"Where's the photo? Give it to me."
"I don't have it." Kael shrugged, "How could they entrust something so important to me? It's in Nicolas Flamel's hands. You can ask him for it."
There was a moment of silence around them, and then...
"Crucio!"
Without any hesitation, Vinda Rosier raised her hand and cast the Crucio Curse directly at Kael's position.
Fortunately, he was prepared and dodged behind a thick tree just in time.
"Or you could crawl in through the gap at the top of the tower," Kael continued, keeping himself as small as possible behind the tree. "Although the space is narrow, if you can transform into a flea or a wisp of smoke, you might just squeeze in."
More charms were the response to Kael's words.
This time, it wasn't just Vinda Rosier. The others had lost their patience too.
The tree Kael was hiding behind was blown apart by charms flying in from all directions. With no other choice, Kael had to find another place.
"No need to make it so complicated." Rosier's voice came from behind, "There's a simpler way, just lead us there... Grab him!"
The circle began to tighten. However, while she was speaking, Kael found an opportunity.
In the current situation, he needed to figure out a way to break through first. He chose a somewhat limping wizard as the breakthrough point, not entirely fair, but he couldn't afford to worry about that now.
Kael raised his wand, and the surrounding trees began to grow wildly. Saplings as thick as a wrist turned into trees as thick as a barrel in the blink of an eye, and already mature trees expanded to the size of millstones, instantly blocking everyone's view.
The limping wizard, Kael's primary target, was immediately ensnared by the twisting and writhing branches, which stabbed at him like long spears.
As a follower of Grindelwald sixty years ago, these wizards weren't opponents unfamiliar with the world like werewolves. After the initial shock, they quickly thought of countermeasures.
A burst of flames surged from the tip of a wand...
"Careful." Kael reminded them, "Using the Fiendfyre Curse here could affect Nimongard."
Almost instinctively, the wizard immediately interrupted his spell.
Kael seized the chance to dash past him, unceremoniously snatching his wand, and with a wave of his hand, the thick branches transformed into a giant maw full of fangs, biting down hard on the wizard's leg.
"Crunch..."
"Ah!" A piercing scream echoed through the forest.
"Telong... Damn it!"
Under the witch's feet, the ground rose and turned into massive stone chains, binding the still writhing trees, fixing them in place.
With her help, the others quickly freed themselves and surrounded Kael.
"Telong!"
One of them hurried to the wizard whom Kael had taken the wand from, checking his injuries.
"His leg is broken, bitten clean off." The person's eyes were red, "Such ruthless tactics, is he really a student taught by Dumbledore?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" another wizard said, "We're enemies, and that's already pretty favorable; these injuries might look scary, but they can be healed with Skele-Gro and other magic potions. Under those circumstances, he could easily have killed Telong."
"He's being deliberate." Vinda Rosier walked over.
"Don't forget, this place often sees Voldebats and Chimaeras, and Telong's wand was taken, his leg broken. If no one takes care of him, he'll probably be killed by those beasts."
"But this way, there'll be two fewer people chasing him."
"Clever child... But this is the only chance to save him." Vinda Rosier suddenly laughed, twisting her fingers slightly to subtly point her wand at Telong on the ground.
"No, Amara, Vinda..." two people blurted out, "Please, of all those still alive, only we remain. It's been sixty years, let's just consider him dead, alright?"
"That's not doable..." Vinda Rosier said with her eyes closed meaningfully, her wand spinning in her fingers.
"You stay here to look after Telong." She opened her eyes again, looking at the wizard who had spoken up earlier, "The rest, come with me to bring our guest back. We can't let him wander alone in this dangerous forest."
...