The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 684 Darkest Hour
Harry Potter left, put on the Invisibility Cloak again, and left with Ada's blessing and protection.

He would walk out of the castle that he was so familiar with, pass through the playground that he saw every day, and go to Hogsmeade that was destroyed by war... The invisibility cloak would protect his safety, allowing him to stand in front of Voldemort and face his own death and fear.

Perhaps, Harry would stop along the way and see the people he liked, and the people who liked him, the professors at school, the Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius, Lupin, the members of the DA, and so on.

In order to allow more people to live better, Harry Potter decided to die, exchanging his death for the opportunity for Voldemort to become a mortal, just like Regulus Black sixteen years ago.

Ada stood alone in front of the window, looking at the magic barrier outside that was shaking constantly due to the impact of the spell.

That was a protective measure established by Professor Flitwick of Charms, which combined many defensive spells and gathered the strength of everyone.

And Ada also reinforced the barrier, which allowed it to withstand the continuous attacks until now.

However, there is no unconquerable fortress in the world, and the same goes for magic barriers.

The dense rain of spells stopped, and the night returned to a dark state. Before Professor Flitwick could re-strengthen the defense, a strong light suddenly shot out from a distance, and an angry, crazy roar was heard again - the barrier was broken.

The broken barrier was like fragile glass, falling piece by piece, or like burning parchment, burning into ashes.

Then shouts of killing rang out everywhere. The wrought iron gates and walls of Hogwarts could not stop the Death Eaters.

There were muffled "bang bang" sounds, and the wrought iron gate and wall collapsed under the attack of the remaining giants.

Thanks to their huge bodies that give them extremely strong attack power and resistance to blows, giants are natural warriors and a powerful race.

At their peak, there were at least a hundred tribes of giants around the world, but these tribes gradually died out. Wizards killed some, but most of the giants died from infighting and tribal strife.

In order to prevent the giants from causing chaos and killing people, the wizard drove the giants far away. There was no other way. In order to survive, the remaining giant tribes could only stay together in the mountains.

The brutal giants are not suitable for living together, and the compressed living space makes fighting between them more frequent.

When Hagrid and Ms. Maxime found the giant camp in 1995, there were only about seventy or eighty giants left.

And after tonight, no matter which side wins the Battle of Hogwarts, the giant tribe will be the biggest loser, and they may even become a piece of text in the history of magic.

As the wrought iron gate fell, more Death Eaters rushed into the campus, and many dark wizards flew into the school on broomsticks.

There were also noises in the castle corridors: running, shouting. More and more students and wizards poured into the playground to support those stationed there and stop the invasion of the Death Eaters.

The bright lights brought by spells, the flames caused by the explosions of magic spells, the rumbling footsteps of giants, the sounds of wizards fighting... the sounds and lights filled the playground of Hogwarts, and endless killing took place here.

Ada came to the first floor and saw Bill leading a team of wizards out of the castle to join the battle in the playground. These people had traces of battle on their bodies and were obviously rushing here from Dingworth.

Ada also saw Mrs. Longbottom. The iconic vulture on her hat was gone. The old woman disappeared into the hallway at an astonishing speed, running and shouting, "Has anyone seen my grandson Neville Longbottom? I want to fight with him!"

The battle outside the castle had been going on for a while, and more and more people fell. The hallway and corridor were full of casualties, and weak groans were heard everywhere. The house elves were urgently carrying the injured, moving them to a relatively safe place as soon as possible, because from time to time, evil curses would be shot in from the windows and doors, causing secondary damage to the injured.

In the hall, Madam Pomfrey and several students were providing emergency treatment to the injured. Angelina, Arya, Katie and others were guarding the hall to maintain order and protect the wounded.

Suddenly, the castle shook, and several large vases standing in the corners of the wall exploded instantly. Broken porcelain pieces flew in the air like shrapnel. At the same time, a ceiling in front of the hall collapsed, hitting the wounded and students there.

Ada raised her wand, and the ceiling returned to its original position, as if it had never collapsed.

The flying vase fragments were also stopped by Angelina and others, preventing further chaos.

Outside the castle, Sirius and Lupin teamed up to deal with Bellatrix. Although they were a family, the fight was extremely fierce; Mr. Weasley and Kingsley also teamed up to fight the enemy, and the two of them forced Antonin Dolohov into a panic; Aberforth faced Rodolphus alone, and sparks flew from their wands, and the light of the spells was dazzling.

Hartman, Sidorov and others rushed into the Death Eaters' coalition, and the spells shot from their wands continuously knocked down the dark wizards...

There is also Hagrid's giant brother Grawp. A natural warrior, he was swinging a stone beast that looked like it was pulled down from the roof, roaring unhappily, and smashing the werewolves and Death Eaters around him into pies.

It seemed that the situation was favorable for the side defending Hogwarts, but in fact, the front line composed of Aurors, the Order of the Phoenix, assisting wizards, and students was constantly being compressed and eroded by the enemy.

The dark coalition of Death Eaters came up like an icy black lake, and streaks of green and red light shot very close to the foot of the castle.

Professor McGonagall and others should have been on the tower, leading the students to provide support from above, but at this moment they were unable to take care of themselves.

A group of Death Eaters flew to the top of the tower on broomsticks, pouring vicious spells like Muggle bombers, and red and green spells fell from all directions.

The students who chose to stay in school and fight were brave and ready to sacrifice, but as their companions fell one after another and the injured screamed, the students' disadvantages began to emerge.

They had never walked out of the school gate, nor had they experienced the baptism of blood and fire. The tragedy and cruelty of war constantly impacted their senses. This night was more terrifying than any moment in their first half of life.

Even with the support of Professor McGonagall and others, who shot Death Eaters off their broomsticks one after another, and even though Professor McGonagall and others shouted at the students to calm them down and command them to act in unison, the panic in the tower did not improve.

Screams, shouts, and sounds of fighting resounded throughout the campus.

The school should have been a sacred place for students to learn, but tonight it became a battlefield because of Voldemort's selfish desires.

Suddenly, the rumbling sound of explosions drowned out the noise of the battle, followed by a series of loud bangs that shook the entire earth. A corner of the castle was blown away, and a howling cold wind poured into the castle!
When the flying dust settled, an even more horrifying scene appeared before everyone's eyes - accompanied by a heart-pounding "click-click" sound, the descendants of Aragog were artificially driven out of the Forbidden Forest to participate in the battle on the playground.

Before the basilisk was released from the Chamber of Secrets for the second time, and before Ada visited the Forbidden Forest, the eight-eyed giant spiders living there had no natural enemies. Their wild growth made them extremely large in size, and the leading ones were even bigger than cars.

The battle had lasted for a long time, and midnight had long passed. The night sky became darker, and even the spells cast by the warring parties could not illuminate it.

This is the darkest moment of the day. Only by enduring this darkness can we welcome the arrival of dawn.

(End of this chapter)