Chapter 128: Vault of Ice II
From the speed of the arrows, he knew it would be very difficult to try to control them with his telekinesis ability. He would have to put a lot more energy into trying to slow them down and change their direction. So, he opted to move the shielded knight and use it as a shield.
While holding the shielded knight still, he cast a Protego and reflected the other knight's attack. Then he cast a Reducto and got rid of him.
What he didn't expect was that the bow knight had moved and shot more arrows at different angles.
'Shit!' thought James. He wouldn't have enough time to launch a Protego or Aeromanteo. With all his mental strength he moved the trajectory of the arrows which were two.
One scraped his shoulder and cut him. The other arrow passed inches from his cheek and made a small cut. Just below his eye. Besides, he already had the knight of the shield on him again.
The cold in the vault was too much. For every second that passed, he felt his limbs growing more numb, and it was harder to move, making his wand movements slower and clumsier.
'That damn archer!' cursed James as he threw a Protego to cover himself from several arrows and a sword from the other knight.
His Protego wasn't as strong as it had been at first. He could protect himself, but it no longer reflected the attacks. This caused the shielded knight's attack to continue with almost no time to waste.
James knew that, because of his numb limbs, plus fatigue and his injuries it was very difficult to use his wand to attack and defend.
'I hope this works...' thought James as he cast a powerful Fumos.
From his wand came a large amount of smoke that in a few breaths completely covered him and the shield knight. He didn't know how the sight of these knights worked. Maybe they had a sensor and didn't need to see, or they saw the person's magic or something. He didn't know.
Luckily, the smoke screen worked. He began to move stealthily and did not receive any arrows, nor any attack. Too bad he was blinded too, but he could catch his breath.
A loud noise of a weapon smashing the ground made James remember that Regulus was trying to survive a knight with a giant axe.
'Regulus!' thought James as he began to run through the smoke in the direction of the noise. Besides, the knight with the bow could target Regulus as he lost sight of his prey.
As he emerged from the smoke, he noticed the small figure of Regulus on the floor cornered against the wall. In front of him was the knight holding the axe high above about to strike and cut him in half.
He also noticed how Regulus had an ice arrow stuck in his left shoulder, his expression was pale and devoid of energy.
James watched in slow motion as the huge axe came down towards Regulus, who already had a reluctant expression accepting his fate. Or was it that his face was too numb to show fear or any other expression.
A spell would take too long to come and stop the knight's movement. Even if it was non-verbal.
'Double down!' thought James with all his might. He couldn't let his friend's younger brother die here.
An invisible force stopped the knight's movement. The axe came within an inch of Regulus. A second later, the knight was sent flying into the archer who was about to fire.
CRASH!
The two knights crashed into the icy wall, and the entire vault shook from the huge impact.
James knelt on the icy floor breathing heavily. His complexion was pale, guilt from the cold and all the fatigue he had from the battle.
Regulus had a shocked look on his face. He had already prepared for his death and watched as the knight was sent flying like a rocket into the wall.
'Was it him...? But how...?' Regulus thought, noticing James in the distance kneeling and breathing heavily.
Regulus struggled to his feet and grabbed his wand. Just then he saw a knight emerge from the smoke and start running at full speed towards James, who had his back to him.
"Watch out!" shouted Regulus with his remaining strength. He tried to cast a spell, but could not. His left arm was numb from the ice spell before he entered the vault. And his right shoulder was stuck with an ice arrow. Hopefully, he could move and grab his wand.
James turned as best he could and noticed a knight charging towards him with murderous intent.
'Come at me...' thought James, extending his hand. A sword came out of the cloud of smoke at a great speed and headed for the back of the knight's unprotected neck.
The blade of the sword pierced the knight's helmet and destroyed the symbol on the back of his neck. The knight fell close to James and began to melt until he dissolved completely.
'Only two more,' thought James, taking the sword that killed the knight and standing up. He began to walk slowly towards the other two knights.
He didn't have enough strength to lift the sword, so he dragged it through the snow. He felt his brain throbbing heavily and a growing headache.
Regulus watched with a shocked expression as James walked towards the two knights, who were slowly getting up. He could see that James was very fatigued, but, still, he walked towards those knights to continue the battle.
Perhaps he could understand why his brother was James' friend and talked about him so much.
James with his mind threw his sword at the axe knight, who managed to take cover but left an opening which was what James was looking for. A Reducto blew him to dust, and only one knight remained.
He watched as the knight drew his bow and launched a string of three ice arrows. He didn't have the speed to defend himself with a Protego, his whole body felt numb, and it would take too long. Minus an Aeromanteo.
His mental ability felt like it was at its limit. If he used one more time, he felt his brain would explode. There was only one option available. Counterattack with fire and let the more powerful attack win.
"INCENDIO!" shouted James with all his remaining strength.
From his wand, a great stream of fire was conjured that swallowed the ice arrows and melted them. The stream of fire did not stop. It continued its path toward the ice knight until it enveloped him completely and set him on fire.
The fire destroyed the symbol and made the knight melt until he disappeared from the face of the earth.
When the last knight was defeated a tremor was heard in the vault and the great door opened again. James had no time to rest. If he continued in this cold, he would freeze to death.
He walked to the center of the room and put the chest in his wallet. Luckily, the chest had no trap set on it.
