Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 242 Like a warm-up

"The wind howls, the Yi River is cold."

For some reason, looking at these five old acquaintances who were on high alert in front of him, this sentence inexplicably came to mind. Thinking about it carefully, it was surprisingly fitting.

With a slight downward press of his left hand, his body, which had been floating in the air, slowly descended. The white light around him appeared and disappeared intermittently; it was the magic that had blocked Sirius's attack earlier.

"Let's rest for a bit, it'll be over soon," Ike said softly in Giant's tongue. Upon hearing this, the tall horse stepped back and gestured for the giants to step back as well. Then it sat down on the ground and actually began to rest.

"Let's begin. Wasn't this supposed to be round two?" Ike calmly looked at the five people in front of him, each with a different expression. "Or should you start? Blake?"

"Disarm you!"

"Obstacles are numerous!"

He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!

Sirius, Lupin, and Bill acted almost simultaneously, while Hagrid, a step later, unleashed a petrification spell with his pink umbrella. The four spells struck Ike almost at the same time, but were all blocked by the white light shield.

With a flick of his left hand, Ike instantly unleashed dozens of golden threads. The threads, like fireworks, exploded in the air and rapidly coiled towards the group.

"Protect your armor!" Sirius shouted, holding his wand upright in front of him, and a silver-white shield of light immediately appeared on everyone.

At that moment, Ike suddenly felt a strange magical fluctuation, and his eyes looked at Fleur unnaturally, with a hint of infatuation in them. Seeing this, Fleur thought to herself, "Opportunity," and cast a stun spell on him.

"Snapped!"

"What?!"

Like swatting a fly, Ike swatted away Hibiscus's spell. Looking into Ike's eyes again, where was the trace of infatuation?

"It's no use, his mastery of Occlumency is very high." Lupin said, blocking a curse for Fleur. "Don't underestimate him!"

Various spells rained down on Ike, but he remained unmoved, the spells unable to even break through his shield. He didn't even touch his wand; his left hand, with fingers moving like pianists, manipulated the golden threads, forcing Sirius to continuously cast the Ironclad Charm.

"Is that all you've got?" Ike tilted his head, his contemptuous tone infuriating Sirius, but he couldn't spare a hand; the tangled golden threads were taking up all his energy.

"Cover me!" Hagrid shouted, his eyes filled with determination, as he charged toward Ike. Lupin and Bill were startled and quickly cast several spells to create an opening for Hagrid's charge. Fleur was not to be outdone, casting another Ironclad Spell on Hagrid.

With two layers of shields, Hagrid surged forward unstoppable, letting the golden threads strike his armored charms with a constant crackling sound. He roared and sped up, reaching Ike in the blink of an eye, raising his pink umbrella high and aiming it at Ike's head with a mighty swing.

"Be careful!"

Suddenly, Hagrid's vision blurred, and he lost sight of Ike. Instead, the tall, imposing horse appeared. A voice came from behind him, but Hagrid was rushing forward too fast to react. He crashed into the horse, umbrella and all.

"Bang!"

The immense physical difference caused Hagrid to stumble backward, his head still spinning. Barely regaining his senses, he saw the tall horse stand up, reach out and easily grab Hagrid, lifting him up with a cruel, monstrous expression.

"Roar!" High Horse roared, the stench from his mouth almost making Hagrid faint. Then, he felt himself fly up, over Ike, and over Sirius and the others, before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Why would he think the same trick would work the second time? Besides, he failed the first time too." Ike looked puzzled. The white halo in front of him was being struck by various spells and crackled, but it still showed no signs of breaking.

"Damn it!" Sirius cursed, casting the Ironclad Charm on the group again. Then, he vanished from his spot and reappeared behind Ike. He raised his wand high, red light gathering on it. He swung it down fiercely, like a whip, whipping towards Ike.

"Apparition? I can do that too." Ike replied casually, his body also disappearing, only to reappear behind Fleur, his right wand gently tapping the back of Fleur's head.

"No!" Bill shouted, but could only watch helplessly as a bright smile appeared on Ike's face, and the green light on the tip of his staff flashed and disappeared.

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

"Bang!"

A flash of green light, and Fleur's body was thrown high into the air, landing face up. Bill, still shouting "No!", rushed over immediately. He picked up Fleur and then froze; her body was still hot, her chest rising and falling rhythmically.

"A stun spell?"

"Bill! Watch out!"

Just as Bill was stunned, Ike's figure suddenly appeared in front of him, also in dazzling green. Before Bill could react, he fell backward, lying straight on the ground, motionless.

"Two more." Ike's smile vanished, his tone turning icy, sending a chill down Sirius and Lupin's spines. Sirius was particularly regretful; why had he initiated a normal wizarding battle first? Wouldn't a turn-based, energy-sharing exchange like before have been better? Though it was a mess, at least they could hold on. With this Apparition, three fell in the blink of an eye.

Lupin was next. Although he tried his best to adjust his position using Apparition, he only managed two transformations before Ekko seized the opportunity, and with a flash of green light, Lupin fell to the ground. Sirius wasn't much stronger; he transformed three times before going down.

He put away his wand, and the gold thread and white circle disappeared. Ike's body floated up again, passing over the fallen people on the ground, and arrived in front of Gao Gaoma.

"Have you rested enough?" he asked.

"That's enough," Gao Gaoma replied in a muffled voice.

"Let's go then." Ike turned around, and the tall horse immediately roared. Dozens of giants stood up and silently followed Ike northward.

In no time, only those five motionless figures remained on the ground.

Several hours passed, and Hagrid's fingers twitched before he slowly woke up. He felt as if all the bones in his body were broken, and he was in indescribable pain. He sat on the ground for a while before finally coming to his senses.

"Sirius! Lupin!" he called, his voice hoarse and metallic with a metallic taste in his throat. "Bill! Fleur! Where are you!"

"Cough, cough, over here, Hagrid..." A voice rang out, and Hagrid struggled to his feet and followed the sound, only to see Lupin sitting on the ground rubbing his head. Then he noticed three more people lying on the ground, still motionless, as if... dead.

"Lupin! How are you?!" Hagrid asked anxiously. "Sirius! Bill and Fleur, what...what happened to them?"

"Calm down, Hagrid, they're alright." Lupin got up with Hagrid's help, went to Sirius's side, and put his finger to Sirius's nostrils. "They're fine, they just passed out."

"What... what's going on here?" Hagrid asked.

"As you can see, we were all defeated by him alone." Lupin sat down next to Sirius. "Stun spell, Apparition to the side, and then..." He made a headshot gesture, shrugged, and looked utterly helpless.

"Damn it..." Hagrid cursed under his breath, then checked on Bill and Fleur again, and sure enough, they were also showing signs of being under a stun spell. He laboriously picked them up and placed them next to Sirius before sitting down opposite Lupin.

His body was still aching, which made him unconsciously grimace.

(End of this chapter)