Snap.
The vision shattered and faded away. Edward awoke from the dream.
"What did that scene mean just now? The goblins emerged from the darkness, then knelt and prayed to it. Who was the god they were calling out to? And what does that have to do with its earlier frenzy?"
He frowned in thought, but the information was too scarce to draw any conclusions.
"Woo…woo…"
Just then, the fire dragon struggled to lift its head, trying to look at something. Edward followed its gaze and looked up—
High in the sky, an unfamiliar and faintly glowing mark had appeared at some point. It had been completely obscured by the brightness of the dragon's flames earlier—an emergency distress signal from the Aurors?
Edward furrowed his brow slightly. "If they chose to send out a distress signal, that must mean there are other wizards nearby. If there aren't too many, we might manage another ambush—but if there are too many, we're in trouble."
Audrey stepped up to the fire dragon and gently asked, "Can you still move? Still fly?"
"Woo…"
The fire dragon nudged her palm with its snout, its eyes showing a puppy-like expression. Then it pushed her lightly, as if urging her to leave quickly.
Edward took out a divination crystal and spoke his query: "Can we safely rescue this dragon?"
Soon, the green crystal began spinning rapidly in a counterclockwise direction.
That speed—very dangerous.
Did they have to give up?
Saving someone halfway like this and then leaving them behind was immensely frustrating.
His pupils rippled slightly—then he made up his mind.
"Activate [Madman at The Right]. Let the previous divination result be false!"
The next moment, the green crystal stopped, then slowly began spinning clockwise.
Edward grasped it tightly and said quickly, "Let's withdraw and hide for now—wait for an opportunity."
"Okay."
Edward reached out and grabbed Audrey's cold hand. Their figures twisted and disappeared.
A few seconds later, they reappeared again.
Audrey looked puzzled. "What happened?"
"When I Apparated just now, I sensed an Anti-Apparition Ward."
"???"
A smile slowly appeared on Edward's face.
"While I can force through it, I've got another plan..."
———
Three to four dozen Aurors soared across the night sky on flying brooms.
They were the British Ministry of Magic's delegation to the European Magical Conference in Switzerland. After the day's meetings concluded, about seven or eight Aurors from the team had claimed to have business to attend to and left the group.
The leader was a stern-looking man with a short haircut and a powerful build—Dawlish. He had long known that some of his men secretly took side jobs for extra pay, but he neither cared nor could stop them. After all, Ministry Aurors risked their lives battling dark wizards, yet their pay was hardly impressive.
If the Ministry wasn't willing to pay more, who could blame them for trying to make some on the side? As long as they didn't break the law, so be it.
But just now, a subordinate had burst in to report a distress signal. Grumbling, Dawlish had dragged himself from his warm bed and gathered the team to investigate. Their movement had, unfortunately, awakened the French Aurors staying next door—who had tagged along, half out of curiosity and half to see a good show.
When they arrived, they saw a heavily wounded, weakened fire dragon—and the scorched remains of bodies littering the ground.
"Mr. Dawlish, we've found clear signs of battle nearby. Another group of wizards was definitely here earlier."
Dawlish chuckled coldly. "Looks like it was quite wise of me to send teams out earlier to set up Anti-Apparition Wards. Who would've thought we'd catch some dark wizards while attending a conference?"
His expression turned serious. "Search in teams of three. At the first sign of anything—fire the signal!"
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, the three to four dozen Aurors fanned out, leaving only Dawlish and the French Auror captain, Lucas, behind.
"So those missing subordinates of yours…snuck off to try and capture this fire dragon?" Lucas laughed heartily in heavily-accented English. "Well, they caught it, alright—and paid with their lives! Are all your British Ministry Aurors this capable?"
Dawlish's face darkened. Ever since graduating top of his class at Hogwarts, he'd been highly regarded by the Ministry, becoming one of Minister Fudge's most trusted. Naturally, he didn't take criticism well. He snorted.
"They must've been ambushed by dark wizards hiding in the shadows during the fight."
"Hahaha! That's a laughable excuse, especially coming from a seasoned Auror like you. Since when do dark wizards fight fair? They're all sly, slippery bastards—none of them would face Aurors head-on."
Lucas twirled his mustache with a smug grin. "But no matter how crafty dark wizards are, they're still prey. And in the eyes of us French Aurors—the finest hunters—they'll always be a joke! Just wait. In half an hour, my men will have them all rounded up."
"Ahhhhhh!!"
Before his words had even faded, a scream echoed from up ahead. Both men's faces changed and they rushed forward—only for another scream to ring out from behind them. Then the left. Then the right. Then back to the front again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One after another, distress signals bloomed in the night sky—within moments, the woods overhead were lit up with sparkling bursts like flowers. It was as if the entire forest was crawling with enemies.
Before long, the sounds of battle from all directions began to fade.
Neither Auror captain had any desire to continue their bickering. Cold sweat trickled down their faces, and they shared a single, horrifying thought—Just how many dark wizards are hiding in this forest?!
Did we just walk right into a dark wizard's stronghold?!
"M-maybe…maybe it's our people taking care of the dark wizards," Lucas said, wiping at his sweat.
Dawlish said coldly, "Or maybe, in a moment, dozens of Killing Curses will come flying at us from all sides."
"Help! Someone help!!"
Just then, a bloodied Auror staggered out from the forest.
"Mr. Dawlish—the dark wizards…they're everywhere…in the forest…run…get out…"
He collapsed forward as Dawlish rushed to catch him.
"How many are still alive?"
"Still…"
The Auror was extremely weak. "There are still…Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Flavido!"
A flurry of spells burst rapidly from his wand. Before the two Auror captains could react, their wands were already gone—and they were hit squarely by several Stunning Spells. Then chains formed from the withered grass around them, binding them tightly.
