บท 577: Chapter 577 The Battle is Endless (2 in 1)
Chesterton Avery panted, oblivious to the sounds of the castle and beyond, the world in his eyes only a tiny bit bigger. He is hiding in the Broom cupboard under the spiral staircase on the ground floor, peering through the keyhole at the commotion outside.
This is where Filch stores buckets, mops, brooms, and various cleaning tools, but Filch hadn't visited this place for some time. Avery took an instant liking to this place, this Broom cupboard had many advantages: it is concealed enough to be inconspicuous; it is also close to the entrance hall - meaning it is easy to escape, and he also can watch through the keyhole for people coming down from other floors.
Avery considered himself far superior to Umbridge because he is a pure-blooded 'Avery', whereas Umbridge is only a 'relative' of the Selwyn family, something his cousin told him as a joke.
For example, this time, the Dark Lord had granted him a 'weapon' out of respect for the Avery family, and as a result, his task would become much easier.
He heard a high-pitched, resounding chirp, followed by Umbridge's scream which echoed through the empty corridor as she shouted, "Avery! I've got it! Quick, come out and save me!"
Avery wished he could kill her. This woman is beyond stupid ...
He quickly dashed to the brooms that are stacked against the wall and picked two out of them - it is flying brooms that he had hidden, and then - he pulled open the door in a fury and ran in the direction of the sound, and was immediately taken aback: a beautiful phoenix is hot on the trail behind Umbridge, and it opened its mouth to spit out a ball of flame.
"Impedimenta!"
Avery shouted as he brought his wand over Umbridge's shoulder. A red light struck Fawkes, but it bounced off. Although it didn't work, Fawkes used that chance to slow down and raised his wings, hovering in midair.
Umbridge rushed forward on short legs, as she had started to revert back to her original appearance, the Polyjuice Potion expiring, meaning that her plan to use Mafalda as a scapegoat had completely failed.
"You got it?" Everly asked eagerly.
"Got it."
"Both of them were in the headmaster's office?"
"Both of them! I didn't think Snape would be a-" Umbridge said as she ran, her voice hoarse as she ran past Avery without making any stops, other than snatching a flying broom from his arms in passing. She then promptly ditched him behind to stall for time.
Avery's nose nearly popped out in anger, and he casted a few more hexes at Fawkes before turning and running. As he caught up with Umbridge, he growled in a low voice, "Give me that item, you've been exposed!"
"No!" Umbridge shouted. They ran to the entrance hall, where a number of people had gathered - students who had returned to the castle to rest after cleaning up the Inferius, little wizards who had sneaked out to see the fun, and a few Ministry of Magic employees - are standing in front of the Oakwood door.
"That was impressive." Wilkie Twycross said, peering off into the distance. At that moment he heard hurried footsteps and looked back to see Avery and Umbridge running hard towards them, followed by a very beautiful bird.
"Where have you been?" He immediately stepped forward in anger, his long pent-up dissatisfaction suddenly erupted, "You two lazy cowards, the reputation of the Ministry of Magic was lost because of your-"
"Piss off!"
Avery waved his wand and a spell struck Twycross square in the chest, and he leaned against the wall, passing out without a word.
A chorus of cries rang out in the entrance hall, some shouted rebukes, others had blank expressions, clearly confused as to what had happened. But a few of the more responsive ones - both from the Ministry of Magic and the students who had been in the battle earlier and now resting - raised their wands alertly.
Avery thought to himself, this is the time!
He pulled out a small wooden box from his chest position and tossed it high into the air with all his might. The box paused slightly as the crowd watched, then the lid popped open and a man in a long black robe abruptly appeared.
He appeared tall and thin, without a single hair on his body, and his extremely oppressive red eyes slowly swept over the crowd, who were all stunned, and backed away restlessly, shoving and screaming, without even a little courage to meet his gaze.
Although it was quite unbelievable, that is Voldemort.
Taking advantage of this, Umbridge and Avery slipped out of the entrance hall, relaxed as if they were strolling down the street.
'Voldemort' let out a high-pitched, cold laugh as he raised his wand, and its tip build up a green glow.
