Black, donning his Ancient Magical Script armor and wielding the sword of pure Mana, stood over the corpse of the Witch, her head rolling away, leaving behind a bloody trail.
Suddenly, the entire sky seemed to be blanketed by brooms, Hippogriffs, and other flying Beasts as hundreds of the top echelon of the Order of the Black Phoenix came rushing to the spot.
Darcie had asked the question to Madam Villanelle just around the time when they had been about to leave the crowded center of Hogsmeade Village.
However, she had alerted her friends much before, taking precautions.
Of course, the fastest to reach her weren't the Headmasters of other Schools, Professors of Hogwarts, and Aurors of the Ministry, but Draco — whose Apparition and Disapparition couldn't be stopped by any means, even when the new Bounded Field restricted the House Elves' same broken ability.
Daphne and Hermione ran toward Darcie, their eyes wide open in Madam Villanelle's direction. Their faces had taken a ghastly contortion as they looked at the Witch's head, their hearts pounding in their chests as they thought of what could have happened if the boys had been even a moment late.
On the other side, Draco, Harry, and Ron, all clutching their Wands to attack, hiding behind the ruins of an abandoned hut, walked out, their shoulders relaxing before they nodded at Black.
Slowly, the dark spots covering the sky landed, and Wizards and Witches stormed the scene, gasping at the sight.
Professor McGonagall, Snape, Horace Slughorn, and other teachers from Hogwarts surrounded Darcie, meanwhile calling the boys away from the corpse.
The other Headmasters, Aurors, and high-ranking members of the Ministries rushed to the boundary of the Bounded Field to make sure nothing had been compromised.
Headmistress Theodore Whitethorn from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry alone went toward the corpse, carrying a nasty, angry frown on her face.
Sadly, just as it seemed the worst-case scenario had been avoided, a change occurred.
Theodore's furrowed brows shot to her gray hair as her eyes widened.
The Professors checking on Darcie also snapped their heads forward, their faces paling in surprise.
The various Wizards and Witches, including trained and experienced Aurors, who were rushing toward the Bounded Field's boundary, suddenly came to a halt as well, slowly turning around to see the most shocking and terrible sight of their lives.
The corpse… lacking a head… had raised its hand high toward the sky.
It was as if a string was attached to its wrist, casually pulling it up.
Then, with an unnatural, puppet-like motion, the hand came down, its palm slamming into the earth with a dull thud.
Hearts jolted.
That was only the beginning, though.
The other hand raised itself and came down in the same manner.
Then, using those hands as leverage, the corpse pushed itself up, blood spurting out from its neck.
As if that wasn't horrifying already, the beheaded witch, now standing on its feet, began… walking toward its head.
"Attack!" Theodore shouted.
The teachers pulled the children away from rushing forward as the rest of the Wizards and Witches lunged toward the corpse.
Ilvermorny's Headmistress, being closest to the corpse, was the first to attack.
There was no point in killing something that was so obviously dead.
So, making maintaining the separation of the beheaded corpse and its head her primary goal, Theodore blasted out a Spell, hoping to knock the corpse away.
The Spell landed with a force that could have knocked anyone hundreds of feet easily.
The corpse?
Its hand flickered as if it had just swatted a fly, knocking away the Knockback Jinx.
The distance between Theodore and the corpse was so little that the Headmistress couldn't even put up a shield as her own Spell hit and sent her flying, her lungs collapsing as her chest caved in.
None came to her help, though.
None dared to take their eyes and wands off the corpse that was still leisurely walking toward its head.
Hundreds of Wizards and Witches surrounded the walking corpse, then.
Curses and Jinxes.
Spells that could obliterate any living thing to smithereens.
Cracks. Bangs. Loud hisses kept echoing in all directions, flashes of horrible colors blinding the eyes.
When the onslaught paused for a moment to see the result of their combined attacks, the same Wizards and Witches, unanimously considered the most brilliant of their time, took a step back together.
The headless corpse was still there, its arms and legs broken and twisted at the oddest angles, bones jutting out of it as if they were shards of glass.
Then, with an audible crunching noise, the corpse's twisted and broken limbs straightened.
This time, when the corpse took another step, it landed right on the confidence of this group of Wizards and Witches, jolting their consciousness.
With that step, the corpse now stood over its head.
Like a puppet, it bent unnaturally at its waist, its hands reaching to pick up its head.
A rustling noise overwhelmed the ears suddenly as dozens of soldiers, all carrying rifles, tore through the groups of magicians and took aim at the corpse.
"Men…" the Sergeant commanded. "Put holes into the bitch."
The rattling sound deafened the ears as hundreds upon hundreds of bullets all precisely landed on the headless corpse, making it flap like a rag doll.
"Halt!" The Sergeant raised his hand as the soldiers emptied their rifles.
Of the corpse, nothing remained intact.
Somewhere between the holes, one could see what could have been a headless figure before.
It twitched.
The soldiers and Wizards suddenly raised their rifles and Wands to rain hell down on it all over again.
Before they could make their ears bleed, though, a shout attracted their attention.
"The head!" Darcie shouted from afar, Snape standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders to pull her back. "Don't forget the head!"
"…"
The soldiers and Wizards, simultaneously, looked toward the head.
But…
The head was already gone.
[Sigh! No wonder Mother puts you in such high regard.]
Everyone snapped their heads in all directions, but couldn't see anyone.
For them, it could very well have been the wind itself.
Then, the earth shook.
Where the headless figure lay, beyond mutilation, the ground caved in, swallowing all the flesh and blood.
Simultaneously, an upright coffin, shining black and green, rose from the earth.
Barely looking at it made hearts palpitate as if they were looking at HORROR itself.
Slowly, with a creaking sound, the coffin's cover opened, showing nothing but utter blackness within it.
[It's terrible… that she… that I have to do this,] the voice said. [Know that death is not the end, but merely a beginning. Even if… Even if it is black…]
Then, from the coffin's darkness, with a chilling, clicking sound…
… rats came out — their eyes glowing green — their numbers surpassing millions!