Trading one person for three was indeed a good deal… Gary's ears were still ringing with Lord Voldemort's words.
"Hurry and choose one. I'm already being very kind. If I didn't find you somewhat interesting, you'd all be dead by now." Lord Voldemort curled his lips, watching Gary's expression. This hesitant look, teetering on the edge of hell, truly pleased him.
"I see you're having a tough time deciding. How about I make this difficult decision for you?" Lord Voldemort sighed, closed his eyes, and pointed his wand back and forth among Gary's four companions.
Whomever the wand pointed at would tremble violently. Out of an instinctive desire for survival, everyone hoped the wand wouldn't stop on them. But if it didn't land on them, their companions, with whom they lived day and night, would suffer.
Everyone closed their eyes, no longer looking at Lord Voldemort's wand. They waited for fate to make its decision.
Lord Voldemort still had his eyes closed, his wand moving back and forth among them. Only the slight upward curve of his lips betrayed his mood.
"Don't, don't do this…" Gary licked his chapped lips and said softly, his fists clenching in frustration.
"It's you." Lord Voldemort opened his eyes, seeing the person in front of his wand. "What's your name?"
"Kona… Kona Evans." Kona looked at the wand before her, her face ashen.
"Your name is Gary Shafiq, isn't it?" Lord Voldemort laughed. He beckoned, "Lucius, give him back his wand."
Lucius stepped forward and took out all the wands he had stuffed into his bag. "Which one is yours?"
Gary's trembling hands fumbled through the eighty-odd wands. The mysterious connection he had with his wand allowed him to easily grasp it.
"Good, Gary, now point your wand at Kona, quickly…" Lord Voldemort excitedly patted Gary's back with his long, spider-like fingers.
Lord Voldemort didn't use much force, but Gary still fell down with the momentum.
He didn't want to see Kona's face. Now, before his eyes was the thick, earthy ground, smelling faintly of soil.
This gave him a little peace of mind.
"What are you doing, Gary?" Lord Voldemort hadn't expected Gary to fall directly to the ground and stay motionless after that slap. "Can't bear to do it?"
He wore a mocking smile. He hooked his wand in the air, and Gary felt a sudden strong force applied to his chin, forcing him to look up at Kona.
She was already in tears, trembling and shivering, her tears dripping from her rounded chin onto the ground.
Alfrina, Lily, and Howard's eyes quietly filled with tears.
"Don't do this, don't…" Lily's lips trembled as she spoke, her face deathly pale, like a doll that could shatter at any moment.
"Hold your wand and point it at him!" Lord Voldemort commanded again, his voice turning cold. "You wouldn't want me to use Imperio on you, would you?" he threatened.
Gary raised his wand, pointing it at Kona, his chest heaving violently. He closed his eyes, refusing to look at Kona's face.
"Repeat after me, the spell is Avada Kedavra… You need to have intense emotional fluctuations, such as hatred. Use this emotion to channel your magic, and then the Unforgivable Curse will be the strongest." Lord Voldemort seemed to imagine himself as a Professor at Hogwarts, supporting Gary from behind with both hands, guiding him patiently.
"Now cast this spell." Lord Voldemort guided him.
Gary opened his eyes and looked at Kona, as if wanting to engrave every inch of her facial features into his heart.
The black-hooded figures, who had already shed their disguises, also looked at Gary. Those squatting on the ground, awaiting Lord Voldemort's judgment, also turned their gaze towards him.
Sympathy, sorrow, indignation… Gary's thoughts churned as he looked at their faces.
"Kill her quickly." Lord Voldemort leaned into Gary's ear, urging him.
Gary's hand, holding the wand, tightened then loosened, then tightened again, his face etched with struggle.
"Crucio!" Lord Voldemort acted, the Crucio spell aimed directly at Kona's chest.
Kona screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her chest, her legs flailing like a fish out of water.
"Don't, don't!" Gary tried to grab Lord Voldemort's hand but was stopped by Lucius.
Lord Voldemort stopped the spell. Kona lay motionless on her back, only her chest still rising and falling slightly, tears already covering her cheeks.
Lily and Alfrina quickly pulled Kona to their side. Howard squatted there, saying nothing.
"If you don't do it, I'll torture her to death with Crucio." Lord Voldemort was in no mood to watch their melodrama anymore. He had other matters to attend to, and these little brats had already wasted a lot of his time.
Gary looked at the tormented Kona, tears welling in his eyes, his fingers trembling, pointing his wand at his companion with whom he lived day and night.
…
"Are you sure it's this direction?" Steve asked the Auror sitting behind him, while riding his broom.
"Yes, the magic is still drifting into the distance!" The American Auror gripped his wand, his eyes fixed on the direction of the magical thread, with the advance party following behind him.
"There! It's just over that mountain!" The Auror saw the magical thread attached to his wand thicken, and at the same time, it pointed directly to a small hill below. From a distance, they could see the bluish-white spire of a church.
"Alright! Hold on tight!" Steve tilted his broom to the side and swooped down towards the church.
The American Auror kept working, "Expecto Patronum!" A silver, plump tabby cat emerged from his wand.
"Tell the Aurors guarding the finals to follow!" the Auror shouted.
The plump tabby cat nodded its head, turned, and vanished into thin air.
The advance party landed on the ground. The church was only about three hundred meters away from them. Twenty people took out their wands and quietly crept towards it.
…
"A-Avada…" As Gary opened his mouth, he felt tears flow into it, salty with a hint of bitterness.
"I can't do it, I can't do it." Gary weakly lowered his hand, his wand dangling to the ground.
"Don't force me, please…" Gary buried his head. "Just kill us all."
Lord Voldemort smiled triumphantly, pointing his wand at Kona, "Avada…"
"Who?" Before he could cast his spell, he heard a disturbance behind him, and a Shield Charm appeared behind him.
Lucius first glanced behind him, then stepped forward, bravely shielding Lord Voldemort, raising his wand with a heroic expression that implied anyone wanting to kill his master would have to step over his dead body.
A lone Expelliarmus spell flew over, which Lucius deflected with a wave of his wand.
The moment Lord Voldemort turned his head, Gary's heart surged with excitement, and he poured all the magic in his body into his wand, "Accio Wand!"
How did it get published? The editor didn't even notify me; it was a reader who told me. As a part-time author who's completely flopped, I won't write any publication notes. Thank you all for your support. To all my friends who subscribed, voted, and favorited, without you, this book wouldn't have lasted until today.