"Are you sure this is the experience Albert was talking about?"
Kenneth held up his night vision goggles with trembling hands, looking at the army of Dementors and Inferi pouring into Hogwarts through the blown-open iron gate, and the muscles on his cheeks twitched slightly.
If there weren't a large group of Defense Association companions around him, he would have turned around and left.
There was no way. Those were still enemies they could barely see on the surface. God knew how many Death Eaters or dark wizards were secretly manipulating these Inferi to attack Hogwarts.
This posture did not look like an attempt to attract the attention of the Hogwarts professors directly. Kenneth felt that the "no risk" mentioned by Albert should be redefined.
"Don't be alarmed." George calmed everyone down. "Inferi are afraid of light and fire. As long as you study Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, you don't have to be afraid of these things."
"There's no need to be afraid of the Dementors army. We have been practicing the Patronus Charm for so long. Now we finally have Dementors that allow us to test the effectiveness of the Patronus Charm." George's words quickly calmed the anxious team down.
"You seem to have forgotten." Fred glanced at Kenneth and said teasingly with a smile, "It seems that someone has failed to successfully summon a physical patronus."
Kenneth's cheeks flushed red. Who could have made him someone
Strangely enough, except for Kenneth and another unlucky guy, most of the members who joined the Defense Association successfully summoned their own physical guardian angels.
If the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic knew about this, they would probably shed tears of humiliation.
"Stop making noise, the group of dark creatures have already broken into the school and are heading towards us," Cedric warned. Although he was a Hufflepuff student and knew that coming here tonight would be a big risk, Cedric still felt his blood boiling at the moment.
Not only him, but the dozen or so members of the Defense Association who participated in this training were all a little excited. They held their wands tightly with both hands, wishing they could immediately summon the Patronus to drive away the Dementors and use fire to burn the Inferi.
Unfortunately, their enemies are not only these dark creatures, but also the Death Eaters and their dark wizard minions hiding behind them.
That is the enemy we need to guard against most.
"We'd better not act on our own. Follow Albert's advice and wait for the professors from Hogwarts to come and help. Our task is to help the professors deal with these Dementors and Inferi. If we really run into trouble, don't panic. We can retreat into the castle and resist step by step. We are only here to gain experience, not to die." Shanna kindly reminded her. Albert had specifically reminded her to prevent these guys from suddenly getting angry and running out to get killed.
"We are not stupid. We won't go and die foolishly." Angelina's words were quickly recognized by others.
"Look over there, it looks like there's really an idiot rushing up there." Someone suddenly whispered.
"Looks like Hagrid!"
George took the night vision goggles from Kenneth, looked in the direction of the black shadow, and his face couldn't help twitching.
Probably alarmed by the explosion just now, Hagrid and Fang came out of the hunting lodge and walked quickly towards the source of the sound.
"Is Hagrid crazy? We'd better stop him as soon as possible."
"I remember bringing a flying broom, right? You guys cover me here. If the Dementors try to attack us, remember to summon your Patronus in advance, so as not to be affected by the Dementors and unable to summon your Patronus." George stepped over the broom and reminded again, "You only have one life, don't commit suicide."
As he spoke, George flew towards Hagrid on his broom. He didn't know how Hagrid was so brave as to face the Inferi and Dementors head-on.
Are you trying to kill yourself
"Hagrid, are you trying to kill me?"
George was nearly shot through the air by Hagrid with his crossbow as he flew low on his broomstick, but luckily he reacted in time to avoid death at the hands of his own people.
"Why are you here!"
After seeing George's appearance clearly, Hagrid asked in surprise, "I thought..."
"Albert said that something big is going to happen at Hogwarts tonight, so we came here... to defend Hogwarts and test the level of recent training." George explained slowly, "You'd better not rush over stupidly, otherwise once you are surrounded by those Dementors and Inferi, you will be dead."
"Dementors and the army of Inferi?" Hagrid was a little confused.
"Anyway, come with me. If you keep rushing forward, we'll probably have to collect your body tomorrow." George turned the broom around and flew back.
"Ah, is Albert here too?"
Hearing Albert's name, Hagrid couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and couldn't help asking, "What should we do now?"
