"Look who it is?" The Wizard blocking Harry's path spoke in a hoarse voice, like sandpaper grinding together. "The famous Harry Potter. Taking a stroll in Knockturn Alley again? You've got some nerve, kid."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" The scarred man's rasp dripped with mockery. "Our little savior is quite thoughtful—he even brought two little snacks."
His sinister gaze swept over Hermione and Ron, lingering when Hermione instinctively reached for her wand.
"Heard you've got a lot of gold in your pocket?"
The Wizard on the left licked his lips greedily, revealing a mouthful of crooked yellow teeth. "Your dead parents left you plenty of money, didn't they? How about sharing a little with your uncles?"
Harry's blood froze.
It wasn't Black.
Just a few Dark Wizards—greedy, violent, and after money and lives.
Fear wrapped around him like a cold serpent, tightening with every second.
After all, Professor Greengrass's plan hadn't included running into these street-thug Dark Wizards.
"I… we don't have any money on us!" Harry's voice trembled.
"No money?" The scarred man sneered and stepped forward. The stench of alcohol and sweat rolled off him. "Who'd believe that? We'll know once we search you."
A filthy, calloused hand suddenly lunged for Harry's pocket.
"Wait!" Harry backed up quickly, his mind spinning. "All my money is in Gringotts—an entire vault full of Galleons. I'll give it all to you, just let us go."
"Is that so? No problem, kid…"
The scarred man grinned, taking two slow, deliberate steps forward. "But your little friends stay here as insurance."
Harry's stomach dropped like a stone.
The worst situation had happened—and Hermione and Ron were now trapped with him.
He instinctively pulled the two of them behind him, his wand snapping up to point at the scarred man.
Noctis on his shoulder let out a sharp, cutting screech, the Black feathers on its neck flaring like a threatened beast ready to strike.
Hermione's face blanched, but her eyes sharpened as she drew her wand without hesitation.
Ron wasn't any calmer, but he forced down his fear and raised his wand as well.
"Get lost! Unless you want a one-way trip to Azkaban!"
"Azkaban?"
The scarred man barked out a laugh, harsh and ugly.
"In this alley, the Ministry of Magic is nothing."
An eerie green glow flared to life at the tip of his wand.
"Hand over everything you've got—money, wands, all of it! Otherwise…"
The green light sharpened into a deadly point.
"…we'll start with this little witch!"
The spell aimed straight at Hermione.
The air froze.
The chill of death spread through the narrow alley.
Several seasoned Dark Wizards tightened their circle, their wand tips sparking with deadly light, hemming the three terrified students in with no escape.
Just as the scarred man lifted his wand—just as that fatal incantation was about to spill from his lips—
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione's voice cracked with fear, but the brilliant red beam shot straight at the scarred man's wand hand with razor-sharp accuracy.
"Impedimenta!"
Harry roared at the same moment, and an invisible barrier snapped into place in front of Hermione to intercept any counterattack.
Ron, trembling yet determined, squinted hard and shouted, "Stupefy!"
In that narrow, lightless alley where the sun never reached, chaos erupted instantly.
Spellfire tore open the shadows; death brushed against every breath.
But the disparity in strength was brutal.
The scarred man merely twisted his wrist, knocking Hermione's Expelliarmus aside as if swatting a fly.
The stocky Wizard dodged Ron's Stunner with nothing more than an awkward sidestep.
And the tall, thin Wizard had already locked onto Harry—his wand tip spitting a venomous purple-Black curse straight at him!
Harry's pupils shrank; he threw himself into a desperate roll, the malevolent spell slicing the air where his ribs had been a heartbeat earlier.
He fired back instinctively—"Reducto!"
The red blast hit the scarred man square in the chest, flinging him hard against the nearest wall with a bone-rattling crack.
"Ron, protect Hermione!" Harry shouted, raising a Shield Charm just in time to block a streak of crimson light aimed at his side.
Ron understood immediately and fired an Impedimenta behind them, sealing off their backs with a slowing barrier.
"Hermione, don't be afraid!" Harry shouted as he ducked behind a crooked crate, trying to find an opening. "Professor Greengrass is watching us!"
He had no idea if that was true—but instinct urged him to say anything that might steady his friends' nerves.
Hermione didn't even catch his words. The instant Harry had yelled protect Hermione, she understood exactly what she had to do.
"Bombarda!"
A blazing yellow blast shot from her wand, streaking toward a shadowed corner at terrifying speed.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion ripped through Knockturn Alley.
A massive section of the neighboring shop wall blew outward, showering the alley in shattered bricks.
The tall, gaunt Dark Wizard who had been lurking there was gone—engulfed by the blast.
But Hermione didn't pause.
Her wand arced sharply—"Incendio!"
WHOOOSH!
A wall of roaring flame burst out of the gaping hole she had created, swallowing the debris and forcing back the shadows.
The once smothering darkness was driven away, replaced by violent firelight that threw long, distorted silhouettes across the alley.
