The entire Wizengamot had been sent into a moment of stunned and horrified silence. The eyes of the spectators darted from the cracked floor to Voldemort, repeatedly. They could only imagine what would have become of the Dark Lord had the red flash touched his body. Would he, too, have cracked into pieces? It was an intruding thought to their mind, something which was actually very hard to imagine.
Voldemort himself was slightly stunned. He had been expecting Antonio's range of spells to be limited, but this attack had proved his assumption wrong. Although he did not know the spell in its entirety, he could tell it was a complex and high level piece of magic. It had been created with a complex mind and not a spell to be found on some road side stall.
And then there was the humiliation. The manner in which Voldemort's shield had been shattered, forcing him to hastily step away, had dented his image of invincibility and the terror his name induced. He had been pushed on backfoot and that enraged and infuriated him. He could not allow that to happen. Not another time.
Fury and hatred appeared in his eyes as he snapped toward Antonio, his wand raised high in the air. It was time for the real duel to begin.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Minerva and Edmund were standing together facing the Death Eaters. No words had been exchanged between the two, but they both understood their purpose. Edmund had heard Lord Olario mention some kind of favor for his protection, and he was deeply grateful for it. With Minerva standing on his side, he was a little more confident.
Realizing that Minerva would be protecting Edmund, six more Death Eaters had joined the initial two. A standoff ensued between the two groups as they stood facing each other. The remaining four Death Eaters kept their attention focused on the rest of the room, guarding against any sneak attacks.
With Minerva suddenly coming in the picture, things had changed a lot for them making their hands a bit weak. The Death Eaters had grown tense. Dealing with Edmund was one thing, a simple task, but dealing with Minerva was on an entirely different level.
It was not that they were frightened, but they were certainly anxious. Still, because they held the advantage in numbers, they maintained a sense of confidence.
As their standoff continued, they caught the Dark Lord firing his first spell from the corner of their eyes. They saw its effects, followed by the monstrously powerful spell from Antonio, and finally, the Dark Lord being forced onto his back foot.
They saw the rage building inside the Dark Lord and they saw how frantically he began attacking Antonio Olario and in a moment an intense duel had broken between the two.
It was at this exact moment that Minerva moved. She knew battle was imminent, and there was no better time than this, while the Death Eaters were in a trance after seeing their Dark Lord pushed back.
She moved her hand in a swift, precise motion, bringing her wand down in a vertical cleaving arc. A blue beam erupted from the wand and sped toward one of the Death Eaters with the clear intention of splitting him in two.
Though still dazed, two of the Death Eaters reacted quickly, both firing their own spells against Minerva's incoming strike. There was a brief struggle, but ultimately, the combined might of their two spells was able to dissipate Minerva's attack. It was a draw.
On the other hand, while two Death Eaters had gone on the defensive, firing spells to counter Minerva, another two had shifted into an attack mode.
Both of them fired spells, one targeting Edmund Bones while the other targeted Minerva. There was a glimmer of hope that since Minerva had just fired a spell, she might not be able to counter the incoming spell.
Edmund cast a charm to counter the incoming magic, while Minerva simply swatted her attacker's spell away, a casual display of her superiority.
Minerva's first spell had only just been countered, and she had just swatted the second away, yet she was already moving to cast her next.
Minerva's casting speed was the singular trait that gave her an overwhelming advantage. It was simply too outstanding.
For her next move, she decided to target all eight Death Eaters at once, and to do this, she turned to what she did best. Transfiguration.
She narrowed her eyes as a spell erupted from her wand. To the surprise of the onlookers, the spell was not aimed at the Death Eaters, but toward the wooden chairs and tables. It was a Bombarda spell. In an instant, a number of tables and chairs were shattered into jagged pieces.
Before anyone could make sense of what Minerva was planning, another spell had already left her wand. The magic struck the broken debris, lifting the fragments into the air. A final spell followed, and every piece of wood transformed into an extremely sharp spear. Though they were still made of wood, their tips were sharp enough to pierce through anyone.
There were eight of these spears, and they flew toward the eight Death Eaters at blinding speed. The Death Eaters scrambled to counter the incoming projectiles. A few of them cast spells to shatter the spears into dust, while others raised shields to block the strikes.
All of this happened so rapidly that the spectators were barely able to keep up with the duel. Most of them remained focused on the clash between Antonio and Voldemort, which was growing more intense with each passing moment. Their surroundings had already been reduced to nothingness. The nearby chairs and tables, the floor beneath their feet, and the walls behind them were all slowly being ground into debris. It was as if mayhem itself had struck the Wizengamot.
The Death Eaters had barely saved themselves from being pierced by the spears when Minerva made her next move. A red coloured spell left her wand, aimed at one of the Death Eaters. He barely moved in time, yet the spell still grazed his arm drawing blood.
A scream erupted from his throat as the spell sliced through a large portion of his limb, leaving it attached to his shoulder by only a thread of muscle. But before he could even finish his cry, another spell sliced through his neck. His head fell with a heavy thud, blood sprayed from the wound, and his body collapsed. He was dead.
This final spell had been fired by Edmund Bones. He and Minerva exchanged a fleeting, reassuring glance, a silent acknowledgement that one was down.
#
#
#
[Add the book to your collection. Send it some power stones. Leave a rating and a review.]
[Access advanced chapter on P@treon. Replace @ with a. One additional advanced chapter each week on P@treon. ]
[email protected]/imaginaryw