Although it was still unclear how long the magical barrier before them could last, one thing was certain at that moment.
The Werewolves eyeing Hogwarts hungrily had no way to break through the light barrier. Or rather, for the time being, they had no other method.
Under the night sky, explosions rang out in front of the great bridge leading to Hogwarts.
Boom, boom!
Green light.
Explosions.
And magical fluctuations thick with malice.
They were powerful Charms fired from the Werewolves' wands, and their target was naturally the magical barrier ahead.
But to the Werewolves' disappointment, when those Charms struck the light barrier, the scattered magical glow merely lit up the night sky and added a strange beauty to the scene.
That was all.
There was no sign of damage on the magical barrier. Not a single mark seemed to remain, let alone any hint that it might crack.
Simply put, their attacks had no effect whatsoever.
The leader who had watched all of this unfold was standing on higher ground.
As his subordinates tried to use brute force to break through the curtain of light before them, Fenrir Greyback made no move to stop them. He merely split his wide mouth into a grin. "So it really has no effect."
But expecting these Werewolves to quietly stay where they were would have been giving them too much credit.
Even knowing it was useless, they still refused to give up and kept trying.
They were Werewolves, yet they behaved more like huskies.
Not only did these Werewolves attack the barrier with Charms, they even tried biting it a few times with their teeth.
But without question, as time passed, they not only failed to accomplish anything, they also exposed just how much their intelligence had fallen after becoming Werewolves.
That said, if one had to be fair, it was not entirely meaningless.
At the very least, from these probing attacks, it was now clear that unless they spent a very long time on it, their current strength would not be enough to break through this obstruction for now, let alone enter Hogwarts.
In any case, Fenrir Greyback looked toward Hogwarts Castle, which seemed somewhat unreal behind the orange magical barrier.
At this moment, he seemed to finally understand why Voldemort had chosen such a roundabout method to take the castle before him.
"Was it because... he expected this situation from the start?"
If that was not the reason, then with Voldemort's personality and way of doing things, he would never have acted like this.
Based on what Fenrir knew of Voldemort, a direct assault should have been the most likely approach.
What Fenrir Greyback did not know was that, because Voldemort had repeatedly split his soul to create Horcruxes, losing those fragments of his soul had also indirectly cost him the mind needed to stay calm and devise strategy.
In other words, after that, Voldemort had almost never used any real schemes or plots again.
Of course, given his overwhelming power, it seemed he truly had no need for them either.
...
Draco Constellation Base.
At this moment, nearly everyone familiar with Draco had gathered at the only entrance and exit to this space, the secret passage leading to somewhere inside Hogwarts.
Needless to say, Draco himself was there.
Having already decided to personally investigate Harry Potter and the current situation at Hogwarts, he had naturally appeared here on time.
But aside from Draco, there were other figures present as well.
Among them, the most interesting were probably Goyle and Crabbe, who were standing some distance away for some unknown reason with their backs turned to Draco.
The two of them looked as if they were avoiding something, even though they had clearly come together out of concern for Draco.
At that moment, the girls' questioning voices drifted faintly through the air.
"Draco, are you really going to do this?"
"It's too dangerous."
"I'm going with you."
"Isn't this decision a little too hasty?"
"Be careful."
Pansy, Hermione, Fleur, Ginny, Luna, and Penelope had all appeared here.
But no matter who it was, every one of them was looking at Draco with worried eyes and attempts to stop him, directly or indirectly opposing his decision.
To be honest, there was every reason to worry.
But at the same time, they knew very clearly in their hearts that they had no reason to oppose this operation.
Because this was not the time for them to be willful. And within Draco Constellation, the only person who could handle this with any certainty was probably Draco himself.
Noticing the girls' gazes, Draco shrugged helplessly. "Don't worry... All right, I've said that so many times you probably don't feel anything from it anymore."
Although comforting these girls took quite a bit of effort from Draco, to be honest, for most people, this was the kind of sweet burden anyone would envy.
And just as Draco had said, the more he explained, the less easily he could convince Pansy and the others.
Even Luna, who rarely interacted with him, was staring at him with a strange look in her eyes, as if the moment he stepped out of here, he would die in some corner of Hogwarts Castle.
The only one who could face the matter head-on was probably Penelope.
At this moment, the former Head Girl was carefully analyzing what Draco needed to pay attention to on this trip. "Although the Marauder's Map is indeed very useful, there's a saying in the Muggle world... a drowning dog is usually a dog that's very good at swimming."
A dog?
Was Penelope calling him a dog?
Hearing this, Hermione, who was standing nearby, muttered under her breath with a speechless expression, "You said that wrong, didn't you!?"
But knowing this was not the time to say such things, Hermione did not interrupt Penelope.
"Also, while I'm not sure what's happening at Hogwarts right now, I think Professor Flitwick should be trustworthy. No, rather, any professor who can still remain at the school at a time like this should be someone we can trust."
It had to be said that Penelope was still calmly helping Draco analyze the situation, and she was able to see many things clearly.
At the very least, while everyone else was worrying about Draco, Penelope still remembered to remind him of these points.
In any case, even after so much had been said, and even after Pansy and the others had taken turns trying to stop him, Draco still decided in the end to step into that secret passage.