Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 310 The Fall

Edward was drenched in cold sweat, yet he dared not move a muscle, not even breathe, his eyes fixed on the werewolf beside him. The werewolf still wore a smile, tilting his head slightly as if he were looking at something very interesting. Not far behind him, seven or eight people were gesticulating wildly, yet remained completely silent.

"Relax, don't be so tense, smile," the werewolf said softly, his eyes still calm.

Upon hearing this, Edward's face twitched uncontrollably. He tried desperately to force a smile up, but it seemed as if some force was constantly preventing him from doing so, and after a long while, he could only manage to force a smile on one side.

"Ah, it's asymmetrical," the werewolf said. "Asymmetry isn't beautiful." As he spoke, he flicked his left hand upwards at the corner of Edward's mouth. Edward immediately felt as if he had been hooked by a fishhook and pulled sharply, and the corner of his mouth instantly turned up.

A very standard eight-tooth smile.

"That's more like it." The werewolf smiled and nodded in satisfaction. With a wave of his hand, the ground trembled, and several huge stone hands appeared, grabbing the seven or eight guards floating in the air.

They used great force, and the guards' screams were high-pitched and shrill.

Edward no longer cared about why he could hear their voices now. His body seemed to be under a spell, turning around uncontrollably, his eyes fixed straight ahead, letting the werewolf put his hand on his shoulder.

"Speaking of which, I haven't actually explored this whole area yet. Would you mind being my tour guide?"

As he spoke, Edward nodded unconsciously.

"You agree? Thank you so much."

The werewolf smiled kindly and, with his arm around Edward's shoulder, slowly walked into the tower. With each step, his entire appearance gradually changed.

The tattered clothes were gone, replaced by clean robes; the messy long hair was gone, slowly shortening into a neat short haircut; the scars and grotesque features on his face disappeared, revealing a face that Edward had seen countless times in the newspapers.

Ike Strayder!

He was completely unable to speak, like a puppet, mechanically leading the way. Ike, on the other hand, seemed to be on a genuine picnic, following behind with great ease, constantly glancing around at the surrounding cells, as if trying to see through the thick iron doors to the people behind them.

They walked up two floors when suddenly several guards appeared in front of them—the same guards who had escorted the prisoners up earlier. They immediately spotted Edward, who was standing stiffly at the front, and asked in surprise, "Captain Edward, what's wrong...?"

At that moment, Ike appeared from behind. The guards were immediately startled and reacted instantly, drawing their wands and shouting at Ike, "Stop! Release Captain Edward!"

Ike smiled at the group of terrified guards, raised his right hand, and then waved it lightly. This action immediately drew the guards' attacks, who shouted incantations of petrification and obstruction, but none of their spells hit Ike.

A shield of light, shimmering with soft white light, stood firmly in front of Edward, blocking all the spells.

Ike gave the guards no further chance. With a flick of his wrist, all their wands flew out of their hands and hurtled towards him. They stopped abruptly just before him, hovering lightly to his side.

With another clenched fist, the walls on both sides made a "crackling" sound, the sound of the protective magic applied to them failing. Then, stone chains appeared, binding them all, before pulling them back and pressing them tightly against the walls.

"team leader!"

"team leader!"

The guards shouted anxiously, but Edward seemed not to hear them at all, continuing to walk forward mechanically until he disappeared from their sight.

Ike slowly walked past them, laughing as he watched them curse loudly. He gently shook his head, and with a flick of his finger, everyone fell silent, only able to groan softly. He moved again, but not a sound could be heard.

Stepping down to the next floor, Edward was standing obediently at the top of the stairs, only taking another step when Ike approached.

Afterwards, they encountered another group of guards, but just like before, they were easily deprived of their right to speak and move, and were firmly locked to the wall. They did not cause Ike any trouble at all. On the contrary, there were many more wands floating around Ike.

If you count them, there are more than twenty.

They continued upwards until suddenly, Edward stopped at the door of a cell and stood motionless beside it.

"Is this the place?" Ike chuckled, flicked his finger, and a golden light landed on the door. Then, the iron door slowly disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving nothing behind.

A wand flew in and was caught by a thick hand. Greyback came out covered in blood and bowed his head respectfully.

"Little master..."

Ike raised his hand to stop Graybury from saying what he was about to say, pointed to the ground, and said, "They're in the cells down below. You can get the keys from the guards."

"Don't worry, it's easy to get. You'll see it as soon as you go down the stairs."

"Thank you... thank you, young master..." Greyback bent down, then straightened up, gave Edward a vicious grin, and ran impatiently toward the stairwell.

At this moment, Advocaat's stiff face was covered in tears, yet he didn't utter a sound. He took a step and steadily continued walking upwards.

After climbing three or four floors, Edward stopped again. His eyes were now red and swollen, tears streaming down his face. Ike, seemingly oblivious, stepped to the center of the floor. Looking at the rows of thick iron doors around him, he casually snapped his fingers.

"Snapped!"

The magic wands around them all pointed their tips at the iron doors, and beams of golden light shot out, instantly melting away all the doors and revealing the disheveled figures behind them.

"Little...Little Master?" McNeil's hoarse voice rang out, his dirty hair matted and obscuring his bloodshot eyes. He leaned against the wall, got up from the ground, and slowly walked over to Ike. Looking up, a familiar face came into view.

"Little master!"

The next second, as if the immense pressure had suddenly vanished, McNeil burst into tears and knelt down at Ike's feet, gently kissing the hem of his clothes.

"Little master?"

"Little master!"

"Little master!"

One by one, the Death Eaters, who had endured months of torture, emerged from their cell without doors and knelt around Ike. They bowed down, crying and laughing wildly, but all were filled with the joy of regaining their freedom.

Dolohoff, Lukewood, Crabbe, Goyle, Rabastan, Rodolphs, Gagson, and Malfoy, along with the Death Eaters and dark wizards captured in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, and those arrested by the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix in the past few months, all shed tears of excitement and shouted incessantly...

Little master!

(End of this chapter)