A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 97 Escape

The room they were in was very dark, with no windows on the walls, only glowing green torches. The ceiling was about five meters high, making the place feel spacious yet oppressive. The damp, cold feeling in the air told Owen that they were underground, seemingly an underground stronghold of these dark wizards.

There were exactly ten dark wizards around, most of them seated on the stone chairs. Now they all stood up, pointing their wands at them. Before Owen and Natasha were teleported here by the Portkey, this group seemed to have been holding a meeting, while simultaneously waiting for them to walk right into their trap.

The conference room had two exits. One exit's heavy iron door was locked tightly, while the other, slightly smaller exit led to a long corridor dimly lit by green flames. The swaying figures outside the door told Owen that there were still people on guard outside.

"What a difficult and dangerous situation..." Owen couldn't help but wonder if he was really unlucky.

There were no immediate signs of an attack from the surrounding dark wizards, while Natasha was exchanging words with the dark wizard she called Trif.

"To be personally ambushed by the infamous leader of the Dark Spirit Organization, I'm truly flattered," Natasha said through gritted teeth. "Was that intelligence broker one of yours?"

"Heh, that old man has no integrity whatsoever. He knew we were the ones who spread the news about your father's whereabouts, and I didn't expect you to actually go looking for him. What can I say about you? You really are a foolish woman," Treve said smugly.

"Since you already understand that I have no idea where my father is, why are you still chasing after me?" Natasha said coldly.

"You think we're here to find your idiot father? No, no, no, we found him a long time ago and killed him." Trevor's tone turned furious. "But what he stole isn't on him... Ah, little Natasha, where do you think it is?"

"He's dead?" Natasha stared wide-eyed in disbelief, her voice rising in alarm.

"Yes, I can give you a chance. Hand over that thing, and I can make sure you become one of us," Treve said impatiently. His hood turned slightly, as if he were glancing into the crowd.

"I already said, I have no idea where that thing is!" Natasha exclaimed.

"You're his only family, how could you not know that?" Trevor's tone sharpened. "Don't keep testing my patience, Natasha. You don't want to end up like your good-for-nothing brother, kneeling before me, crying and begging for mercy, do you?"

Natasha's chest heaved violently, her expression suddenly turning extremely cold and hateful, her deep red eyes seeming to be burning.

"Hand over that thing, or rather..." Trif's hood twitched slightly, and Owen felt a gaze fall upon him. "Is this your new little lackey? I have a torture spell I'm very good at. Natasha, I can show you how your brother used to wet his pants in front of me..."

Irving: What does this have to do with me?

Natasha gripped her wand so tightly it creaked, while looking at Owen with worry and guilt. Her expression gradually hardened, her anger and hatred transforming into a determination to die together with him.

Owen looked up at her so she could see his lips peeking out from under the hood. He mouthed, "Close your eyes."

Natasha paused, a flash of inspiration crossing her mind as she recalled the Flash Charm Owen had used at the black market. She quickly closed her eyes, tensing her body, ready to strike.

Owen's wand, which had been hanging naturally at his side, suddenly burst forth with a dazzling light. The extremely bright light exploded in the dimly lit conference room, causing the dark wizards around him to close their eyes and tears to well up in their eyes.

Natasha, already prepared, nimbly grabbed Owen's arm and pulled him away from where they stood. Her agile and powerful movements resembled those of a lithe leopard. Several powerful spells struck the spot where the two had just stood without mercy, blasting a small crater in the ground.

Natasha wrapped her arms around Owen's waist, rolled him behind a stone bench, and peeked out towards Trif's location, yelling, "Avada Kedavra!"

Trif dodged the blinding green light somewhat awkwardly, shouting in shock and anger, "Kill her! I'll kill her..." Then he twisted his head, abruptly changing his tune: "Take her alive! I want her alive!"

Owen hid behind the stone chair, casting spells that cracked the stone. He raised his wand, pointed it to the sky, and chanted, "Heavy Clouds."

Thick white fog quickly filled the room, engulfing everyone and obscuring their vision. Unable to see anything clearly, the dark wizards dared not cast spells recklessly. Owen tugged at Natasha, and the two seized the opportunity to dart behind a stone chair on the other side.

"Sorry, there's an anti-Apparition spell here..." Natasha said, slightly out of breath, mimicking Owen's use of the Cloud Spell.

"Cloud Spell Retract." The dark wizards were already chanting incantations to dispel the thick fog obscuring their vision. The fog rapidly dissipated, but Owen had already pointed his wand at the ceiling and chanted, "Thunder Explosion!"

A bright streak of fire pierced the mist and shot into the air, striking the high ceiling before exploding into a violent burst of flames. A rumbling sound echoed throughout the underground conference room, and the floor and walls seemed to tremble.

The ceiling turned blackened, revealing large cracks. Then, large and small pieces of rock began to fall, crashing onto the ground and onto everyone, only to be deflected by their respective armor spells. Soon, a huge hole appeared overhead, through which the clear night sky could be faintly seen.

"Damn it, hurry up!" Trif shouted, and the thick fog in the room was completely dispelled at that moment.

