Chapter 576： near the end

"Granger—and, oh, my God!" Professor McGonagall came running from a distance, bowing her head quickly in the middle of her words, and a few brooms passed over her head. She stared at Neville and the others away, her chest heaving violently.

"What's the matter with you—they—?" she said angrily.

"Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? They're going to support Harry—" Hermione kept her tone as light as possible.

"Anything about Harry here?"

"Hagrid is in danger—"

"I know, I've let Sirius and Snape go."

"And little Grapp—"

"Don't tell me you know the giant, Miss Granger, or that you just came up with a temporary name?" said Professor McGonagall breathlessly.

"Yes," said Hermione biting herself, now that no one else was around, she felt it was her duty to explain, especially for the exposed little Graupe: "That's Hagrid's brother, and we'll be together when we're fine. Listening to music, watching movies. He likes 'Hot Pot of Love'—"

She couldn't go on, Professor McGonagall clutched her chest, out of breath, and seemed to faint soon.

"Professor? Can we help?" Hermione asked cautiously.

The dozen or so students who followed her nodded silently, even though they were shocked from the looks of it - giants are quite brutal creatures in the wizard's records, and these students were very concerned about Hermione, who could listen to music with giants, and Harry and Ron, who were not present, were in awe.

If it weren't for the wrong time, they would have had 100,000 questions to ask.

Professor McGonagall glared at Hermione and glanced at the students behind her, "I heard that Professor Black has taught you several actual combat formations in class? Let me see your results, in groups of three, hiding in armor and The back of the statue, don't take it lightly, only attack the Inferi that the professors missed, remember! Report the injury immediately, even if the skin is broken, the Inferi's claws and teeth are poisonous."

The students nodded silently, and the excitement on their faces subsided.

"Luna, Ginny, you are in my group." Hermione whispered, and Ginny pulled Luna closer. Hermione stretched out her hand and grabbed into the air. The golden flames made by ancient demons poured out from between her fingers. Before it landed, it condensed into the shape of a firebird. It stretched its swan-like wings and flew away quickly. . The other students looked at her enviously.

Firebirds swept under the castle, illuminating a wide flat on the mountainside, where neat armors and statues stood, large and small, and even animals, now lined up in a row to form a solid wall , to block the corpse, and behind them stood more than a dozen adult wizards, including professors in the school and people from the Ministry of Magic.

But they were dwarfed by the huge number of Infernal corpses, and they could only defend the main road.

These people had to stand scattered, each responsible for an area, but could do nothing for further places, they stopped by a pine tree before, and seemed to be very interested in things.

"We can only promise to clear a road first, and wait for the rest to come before dawn." Professor McGonagall said, she rejoined the battle, waved her wand, and the grass that had just stuck her head on the ground grew wildly, tripping over the approaching Inferi, Hermione controlled the flamingo to drop clumps of flames, burning them to ashes.

Two dementors floated in the mid-air in the distance, like tattered cloth heads blown up by the wind. They seemed a little dreaded here, and when Hermione looked up again, the Dementors had disappeared.

There were wolf howls from the forbidden forest, and she wasn't sure if it was a werewolf.

"I hope there are no dead people. Although we made preparations in advance, there are some things we can't control." Professor McGonagall said, looking at the green skull hanging in the sky.

As soon as the voice fell, the huge black demon mark like a constellation suddenly became extremely dazzling, and countless bright fireworks exploded from the inside. People from all over Hogwarts raised their heads one after another. With a loud explosion, the jaw of the skull was broken, and the snake that was wriggling in its mouth disappeared, replaced by a colorful fire dragon, swimming happily.

The eyes of the skull were also replaced by two wheel-type fireworks that spun and splattered sparks, and the whole scene looked ridiculous. With the help of the dazzling light, Professor McGonagall saw several black dots rushing out of the green cloud. She groaned softly, "It must be Fred and George. Even this time..."

"They did a good job this time," Ginny said, staring in the air, shaking her wand sharply and throwing a spell.

"The bat-spell doesn't work on the Inferi, Ginny," Hermione said, "you'll have to use fire magic, try Bright Fire—" She froze, staring at the hapless Inferi.

"Wow, what a big bat." Luna exclaimed.

Eventually the Dark Mark disappears along with the Weasley fireworks, and the castle darkens again. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were at the front at the moment, and Luna controlled a white flame, turned her head and said, "We need a little light."

