Castles in the snow always make people feel desolate. The goose-feather heavy snow blew down diagonally with the strong wind, covering the whole world in a gray-white haze.
And in the snow-covered front courtyard of the castle, a large number of figures shrouded in black energy surrounded them. In the center of the crowd, a young man was holding a long staff. He was surrounded but did not panic, and just stared straight ahead.
Wherever he could see, another figure covered in black flames also stood quietly on the spot, looking at the young man coldly.
But whether it was the party that seemed to have a large number of people or the party that was alone, there was no intention to take action immediately. It was clear that the atmosphere in the venue was extremely tense, but everyone seemed to just want to delay.
Obviously, neither party is in a hurry at this moment.
…
However, at the same time, Harry and Ron were extremely anxious.
"Harry, I think we have to hurry up... too much time has passed," Ron said helplessly, "Although we can't see whether it's dawn or dark outside here, I guess we've probably spent a lot of time here. All night long!"
When Harry heard this, he couldn't help but shook his head in distress.
"I want to go fast too! But -"
To be honest, the two of them have been trapped here for a long time. And the most important thing is that they don't even know where they are!
Judging from the surrounding environment, this seems to be a small wooden house with not much space. A dimly lit gasoline lantern hung on the dark wood-paneled walls, there were no windows on all sides, and there was no door.
In the corner of the room, two simple tan hammocks were hung directly from the ceiling. The two curtains hung slightly, covering the hammocks to some extent.
Above the two curtains, the brown coat of arms with a little badger printed on it is probably the only thing that can prove that they are still in Hogwarts - it is the symbol of Hufflepuff House.
Harry and Ron still remembered what Maca had told them, saying that if they wanted to participate in Dumbledore's funeral, they had to pass his test. But then, before they even knew what the test was, their vision suddenly went dark and they fainted in a corridor of the castle.
What exactly is the test? Think of a way to get out of here? But what kind of test can this serve
No matter what, when they woke up they found themselves locked in this rather small room. There are no doors or windows here, the four wooden walls are impossible to break, and there are very few clues.
To be honest, they were almost desperate.
"I think, let alone finding a way to leave, even whether we will starve to death here is a problem." Ron groaned weakly, "Harry, what do you think?"
"Don't say discouraging words!" Harry said unwillingly, "Whether it's to fill our stomachs or to pass the test, we can't give up!"
"Oh, I'm just saying that."
Ron shook his head, then got up again and began to inspect the wall.
It's just that this room is really only a small space, and the two of them have already carefully inspected every inch. Apart from the magical wooden wall that cannot be destroyed even by magic spells, is there anything else suspicious about it
"...Although we don't know exactly where this is, we must still be in Hogwarts." Harry said while picking at the nails on the board. "I'm thinking, we still have to guess where this place is first." Okay, this is probably our only clue."
"Who knows?" Ron sighed, "There are too many rooms in the castle, and not even all of them are shown on your Marauder's Map. How can you guess?"
"Yes!" Harry thought for a while and couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. "If I had known that there would be such a test, even if I didn't call Hermione, I would have got the Marauder's Map from her first. With that , even if we can’t see where we are, at least we can still see the actions of other people in the castle.”
"Hmm..." Ron pondered for a while, then said uncertainly, "Harry, I still wonder if we are in the Room of Requirement."
"Then we should be able to conjure something." Harry knocked on the wall, and the back was completely solid. "But haven't we tried it all? Even if we say our wishes, nothing happens! "
Ron nodded and kicked the wall listlessly.
"Anyway, we have to hurry up..." Although he always acted a little weak, he never really gave up in his heart.
"Yeah." Harry nodded.
…
Almost at the moment Harry nodded, the sound of fighting finally sounded in the vestibule outside the castle. That was indeed the "sound of fighting", not a battle between magic and magic, no colorful effects, but a real hand-to-hand encounter.
The Stone Knights guarding Hogwarts fought with the Black Deaths!
The Black Death Apostles, whose bodies are filled with black energy, were originally wizards, but under the erosion of the Bewitching Monument, they have lost the ability to use magic.
All their magic power was forcibly transformed into wisps of black energy. What he gained along with it was extremely tyrannical physical strength and defense.
