Chapter 54. A Revenge Delayed for Ten Years (Part Two)
Fine rain pattered against the dense foliage.
Deep in the Forbidden Forest, Professor Fawkes and Hagrid simultaneously cast the Armor Charm on themselves.
"Armor!"
An invisible shield formed around them. At the same moment, swarms of giant spiders, each the size of a millstone, charged at them as if on command!
Professor Fawkes waved his wand, splashing water in mid-air.
Without uttering a spell, a practiced, silent Transfiguration Charm transformed the branches of the surrounding bushes into vines, forming a circle around them.
The spiders at the forefront couldn't dodge in time; eight legs were harder to coordinate than two, and many were tripped by the suddenly appearing vines.
Hagrid immediately raised his little red umbrella, aiming at the swarm behind the fallen spiders, and cast the Obstruction Charm.
"Obstruction upon Obstruction."
"Explosive Strike!"
Almost simultaneously, Professor Fawkes cast the Explosive Charm.
A deafening roar erupted before them, and a blinding flash of fire instantly engulfed the spiders that had tripped over the flames or been struck by the Obstruction Charm.
With a series of agonizing screams, countless spiders were blown to pieces, their thick, disgusting green blood mixed with fragments of body parts and organs splattering everywhere.
Professor Fawkes's Explosion Charm was incredibly powerful, a far cry from the Explosion Charm Lynn used in his practice, like the difference between a hand grenade and a firecracker.
"If the Forbidden Forest is burned down, Dumbledore probably won't make me compensate the school for the damages, right?" Professor Fawkes joked even at this point.
Many spiders were killed or wounded, but even more survived, each one fearless, charging forward again over the corpses of their fallen comrades!
"If we get out of here alive, I'll cover the compensation Professor Dumbledore is demanding!" Hagrid said through gritted teeth.
Back to back, they continued casting spells on the spider swarm; spiders fell, and new ones surged forward.
"How many offspring does your friend have?" Fawkes asked breathlessly.
"I haven't counted, but it's been breeding for the last forty years!"
"That's it, we're going to be worn down by them."
"We can try turning back and charging out!" Hagrid suggested.
"Good idea!" Professor Fawkes nodded in agreement. "You're tall, you can lead the way, and I'll follow behind to hold them off."
"Can I keep up?" Hagrid didn't see anything wrong with Professor Fawkes's suggestion.
A flash of fire, another Explosion Spell, but it had little effect against the endless swarm of spiders.
Professor Fawkes shook the rain off his wand: "Just run forward, all the way back to Hogwarts, I'll follow."
"I'll count to three, then you start charging."
"Three, two, one!"
As Professor Fawkes finished speaking, Hagrid suddenly roared, closed his eyes, and turned to run wildly in the direction they had come from!
As if by unspoken agreement, when Hagrid reached them, not a single spider tried to stop him; they all parted to make way for him.
Hagrid broke free of the spider swarm with ease.
Professor Fawkes, however, remained motionless within the spiders' encirclement, shouting at Hagrid's retreating figure,
"Run faster, Hagrid, I'm about to overtake you!"
Hagrid sprinted away, quickly disappearing into the night.
Professor Fawkes squinted at the spiders that had resealed the exit, chuckled softly, and seemed to be talking to someone.
"I wanted to kill you, and instead of running away, you even tried to use this opportunity to kill me."
He stretched his wrists, which were aching from constantly waving his wand. "Letting Hagrid go suits me perfectly. Did you think I called him along to be an accomplice?"
"With him gone, I can finally unleash my full power."
Professor Fawkes gripped his wand with a strange hand, holding the end tightly with both hands, the tip pointing towards the ground. Facing the spiders' renewed charge, he remained calm, a slightly arrogant smile on his face, and loudly uttered the spell that terrified countless people.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A dazzling green light erupted from the wand.
The Death Curse, upon touching the ground, eerily did not dissipate. The beam scattered into streams of light, flowing lightly across the ground like water, centered on Professor Fawkes, instantly engulfing the entire spider swarm!
Apart from the sound of raindrops falling on leaves, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Thousands upon thousands of giant spiders collapsed helplessly to the ground like puppets with broken strings.
Dirty mud splashed up, landing on the spiders' lifeless compound eyes.
Professor Fawkes strolled among the spider corpses, continuing forward without any intention of looking back.
The rain and darkness swallowed him; only the spider carcasses scattered on the ground proved that a fierce battle had just broken out here.
...
Hagrid hadn't run far before he realized Fawkes hadn't followed at all.
Having been tricked again, he angrily smashed a small tree beside him, then rushed back without hesitation.
Although Fawkes had deceived him twice, he wasn't one to abandon a friend.
However, when Hagrid tried to return the way he came, he found the path blocked by a vast expanse of spiderwebs.
Hagrid tried to use several fire spells on the webs, but they were extinguished by the rain before they could even catch fire, which infuriated him.
Ultimately, Hagrid had no choice but to return to the castle to send out the message.
Just as he was about to turn back to Hogwarts, a thick club struck him hard on the back of the neck!
Hagrid felt a sharp pain, his vision went black, and he almost fainted.
He roared and turned to punch the assailant in the head.
But he only had time to see the attacker's face before being struck a second time.
This time, Hagrid couldn't withstand it; he was knocked unconscious and collapsed into the mud.
The attacker dropped the club, his face cold and numb. He turned and walked away, ignoring the unconscious Hagrid.
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(End of Chapter)