Chapter 53 – Plants vs. Baldur
Bode Grey rose into the air and gave chase.
Audrey flicked her wand, sending a fireball shooting straight toward him.
The attack was utterly ineffective. Bode dispersed the flames with a casual wave of his wand, only to see Audrey dart sharply into a narrow alley.
The duel had already drawn attention. Wizards began gathering nearby, hesitant—unsure whether to spectate or intervene.
Bode's expression darkened with fury.
He had to take Audrey away immediately. If this dragged on any longer, it would be too late.
He truly hadn't expected Audrey Astray, a mere first-year student, to be this troublesome.
His impatience finally snapped.
With a vicious swing of his wand, several razor-sharp ice blades materialised in midair, slashing downward at terrifying speed.
If she were still protected by her fire shield, she might have withstood the attack—but the foolish girl had dispelled it herself.
As long as she's alive, it doesn't matter if she's crippled.
Blue light flashed.
The ice blade struck Audrey's leg.
She collapsed instantly, motionless.
No blood.
Bode's instincts screamed danger. He raised his wand, aiming at the fallen body.
The next instant, "Audrey" shattered—revealing nothing but a broken wooden barrel.
Transfiguration.
Bode spun around sharply, brandishing his wand at the onlookers.
"That's Bode Grey!" "A wanted Dark wizard!" "Run—he'll kill you!" "Someone fetch the Aurors!"
The surrounding crowd—young and old alike—scrambled backward in panic.
A hundred years ago, when trolls attacked Hogsmeade, every wizard had stood their ground with wand in hand.
Now, a wanted criminal hunted a young girl through the streets—and not a single person stepped forward.
Time passed.
The crowd's courage drained away.
Modern wizards were weaker.
Their magic, duller.
If this continued, the extinction of wizardkind might only be a matter of time.
A cruel truth—but reality nonetheless.
---
She's not this way.
Bode turned sharply, sprinting back toward the intersection where he had lost her.
This place was far too close to Hogwarts.
One professor he could handle. Several, perhaps.
But if Dumbledore himself appeared—
That would be fatal.
"Have you seen Audrey Astray?" Bode demanded, seizing a random Ravenclaw third-year by the collar.
The half-mask.
The murderous aura.
The boy trembled violently. "I—I just arrived—I didn't see anything!"
Bode shoved him aside and advanced on another student.
The boy retreated frantically, shaking his head—it was a Hufflepuff.
"Looking for me?"
Audrey's voice rang out suddenly.
She stood in the middle of the street, smiling brightly.
"If you want to catch me, come with me."
She turned and ran—straight out of Hogsmeade.
Bode pursued instantly, completely abandoning restraint.
Ice blades reappeared.
But how could a real body be compared to a Transfiguration decoy?
Audrey moved with astonishing agility, weaving between the blades without slowing, even firing counterspells as she ran.
At last, they burst free of the village.
A grassy slope stretched before them along the mountainside.
Though September had already brought chill to Hogsmeade, the grass here remained vividly green.
Audrey stopped.
Not because Bode was faster.
If speed alone were the issue, her dragon form—or even a Thestral—would leave him far behind.
She stopped because—
She had arrived.
"Well?" Bode sneered. "Why stop running, Astray?"
His grin twisted. This girl had cost him far too much trouble.
If not for her value in deciphering ancient magical ruins, he would have struck her dead long ago.
"Sir," Audrey said lightly, hands clasped behind her back, "I don't even know who you are, yet you've chased me all this way. Isn't that a bit excessive?"
Bode laughed coldly. "I invited you politely. You attacked me first."
Audrey smiled. "You're the leader of the kidnappers. Shouldn't I resist?"
"Who said this was kidnapping?!" Bode snapped, completely oblivious to the plants behind him beginning to writhe.
"I merely invited Miss Astray to take part in an important matter!"
Audrey shrugged. "You didn't even explain before trying to abduct me. How could I trust you?"
"Enough!" Bode barked. "Come with me now—or I won't hold back!"
Audrey chuckled softly.
She had stalled long enough.
"I'm not worried about you," she said cheerfully.
"I'm just curious—how do you plan to deal with my little darlings?"
She raised her hand.
Behind Bode, the ground erupted.
Thick, monstrous vines burst forth, writhing like serpents—Devil's Snare, vast and ferocious, surging toward him like a kraken rising from the deep.
At the same time, enormous Chinese Chomping Cabbages, each as large as carriage wheels, leapt into the air, snapping their fanged maws hungrily.
Ordinarily, neither plant would be this terrifying.
But under Helga Hufflepuff's ancient plant magic, they became monsters—each rivaling a group of elite wizards.
Bode's face sank.
This girl had already begun mastering ancient magic.
Worse—she had lured him here deliberately.
No direct sunlight.
Perfect terrain for Devil's Snare.
From the very beginning, this had been a trap.
The barrel had been a distraction.
The real Audrey had gone to Cornelian Cherry & Mushroom Emporium for seeds—the very direction she'd fled earlier.
Bode clicked his tongue.
A violent wind surged beneath his feet, lifting him skyward.
Devil's Snare of this size could not be burned or blasted safely.
And Chinese Chomping Cabbages couldn't bite what they couldn't reach.
But Audrey had anticipated that too.
With a sharp gesture, the Devil's Snare shot upward, slamming down with the force of a mountain, dragging Bode back to the ground.
Under ancient magic, Devil's Snare moved with terrifying speed.
The cabbages leapt—two, even three metres into the air.
Bode dodged desperately—
Too late.
One cabbage clamped onto his backside.
Flesh tore.
Blood sprayed.
Bode screamed.
More cabbages piled on.
The Devil's Snare crashed down in an overwhelming tide.
Audrey watched calmly, wand resting in her palm.
"Tell me, Bode Grey," she said softly,
"are you still not dead?"
Lightning tore through the sky.
Thunder roared.
Bolts as thick as serpents slammed into the Devil's Snare, blasting it apart in a storm of scorched sap and smoke.
A crimson beam shot through the chaos—striking Audrey squarely.
"Aaah—!"
Agony ripped through her body.
She collapsed to her knees.
Cruciatus Curse.
When the lightning faded, the plants were gone.
The cabbages lay charred.
Bode Grey stood revealed—bloodied, broken, half his mask destroyed, exposing a skull-like face beneath.
"You little bitch!" he roared, red light flaring from his wand.
"I held back again and again—how dare you!"
Audrey forced herself upright, body convulsing.
She smiled.
The smile was ugly.
But her laughter made Bode's blood run cold.
"Sir," she whispered, trembling,
"I may not know who you are…
but I do know you're about to die."
"Bluff," Bode spat.
Something tightened around his ankle.
He looked down.
A vine had grown from the remains of the Devil's Snare—different.
Thicker. Barbed.
"Venomous Tentacula—!"
Too late.
The spikes pierced his flesh.
He screamed.
Venomous Tentacula venom was lethal.
Professor McGonagall's husband had died from it.
A Class C prohibited magical plant.
The fact that Audrey had bought it so easily said everything about the shop's morals.
Bode lost all reason.
All restraint vanished.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A blinding green curse tore toward Audrey.
She looked at it calmly.
No fear.
She had already died once.
What was there left to fear—
Only regret.
That she hadn't lived enough yet.
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