Someone thought of going with her. At the entrance of the castle, Cedric held a bright ball of light in his hands. The ball of light radiated soft light toward the surroundings. The students standing behind him stretched out their hands one after another. It flew into the air like the moon and dotted the sky above Hogwarts.

When all this was done, they trotted down the stone steps and came to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall is a little numb, "Thank you, children, in groups of three, don't get too close to the front..."

"Professor McGonagall, Mr. Kingsley asked me to tell you that the back door to the castle is secured. He doesn't need that many people there," Cedric said.

"Excellent." Professor McGonagall said with satisfaction, "We are in need of manpower here, and there are too many places to defend... Since you are here, I can draw out a few professors... There is more than one battlefield."

She was right. In addition to the Ministry of Magic in London and the village of Hogsmeade adjacent to the school, the school is also divided into several battlefields - the walls near Hagrid's cottage, the front and rear doors of the castle, and even the relatively quiet headmaster's office. It is a 'battlefield'.

Umbridge made a mess of the office.

At first, she disguised herself as a curious student, claiming to have obtained Dumbledore's permission to do an exclusive interview for the "Mystery Wall Tabloid". She looked around, touched it, grabbed the Sorting Hat, and shook it off, but she didn't gain anything except choking on the dust and shedding tears.

She rummaged through all the places she could find. The books on the bookshelf were scattered all over the place, the wine in the wine cabinet was roughly pushed aside, and a few oily fingerprints were sticking to the inlaid wood, as if checking whether there were any hidden compartments. .

Seeing the time passing by, the shouting and rioting from outside spread like a plague, but Umbridge showed no panic or surprise at all. She even wanted to break into Dumbledore's private room on the second floor. In the bedroom, the portraits of the previous principals finally couldn't ignore her abnormality.

The portrait in the principal's office yelled angrily at her—

"I've never seen a student like you!"

A fat wizard with a red nose said in the portrait, "Stop it! Which college are you from?"

Umbridge tried a few more times and found herself blocked by an invisible membrane, and her magic didn't work at all. As a last resort, she turned her eyes to the headmaster's desk, Umbridge put Mafalda's face on his face, sat down on the headmaster's chair with difficulty, and looked at it for a while.

"Obviously, I'm a Slytherin," she said casually.

"Liar!" said the portrait of Phineas Black, Sirius' great-grandfather and the most unpopular headmaster at Hogwarts, squinting as if he had just woken up.

"My name is Mafalda, and you can have someone look it up," Umbridge said sweetly, "if you can, Headmaster Black." Then she ignored the accusations of the portraits and stared intently at A drawer for a desk.

The drawer was locked the first time she checked, and she tried the usual cracking charms, with no response at all.

There is no other way at the moment, she can only make up her mind on this. "I need a key," she said to herself. "I don't want him to wear it, and I'll get nothing." She thought hard, "If that key was in the house, where would it be? ""

It didn't take a short time for her to finally find the key from the bottom drawer on the other side. The key was hidden under a thick stack of documents and a few letters. If she was interested in spying on Dumbledore's privacy and social network at ordinary times, it is best to have some black information.

But she just rolled the documents and letters into a ball, and after fumbling around with her hands, took out an ancient key.

She held her breath and shoved the key into the lock cylinder. The sound of "click" was like the sound of nature. She pulled the drawer suddenly, and the magic glow instantly illuminated her eyes. She stared greedily at the contents: yew wand, black gemstone ring, locket, tiara, tattered journal.

Aside from the wand, locket, and tiara, the other two appear bleak.

"Slytherin's locket... Ravenclaw's crown..."

Umbridge was trembling with excitement, and she ignored the portrait and shouted "thief! Shameful thief!" The target of this trip - it is said that "hiding the mystery of the power of Slytherin and Ravenclaw in the Big Four of Hogwarts" ' stuffed into his pocket, then jumped off the chair to run away.

She knew that she had been delayed for too long, and the mysterious man promised to buy her time, but she could not be completely sure.

After a few steps, she suddenly stopped.

An unstoppable thought popped into his mind: The Mysterious Man's desire for lockets and crowns is inexhaustible, and what about other things that can be juxtaposed with these two treasures? Is that wand a power wand? Is there a secret to a black gemstone ring? Journal……

Umbridge scorned the tattered diary with a big hole in the middle.

