Kapitel 36: 36. HP Chapter 7
Mike's POV
As I entered the Great Hall the next morning, I realised that it was alive with loud and excited raucous talking among the students. Not that it wasn't alive before, but the atmosphere held this sense of excitement that it couldn't be doused down.
Today was the Quidditch match between Hufflepuffs and Gryffindor.
It seemed that last night's event has conveniently made me forgot about it.
"Professor Evans!"
I searched around for the source until I spotted Harry, Hermione and Ron walking towards me.
"Which house are you going to cheer for?" Ron asked excitedly.
"I'm impartial to these things. I will cheer for both houses."
"No. Seriously, who do you think will win?"
I gave a mysterious smile.
"I don't know."
"But you seemed like you know something!" Ron pressed on.
"Not really. Now, if you will excuse me, I haven't had my breakfast."
I left them standing there while I increased my walking speed to the teachers' table. The Quidditch match could wait, food was more important at the current moment.
"Micheal, I thought yer were gonna miss yer breakfast!" Hagrid clapped my back which almost made me choked on my drink.
"Hagrid, you're going to make him choke with that slap." Professor Mcgonagall chided while eating.
I coughed slightly, "no, it's quite alright, Minerva."
"Let's hope the match goes well. With Black on the loose and the dementors around the school, let's hope this match takes our mind off of these things." One of the teachers muttered.
Hearing that, I resisted a grim smile because this match would be quite eventful.
~~~~~
"Professor?"
The student beside me knitted his brows at my sudden movement. I stood up from my seat so quickly in the middle of the match that I startled some of them. Rain has poured so much that it had made visibility so difficult but it had not dampened the atmosphere of the match. So much so that some students were cursing under their breath because I was blocking them from spectating the match.
"It's alright. I'm just going around for a while."
I flashed a polite smile before leaving quickly, my wand was already out of my pocket.
There was a growing sense of unease within me. I noticed how the crowd drastically changed their demeanour towards the ongoing game. They were a lot more rash and aggressive and the players from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were getting more and more agitated. Dementors don't cause negativity within the crowd, meaning...
Shadows. And a large population of them hiding in the woods.
I made sure that I was well out of the stands and that there was no one around.
Or so I thought, until I saw a big black dog sitting on the ground. It was watching the match with such intensity yet its ears perked at the sound of wood creaking from the stairs of the stands. Immediately, he turned around, spotting me standing there at the stairs like some drenched rat about to commit some shady business.
"You can't be Sirius. Nope, you're just a big black dog that just came out of nowhere."
I muttered as I fast walked towards the forest. It barked and appeared in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
"No, I'm not answering your questions." I replied adamantly. "What in the Merlin's beard are you doing here? Get out before the dementors caught your scent and come here."
Sirius Black, as an Animagus Scottish Deerhound, planted his big furry butt on the ground. His glowing yellow eyes glared at me.
Of course, he would be mad.
He was included in my last mission; I was tasked to warn him about Peter Pettigrew defecting to Voldemort's side but by then it was too late. Peter was already the Keeper and betrayed the Potters overnight. Sirius went to confront him but ended up being the scapegoat.
"Move before... "
A shot of acid came straight towards me.
Without a second thought, I grabbed Sirius the dog and fell forward to the ground. We rolled over before getting up quickly. I glanced at the area where I just stood before and grimaced at how there was a tiny acid crater.
The saliva of a Shadow is, as expected, destructive.
Immediately, I set a barrier around the stands so that they would not be affected by my battle.
"Arty, morph."
Artemis, my contracted weapon transformed from a wand in my hand to my bow.
Electric blue and purple lines filled the ridges of the carvings around the bow. It was lacquered brown in colour that gleamed despite the heavy downpour. The wood was made from an unknown tree that was believed to belong to the higher beings, hence its unique properties to endure any extreme situations. Like all imitations weapons of higher beings, this bow was labelled as 'Artemis', one of the Greek Goddesses.
"Padfoot, you better not turn yourself back into a wizard. And I warned you about getting involved with me. Hide over there, you can't help me with this."
He rolled his eyes at me and hid within the shadows of the stands. Gritting my teeth in frustration at his attitude, I pulled my bow.
"Special elemental magic: Zeus' Lightning Bolts."
Mana condensed into 3 large arrows that were charged with lightning energy that sparked ferociously. I also set a tracking spell on them. Then, I took a deep breath and pulled the string at the same time.
