Just as Adrian's eyes swept the trees searching for any sign of the Ministry officials who should have been managing these soul-sucking abominations, the frontmost Dementor suddenly launched a surprise attack, lunging at him with bone-chilling cold.
Adrian immediately dodged, barely avoiding the sudden assault, and couldn't help but wipe away sweat.
"Clever," He murmured, steadying himself against an oak trunk. "I hadn't realized you creatures had learned the art of deception."
So Dementors would resort to sneak attacks too. However, since they had made the first move, he no longer needed to hold back.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The incantation erupted from his lips. His wand traced a complex pattern through the rain-heavy air, leaving trails of silver light that lingered like captured starlight.
White radiance exploded from Adrian's position, surging forth like a tide of liquid moonlight. The glow didn't simply push back the darkness—it devoured it, transforming the gloomy clearing into something approaching daylight.
Every raindrop caught and reflected the silver glow, creating a curtain of tiny mirrors that multiplied the light infinitely.
In that moment of blazing illumination, all Dementors stopped their advance as if they had struck an invisible wall. For creatures accustomed to being the source of fear, they now found themselves experiencing something disturbingly close to terror.
But Adrian wasn't content to merely drive them away. His eyes, now blazing with silver light that seemed to emanate from his soul, fixed on the gathered creatures with the intensity of a judge pronouncing sentence.
Today he absolutely had to teach these creatures a lesson.
After all, Dumbledore had already made it clear—absolutely no Dementors were to approach any students.
If he acted a bit more harshly... that should be fine, right?
At this moment, a white hedgehog appeared in the mist, lightly jumping onto Adrian's shoulder.
Adrian reached out his left hand to pat its head, saying softly, "It seems you think the same way."
"Squeak~"
The little hedgehog snarled fiercely at the group of Dementors.
The mist spread wildly, surging and expanding through the rain as if alive. Adrian's wand tip continuously spouted silver-white light, enveloping the entire clearing in white mist.
At this moment, those Dementors seemed to sense something, they collectively shrieked as they retreated, as if they had encountered something extremely terrifying.
"Too late!"
Adrian gently stroked the little hedgehog on his shoulder, smiling slightly.
As his words fell, all the mist suddenly contracted, rapidly condensing above Adrian's head. The massive Tree of Wisdom Patronus appeared prominently in the sky.
Pure light dispelled the gloom, extremely conspicuous in the dark sky.
The Dementors immediately fell into madness, scattering in all directions.
Clearly, the Patronus in front of them made them feel an enormous threat.
However, the Tree of Wisdom wouldn't reason with them.
The silver oak's root system suddenly extended, entwining around every Dementor trying to escape like living creatures.
Those dark beings began smoking and emitting heart-rending howls the moment they contacted the silver roots, as if being burned.
Adrian watched coldly, shaking his head slightly. In fact, he wasn't certain whether his Tree of Wisdom Patronus could truly kill these dark creatures.
However, this would definitely teach them a severe lesson. To want to harm his students, they must pay the price!
Gradually, the Dementors' howls grew louder and louder.
Soon, Dementors that couldn't hold on began falling from the sky, their rag-like bodies landing on the muddy ground without any movement.
As the last visible Dementor fell, Adrian gently waved his wand, and the massive Patronus dissolved into points of silver light, disappearing in the rain.
The little hedgehog on his shoulder also let out a victorious cry.
At this moment, the clearing before Adrian was littered with Dementor remains lying in all directions.
The Dementors' bodies had completely disappeared, leaving only their tattered robes.
But Adrian didn't think they were dead, because these Dementor "corpses" still emanated an ominous, icy aura.
Adrian didn't bother with those "corpses" and quietly left while no one had discovered him.
He had only wanted to teach these Dementors a small lesson; the current result barely met his expectations.
By the time Adrian had cleaned himself up and slipped back into the Hufflepuff section of the stands, the match was clearly approaching its climax.
"Where did you go, Professor?" Ernie Macmillan asked as Adrian sat back onto the bench beside him. The young man's face was flushed with excitement and damp with rain, his attention divided between the match and his mysteriously absent professor.
