The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 309 Hogsmodry's Sky-Piercing Flames

Chapter 309 Hogsmodry's Sky-Piercing Flames (4.4K) (1/2)

Just as Lynch and Snape were carefully using the Levitation Charm to transport the still unconscious Harry, while Lynch used several invisible magical ropes to drag the werewolf Lupin, who was heavily chained and still unconscious, back to Hogsmeade Village with a group of solemn-looking Aurors who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy.

boom!!!

A deafening roar, seemingly capable of tearing the night sky apart, suddenly came from the direction of the village!

The sound was not a simple explosion; it seemed to be mixed with a piercing shriek as some kind of magical structure was forcibly torn apart and twisted, as well as the roar of bricks and wood collapsing and shattering instantly.

There was even a very slight tremor in the ground.

Everyone turned pale!

"By Merlin!" a young Auror exclaimed in surprise, instinctively raising his wand.

"Be on guard!" Rufus-Scrimgeour roared immediately, every scar on his rugged face tensing.

Unlike the others who looked up blankly, he suddenly flipped over and stood on a large rock, his sharp eyes locking onto the direction of the sound source with the precision of a hunting dog—the direction from which bricks and stones collapsed, wood broke, and some kind of unique crackling sound came.

"It's Joko's Joke Shop!" Scrimgeour's voice was firm and decisive, carrying an undeniable sense of experience. "That kind of commotion—only if all his damn, unpredictable joke merchandise exploded would it have that effect!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Lin Qi moved.

Without the slightest hesitation, and without even glancing at Snape, he simply said, "I'll go check it out."

"Bang!"

With a short, sharp explosion, he vanished from his spot.

The next moment, Lynch's figure appeared hundreds of feet above Hogsmeade Village, directly above the explosion site.

A strong night wind immediately enveloped him, causing his black hair to sway in the night air.

The neighborhood where Joko Widodo's joke shop was located beneath his feet was in complete chaos.

Countless colorful magical fireworks, like a swarm of bees out of control, erupted from the damaged buildings, exploding and blooming wildly in the night sky. There were "Quirk Rockets" with a shrill whistle, "Wailing Fireworks" that scattered weeping clown heads after exploding, and "Biting Saucer Sparks" that kept splitting and chasing the wizards around—the multicolored magical light illuminated half the sky, the crackling explosions rising and falling, and the air filled with a strong smell of saltpeter and sulfur, mixed with the cloyingly sweet smell of various joke candies.

Below, the warehouse section of Joko's joke shop has been reduced to ruins.

The roof was mostly ripped off, and the walls were unnaturally twisted and cracked, as if they had withstood some enormous impact from within. Splintered wood, bricks, and all sorts of bizarre and whimsical junk items were scattered everywhere.

Clearly, that deafening roar was not just an explosion, but the result of a massive number of unstable magical prank products being detonated simultaneously.

Several out-of-control, whistling rocket fireworks veered and flew crookedly toward him.

Lin Qi hovered in the air and casually waved his hand—as if brushing away mosquitoes and flies in front of him.

Those dangerous fireworks seemed to have hit an invisible, smooth wall, instantly bounced off, deflected, and exploded into meaningless balls of light in the distant night sky.

His gaze calmly swept across the street below.

Unlike the residents in the distant streets who kept their doors and windows tightly shut, the scene near the explosion site was one of utter panic.

Male and female witches dressed in pajamas and slippers rushed out of the neighboring houses screaming; some were even wrapped in just a blanket.

Their faces were filled with terror, and they didn't care about their appearance. Some ran wildly along the street towards the outskirts of the village; some tried to Apparate, but failed due to the chaotic magic around them and the inherent counter-curse, spinning around in vain; others shouted the names of their family members and looked around helplessly in the street.

A child was terrified and stood in the middle of the street wailing. A witch who was fleeing in haste picked him up and continued to run away.

The air was filled with the smells of gunpowder, dust, and fear emanating from the crowd.

The Aurors were already appearing on the streets, and Scrimgeour's gruff voice carried far through the "Loud Voice" spell: "Maintain order! Evacuate out of the village! Stay away from the blast zone! Beware of stray bullets!"

Lin Qi took in the chaos, his face expressionless. He simply turned his camera back to the ruins of the Joko's joke shop, the epicenter of the explosion, and the rubble that looked particularly glaring in the light of the fireworks and fire.

