Passion may ignite the spark, but propriety—or in this case, pain—draws the line.
If Rey's sudden agony hadn't interrupted them, things might have escalated further.
It had been a natural release of emotion, but once the pain broke the spell, the two exchanged awkward smiles. After a few comforting kisses, Helena began to heal the injury on Rey's arm.
Loving someone doesn't necessarily mean possessing them right that second. Besides, even if the atmosphere was thick with romance, this was hardly the time or place.
Hogwarts was under attack.
As Helena wove healing magic over his arm, she briefed him on the current situation.
Godric's Hollow and two other wizarding settlements had been hit by massive battalions of Church Knights and a small contingent of Black Prison Wizards. However, the resistance there was being led by the Centaur herds.
Godric Gryffindor had made a pact: if the Centaurs helped the wizards fight the Church, the Great Forest beyond the Forbidden Forest would be granted to them as their sovereign territory forever.
Effectively, it was an alliance between Hogwarts and the Centaur nation.
The Church wasn't just persecuting wizards; any magical creature with intelligence that refused to bow to the Pope was a target for extermination. That was the real reason the Centaurs had agreed to fight.
With the Centaurs handling the Knights, the scales were relatively balanced on that front. But at Hogwarts, the situation was grim.
Even inside the Ravenclaw Common Room, Rey could hear the deafening roar of the assault outside.
The powerful wards protecting the castle had long been activated. They flickered constantly, rippling with color as they absorbed impact after impact.
The scene was reminiscent of the Battle of Hogwarts in the movies when Voldemort attacked, but the scale here was significantly larger.
Once his arm was healed, Rey stepped to the window. The entire protective dome over Hogwarts was awash with ripples of energy.
Hogwarts was surrounded. On the land, on the cliffs, and even from the edge of the forest, enemies were pouring in, launching magical attacks.
But there were no armored knights here. There were no werewolves falling from the sky. Instead, there were Black Prison Wizards... and elves.
Yes, elves.
In the Harry Potter movies of the future, these creatures would be known as House Elves.
They were nothing like the tall, beautiful elves of Middle-earth. These beings were short, with bat-like ears, long pencil noses, and bulging eyes the size of tennis balls.
Most were naked; those who did wear clothes wore filthy rags that looked like pillowcases with three holes cut out for their limbs.
Tens of thousands of them swarmed the hills, led by Black Prison Wizards, launching coordinated attacks against the flickering wards of the castle.
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"Why are there so many... House Elves?"
Rey stared at the endless sea of creatures outside, his jaw dropping in shock.
"Is that what they are called? You know of them?" Helena asked, curious about his reaction.
"Yeah. In the future, they are called House Elves. They mostly serve wizarding families as domestic servants."
Helena didn't dwell on his mention of the future. She already knew his secret. What surprised her was that these ugly magical creatures had such a distinct name—and that they would eventually become servants.
"There are too many of them," Rey muttered, frowning.
There weren't just a few hundred. There were at least fifty thousand of them out there.
It was a testament to the strength of the Founders' wards that the castle had held out this long against such a barrage.
"Aunt Helga analyzed them," Helena explained. "The creatures you call House Elves... the Church's Ascetics summoned them from another dimension using specialized summoning circles."
In future history books, the origin of House Elves was usually glossed over with a single line: Magical creatures created by wizards.
But creating a creature with a soul is incredibly difficult. Rey had always been skeptical of that claim. He just never expected the truth to be that the Church had summoned them en masse from another world to use as fodder.
The scale of the Church's operation was terrifying. And judging by the movement in the distance, the number of elves was still increasing.
---
By the time Rey and Helena Apparated back to Hogwarts, dusk had fallen. Now, as they left the common room, the sky was completely dark.
The students of Hogwarts had been organized into squads, mixed in with adult wizards to guard key checkpoints.
This explained why the common room had been empty; everyone was at their battle stations.
Rey and Helena ran hand-in-hand through the corridors.
Because of the strong wards and the organized defense, the castle wasn't in the chaotic state Rey remembered from the movies. It was tense, but orderly.
Groups of defenders stood by windows, looking up at the "fireworks" exploding against the barrier.
The colorful halos of magical impact were beautiful in a way. If not for the fact that a shattered barrier meant death, it would have been a spectacular view.
But these fireworks were lethal.
With no time to admire the view, Rey and Helena jogged to the Entrance Hall courtyard.
The courtyard and the stone bridge beyond were packed with stone soldiers wielding stone spears.
The spell Piertotum Locomotor—which would be used in the future as a last resort—had already been designed by the Founders. These stone guardians were the result of their combined genius.
Inside the Great Hall behind the stone soldiers, nearly thirty adult wizards were gathered.
This was the main entrance to Hogwarts—the most critical and dangerous choke point. There were no students here; only seasoned adult witches and wizards.
Because of this, the atmosphere was louder and more contentious than in the corridors. The wizards were arguing fiercely about the next course of action.
Madam Hooch—who was, in reality, a Black Dragon in human form—stood among them.
However, in her current guise as a middle-aged female instructor, she didn't command much respect from the outsiders.
Although everyone here was technically on the same side, fighting for survival, human nature is inevitable. Even on a sinking ship, someone always wants to be the captain.
Selfishness is a human trait. Just because people gather together doesn't mean they are united.
The wizards weren't really arguing about defense strategies; they were fighting for leadership.
This was Hogwarts, the Founders' stronghold. But it was not yet the seat of the Wizarding Council.
Originally, the Founders had asked Madam Hooch to lead the defense here. But for a dragon who had only recently integrated into human society, this was a headache.
Political infighting and power plays were beneath her. If she could, she would have simply slapped these scheming wizards to death with a dragon claw.
Hogwarts was a pivotal power in the magical world. Some of these wizards had been secretly instructed by certain Council Elders to seize control of the defense, paving the way for the Council to absorb Hogwarts into its jurisdiction later.
That was the root of the argument. The factions were deadlocked, and Madam Hooch stood silently to the side, looking bored and annoyed.
Just as the argument reached a fever pitch, with faces red and voices raised, Helena's clear, sweet voice cut through the noise from the doorway.
"Madam Hooch, we have returned."
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