"Don't be afraid, it's just a Boggart that shape-shifted!" Frank Longbottom and Alice Longbottom suddenly showed up and shouted, they were waiting for this moment, Frank raised his wand and shouted, "Riddikulus!"
'Voldemort' just gave a lazy wave of his hand and the spell failed to do anything whatsoever.
Frank had a shocked look on his face when 'Voldemort' extended his wand and pointed it at him, a great sense of oppression made it hard for him to distinguish reality, when a whispering voice sounded in his ears, "Voldemort transformed this boggart, fixing its state into his own image, a few spices may have been added, but it is still essentially a Boggart, with few add-ons ..."
Green light struck. The House Point Hourglass in the corner which contained the red gems suddenly leaped up and placed itself in front of Frank Longbottom, the green light hit it and smashed the Hourglass into pieces, scattering the rubies all over the floor. Alice Longbottom's face tightened as she held up her wand.
Frank Longbottom quickly rejoined Alice and described the situation, and vaguely hinted that Felix had no intention of showing up.
"We can deal with it." He said as the students ran off into the great hall in a rush, with a few daring ones looking back as they ran.
Felix watched for a moment, and after making sure that the Longbottoms are perfectly capable of dealing with this mutant boggart, he hurried off towards the far end. He is trying to keep his moves to a minimum, so far he didn't show up openly at the school, and Remus is also cooperating with him from the other side, blurring his time trajectory so that he can 'just appear' at the right moment.
Umbridge and Avery mounted their flying brooms, unable to believe their good fortune that they had actually escaped. The two brooms swept quickly over the stone steps and headed out of the school. The professors and students halfway up the hill who are still cleaning up the Inferius spotted them, but they didn't bother to obstruct them, at best they secretly despised them in their hearts. They still thought these two are cowards and deserters.
"Give me the items, Umbridge, I'm the one in charge of the operation." Avery leaned over his broom, shouting as he flew.
"Dream on!" Umbridge said, pivoting her broom handle to get away from him, but Avery kept leaning over and speeding up. Umbridge's eyes fluttered desperately, she had already decided that once she left the school grounds, she would immediately Apparate and hand over the items to the Dark Lord personally.
There is no way out; Mafalda has been rescued by who knows who, and with that damned phoenix chasing her too closely, she has been completely exposed.
The You-Know-Who's promise to help her clear out the Ministry's stumbling blocks and help her ascend to the position of Minister of Magic had naturally gone down the drain, and right now she had no choice other than fall in line with the You-Know-Who. But how to defect is something that needs to be considered hard, if she could personally offer him what he craves most, she would undoubtedly springboard a few steps and become an important figure in the Death Eaters hierarchy.
Which made Avery an obstacle ...
Rumble! There was a loud bang in the distance, the ground shook and Harry's body slumped, nearly lunging into Sirius. Despite being a little fuzzy, he realized what had happened, there was just too much noise -
A mountain had collapsed.
Harry's eyes widened, as stunned as everyone else, and then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Umbridge and Avery riding their broomsticks in the sky.
Without thinking, he grabbed the Firebolt on the ground and rushed out.
"Harry?"
Felix, who had been following without slowing down, looked in the direction of Hogsmeade village and mentally smiled, the fight had gotten really intense, Voldemort hadn't been killed by Dumbledore, had he, what had he done?
No one could consider all the details and mishaps that could happen in the plan.
Dumbledore couldn't, and neither could Felix. After much deliberation, he and Dumbledore finally came to the conclusion that Voldemort's purpose is clear: the Horcruxes, everything else is just a blindfold, and that's why the school is the top priority.
At least one of the two of them had to keep an eye on the school the whole time and be ready to back up.
But that choice was not for the two of them to decide, but rather to see which side Voldemort appeared on, so when Felix realized that it was only some cannon fodder that was besieging the sword castle, he knew that Dumbledore would not be returning any time soon.
Voldemort chose to stall Dumbledore, and in fact, Dumbledore also wanted to stall Voldemort so that Felix could be free to steer things the way they wanted it to be.
Cutting Voldemort's wings is just a matter of convenience; the hardest thing to do is convince Voldemort that his two Horcruxes are still intact in Dumbledore's hands. And Dumbledore is dying in his eyes ...
