The tension had just begun to ease.
James and Harry stood over the unconscious Death Eaters, exchanging breathless banter as the train swayed beneath their feet. The corridor was scorched, wood splintered, smoke curling from shattered windows—but they were still standing.
Then—
tap… tap… tap…
A new sound echoed from the far end of the corridor. Heels. Deliberate. Calm.
Both boys turned.
A figure stepped into view through the smoke and broken shadows of the shattered bogie. Slim, agile, cloaked in dark robes . The gait was almost theatrical—graceful, even—like a dancer entering stage left, amused by the wreckage.
She looked at the destruction around her, then at the two Death Eaters crumpled by the walls, her head tilting like a curious crow.
A chuckle escaped her lips.
"Well, well…" she said, her voice rich and lilting. Her mask gleamed in the low light—silver, horned, almost feminine. "Did you do all this, darling?"
James raised his wand slowly, angling his stance sideways—duelist posture. "I did."
"Fantastic."
Without warning, she snapped her wrist and fired.
The spell sizzled forward like a whip of violet flame. James was already moving—his wand carving a tight arc to deflect it with a twisting Shield Charm, the sparks flying wide and exploding harmlessly into floor.
The figure laughed, eyes twinkling behind the mask.
Then she attacked in earnest.
She moved like a storm. Her wand sang through the air in slashing, rapid strokes—transfiguring floorboards into jagged spikes, then reverting them mid-flight into spears of molten wood. A flurry of chained jinxes followed—Blinding Charms, Confundo, a half-spoken Reducto that shattered a window beside James' head.
James gritted his teeth, feet sliding, knees bent, cloak flaring behind him with every sidestep and pivot. His wand moved like a scalpel—deflecting, absorbing, countering—but the pace was relentless. It was a dance of death.
Harry tried to join in, panting, his spells cutting in between bursts of motion. "Stupefy!" "Impedimenta!" His aim was good—but the woman was better. She twirled away from most of them like a shadow, her feet moving in tight spirals, each step impossibly precise in the cramped corridor.
Then—one hit landed.
A bolt from Harry's wand clipped her shoulder, staggering her mid-twirl. Her mask snapped off, bouncing along the floor with a metallic clang.
Time stopped.
Her wild black hair spilled out like ink. Her eyes gleamed like black glass. Her lips curled into a twisted grin.
"Oh, thank lord. That mask was suffocating."
Harry's eyes widened. "Bellatrix Lestrange…"
She gave a little curtsey, wand still held high.
"Now that introductions are out of the way—shall we kick it up a notch?"
What came next was a maelstrom.
She chained spells faster than either of them had seen—each movement of her wrist generating waves of force, cutting hexes, and fiery arcs that forced James to retreat with every step. Floorboards ignited, cabin doors burst into flames, and magical wind howled through the train car.
James felt himself losing ground—not in skill, but in space. The corridor was too narrow. She was using it against them, bouncing spells off walls and doors, twisting the terrain.
Harry was panting beside him, singed and reeling. His spellcasting was growing sloppy.
Then—
"Expulso!"
A spell caught the air beside James and blew out the wall, throwing him sideways into a broken window frame.
From the shattered compartment behind them, Neville Longbottom stared in horror, frozen in the moment Bellatrix's face was revealed.
He was trembling. Pale.
But not retreating.
Then something shifted in him.
Maybe it was the way James stood back up.
Maybe it was Harry, bloodied but still fighting.
Or maybe it was just rage—old, buried, rage.
Neville stepped forward and cast a spell .
Bellatrix's wand had already moved and deflect the spell. Her eyes narrowed.
"Well, that ruins the fun," she purred. "I was enjoying our little waltz."
Neville's wand shook, but he lifted it high. "You… you took everything from me."
She cocked her head, mocking.
"Do I know you, sweetheart?"
Then Neville screamed—and fired.
A jet of red light hit her square in the chest, blasting her back several feet. Her body hit the wall with a thud.
James blinked.
So did Harry.
"Good shot," James muttered, dragging himself upright.
Bellatrix laughed as she stood.
"A little fire in you, after all…" Her voice dropped, venomous now. "But you annoy me. You're not fun. You're not clever. You're just another pathetic child."
She lifted her wand.
"AVADA KEDAVRA."
The green bolt raced toward Neville like a bullet of light.
James' wand moved instinctively.
With a sharp flick, he conjured a wooden plank, thick and dense, that sprang into place in front of Neville.
The Killing Curse struck the conjured wood—and obliterated it in a shower of green fire and splinters, but it held just long enough.
Neville stumbled back, unharmed, eyes wide in shock.
Bellatrix hissed in frustration.
Before James could react, she pivoted and fired a Blasting Curse at Harry, knocking him sideways into the nearest wall.
James turned—
But too late.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The spell hit him clean. His limbs locked. He fell backward stiff as a board, smashing into the corridor floor.
Bellatrix stood over him, grinning. Her eyes sparkled with cruel amusement.
"Let's play more next time."
With a faint pop, she vanished into thin air with HARRY .
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4 chapter drop , are we good ? .