Chapter 52: Dumbledore and I kill each other
The Carrow family had accumulated a wealth of experience in using the magical book, "Carrow's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book."
Almost every member of the family, during their childhood, would be arranged by their parents to enter it and experience fairy tale adventures.
This wasn't just a simple way to train 'boy scouts'; its most important purpose was to force family members to 'awaken,' develop, and master the unique magical ability of 'pain feedback' inherited through their bloodline.
This ability allowed a wizard to draw powerful emotional strength from the pain of others or their own pain, enhancing the intensity of their spellcasting.
Thanks to the family's consistent adherence to the strategy of pure-blood inbreeding, this bloodline ability had been well preserved even after such a long time.
But times had changed.
The Carrow family, a 'warrior' family famous in wizarding history, had established great military exploits in an era when humans and goblins fought for living space, and humans fought with centaurs, dragons, and other magical creatures for survival. But in the modern society that required facing Muggles, these bloodthirsty warriors among wizards had completely lost their space to survive and had become synonymous with standard dark wizards.
They ultimately didn't understand flexible strategies like the Malfoy family, who were outsiders. Bloodthirsty warriors who went all the way to the end were devils full of original sin in peacetime.
By the generation of the Carrow siblings, even before they followed Voldemort, they had already caused too many bloody cases involving Muggles.
However, unlike the powerless and uninfluential Dumbledore family, these so-called 'sacred twenty-eight pure-blood families' would always help each other, covering up crimes or pleading for acquittal in the Wizengamot.
(ps: Dumbledore's father, Percival Dumbledore, punished some Muggles who bullied his daughter, and was therefore imprisoned in Azkaban, eventually dying in prison.)
Lockhart had no sympathy for the Carrow family's plight.
Anyone who went against the tide of the times would eventually be swept into the dustbin of history. This was a natural law that wouldn't change according to human will, especially since he himself wasn't a pure-blood wizard.
He had simply found information about Amycus Carrow's adventures in "Carrow's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book" in Amycus's memories.
Fortunately, since Amycus had gained insight and mastery over many dark magic spells here, Lockhart was able to glean information from this part of the magical skill memories he had collected, knowing some of the 'level-clearing tricks' passed down through generations of the Carrow family.
The chapter "Kalibu's Gem" was one of the most frequently used scenes by the Carrow family because the blood spat out by the Inferi here would cause intense pain, better assisting them in sensing their own bloodline abilities.
Amycus's aunt had once secretly told him that if he really couldn't bear the pain, he could dig out a conch shell from under his feet after killing the 99th Inferius.
After mastering some magic related to killing, killing ninety-nine Inferi wasn't difficult. The only thing to be careful about was counting the number of kills accurately.
One more or one less wouldn't work, and the magical conch shell wouldn't appear underfoot.
Having such a small trick to clear the level was actually a way for the Carrow family to train wizards' ability to 'fight more rationally.'
And now, Lockhart had no choice but to go through the same training.
He didn't have suitable abilities to kill Inferi himself. The Memory Charm was very effective against wizards, but it had no effect on Inferi, which were dark magical creatures.
The most effective spell he could use was perhaps "Grey Wolf Pack," but this required a forest environment, or at the very least, vigorously growing plants nearby.
He had prepared a potted plant, but shortly after taking it out of his ring, it quickly withered in this harsh environment.
"Pfft~~~"
An Inferius was pounced on by a Winged Horse and had its skull gnawed on. Before dying, it sprayed a large amount of blood mist at Lockhart.
Whether it was due to excessive abdominal pressure or something else, the range of the blood mist it sprayed was too large and too wide, so much so that Lockhart couldn't dodge it at all.
"Aaaaaah~~~"
He let out a miserable cry of pain.
Pain!
It was too painful!
The pain first stimulated the skin that had come into contact with the blood, as if sharp steel needles were piercing into his skin and muscles. Then, he quickly felt this severe pain begin to spread internally towards his chest and abdomen, as if it wanted to pierce all the way to his heart.
He involuntarily staggered backward, but accidentally stepped into a pool of blood created by the Boggart in its 'Hanged Corpse' form wielding a large axe. Intense stinging pain quickly spread upwards from the soles of his feet, as if it wanted to pierce from his toenails all the way to his skull.
"Squeak!" The little golden monkey on his shoulder shrieked angrily at the Boggart.