Once Voldemort accepted this 'setup', with the Horcruxes jigging ahead, his options would become extremely limited.
Felix and Dumbledore both like to take the initiative, they can't always be passive and wait for an opportunity and spend the next ten or twenty years of their time and energy on how to defend themselves against Voldemort's schemes and tricks, or at least Felix personally hated that idea quite a lot.
...
"Is that the battlefield where the You-Know-Who and Dumbledore are?" Umbridge looked off into the distance with a shocked look on her face, the two of them slowed down subconsciously.
"You are supposed to call our Lord as Dark Lord!" Avery shouted.
Umbridge didn't respond. She heard a muffled, piercing sound and when she thought she had heard it wrong, a red light swept past against the strands of her hair and she sucked in a breath, crouching her short, fat body on her broom and glancing back.
It is that Potter!
He is flying towards them on his broomstick, followed by several others, but Potter is the fastest. He moved with great dexterity, controlling the broom to accelerate as he shot out a spell. In the blink of an eye, Avery was hit by the Stunning spell and fell off his broom.
Horrified, Umbridge hurriedly aimed her wand behind her, "Incarcerous! Incarcerous! Incarcerous!" Then she gritted her teeth and redirected her broom, flying in the direction of the Hogsmeade village with only one thought in her mind: to leave the range of the Anti-Apparition Charm and seek refuge with You-Know-Who.
She had already formulated what to report in her mind, and as for Dumbledore? There is absolutely no need to worry about him, the You-Know-Who will do everything in his power to protect her as long as he wants to get his hands on the locket and the diadem.
Another Stunning spell charged at her, although it missed, it did wake Umbridge from her sweet dream.
The nasty Potter!
Annoyed, she looked back only to find that Harry is already very close to her and is aiming his wand at her. A silver stag flew out from the tip of his wand and Umbridge froze, had Potter lost his mind and used his Patronus against her by mistake? What was going through his mind?
She is not a Dementor.
Umbridge didn't care, and desperately tried to make her flying broom speed up, when suddenly there was a sharp pain in the back of her head like something hard had hit her solidly, she blacked out for a moment and almost fell off the broom like Avery. When she touched the back of her head, it is stained with blood.
"Hiss!"
Umbridge looked resentful and shocked at the same time, a Patronus could actually hit someone? For a moment she wondered if she had never learned this magic properly... A silvery glow once again appeared above her from the side, and she hurriedly moved her broom to the side - the Patronus' hooves stomped on her hand that was gripping the broom handle, causing her to scream in pain and almost fall off her broom.
She barely managed to control the less responsive broom, when the sound of the Patronus' hooves stomping through the air sounded behind her again, and Umbridge looked back in despair to see the silver stag directly above her, both front hooves raised high, and she knew she is done for, even though she came so close to being able to use Apparition.
"Bang!"
The Patronus was suddenly scattered and Umbridge turned back incredulously - Potter who is not far from her, also sported a surprised look on his face, her eyes glanced past Potter to look behind him, Snape is riding his broomstick, holding his wand up with a gloomy look on his face.
If one only looked at the general outlook, one might have thought it was an accidental slip, and Snape's spell had only accidentally struck Potter's Patronus which coincidently had helped her.
But Umbridge knew Snape is a spy, and she was overjoyed when she flew the final mile and raced past the boundaries of Hogwarts.
She smelt freedom and power, and of course, she didn't care who gave it to her, as long as she could occupy a high position. She stared at the battlefield of Hogsmeade village in the distance and prepared to use Apparition.
She had never tried to Apparate while flying at high speed, but she felt confident. At least at this moment, Umbridge's desire for power and the desire to appear beside the You-Know-Who would definitely help her in that.
"Accio Horcruxes." A young, mildly calming voice stated, in a voice that sounded somewhat familiar to Umbridge, but she failed to register at the moment who spoke and what he said. Horcruxes? What is a Horcrux?
The next instant she felt a lightness in her pocket, and she watched as the locket and diadem in her pocket flew out, in two almost identical arcs, and landed in the hand of the man who had suddenly appeared at the school's outer boundary -
It is Felix Hap!