On the other side, the Stone Statue Knights temporarily gained the ability to move independently under the influence of some ancient magic. Like a puppet, he waved the stone knight's sword in his hand slightly stiffly and slashed forward one after another.
In fact, this time it was the Black Deaths closer to the castle who were forced to fight back.
Originally Voldemort did not want to start a war, but once those stone statues were activated, there was no possibility of stopping. They have only two tasks, which are to expel foreign enemies and protect the castle; and they are given only two actions, which are to defend with shields and to attack with swords.
In terms of individual quality, the Black Deaths are far superior to these stone knights - both their attack power and defense power are much higher than these "frail" stone knights.
But it happened that these stone statues, which only knew how to raise shields and wield swords, made it difficult for the Black Death disciples, whose minds were full of "counterattack", "attack" and "kill them all", to display their brute strength.
Because although these stone knights are more "one-bone" than the Black Deaths, and they are not able to fly like the Black Deaths, they have uniform steps and a square formation that will never be chaotic.
The number of Stone Statue Knights is quite astonishing, only a lot more than that of the Black Death Apostles, even though there are still many who have not yet had time to release them.
For these slightly clumsy stone statues, it is not difficult for any wizard with a little brain to deal with them. Eliminating them is just a matter of time and consumption of magic power.
But the ones facing them now are the brainless Black Death disciples.
From now on, each Black Death disciple's attack will shatter several stone knights, but at the same time, at least eight or nine stone swords will hit the Black Death disciple. The defense power of these stone knights is far from being able to compete with the Black Death, but their attack power is not worth mentioning.
In ancient times, this order of stone statue knights was originally used to defend against invading giants. In the face of the terrifying power of the giant, it makes no sense to give these stone statues more defense. Only sufficient numbers and attack power can stop the giant's progress.
You know, how can the giant's defense be worse than the current Black Deaths
While Maka was keeping a close eye on Voldemort, the Stone Statue Knights, who were originally intended only to contain him, performed miraculous feats. Just listen to the sound of stone swords hitting and stone statues breaking one after another, and it is a mess.
Because Maka had his back to the fighting place, he couldn't quite tell how far the battle was going. His senses were filled with chaotic magic fluctuations.
But he didn't know it, but Voldemort knew it.
In terms of numbers, the number of Black Deaths who launched their own counterattacks was definitely much smaller, but after all, their strength was much higher than that of the Stone Statue Knights. Even though the battle situation was stalemate and even the Black Death Apostles began to suffer losses, there was still no problem in cleaning up those stone statues in the end.
However, how could Voldemort be willing to waste every precious Black Death in a place like this? He wanted to use a secret technique to force back those Black Deaths who had automatically launched a counterattack, but he couldn't move.
At this time, Maka's staff was already glowing with light, and the regular runes on the top of the staff were also faintly visible. Voldemort had no doubt that if he moved casually, a beam of ice-blue light would suddenly sweep towards him.
He doesn't want to start a war, at least not yet!
If you lose some servants, just lose some! In order to succeed in one fell swoop today, the necessary sacrifices are worth it - he has endured it so many times and doesn't care if he has to endure it again now.
Just because of the fight between the Knights of the Stone Statues and the Black Death Apostles, the hypocritical conversation between the two came to an abrupt end. Both sides understand that today they each have trump cards in their hands. This is already a tacit fact. If we continue to talk hypocritically, it will not make any sense.
The air became even colder.
In the midst of the noisy fighting, Maka and Voldemort's expressions changed one after another, and they glanced southward with the corner of their eyes.
It was this glance that made Maka's eyes flash with a stern look.
"Lark—"
Maka suddenly shouted loudly and was enchanted by the amplifying spell. For a moment, the invisible sound waves quickly spread out, and even the violent storm and snow could not reduce them in the slightest. In the blink of an eye, they spread throughout Hogwarts.
At the same time as the shout rang out, the staff in his hand suddenly hit the snow. In an instant, several rays of faint blue fluorescence began to light up from the point where the staff paused, and quickly swam through the snow on the ground, spreading quickly into the distance.
While Voldemort's expression changed dramatically, he suddenly transformed into a ball of black flame and retreated into the air behind him without hesitation.