Normally, the two sides should've squared off for a while—but unfortunately, this moment was anything but normal.
There was no pre-battle trash talk. What there was instead was the signature zero-frame opener of a certain Hogwarts professor: Kasen blinked forward with Ender Teleport, appearing in the middle of the crowd. A massive wave of fire surged outward from him as the center point.
The first blast of fire had cleared out the half-hearted troublemakers, leaving behind only those truly intent on causing chaos.
This second wave flushed out the weaklings as well, tossing them straight into the hands of the Aurors and Hit Wizards outside. The only ones left were those strong enough to wrestle with the likes of Lupin and Sirius.
Now, at the center, the ones remaining were basically all Death Eaters. Even if not current ones, they were former Death Eaters. Each of them had drawn their wands, aiming them squarely at Kasenhis.
Kasen, however, only looked at the masks covering their faces and let out a subtle smile. With just a glance, he could tell—among these people, there were definitely alumni from Slytherin.
Of course, there were also some Pure-bloods from the other two houses, just not nearly as many.
If they'd come here with their real faces, he might've hesitated, wondering whether gunning down the relatives of his own students was the right thing to do as a professor.
But now it was different. With masks on, all that pressure vanished in an instant.
From beneath the cloak at his back, Kasen's mechanical arms shot out, claws snapping open. They shifted into blades glowing with magical light and, without hesitation, stabbed toward the chest of the nearest Death Eater.
A moment later, the blade—thin as a cicada's wing—punched straight through the man's chest, carving a gaping, bowl-sized vacuum hole.
With a dull thud, the unfair battle ignited in an instant.
...
The fighting on the outer edges was much simpler. After the first wave of fire had driven back the rabble who only wanted to vent their frustrations, the remaining wizards weren't much trouble for the Ministry's reinforcements of Aurors and Hit Wizards.
Some of them could exchange spells with the Aurors for a short while, but for the most part, they were quickly blasted full of holes under the overwhelming firepower.
Those less powerful were a bit luckier—an Auror would rush them, slam them to the ground, snatch their wand, and leave them with their lives, at least for the time being.
But then, a shadowy figure crept unseen in the low-visibility darkness. Finally spotting an opening, he struck—disarming Sirius in an instant before slipping past him like a phantom. In the blink of an eye, his arm hooked around Harry's neck, wand pressed hard beneath Harry's chin.
At that moment, this daring Death Eater showed not the slightest trace of fear.
Before acting, he had already noticed that Harry's hands were empty. Unlike any ordinary Auror or Hit Wizard, in the eyes of Sirius and Lupin, Harry's life was extraordinarily valuable. If he could just take him hostage, perhaps he really could escape alive.
"You…" Lupin, seeing Harry held hostage, immediately faltered. He lowered his wand with one hand while raising the other in a pleading gesture.
"None of you move! Think carefully—which spell will be faster, yours or mine?" the Death Eater snarled, pressing his wand harder against Harry's chin.
"Okay… okay, we won't move. Just calm down. If you put him down now, you can leave—no one will stop you."
"Oh? You think I'll believe that nonsense? The moment I put this boy down, a dozen Killing Curses will be flying at me the next second!" the Death Eater sneered, utterly unaware that Harry, at that very moment, was gripping the hand clutching his chin and quietly adjusting for the right angle.
The next moment came with a tearing sound—the Death Eater's arm and wand snapped at the same time.
As the man screamed and instinctively released Harry, the rain of Killing Curses he had expected never came. Instead, a brilliant silver light filled his vision.
With a heavy thud, the Death Eater collapsed to the ground, unable to move, only able to let out rasping, choking sounds.
Harry looked at the wrist-blade on his arm, its edge stained with the Death Eater's throat blood. His breathing came in harsh gasps.
What he had just done was pure instinct—he hadn't even realized it himself.
But before he could process it, another scarlet curse flew straight toward him. A wizard charged at him wildly, as if he had just realized Harry's true value. Only by taking a living Harry Potter hostage could he hope to escape alive.
The red curse slammed into Harry, and that all-too-familiar sensation washed over him again. He quickly raised his right hand.
A streak of light shot forth, piercing clean through the Death Eater rushing at him.
In an instant, two lives had slipped away by Harry's hand, leaving him unable to even remember what he was doing.
But soon Sirius, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley were once again pressing in, shielding him tightly in the center.
"You've done enough, Harry. Rest a bit. The first time can mess with your head," Mr. Weasley said as he spoke, casually ripping apart the nearest Death Eater with raw magic.
"Actually, I can still…" Harry swallowed hard, forcing down the nausea clawing up his throat. Almost unconsciously, he turned his eyes—dead or alive—toward Kasen's direction.
"Wah!"
Harry vomited. By this time, Kasen had already finished dealing with his part of the battlefield.
Within his small circle, the ground was littered with mangled flesh. Judging by the thickness of it all, it didn't look like a single one had escaped.
Then Kasen turned his gaze to the remaining enemies still struggling stubbornly. With a sigh, he picked a "lucky one" at random and walked over.
Ten minutes later, everything was over.
Mr. Weasley and the Aurors were tallying the corpses—around forty-some dead.
As for the rest, if they were counted by weight equivalence, there should've been thirty-some more. But on-site there wasn't a single trace of anything that could prove their identities… only piles of red jam-like remains.
"What do we do about this?" one Auror asked uncertainly.
Mr. Weasley leaned in. "Mark them as missing."
The group exchanged looks, eyes shifting back and forth. "…Missing, right, missing it is!"
Meanwhile, Kasenhis, Lupin, and Sirius stayed by Harry's side. In the end, it was Sirius who patted his shoulder and said, "As much as I'd like to tell you how cool you just were, I think right now what you really need is some sleep."
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