"Focus on counting!" Lockhart roared, telling the little golden monkey to concentrate on that, while he tried to find a solution himself.
He tremblingly raised his arm, gritted his teeth, and waved his wand, aiming it at himself. "Scourgify!"
A golden wave swept through, and all the filth that had touched his body completely dissipated, finally allowing him to pull his foot out of the blood pool.
"Twenty-seven killed already!" He gasped, looking around. As the number of Inferi killed by the Winged Horse and the Boggart increased, at least a hundred Inferi had surrounded him, and the Inferi moving in the distance, hearing the commotion here, were also roaring and approaching.
A hundred Inferi didn't seem like a large number to count, but visually, it just felt like a dense, black mass all around.
He couldn't defend against them!
The Boggart and the Winged Horse couldn't defend against so many Inferi at all. Especially on the Boggart's large body, Inferi had already climbed all over it, clawing and scratching. Inferi were still constantly climbing up from the blood pool at its feet. The Winged Horse's sharp teeth were only effective against single targets, and the killing speed wasn't fast.
Many Inferi had begun to charge towards Lockhart.
"Grey Wolf Pack!"
Lockhart waved his wand, but found that he couldn't summon any forest spirits at all. The potted plant he had been holding in his hands had completely lost its vitality.
Finally, the vengeful fairy who had been floating in mid-air from the beginning finally made a move.
Its head transformed back into a rabbit's head, its arms stretched out, and a huge stake appeared behind it, binding it. The dozen or so fang-filled mouths that had split open on its body opened and closed, humming a chilling song.
This was its most complete state.
As the song began, the seeds Lockhart had scattered on the ground earlier cracked open and extended thin roots into the earth, branching out, leafing, and growing rapidly.
The power of the earth was being awakened.
Soon, tall plants transformed into the only patch of green in this desolate land, and one of the poisonous tentacles even began to counterattack the Inferi.
Lockhart quickly waved his wand. Finally, this oasis-like place gathered forest mist, and three grey wolves strode out from within, pouncing on the Inferi.
No!
Not just three!
Whether it was because he was in a fairy tale adventure, or because the technique of creating a forest environment to enhance his spellcasting aligned with the 'Forest Witch's' behavior, or whether he had unknowingly made quiet progress.
The next two times, three grey wolves pounced out each time.
Nine in total.
The attack power of these forest spirits wasn't very strong. The bite force of the wolves' teeth couldn't completely sever the Inferi's necks, but it was enough to knock back the pouncing Inferi.
Of course, they couldn't block the sky-splattering foul blood mist.
Lockhart could only constantly cast Scourgify on himself to clean away the irritating blood that had splattered on him.
"Squeak!"
He didn't know how much time had passed, but the little golden monkey suddenly shrieked, calling out to the Winged Horse and the Boggart to stop attacking the Inferi.
Ninety-nine, exactly right!
The Winged Horse couldn't play any role at this time. It transformed into a blue lightning bolt and flew back, circling and watching vigilantly above Lockhart, ready to swoop down to fight in case of unexpected accidents.
The Boggart strode to Lockhart's side, its tall and sturdy body blocking him. Facing the pouncing Inferi, it grabbed one in each hand and smashed them forward like bowling balls.
Lockhart quickly began digging where he stood. He hadn't thought things through and hadn't put any shovels, sacks, or ropes in his ring. He could only dig with his bare hands now.
Just then, miserable wails came from the distance. Looking up, there was an endless, black mass, an almost uncountable army of Inferi was rushing over.
Lockhart pursed his lips and continued digging. He told himself he couldn't panic. Blindly fleeing at this time would only make him miss this opportunity.
Boom!
The vines conjured by the vengeful fairy intertwined among the trees, forming a wall. Now, influenced by the unique aura of life's extinction in this land, they began to collapse. With the Inferi army pressing in, they crashed open a large hole.
"Don't kill them!" Lockhart was extremely calm. He just glanced at it and gave orders to his companions beside him, speeding up his digging.
The little golden monkey quickly rushed to the gap, its golden figure swiftly weaving through the pouncing Inferi army, scratching and grabbing at the eyes of one Inferius after another.
Finally, Lockhart's fingers touched something hard. He quickly dug it out, and a large conch shell appeared in the sand.
