Moody did not beat around the bush. His normal eye remained fixed on Harry as he got straight to the point, his voice low but clear enough for those nearby to hear.
His tone carried obvious displeasure. "Potter, I seem to recall telling you not to breathe a word about what happened that night to anyone!"
Harry's face instantly flushed red. Embarrassment and shame washed over him, and his eyes darted away as he stammered, unsure how to respond.
He had indeed told Professor Greengrass about it, but he had never imagined they would end up confronting each other like this.
"I... I didn't... I mean..." Harry tried to explain, but the words caught in his throat.
Moody looked at Harry's flustered expression and gave a heavy grunt, seemingly unwilling to pursue the matter any further. Instead, he moved on to the real reason he had called Harry over.
"All right! Now to business. Professor Greengrass wants to borrow your Marauder's Map."
He gestured toward Sagres. "The map is with me right now, but it belongs to you. So I'm asking you, are you willing to lend it to Sagres?"
The sudden change of subject made Harry breathe a sigh of relief, though surprise quickly followed.
He looked at Sagres, who stood calmly beside them, and nodded without hesitation.
"No problem, Professor."
Harry answered readily, "If Professor Greengrass needs it, of course he can borrow it."
Harry clearly trusted Sagres a great deal.
Moody seemed slightly surprised by how readily Harry agreed. He raised one bushy eyebrow, then glanced at Sagres and muttered, "Looks like the students trust you more than they trust me, their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Sagres."
He then patted Harry on the shoulder and lowered his voice.
"Keep your mouth shut, kid. Don't go telling everyone everything, especially before you understand what's going on. You should know how dangerous that can be."
Harry nodded awkwardly, still full of doubts and feeling somewhat dejected after being reprimanded. He then turned and walked back toward Ron and Hermione, who were waiting for him.
While Moody had been reprimanding Harry, Sagres stood quietly to the side and waited patiently.
However, deep within his eyes, an almost imperceptible silver glint flickered.
He silently cast Legilimency, probing the mind of the legendary Mad-Eye Moody.
He needed to confirm whether this Moody was truly as righteous as he appeared. More importantly, he needed to determine whether this Mad-Eye was actually Alastor Moody.
But the instant his concealed magic attempted to probe the other man's thoughts, it struck a wall.
A cold, solid barrier of Occlumency.
The barrier carried a fierce will to retaliate, instantly repelling Sagres's covert intrusion and keeping it firmly outside.
Sagres narrowed his eyes.
This level of Occlumency was far beyond what an ordinary wizard could master. It carried the vigilance forged through countless battles and an instinctive hostility toward any form of mental intrusion.
For once, Sagres's Legilimency had failed to uncover anything.
Almost at the same moment, Moody's normal eye snapped toward Sagres, while his magical eye stopped rotating and fixed itself firmly on him.
Rather than becoming angry, Moody's scarred face twisted into a smile tinged with mockery and understanding.
"Hmph." Moody snorted softly and said with a faint smirk, "Sagres, I'd advise you not to go poking around inside an old Auror's head. Aside from Dark wizards and traps, there's probably not much in there you'd find interesting. And uninvited guests generally aren't welcome."
He had chosen to expose the attempt directly, bringing their silent confrontation into the open.
Sagres remained expressionless, as though he had not been the one who had just tried to peer into Moody's mind.
He gave a slight nod.
"My apologies, Professor Moody. Sometimes it's difficult to restrain the habit."
Then, as though to ease the atmosphere, he naturally changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, I still have you to thank for recommending Mr Flonken to me. Noctis is very satisfied with its new 'eye'. Powerful functions and a unique field of vision."
A muscle twitched on Moody's face, and his magical eye rotated along with it.
"A small matter."
He waved his hand dismissively. "That old fellow Flonken is a fine craftsman, though he certainly isn't cheap. As long as it's useful."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the casual expression on Moody's face suddenly froze, as though encased in ice.
Harry had only taken a few steps when he sensed the previously calm atmosphere behind him suddenly become tense, as though the very air had solidified. He instinctively turned around.
Without warning, Moody thrust out his hand. His wand shot forward like a striking snake, pointing toward the group of students who had not yet fully dispersed.
A blinding red light erupted from its tip as his hoarse roar rang out.
"Bombarda!"
The curse was not aimed at any particular person, but directly at the centre of the crowd. If it struck, the resulting casualties would be devastating.
But almost the instant Moody raised his wand, Sagres moved as well.
He swiftly tapped the ground with the wand he had just drawn.
Boom!
The ground in front of Moody suddenly bulged upward and twisted. A thick stone wall rose from the platform in an instant, precisely intercepting the Bombarda curse.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out.
The stone wall shattered into flying debris as smoke billowed through the air.
Although most of the impact had been blocked, the flying fragments and violent shockwave still knocked several nearby students to the ground. Cries of pain and terrified screams immediately erupted around the platform.
But the attack was not over.
Before the smoke from the explosion had even cleared, a blinding green light pierced through it like a sinister serpent, streaking toward Sagres from an extremely tricky angle.
Avada Kedavra!
Faced with the fatal curse, the hand holding Sagres's wand twitched slightly.
A piece of flying debris immediately sprang upward as though it had come alive. It twisted and transformed in mid-air, becoming a simple shield just in time to intercept the green light.
Bang!
The green light struck the shield with a dull thud.
The shield was torn apart, but it successfully blocked the deadly curse, and the green light dissipated.
Everything had happened in the blink of an eye.
From Moody's sudden attack to Sagres's two consecutive defences and his protection of the students, no more than two seconds had passed.
Every student on and around the platform who witnessed the scene stood frozen in shock, their faces filled with fear and disbelief.
Mad-Eye Moody had attacked the students and openly used an Unforgivable Curse against another professor!
After blocking the Killing Curse, Sagres did not immediately counterattack.
He remained where he stood, his robes fluttering gently in the lingering magical turbulence. His calm gaze pierced through the gradually dispersing smoke and settled directly on Moody opposite him.
Moody had also stopped attacking.
He stood there with his chest rising and falling slightly. Dark, complicated emotions churned in his normal eye, while his magical eye spun wildly in its socket.
His scarred face no longer carried its usual belligerence or paranoia.
There was only a chilling, scrutinising coldness that made the heart pound.
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