Meanwhile, at Hogwarts… pt2
Harry had separated from his friends and was walking through the hallways when, at that moment, Luciel called out to him along with Katerina and took him to a place where a wizard seemed to be trying to teach a troll in a tutu how to dance.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Of course not," Luciel said with a mysterious smile. "What's hidden behind it," she added.
Harry stared at the wall for a moment before looking back at Luciel and Katerina.
"Alright, I'll show you. It's quite an interesting place; it's full of all sorts of things," Luciel said as she stepped back slightly. She began walking in a circle in that same spot, repeating the path again and again. But before she could complete her third turn, something in Harry's pocket began vibrating strongly.
Harry pulled it out quickly with a serious look. Then he lifted his head with a cold expression that surprised Luciel and Katerina.
"Sorry; something important came up. You can show me later," Harry said without looking back as his body exploded into bright red particles.
Luciel and Katerina were completely stunned.
"Did he… just use apparition inside the school?" Luciel asked Katerina, searching for an explanation.
"It didn't look like apparition, but it was definitely transportation magic," Katerina replied quickly.
Right at that moment, a door materialized on the wall Luciel had pointed to show Harry.
"Mmm. Well; we'll show him later," Luciel said as she opened the door. What was revealed was a truly enormous room; almost as large as the entire castle itself, filled with hundreds—no, thousands, or even millions—of objects piled up in chaotic, disordered mountains.
Luciel closed the door, and it began fading quickly until it vanished completely, leaving behind just a normal wall.
…
A fat, round, gray rat was exhausted inside the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. Its gaze held an unsettling intelligence as its eyes darted nervously to every corner.
Every tiny noise made it jump and spin around quickly, as if someone could appear at any moment to catch it and send it to the worst place imaginable.
After hearing for the fifth time a noise that ended up being just the creaking of old wood, the rat began to calm down and rested for a moment. Another creak echoed, but this time it chose to ignore it, closing its eyes slightly… until it felt a stare fixed on its back.
It jumped backward immediately and, as it lifted its gaze, it saw a pair of legs in front of it. It followed the sight upward slowly…
And there it saw a face far too familiar; one it had hoped to never see again, especially because of its own fault.
But it quickly realized it wasn't the person it thought it was. Because those eyes… those cold green eyes with pupils whose center radiated an intense red glow made his gaze shine with a violent and terrifying beauty.
"Found you," said the boy in front of him as his hair swayed slightly from the magic leaking out of his own body.
The rat felt death in those icy eyes and, instantly understanding who he was, turned and began running at full speed toward a nearby hole already prepared in advance.
Harry raised his hand, pointing at the rat.
But the creature, accustomed to escaping and with instincts sharpened after fleeing Azkaban, jumped to the side with almost supernatural reflexes. Harry's spell, instead of trapping it, tore part of the floor out of place.
The impact made the floor explode.
Because that rat was Peter Pettigrew.
And right now he was escaping for his life, just as he had been doing since he fled Azkaban months ago.
Harry moved both hands and everything in his path began lifting into the air, tearing apart the floor and walls of the Shrieking Shack.
Peter, with reflexes that didn't seem human, jumped through the broken wood of the floor, dodged sharp splinters flying everywhere, and launched himself through a hidden passage.
Harry stopped his hands and the entire structure collapsed with a crash; his body, wrapped in a bright red aura, moved like a flash. It was as if his body had become red smoke that passed through the same hole, following Pettigrew.
As he passed, everything began to crack from Harry's power. The rat ran with all its strength without daring to look back; it didn't need to, because the sounds of destruction came from every direction.
The tunnel led directly under the Whomping Willow, from which Peter shot out just before the hole exploded behind him, launching stones and torn roots into the air.
From the red smoke emerged Harry as if he were a burning specter.
The tree, furious at being wounded, tried to strike the smoke with all its branches; but only managed to disperse it for an instant before it came together again.
That tiny delay gave Peter a few more seconds of life.
But he didn't get far.
The red smoke surrounded him suddenly. Peter stopped as he realized he was cornered with nowhere to run. The smoke wrapped around him quickly, lifting him from the ground, and began to materialize until Harry held him in his hand, staring at him with a deadly expression.
"Got you," Harry said. If he had been a child playing, it might have sounded fun and friendly; but his voice and his aura were those of a predator that had finally caught its prey.
In a way, it was literal.
Suddenly, something interrupted him: a scream… and a very familiar magical pulse.
"Nooo!"
That blue pulse traveled through Harry's body for an instant as if recognizing a friend…
and it made him stop for a moment, realizing he was close to what seemed like chaos.
A branch burning with black flames.
His mother's pet, Dee, with burns on her scales.
Frank with an arm bent in an unnatural direction, completely covered in dirt.
Terra floating weakly, clearly injured, approaching to check on Jeff protectively.
And Jeff, wrapped in a blue aura that surrounded him protectively right before disappearing and collapsing almost unconscious.
And to complete the scene, something or someone had been sent flying and had crashed against a tree, completely shattering it.
"Uhh… what is happening here?" was the first thing Harry managed to say, looking around with disbelief.
In his hand, Peter in rat form writhed desperately, but he was trapped between fingers that felt like steel claws, with no chance of escape.
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle…
Fawkes appeared in a burst of flames right in front of Red and his small but chaotic group. In one of his talons he carried something Red had been trying to obtain for a very long time: Dumbledore's Elder Wand.
For quite some time now, Fawkes had betrayed his former master and joined the chaotic group as a double agent.
How they convinced him… well, that is a story that deserves an entire chapter; but not today.
Red looked at the wand with almost overflowing pride and an expression that bordered on evil. That said, the dramatic moment was interrupted when he suddenly coughed harshly and spat out what seemed to be a cubic stone.
The stone had runes carved all over it, some of them cracked, yet still glowing irregularly.
However, being close to the Elder Wand, the stone began to emit a faint glow, as if the wand, offended, refused to accept it or was trying to decide whether to destroy it or tolerate it.
The group of magical creatures watched with extreme interest to see what might happen next. Each one was prepared for the best… and for the worst.
With Red, you could never know.
By the way, Dumbledore would realize that his wand had been replaced with a candy wand a bit too late.
But that will also be a story for another day; probably one full of shouting, confusion, and a Fawkes whistling innocently while looking the other way.