Meanwhile, at Hogwarts… Pt.6
"We crossed paths with Ginny, Astoria and Luna. They warned us" Hermione said as she approached with Daphne to see if Draco had been completely healed by the potion, without taking her eyes off the man in front of real towersf them.
"Are they alright?" Draco asked instantly.
"Yes. They stayed with the Weasley twins as their protectors. They're a bit stupid, but not weak. And I gave them some golems for protection" Daphne said with a smile.
"Good" Draco said, relaxing just barely upon knowing he had fulfilled what he truly wanted; buy time so the girls would be safe.
"Who are these brats?" the man growled, furious at seeing that they had interrupted him right when he was about to kill Lucius's son.
"Apparently, the saviors" Daphne said with a smile while looking at Draco, who instantly showed an annoyed expression; after all, the way she had "saved" him had been by pushing him against the wall, leaving him with a cut on his head.
"Crucio!" the man shouted, aiming at Daphne the moment he received that answer that clearly displeased him.
Draco reacted fast. He moved his wand, alert, while pushing Daphne away with his free arm.
"Stupefy!" Draco cast, aiming at the attacker.
The man deflected the spell with ease.
But then a piece of debris flew straight toward his head, forcing him to dodge. He turned, surprised to see Hermione, whose attack had come from a silent movement; for some reason, a faint dark aura was wrapping around her hands.
He had no time to analyze it, because Daphne was already casting her next spell.
"Glacius!"
The man reacted quickly, moving his wand as a large burst of fire erupted from it, burning the spell completely.
"Fiendfyre."
The three youths lifted their wands instantly. They knew that was a living spell, growing every second, impossible to contain completely without superior magical control. Trying to extinguish it directly was useless, so they aimed at the caster.
"Expelliarmus!"
Three simultaneous disarming spells hit the man squarely, who was also blinded by his own fire. He never saw the spells rapidly approaching.
The impact on his chest threw him backwards, crashing into the wall. He wasn't knocked out, but he was dizzy, writhing on the floor.
And that was enough for him to lose control of the Fiendfyre.
The flames writhed, twisted, and began consuming the surroundings.
The man opened his eyes in horror, trying to swing his wand to extinguish the fire, but all he managed to do was unleash even more flames, burning walls, floors and ceilings.
He lifted his head just in time to realize he was completely surrounded by his own infernal creation. He tried to escape, but the fire reached him, devouring him as he let out a strangled scream.
Meanwhile, Hermione, Draco and Daphne were already running through the corridors while the fire chased after them, twisting like a hungry beast.
"I think we did something wrong!" Daphne shouted while running, feeling the heat on her back.
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed!" Draco shouted with irony. They were supposed to aim at the wand, not at the wizard; that would have disarmed him instead of launching him through the air.
But well… now it was too late.
"What is going on?" a familiar voice was heard from the corner they were running toward.
It was Professor Severus Snape, who widened his eyes in surprise at the sight of the fire chasing his godson and the two girls.
"What on earth did you do?" he asked first, pulling out his wand. He moved his wrist in an extremely fast circle; the fire, as if being pulled, began forming a vortex following the tip of the wand. Snape directed it toward the nearest window, expelling it outside in a blazing whirlwind.
Then, seeing the flames still growing in the hallway, he moved his wand again. As if the cobblestones and walls flipped in a wave, the entire corridor was left without a single flame, though most objects were destroyed or melted.
"Did you not hear Professor McGonagall? Go to the Great Hall immediately" Snape said with glacial seriousness.
The three of them stood with their mouths open. They didn't know Snape was that powerful.
Perhaps even comparable to Sirius or Edward. And that was saying a lot; both were so strong that maybe only Dumbledore could face them.
And well… obviously Wanda.
"Now" Snape repeated, looking at them in such a way that, if they delayed a second more, he seemed ready to deduct every point Ravenclaw had accumulated so far.
Draco, seeing his godfather's expression, pulled Hermione and Daphne, and the three ran toward the Great Hall. Especially to check if Astoria and Luna were safe.
Meanwhile, Snape frowned with annoyance when he saw, further ahead, the charred body of the wizard who had attacked the castle. One of many.
Then he turned in another direction to keep searching for students.
…
"Avada Kedavra."
The green spell shot directly toward Selene, who stood like an ice queen; the ground around her was completely frozen, as well as the walls behind her. She moved her wand without speaking an incantation. A wall of water rose from the floor and, within seconds, froze completely, becoming a crystalline barrier that absorbed the killing curse without suffering any damage.
Selene ran her free hand over the surface of the wall, which looked more like polished crystal than ice, while her wand in the other hand moved with speed and precision.
Then, on the other side of the wall, spikes of ice began to form, sharp as spears. Selene tapped her wand twice against her side of the wall and, instantly, the spikes shot toward the attacker.
He lifted a shield quickly, protecting himself as the projectiles struck one after another, making the magical barrier vibrate without giving him a moment's rest.
Suddenly, Selene struck the wall forcefully with her wand.
The entire structure detached from the floor, sliding forward like a living wall, before beginning to topple over the man.
