Although Harry was already certain that the black-robed wizard with his face hidden beneath the hood was Snape, he had no intention of telling Hagrid.
After being distrusted so many times, Harry was furious. And besides—if he could just rip that robe off in front of everyone, that would be far more convincing than any accusation!
Just wait, Snape. I'll expose you myself!
"Houndour, use Fire Fang!"
"Inferno, use Bite!"
"Litleo, Headbutt!"
Before Hagrid could even process Harry and his friends' sudden appearance, Harry had already taken the initiative to attack. Ron and Hermione followed immediately, and the three of them commanded their Pokémon to strike at Quirrell in unison.
Quirrell ducked and rolled swiftly, dodging Houndour's flaming fangs before raising his wand to cast a spell at Inferno.
"Get out of my way! Incendio!"
Inferno burst through the wave of fire, dark energy swirling within his jaws. At the same time, Litleo's charge was nearly upon Quirrell—
"Protego!"
Quirrell didn't panic. With a flick of his wand, a translucent violet shield flared before him.
The magic not only blocked Inferno's and Litleo's attacks, but rebounded them as well. Both Pokémon were sent flying backward, crashing into the damp leaves of the Forbidden Forest.
"Harry! Firenze, how could you bring them here!" Hagrid finally snapped out of his shock and roared in anger.
Harry never had the habit of letting friends take the blame. Without even looking back, he shouted, "Hagrid, we came on our own!"
Hagrid wanted to argue, but this was no time for talk.
Quirrell flicked his wand again, sending several curses flying in all directions. One spell nearly grazed Hagrid's eye as it whizzed past his face.
He recoiled instinctively and raised his pink umbrella to fight back.
Harry and Ron were forced to dodge frantically as well, while Firenze and Ronan intercepted several spells to protect them. Without the centaurs' help, things would've been far worse.
"That guy's way too strong!" Ron yelped, dragging Hermione behind a thick tree trunk for cover.
He wasn't wrong—Quirrell was displaying an astonishing level of combat skill. No one would ever believe that this ferocious duelist was the same timid Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from class.
And this wasn't even Quirrell under Voldemort's control—this was his own power, unleashed.
In truth, Quirrell's former weakness had been nothing but an act. Even Hagrid knew he had talent. Under Voldemort's dark tutelage, his mastery of black magic had advanced by leaps and bounds. Otherwise, there was no way he'd still be overpowering Hagrid and two centaurs at once.
The few sips of unicorn blood he'd drunk earlier had partially restored his strength. Though wracked with pain, he was still deadly.
He raised his wand, its tip bursting with blinding white light.
The ground, stones, and withered trees trembled—
The next moment, they twisted and transformed as if given life, morphing into several monstrous figures!
The enormous golems opened their mouths in silent roars.
If Quirrell's Transfiguration had been more refined, he might've even given them working vocal cords—but in this situation, precision hardly mattered.
The three towering monsters clenched their massive fists and charged. Each swing stirred a violent gale.
BOOM!
A rocky fist slammed into the ground, shaking it like an earthquake.
"How are we supposed to fight those things?!" Ron shouted in disbelief.
Before he could blink, one of the monsters hefted a massive tree trunk and brought it down on them.
Firenze and Ronan loosed their arrows, but the shafts merely thudded uselessly against the creature's wooden body and bounced away. They retreated quickly—thankfully, the dense forest provided plenty of thick trees for cover.
Hagrid abandoned his wand entirely, hefting the fallen trunk like a club and charging straight into the fray.
But even his enormous strength couldn't make up for the difference in numbers. Wooden weapons were no match for stone giants.
"Ron, Hermione!" Harry crouched low, dodging splinters and flying debris to keep from being caught in the chaos. "We need to help Hagrid!"
"I've got an idea!" Hermione shouted.
Before either boy could stop her, she sprinted toward one of the tree-born monsters, making both Harry and Ron's hearts leap in panic.
"She's gone mad!"
"I'm not! We can burn them! Litleo, use Ember!" she yelled back, raising her wand to conjure flames of her own.
It was actually a brilliant idea. Both boys' eyes lit up.
"Houndour, use Ember!"
"Inferno, Nimbus—use Ember too!"
Four Pokémon unleashed their flames together, merging in midair into a blazing fireball that smashed into the wooden monster's body.
BOOM!
Fire erupted in a brilliant explosion.
The flames engulfed the creature instantly—
But—
The fire couldn't reduce such a massive figure to ashes so quickly. Now, the wooden monster had become a fiery one, its attacks fiercer than ever!
"We messed up!"
Ron's scream echoed through the forest.
But they hardly needed the warning.
Harry and Hermione had already realized their mistake—but Harry quickly came up with a new plan.
"Then we'll lure it to the other two!"
He recalled Houndour, pulling out another Poké Ball and throwing it forward with force.
"It's you, Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
A burst of golden lightning shot from the red beam.
Pikachu landed and instantly fired an electric blast at the burning monster, drawing its attention.
The mindless Transfiguration construct took the bait and charged after the source of the light.
"Use Quick Attack—then Double Team!"
In an instant, dozens—no, hundreds—of Pikachu appeared all around, darting through the clearing. The monster couldn't tell which was real, striking at anything that moved.
And that was exactly what Harry had counted on.
If one looked closely, the clones were guiding the creature's movement—straight toward Hagrid and the other two monsters.
"Hagrid! Get out of the way!"
"What?" Hagrid's bruised face turned toward him, just in time to see the blazing monster barreling forward.
He didn't hesitate—he shoved his opponent backward with a mighty push and jumped clear.
Dozens of Pikachu zigzagged over the three monsters, confusing them completely. The lumbering giants swung wildly at one another as their fiery and rocky limbs collided.
BOOM!
(End of Chapter)