Then he walked over to Regulus, who was half lying down and leaning against a wall. His condition seemed worse than his own.
"Come on," James said, extending his arm. Regulus accepted it and stood up with his help.
Leaning on James, they began to walk in silence to the exit of the vault. As far away from that deadly cold as possible. They walked down the corridor to the stairs where they stopped and sat down.
On the stairs the temperature was normal, it felt warm and comforting. James sat down on a step and then lay down.
'That was close...' thought James with his eyes closed, and trying to regain his energy.
He had gotten overconfident, as he didn't consider the knight guarding the entrance to the vault a big deal. His mistake was also letting Regulus in, though it wasn't all bad, as Regulus was able to get the attention for quite some time of a knight.
"How are you so strong...?" asked Regulus haltingly. Speaking hurt, but he couldn't get this question out of his head.
James was only a year ahead of him, and the difference was so great. He was lucky to survive one knight for a few minutes. Then he would be dead by now if it wasn't for James.
Instead, James faced four knights at once. Then he defeated them, saved him, and ended up defeating all five knights alone.
Regulus knew that this was not the norm for second-year students at Hogwarts. He now understood how James managed to humiliate Rabastan Lestrange. Lestrange couldn't defeat him. Not in a thousand duels could he do it.
Regulus even believed that even the older students would have a hard time in this situation. Since they would be surrounded in a room with no way out against five knights, who have superhuman speed and strength. With weapons capable of cutting spells.
Against the axe-wielding knight, he tried to cast Immobulus or another spell on him, but nothing was working, because with his huge axe, he was defending against the spells and couldn't find an opening.
"Don't talk. Recover energies," said James without opening his eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, James stood up and looked at Regulus. The most serious wound was the arrow still stuck in his shoulder. Thanks to the ice it wasn't bleeding.
"This will hurt," said James, approaching Regulus, who looked at him suspiciously, but before he could do anything, James grabbed the arrow and pulled it out quickly.
"You bastard!" cursed Regulus, feeling great pain and gritting his teeth.
James pulled out his wand and traced it over Regulus' deep wound. He muttered a charm that sounded almost like a song. The blood, which despite being somewhat congealed was still flowing, began to slow. James repeated his spell. Now the wound seemed to be knitting. He repeated the charm once more, and the arrow wound closed completely.
Regulus watched in surprise as his deep arrow wound had disappeared. It stopped bleeding, healed, and closed completely.
Then James cast an Episkey charm on him. A spell to heal lighter wounds. Like cuts or bruises. Regulus had a few. Within minutes, he was as good as new and uninjured. The only thing was that he was still fatigued and very cold.
"Y-you know healing magic? And so advanced?" asked Regulus in disbelief.
Stopping the bleeding from such a deep wound, and then closing and healing it couldn't be accomplished with basic healing magic. It had to be someone with experience and a lot of practice.
"Yes," said James without explanation. Unfortunately, he couldn't heal himself, as he couldn't point his wand at his face or shoulder efficiently.
His mother was an expert healer and from an early age taught him her craft and healing charms. Only, until now, he had not needed to use it on a patient. Regulus was her first patient.
Since Hogwarts did not teach this subject, no one knew that James had advanced healing skills.
With the cuts he had on him, there was no way to heal them, but a healing charm was cast. This healing spell reversed minor ailments, such as the paralysis caused by being in cold temperatures for so long.
"What time is it?" asked James.
"Six thirty-five," replied Regulus in low spirits. He was knackered and had less than an hour to sleep.
"Go back to your common room and get some rest. Tomorrow, I'll send you a letter to meet you in a classroom and open the chest with the treasures," said James, standing up.
"Fine. Where are you going?" asked Regulus as he noticed James starting up the stairs again.
"I'll try to close the vault door. So Professor Eustace won't see anything weird," said James as he started to climb.
"Thanks for saving me," Regulus said and started quickly down the stairs. He didn't like being in debt against other people, but he wasn't ungrateful. If it wasn't for James, today would have been the end of him. Even though he was a blood traitor he earned his respect.
As for James having the chest with the treasures he didn't find it a problem. If James had wanted to he could have wiped his memory and kept all the treasures for himself. He didn't seem to be the greedy type.
James returned to the icy corridor and noticed the vault door wide open. He couldn't believe how there was such a room at Hogwarts. Wasn't it supposed to be a safe school for students?
This vault was deadly. Most students would have died, and more if they entered. Only the older sixth or seventh graders might have a chance of survival.
'Is it getting colder or is it my imagination?' thought James, rubbing his hands together. He quickly walked to the entrance and tried to close the large door. It was all to no avail. It wouldn't move it was as hard as stone, even though it was made of stone.
He shook his head and started to walk back towards the Gryffindor common room. He was exhausted. Besides, he couldn't skip classes for many reasons. So he wouldn't get detention, and points deducted was one reason.
The other was that Professor Eustace might not suspect him. Although this possibility was low, if he found out that he was in the infirmary or that he mysteriously missed class just as the vault was found he might become suspicious if he was very clever.
Before returning to the common room. He sneaked into the infirmary and bandaged himself. He couldn't arrive in this condition to class tomorrow with so many cuts and blood.
Ten minutes before seven in the morning he arrived and threw himself on his bed, 'Forty minutes to sleep...' thought James regretfully.
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