The 16-year-old Voldemort gripped his wand tightly, casting a vicious glare at the two counterparts who dared to mock him.
Though he desperately wanted to end them both with the Killing Curse, for the sake of the plan, he simply left behind a cold command: "Act according to plan!"
Then, he turned and vanished into the darkness.
The other two mysterious figures exchanged a look, stepped back in unison with a silent understanding, and their silhouettes gradually faded away, as if merging into the shadows.
...
At the same time.
It was half-past two in the morning.
Beneath a sky full of stars in the Scottish Highlands, Hogwarts Castle, which had stood for over a thousand years, was deathly silent.
The young wizards were still fast asleep in their dormitories.
The strict professors had all vanished from sight.
Only Albus Dumbledore, his hair now turned black from Harvey's treatment, sat somewhat lonely in his office, gently stroking Fawkes.
Fawkes was one of the last few phoenixes in the wizarding world and Dumbledore's beloved companion.
Right now, the bird held its head low, using its sharp beak to patiently groom the vibrant, multicolored feathers on its wings.
It wasn't until Fawkes sensed the dangerous aura of darkness approaching that it raised its noble head, a flash of human-like worry crossing its wise eyes.
"Do not worry, Fawkes. I foresaw this day long ago, did I not?" Dumbledore comforted softly.
Upon hearing this, Fawkes lowered its head to continue grooming, as if the worry in its eyes just now had been a mere illusion.
"Go now. Inform the boy, Harvey. I no longer have any need for glory; let the fame of ending Voldemort be granted to that outstanding junior."
Fawkes stopped grooming, gave a gentle flap of its wings, and its long, variegated tail feathers split like a fish's tail.
It flew straight out the window, trailing a brilliant, rainbow-like streak of light across the night sky.
Once Fawkes had flown away.
Dumbledore let out a soft sigh, gazing out the window at the distant horizon where colorful magical lights were already beginning to illuminate half the heavens.
He seemed to already be able to see the final end of these uninvited guests.
...
Hogsmeade Village.
A dazzling rainbow shadow streaked across the starry sky.
Harvey was currently asleep, holding Hermione in his arms, when a small hole was suddenly pecked into the window.
The freezing mid-winter wind immediately whistled through the opening and into the warm, spring-like bedroom.
Hermione, covered only by a thin blanket, felt goosebumps rapidly break out across her slender swan neck.
She let out an unconscious murmur and huddled deeper into Harvey's chest.
Sensing the strange change in room temperature, Harvey opened his eyes and looked toward the window.
"What's going on?"
"REEE—!"
The piercing, resonant, and unique cry of a phoenix caused Harvey to instantly snap awake.
"Has something happened?"
"Darling, wake up!"
Harvey gently shook the Miss Know-It-All in his arms.
Hermione opened her eyes dazed and bleary, shooting a dissatisfied glare at certain someone.
"Stop it... let Cho Chang keep you company tomorrow."
Harvey's forehead was covered in dark lines; this girl had been thoroughly spoiled by him.
"Fawkes is outside the window. Something must have happened at the school."
"Which witch is Fawkes now?" Hermione muttered to herself in a half-dreaming state.
It wasn't until a thought slowly rose in her sluggish brain.
"My god, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, is here?"
Hermione's pupils contracted, and she hurriedly looked toward the window.
Through the small hole pecked in the glass, she could vaguely see Fawkes's feathers radiating a magnificent glow.
The two of them scrambled out of bed.
"How annoying! My lingerie has been torn to pieces again..."
Hermione looked helplessly at the messy fragments of her stockings and lace on the floor, complaining while she opened the wardrobe to pull out new clothes.
"Cut the crap. How could I have torn it if you hadn't been so wet and cooperative?" Harvey retorted in a bad mood.
"Pah! Who was cooperative? You can't get a clean word out of that dog mouth of yours."
"Hurry up, don't dawdle. Let me help you put your bra on..."
"Get lost!"
Once they were fully dressed and looking proper, Harvey opened a portal, taking Hermione—now in fresh wizard robes—to the lawn by the main gates of Hogwarts Castle.
When they arrived, a semi-transparent magical barrier had already been raised around the castle.
Dozens of Death Eaters were excitedly shouting slogans while waving their wands at the perimeter, continuously casting offensive spells to bombard the magical shield.
"To make wizards great again!"
"Kill! Kill them all...!"
"Damn it, are those Death Eaters? Voldemort must be here too. Stop them!"
Her face full of anxiety, Hermione immediately drew the Wand of Watoomb, wanting to step in and stop the Death Eaters from destroying the barrier.
Harvey, however, swiftly scanned the surroundings. These Death Eaters radiating evil auras were all just small fry.
In his sharp perception, there was no sign of Voldemort's powerful magical signature nearby.
He quickly held Hermione back and advised: "Don't rush. Voldemort isn't here. I'll handle these grunts. You head to the Ministry of Magic first and take a look; be careful not to fall for a trap."
Hermione calmed down and said, "Right. This might be a diversion. I'll head to the Ministry!"
Saying this, she extended her left hand and drew a circle, opening a portal to the Ministry of Magic.
With Miss Know-It-All on the move, Harvey felt the Ministry should be secure; after all, Hermione had learned many of Kamar-Taj's mystic arts.
Her current strength was far greater than it had been in the original timeline.
Meanwhile, Professor Snape heard the noisy commotion outside and left his underground laboratory with a dark expression.
Arriving at the Great Hall, he was just about to start scolding when he saw a massive crowd of panicked students gathered there.
At the same time, he spotted the Death Eaters rampaging outside the castle's barrier.
"Damn it! Prefects, step forward and calm the students. Professors, follow me out to meet the enemy!"
Snape didn't have time to fix his messy, greasy nest of hair. After giving his instructions, he immediately drew his wand and charged toward the main gates.
Professor McGonagall first cast a Salvio Hexia charm over the Great Hall to ensure the students wouldn't be caught in the crossfire before following close behind him toward the outside world.
Professor Filius Flitwick, being part-goblin, belonged to one of the races Voldemort despised the most.
If the school fell to Voldemort, he would be the first to die.
Thus, he also drew his wand without hesitation, summoned his courage, and rushed outside.
But—
The moment Snape and the others burst through the main gates.
They happened to see massive dragons of fire, appearing as if they possessed a consciousness of their own, automatically tracking and slamming into every single Death Eater distributed around the castle's perimeter.
"Argh! Whose attack is this?"
"Look out! Finite Incantatem!"
"The counter-spell failed? How is that possible?"
"Shit, get out of the way...!"
In the chaos, the Death Eaters screamed one after another. Faced with the fire dragons that hit with the precision of tracking missiles, they had no power to fight back.
They couldn't even dodge.
Every person struck by a fire dragon was instantly incinerated into a pile of charred ash by the terrifying magical flames.
A bizarre, savory scent of burnt flesh drifted through the air.
"This is..."
Professor Snape and the others were dumbstruck.
It wasn't until they spotted Harvey, floating steadily and conspicuously in the air.
Only then did they realize whose masterpiece the tragic deaths of the Death Eaters had been.
Although Snape knew Harvey Ferguson was the most magically gifted student Hogwarts had seen in centuries...
The power of this Fire God's Descent had already far exceeded anything a normal human could imagine.
After wiping out the trash, Harvey didn't let his guard down. He flew a lap around the castle, and only after confirming there were no survivors did he descend.
He landed right in front of Professor Snape.
"Professor, I hope I didn't disturb your rest?"