My fingers let go of the string.
The arrows weaved around the trees before meeting their target. There was a soft explosion of light, extending their reach to more of the Shadows apart from the main 3 that I had latched the arrows onto. There were enraged roars of pain before the swarm came out of their hiding place and closed in on me.
Without a break, I immediately released more arrows on them.
"Dice!" He appeared immediately at my side. "Release 'Flash'."
"At your command, sir."
Switching into battle mode, my robot threw itself into the fray. The runes on its body began to light up and set a flash of colourful light that spanned for about 10 meters. This immediately incinerated about half the army.
"This certainly is a troublesome robot you have here."
I narrowed my eyes and pointed my arrow at the person in front of me.
She was dressed in a maroon long skin-tight dress that extended to the ground with laces for the long sleeves and her neck. Her luscious red lips stretched into a charming smile with her canines so unbelievably sharp, you would have wonder how she hadn't shredded her lips with them. In between her long, slender white fingers was my robot struggling to escape from her clutches. Those crimson eyes that gave a cursory glance over me. My body instinctively shivered under her hungry gaze.
It was the look of a seasoned predator.
And I was her prey.
With my blood boiling at the mere thought, I released the arrow. She let Dice go and disappeared. Suddenly, my dark magic detected her presence behind me. Without a thought, I hit her with Arty. She grabbed it with one of her hands but immediately let go when she felt the burn. I took a few steps back to keep a safe distance from her.
"Your bow still doesn't like me." She chuckled.
Her right hand moved to cover her coy smile. Her devious maroon coloured eyes mirroring her mirth.
"Of course. Artemis detest women like you, Countess."
Her round crimson eyes sparkled with delight.
"So you remember who I am, Micheal. It seemed Kagura's death didn't affect you very much. How heartless." She cooed with a mocking expression.
I snapped and released more arrows. She yawned as she dodged them effortlessly.
"Blast shot."
She raised her hands immediately to shield her eyes from the flare of my light arrow. When it died down, she did not expect a tackle from me. I pushed my bow at her neck, burning her skin. Yet she did not even flinch at the pain.
"YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO SPEAK OF HER." I roared, the hand holding onto the bow was shaking.
Lightning flashed behind as my emotions got riled up. Yet, despite the position she was in, she flashed a mocking smile. She reached up in spite of the strength I placed on the bow against her neck and whispered, "you are still... powerless against me."
Suddenly, I coughed out blood, painting her pale white face with splotches of red dots.
Her lengthened nails had pierced through my abdomen.
How could I forget about her ability as a vampire?
Her tongue flicked out to lick the blood on her lips before pulling out her hand from my stomach and kicking me away. I fell back coughing out more blood as they poured out like a river from my stomach to the ground. It mixed with the gathering puddles of water from the downpour, turning to faintly reddish colour that sparkled a little despite the lack of light.
My bow was left forgotten on the ground as both my hands were preoccupied with staunching the 5 little red streams from my stomach. I was breathing heavily as an effort to keep myself awake.
Now that I was clearheaded, I had found myself in a troublesome situation.
Countess rose from the ground, patting down her soaked dress then rubbing the injured area on her neck. There was a glint in her crazed eyes before she pointed at me.
"Get this boy for me, my lovelies."
For a moment, I thought she was commanding the Shadows but when they didn't move and there was the flapping of leathery wings. I realised who or rather what she had ordered.
Bats.
There was a sudden bark.
Sirius shot out from the shadows and bit Countess on her hand. She shrieked in surprise. Using this small opening, he bounded towards me and grabbed my collar to drag me away. Before we left, I picked up my bow. Realising that we had escaped from her grasp, Countess gave a frustrated screech into the crying sky.
I shivered intensely from the rain and loss of blood before I felt a harsh chill. Attracted by the hype of activity, several black cloaked figures swooped down to the spectator stands and the field, earning frightened shrieks from the students.
Dementors.
It seemed they had caught wind of Sirius Black. Our fight and Countess's screams had attracted them over. I struggled to get free from Sirius's grasp and muttered weakly, "get away… the… dementors."
Instead of leaving me to flee, he shook his head and bit harder into my collar, running further away from the Quidditch stands. The looming castle came into view while we were chased by some of the dementors.
Unable to keep awake, I blacked out.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein