Harry Potter: Shadow Eminence

Chapter 30: Chapter 30 Almost a crash



Chapter 30

Harry felt as though his head was about to burst, the scar on his forehead searing like fire.

As he noticed the hooded figure approaching, the pain caused his vision to blur, and he stumbled backward. Yet, that figure continued to draw nearer.

Brian sprinted several dozen meters in the direction Malfoy had fled, then aimed his wand at the sky, releasing a brilliant red spark that lit up a large section of the forest.

He was uncertain if Harry would be rescued as in the original story, but he knew he had to take action.

He glanced back toward Harry, where Quirrell was advancing. However, Harry was staggering backward, nearly caught by Quirrell's outstretched hand.

Brian heard faint hoofbeats nearby. He concealed himself in the bushes and cast a disarming spell at Quirrell, then quickly ducked behind a large tree.

Quirrell was taken aback, retracting his hand and aiming his wand in the direction from which the spell had originated. He observed cautiously for a moment, then coldly directed his wand at Harry, who was kneeling in agony.

Hearing the hoofbeats drawing closer, Brian hid behind the tree, waiting for the opportune moment to cast another disarming spell. Then he turned and fled.

He could only delay matters to this extent; he wished Harry good fortune.

Quirrell coldly glared in the direction the spell had come from, but the tall bushes and tree trunks obstructed his view, preventing him from identifying the source.

"Is it that little wizard who just ran away?" he mocked. "Quite clever."

He looked at Harry kneeling beside him and raised his wand at him: "So, this insignificant one was able to severely injure the master?"

A centaur suddenly sprang out from the thicket to the side, moving with astonishing speed, its powerful hooves crashing down on Quirrell's chest, sending him flying unexpectedly.

It was a young centaur, with platinum blonde hair, the body of a silver-maned horse, and clear blue eyes. He stood in front of Harry, drawing his bow and aiming at Quirrell.

Quirrell rolled on the ground twice and then awkwardly evaded the centaur's next strike.

He realized that he couldn't kill Harry Potter tonight. Besides the centaur, there was another wizard lurking in the shadows, and more people were rushing over.

Quirrell took a long look at Harry, scanned his surroundings, and not seeing Brian, quickly fled into the dark forest.

...

Brian hurried through the forest under the invisibility cloak, casting a silencing charm on himself to ensure he wouldn't make any noise that might attract danger.

After leaving the area where the incident occurred, he slowed down and cautiously retraced his steps along the path in the Forbidden Forest.

The potion on him could only disguise his scent but could not eliminate all odors, so he still had to be wary of the dangers in the Forbidden Forest.

"Woof woof!" It was Fang's voice, barking in Brian's direction.

Brian couldn't help but hold his breath as he looked over.

It was Hagrid and the others. They were quickly approaching. Malfoy was pale and closely following Hagrid, terrified. Also with them were Hermione, Ron, and the others.

Brian twitched his lips.

Had he known this would happen, he wouldn't have donned the invisibility cloak; Quirrell might have taken him along when he left.

But previously, he was afraid of being discovered, worried that Quirrell would abandon him, and he also wanted to ensure Harry's safety, so he chose to run invisibly.

Now it was clearly backfiring.

"Who's there?"

Hagrid, holding his pink umbrella, pointed the tip toward Brian's direction, blocking a group of young wizards with his massive body as he slowly approached him.

In an instant, several plans raced through Brian's mind. Clearly, he couldn't overpower Hagrid, even if he temporarily enhanced himself with a witness point.

What if he got caught? No, he couldn't explain why he was here so late. Dumbledore's current attitude towards him was also uncertain; who knew if he would decide to eliminate him in the cradle because of this?

"I can't get caught!"

Without time to hesitate, he raised his wand at Hagrid.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted in a low, hoarse voice.

A beam of intense green light shot toward Hagrid, who nimbly rolled backward to dodge it, knocking over the young wizards behind him.

Malfoy let out a low whimper, nearly getting gored by Hagrid's elbow, his ribs aching fiercely. But he was even more terrified of what lay before him.

