A domain!
In Cedric's understanding, it was an extremely sacred ability. He had never expected it to appear on such an ordinary-looking puppet, and the realization left him quite astonished.
However, considering that this thing had come from his professor's cabinet, he quickly came to terms with it. Once it was associated with the ancient name of Hufflepuff, everything seemed to become reasonable.
Still, recalling the ferocious blood-red glow in the puppet's eyes, Cedric felt it was unlikely to be part of his professor's collection. If he had to say, it seemed more like a dangerous prisoner his professor had been keeping.
Thinking of this, Cedric could not help but want to complain about his professor. Something this deadly, and her storage method had been far too casual.
But on second thought, Cedric suddenly understood.
His professor's strength was extraordinary. What place could be safer than her office? Keeping this monster there was probably even more secure than locking it in the deepest vault of Gringotts.
Unfortunately, it had run into a group of overly curious students. Cedric did not place the blame on Daphne, because he knew very well that he too had wanted to know what was inside the cabinet. Daphne had merely done what everyone present had wanted to do.
And perhaps, in his professor's eyes, this puppet was nothing special. That was why she had placed it so casually in the cabinet without setting up overly complicated protective charms.
Helga had taught Cedric about the differences in strength and the counter relationships between domains, so he understood that this puppet, whose domain was related to earth, was nothing more than a lamb waiting for slaughter in front of his professor.
However, to Helga the puppet might be meat on the chopping block, but to Cedric and the others, this thing was unquestionably a formidable enemy.
Cedric could feel it clearly. He was losing control over the earth. The puppet's ability to manipulate soil was superior to his.
"Daphne, help me!" His professor had previously told him that Daphne had already stepped halfway into the domain threshold, so Cedric did not hesitate and immediately called for her assistance.
Daphne responded with an "Mm," crouched down, and plunged her magma-wrapped hand into the ground.
She also began expanding her magma domain at full strength, joining forces with Cedric to suppress the puppet once again.
The two sides fell into a stalemate, and the situation became deadlocked.
However, what Daphne and Cedric possessed were not true domains, but only "pseudo-domains." Compared to genuine domains, the endurance of pseudo-domains was far inferior.
Thus, about a quarter of an hour later, both Daphne and Cedric were covered in sweat.
Astoria and Hermione circled anxiously nearby, yet were unable to help.
Clashes between domains were not something ordinary spells could interfere with. If the two of them cast carelessly, they might even end up helping the enemy instead. As for the brooch Rhys had given her, Astoria did not dare to use it unless it was the final moment.
Yes, they could fire a spell at Daphne or Cedric from behind. That would indeed have an effect—helping the puppet achieve victory more quickly.
Cedric smashing the puppet into the ground earlier had instead unintentionally helped it.
Seeing her companions beginning to show signs of losing ground, Hermione's anxiety grew stronger. Then a flash of inspiration crossed her mind.
They were both clearly exhausted. Wouldn't it be enough if they could just rest for a moment?
It sounded like nonsense, but when combined with Hermione's domain, it was an entirely different matter.
After figuring it out, Hermione immediately activated her domain and pulled Daphne and the other three inside.
Daphne: ???
Cedric: ???
The two of them had been exerting themselves fully against the puppet, only to suddenly be relocated. The abrupt shift left them feeling as if their punches had landed on cotton.
"You can rest and recover inside my domain first, then go fight that monster again once you're refreshed. After all, compared to the outside world, time in my domain is almost at a standstill." Hermione spoke rapidly, briefly explaining the tactic she had just come up with, and handed each of them a bottle of stamina potion.
"Good!" A look of delight appeared on Daphne's face.
She had not expected Granger's domain to be usable like this. When Rhys had previously mentioned Hermione's library domain, she had even been a bit dismissive.
Cedric, meanwhile, silently opened the bottle and downed the stamina potion in one gulp.
"What about me? Is there anything I can do?" Astoria looked at Hermione expectantly, hoping to be assigned some kind of "task." Ever since entering the Forbidden Forest, she felt she had basically been watching from the sidelines the whole time, with no real involvement.
That question completely stumped Hermione.
She had no idea what to assign Astoria. She couldn't exactly tell her to just sit here and read a book, could she?
"Come to think of it, what does a clash between domains actually look like?" Hermione changed the subject.
Although she was the only one among the four with a complete domain, hers was a functional-type domain rather than an elemental one. The contest between domains was something entirely unfamiliar to her.
"It's a bit like two people each holding a bucket of paint, competing to cover the same area," Cedric thought for a moment and gave a rather vivid explanation. "First you compete to claim the empty spaces not yet covered by paint. Once there's no empty space left, you start erasing the other person's color. Whoever covers the entire area with their own color first wins."
Daphne added from the side, "In a clash between domains, the side with the advantage can easily snowball that lead into victory."
"Then you and that monster—" Hermione asked urgently.
"If Cedric and I work together, we can gain a slight advantage…" Daphne trailed off halfway through her sentence.
"Let me put it this way," Cedric continued. "You can think of the puppet's paint bucket as having an infinite supply, while Daphne's and mine are limited. So even if we can gain a slight upper hand, in the long run we're bound to lose. Thankfully we have your domain, Granger. Otherwise, the two of us could only hold out for about three minutes at most."
"We can recover our magic here, then go back out and continue the stalemate with the puppet until we hold on long enough for Rhys to arrive," Daphne proposed what seemed to be the most practical solution at the moment.
"Wait—?!" Hermione suddenly thought of a very serious problem. By pulling Daphne and the others into her domain, had she caused the situation they had been painstakingly maintaining to collapse outright?
A fine layer of sweat instantly formed on her forehead.
"That won't happen," Cedric reassured her after hearing her concern. "Even if Daphne and I disappear, the remaining power we left behind will continue to contend with the puppet. It's just that the erosion will happen much faster."
After learning that staying here for an hour would mean only a single second passed outside, Cedric was even more reassured.
While the three of them discussed the mechanics of domain combat with great intensity, Astoria stood quietly to the side, listening.
From Hermione's attitude, she realized one thing: without a domain, one was essentially nothing, only fit to listen on the sidelines, completely unable to help.
She really wanted a domain of her own.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI