A gap in the encirclement?
Hearing that, Lehende Delacour instinctively glanced behind him. Sure enough, no one blocked the path they had come from. There were no eerie crows either. It looked like their only way out.
Yet instead of relief, his heart sank.
If someone had been tailing them from behind, why hadn't that person shown up?
There was only one explanation—the man hadn't followed them at all. He had gone after his daughters.
Lehende Delacour immediately tried to Apparate. The magic that should have allowed him to vanish at will now felt shackled in place.
"Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded.
"Oh dear, every time someone's about to be captured, they ask that," Odyss said with a grin. "I'm almost tired of answering."
He spread his hands. "We… are the Ravens."
"Ravens?" Lehende Delacour's expression changed. "I've heard of you. Don't you claim you never interfere in wizard affairs? Why target me?"
Odyss shrugged. "How would I know? We just follow orders. If you want specifics, ask the Senate President yourself when you see him."
"You talk too much," Wade said coldly from the side.
"Fine, fine. I was only buying time anyway." Odyss yawned. "Daniel's quick. Once he grabs those two sisters, this will be much easier."
Even as he spoke, he drew his wand and advanced with Wade toward Lehende Delacour.
Lehende Delacour suddenly laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" Odyss asked.
"I'm laughing because you underestimate me. My daughters are not fragile little girls," Lehende Delacour said calmly. "And I'm not someone who'll let himself be captured without a fight."
"Oh? You're just a Herbology expert. Do you really think your dueling skills surpass ours?" Odyss shook his head.
"Magical dueling? I'm not particularly good at that. I'm better at close combat." Lehende Delacour's eyes sharpened. "You've set up an Anti-Apparition Charm here, haven't you? Good."
"Good? How is that good?" Odyss asked, puzzled.
"So you won't be able to run."
The moment the words fell, Lehende Delacour threw away his wand and charged straight at them.
"Damn it, he's insane." Startled, Odyss raised his wand and fired off a well-practiced Stunning Spell.
With his level of magic, that spell should have been enough to knock Lehende Delacour out cold. At worst, someone with decent combat awareness might dodge.
Given Lehende Delacour's confidence, both Odyss and Wade kept their wands trained on him.
"Roar!"
Instead of dodging, Lehende Delacour let out a roar that no human throat should have produced.
In an instant, the refined, professor-like man sprouted thick black fur. His limbs swelled, his body expanded upward, muscles bulging. Claws tore from his hands, fangs pushed past his lips. Bloodshot eyes shifted, his pupils swallowed by golden irises.
In the blink of an eye, Lehende Delacour had transformed into a terrifying brown bear nearly four meters tall.
He swung a massive paw and knocked Odyss's spell aside.
"Damn it, an Animagus? The report never mentioned this! He's an illegal Animagus?" Odyss blurted out in shock. He tried to retreat, only to see the enormous bear charging toward him in quick, compact steps.
"Move!" Wade shouted, firing spell after spell.
But despite its immense bulk, the brown bear moved with absurd agility. Every spell missed. Those small, rapid steps made all the difference.
Only now did Wade understand what Lehende Delacour had meant by being good at close combat.
He had actually trained fighting techniques specifically for his Animagus form.
In the blink of an eye, the bear closed the distance.
A massive paw came down.
Wizards were no stronger physically than ordinary humans. But the brown bear Lehende Delacour had become possessed strength far beyond that of a normal bear.
The blow landed solidly.
Odyss's head burst apart like a smashed watermelon.
Wade's face drained of color. He immediately aimed his wand at the ground beneath Lehende Delacour's feet.
"Transfigure!"
The earth churned violently. Soil and turf rose and twisted, transforming into a giant python that lunged to coil around the massive bear.
His casting speed was fast—so fast that Lehende Delacour had no time to react. The python was about to bind him when Mrs. Delacour acted.
"Expelliarmus!"
She cast the Disarming Charm at Wade. But she lacked combat experience. Her spell was slow, her aim rigid and predictable.
Wade simply stepped back and avoided it. Though the distraction slowed the python's tightening coils, the bear's huge frame left little room to escape.
As long as he restrained Lehende Delacour, the mission would be complete. Mrs. Delacour would pose no real threat.
But what happened next wiped the cold composure off Wade's face.
Lehende Delacour showed no panic as the python lunged at him. His body contracted.
From his brown fur, flat, elongated feathers burst forth.
In the blink of an eye, the towering brown bear became a swift eagle, slipping free of the python's coils and soaring upward.
"What?!"
Wade stared in disbelief. Before he could react, the eagle shrieked and dove straight at him.
A wet tearing sound echoed.
Wade's eyes were ripped apart. Blood gushed from his sockets as he screamed and collapsed, writhing on the ground.
The eagle did not hesitate.
With another dive, it snapped Wade's neck.
Just like that, the two wizards who had boasted they could defeat half the Ministry's Aurors alone were killed in seconds by the very man they had tried to surround.
Far away, watching everything through the Forest's Eye, Leonard's expression shifted to shock.
What had he just seen?
One person transforming into two different animal forms?
That couldn't be Animagus.
An Animagus can only ever transform into a single animal. A second form is absolutely impossible.