Gravel continued to fall, and thick dust, barely dispersed, quickly returned, obstructing visibility. Visibility inside the conference room was low; only indistinct figures could be seen moving about. Owen crouched low, shifting positions, while Natasha had vanished in the chaos.

Spells flew wildly around the room, a chaotic network of various colors crisscrossing and intertwining. Someone was shouting outside the door; it was unclear how many people were still outside the meeting room.

Hiding behind a relatively intact stone bench, Owen looked up at the night sky, grinned strangely, and muttered to himself in a chilling yet inexplicably excited tone, "I really don't want to use dark magic..."

"Dark Guardian." He waved his wand, and a dark shadow silently drifted out, its invisible chill and ominous aura seemingly freezing the surrounding torches. The eerie green flames flickered, adding to the surrounding darkness.

The Dark Guardian silently floated to the side of a dark wizard. With a flick of its wide cloak, it dragged the milky-white soul out of the dark wizard's body. Amidst a piercing scream, the soul quickly became transparent and finally disappeared completely.

The Black Demon Guardian, now completely unrestrained, spun halfway through the air, its ever-present upturned, mocking smile turning towards another person—its next target. It glided through the air like a black bat, its light cloak billowing gracefully in the breeze.

"What is this thing?" The target chosen by the Black Demon Guard emitted a green light at it, which only dispersed a little of the black mist. He exclaimed in disbelief and took a cautious step back.

The Black Demon Guard lunged forward, only to be blocked by a silver-white barrier that sprang from the target's body. A crackling sound emanated from the person, who seemed to have been saved by some one-time-use amulet. The person howled in shock and rage, scrambling away from the demonic figure.

Owen, leaning back in the stone chair, suddenly turned his head, his deep, dark eyes seemingly filled with an ominous black mist. A playful smile played on his lips as he savored the strange pleasure emanating from the black magic, while simultaneously directing his dark magic guards to seize a figure beside the man.

Another chilling, piercing scream rang out. The dark wizard, who had been exchanging spells with Natasha, slowed down, the billowing dust obscuring his vision of what was happening.

Having spent years mingling in danger and darkness, they quickly realized that an unexpected situation had arisen. They began to gather together until the Black Demon Guardian floated lightly through the surrounding dust, scattering them once again with an eerie and chilling aura of danger.

"A dark creature has infiltrated?" someone shouted in exasperation, followed by another desperate scream from afar. This situation left them bewildered. What should have been a simple hunt had turned into a horror movie.

"Protect the Gods!" A young wizard in black robes raised his wand, and a silver-white rat leaped from the tip of his wand, rushing headlong into the dark shadows, slightly dispelling the lingering chill and malice, and also somewhat easing the despair that had arisen in people's hearts.

Owen was silently suppressing the exhilarating and addictive sense of dread and satisfaction emanating from the Dark Guardian when he suddenly turned to look. The familiar warmth and hope emanating from the Guardian felt strangely repulsive and repulsive to him. He couldn't quite distinguish whether the feeling came from the Dark Guardian or from his own emotions.

The tiny rat guardian passed through the Black Mage's cloak and then dissipated helplessly into the air, leaving a small hole in the cloak. More black mist then filled in, quickly repairing the hole, but Owen could sense that the Black Mage was slightly more exhausted than when attacked by other spells.

"The opposite?" Owen's lips curled up in a mocking smile, the darkness in his eyes deepening. "Guardian... can't you at least respect your persona as a dark wizard?"

His expression suddenly turned cold, causing the Black Demon Guardians to pounce on the guy who had used the Guardian Charm.

On the other side, Natasha, having gained a brief respite, was chasing after Trif, unleashing a continuous barrage of death curses. Her hood had fallen down, revealing a bloody gash on her beautiful face; her expression was crazed, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

Trif had no choice but to flee in a sorry state, shouting and yelling, but he was eventually struck by a green light and fell straight down.

"Haha, little brother, I've avenged you..." Natasha cried and laughed at the same time, her expression a mixture of excitement and pain.

Owen squinted at the exit, shook his head sharply, and looked up at the exit above. Seeing that the dark wizards were in complete chaos and unable to unite in resistance, his remaining rationality told him that it was time.

He swung his wand forward, and eerie, ominous purple flames leaped from its tip, sending a wave of heat through everyone. Owen yanked open his briefcase and tossed in all the souvenirs he'd brought back from the Nightmare Forest.

Surrounded by stone buildings, with few things to fuel and strengthen the Fiendfire, Owen had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure: feeding it himself. The materials he brought were all rich in magic and quite valuable, but he never expected to end up setting them on fire. Fortunately, the magic-rich materials were more conducive to the Fiendfire's growth. In just a moment, Owen's Fiendfire had grown to a point where he himself struggled to control it, and it began instinctively transforming into various dangerous creatures, wreaking havoc within the room.

Fiendfyre is weakest and easiest to deal with when it is first unleashed. Its flamboyant flames are difficult to conceal and are often extinguished in their infancy, thus revealing Owen's location. Only now, when the dark wizards are in a state of panic and fighting amongst themselves, can Owen calmly summon Fiendfyre and allow it to grow stronger.

