章 49: The cat and the Mouse
--Pov Extimum--.
**AHHH Teenage War Cries**
**Boom** **Pam**
-Screams, flashes and small explosions occurred throughout the corridor of the sixth floor.-
**Swoosh**
Damn, damn, I can't find a way out and mindless running just isn't working.
Also… the behavior of the other students is just not normal, I could have understood if I was chased by a few hot-blooded youths at first, but now…
Looking back.
"Stop right there monster, don't run away!"
"Expulso" **Boom**
Stop your grandfather! Why would someone stop just because they are told to?
The way they act is no longer something as simple as the spur of the moment, instead they seem to have gone crazy and worst of all... no one seems to notice the abnormality.
Do they really think that just because they're wearing my glasses then the basilisk can't just swallow them whole in one go? Or send them flying against a wall with a swipe of their tail? Even if Gryffindors can be that impulsive, I don't think any of the Ravenclaws haven't considered the risk.
"There you are!". Going through an intersection, a group of three students jumped in front of me trying to do a "sneak attack".
But I just jumped over them and kept running.
They were not the first to try to do so, nor were they the most discreet.
Most of the paths are blocked by obstacles or barriers and the crowd behind seems inexhaustible, plus my size isn't exactly inconspicuous, the situation is only getting more dangerous the more time passes. Being a castle prepared to resist an invasion was no joke.
To make matters worse, my magic seems out of control, which has prevented me from getting out of here sooner with a simple 'apparition'. At first I didn't notice as I was busy running away and dodging spells, but after a while I started to notice where the abnormality or rather abnormalities came from.
The first one was easy to find. *Ugh*
**BOoom**
*gasp* I-I should have known that you can't just screw up and hope no one sees you. But it's a little late to notice, right? *Boom Boom Boom* Damn hyperactive students! Don't they get tired? Where the hell was all that power and energy in dueling classes?
**BOOooom**
The basilisk not only contaminated me with poison, there was something else…a potion perhaps? Most likely, I'm not thinking of much at the moment anyway, that's probably the cause of all this fog of terror and the stupid state of the students behind me.
**Psttss** **sound of lightning** **Rumble**
As for the second thing, although I can't say exactly what it is, but it feels like I'm constantly being shaken by some invisible force or to be more exact, my part nine-tailed fox, which to begin with is the only one I can use right now.
*!!!* **Swoosh*
-In the middle of all the exhaust, a dazzling and boiling ray of light flew by just inches from Extimum's eyes-
**BOOOM**
A cold drop slid down my forehead, while the sound of a loud explosion reverberated from my back, though it quickly flew away with the strong current of air and dust that flowed from the blast site, ruffling all my fur.
**Crack Crack**
Small and medium sized chunks of stone began to crumble from the wall to my left, revealing a large smoking hole.
The huge explosion created a brief pause, as the students stopped a few meters from my position and switched their gazes between the large hole, me, and the direction from which such a destructive spell had come.
I took advantage of the brief moment to rest, running was not a problem, but running while analyzing my situation, looking for an escape route and worrying about not being intercepted by any of the hundreds of spells flying in my direction was a completely different matter.
My thoughts calmed down a bit, as I moved my gaze for a moment to the place where that spell had come from and I saw how among the dust and debris that flew, a figure began to approach, but I quickly averted my gaze as I analyzed my surroundings. The previous spell was not something a student could do at all.
However, the more I looked the more my brows furrowed, there were no more intersections to run through. Behind me, a horde of students; to my left, a large hole leading to the outside of the castle, not yet large enough to pass through; In front of me, a blocked corridor and a little further to my right, four adult figures with their wands drawn and ready to attack as soon as I made the slightest movement.
With all that, my gaze couldn't help but fall back on one of the four figures to my right. I can clearly recognize Professor McGonagall, Professor Sinistra and Professor Flitwick, however I have no idea who the fourth person was.
Under the cover of dust, her figure became visible, with a wooden staff in one of her hands, wearing a tight-fitting dress that showed a lot of skin, a little too daring? although it was not bad at all... but I prefer something more conservative. Her face was not visible as it was covered by a cloth mask attached to her caped hood.
Her figure, especially her face area, emanated a certain mist around her with every breath.
Is that some kind of Darth Vader-esque entrance? Though woman? Though again, who was he? I shook my head, I had no time for irrelevant thoughts.
Despite being someone unknown, she had the lead in the group of three masters.
