Theo, Percy, and the others who had been knocked unconscious by Stunning Spells were revived by Charlie using counter-curses. They stayed behind to rest. In their current state, they couldn't help much, and if a fight broke out, they might even become a burden.
But once Theo woke up, he followed the pursuing allied team from a distance. He had no idea what had happened while he was unconscious. When he saw the Runespoor, he immediately realized the situation had escalated into something extremely dangerous.
"We have to notify the professors."
Theo raised his wand and fired a red signal, the flare that signified withdrawal from the competition.
All the contestants saw Theo's signal. They knew the professors would arrive soon—but no one stopped fighting.
As long as the organizers had not officially ended the competition, the match was still ongoing.
"That's a contestant's signal," Professor Morrisay said, looking up at the sky above the Hidden Valley Forest.
The rescue team for this event had been organized by the host school: the four Heads of House and the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Morrisay.
He grabbed a broom and left the small garden where the professors had been resting.
"I'll go."
With that, Morrisay shot into the sky.
Strangely, one seat among the professors was already empty.
After restoring some of his magic, Sean flew back toward the Runespoor.
Claven was struggling to fight three snake heads alone. Dodging the streams of poison had taken most of his focus, leaving him with few chances to cast spells.
"Switch!" Claven shouted.
Continuous movement and spellcasting had drained both his stamina and magic. It was Sean's turn to take over.
"Sectumsempra!"
Sean aimed at the middle head's eye.
The Runespoor let out a shrill scream.
The spell struck its eye, bursting the pupil and sending blood pouring from the wound. The already terrifying head now looked even more monstrous.
"Damn," Sean muttered.
"It has three heads and six eyes. Even with perfect accuracy I can only blind four at most."
The only spell Sean had capable of breaking the Runespoor's magical resistance was Sectumsempra, and his current magic allowed only four casts.
Meanwhile, the battle on the other side was nearing its conclusion.
Ten fighters against six.
And the allied team had three seventh-year captains.
Although Omar managed to hold off both Charlie and Egilbert by himself, he was still only a half-giant.
Against two captains working together, he gradually lost ground.
After Omar fell, Uagadou's team quickly collapsed.
But the allied side also lost two fighters temporarily: Penelope from Hogwarts and Joanna from Ilvermorny.
"Is it almost done?" Zach asked, staring at the Runespoor.
Its body was covered in over a dozen bleeding wounds.
"Don't get close," Sean warned from the air.
"Its venom is extremely dangerous. And its magical resistance is insane—almost immune to spells with fewer than twelve frameworks."
"You guys stay back," Charlie told the younger students.
Then he turned to Matthew and Egilbert.
"How are you holding up?"
Zach handed Charlie a magic recovery potion.
Theo had given it to him earlier after waking up.
Zach wanted to help, but his strongest spell—Reducto—only had eleven frameworks. Against a creature like this, it was useless.
He stayed behind to look after the injured teammates.
"Spread out!" Sean shouted.
"Claven, you ready yet?"
Now that Charlie, Matthew, Jerry, and Egilbert had joined, the team formed a formation:
Sean attacked from above.
Claven engaged from the front.
The other four flanked the sides.
"What spell is that?" Jerry asked, staring at Sean flying in the air.
He had never seen such magic before.
"Focus!" Matthew snapped.
"Explosive Combo!"
Matthew and Jerry cast a combined spell from the left side.
Sean watched carefully through the Magic vision.
That one's impressive.
The spell fired like two compressed air cannons.
The blasts exploded against the Runespoor's left head and actually broke through its scales.
Even though everyone's spells struck the creature, it still showed no sign of collapsing.
Meanwhile, Sean's magic was drained again, forcing him to descend.
"So this is the true power of a Class XXXX magical creature," Sean thought.
In the Ministry's classification system:
Class XXXX creatures were dangerous beasts that required skilled adult wizards to handle.
Class XXXXX creatures were those capable of easily killing wizards and impossible to domesticate.
After experiencing this fight firsthand, Sean couldn't help thinking about Harry defeating the Basilisk.
That had definitely been protagonist-level luck stacked on top of protagonist luck.
And it made him admire one wizard even more:
The famous magizoologist Newt Scamander.
Just as Sean was about to retreat to the ground, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
"You've injured my precious pet quite badly."
"I must say, you truly live up to being elite students."
Sean spun around.
Riding a broom behind him was Professor Conrad Coates of Uagadou.
Someone had fired a red signal earlier—but the rescuer should have been a Hogwarts professor.
And that snake…
belonged to Uagadou.
A terrible premonition flashed through Sean's mind.
He tried to fly away using his last bit of magic.
But Coates raised his wand with a calm smile.
A flash of white light struck Sean in the back.
It was just a silent Petrification Spell.
Yet the speed and accuracy were far beyond anything the students could match.
Sean's body instantly stiffened.
He dropped straight from the sky.
If he hit the ground like that, he might become the first wizard to die from falling.
"Damn it—what's going on?!"
"A professor is attacking contestants!"
Claven reacted instantly.
He cast a Levitation Charm, catching Sean mid-air.
After bringing him safely down, he immediately lifted the petrification with Finite Incantatem.
Just then, Morrisay arrived.
He stared at Coates in shock.
"Professor Coates?"
"What are you doing here?"
"And what is that Runespoor?"
Coates grinned widely.
"This competition was too easy."
"I simply brought my pet to add some difficulty."
"You've lost your mind!" Morrisay roared.
"How could students possibly deal with something like that?!"
He pointed angrily.
"Everyone get away from that thing!"
"Professor Morrisay," Charlie shouted.
"That snake swallowed three trophies!"
Hearing this only made Morrisay even angrier.
Uagadou had tried to win through such a despicable trick.
"The match is suspended!" he declared.
"I'll explain everything to Dumbledore. All of you leave now!"
But Coates shook his head.
"That won't do."
"They're all important pieces on my chessboard."
"If they escape, things will become troublesome for me."
"What exactly are you trying to do?!" Morrisay shouted.
He flew straight toward Coates, firing a spell.
Coates blocked the attack effortlessly with a silent Shield Charm.
Then he dove downward on his broom—
straight toward the Runespoor below.
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