The "chubby" Niffler stood on the surface of the lake, its soft belly slightly swaying, causing ripples on the water.
Its pair of fiery golden eyes scanned the battlefield, finally fixing on the bone dragon, as well as Rookwood and the group of black-robed wizards behind him.
It seemed to move its paw in the pocket—it then pulled out a handful of items and scattered them into the air.
It was a large handful of glittering Galleons, Sickles, and various gems, jewelry, and pocket watches. Since these items were enlarged, everyone could see their appearance and style clearly. Malfoy, crouched behind the wall, couldn't help but stare blankly when he saw one of the pocket watches—
That thing, it looked so much like the one he lost a year and a half ago...
However, compared to the murmurs of confusion echoing in Hogwarts Castle, the dragon-wizard troupe currently facing Kabuda was evidently more puzzled. Victor just frowned, but the bone dragon flying behind them flapped its wings and surged forward. Apparently, Lanlock didn't take the suddenly appearing Niffler seriously, just an oversized digging rat, what could it possibly...?
The next moment, every coin and gem, every piece of jewelry scattered in the air, lit up with faint golden runes—
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"
The piercing screech of spells slicing through the air.
The treasures floated in mid-air, like powerful floating cannons. The blazing golden laser tracks arrived in an instant, nearly in the blink of an eye, shooting the defenseless bone dragon into a tattered kite. Then, these cannon blasts eagerly rained down on the wizards at the shore.
"Defend!"
Victor shouted a command.
So the black-robed wizards hastily raised their magic wands, and various shield spells lit up above their heads. However, the power of those golden lasers was far beyond imagination—
"Bang bang bang bang—"
In the instant the lasers collided with the shields, dazzling golden sparks exploded, and their situation wasn't much better than Lanlock's. Under the dense barrage of lasers like rain, the shields the wizards held gradually weakened, and soon, muffled groans sounded under the utterly perforated shields. The originally more than a hundred-member wizard group began to rapidly decrease in number, until—
Until the light faded from the runes on the Galleons, one after another, falling down, and Kabuda opened its pocket and caught them all without missing a single one.
The Niffler's large short beak split open—perhaps that was a smile—and then, it started rummaging in its pocket again—
No!
Victor's expression was grim. Although he knew his men couldn't die and would soon return to battle, he realized that, looking at the Niffler's enormous belly, if they continued like this, the time it would take would be astronomical—
They needed to know, their biggest shortage was time, that "Sword of Damocles" still hovered over their "heads" at every moment.
"Focus the attack, kill him!"
He sharply ordered, deciding to abandon defense. His magic wand already pointed at Kabuda, a pitch-black Diffindo shot out. He was well aware of his spell's power; after enhancement, the charm was powerful enough to cut through dragon scales, his previous dismal battle performance was just because he was up against that man.
Things didn't surprise him; the Niffler indeed acted as if it knew nothing, completely undodging and unflinching.
It simply raised the paw stuffed in its pocket, and then, the shield wrapped around its arm—no, that thing was even bigger than the door plate at Hogwarts Castle. Heavy iron sheets encased solid wood...so it seemed to be an oak door plate dismantled from somewhere, with iron edges studded with numerous rivets.
"Clang—"
Victor's Diffindo struck hard on the door plate, but only left a mark, flying wood shards, but couldn't penetrate through.
Kabuda raised the door plate like a shield in front of him, then fumbled again in his pocket.
But this time, it was the Niffler who frowned, pulling out a silver dinner knife, William's ear excavator, Hogwarts kitchen ladle...it couldn't find a satisfactory melee weapon, leaving it somewhat sullen, but the next moment, a soft tentacle lifted a rusty, seaweed-covered Ford Anglia car.
"Beep beep—"
Merlin's beard, that thing could even honk, this car that crashed into the Black Lake on William's enrollment day was indeed, as Dumbledore had stated, become the Great Squid's private... no, private fish collection. Now, it seemed willing to contribute it.
"Squeak!"
And Kabuda, having accepted the gift, seemed extremely excited. It grabbed the car trunk's indent with a face full of joy, lifting it overhead. A flicker of golden runes flowed across its dense black fur, finally converging on the door plate and the car—
Though their appearance hadn't changed, everyone could sense that those two things were now far mightier than before.
Then Kabuda, shield in one hand, "sword" in the other, moved with an astonishly inconceivable speed. It swung the "sword" towards the newly airborne Lanlock, and the bone dragon, once again struck in the head, was utterly enraged, its mouth gaping open in a noiseless roar—
The next moment, the bone dragon's figure grew larger, its once transparent silhouette became solid again, hollow pupils reigniting with even more sinister crimson flames. Clearly, it was genuinely furious, willing to tap into its essence—
It couldn't blame Lanlock's short temper, having lost previously to William was understandable, drawing with Norbert due to species disparity...
But now, even a friggin' Niffler could crap on its head, Lanlock felt if it had lungs, they'd probably have burst with rage by now.
So, over the Black Lake, a bizarre scene unfolded—a bony dragon exuding an ominous aura squared off with an enormous, door plate and car-wielding Duckbill, leaving many in the nearby castle in silence—they couldn't help but question if they were still dreaming. Otherwise, how could today's events be increasingly outrageous?
And while the Niffler battled the bone dragon, Hermione, who had deployed Kabuda onto the battlefield, hadn't been idle. Though her flying skills were lacking, she hadn't plummeted straight into the lake. She attempted to lower her figure, flying towards the lake's surface. With the Niffler creature being the center of attention, the previous "main character" was gradually forgotten—
"Norbert, does it still hurt?"
Hermione hovered on her broom in front of the fire dragon, licking its wounds. Calmly, she patted its hard scales, while the latter leapt from the water, wagging its tail like a big dog greeting its master's return. Its form gradually shrank mid-air to the size of a teddy, settling on Hermione's shoulder, nuzzling her cheek affectionately.
"Easy now, I..."
Hermione quickly stabilized her broom, nudging the excited Norbert aside with her head. Preparing to extract the Dittany from her small bag, she suddenly seemed to have a premonition, faltering in mid-air and dropping directly down. The next moment, a ghastly green spark zipped by where she had just been—
Leaving behind an ominous aura of death.