Umbridge didn't even have time to feel fear for him, as a mind-boggling realization hit her: so the diadem and the locket are Horcrux. In the next instant, she completely disappeared, managing to cast Apparition to escape.
Felix silently stuffed the locket and diadem into his pocket, "Professor Hap?" Harry controlled the Firebolt and circled the spot where Umbridge had disappeared twice in vain before finally landing in front of him.
"Harry." Felix nodded at him, "You did well, and were brave. Everyone was brave."
" It's a shame that Umbridge got away." Harry's expression held considerable regret, and then as if he thought of something, he asked eagerly, "So her target really is the Horcrux? You and Headmaster Dumbledore haven't destroyed it yet?" He grumbled a little, "It was too dangerous, thankfully you got here in time, if she had taken it-" he winced, unable to imagine what would have happened.
A few more brooms landed. Their toes had barely touched the ground when Moody, Tonks, and Sirius stealthily surrounded Snape.
"What's wrong?" Felix asked in mock surprise.
Moody, Tonks, and Sirius didn't say anything, just glanced at Snape out of the corner of their eyes, who coldly said, "Maybe it's because my spell missed and instead of hitting the enemy, it hit Potter's Patronus ..."
" You dare say you didn't do it on purpose?" Sirius glared at him.
"So that's what happened," Felix said, and all of them looked over at him, surprised by the understatement in his tone.
Harry also stared at the Professor, with more complex mental activity than anyone else in the place, considering the fact that Snape had prevented him from entering the Headmaster's office to find out what was going on, and the result of which being that Umbridge had gotten her hands on the Horcruxes without incident. If it hadn't been for Professor Hap's sudden appearance - yeah, how had he appeared so coincidentally?
Harry didn't say a word; Anyway, the Horcrux hadn't been stolen, it was just that Umbridge had gotten away, an outcome he could live with. He thought of a possibility he had reached earlier: the possibility of Snape being undercover ...
Felix explained, "Harry's Patronus is special, beyond even the usual definition of Patronus, and Severus, who had little knowledge of it, may have mistakenly thought that his spell could pass through ... It should have been an accident."
Snape stood with a blank expression on his face and did not open his mouth to explain.
After a short while, Mad-Eye Moody said gruffly, "Let Dumbledore handle it, is he in Hogsmeade now?" He asked Felix.
"Quite a ruckus, isn't it?" Felix looked into the distance, he reckoned that the battle would be over - because of Umbridge. He had quietly buried a large pit for Umbridge and wondered if it would work ...
.....
Hogsmeade Village.
Voldemort and Dumbledore faced each other as dust and smoke swept towards them from the distance, where the two had fought earlier, a mountain had collapsed and the cloud of dust and smoke is just an aftermath of the battle.
" Got more brutal than usual?" Voldemort snarled, "Looks like I poked your nerve, that man is your brother? He looks like a savage boy with no one to look after him, look at his dirty clothes!"
Dumbledore waved his wand and the power of the spell completely changed the terrain, every stone, tree, blade of grass, and even the air oozed with hostility towards Voldemort, and the attack came from all possible directions, making Voldemort Apparate from where he was and appear on the other side.
He raised his snakewood wand - there was a pop and a short, fat woman emerged from the thin air and Voldemort's eyes widened, it was Dolores Umbridge. Why is she here? Success or failure, she isn't supposed to be here.
"You-Know-Who, oh - Dark Lord, help me!" Umbridge cried out, with an expression of ecstasy, as she had escaped for good, from Felix Hap! But she was greeted by a pair of scarlet snake eyes, and Umbridge's eyes became blank and hollow as images of the day - especially of the last half hour's experience - came back to her like a passing light during travel:
"You're being too careless! Someone's coming, I'll stop them, remember, the password is 'socks'." Snape whispered, and Umbridge, who was disguised as Mafalda, stared blankly, frozen in place. The gargoyle blocking the path obediently moved aside.
"Move!" Snape growled at her, pushing her towards the spiral staircase.
She stumbled and panicked, while Snape straightened his robes and headed off in the opposite direction ...