Seizing the opportunity, Brian rolled behind a tree and pulled out a line of potions from his robe, sticking them to the trunk.

In truth, he had no intention to kill; the killing curse would naturally have no real effect, at most causing a nosebleed. But loudly reciting the incantation and producing bright light was quite intimidating.

He never anticipated that one day he would rely on this spell to frighten someone. Brian secretly rolled his eyes.

At least at this moment, this spell was more effective than anything else, causing the enemy, the dreadfully serious Hagrid, to hesitate, standing up to shield the young wizards, holding that pink umbrella, his gaze sharp as a hawk's.

Malfoy's body trembled like a leaf, and Ron was gulping nervously. Hermione's face was pale as she tugged at Ron and Malfoy's robes, dragging the two dazed young wizards behind the tree trunk.

"Bombarda!" Hagrid shouted in Brian's direction.

The trunk exploded, causing Brian, who was already prepared and lying on the ground, to feel a sharp pain in his back.

Several bottles also shattered with a bang, spewing out fiery red flames, which quickly spread with the erupting liquid, igniting everything around.

Brian relied on the Shield charm activated by the alchemical ring, using the shockwave from the explosion to land more lightly further away.

This was the explosive potion Brian had brewed earlier just in case; he never expected to use it here.

Brian endured the scorching heat of the flames, throwing the remaining potions ahead to expand the area of the raging fire. Then, he quickly retreated to the other side, protected by the light of the fire.

Hagrid kept the young wizards away from the sea of flames, hesitating for a moment before not pursuing. The enemy was clearly a dangerous and despicable character; he needed to protect the young wizards behind him, and the situation with Harry made him even more anxious.

At that moment, Fang, the large dog, found its courage, perhaps because its owner was nearby, or sensing that the opponent meant no harm, or perhaps it was just a show of bravado. It chased after Brian, barking loudly as if to redeem itself.

"Fang, come back!" Hagrid shouted, stepping forward with concern, but he didn't go too far, only calling out loudly for Fang.

The usually timid dog now displayed ferocity, baring its teeth and lunging at Brian.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Brian dodged Fang's leap, nearly having his hair singed by the flames. Seeing the large dog relentlessly trying to bite his thigh, he could only quietly cast a full-body bind curse on Fang.

"Awoo—"

Fang let out a low howl, its four legs stiffening, and its body became rigid like a statue. It swayed a few times before collapsing sideways into the flames, the fire singeing its fur and revealing a pair of terrified, rolling eyes.

Brian couldn't afford to check the situation; he plunged out of the sea of fire and quickly ran away.

"Hopefully, Hagrid can find his dog in time, if he doesn't want to have a roast dog for dinner tonight," Brian sighed as he glanced back at the raging inferno.

He found a slightly open area, checked the direction against the stars in the night sky, and then hurried toward the castle.

"Fang! Fang!"

Hagrid finally found his dog in the flames; it had almost turned into a fire dog. He hurriedly used his coat to extinguish the flames on it, and believing Fang was dead, he began to cry.

"Agumanti!" Hermione cast a stream of clean water at Fang's charred body. After checking, she said, "Hagrid, it's okay, it's just... um, it should be a full-body bind curse. Oh, Hagrid, you're sitting on it."

"Oh, sorry." Hagrid stood up, loudly blowing his nose, and then calmed down to seriously check Fang's condition. It was indeed not too bad; it had just lost its fur, with slight burns on its skin, and its eyes were still rolling around.

"That guy has already run away. We need to go to Harry; he's in danger! And you all, come with me quickly!" He pulled Hermione along while calling to the stunned Ron and Malfoy nearby.

"I'm not going; I want to go back! There are monsters over there, and everywhere here is full of monsters!" Malfoy shouted in a high-pitched voice, sounding very much like a house-elf.

***

Tl/N: If you want to read more [20+Chapters] while supporting me ☺️, you can join me on patreon.com/EmptyThoughts ;Thanks


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.