Greedy **** prevailed again, and she turned back, reaching into the drawer, when she heard a high-pitched, loud chirping sound, and a phoenix emerged from the fire in the circular office.

Umbridge was horrified. She hadn't considered this situation at all, is Dumbledore coming back? She can only look like a stupid portrait, it is impossible to hide from Dumbledore... For a moment, she seems to have forgotten how to breathe.

Fox spread his wings and landed on a gilded perch by the door, watching her scrutiny.

There was some silence in the circular room, Umbridge slowly retracted his hands, showed his empty hands to Phoenix to please, and moved towards the door step by step, "Don't let her go! Fox, she's a thief!" A portrait shouted.

Umbridge's head hummed. Damn, stupid portrait, it must destroy you if there is a chance! She thought so in her heart, but her body was doing the exact opposite. She hurriedly stretched out her hand and pressed it on the doorknob and twisted it hard. She had already heard the angry chirping of the phoenix and the sound of flapping its wings. She pulled hard, The door opened, and thanks to her small figure now, much smaller than a phoenix with outstretched wings, Umbridge saw Fox's long pointy beak pecking at the door frame and ramming the moment the door was finally closed. out a few Mars.

"boom!"

The door was closed, and Umbridge rejoiced. "Boom!" Another sound, she jumped up in fright, and jumped to the spiral staircase in a panic, the stairs began to slowly descend automatically, but she couldn't wait, stepping on the steps with short legs to speed up, the wall As soon as a gap opened, she couldn't wait to jump out, and then ran wildly in the empty corridor.

She heard the sound of the door being slammed open, and her heart came to her throat, and she rolled and ran all the way to the moving stairs of the main building, and almost rolled down the stairs. She took two breaths and ran down desperately, looking very embarrassed. But she wouldn't care, it wasn't her face anyway.

She had planned from the beginning to make the girl the scapegoat.

All she had to do now was run to the abandoned classroom on the first floor and exchange with the real Mafalda, Umbridge's eyes flashing fiercely as she ran.

In order to destroy evidence and get rid of suspicion, it is the best choice to have a body appear in the school.

The chirping of the phoenix echoed in the castle corridor, and Umbridge was so frightened that he went even faster.

But she didn't need to worry too much, the phoenix's cry was not aimed at her, but an ancient Rune professor who was undermining. Fox slammed into the door, only to be caught by a hand that suddenly stretched out in the air around his neck, and his hand shook. Fox, who had never been treated so rudely, was about to explode with anger.

"Take it easy," Felix said with a smile, hugging Fox like a hen, and stroking its beautiful feathers with the other hand, "keep it down, you have to give her some escape. time, otherwise it won't go on..."

Fox raised his slender and graceful neck, his eyes full of anger.

Felix took out a silver pocket watch leisurely, flipped the front cover to check the time, "Huh?" Warren's voice came from inside. "It's not over yet, it's safest for you to stay inside," Felix comforted.

"Aw!!!"

"Uh, sorry, the little snake can't give it to you. There are potential risks in the nested use of the Traceless Stretching Spell, and you don't want it to explode suddenly..."

Felix closed the watch cover, carried Fox down the stairs of the principal's office, and looked into the distance through the window in the corridor on the eighth floor.

It was as bright as day outside, and brooms flew over the castle. He saw some familiar faces, and—as if competing with each other, Illumination **** flew out from various positions in the castle, and the soft white light was superimposed, turning Hogwarts into a world of light.

The corpse hiding behind the grass, behind the tree, and on the edge of the stone immediately jumped out from the hidden place like a headless fly, and instinctively fled into the distance, only to be ignited by the white flames sprinkled by the flying brooms whizzing through the air. .

Dozens or hundreds of illumination techniques converged, and even a small half of the forbidden forest was lit up.

Felix finally let go, Fox broke free from his arms, and angrily sprayed a few golden sparks at him, Felix waved at it, "Go, go, let Umbridge move, Don't be idle, Voldemort can't wait..."

Fox turned gracefully in mid-air, the two long feathers dragged behind him were thrown on Felix's arms, and flew towards the moving stairs of the main building without looking back.

...