His mind raced, filtering out the irrelevant panicked crowds and the fireworks streak, focusing his attention on the core logic of the explosion.

Creating massive chaos and using environmental advantages to escape—this was indeed the trick Peter Pettigrew used to escape pursuit.

Using readily available, highly unstable magical joke products from Joko's warehouse as weapons could create significant visual and auditory interference, effectively hinder the pursuers' progress, and even potentially cause secondary damage—a clear and clever idea.

But a sliver of doubt quietly crept into Lin Qi's mind.

But—this commotion is a bit too much.

Given Dumbledore's power, dealing with Peter Pettigrew should have been as easy as an eagle catching a field mouse; he should have subdued Peter before Peter could put up any semblance of resistance.

Even if Peter detonates something first, Dumbledore is perfectly capable of stopping it before the explosion escalates.

Did Dumbledore encounter other obstacles during his pursuit?

Or is it that Peter possesses some unexpected trump card that could allow him to confront Dumbledore in a short time?

This doesn't make sense. The gap in strength is absolute.

The fact that Peter could cause such a scene under Dumbledore's command is itself perplexing and eerie.

Just as doubts began to grow in Lin Qi's mind, the situation in the center of the explosion below suddenly changed!

In the heart of the ruins, where the flames were at their strongest and the smoke was thickest, a tall and imposing figure suddenly appeared!

His long, silvery-white hair and beard flew wildly amidst the heat and magical turbulence, while his azure eyes behind his crescent-shaped glasses remained as sharp as ever.

It was Albus Dumbledore!

He raised the Elder Wand high, its tip emitting a warm and boundless light, like the rising sun!

The light was not dazzling, but it carried an irresistible and powerful force that soothed everything, spreading rapidly outwards from him like mercury spilling onto the ground!

Where the light touched, a miracle occurred:

The raging flames were extinguished as if by an invisible hand, vanishing instantly and leaving only wisps of smoke.

The magic fireworks that were still spraying and shrieking wildly seemed to have all their vitality drained away. Their light quickly dimmed, and they fell to the ground with crackling sounds, turning into piles of harmless ashes.

Even the restless magical turbulence in the air and the shockwaves from the explosion were quickly calmed and stabilized by this vast light.

In just a few breaths, the explosions and flames in a large area centered on Dumbledore were completely extinguished!

Only ruins and wisps of smoke remain, testifying to the violent eruption that had just occurred here.

Dumbledore stood in the center of the ruins, the light from his wand slowly fading, his tall figure standing out clearly in the dissipating dust.

He appeared uninjured, but his expression was unusually grave, his gaze like the most precise probe, rapidly scanning every corner around him.

Seeing Dumbledore's gaze, Lynch hovered high in the air, his cold gaze once again sweeping like a searchlight over the area below where Dumbledore had quelled the explosion, as well as the surrounding chaotic streets.

Ruins, smoke, panicked crowds, busy Aurors—within sight, there was no trace of Peter Pettigrew, neither in human form nor in rat form.

Sure enough, he managed to slip away in the chaos.

The result was not entirely unexpected, but it still made a cold glint flash in Lin Qi's eyes.

Without further hesitation, he decided to go to Dumbledore immediately to find out the details.

With a thought, he was just about to use his Apparition Shift technique when...

A faint, yet clearly audible, crackling sound, like a delicate piece of porcelain being chipped by a subtle force, suddenly came from his face.

Lynch's movements froze instantly.

His usual mask-like calm remained unchanged, and even his eyes showed no fluctuation.

He simply raised one hand very naturally and gently pressed the pad of his index finger against his right cheek. A thin, spiderweb-like crack was clearly visible on his pale skin, and a faint, unnatural luster seemed to flash and disappear deep within the crack.

As his fingertips brushed across the surface, a barely perceptible ripple of magic spread out, and the crack vanished instantly as if smoothed out by an invisible, skillful hand, restoring the skin to its smoothness, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

Ugh.....

Lin Qi sighed softly to himself. This temporary clone, centered around a magic stone, had its limits.

Frequently absorbing massive amounts of magic power is still too much of a strain.

Abandoning his plan to teleport, he instead raised his hand and gently tapped himself.

A gentle breeze lifted him up.