When he saw the massive ice wall coming down on him, the man opened his eyes wide and dropped his shield. The last remaining spikes still flying embedded themselves in one of his arms, but he didn't care; he jumped quickly to the side to avoid being crushed into paste by that gigantic mass of ice.
With his injured arm he lifted his wand and aimed it at Selene. However, before he managed to cast any spell, he saw ice beginning to crawl up his skin, wrapping around every part of his body until it left him stiff, trapped.
He tried to move the wand, but the tip glowed for an instant… and exploded. The blast wave threw him backwards, breaking the ice that imprisoned him.
Yes. He had caused the explosion himself to free his body.
He quickly threw away the wand—now useless, destroyed by the detonation—and pulled out another from the many he kept hidden under his cloak. They were clearly stolen wands.
But when he lifted his gaze, holding his injured arm with the other hand, he saw something that left him bewildered.
A massive tower, made of water and ice, was forming in front of him. It grew rapidly, almost as tall as one of the actual castle towers. For an instant, he thought it was just some unnecessary spectacle.
But soon he understood what it was for.
Selene raised both hands as if conducting an invisible choir and began moving them with absolute precision.
Circular openings formed in the tower, and enormous jets of water shot out, soaking everything around. A frozen rain enveloped the area.
Selene opened her hands to mark the end.
The man looked down: his body, completely drenched, was beginning to freeze so quickly that he barely managed to try moving his hand. It hardened instantly. His face froze into a petrified expression of terror.
He became an ice statue.
And not just him.
The surroundings also froze at the same speed; the humid air crystallized within seconds. Other attackers approaching to help their companion were caught in the same way, turned into frozen figures mid-movement.
Meanwhile, Frank stood with his mouth wide open. Everything had happened so fast… and it had been so incredible… that the only thing he could do was remain in shock.
Even though he had been running to try to save Terra.
He could only look, paralyzed.
"Oh no, the little fairy!" Frank suddenly shouted, dropping to his knees as he desperately began trying to dig into the frozen ground with his hands.
Selene heard the shout and turned toward him, letting out a sigh.
"It's fine; she'll be fine. Maybe a bit hurt, but Wanda never leaves her dear little companions without a lifesaver. And with Wanda they will never die" Selene said calmly. To prove it to him, she moved her wand toward the place where Terra should have been crushed. A red, bright mark still remained there… Wanda's scarlet magic.
Frank let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that. The little fairy was safe.
But immediately something else caught his attention.
"Wanda?" he repeated, feeling a slight headache when saying that name, as if something inside his mind were trying to wake up.
Selene did not hear his murmur, because she had already turned toward another area of the garden, where a massive mass of black mist was taking a monstrous shape, fighting against a gigantic arm of fire rising from the ground.
"Oops. Looks like my dear husband couldn't hide for that long. Although I'm sure the kids already knew he had to be wandering around here" Selene said, with an expression so full of love that it contrasted brutally with the infernal scene in front of them.
When she had arrived on the first day at the castle, Edward had literally appeared in her room ready to spend the night there. Selene had laughed. He was always like that. Every time she had to travel or was far away, Edward appeared to be with her, even if he was known as a cold demon king. He was always there to give her warmth, support… and what made her fall in love with him more every day.
"Well, he never really has time for himself, so I hope he enjoys himself" Selene said calmly as she turned around.
Just then she saw Wanda standing in complete shock, with Terra sleeping on her shoulder. She was looking toward Frank with wide eyes; Selene had never seen her so emotionally frozen.
Frank was also motionless, staring fixedly at Wanda. Tears were falling down his face.
Memories, one after another, were returning to his mind, filling the voids he had carried since he arrived here. Or rather, since he was sent here.
"I remember everything" Frank said without taking his eyes off Wanda. "The lord was right. I could find who I was here. We could find our memories."
He walked slowly toward Wanda as a big smile began forming on his face.
"Mom… I found you."
Now it was Selene's turn to be completely frozen when hearing that.
"Oh my" she murmured, bringing a hand to her mouth with genuine interest.
She really hadn't missed anything by skipping the ridiculous trial. There was plenty of emotion here too.
And it kept getting better.
Suddenly, where Edward and that dark creature were fighting, a red wave exploded and rapidly spread across the surroundings. The trees it touched began to change shape over and over again, and the wave kept moving toward them, deforming even the ground.
It was as if reality itself were changing every second within that sea of pure red energy.
…
Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, where Red and his chaotic group were gathered around something… or rather someone.
They were all looking at him intently. A hand rested on Red's head.
"Hey, thanks for that. You did it just in time" a friendly voice said.
But Red, annoyed that someone dared touch his head without being his master Harry or his mistress Wanda, bit him.
"Ouch!" the voice said, shaking his hand. But upon feeling the red wave sweep over them, he stopped and looked toward the window.
Red also looked at the crimson wave, feeling his own body resonate with Harry's power. His form began to shift slightly.
Then, without hesitating even a second more, Red jumped through the window in the direction where his master needed him most.
The dark silhouette sighed. "Their son is so troublesome. Just like her" he said before leaving the place.