"Chhhh——"
A piercing tearing sound erupted, the vicious Diffindo spells were sharper than imaginable, as the tough squid tentacles were sliced with deep wounds the moment they encountered the black and red spell light, spewing dark green blood, and then the flesh of the wound shrank rapidly as if ignited—
"Mmmm——"
A low, painful moan came from the lake, which was the cry of the giant squid, its injured tentacles recoiled as if electrocuted, the severed stumps swirling with black smoke, unable to regenerate immediately, and this ancient magical creature, whose existence time was unknown, was in pain, stirring up towering waves, yet did not dare to approach the dangerous shore area for the moment.
In the air, Harry, riding a Firebolt to evade stray spells and rubble, took in the scene completely.
Watching Norbert struggling in the water, now troubled by Lanlock's harassment and wary of the wizards' sniping on the shore, in a dangerous predicament, he saw the giant squid trying to help but suffering from severed limbs—a surge of hot blood shot up to his head.
"Professor, we... I need to help it!"
Harry said to Snape behind him, steering the broomstick to dive towards the Black Lake battlefront, "Find a way to get down yourself!"
"?"
"Potter? Are you insane?!"
Snape clung tightly to Harry's robe, his voice sharp due to the air filling his throat, "What do you think you are? A Dragon Slayer? Look down there! That's bloody army! There are dozens of Black Wizards—going down there means nothing but death and to join that Fire Dragon in its grave, what else can you do?!"
"But I can't just watch it be killed! It's Professor William's partner! And mine too!"
Harry shouted back immediately, green eyes filled with stubbornness, with not the slightest intention of changing his mind, "And now everyone is fighting, there's no shortage of people here, but if that Bone Dragon breaks through, the consequences are unimaginable—"
"Your pathetic, Gryffindor-style foolish head will absolutely get you killed, and get me killed too!"
Snape trembled with anger like a passenger trying to calm the driver gripping the wheel, "Your task now is to observe and relay information, not to carry out a suicidal charge, turn back to the castle immediately, that's an order!"
"To hell with your orders, you're not my Head of House! And there are no such rules now!"
Harry gritted his teeth, the Firebolt accelerating under his control, clearly determined to leave, "Besides, you won't die, as I said, you get down yourself! Weren't you quite good at flying the night Voldemort died? You can fly down—"
Just as they argued, and Harry prepared to forcefully drop Snape on some rooftop, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of—
At the castle gate, a broomstick wobbled shakily up, the figure riding it extremely familiar—it's Hermione, her brown long hair tied into a neat yet hurried high ponytail behind her head, swaying with the broom's unstable flight trajectory.
Hermione's flying ability... to be honest, just having a broomstick pay attention to her could be considered Merlin's blessing, she was definitely not an excellent... no, a normal rider, usually, in pastimes, she's either researching in the library or practicing spells, rarely touching a broomstick.
But at this moment, the girl showed no hesitation or fear on her face, she gripped the broomstick tightly, her knuckles turning a bit white from the force, trying hard to control the direction, ignoring the near-shouting call from behind by Professor McGonagall, "Miss Granger! Come back! Immediately come back!"
Even a rope formed by a magical binding charm shot from Professor Flitwick's wand, attempting to wrap around the broom's tail, only to be precisely severed by a backhand Diffindo from the girl without a backward glance.
Thus she, in a clumsy posture, flew out of the castle's bounds, heading straight towards the most dangerous area above the Black Lake.
Compared to the two giant beings in the air, Hermione on the broomstick was inconspicuous, thus her arrival didn't attract much attention, the wizards under Lanlock and Victor had their attention focused on the cornered Norbert.
But in the next moment—
Hermione twisted sharply mid-flight, pointing her grapevine wand at the center of the wizard group below, clearly and calmly voicing the spell, "Confringo!"
The next moment, a concentrated yet barrel-thick purplish-red beam tore through the air like the spear of death, smashing into the crowd with a speed far surpassing normal spells.
"Boom——!"
An eye-searing purplish-red energy ball abruptly expanded, the wizards positioned at the center didn't even have time to scream before being utterly obliterated in the spell's glare, along with a small region of lake water around them evaporating for a moment, surrounding wizards were also flung by the frenzied energy, creating a conspicuous gap in the formation.
The weather magic pressure being sustained momentarily shuddered, the color of the dark red clouds noticeably diluted a few shades.
This sudden onslaught and notably exaggerated force drew the eyes of nearly every life form on the battlefield.
Lanlock's "marble" eye sockets turned towards Hermione, Victor suddenly looked up, a hint of shock flashing across his pallid face, Norbert, who was panting on the lake surface, also looked up at that familiar figure, the dull yellow vertical pupils visibly brightened a bit.
Hermione seemed oblivious to the hostile gazes gathering towards her, she took a breath, not giving them a chance to react, her free left hand swiftly reached into her uniform pocket, pulling out an item—something that appeared fluffy, black, curled up like a ball...
She did not hesitate, hurling this black furball towards the lake surface near Norbert and Lanlock's battle zone below—
"Kabuda! Initiate super transformation form!"
The black furball traced a line through the air—
At first, it was just a small dot.
But as soon it left Hermione's hand, it seemed to trigger a switch, with countless intricate, faintly golden magic runes shimmering across its surface, flowing and rotating like coming alive, during the descent, the black furball began to inflate wildly as if blown up!
One meter, three meters, ten meters, thirty meters...
The speed was astonishing!
By the time it was about to touch the lake surface, it had expanded into a massive object that left people utterly amazed, its vast form easily surpassing the combined size of Norbert and the Bone Dragon, casting a shadow over a large expanse of the lake ahead—
"Snap!"
But rather than landing with a corresponding heavy thud, this colossus stood steadily "on" the lake surface—yes, stood! Though its hind legs weren't fully submerged in the water, the lake only came up to its ankles, as Kabuda stretched its form—
Thus, it finally became clear.
This was a... hugely enlarged Niffler.
The Niffler was covered entirely in sleek, black, metallic-shiny short fur, its signature short snout now appearing intimidating, and the pair of eyes usually glinting with greedy sparkles for shiny things now burned with two clever golden flames.
"..."
Norbert fell silent—
It suddenly felt, its title as "William's foremost battle pet" seemed at risk.