"Bathroom," Adrian replied, using the universal excuse.
The lie came easily to his lips, after all, what was the alternative? Explaining that he had just single-handedly defeated over a hundred Dementors?
His eyes swept the surrounding stands, noting with satisfaction that every spectator remained completely absorbed in the unfolding drama on the pitch. The storm and the intensity of the match had provided perfect cover for his brief absence.
No one had noticed the brilliant silver light that had blazed from the nearby forest, and the Dementors' shrieks had been lost in the wind and crowd noise.
This was good though—it saved him a lot of trouble.
Just then, Madam Hooch's whistle sounded.
In an instant, cheers echoed throughout the entire Quidditch pitch.
The Hufflepuff stands especially were nearly boiling over, with students frantically waving flags and continuously chanting Hufflepuff's name.
Adrian quickly located the source of the celebration, his gaze found a familiar figure hovering thirty feet above the pitch. Cedric Diggory was motionless in the rain, one hand gripping his Firebolt's handle while the other was raised triumphantly over his head, and the Golden Snitch's wings were beating frantically between his fingers.
"We won!" Ernie shouted as he grabbed Adrian's arm in his excitement. "He caught it! Cedric actually caught the Snitch!"
Adrian smiled.
Rather than immediately going down to join his teammates, Cedric guided his broom in a wide loop around the stadium, acknowledging each section of Hufflepuff supporters with waves and grins.
When he reached the section where Adrian sat, Cedric raised his free hand in a gesture that was clearly directed at Adrian specifically.
Adrian smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. Naturally, he was delighted that Hufflepuff had won the match.
Harry, meanwhile, sat motionless on his own Firebolt near the Gryffindor goal posts, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
He had ultimately fallen short by a step, losing to Cedric in their struggle for the Golden Snitch.
Adrian felt a moment of sympathy for him—losing was never easy, but losing when you had been so close to success was particularly bitter.
However, this might not be a bad thing for Harry.
After all, since Harry had started playing Quidditch, he had never lost a single match.
Failure was an important part of the growth process.
An hour later, the Hufflepuff common room had been transformed into something approaching a festival ground. The usual cozy atmosphere had given way to organized chaos as dozens of students celebrated their team's victory.
Adrian was also present.
The room buzzed with energetic conversations as students recounted every moment of the match from their own perspectives. The air was warm and humid from so many damp bodies in close proximity, but no one seemed to mind. If anything, the muggy atmosphere added to the celebratory mood.
Professor Sprout smiled as she brought a large quantity of butterbeer, distributing them to the students. As the Head of House, she was naturally very happy that her house team had won the match.
You see, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team hadn't achieved any results in matches for many years. This year might be their most promising year for winning the championship.
Adrian accepted the butterbeer Professor Sprout handed him, and praised sincerely, "Cedric is a wonderful student."
"Oh, absolutely," Sprout replied, her face glowing with maternal pride. "In my opinion, Cedric might well be Hogwarts' most outstanding student."
Adrian nodded thoughtfully. He remembered the original story, where Cedric had been selected as Hogwarts' champion for the Triwizard Tournament. This was enough to prove his excellence.
Unfortunately, that same tournament had also been the site of Cedric's death, a tragedy that Adrian was determined to prevent. With his presence here, the future was already changing in subtle ways. Perhaps those changes would be enough to save a young man who deserved so much more than an early death.
At this moment, Cedric squeezed out from the celebrating crowd. Upon seeing Adrian nearby, his eyes lit up.
"Professor!"
He hurriedly walked to Adrian, handing him a long, cloth-wrapped object. "The Firebolt... I'm returning this to you."
"Keep it, Cedric." Adrian smiled slightly. "This wasn't given to you alone, but to the entire Hufflepuff team. Anyone can use it. Of course, I think it can achieve its maximum potential in your hands right now."
Adrian's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every Hufflepuff student present.
Only then did they realize that the Firebolt in Cedric's hands was a gift from Professor Westeros.
Cheers immediately flooded the entire Hufflepuff common room.
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