The giant's massive body slammed forward at full speed. With one wall already missing, the Burrow collapsed with a thunderous crash.
After living there for so many years, the Weasley family had long grown attached to the place.
Seeing the Burrow fall left their hearts filled with mixed emotions.
"Haaaaa!!"
The giant roared, its terrifying strength smashing away the rubble piled on its body with enormous fists.
"Woof!"
"Arrrggh!!"
A dog's bark rang out, followed immediately by the giant's scream.
The wooden dog statue that had fallen at the giant's feet transformed into a huge dog, sinking its teeth into the giant's toes.
The giant howled in pain and jumped about wildly. The big dog bit down even harder, then burst into flames, setting the giant alight as well.
Like a gigantic torch, the giant screamed as it charged into the ruins of the Burrow, igniting them too.
From the flames, a burning dog burst out, its body exploding and turning into fire that blocked any further pursuit.
"Molly, I'll never say you waste money again!" Mr. Weasley all but wanted to grab his wife's face and kiss her. Buying that wooden dog statue had been the right call. He shouted, "Run farther away!"
The group picked up speed, fleeing toward the distance.
Inferi that emerged along the way were driven back by the light from Sirius's and Harry's wands.
Just like that, they were about to run beyond the bounds of the Burrow.
The flames parted as Bellatrix charged at them in a frenzy.
Streaks of spell light flew toward the group.
Lupin and Mr. Weasley held the rear, blocking the attacks.
"Aaah—!"
A piercing scream tore through the air, nearly shredding their eardrums.
Ginny clutched her ears in agony. Ron's eyes rolled back as he collapsed unconscious.
Cracks spread across Harry's glasses. Charlie struggled to lift his head and shouted, "It's a banshee!"
A banshee's scream rivaled that of a mandrake, enough to kill.
Ron was already unconscious, and the screaming rang out again.
More than one voice.
George's ears bled even more heavily. Fred collapsed in pain.
Bill fell to the ground.
Lupin said with great effort, "...Sirius, take them and go."
He aimed his wand at the banshee that resembled a human woman and fired a burst of light, interrupting her scream.
Mr. Weasley likewise brought down another banshee.
Just as Sirius helped Bill and Mrs. Weasley to their feet, a massive wooden stake flew in from ahead and smashed into the ground, sending dust flying everywhere.
Harry's eyes widened. Another giant was blocking their path.
His spells struck the giant, doing nothing, even rebounding back.
Though banshees were smaller than grown men, they moved with terrifying speed.
After being interrupted, they darted about, quickly sealing off the route of escape.
"They came prepared," someone said as they pressed back to back, forming a circle around Mrs. Weasley.
Ron woke up after Ginny slapped him a few times, though he still looked dazed and unsteady.
Wand in hand, Harry's heart was pounding.
The flames over there were extinguished, and several figures began walking toward them.
Everyone was injured and in a sorry state. Harry's leg still throbbed with pain, and Sirius's chin was cut open.
Lupin clutched his arm. Bill had cracked his head when he fell, and Charlie still smelled of smoke.
Mr. Weasley was breathing heavily, and Ginny and Ron weren't in good shape either.
"Are you all right, George?" Fred asked.
George smiled. "I think I can hear even better now."
Blood was still dripping from him. It was Dark Magic, and the wound couldn't be stopped.
"Honestly, Fred," George said, "I kind of regret giving that fat bloke a discount yesterday."
Fred looked at the approaching banshees and joked, "Honestly, George, I feel the same way."
Ron snapped, "Merlin's sake, at a time like this, can't you two just shut up?"
"Shut it, Ickle Ronniekins," the twins said in unison.
"I'll count to three. You run back. Moony and I will hold them off," Sirius said, blood from his chin soaking into his collar.
He looked at Lupin and grinned proudly. "What do you say, Moony?"
"Of course, Padfoot," Lupin replied with a smile.
The two of them put their lives on the line, leaving Harry and the others no room to argue.
It was the only way they might escape.
"Three," Sirius said, watching the giant closing in, his throat bobbing. "Two…"
"One!—"
"Hi, everyone."
Sirius was already braced to move, only to be startled by the sudden voice.
And he wasn't the only one. Everyone froze.
The voice sounded familiar to Harry. He turned his head at once.
"Luna?"
Staring at the girl who had appeared right among them, Harry was dumbfounded.
She was dressed in strange clothes, carrot earrings hanging from her ears, chains made of shells and bits of wood wrapped around her waist and wrists, and an exaggerated round disc the size of a homework notebook hanging from her neck.
