Seeing this, the Death Eaters naturally cheered wildly, while Cassandra and her companions felt their hearts sink.
Cassandra glanced at Harry Potter, who was still restrained mid-air by Lucius, a complex expression in her eyes.
She took a deep breath, and just as Harry Potter looked at her, furiously gesturing with his eyes, a flicker of apology crossed Cassandra's gaze, but then she shouted, "Go! Break through!"
As she spoke, Cassandra rapidly intensified her spells. After forcing Bellatrix back two steps, Cassandra immediately turned to leave without hesitation.
Cedric, though somewhat hesitant, ultimately spoke to Hermione and the others beside him: "We must get this message back to Hogwarts! This situation is already beyond what we can handle!"
But hearing Cedric's words, Ron loudly protested, "No! We can't abandon Harry! He'll die! They'll kill him!"
This time, before Cedric could speak, Luna interjected, "If we don't leave now, it won't just be Harry who dies! Besides, we can't save him now! Our most important task is to inform Albus Dumbledore that Voldemort has returned!"
Luna paused, then finally added, "And then, pray Harry can hold on until Albus Dumbledore arrives..."
As she spoke, Cassandra had already retreated from the front, working in tandem with Cedric to break through the Death Eaters' encirclement.
Cedric, waving his wand with one hand and pulling Ron with the other, began to retreat out of Malfoy Manor.
Under Luna's repeated tugging, Hermione reluctantly followed Luna's lead, moving towards the exit.
Cassandra brought up the rear.
Bellatrix and the others, seeing Cassandra's group attempting to flee, naturally wouldn't stand by idly.
Led by Bellatrix, the Death Eaters furiously attacked Cassandra and her companions. However, due to Voldemort's earlier command, they didn't dare use the Killing Curse, fearing they might accidentally kill Cassandra's group.
With Voldemort's temper, they certainly wouldn't survive if that happened. No one could defy Voldemort's will; as Death Eaters, they understood this more deeply than anyone else.
Cassandra's group, however, had no such concerns.
Cassandra periodically interspersed a few Killing Curses among her spells, each time sending the Death Eaters sprawling.
The only pity was that among Cassandra's group, only she seemed capable of casting the Killing Curse, at least for now.
Meanwhile, Voldemort slowly walked towards Harry Potter, seemingly uninterested in the duel between the Death Eaters and Cassandra's group. Instead, he began to speak softly to Harry Potter.
"Harry... Potter! I hear you're almost as famous as I am now! The Boy Who Lived? Hahahaha! Your legend is built on lies, Harry!"
"Let me reveal the truth of that night, thirteen years ago, shall I? Let me reveal how I lost my power..."
Lucius and Peter Pettigrew stood silently behind Voldemort, not daring to utter a sound.
Voldemort, stroking Harry's cheek, slowly spoke, "It was because of love!"
"Sweet Lily Potter, oh, I can still remember her eyes! She sacrificed her life for her only son, granting him the most powerful protection, preventing me from touching him. It was ancient magic, I should have foreseen it..."
"But none of that matters now. Everything has changed..."
At this point, Voldemort suddenly stood directly in front of Harry Potter, face to face. Voldemort abruptly extended his right hand, pointing it at Harry's forehead, and slowly declared, "I can touch you now, Harry!"
As he spoke, Voldemort pressed his hand firmly onto Harry's forehead, making contact with Harry's scar.
Then, Harry let out a scream of agony, and hearing Harry's tormented wails, Voldemort laughed maniacally, looking up at the ceiling. At the same time, Voldemort continued to speak to Harry, "Harry, I never thought your blood would be so potent, did you?!"
On the other side, Ron, on the verge of exiting Malfoy Manor, heard Harry's agonizing screams and finally snapped.
Ron tore himself away from Cedric, about to rush back into the Great Hall of Malfoy Manor, muttering, "No, I can't leave Harry here! I can't do it!"
Seeing Ron about to charge back into the Malfoy Manor hall, Cassandra casually cast a spell, sending Ron bouncing back towards Cedric.
Cassandra, without even looking, declared, "Cedric, if Ron tries another foolish stunt, don't bother with him. Let him go! Self-destruction is a sickness, and there's no cure!"
Ron, meanwhile, quickly pleaded, "Cassandra, Harry... we have to save Harry!"
A bitter smile touched Cassandra's lips at Ron's words. Although she knew the Death Eaters were unlikely to make such a mistake, Cassandra had still held onto a glimmer of hope. But just moments ago, Luna had softly whispered behind her:
"There's an Anti-Apparition Charm!"
Hearing this, Cassandra realized that Voldemort had no intention of letting anyone leave. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such unnecessary lengths.
A sense of danger flashed through Cassandra's mind. Clearly, Voldemort and his Death Eaters intended to keep all of them!
The current situation was a result of two factors: first, their own fighting prowess had truly caught the Death Eaters off guard, taking them by surprise; and second, Voldemort's attention was currently not on their group at all.
Taking a deep breath, Cassandra's gaze hardened as she instructed Cedric and the others behind her: "Cedric, take them and retreat from the Manor. Luna, keep trying to Apparate along the way. Once you're out of the Anti-Apparition Charm's range, Apparate immediately."
Cedric was about to ask what Cassandra intended to do herself, but Cassandra seemed to anticipate his question. Before Cedric could speak, she interjected, "Don't worry about me! Taking you all with me would only be a hindrance! It's far easier on my own! And if no one stays here to hold them back, you won't even get a chance to Apparate!"
"Now, stop with the useless talk! If you truly care about me, go straight back to Hogwarts, find Dumbledore, and tell him to come and rescue us!"
——————————
Want to read the whole story? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
This fanfic has been fully translated!