Chapter 411

Chapter 411: Chapter 411

Elias froze for a moment.

"Can you even live long enough to wait out an entire century?"

It was the first thought that entered his mind.

"I don’t know why," Lynn said calmly, "but I have the distinct feeling that you’re thinking something incredibly rude."

Elias’s hand paused, and his expression became extremely peculiar.

"How could that be?" he asked with perfect sincerity. "You must be mistaken."

Lynn didn’t pursue the matter. He sighed, rose from his seat, and walked toward the bar.

"The bill, please. Two butterbeers."

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly through the quiet pub.

Several customers dozing in the corners were startled awake. They looked around blankly before lowering their heads and returning to sleep.

Sirona Ryan poked her head out from behind the bar.

She wiped her hands twice on her apron, picked up a clean cloth, and approached Lynn while polishing a freshly washed glass.

"That’ll be four Sickles."

Lynn slipped a hand into his pocket and searched through his coins.

Then his fingers stopped.

Four Sickles.

If he remembered correctly, butterbeer still cost two Sickles a glass in 1996.

One hundred and five years had passed between 1891 and 1996, yet the price hadn’t increased by even a single Knut.

Lynn placed a Galleon on the bar.

Sirona glanced at the coin, then raised her eyes to his face.

Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, as though she were wondering which house he belonged to and why she had never seen him before.

Then she bent down and rummaged through a drawer beneath the counter.

"Thirteen Sickles in change," she called from below, her voice slightly muffled.

Lynn stood before the bar with one hand in his pocket and the other resting casually on the counter.

Without warning, every hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

It felt as though the tip of an icy needle had traced a line down his spine, from the base of his neck to his tailbone.

The sensation was painfully familiar.

His body entered a combat state instantly.

His fingers snapped away from the counter, and his wand slid from his sleeve into his palm.

A second later—

Boom!

A massive fireball smashed through the roof of the Three Broomsticks.

It was at least half a meter wide, with an orange-red surface and a golden-white core. Its temperature was so intense that the surrounding air seemed to ignite.

The fireball plunged through the shattered roof with a deep roar.

Broken tiles, splintered wood, and ash rained down around it like a miniature meteor shower.

It was heading directly for Lynn.

His eyes narrowed.

Lynn raised his wand and aimed it at the descending flames.

A thick torrent of water erupted from its tip. The water was deep blue and shimmered with a dark luster beneath the candlelight.

Sssss!

When water met fire, there was no explosion—only the violent hiss of red-hot iron plunged into ice water.

White steam erupted above the bar and spread outward like a mushroom cloud.

The force of the torrent drove the fireball back through the hole in the roof. It exploded above Hogsmeade like an enormous firework, scattering sparks, debris, and steam across the night sky.

Only then did the pub’s patrons realize what had happened.

They drew their wands and rushed outside.

"The Ashwinders are here!"

"Ranrok is attacking!"

Their shouts reminded Lynn that a large-scale goblin rebellion had taken place during this period.

The history books had been frustratingly vague about the conflict. They recorded its beginning, its end, and the enormous number of goblins involved, but offered few useful details.

Lynn turned toward the corner where Elias had been sitting.

The chair was already empty.

Elias had drawn his wand and rushed outside to join the fighting.

Lynn returned his own wand to his sleeve and followed.

The night wind struck his face, carrying the odors of smoke, gunpowder, and fresh blood.

Lynn stopped outside the pub and surveyed the street.

A group of goblins in dark-red robes was engaged in a chaotic battle with the witches and wizards of Hogsmeade.

The goblins barely reached an adult wizard’s waist, but they were remarkably swift and strong.

They wielded daggers and short swords whose blades glowed dark red.

Lynn recognized the radiance immediately.

The weapons had been enchanted with curses.

Elias stood in the middle of the street, holding his wand in his left hand while his right hung loosely at his side.

"Crucio!"

A crimson beam struck a goblin lunging toward him.

The creature’s body arched violently in midair like a boiled shrimp. Its dagger slipped from its hand and clattered across the street before the goblin itself collapsed, curling into a trembling ball.

Elias had already turned toward his next target.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A streak of green light crossed the distance so quickly that the second goblin barely had time to widen its eyes before the curse entered its chest.

Standing outside the Three Broomsticks, Lynn watched Elias hurl the Cruciatus Curse one moment and the Killing Curse the next.

The attacking goblins might as well have been made of paper.

One after another, they fell, lost the ability to fight, or died outright.

Fortunately, no one was paying attention to Elias.

The nearby witches and wizards were too busy dealing with their own enemies to notice his alarming efficiency.

Lynn’s gaze swept across the street before returning to Elias.

Having just killed another goblin, Elias turned while searching for his next target.

Their eyes met.

At that moment, Lynn confirmed one thing.

Elias wasn’t remotely normal either.

What decent person grinned while throwing Killing Curses around?

Lynn looked away and returned his attention to the wider battle.

More goblins continued pouring into Hogsmeade from every entrance.

There were far too many.

They swarmed into the village like a plague of locusts. Although Hogsmeade’s residents fought back with all their strength, the disparity in numbers was overwhelming, forcing them to retreat step by step.