Luna seemed completely unaware of the danger. Those wide eyes that always looked perpetually surprised were curiously studying Harry's glasses.
"I saw the fireworks. Are you catching wrackspurts at night?" she asked.
"How did you get here, Luna?" Harry asked.
"Moo~~!!"
Apparently unhappy at being ignored, a dog-sized Crumple-Horned Snorkack at Luna's feet stood with its forelegs on its hips and let out an indignant cry.
"A Crumple-Horned Snorkack!" Harry immediately recognized the creature.
Although, judging by its size, it was at least a dozen times bigger than before.
A spell skimmed past Ron's feet. They were out of time.
"Luna, can you get us out of here?" Harry asked her urgently.
Luna replied, "Where do you want to go?"
"Anywhere, as long as it's away from here!" Harry panicked when he saw his godfather struck by Bellatrix's red light.
Luna finally noticed the danger and said softly, "You need to hold onto Mr. Crumple-Horn's horn."
Harry looked down. The Crumple-Horned Snorkack looked as if it were holding in a fart, its brown fur turning pink.
Its curved horns seemed to grow longer.
Seeing this, Harry shouted, "Grab its horns! Everyone!!"
Bill grabbed one horn while holding Mrs. Weasley tightly with his other arm.
The others all reached out and grabbed on as well.
Bellatrix noticed this. The small snake around her neck slithered onto her arm, as if guiding her spellcasting.
A powerful, blinding green light shot from her wand.
The charging giant swung what looked like the leg bone of some creature and brought it down hard.
Pff—!
The fart was long and drawn-out. At the very last moment, Sirius grabbed Harry's hand.
A twisted, hollow vortex yanked all of them away.
The giant's attack fell short, and the green light pierced straight through its body, sending the giant crashing to the ground.
Bellatrix ran over. Staring at the now-empty space, she threw her head back and let out a shrill, furious roar. "Fuck—!"
…
After dinner, John sat on the sofa watching Tom and Jerry on the television.
Three owls perched on the cabinet, watching with great interest. Only Tom disliked the cartoon.
That cat inside—what level was it on, to deserve sharing a name with her?
Strictly speaking, wizarding technology should have been ahead of Muggle technology from the very beginning.
But after entering the Steam Age, wizards grew complacent and closed off, while Muggles surged ahead as if their meridians had suddenly been unblocked.
Take moving portraits in newspapers, for example. The wizarding world had those long ago, yet when Muggle televisions appeared, they were still stuck at the newspaper stage.
"Comfort has robbed wizards of their drive,"
John shook his head. He had no intention of clashing with Muggles.
After all, the mushroom clouds that had risen over a Muggle country had taught him one thing—there was nothing a missile couldn't solve.
For now, the sense of superiority wizards felt toward Muggles came from their uncanny abilities and certain methods that surpassed ordinary humans.
This was pride rooted in the very form of life itself.
Long ago, wizards had been able to toy with Muggles at will.
Back in the age of cold weapons, a wizard could already deal with a fully armed Muggle using a single spell.
And so, for many years afterward, wizards continued to believe themselves superior to Muggles.
Little did they realize that while wizards still needed time to recite spells, Muggles could already use a set of American-style quick draw techniques to empty two magazines in seconds.
Sirius understood this point all too well.
As far as John knew, the Minister for Magic maintained regular contact with the Muggle Prime Minister.
In the past, Fudge had always faced that Muggle—someone he believed he could control with a single wand—with extreme arrogance. Just hearing about it made John break out in a cold sweat.
Fudge was truly thick-headed. Didn't he worry the Prime Minister might arrange a few gunmen? Two shots to the body, one to the head—no savior would stand a chance.
What John wanted was peaceful development.
"Peace. Peace is enough," John said, taking a sip of freshly squeezed juice.
This Christmas had been very comfortable.
At least, that was what John thought—right up until he received a letter that night.
When the letter arrived, he read it again and again, making sure he hadn't misread it.
"So Voldemort staying quiet all this time was just him charging up a big move?"
John hadn't expected it, but it seemed Voldemort really had regained his intelligence.
To strike the Burrow first, catching them completely off guard.
"Stoat… Stoat Hill. So that's what it meant." John recalled the information Malfoy had given him. It looked like Voldemort was planning something major.
With such a huge disturbance, Mr. Diggory went to fetch the Aurors, but by the time they arrived, the place was already empty. Even the family was gone.
No one knew whether they were alive or dead.
________
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