"Scabbers ran away!" Ron's voice was filled with panic as he dropped into a crouch, frantically groping around on the floor. "Scabbers! Come out! Don't be scared!"
Almost at the same moment, Crookshanks, cradled in Hermione's arms, let out an excited growl, wrenched himself free, and shot like a flash of orange lightning into the dark alcove stacked with brooms.
"Crookshanks! No!" Hermione shrieked, lunging after him.
At once, violent crashing erupted from the alcove. Brooms clattered to the floor, a mouse squealed in terror, and Crookshanks' determined growls echoed within.
"Scabbers!" Ron's voice broke as he desperately tried to squeeze into the alcove as well.
"Crookshanks! Come out!" Hermione cried anxiously, reaching inside to grab him.
Harry was stuck at the entrance, unable to pull one back or stop the other, the scene descending into complete chaos.
Just as Ron was on the verge of breaking down, Hermione was stamping her foot in distress, and Harry stood helpless, the noise from the alcove abruptly ceased.
A heart-stopping silence followed.
Then Crookshanks slowly padded out from the pile of brooms, his mouth empty.
He walked up to Hermione's feet, rubbed against her legs, then sat down and began leisurely licking his paws, as if everything that had just happened had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Sc-Scabbers?" Ron's voice trembled, thick with desperate sobs.
Hermione also leaned forward nervously, peering into the dark alcove.
"Was… was he eaten?" Ron's voice trembled with disbelief and horror.
At that moment, Sagres walked up calmly from behind them. His gaze swept over the chaotic scene, and he understood everything without needing to ask.
He snapped his fingers toward the dark alcove. A soft light flashed, and Scabbers, dishevelled, coated in dust, and terrified out of his wits, floated unsteadily into the air before landing directly in Ron's eagerly outstretched palm.
The poor rat lay limp in Ron's hand, belly up, his tiny chest heaving violently, looking utterly traumatised and devoid of any will to live.
"Scabbers!"
Ron clutched the rat tightly to his chest as if he had recovered a lost treasure, his voice choking. "Thank you, Professor Greengrass!"
"It was nothing," Sagres replied indifferently.
His gaze then shifted to the ginger cat.
Crookshanks seemed to sense it. The cat let out a lazy yawn, baring its sharp teeth, as if wordlessly telling the trembling Scabbers: you won't be so lucky next time.
The corner of Sagres's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, a fleeting hint of a smile passing over his face.
Then his gaze returned to the scrawny rat in Ron's hands.
"Professor Greengrass," Ron said anxiously, his voice filled with worry, "can… can you tell me what's been wrong with Scabbers lately?"
He cradled the mouse gently, though it was still twitching faintly. "He hasn't been eating recently. He's skin and bones."
Sagres did not refuse. Just as he was about to take the wildly struggling rat from Ron's hands, the Bronze Feather badge in his pocket suddenly grew scalding hot.
At the same time, a clear, chilling connection pierced his senses in an instant—the flesh of Lord Voldemort within the badge had been summoned.
Bang!
Sagres vanished from where he stood in an instant, leaving behind only a faint ripple in the air.
In the corridor, Harry, Ron, and Hermione froze in stunned silence.
They had clearly seen it: just before Sagres disappeared, a trace of gravity they had never seen before flashed across his usually calm and unruffled face.
…
With a soft sound, Sagres's figure was torn from the cool corridor as space itself split apart, and he arrived instantly in a completely different world.
A sand-laden sea breeze lashed against his face. Jagged black reefs stretched beneath his feet, and waves roared in the distance, crashing into pale white foam.
This was the forgotten Delia Island, a desolate place unmarked on any map.
He was not alone.
Almost the moment his form stabilised, several faint popping sounds echoed through the air in quick succession.
The six members of Bronze Feather appeared almost simultaneously on the weathered reef, as if by prior arrangement.
A twisted and horrifying scene greeted them. Two enormous, grotesque Five-Legged Monsters were letting out deafening roars.
Their five pillar-like legs slammed furiously into the ground, sending shattered rocks flying with every step.
Their huge mouths opened and closed incessantly, rows of jagged teeth exposed as they bellowed at the terrifying presence at the centre of the battlefield.
Their opponent—or rather, the existence that drew all of their aggression—was the flesh monster controlled by Lord Voldemort's fragmented soul.
At this moment, it was even more grotesque than the form they had encountered in the Forbidden Forest safe house.
Countless slimy, crimson tentacles extended from its formless mass of flesh, lashing out wildly, entangling and constricting.
These tentacles were astonishingly tough. Even the Five-Legged Monsters' immense strength, enough to crush rock, and their vicious bites could only tear open shallow gashes.
Where the tentacles were ripped apart, there was no blood, only thick mucus oozing out, which then began to regenerate rapidly.
The flesh of Lord Voldemort was not merely enduring the assault.
It behaved like a sentient nightmare, its core mass of flesh firmly shielding a large boulder at the edge of the battlefield.
Beside that boulder, Swift, clad in dark grey combat gear, was slumped against the rock, his face deathly pale.
One hand clutched his blood-soaked thigh, while the other trembled as he gripped his wand. Its tip struggled to gather a faint glow as he attempted to staunch the bleeding and heal himself.
Sagres gave his wand a light tap. An invisible force immediately lifted Swift, gently yet swiftly drawing him out of danger.
"Hummingbird."
"Understood." Hummingbird stepped forward at once. The tip of her small, delicate wand overflowed with soft healing light, instantly enveloping Swift's profusely bleeding right leg as she soothed him. "Don't be afraid. It's all right now."
On the battlefield, the flesh of Lord Voldemort grew even more ferocious.
One thick tentacle had coiled tightly around the hind leg of a Five-Legged Monster. Under its terrifying constriction, the creak of bones being crushed could be heard as the creature struggled against the immense pressure.
Another cluster of tentacles lashed out like flexible whips, striking wildly at a second Five-Legged Monster that was trying to approach, forcing it to retreat again and again.
Most disturbing of all, several tentacles with suction-cup-like mouths at their tips were firmly attached to the softer abdomen of the trapped Five-Legged Monster. Their flesh was visibly merging together.
It was trying to devour and transform the creature.
"Roar—!"
The ensnared Five-Legged Monster let out a pained, desperate howl. Its struggles grew more frantic, but the tentacles wrapped around it tightened like a noose of death, constricting ever further.
The other Five-Legged Monster seemed driven into a frenzy by its companion's plight. Ignoring the obstruction of the tentacles, it charged forward once more, its grotesque maw snapping savagely toward the core of the flesh that was Lord Voldemort.
Squish!
A sickening impact rang out.
The Five-Legged Monster's enormous mouth, lined with jagged teeth, tore through several hastily intercepting tentacles and sank deep into the throbbing crimson mass.
Yet what appeared to be a lethal strike instead marked the beginning of its nightmare.
The bitten core did not break apart. Instead, it behaved like living quicksand, surging instantly to engulf and cling to the monster's head.
The crimson, viscous flesh spread like living tar, rapidly covering its skull and crawling down its thick neck.
The monster's earth-shaking roar was cut short, turning into a strangled shriek filled with sheer terror.
Its massive body thrashed violently, huge legs flailing in desperation, but it was as though it were trapped in thick syrup, its movements growing slower and slower.
Wherever its body touched the sticky crimson mass, a horrifying gurgling sound arose.
In mere moments, the enormous Five-Legged Monster was completely engulfed and dissolved.
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