It was as big as half a football, off-white, with spiral patterns inlaid with colorful, glittering sequins.
"Little golden monkey, come back!"
Lockhart shouted, calling his companions.
The Boggart transformed back into black mist and drilled into the sleeve of his wizard's robe. The vengeful fairy also transformed back into the image of a golden-haired, blue-eyed witch in mid-air, turning into a jellyfish-like form and extending its long tentacles to pierce into his body and quickly attach itself. The little golden monkey also jumped onto his shoulder.
At this moment, the Winged Horse swooped down, its claws grabbing his shoulders, and flapped its wings, flying towards the sky.
"Roar~~~ Roar~~~ Roar~~~"
The Inferi army on the ground roared.
There were so many Inferi that even though Lockhart was now high in the sky, he couldn't seem to see the end of them.
When the Carrow family used this storybook to train young wizards in the past, they wouldn't create so many Inferi. That wasn't a trial; that was murder.
Lockhart didn't relax his vigilance just because he had flown into the sky. On the contrary, he gripped his wand tightly, putting himself in a more alert state.
The wizard, or perhaps several wizards, secretly controlling the storybook were still hiding somewhere, ready to launch an attack at any time!
The Inferi on the ground weren't completely helpless against him flying into the sky. They began grabbing their companions and throwing them upwards. Even if the Winged Horse agilely dodged, they would still wild spray foul blood at them.
Pfft~
Pfft~
Pfft~
In an instant, foul blood rained down from the sky.
The Winged Horse squeaked in pain from the stinging foul blood. It was a magical creature with obvious biological characteristics, unlike the little golden monkey and the Boggart, which were dark magical creatures.
Fortunately, Lockhart timely cast cleaning charms on both himself and the Winged Horse, removing the filth.
"Dumbledore!"
"Dumbledore!"
Lockhart held the conch shell to his ear, shouting as if he were making a phone call.
Unexpectedly, there was an immediate response from the other side. It was Dumbledore's voice: "Excellent, my boy, you've finally responded."
Well, well.
Lockhart had used the Carrow family's little trick to get the conch shell so easily. Judging from Dumbledore's words, he had actually found a conch shell even faster than he had?
"Dumbledore, where are you now?" he shouted excitedly.
Just then, a dazzling golden light suddenly illuminated the distant sky. The golden light, shooting straight into the sky like a huge signal fire, tore through the dim sky, so eye-catching.
"Can you see the signal I released?" Dumbledore's voice came from the conch shell.
"Yes! Yes!" Lockhart shouted excitedly. "Wait a moment, I'll release a signal for you too!"
"Boggart!"
He shouted, letting the Boggart feel his fear and evolve again.
Soon, the Boggart flew out of his pocket, climbed onto his shoulder, and rapidly extended towards the sky.
Its current appearance was like an underground fountain erupting. Crimson blood spurted upwards, quickly expanding into a solidified blood tree, then growing upwards section by section.
'Blood Flower Tree Threadworm,' a dark magical creature that looked like a strand of hair. Its greatest characteristic was that every time it killed a life, it would use the victim's blood to create a section of a blood flower tree crown. The more lives it killed, the more its crown would stack up.
Wizarding history recorded the most terrifying form of the 'Blood Flower Tree Threadworm' as being almost boundless, with sections growing up as if reaching into the clouds.
"I see you!"
Dumbledore's voice came from the conch shell.
Soon, a blaze that almost illuminated the sky surged, and a sea of fire roared towards Lockhart's direction.
The fire scorched the entire land, and the Inferi were instantly burned to death. Even if they turned into bloodstains on the ground and three more crawled out, they would be burned to death again before they could even fully emerge.
Even though there was still some distance, Lockhart, floating in the distance, could feel a powerful and terrifying heat. His mouth was dry, and he felt as if the entire world was about to be scorched dry.
Fire!
It was as if the whole world was burning!
The sea of fire surged and swept through, splitting open a flat road, and Dumbledore, holding the Elder Wand, walked step by step in this direction.
Magic—Fire God paves the way!
Cool!
So cool!
"Gaa gaa gaa~~~" Lockhart, grabbed by the Winged Horse, cackled strangely in mid-air. Writing a book, he must write a book, telling the whole world—on this day, I and Dumbledore gaa gaa massacre!
Terrifyingly strong!
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