Seeing the emerald green curse bolt directly towards Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix realized she'd been tricked.
Cassandra's initial target wasn't her, but the currently frail and unrecovered Lord Voldemort.
Though she understood now, Bellatrix, having lost the initiative, was clearly powerless to stop the Killing Curse that had already passed her and was soaring toward Lord Voldemort.
Just as the Killing Curse was about to strike Lord Voldemort, a wand suddenly appeared in the nick of time, blocking the curse and deflecting it.
In that most critical moment, it was Peter Pettigrew, holding Lord Voldemort, who had shielded him from the spell.
Cassandra felt a pang of disappointment as her curse was deflected at the last second, but she had no time to dwell on it. Bellatrix had already spun around, her eyes blazing with murderous intent, fixed on Cassandra.
The battle erupted in an instant!
Cedric and the others immediately drew their wands and engaged the nearby Death Eaters. Cassandra, as expected, found herself facing Bellatrix.
Bellatrix, like a frenzy incarnate, wildly swung her wand, launching attack after attack at Cassandra, all the while shrieking, "How dare you! How dare you! I'll kill you! I absolutely must kill you!"
Cassandra, too, wielded her wand, expertly blocking each of Bellatrix's curses and even managing to launch a counterattack or two, clearly holding her own.
Meanwhile, Cassandra's gaze swept across the room. Cedric, Luna, Hermione, and Ron stood back-to-back in a circle, struggling but valiantly resisting the Death Eaters' assaults.
While these four couldn't exchange blows as evenly as Cassandra, they weren't crumbling immediately, which offered Cassandra a measure of relief.
After all, both Cedric and Hermione were academic powerhouses at Hogwarts, undeniably top of their respective years. Even Luna, the youngest of their group, though often called "Loony" by her classmates, was eccentric, not genuinely mad.
Luna was, in fact, the only Ravenclaw among them, and "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure" had always been Ravenclaw's motto.
What surprised Cassandra most, though, was Ron.
Perhaps it was the influence of the Horcrux from the previous term that had finally made him 'click', or perhaps it was in the face of death that Ron finally displayed the capabilities expected of a pure-blood family member.
In any case, Ron's gaze today was remarkably firm, and his actions surprisingly decisive.
What most relieved Cassandra was that there weren't many Death Eaters present who were deemed worthy enough to be at this gathering; only a few core members were here. Otherwise, her group would truly be in grave danger.
Just as Cassandra was observing her surroundings, constantly searching for a breakthrough, she suddenly heard Harry's shouts: "Let go of me! Let me go! What are you trying to do?!"
Hearing Harry's cries, Cassandra instinctively looked in the direction of his voice. She saw Harry now restrained by Lucius, who had also magically levitated Harry, binding him in mid-air.
Then, Lucius quickly left the hall.
As Cassandra wondered what was happening, Lucius re-entered, pushing a huge, steaming cauldron. Inside the comically large cauldron, an unknown liquid bubbled, clearly a potion.
What Cassandra couldn't fathom was: what did Lucius intend to do with such an enormous cauldron of potion at this moment?
Then, to the astonishment of everyone present, Peter Pettigrew carefully lowered Lord Voldemort's current frail body into the potion.
Next, Peter Pettigrew pulled out a wooden box from his robes. When Peter Pettigrew opened the box, it revealed a withered bone, which appeared to be a human thigh bone.
Peter Pettigrew chanted incantations:
"Bone of the father, unwillingly given!"
As he chanted, Peter Pettigrew used his wand to guide the withered bone into the cauldron of potion. The moment it touched the liquid, the bone vigorously ignited.
Then, Peter Pettigrew put away his wand and pulled a small knife from his robes. He stood before the cauldron and enunciated each word:
"Flesh of the servant, willingly given!"
With that, Peter Pettigrew brought the knife down, cleanly severing his own right hand. This gruesome sight made even Harry, who had been watching Peter Pettigrew, wince.
As Peter Pettigrew's hand fell into the potion, his agonizing shriek filled the air.
Peter Pettigrew's desolate scream captured everyone's attention. Both the Death Eaters and Cedric's group instinctively slowed their pace, focusing some of their attention on Peter Pettigrew.
Finally, gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, Peter Pettigrew abruptly turned his gaze to Harry Potter and chanted:
"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken!"
Immediately, Peter Pettigrew, knife in hand, advanced towards Harry Potter!
Seeing this, Hermione cried out, "No! Stop him!"
Suddenly, the two sides, who had been tacitly slowing their fight, abruptly accelerated their pace once more, but this time, the attack and defense roles reversed.
Hermione and the others didn't know what Peter Pettigrew intended, so they desperately tried to get to him and stop him, while the Death Eaters, naturally, fought to prevent Hermione's group from advancing.
Meanwhile, Peter Pettigrew, having reached Harry, unhesitatingly plunged the knife into Harry's arm, causing Harry to cry out in pain.
Peter Pettigrew then returned to the cauldron, holding the knife, and gently shook it, letting the blood drip into the potion.
A flush spread across Peter Pettigrew's otherwise pale face, and he spoke with a trembling voice, "The Dark Lord is about to... be reborn!"
Immediately, the potion in the cauldron flared up, rapidly transforming into a roaring fireball.
Amidst Bellatrix's maniacal laughter, a human form gradually took shape within the burning orb.
The second Dark Lord, Tom Riddle, was physically reborn into this world!
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