???: "Wow? Do it dodge it? Now, that's interesting. I guess I should give you some points for that"
A strange and mysterious feeling ran through my skin, before turning into an icy and disturbing chill, making all the hairs on my body stand on end just by hearing her voice.
-The woman's voice was sweet, like an angel's song, nuanced with touches of surprise and playfulness, however, when the voice finished settling in each of the listeners, icy and shuddering chills ran through their bodies, as if they would have heard something horrible and terrifying.
It was a feeling difficult to describe, as if they had heard something they shouldn't hear, a taboo, a heresy, an affront against nature itself.
All of the students who had stopped felt as if needles were pricking their skin and couldn't help but take two steps back, erasing every thought and intent towards the mist creature they had been chasing. -
What a dangerous woman.
Just a few words, but it can already generate such a feeling.
Mcgonagall: "Miss Shadowless, I'll ask you to please be careful with the spells you use. Although destroying school property is still acceptable to deal with the current threat, but your sudden attack may have hurt the students."
What did she say?! Shadowless?
Christelle: "Hehehe, don't worry, Headmistress. My Shadowless family will pay for all the damages and as for the students, rest assured, I have a sense of myself."
Shadowless really said…
Christelle: "Although…" Placing a finger on her face in what seemed like a cute attitude, except for the featureless mask that covered her face—"A basilisk…? Are they sure? Is this the same creature that has been causing trouble?"
-Her words made more than one frown.
Especially Mcgonagall and Flitwick who had managed to keep up with her and get here.
In fact, the purple cloud in front of them did not resemble a basilisk at all. Even if they couldn't see its shape, but on second thought…
A basilisk would not have taken things so calmly if it was chased by so many students, at least some would have ended up eaten and seriously injured or even killed, but they had already been chasing it for a long time and at most there were some incapacitated.
As if that weren't enough, in this short time it still hadn't moved to attack them even after being chased and almost fatally wounded by Christelle.
All these points made it very suspicious, considering the hot-tempered behavior of basilisks, but then why did everyone think it was the basilisk?-
I don't know her, but she seems more insightful than everyone else, on the other hand, I haven't allowed any teacher to get close enough to me so far, it would just be too dangerous.
My eyes quickly wandered around the surroundings.
There's no easy way out of here, but there's definitely a weaker link.
My gaze slid stealthily to the horde of students a few meters behind me.
I hadn't been willing to attack them before, that would escalate the situation very quickly, plus I might unknowingly hurt someone I know, however, looking at my current situation…
I couldn't care less, I had already given them enough indulgence.
But… my eyes returned to the mysterious woman who apparently shares my last name in front of me, I can sense a great threat from her and I don't think she would let me leave so easily.
Christelle: "Well, it doesn't matter anyway even if it's not a basilisk. You showed up at a very bad time and you're clearly an unknown and dangerous creature, so…"
There was a faint glow from the staff in the woman's hand.
Christelle: "Tristis tie!"
That spell!
Without thinking twice, I kicked the floor hard and propelled myself almost to the ceiling and without pausing I kicked into the air again as I changed my direction and propelled myself forward towards the students.
Right after I was thrown into the air, the shadow my body cast on the ground moved strangely and turned into a dark tentacle that it tried to grab right where it had been before.
The students were frozen due to the sudden turn of events, but some were still able to react in time to at least try to break through the students to avoid being crushed.
However, I jumped into the air again just before landing on them and ran over them, pushing some of them to the ground hard, due to the heavy pressure of my kick.
After landing on the other side, I quickly ran down the hall; It had been lucky that Hogwarts didn't actually have that many students, or it would have been much more difficult.
Christelle: "Oh my, where do you think you're going little cloud?"
*!!*
My eyes widened when I felt a whisper near my ear.
Without thinking twice, I kicked the floor with all my strength and propelled myself diagonally away from the female figure that had appeared at some point next to me.
**Crack Crack**
Christelle: "Hehehehe, oh come on, don't be shy, I'm really intrigued by what's hiding under all that purple mist, plus…you smell strangely like poison and…dark magic."
Every hair on my body stood up painfully on my skin at the sound of her voice as I tried my best to run faster.
Christelle: "That's it, run, run…"
I quickly ran down the path I had come from before and took advantage of the moment when I reached an intersection of several paths, it was one of the few I'd found that didn't have all the corridors blocked and without stopping I ran down one of the paths I hadn't taken before.