He no longer resisted gravity; his entire body seemed to have lost most of its weight, like a real, light feather, silently and gracefully drifting down from the sky. The hem of his suit fluttered slightly in the night wind as he landed precisely in the center of the ruins below, where the greatest white wizard who had just quelled the explosion was located.

His landing was smooth and silent, a stark contrast to the still commotion around him.

Dumbledore seemed to sense something, raised his head, and looked through his half-moon spectacles at the black figure that was falling from the night sky.

On the edge of Hogsmeade Village, the dusty window of a long-closed secondhand shop vaguely reflected the embers of the last magical fireworks in the distant sky, as well as the ominous firelight and commotion in the village center.

Suddenly, in the reflection of the glass, a short, stout figure wearing an ill-fitting, tattered robe that looked like it had been taken from some unfortunate beggar, silently emerged from a dark corner.

He was huddled inside the large robe, the pulled-down hood covering most of his face, leaving only the tip of his nose twitching nervously.

He stared intently at the sky in the direction of Lynch reflected in the glass until the black figure completely disappeared from the reflection's view, confirming that the most dangerous predator had temporarily left this airspace.

He then breathed a sigh of relief, his whole body hunching slightly as if a bone had been removed, but he dared not stop walking.

He turned quickly, no longer relying on the reflection in the glass to observe, but like a real, frightened mouse, he walked briskly along the shadowy edge of the village, head down, into the deeper darkness beyond the village.

His steps were hurried and flustered, the hem of his tattered robe sweeping across the muddy ground.

Master—thank you—thank you for your kindness and strength—

Peter chanted it frantically and obsequiously in his mind.

Without you, your humble servant would surely—

"Shut up, Peter!" A cold, sharp voice, seemingly resounding directly in his soul, abruptly interrupted his fawning thoughts. The voice was filled with undisguised disgust and impatience. "Stop your nauseating gratitude! Get out of here now!"

Peter shuddered violently, his face draining of all color, as if the voice itself could drain the last vestiges of his courage.

He dared not have any more wild thoughts, and just hurriedly quickened his pace, almost tumbling and crawling, towards his master, in the direction indicated by that deeper darkness, and rushed away in a panic.

the other side.

As the distance closed, Lynch's sharp eyes immediately caught the incongruity in Dumbledore.

Although the tall wizard maintained his composed demeanor, the hem of his wide wizard's robe, embroidered with mysterious runes, seemed to bulge unnaturally and was subtly wriggling, as if concealing something—or rather, someone.

When Lynch landed as lightly and silently as a feather in front of Dumbledore, his feet touching the still-warm, scorched ground, Dumbledore turned slightly to the side and used his free left hand to lift the corner of his robe.

The next moment, two panicked little heads, their faces covered in soot, emerged from under Dumbledore's robes, which were like a safe haven—it was Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger!

The two children's faces were filled with lingering fear and terror. Ron's freckles were particularly noticeable on his dirty face, and Hermione's thick brown hair was also somewhat disheveled. They huddled together, seemingly still not fully recovered from the violent explosion that had just occurred so close to them.

Lin Qi's gaze lingered on the two children for less than a second, his eyes flickering slightly.

It turned out to be the case.

While tracking Peter, Dumbledore unexpectedly discovered the two students who clearly shouldn't be there, and in the instant the explosion occurred, he prioritized protecting them.

This could indeed explain why he failed to stop Peter from creating such chaos immediately, and may even have been distracted by protecting him, which gave Peter an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

but--

Lynch's gaze returned to Dumbledore's face, his eyes calm and sharp, carrying a clear question: Even so, with your abilities, it would be no difficult task for you to protect the two students while suppressing or even capturing Peter.

How could he have caused such a commotion, and even—possibly escaped?

Dumbledore understood the undisguised skepticism in Lynch's eyes.

He gently patted the still-shaken Ron and Hermione on the shoulders to comfort them, then met Lynch's gaze. His deep blue eyes no longer held their usual gentleness, but instead a deep, somber look, like the calm before a storm.

He spoke slowly, his voice low but clear enough to reach Lynch's ears with an undeniable certainty: "It wasn't merely to protect these two children, Mr. Lynch." Dumbledore's gaze seemed to pierce through the ruins before him, looking towards a more distant, darker place. "The moment I discovered Peter—someone else intervened. Although I didn't see the attacker with my own eyes, that unique, twisted, and powerful magical skill—"

He paused slightly, his tone heavy: "—It should be our old friend."

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