Harry looked at the empty wall and breathed a sigh of relief. When he hit the back, he knew that the enemy was absolutely impossible to succeed, and their support was endless——

At first, there were only Hagrid and Graup. Then he came, knocked down several dark wizards in one go, and dispelled the dementors here; then they smoothly reunited with Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks, and later Ron rushed over with Neville, Fred and George. They obeyed Moody's instructions and formed a bull horn formation, letting little Glop hide behind and throw stones, and those werewolves, vampires, and dark wizards would never die if they hit one. Can't get up.

Sirius and Snape were also assigned by Professor McGonagall; Hagrid called in the centaurs, and when Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout also arrived, the situation was completely stabilized. The intruder had to retreat beyond the broken wall.

"Let's double-team!" shouted Moody, who rudely snatched the broomsticks from Ron, Fred, George, Neville - the twins scolded and reluctantly, but tonight he and Don Because he was guarding the school fence, he did not use the compound decoction, which caused the magic eye in his eye socket to rotate quickly, which was a deterrent.

Moody glanced at Harry and didn't ask him for the Firebolt, much to Harry's relief.

He divided the brooms among Sirius, Tonks, Snape, and kept the last one for himself. Moody stared at Harry and said irrefutably, "You stay here, don't interrupt! Listen to me—" He growled, "I heard you're a rare Seeker, then play your way. Function. I don't assign tasks to you."

Moody, Sirius, Tonks, and Snape flew out of the fence on their broomsticks, which undoubtedly caught the other side by surprise, and there was a sound of screams and bodies falling heavily to the ground. "It's time for us too, boys," Flitwick said sharply. "Please stand behind me."

He and Professor Sprout stood together, like a sharp arrow, walking towards the huge crack in the wall. There was plenty of light right now, and there was no danger of being attacked. The four students followed closely, followed by Centaurs, Hagrid, and Grapp.

Harry held the Firebolt blankly, then turned over and climbed onto the broom and flew into the air. Now he could see more clearly: the four Moody just flew to the opposite side with the help of the broom, and then got off the broom when they passed, Harry Suddenly I understood my position.

The sky is his home.

He swooped down, the Firebolt seemed to merge with him, Harry passed a Death Eater like a ghost, he could even see his reflection in the man's pupils, a red light flashed, and the dark wizard fell to the ground .

"Watch out! It's Harry Potter, he-he's flying!"

"Nice job, boy!" Moody exclaimed happily, taking advantage of the opportunity Harry created to knock down two dark wizards in an instant, and the others also had their own results.

Harry controlled the Firebolt with ease, covered with a humanoid iron armor spell, and he kept flying at low altitude and high speed. The harsh whistling sound from his body made the dark wizard tremble. After a few times, the remaining dark wizards couldn't stand it anymore.

They Apparated and fled one after another, and in a panic, more than one person had a very serious splitting phenomenon.

"A few escaped," Moody muttered.

Harry slowly fell down, and Sirius ran over excitedly slapped Harry on the shoulder hard, Harry sat on the ground with his buttocks on the ground, and was hurt by the stones, he couldn't help it. Grow his teeth at his godfather.

Sirius grinned and sat near him. "You're doing well, Harry."

"What about us?" Fred walked over with resentment. He was still brooding about the broom. George, Neville, and Ron were also sitting around. In just ten minutes, they were all exhausted. Watch together as Professors Flitwick and Sprout comment on the huge gap in the school's walls.

"It's a lot of work to fix..."

"It's better than nothing," said Professor Sprout. She sprinkled a few seeds in the gap, waved her wand, and sprouts emerged from the soil. They grew rapidly and quickly blocked the walls. Lived most of the fracture. "Wait a minute, Pomona—" Moody grumbled from the outside as he and Tonks dragged in the strapped Dark Wizard. "Okay."

Professor Sprout waved his wand, and the vines immediately filled the last gap.

"At least until dawn," she said.

Grapp was holding a stone the size of a human head, like a small pebble, and seemed to be aiming at the vine wall. Hagrid hurriedly stopped him. Six or seven centaurs watched the giant sitting on the ground vigilantly. But because they had been through a battle together, they were really embarrassed to point their bows and arrows at him right now.

"But it's over. I'm going to die." said Ron, who had just watched a great performance. He leaned on George, and George leaned back, so Ron lay on his lap, and George lowered. head, staring at his brother.

"Do you want me to fix your nose for you?"

"Cough cough!" Ron got up immediately and said solemnly, "I wonder what's going on in the castle now?"