Turning around, however, I noticed that the woman had no problem keeping up with me and there wasn't much distance between us. Frowning, I looked around, before my gaze fell on the torch holder and an idea struck my mind.
I had tried this before, so I knew it was doable.
I increased the speed of my run and just as I had entered one of the corridors, I extended one of my tails and grabbed the support tightly before sporadically pulling my body straight to the other side.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see, as the woman couldn't follow my arbitrary change of direction and almost ran into the wall trying to follow my turn, we hadn't exactly been moving at a slow speed.
My mouth twitched slightly, seeing her figure trip over herself as I ran in the opposite direction.
That will at least get me a few seconds away.
I hadn't gone too far, however, when I felt a warm tickle in my ear.
Christelle:"How interesting, you can also take out limbs, Hmm, are you maybe some kind of octopus or squid? Or maybe a plant type creature? They're not usually that fast though…"
My eyes widened in surprise and I kicked again to get away from my previous position, while turning my gaze to the side.
And there she was, just a few feet from me.
How? How did she catch up so fast? I should have gotten at least some distance with that last move.
I blinked rapidly as some dust brushed my eyes, only to find it mere inches from me!
Christelle: "Surprised? Hehehehe."
Impossible! How could she get to my side so fast and without me being able to feel her presence?
Unless…
I shook my head and kept running, squeezing out every trace of strength in my body.
Soon enough I came to another similar crossroads and repeated the same trick, only this time I mobilized my stagnant magic in an attempt to create an illusion, which failed miserably, but managed to create enough visual distortion in the air to better conceal my escape.
I want to see how she manages to reach me again, does she have teleportation magic?
I had barely run to the other corridor when I felt her breath near my neck again, accompanied by her disturbing voice, causing chills on my skin.
Christelle: "Nice try, but that won't work, Bombar-Gukk-da!"
**Swoosh****Pam***Boom**
Before she finished her spell, I spun in the air twisting my body and kicked her right in the stomach, sending her flying against the hallway wall. At the same time, the spell she prepared was completed, but it deviated from its path and hit the wall next to me.
**gasp**gasp* It's…it's really tiring to do magic in this state *gasp* and running with every drop of energy doesn't help…
But I can't stop here, no matter if my blow was of any use or not, I still have to escape.
With renewed hopes, I continued my run without looking back and soon, I reached the area of the stairs and without even bothering to wait for them to reach a crossing position, I launched myself into the void.
There were some stairs that crossed from one end to the other and some others that were in full motion over my landing area, but I managed to get out of the way by kicking a few times in the air. I tried to kick as few as possible in the air, given the great effort they demanded of my body, while gravity took me in a rapid fall towards the lower floors.
**Swoosh**
5 floor
.
.
4 floor
.
.
3 floor
.
.
2 floor
.
I can already see the start of the stairs to the first floor. Once I arrive, I can take one of the secret passageways I know of and leave the castle without attracting further attention.
Christelle: "Expulso!"
**Swoosh** *Slam* *Boom**
Christelle "Where do you think you're going in such a hurry?"
*Ughhh* My back…
Christelle: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you shouldn't have thrown yourself like that, don't you know the stairs are for something? It's not like I'd expect a mere beast to understand something like that though."
"Grrr"
I leaned weakly against the cold stone wall of the castle while grunting in pain. That had been an unexpected blow and had broken a bone or two.
*heavy breathing*
**Haaaa**
I let out a long breath of air. No matter how much I run and get away, she somehow manages to quickly appear close, very close to me. How is this even running away? Isn't it just a game of cat and mouse?
It's almost like... if I'm stuck to my shadow...
That is!
Although knowing now doesn't change much if I can't stop her.
At least it's both lucky and strange that the other teachers haven't tried to follow me or stop me.
I haven't even seen or heard another student or teacher along the way, which only served to highlight the strangeness of the situation.
Holding back another grunt and before the masked woman got too close, I scrambled up off the floor. I was tired, tired of running and jumping around and while I didn't have any major injuries, there were no shortage of scrapes and lacerations on my body.
However, this time I didn't run, it didn't make much sense at this point, not when I knew that no matter how far I went she could blink from behind me and deliver the final blow. If there was any chance of survival, it was by facing her head-on despite how unfavorable that option seemed or perhaps, now that we were alone, I could try talking to her.
Christelle: "Wow? Did you get tired of running so fast? That's not fun, I thought we'd have some more fun… Hmm? Nothing? Maybe it's finally time for a desperate fight?" Thinking of the last possibility, the woman jumped on her spot excited.