"Whew—"
Edward let out a long breath. "Thirty-two Aurors in total. All taken care of."
At first, he'd relied on his spiritual power to bypass the Anti-Apparition Ward and launch surprise attacks. But repeated Apparitions in a short span quickly drained his spirituality.
As for the remaining dozen or so wizards—half of them were taken down by brute force, with Edward relying on his enhanced physical abilities from the potion to resist spells. The other half were eliminated with sneak attacks while he used Polyjuice Potion to infiltrate their ranks—including the final two "bosses."
Now, Edward's whole body ached. He slumped heavily to the ground.
"Big lizard, I've literally got nothing left in the tank to save you."
"Woo…"
The fire dragon opened its eyes. Its attitude was noticeably better than before.
Edward opened his pouch, and Lilith was the first to dart out. She had no words left, just meowed at him in frustration.
Every time! It's always like this! Miss Lilith is super strong now, okay?!
Audrey crawled out in a hurry, wand in hand, and quickly scanned their surroundings.
"Relax," Edward said, pressing his hand to the ground and pushing himself back up. "It's all handled."
"But next, we still need to go give every one of those wizards a little 'finishing touch.' At the very least, we have to make sure they stay unconscious while we expand the Undetectable Extension Charm enough for safety."
"Right! I'll help you."
———
Two days later.
Dumbledore had just dealt with the Ministry officials and was rubbing his temples in exhaustion, leaning back into his chair. He casually picked up the day's newspaper—only to see the bold headline:
"The European Ministries' Day of Shame! A Humiliation for All Wizards! Hundreds of Aurors—Wiped Out by Two Dark Wizards!"
Dumbledore sat up straight in an instant.
Two days prior, Aurors from various European countries had gathered for a magical conference in Switzerland. In the evening, when the conference ended, British and French Aurors were ambushed by incredibly powerful dark wizards.
Within less than an hour, hundreds of Aurors (a number still in question) had been utterly defeated. Miraculously, only one unlucky soul had died—his head cracked open from falling out of the sky.
Later interviews revealed that the attack had happened so suddenly—and the dark wizards had used Polyjuice Potion—so no one had gotten a clear look at their faces.
Not a single word in the entire article mentioned Edward…but for some reason, Dumbledore couldn't shake a sense of foreboding.
He quickly shook his head.
"Impossible. No matter how talented Edward is, he couldn't possibly defeat hundreds of wizards by himself. Not even I could've done that in my youth!"
"I must be overthinking this."
He chuckled to himself, trying to ease his nerves, and leaned back again to keep reading. But soon, a line caught his eye:
"According to recovered Aurors, one of the dark wizards appeared to be capable of bypassing Anti-Apparition Wards."
The smile on Dumbledore's face froze.
He slowly set the newspaper down.
After a long moment, he muttered to himself,
"Gellert…you would've loved him."
———
Two days later.
The edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid was sitting lazily at the door of his wooden hut, repairing his massive crossbow. Fang lay nearby with a tattered old shoe in his mouth, growling softly as he chewed.
Crack!
Two figures suddenly appeared out of thin air. Fang let out a yelp, tail between his legs, and bolted off.
"Hey!"
Hagrid glared after the dog in annoyance, then turned to the newcomers. When he saw Edward and Audrey, his expression turned to surprise.
"Oh—Edward! Been a while. What brings you here?"
Then he added hastily, "I don't have any magical creatures around here lately—except, uh, a dragon egg…"
"Noo—"
He quickly slapped a massive hand over his mouth, eyes wide with alarm.
"I mean…" he scrambled to cover it up, "I never had a Norwegian Ridgeback egg."
Audrey: "…"
Edward chuckled. "Speaking of dragons—we're here because of one."
Hagrid immediately leapt to his feet, spreading his arms protectively in front of his hut. "You'll never take that egg from me!"
"Easy, Hagrid—we're not here to take your egg."
Edward opened his suitcase and held it out to him. "Big guy, let's hear you roar."
"Roar—"
A weak and pained growl echoed from inside. Hagrid froze. He quickly leaned in and saw—
Inside the dim, magically expanded space lay a dragon, its body covered in injuries, far larger than the average fire dragon. It was barely clinging to life.
Fang, who had just worked up the courage to return, instantly turned tail again and fled into the Forbidden Forest, howling in terror.
Lilith, curled up in Audrey's arms, muttered with a pout, "Susie would never admit that something that cowardly is still technically a dog."
"Oh my stars…this must be a dream!" Hagrid exclaimed. "This is a—an adult Ukrainian Ironbelly! No—he's even larger than most Ironbellies…maybe mixed with another fire dragon breed?"
He turned sharply to Edward. Suddenly, tears began pouring from his eyes as he threw his arms around him.
"Thank you, Edward—thank you! I knew you were my best friend! You—you brought me a dragon!"
Lilith instantly puffed up. "Audrey! Edward's gonna get smothered!"
Edward had to discharge a small current to jolt Hagrid away and free himself. "I think you've misunderstood. This dragon's injured. I was thinking…if there's anyone at Hogwarts who knows how to care for magical creatures, it'd be you."
"You're right!"
Hagrid thumped his chest proudly. "Leave it to me!"
He took the suitcase back and leaned in closer. "Oh, you poor little thing. Don't worry, I'll fix you right up."
Apparently, in Hagrid's eyes, no matter how massive the creature—it was still a "poor little thing."
Audrey gave a few more instructions, assuring the dragon that Hagrid wouldn't harm it, that he'd take good care of it, and that this place was safe. Then she and Edward returned to the castle—and made their way to the Headmaster's office.
"Oh…Merlin's beard."
That was the first thing Dumbledore said after hearing their full report.
———
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