Purple flames transformed into ferocious fire dragons and chimeras, burning wildly in the room and nearly engulfing the entire conference room in an instant. The figures of the dark wizards were swallowed by the flames, no longer visible to each other. Someone shouted and unleashed the Curse of All Curses, but the golden light only dispelled a small portion of the fierce flames before being engulfed by the surging sea of ​​fire.

Owen stood up, dusted himself off, and used his control over the flames to part a path, calmly walking towards the location he had memorized. Midway, Natasha ran up along the path Owen had left for her, her face already covered in soot.

"You look quite disheveled, Natasha," Owen greeted her with a smile. The Dark Guardian floated out from the nearby flames and lightly draped himself over her, obscuring her figure with an ominous black mist.

Natasha's lips trembled as she looked at Owen's upturned lips, feeling as if a pair of cold, evil hands were gripping her heart, and even her body couldn't help but tremble.

"You..." She opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. Was this really black magic that a child her age should know? Or was she making a fuss over nothing? Natasha, who had never been to school and had little contact with her peers, was bewildered.

"We can go out later, but we need to find someone first," Owen said with a smile. His smile, though hidden by the black mist, was still gentle, yet it inexplicably sent chills down one's spine.

"Oh." Natasha wiped her eyebrows, which had been curled by the Fiendfire, and looked around sharply with her wand in hand.

Owen quickly located the only person who had previously blocked the Dark Wizard's attack. This seemingly unremarkable dark wizard had moved to the vicinity of the exit, surrounded by a golden light barrier formed by the Curse of Endless Curses, and was about to escape.

"Avada Kedavra!" Owen gave his opponent no time to react, unleashing a killing curse. A green beam shot from his wand, striking the figure before him.

"You..." The figure only managed to utter one word before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Irving used his foot to turn the body over, untied an inconspicuous black cloth bag tied around the waist, then muttered "flying around" and collected all the man's belongings.

Irving glanced around at the raging flames, a surge of savagery and killing intent welling up inside him, making him want to kill and revel. Fortunately, his shaky sanity kept him astute as possible.

"Hold on tight to me." He stretched out his arm, shrouded in black mist, to Natasha. In this state, his voice sounded indifferent and hollow, as if carrying a distant and empty echo.

Natasha gritted her teeth and gripped Owen's arm tightly. Her black, misty cloak billowed gracefully, lifting the two of them into the air as they flew slowly towards the hole in the sky.

Owen glanced down at the few dark wizards still struggling in the flames, and finally used his last bit of control over the Fiendfire to send them flying into the air, blocking the dark wizards' view.

While flying in the air is an advantage, it also makes one an easy target for the enemy, and the Fiery Blaze can conveniently obscure the enemy's vision.

The two of them floated lightly through the hole in the ceiling, flew over the crowd that had been drawn by the commotion below and were watching from afar, and soared into the distant sky.

Only after flying into a dense, deserted forest did Owen land on the ground and disperse the Dark Magic Guardians. He pressed his temples wearily, a fierce battle raging within him between throbbing malice and clear reason.

Suddenly, purple flames erupted from the dark ground in the distance. The fiery monsters cheered and broke free of their underground prison, soaring into the sky, a symbol of freedom. They greedily devoured the land, which was covered with "food," growing rapidly and attracting screams and crackling sounds of apparitions.

"Oh dear, it's out of control," Owen remarked in a flat tone, gazing at the dazzling yet beautiful flames. He thought the fire was far more beautiful than the fireworks he had set off on Christmas Eve.

Natasha looked at Owen, hesitant to speak. The boy was emanating a dark and twisted magic that gave off a sense of unease and danger.

The raging fire didn't last long. In this place that seemed to be a gathering area for wizards, there were always some people maintaining order. They were attracted by the huge commotion and loudly organized people to put out the fire.

Although the "All Curses End" spell is a very profound undoing spell, and few people know how to use it, there are always some people who do it in large groups. A group of people united and shouted "All Curses End," and the golden light curtain bound the rampant purple flames within it, finally suppressing them under the vast and dark sky.

"It's over." Owen sighed, forcing himself to regain his composure, but his expression remained listless. "Where am I?"

"I don't know, but that parchment should be a long-range portal key. We must have crossed borders and arrived in another country," Natasha said wearily, forcing a somewhat awkward smile. "An illegal long-range portal key... Hah, we're incredibly lucky we didn't die during the teleportation."

"What exactly is that black mist shadow of yours?" After a long silence, Natasha finally couldn't help but ask. The terrifying and powerful aura filled him with fear and despair.

"..." Owen paused for a moment, "My guardian angel."

"Huh?" Natasha looked at him blankly. You're pointing at that thing and telling me it's a guardian spirit? Do you think I've never seen a guardian spirit before?

"Fine, don't believe me then," Owen said, somewhat annoyed. Even if Dumbledore came today, stood here with evidence, and pointed his Elder Wand at me, he'd still be my Patronus! I said it!

(End of this chapter)