Tch, crazy bitch.
Come on, my magic, I only need you to work once, even a little, and I'll appear so high in the sky, this woman will have no choice but to forget about me!
Christelle: "Hmm? Trying to use your magic? Kukuku, you can try all you want, but it won't work. Ha! See this beautiful staff of mine here? It's specially made to deal with beings like you, once I get it I use, it causes all magical creatures in the surrounding area to go into chaos, unable to control themselves.
Something very useful when dealing with elusive or sneaky creatures.
In fact, you're already quite outstanding from your monstrous physical ability alone, plus you seem strangely calm…a fine specimen indeed, jujujuju, although it's disappointing, as this usually doesn't have much of an effect on mythical creatures, so perhaps, You're not that special..."
Although I haven't exactly felt in chaos? Given past events, I would realize if it was, maybe my magic is blocking it and that's why I can't use it properly?, but what about this weird clichéd villain trope where she explains to me how her abilities work? …Although it's not like she knows that I can fully understand her.
Christelle: "Well, that's fun enough I guess, I still have a big snake to catch, so make haste to put up your desperate fight or die like the good beast that you are." As the woman spoke her words, the tip of the staff she was holding began to dimly light up.
Will this be my end?
Even so, I don't feel particularly disturbed or averse to the idea, in fact, I feel unusually calm and indifferent about it. No doubt there are still things I'd like to do, but they don't faze me too much.
Although it is somewhat bizarre that it is a member of my family who is going to be the cause of my death... or not...?
But although I'm not averse to leaving for the other side, that doesn't mean I'm willing, this life of mine hasn't gone too far yet, besides… How could I rest in peace knowing that… That damn basilisk! It's all over there.
How could I reconcile myself and appease this boiling anger in my stomach, when it was all its and Voldemort's fault.
On second thought, perhaps this situation was partly orchestrated by him, the mere appearance of the basilisk near me was suspicious. I'm always pretty careful when I'm alone, and even if I'm not as strong as the basilisk, it would be hard not to have sensed it approaching, not when you're that big.
He must have tried to eliminate me when he found out that I was doing something capable of avoiding his pet's deadly gaze, plus other irrelevant trifles that could only get into the gaze of small-minded people like him.
At least I know that the part of his soul that I plan against me will die soon, since Harry and Ron…oh, that's right, also Hermione, should have already confronted Lockhart.
They should already be in the chamber of secrets...
Christelle: "Hmm? The cloud lift?"
I wish I could have seen what it actually looks like, I've only seen its entrance in the baths-
**Pop Jumble**
--End Pov--.
.-.
Second floor, Bathrooms.
**Boom**
A loud crash was heard throughout the bathroom, when there was a slight flash and suddenly, a large figure partially shrouded in purple mist landed heavily in the bathroom destroying some wooden cubicles, at the same time, another much smaller figure was shot the other way and collided with one of the cubicles.
Christelle: "Ugh, damn creature, so you could teleport too? But... how?, your magic should be sealed." The woman let out a weak moan as she got up a little unsteadily from the floor and tried to recover from the hard and unexpected blow.
The large figure covered in purple mist remained in the same silence. From the first moment he transformed, he had tried to utter the slightest noise or word that would make people associate its image with something, even the supposed hissing sound was nothing more than hallucinations created by the mist that surrounded his body.
Extimum was also quite surprised by his sudden appearance, but thanks to his size and strong build he was not hurt at all by his abrupt appearance.
In a quick glance, he noticed that faint greenish trail around him quickly dissipated, as he felt himself being in control of his human magic again, however, his heavenly fox magic was still not listening to him.
On the other hand, the purple mist that surrounded him was beginning to disperse and his figure was beginning to be faintly visible.
Extimum: 'Was that perhaps a controlled hex?'
Christelle: "Heh, looks like I'll have to get serious or a lowly creature like you will start getting too trusting."
"Shadow Banishment!"
A dark glow immediately expanded from the tip of his staff to attempt to cover the entire room.
Extimum: 'Not good.'
Extimum no longer hesitated and put aside all the thoughts in his head and jumped into the big dark hole in the middle of the bathroom, quickly disappearing from sight.
Narrowly avoiding the growing darkness enveloping him.
Christelle: "*UGhh* He got away and By Erebus where did a hole come from in the middle of the bathroom?"
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Zeroz7
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