The moment that strange energy flowed into the broomstick, its speed exploded to a terrifying level.
At the same time, Carlo's eyes turned bloodshot, as though they had been soaked in fresh blood. A twisted smile stretched across his face, revealing pale teeth beneath an expression filled with manic excitement.
The aura surrounding him became deeply unsettling.
Just as he closed the distance to Harry and Draco, Carlo suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Harry Potter! Draco Malfoy!"
The voice tore through the sky like a blade.
Harry and Draco instinctively turned after hearing their names.
The moment they saw Carlo racing toward them, both froze.
His eyes burned crimson.
The grin on his face resembled a demon's mask.
The expression radiated naked hostility and madness, as though he wanted to tear them apart with his bare hands.
Draco immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Still, his pride reacted first.
Although a trace of caution flashed through his eyes, stubbornness quickly overwhelmed it.
"What's wrong with this idiot?" Draco muttered coldly. "If he thinks he can beat me, he's dreaming."
Harry frowned deeply.
For some reason, an intense wave of anger surged through him the moment he saw Carlo's face.
Then fragments of memory erupted violently in his mind.
A pale, hairless figure standing in darkness.
A wand pointed directly at him.
A woman throwing herself in front of him.
Green light.
Screams.
Pain.
The horrifying images stabbed into Harry's mind like knives.
For a brief, terrifying instant, Carlo's distorted face overlapped with the pale monster from those nightmares.
Harry's expression darkened.
"You won't beat me!" he shouted angrily. "You can't!"
The rage boiling inside him felt completely irrational, like a violent storm battering against his reason.
Meanwhile, Draco sneered openly.
"You?" he scoffed. "Someone who's already lost thinks he can surpass me?"
What had begun as a race between two students instantly transformed into a three-way aerial chase.
None of them intended to back down.
Unlike Harry and Draco, however, Carlo had completely abandoned technique.
He relied solely on speed.
Pure, reckless speed.
He charged through the sky like a crazed beast.
Sometimes he dove toward the ground so recklessly that it looked like he intended to smash himself into the earth.
Other times he shot upward with such violence that it seemed he meant to pierce the clouds themselves.
Every movement radiated desperation.
It was as though Carlo had forgotten everything except one goal.
Win.
Surpass them.
Become the center of attention.
"Hahaha!"
His laughter echoed through the wind.
"None of you can compare to me! I'm the ruler of the sky! Everyone should be watching me!"
The broomstick trembled violently beneath him.
Carlo ignored it completely.
Even as the handle shuddered dangerously, he continued forcing it forward while repeatedly attempting to ram into Harry and Draco.
His eyes burned with madness.
It genuinely looked as though some demonic force had seized control of him.
Faced with Carlo's reckless attacks, Harry and Draco could only maneuver carefully while avoiding collisions.
Despite their competitive instincts, both gradually realized that something was seriously wrong.
As Carlo's condition worsened, the strange emotions influencing them began to fade.
Then the broomstick suddenly started shaking violently.
The vibrations intensified.
The trembling became so severe that it looked as though invisible hands were tearing the broom apart from every direction.
Still, Carlo refused to stop.
"You're finished!" he shrieked hysterically. "Hahaha!"
His laughter echoed across the courtyard.
Several younger students below turned pale at the sound.
What Carlo failed to notice was that the strange power empowering the broom had begun destabilizing.
The energy was collapsing.
And now it was backfiring.
Harry and Draco regained full clarity the moment the pressure surrounding them weakened.
Only then did they properly notice the condition of Carlo's broom.
It was one of the newer school brooms that had recently replaced the damaged old models.
Yet now, the rear twigs were snapping apart one after another.
Dead branches scattered through the air.
The sight looked eerily similar to Neville's disastrous accident earlier that year.
Realizing Carlo was about to fall, both boys reacted immediately.
Without hesitation, Harry and Draco each stretched out a hand.
"Grab on!"
"Carlo!"
Unfortunately, Carlo ignored them completely.
Consumed by jealousy and manipulated by the lingering strange energy, he saw their outstretched hands not as help, but as obstacles.
People trying to stop him from surpassing them.
"Don't touch me!" he roared. "I'll win!"
Just as Carlo tried forcing even more speed from the collapsing broom, his body suddenly stiffened.
A horrifying pain exploded through him.
It felt as though thousands of burning needles had pierced every inch of his flesh.
Carlo's face instantly turned pale.
For the first time, clarity returned to his eyes.
Then came terror.
Only now did he fully realize the situation he was in.
Panic surged through him.
Desperately, he tried to regain control of the broomstick.
It was too late.
The broom had already lost stability beneath the influence of the strange magic.
No.
More accurately—
It had already begun falling apart.
The students below, who had been cheering only moments earlier, erupted into panic.
"Oh my God!"
"What's happening?!"
"Someone help him!"
Screams spread instantly throughout the courtyard.
Madam Hooch's expression changed dramatically.
Without wasting a second, she drew her wand, kicked off the ground on her broom, and shot upward toward the three boys.
Her face remained tense and focused.
Magic gathered at the tip of her wand.
Stay calm.
Don't let anything happen to the child.
Meanwhile, Leo and the others had witnessed the entire scene unfold.
Ron stared upward with wide eyes.
"What just happened?!" he shouted. "Everything was completely normal a second ago! What's wrong with Carlo?!"
Hermione looked equally alarmed.
"At first I thought he just wanted attention," she said quickly, "but this doesn't look normal at all."
Then her eyes suddenly lit up.
"What if we use the Levitation Charm to slow him down?"
Although Hermione said we, everyone understood exactly what she meant.
Aside from Madam Hooch, Leo was the only student present who might actually be capable of intervening in a situation this dangerous.
Charlotte, Pansy, Neville, and the others all instinctively turned toward him.
Fortunately, Leo had learned from previous incidents.
Instead of rushing forward recklessly, he forced himself to remain calm and carefully observed Madam Hooch's movements.
"Don't rush in yet," Leo said steadily. "Madam Hooch is the only adult wizard here. Let's see how she handles it first."
Charlotte nodded immediately.
"Leo's right. She's a professional. Flying emergencies should be handled by professionals."
Even so, everyone continued staring upward anxiously.
Worry spread rapidly through the group.
At the same time, Leo's mind raced.
Something about this entire situation felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The school brooms had all been replaced recently.
There shouldn't have been anything wrong with the broomstick itself.
....
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