The appearance of Minerva McGonagall and the others, along with the battle line beginning to stall, was such an obvious change that it naturally drew the attention of Barty Crouch Jr. and the others, who were still standing at the rear of the battlefield and had yet to truly make a move.
It had to be said that for the battle to have advanced this far without powerful figures like Barty Crouch Jr. taking action was enough to prove that these dark creatures were indeed difficult to deal with.
The endless ghouls alone were enough to cancel out the numerical pressure brought by the stone soldiers.
Not to mention that every swing of the Giants' clubs could clear out a huge stretch of space.
In any case, with Minerva McGonagall and the other professors entering the battlefield, Barty Crouch Jr. and the rest could no longer continue watching from the sidelines.
To be more precise, the reason they had delayed entering the battlefield for so long was perhaps for this very moment.
"So they've come? Those fools who want to defy the Master."
"We've been waiting a long time, you bastards from the Order of the Phoenix."
"Don't be careless. They are, after all, the subordinates Dumbledore trusted most."
The ones speaking were several Death Eaters standing beside Barty Crouch Jr., powerful wizards whose magical strength could rival his own.
Antonin Dolohov was a wizard with a twisted, long face, a dark wizard who had once brutally murdered the Prewett brothers.
Avery was Snape's classmate, a wizard obsessed with dark magic who had devoted his entire life to it.
Mulciber, also Snape's classmate, as well as Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, and others.
Almost every dark wizard one could name, along with the Death Eaters who had escaped from Azkaban, had appeared here.
This was a force that absolutely could not be underestimated.
It was worth mentioning that the cowardly Peter Pettigrew, as well as the current puppet Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, were also standing behind Barty Crouch Jr.
Pius Thicknesse looked rather strange because he was under the Imperius Curse.
As for Peter Pettigrew, his face held a complicated expression. He looked as if he wanted to run, yet was too terrified of someone to do anything but stand where he was.
...
In any case, after seeing those professors step onto the battlefield, Barty Crouch Jr. waved his hand as well. After giving a brief reminder, he allowed the Death Eaters behind him, who had long since been on the verge of losing patience, to join the battle.
As the Death Eaters led by the Lestranges entered the battlefield, the front line that had just begun to collapse and even showed signs of being pushed back stabilized all at once.
Chaos.
Madness.
And yet, somehow, beauty.
Every burst of magical light brought death and blood to this scene.
These wizards, holding nothing but a wand in their hands, proved to the dark creatures on the battlefield who the true masters of the magical world were.
Only these Death Eaters could withstand the offensive brought by the professors of Hogwarts.
"Come on! Scum of the Order of the Phoenix, come taste my Killing Curse!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Everyone, dodge!"
"Damn it!"
It had to be said that these dark wizards, who had no taboos at all and did not care in the slightest whether they accidentally injured their own allies on the battlefield, brought tremendous psychological pressure with them.
Minerva McGonagall and the others did not have the sort of moral obsession that would make them refuse to use dark magic even if it killed them, nor did they have the saintly notion that using an Unforgivable Curse automatically made someone a bad wizard.
But if it came down to actual proficiency in that area, these professors were certainly far inferior.
To say nothing of the Werewolves, who absolutely could not be allowed into close combat range.
So at this moment, it could be seen that although they could still barely hold the current battle line with the help of the stone soldiers, as time passed, the collapse of the line would only be a matter of time.
Yet precisely in this situation, when fresh reinforcements were desperately needed, Dumbledore's own younger brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, had disappeared from the scene.
...
Hogwarts Castle.
Passing portrait after portrait, the figures inside seemed to be running along with them. Witches and wizards in ruffled collars, breeches, armor, and cloaks crowded messily into other people's frames, loudly passing along news from elsewhere in the castle.
And that news was naturally about the Death Eaters' attack.
At this moment, Draco, who was moving quickly through the castle, also noticed the commotion outside. "Has it started?"
"The pressure of time isn't on the Dark Lord's side."
The shattered barrier.
And the Dark Mark in the sky.
Even though Draco was not at the scene right now, he could imagine just how terrible the situation must be.
Especially with more than half of their fighting strength being tied down by the Carrow brothers and Harry Potter, the pressure of holding back the army of dark creatures had become even heavier.
At that thought, Draco's steps grew faster.
"Not yet... It isn't time yet. The important figures still haven't appeared."