He didn't have night vision goggles, and in the pitch-black night he couldn't see the army of Inferi pouring into the school from the gap, but he could already feel the chill emanating from the Dementors.
The group of monsters had already discovered the two and were rushing towards them in groups.
"Don't let the Inferi army break into the castle before the professors come to solve the problem. As for the Dementors, we have ways to deal with them." George turned around and urged, "Hurry up, Hagrid, don't be stunned, those scums have started throwing spells again.
Another batch of fireballs fell from the sky and landed in front of the Yin corpse, making loud explosions.
Those damn Death Eaters were still deliberately bombing Hogwarts, trying to make a bigger noise in order to draw the attention of the entire school and provide cover for the Death Eaters' assassination and retreat.
"Run, there are Dementors coming."
Hagrid reached out, picked up Fang at his feet, put him on his shoulder, and ran away quickly.
George could not help but shudder, knowing that the Dementors were approaching from behind, and was ready to raise his wand to summon a patronus. However, only a flash of white light came out from the tip of the wand, and it did not condense into a physical patronus, which dealt a heavy blow to George.
Just as the Dementors pounced on the two men, reinforcements arrived in time. Several Patronuses passed by the two men and their dog and flew directly towards the army of Dementors, dispersing the Dementors that were approaching Hagrid and George.
Surprisingly, the Dementors did not scatter. Instead, they bypassed the Patronuses and rushed towards Fred and his group, intending to directly deal with the wizards who summoned the Patronus.
As for lazy water skiing like before, the Dementors can't do that now.
Having just received so many benefits from the Death Eaters, and having sucked away so many Muggle souls, if he continues to collapse at the slightest provocation like before, it would probably be difficult for him to receive such treatment again in the future.
Faced with the Dementors that were surrounding them from both sides, Cedric was not nervous at all. He controlled his Patronus to protect everyone, and asked others to continue summoning Patronus to drive away the Dementors that were surrounding them from both sides.
They were well prepared!
When more Patronuses flew out from the tips of the wands, the Dementors were confused. They probably didn't expect to encounter so many wizards who knew how to use the Patronus Charm.
Faced with a large group of Patronuses, the Dementors had no way to get close.
"How did you sneak into Hogwarts?"
Hagrid put down his tooth with a gasp, staring at the group of people standing there with wide eyes in disbelief.
"There's a tunnel under the Whomping Willow that leads to the outside. That's where we came in." Fred was relieved to see that Hagrid didn't do anything stupid. "Start retreating. Those Inferi are coming. Also, be careful of the Dementors' sneak attacks."
"We need to create a fire belt to slow down the Inferi."
Cedric did not forget Albert's words. There was actually nothing to be afraid of Inferi. As long as you knew their weaknesses of being afraid of fire and light, and were prepared to prevent them from pouncing on you, they would be the best targets for practicing spells.
Although everyone can use the fire spell, not everyone can use it to the same blazing effect as Albert.
Cedric brought along a few friends who were more adept at using fire spells, and used spells to temporarily ignite a small area, creating a belt of fire to slow down the Inferi so that they could retreat calmly.
After all, we still have to guard against sneak attacks from Dementors.
For some unknown reason, that group of Dementors was more stubborn than everyone imagined. After being defeated by the Patronus, they gathered together again and again.
This is not good news. If the Dementors get too close to them, some members of the Defense Association whose consciousness is not strong to begin with may lose their combat effectiveness.
If the team fell into chaos and fear spread among the crowd, they would most likely lose the courage to confront these dark creatures head-on in a short period of time.
Hagrid took a breath and scanned the group. When he didn't see Albert, he couldn't help but ask, "Where's Albert?"
"He said there was something else. Don't worry, Albert is definitely safer than us." Shannah comforted him. She was letting the Patronus fly around the team to dispel the despair and coldness emitted by the Dementors.
"No, I'm worried about you." Hagrid sighed heavily, but when he saw the team moving in an orderly manner, he couldn't help but feel relieved. At least they looked well-trained.
When the team successfully retreated to the castle entrance, Hagrid immediately raised his fist and knocked hard on the oak door, but there was no response from inside.
"Stop knocking Hagrid. Wait a little longer and the professors will be here soon." George stopped Hagrid from making any more noise.
