemed to be falling behind.
Voldemort was overjoyed and immediately intensified his assault, determined to finish Dumbledore as quickly as possible.
What the people fighting at Hogwarts did not know was that the strange sound had not been heard only by those within the castle.
Every living creature in every corner of the Earth had heard that sound, as though some kind of material had been torn apart.
But at that moment, everyone treated it as a minor detail, something insignificant.
The battle before them was still the most urgent concern.
So after slowing for half a beat, everyone immediately plunged back into the melee.
Yet less than a minute after the sound appeared, both sides began to realise that something was wrong.
The wind rose.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust swept across the entire Quidditch stadium.
The wind was so fierce that the unconscious young wizards slumped in their seats were blown from side to side.
The conscious wizards still fighting had their hair whipped into disarray and their clothes thrown into disorder.
Then, in an instant, the fierce wind stopped.
A furious figure appeared above the Quidditch stadium.
The newcomer was none other than Rowena Ravenclaw, currently using the alias Arius.
"Can someone tell me what exactly happened here? Why did Hogwarts turn into this mess just because I went off to research a project?!"
Rowena looked down at the chaotic stadium and demanded an answer.
Astoria casually shattered a stone gargoyle conjured by someone with a blood sword, then shouted back, "The Society invaded!"
Rowena gave a cold snort and raised her left hand.
Her index and middle fingers pressed together while the other three curled into a fist.
Several Society Mages recognised Aries's face and knew she was a traitor to the organisation.
They immediately shouted and fired several spells at her.
However, the spells had only travelled halfway through the air when pale-green blades of wind appeared from nowhere and sliced them apart.
Rowena did not even regard those clumsy spells as worth noticing.
She did not move a single step and simply maintained the same posture.
Thin cyan threads began appearing around her index and middle fingers.
The threads slowly revolved around them, forming a small loop roughly two fingers wide.
Countless fine strands gathered together until a tiny cyan whirlwind formed at Rowena's fingertips.
"Let me lighten your burden a little."
Rowena murmured softly, then pointed her fingertips toward the duelling platform.
She flicked her hand forward.
The whirlwind detached from her fingers and shot toward the arena with a sharp whistle.
As it travelled, the cyclone produced a piercing explosive shriek while rapidly expanding in size.
In the blink of an eye, the whirlwind shot down from the top of the stadium toward the duelling arena, heading straight for Voldemort.
Voldemort had no time to react.
He only heard a deafening explosion, then suddenly felt his arm and half of his body go cold. Only after that did he sense an unstoppable storm tearing into him.
In an instant, the dead that Voldemort had summoned through his death domain were shredded to pieces by the storm.
One of his arms was sliced off and then cut into chunks by the wind blades. Several deep wounds also appeared across his torso, nearly severing his body outright.
"Ahhh!"
Voldemort could not help letting out a piercing scream.
However, since he too possessed a domain through the divine remains fused into his body, an attack that would have instantly killed an ordinary person merely inflicted severe injuries on him and greatly slowed the rate at which he could use his domain to recover.
After giving Dumbledore a little help, Rowena took a crystal ball from her robes and muttered a sentence into it.
Then wisps of cyan wind appeared around her.
The wind swept around her, and she vanished from sight, taking out several nearby Society Mages along the way.
While Hogwarts had descended into complete chaos, the alchemical world remained calm and peaceful.
At Salazar's warm invitation, Helga had stayed behind in the alchemical world, effectively taking a holiday with her old friend.
Though judging from the result, she seemed more like she had come to look after his daily life.
Rhys had made it clear to Helga that he intended to remain there for a few more years so that his age would match what it had been when he disappeared.
Helga understood.
She did not remain idle either.
Even though she was only staying temporarily, she still planted some fruits and vegetables around the snakewood tree and used magic to accelerate their growth.
That way, even after she left, Salazar would at least have some variety in his diet.
The things Salazar ate here were enough to make anyone cry just from seeing them.
Whatever the snakes ate, he ate too, with the occasional addition of mushrooms, moss, and similar things.
"I'm not trying to lecture you, but you really should leave the cave and walk around more often. Don't actually start living like a snake and stay curled up inside all day."
Helga chatted with Rhys while gutting a fish she had just caught by the river.
"Mm-hm."
Rhys did not argue with her.
He simply leaned against the large tree with his eyes closed, resting.
At that moment, the crystal ball in Helga's robes suddenly lit up.
"Rowena sent me a message. Let me see what she's up to..."
After Helga took out the crystal ball, Rowena's voice came through it.
[Helga, Salazar, Hogwarts has been invaded. The seal deep beneath the dungeons has also been broken.]
"What?!"
Helga shot to her feet.
The crystal ball and the raw fish both fell to the ground.
"Salazar, I have to go back." She turned toward Rhys. "The seal deep beneath the dungeons is far too important. Nothing can happen to it. I..."
"I'm going with you."
Rhys's expression also became extremely serious.
He stepped forward and grabbed Helga's arm.
"All right."
Helga wasted no words.
She immediately activated the Portkey Rowena had given her and returned to Rowena's office with Rhys.
The moment they landed, both of them rushed toward the dungeons.
As soon as they reached the Great Hall, they saw Rowena rushing in wrapped in a gust of wind.
"Rowena, what exactly happened?!" Helga asked the moment she saw her.
Rowena's expression was equally grim.
"I was doing research in the laboratory when I suddenly sensed that the seal had been broken. It was probably that impostor!"
Helga ground her teeth.
"Rowena, how could you be so careless?" The corner of Rhys's mouth lifted slightly, though his voice remained stern as he rebuked her. "You knew there was something wrong with that fellow. Why weren't you keeping a close watch on him?"
"I..."
Rowena had only just begun to argue when Helga raised a hand and stopped them both.
"This isn't the time to argue. Get to the dungeons!"
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI