What... what happened?
Raising his wrist, glancing at the watch that began to ring frantically and emit a red light, Harry was momentarily puzzled. But in the next moment, he saw on that simple map of the wristwatch, a red dot suddenly appeared on the edge and was rapidly rushing towards him—
At the same time, Harry felt the air around him suddenly freeze. The distant cries of birds and beasts abruptly ceased, as if someone had pressed the pause button on the world. A scalp-tingling "silence" washed over him like a cold tide.
William's voice did not ring out, but the dead silence itself bore his name.
Damn, is this really "fair and just," "never favoritism"?!
Harry blinked his eyes wide, instinctively wanting to turn and run.
By this time, the screens had already switched to the hunter's perspective.
The hero was naturally Kabuda on William's shoulder, the Niffler wobbling under the weight of a camera almost as big as itself, trying hard to maintain balance.
William seemed to be crouched near a dense bush, the surroundings eerily silent—
The time on the corner of the screen abruptly began to tick—00:00:01.
The hunter's perspective suddenly moved in one direction, at an incredible speed, almost like teleporting between the shadows of trees! The camera shook violently, branches constantly thumped against the lens and the Niffler's head, making a loud clattering sound, causing the audience's hearts to jump into their throats—
"The hunter is on the move! Mr. William Richard is on the move!" Bagman's excited voice broke into the crowd's ears, sounding especially harsh, "So who will be his target? Let me see... it's Potter! The hunter is heading straight for Harry Potter!"
Harry's heart pounded, the instinct of being locked on by a predator clearer than ever before, he had no time to hesitate, swiftly diving behind an ancient colossal tree!
"Swish—"
A dark red thick beam of light almost grazed the boy's hair as it shot past, hitting the ground where he stood moments ago. There was no explosion, but the vegetation in that area seemed to wither instantaneously. Harry managed to compose himself and barely made out that it wasn't withering but petrification; the power of the spell created a "death" zone with a diameter of half a meter.
No way?!
Could such a degree of the Petrification Curse really not be fatal?
Harry gulped, suddenly realizing how... merciful William was during the half-month of "training" last summer? Had I never made Mr. Richard go all out? An apology was in order—although his mind was full of gripes, Harry dared not poke his head out. He opted to roll to the side, swinging his wand back, shouting "Impedimenta!"
A wall of invisibility erected itself between him and the source of that previous light beam.
But the next second, William's figure ghosted out from behind a large tree, ignoring the Impediment Jinx entirely. His right arm flicked lightly, and a slightly smaller red beam shot out again, precisely deflecting the Impediment Spell, striking Harry's right hand.
"Bang!"
Harry's wand flew out of his hand, spiraling away into the dense bushes!
"Ah! It's over!"
In the living room of The Burrow, Mrs. Weasley screamed, covering her mouth. The remote-controlled wand she hadn't let go since just then almost slipped from her grip. Mr. Weasley seemed to have finally "woken up," sitting bolt-upright, intensely fixating on the television screen before him.
On the screen, Harry, as the prey, had already lost his weapon after only a brief skirmish. Faced with the approaching hunter, he seemed like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
However, an unexpected turn of events!
Just as William raised his wand again, expressionless, pointing at Harry who had been hit by the Disarming Spell + Strong Binding Spell, making his movements extremely sluggish—
William's perspective and the Kabuda on his shoulder both suddenly jerked to the side—William's eyes sharpened like a blade, fixating keenly on a certain direction deep within the Forbidden Forest.
"Roar—"
Like the bellow of a monster, a troll wearing heavy armor charged out of the woods. In its hand was not the simple wooden club typical of forest trolls, but a sharp wolf fang club entirely matching the heavy armor. Simultaneously, short figures began to appear beside the troll—
"In this day and age, are there still so many armed goblins?"
Casually catching an arrow aimed at Kabuda, William squinted, his gaze almost unhesitatingly shifted towards a certain direction, where a humanoid black smoke wavered, its eyes locked with William's. Detecting the latter's gaze, the black smoke grew a set of gleaming white "teeth," grinning—
Then, "poof," that mass of black smoke disappeared from its original spot.
'Black Ghost', ah, there's no discriminatory meaning here, it's purely to denote the black smoke creditor who pursued from Africa all the way—so, why is this person able to find so many Goblins? And Trolls? Wait, could this person actually be Lanlock revived? Does that mean that damned scoundrel midget might also have a Soul Artifact?
"Roar—!!!"
Three trolls clad in crude metal heavy armor didn't give William any time to let his imagination wander. They barreled through, snarling like out-of-control battering rams, snapping small trees the size of bowls in their advance. Their heavy war clubs brought a foul wind as they fell, targeting not just William but indiscriminate in their sweeping attack—
Evidently, they saw all living creatures in the area as targets for eradication.
Actually, even more deadly were the shadowy, stealthy figures moving among the forest shadows—armed Goblins! There were dozens of them, crawling densely over every tree trunk in sight, wearing fitting and polished armor, wielding Crossbows or War Axes that shone with a dark red glow, moving as swiftly as phantoms.
Coordinating with the trolls' charge, they launched a precise and cunning volley from tricky angles, each poison-tipped arrow slicing through the air with a teeth-gnashing whistling sound—
The fastest of the Goblins wielding a War Axe had already reached William, a deep red phantom the height of a grown person appearing behind it, just like some seventh martial soul from a continent, its great axe swung fiercely at William—
The style of fighting was indeed characteristic of those Goblins. Ever since Lanlock's downfall, William hadn't seen such a combat style for about three or four years. Now witnessing it again, there was even a sense of... nostalgia?
But even if nostalgic, he was no invincible superhero—William flicked his Charm, the wand that had been aimed at Harry instantly sweeping across, "Protego Diabolica! (Fire Shield Protection)" Deep blue flames began to surge instantly, forming a scorching fiery ring.
"Sizzle—boom! Boom! Boom!"
Arrows struck the flame, and the majority were immediately melted by the intense heat, only a few extremely penetrative and fortunate arrows pierced the first layer of flame, but they too melted instantly in the ensuing blaze.
Simultaneously, the deep blue flames began to gather, transforming into a Fire Dragon that raised its head and caught the forceful club strike of the leading troll, "Dong!" A heavy thud resounded like a giant bell tolled, shaking leaves from the surrounding trees, but fortunately, that Fire Dragon was truly a "fire" dragon. If Norbert had been the one blocking that strike, half its teeth might have shattered.
Kabuda on William's shoulder was startled by the massive vibration, almost unable to hold the camera on its shoulder, but the Niffler's innate miserly instinct took over and it clung firmly to the glittering camera, the lens shaking violently but still focused on the Goblins—
Their small figures, greedy eyes, and ominous-looking armament were clearly captured in the close-up.
"Merlin's sodding condom! Is this the Goblin Rebellion?! Which one is it? Forgive me, Professor Binns, I really was asleep during that class—" Bagman's voice was filled with incredulous terror, "Wait, where did these armed Goblins come from?! And those armored trolls! Are they targeting Mr. Hunter?! Or...?"
Should I use the Killing Curse?
Looking at the heaps of "wild monsters" clumped together in front of him, William felt his hand itch—ever since those Ashwinder learned his signature skill, it was rare to see such a dense cluster standing together. If he were to use an Avada Lightning Chain now... it would be spectacular visually, but cleaning up afterward would be troublesome—
Moreover, rather than simply enjoying a strike, it was crucial to bait and hook a big fish—
"... Huh?!"
Harry felt a weight lift off him, the pressure of the Full Body-Bind Curse vanished, and the sluggish feeling in his movements dissipated. Harry almost without hesitation, scrambled towards the patch of grass where his wand had fallen—his heart pounding, eyes fixed on where the wand lay, while overhead and all around, sharp arrows and the shadow of war clubs whizzed past.
But Harry couldn't care less now, all he was focused on was grabbing his wand—
He spun around abruptly, seeing William surrounded by Goblins and Trolls, appearing to be in "dire straits", and he instinctively wanted to rush to help—
"Get lost!"
William's voice rang in the boy's ears, prompting him to stop instinctively.
After a brief hesitation, the boy turned and ran with his wand.
...
"Damn it! Where did these things come from?"
Fleur Delacour looked undeniably disheveled, the usually elegant and serene Half-Blood Veela now covered with half-dried mud, her fair face smeared with muck, and her silver hair matted with clumps of it—
"Who the hell knows?!"
Cedric was running a bit faster than she was, currently looking back, intercepting the sharp arrows aimed at their backs with Charms.
"By the way, didn't you get a piece of stone tablet on your last project?"
"Wait, even now you're thinking about that thing?"
"Well, it's competition first, friendship second..."