Dave's brows shot up as he craned his neck at the towering skyscraper. "Isn't he too rich?" The fact that this glittering place belonged to Drake Stone, the show-off sorcerer helping Horvath, was almost absurd to him.
"Is he?" Balthazar muttered, not impressed in the slightest.
Draco rolled his eyes. You've lived for over a millennium. Of course being richer than an entire country feels normal to you.
Aloud, he said, "Don't forget, Stone built his fortune by turning magic into cheap entertainment. He's one of America's millionaires." Unlike Dave, Draco had already gathered everything worth knowing.
"Let's go in," Balthazar said, flicking his hand.
As they stepped inside, Dave's eyes went wide. "The inside… it's massive!"
"Dimensional magic," the elder wizard murmured, instantly catching his rival's intention. "No wonder he left no traps outside. He wants us to walk straight into his arena."
"So he expanded the interior dimensions," Dave quickly pieced it together. Just hearing the word dimension was enough for him to get it. "That's brilliant. I'm going to learn that spell one day and use it on a small house when I graduate."
Draco frowned, a prickle of unease gnawing at him. This isn't right. None of this happened in the movie. I haven't done anything yet, but changes are already happening.
"So what now?" he asked carefully.
"We keep moving," Balthazar said firmly, his expression set. "I don't have time to measure how far he stretched this space. Every second wasted brings Horvath closer to freeing Morgana."
Another reason, Draco realised, was that Balthazar assumed his old "friend" must have drained himself setting up this dimensional trap. That meant now was the perfect chance to defeat him.
Draco, however, saw right through it. Horvath can absorb other people's magic. If he's already using that trick here, then Balthazar is marching straight into disaster. And the way he's acting… he doesn't even know about it.
But Draco kept his mouth shut. Saying anything now would raise questions he couldn't afford.
"Should we split up?" he asked, scanning the two staircases that split in opposite directions, each ending at a door.
Balthazar didn't hesitate. "Yes, you and Dave go to the left and I will to the right."
Without delay, the group split. Balthazar strode up the right staircase while Draco and Dave headed left.
The moment they stepped through the door, they found themselves in a vast hall. Knight statues loomed in jagged formation along the walls, their shadows slicing across the floor under the dim light. At the far end, another door stood waiting in silence.
BANG.
The entrance behind them slammed shut.
"Draco, the door!" Dave's voice cracked with panic.
"I heard it." Draco snapped, already raising his wand. "Alohomora!"
The charm struck the lock, but the heavy door didn't even shudder.
A sinking feeling gnawed at him. This wasn't a simple lock. It was a containment spell, one far above his level.
"Tch." Draco clicked his tongue, eyes narrowing down the endless corridor. "No turning back. Forward it is."
They pressed on, boots echoing against the stone floor.
Halfway through, the silence shattered.
CLANG.
The sound of metal grinding against stone reverberated through the chamber. One by one, the knight statues along the walls shuddered, helmets tilting, gauntlets flexing, as if waking from a long slumber.
Dave froze. "Bloody hell… they're moving."
"Of course they are." Draco's tone was cold, though his wand was already raised. His instincts had screamed trap the moment they stepped in. "Don't stand there. Fight."
The nearest knight lunged, its stone blade hissing through the air. Draco snapped his wand in a sharp arc.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
The spell detonated with a deafening crack. The hallway shook as the knight exploded into rubble, fragments of stone clattering across the flagstones like shrapnel. Dust billowed, but the sound of pounding steps didn't stop.
Two more knights advanced, shields raised in perfect unison, while a third rushed from the front, a massive stone mace whistling down with enough force to pulp a man.
Draco's eyes narrowed. He didn't hesitate. With a violent flick, a thick wall of ice erupted before them, catching the mace with a bone-jarring impact. Spiderweb cracks laced across the surface immediately. He knew it wouldn't last.
"Ars Weiss!"
Twin ice-clones of himself splintered into existence. Without pause, the three Dracos unleashed a storm of razor-sharp ice bolts. These weren't training shots. Each shard flew like a dagger hurled to kill.
The front ranks staggered. One knight froze mid-step, frost crawling up its legs before locking it in place. Another's shield was riddled with cracks, its arm slowed under the growing weight of ice.
But the relief lasted only seconds. The ice wall shuddered, splintered, then collapsed under the relentless assault, shards scattering like glass.
"Protego Totalum!" Draco barked, his shield charm blooming just in time to cover both himself and Dave. The magical barrier thrummed as jagged debris from his own broken wall crashed harmlessly against it.
The knights pressed closer, their steps heavy, relentless. Draco's lips curled. He didn't dare let the pressure mount.
With a sharp breath, he spun his wand upward.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
Another explosion rocked the hall, shaking loose dust from the ceiling as two more knights shattered into rubble.
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Lernen > Dumbledore?