Another scene: in the Headmaster's office, Umbridge opened the drawer - Voldemort's snake-like nostrils inhaled sharply - the drawer contained all the Horcruxes he had been daydreaming about, the locket, the diadem, and even his former yew wand, along with the ruined diary and Gaunt's ring all together ...
Then comes the scene of Umbridge being chased by a phoenix, which cried out in a high-pitched tone, spilling golden flames.
The scene changed, she was riding on a broomstick, next to Avery, and the two idiots managed to escape, no, with the help of Severus, how clever, his undercover work can continue ... The situation took a sharp turn, Avery was shot down, and a mutated Patronus appeared... ...
It was Harry Potter, the boy who had survived because of luck, trying to get in his way once again.
Then Voldemort heard a voice say, "Accio Horcruxes." And the diadem and locket flew out of Umbridge's pocket, and he felt empathetic, helplessly reaching out his hand, but it was only a memory, and his heart frustrated to the core, the Horcruxes had fallen into Felix Hap's hand, who would be able to get them from him? Not even he could do that personally.
Voldemort realized that he had once again failed and his follow-up plan became completely useless.
Without any warning he disappeared and appeared in the distance, ignoring Umbridge's pleading gaze, he stared at Dumbledore and said hatefully, "Give me the diadem and the locket, I know you have them, Dumbledore! I swear I will leave England immediately and would never return."
Dumbledore shook his head slightly, "We both know it is an empty statement."
"You know what I am capable of, you can't always protect everyone!" Voldemort shouted frantically, his red eyes blazing brightly, he seemed almost out of his mind, due to the fact that both of the Horcruxes were lost, and the curse on Dumbledore - Now, to him, it is not just a curse that could kill Dumbledore, but it also became a catalyst for the destruction of his two Horcrux.
Dumbledore stared at Voldemort and whispered, "You didn't think that threat would work, do you?"
"You were always acted like some kind of Muggle protector, and if they die in large numbers because of you-"
"I can tell who's really responsible, and if anyone dies, there's no doubt that you are the sinner, Tom. That only strengthens my resolve to get rid of you." Dumbledore interrupted him, staring at his right hand for a moment before saying, "I have always believed that you are my responsibility. But I may be running out of time, and I wish to buy time for those that will succeed me, until then ..."
"You will fight me to the death?" Voldemort fondled his snakewood wand and sounded a little surprised, "Why should I do as you wish? You're doomed to die!"
"Oh, I'm afraid that's not up to you." Dumbledore said pleasantly, "Think of it this way, I originally left those two Horcruxes to keep the precious relics of the school, I only delayed it because I didn't figure out how to separate the contaminants... but I'm about to die, maybe I'll last another year or two? In that case, why should I keep them now?"
Voldemort's eyes looked like he wanted to devour someone as he stared at Dumbledore, those azure eyes looked calm like an endless sea that no one could shake.
"Just the two of us?" He questioned calmly.
"It's just the two of us." Dumbledore stated calmly.
"With the Horcruxes as a wager?"
" With Horcruxes as a wager."
"Hypocrisy!" Voldemort sneered, " If you want a painful death, I'll be happy to give you one."
Dumbledore sighed with a faint relief when Voldemort suddenly raised his wand, his lips quirked, and then there was a flash of green light. Dumbledore flicked his wand and a stone turned into a shield and appeared in front of Umbridge.
The killing curse was blocked.
The curse was not aimed at Dumbledore from the start, but at Umbridge. She screamed after a second, shivering, with her face turned ashen.
"You're still so nosy, Dumbledore." Voldemort said coldly.
"She will be judged by the Wizengamot, and it's not your turn to kill her." Dumbledore said solemnly.
Voldemort sneered twice and sowed discord before he left, "That Felix Hap is your chosen heir? He's more ruthless than you, he wanted to kill her by my hand, and he probably wouldn't be happy that you saved her ..." He left in a flash.
"I'll give you some time to arrange your funeral!"
Dumbledore sighed softly as his gaze swept over Umbridge, who laid limp on the ground.
---------------
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Crazy_DarkSide_Cat Thanks for all your love and support.
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Happy Reading!!!
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