The flickering blaze illuminated everything—the twisted shop signs, the cracked cobblestone street, and the murderous faces of the remaining Dark Wizards narrowing in on them.
"Carnem ad Stone!"
The scarred man, having just staggered up from the rubble, hurled the curse toward Hermione with murderous force.
But Harry and Ron were already there.
Harry reacted with lightning speed, diving in front of Hermione as a shimmering "Protego!" burst from his wand.
The hostile spell slammed into the shield with a crack, dispersing harmlessly.
No sooner had the barrier faded than Hermione's wand flashed past Harry's ear.
"Stupefy!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A beam of red light missed the scarred man by inches, but the conjured bindings did not.
Magical ropes shot from thin air, twisting around him like a nest of serpents and pinning his limbs tight.
Behind them, a slicing "Diffindo!" shot forward—
Ron blocked it with a desperate Shield Charm, the impact rattling his entire arm.
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry spun, firing at the stocky Wizard built like a boulder.
A brilliant red streak struck the man squarely in the chest—his wand flew from his hand, clattering across the stones.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Ron shouted, voice cracking with adrenaline.
The wizard's limbs snapped rigid—his body froze mid-motion like a grotesque statue.
"Reducto!" Hermione's spell followed instantly.
A deafening BOOM shook the alley.
The petrified bulk shattered on impact and exploded into a cloud of stone fragments that rained down like sharp gravel across the narrow passageway.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A piercing shriek split the air as a streak of sickly green light—cold, hateful, inevitable—tore through the flames and shot straight at Hermione's chest.
There was no time to think.
"Ha-!" Harry lunged.
He grabbed Hermione by the arm and yanked her toward him with all his strength. She stumbled hard against his shoulder, and the killing curse skimmed past the tips of her hair with a hiss, slicing into the darkness beyond like a viper's fangs.
The air crackled with the deathly chill left in its wake.
From within the cloud of debris, the two remaining Dark Wizards staggered toward their bound companion. Through the swirling dust, Harry saw one of them lift his wand.
"Relashio!"
The magical ropes binding the scarred man writhed once before snapping apart, releasing him. His eyes burned with murderous fury.
"Bombarda Maximaaaaaa!" Ron's voice cracked as he shouted the spell, his wand thrust forward with trembling determination.
A thunderous explosion erupted.
The walls shook.
Stone and splintered wood blasted outward in all directions.
Thick smoke surged up, swallowing the entire corner of the alley in a violent plume.
For a moment, everything was nothing but ringing ears, choking dust, and the sound of debris clattering onto the cobblestones.
Harry coughed, lowering his wand for a second.
"Huff.. hufff.." Ron staggered back, shielding Hermione with his arm.
Hermione, face tense and pale, raised her wand, summoning a powerful gust.
Wind rushed through the alley, tearing at the smoke, beginning to peel it away—
When—
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Not one, but three.
Three murderous green beams exploded from within the dust cloud, bursting out like venomous serpents, weaving through the air with lethal precision—one aimed for Harry, one for Hermione, one for Ron.
They had survived the explosion.
They were furious.
And they were killing to escape.
The alley twisted under the sickly green glow as the three curses sliced toward them, crossing one another like three blades of death.
Harry's breath froze in his lungs.
Hermione's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Ron's legs buckled beneath him.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Too close. Too fast. Too many.
In that split-second—barely more than the flash of a heartbeat—BOOM!
The ground beneath their feet heaved upward with a deep, rumbling—like alive, shifting, reshaping itself like a creature waking from slumber.
A massive wall of earth rose instantly, thick enough to swallow all light.
The three streaks of deadly green slammed into it with a violent hiss, shaking the entire alley.
Then—boom—the force of the impact sent Harry, Ron, and Hermione flying backward like fallen leaves in a storm.
Before they could crash onto the cobblestones, an invisible power—smooth, controlled, unmistakably magical—wrapped around their bodies like unseen threads and gently pulled them aside, away from the collapsing dust and the echo of death.
As their vision steadied, they saw it.
The ground that had risen moments ago twisted and folded into an enormous, grotesque mouth made of earth and stone. Jagged chunks of rock formed teeth; long cracks spiraled like a gaping throat.
It snapped shut.
All three Dark Wizards—wand, cloak, and screams—vanished inside the closing maw.
And then...
Silence.
In the blink of an eye, the monstrous formation crumbled back into ordinary cobblestones, leaving not a single trace. The alley lay still, cold, and empty, as if nothing extraordinary had ever happened.
High above, Noctis spread its wings and swooped down from a rooftop, gliding silently beside Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they were carried toward the entrance of Knockturn Alley.
A slender figure was already standing there, half-shrouded in shadow, composed and unmoving.
Sagres.
His gray eyes were calm, but sharp enough to make the air itself still. As the invisible threads gently released the three trembling teenagers, he spoke with the steadiness of someone who had seen the entire battle from beginning to end.
"Well done."
His gaze swept over Harry, Hermione, and Ron—bruised, pale, wide-eyed, their chests still heaving.
"You truly surprised me."
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