"Besides, Filch is a Squib and can't use magic. It's not easy for him to open the door alone," Fred added.
In fact, Filch had been awakened by the previous explosion, and he was indeed on the other side of the door, holding a mop handle in his hand and looking nervously at the slightly trembling oak door.
"Mr. Filch, what are you doing?"
Professor Sprout and other professors walked over here.
"Something seems to have happened. I heard an explosion," Filch stuttered. "Someone seems to be outside. I heard the big guy's voice... I mean Hagrid's voice."
"I know that Death Eaters are trying to attack Hogwarts." Professor Sprout raised his wand and waved it gently. The chains and bolts used to seal the door were retracted one by one, and the oak door slowly opened.
"Mr. Diggory, Mr. Truman, why are you here?"
Professor Sprout was surprised to see a bunch of familiar faces outside and couldn't understand why they were here.
"Albert said Hogwarts needed help, so we came here." Cedric naturally wouldn't say that they were here to gain combat experience, so he brought up the previous statement again.
Looking at the Patronuses that were chasing away the large group of Dementors, Professor Sprout swallowed back what he was about to say.
"Be careful, those dark wizards are coming in, there are twelve, thirteen, no, seventeen!" Truman screamed.
The professors looked at Truman in confusion, wondering how Truman knew the exact number of Death Eaters.
After all, it was pitch black outside, and with the protection of the army of Inferi, it was impossible to judge the number of dark wizards.
"The Human Tracking Charm," Fred explained quickly.
"Here we go, defense!"
Someone shouted, and those who were using their patronuses to drive away the Dementors raised their wands above their heads. A translucent defensive barrier formed in front of them, covering everyone.
Except for a few members responsible for expelling Dementors, everyone else raised their wands and injected magic power into the defensive barrier in front of them.
The explosive spells fell like cannonballs, and explosions rang out one after another, but the group of people hiding behind the tortoise shell were safe and sound because the group of dark wizards were just bombing randomly and did not aim at them at all.
Everyone glared at Lee Jordan who had just spoken, and couldn't help but complain, "Don't be so scary!"
"Ahem, I'm just testing your reaction," Lee Jordan argued. "Maybe a curse will really fall on our heads."
As soon as he finished speaking, a fireball actually fell on the magic barrier, scaring everyone.
"Shut your stinky mouth." Everyone glared at Lee Jordan.
"The Dementors are coming again," Lee Jordan warned
After Fred lifted the barrier, he yelled, "Get rid of them."
So the professors watched as this group of people summoned their respective patronuses to disperse the Dementors that had gathered into a black torrent and were rushing towards them.
They exchanged glances and raised their wands to join the battle. Wizards who could act as Hogwarts professors were generally not bad.
With the participation of the professors, everyone's confidence increased greatly. After driving away the Dementors, others also used burning to deal with the Inferi.
"It stinks. Can you please not burn it?" someone complained, covering his nose.
"I'm more curious about where they got so many Inferi from." The person who said this had no idea of the weight of the question.
"Those guys probably destroyed a nearby village and turned all the Muggles there into Inferi!" Kenneth sneered.
"That bunch of damn scum, they should all be hanged."
"The chances are slim. Those guys never leave the gate too far. I suspect they let the Inferi and Dementors rush in the front, while they hide in the back and make noise just to act as bait." Truman suddenly understood why Albert said the danger was not great.
If it were just Dementors and Inferi, they wouldn't pose much of a threat to the group of people who had already prepared for it.
"I hope Albert can surround them from behind and defeat them." Angelina shot out flames from the tip of her wand and ignited the Inferi in front of her.
"He'll do it if Albert has time." Fred shouted to the others, "Don't spread out too far, be careful of the Dementors' sneak attacks.
They didn't know what was going on with this group of Dementors. No matter how they used their Patronus to drive them away, they couldn't completely get rid of their harassment.
"Drive out these Dementors first and don't let them run around in the castle. We can deal with the Inferi after Dumbledore has dealt with them." Dedalus Diggle drove out a Dementor that tried to break into the castle.
Dementors were more dangerous and more difficult to deal with than the Inferi that were everywhere. If many people were not good at the Patronus Charm, they would definitely be in big trouble.