It had to be said, watching Voldemort and the Death Eaters turn on each other was really quite entertaining, but unfortunately the scene didn't last long.
Voldemort also noticed the people coming out of the lift; his gaze passed over Dumbledore and fell on Kael and Harry.
"You two again…" he said in an icy tone. "It's always you two, time and again provoking me. Too many times, for far too long. Avada Kedavra!"
He was Voldemort, after all; the Killing Curse was so thick it was practically a venomous snake writhing through the air. Kael even suspected that if Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback were hit by it, the dragon might drop dead on the spot.
But he didn't feel panicked—in fact, he didn't even move to dodge.
The next second, a huge red-glowing hand suddenly burst out of the wall beside them and blocked in front of the two of them.
The Killing Curse ricocheted off the giant hand.
"Tom, don't forget that I am your opponent." Dumbledore said mildly.
"Of course I won't forget." Voldemort didn't seem surprised that his Spell had failed, and didn't care much.
But this Killing Curse once again reignited the battle.
The water in the Magic Fountain instantly condensed into countless sharp swords which flew toward Dumbledore; the blades struck the half-remaining statue and immediately punched a gaping hole through it.
Dumbledore merely lifted his Wand; it was as if an invisible Shield sprang up before him, blocking all the attacks.
Then he commanded the surrounding droplets, sending them back at Voldemort in the same fashion, and they seemed even more powerful than before.
Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining Silver Shield out of thin air to block them; the Shield circled around him, and the droplets striking it gave off a low, gong-like hum.
Kael's eyes lit up—he wanted to learn that…
Though Dumbledore's Magic was impressive, he still preferred this kind of tangible Silver Shield.
"Professor Lupin, do you know what Magic that is?" Kael asked in a low voice.
"Huh?" Lupin clearly hadn't expected Kael to be in the mood to care about some Spell in a situation like this… but he still instinctively glanced over at Voldemort.
"Sorry, I don't know." Lupin shook his head. "It looks like the Iron Armor Spell, but more advanced than the usual Iron Armor Spell—it should have Ancient Magic Text added to it."
"All right then." Kael said. He couldn't help pulling out his Wand, casting the Iron Armor Spell first, then giving his wrist a slight flick.
Golden Magic Text symbols floated out from the Wand tip, then combined into a larger Talisman.
Kael slowly moved his Wand, trying to fuse the Talisman into the Iron Armor Spell.
But just then, a red light suddenly shot in from the right.
The Iron Armor Spell infused with the Talisman deflected the red light, but because of the external force, it shattered apart.
"Who was that?"
Sirius immediately drew his Wand and stepped in front of Harry, and Lupin also moved to shield Kael behind him.
But the remaining Death Eaters were all still over by Voldemort; it clearly wasn't their doing.
Kael looked up as well, and only then realized the fight in the main hall had entered a white-hot stage; Spells were lancing back and forth like a sudden downpour. The one that had broken his Iron Armor Spell just now was one of Voldemort's wide-area Magic attacks.
Kael glanced at the wall beside him where the red light had struck; a large crater had already been blasted into it.
Lupin had noticed as well. He felt somewhat annoyed with himself for getting distracted just now, but at the same time he was a bit astonished by Kael's talent.
To use the Iron Armor Spell to block Voldemort's Charm—there weren't many who could manage that. What was more, Kael was only sixteen this year…
On the other side of the battlefield, Voldemort's breathing had already grown ragged, whereas the much older Dumbledore still looked composed and at ease.
At this rate, victory was only a matter of time.
Voldemort spat out a mouthful of flame, which transformed into a massive serpent that lunged at Dumbledore, as if intending to swallow him whole.
Dumbledore reached out and caught the serpent precisely by the fangs; the huge snake turned into a long flaming Rope that wrapped tightly around Voldemort.
Black smoke erupted from Voldemort's body and he couldn't help letting out a hiss of pain.
"Master!" Bellatrix shrieked, trying to rush forward to help.
But at that moment, Voldemort suddenly tore free of the Rope and dissolved into seven streams of black mist that shot off in all directions.
Although Dumbledore promptly blasted most of the black mist apart with a Charm, there was still one that slipped through and flew straight toward the group by the lift.
"Careful, get away from there!" For the first time, fear crept into Dumbledore's voice.
But it was too late.
The black mist easily slipped past Lupin and Sirius, then pierced through Kael's Iron Armor Spell and wrapped around him.
Kael felt his head buzzing, as though something were hissing right by his ear, trying to force its way into his mind.
But in the next second, the hissing abruptly vanished, and the black mist left Kael's body, surging toward Harry beside him.
Harry suddenly clutched the scar on his forehead and collapsed to the floor, letting out a piercing scream.
Harry's eyes turned red.
"Didn't you want to kill me, Dumbledore?"
Harry opened his mouth, and Voldemort's voice came out as he threw back his head and laughed at everyone.
"Whoever it is—come on then, kill this boy!"
Dumbledore's face was like still water. Sirius's Wand hand trembled as he pointed it at Harry; he suddenly seemed to have forgotten how to use Magic, unable to produce a single Spell.