Lynn remembered a passage from his History of Magic textbook:

Goblins always forget one thing—human magic is sharper than their swords.

From his position outside the Three Broomsticks, Lynn had a clear view of the entire street.

He twirled his wand once and aimed toward the left, where a group of goblins had surrounded an elderly wizard.

"Sectumsempra."

Invisible blades shot from the tip of his wand.

The goblins felt only a faint gust of wind.

Then the first goblin’s head slid from its shoulders.

It struck the ground with a dull thud, rolled twice, and came to rest in the gutter. The headless body remained standing in the middle of a sword swing for several seconds before collapsing.

A long wound opened across the second goblin’s chest, stretching from its collarbone to its waist.

It looked down at the gash with utter bewilderment before falling.

The third, fourth, and fifth followed.

Invisible blades wove through their ranks, claiming one life with every strike.

The elderly wizard stared in disbelief.

His wand remained raised in the middle of casting, and his mouth hung open as the goblins surrounding him collapsed one after another.

Lynn paid him no attention.

His wand had already turned toward the opposite side of the street.

More than a dozen goblins were converging on Elias from different directions, cutting off every path of escape. Their daggers gleamed beneath the moonlight, while the dark-red curses upon their blades seemed almost alive.

Elias remained perfectly calm.

His wand spun rapidly in his hand, its glowing tip tracing arcs through the darkness.

A magical barrier expanded around him like an overturned bowl, enclosing him completely.

The goblins’ daggers struck it with a series of metallic clangs, sending sparks flying.

Elias stood at the center of the barrier and calmly examined their faces, seemingly deciding which one to kill first.

He aimed his wand at a goblin to his left.

"Reducto!"

The goblin’s torso exploded like glass struck by a hammer.

Fragments scattered across its stunned companions.

Elias smiled again and raised his wand toward the remaining goblins.

Lynn acted at the same moment.

With a flick of his wand, white frost surged across the street.

Wherever it passed, the stone pavement was instantly coated in a thin layer of ice.

The goblins’ feet froze to the ground.

Ice spread upward from their soles as they struggled to pull themselves free. Within moments, the thin frost thickened into solid blocks around their legs.

Elias looked at the immobilized goblins, then glanced at Lynn.

They exchanged no words or gestures.

None were necessary.

Their wands rose simultaneously.

Elias flicked his wrist.

An invisible hand seized the goblins and hurled them into the air.

More than a dozen bodies rose into the night sky, limbs flailing as garbled cries escaped their mouths.

Lynn slashed his wand downward.

A dozen circular blades swept precisely across their necks.

Their heads separated simultaneously.

Blood erupted from the severed necks, drawing dark-red arcs beneath the moonlight.

The headless bodies crashed onto the street in a series of heavy thuds.

For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.

The witches, wizards, and goblins still fighting all looked up at the blood raining from the night sky.

Lynn didn’t stop.

He had already aimed his wand elsewhere.

Another group of goblins was attempting to flank them, apparently believing he hadn’t noticed.

Lynn flicked his wand.

The pavement split beneath their feet, exposing the dark soil below. Caught completely off guard, the goblins tumbled into the newly formed pit.

They attempted to climb out, but Lynn had placed a Slippery Jinx upon the walls.

Their hands clawed at the earth, only to lose their grip and slide back down. They tried again and met with the same result.

Elias’s Blasting Curse followed.

"BOOM!"

The intense heat of the explosion turned the soil at the bottom of the pit into molten lava.

The trapped goblins twisted in the flames, their bodies charring before crumbling into ash.

Several goblins near the edge had avoided falling into the pit.

They immediately turned and fled.

Elias pointed his wand after them.

"Crucio!"

A crimson beam struck the leading goblin in the back.

Its body arched violently before collapsing face-first onto the street. It twitched several times, then lay still.

Lynn’s Sectumsempra caught the one at the rear.

An invisible blade cut through its upper thigh, severing its left leg. The limb struck the pavement and bounced twice.

The goblin screamed, lost its balance, and fell.

One of its companions reached out to help.

Before it could touch the fallen goblin, Lynn’s second blade passed through its neck.

In the open square before the Three Broomsticks, Lynn and Elias cut through the attackers as easily as chopping vegetables.

Their coordination made it seem as though they had fought beside each other countless times.

Elias’s spells always struck exactly where Lynn’s magic needed them.

Lynn’s magic invariably created the perfect opportunity for Elias’s spells to inflict maximum damage.

Before long, every goblin near the Three Broomsticks had been eliminated.

The street grew quiet.

Sirona cautiously poked her head out of the pub.

Her gaze moved from the goblin corpses littering the street to Lynn, then to Elias.

"You two..." Her voice sounded strangely faint. "Are you really students?"

Lynn didn’t answer.

He returned his wand to his sleeve and turned toward the Three Broomsticks.

The bill still hadn’t been settled.

More importantly, Sirona still owed him thirteen Sickles.

He had only taken a single step when a voice resounded throughout Hogsmeade.

"Everyone inside, listen carefully."

The voice didn’t come from any single direction.

It came from everywhere at once, as though someone had placed an enormous megaphone in every corner of the village. The overlapping words formed a strange resonance beneath the night sky.

Lynn stopped.

"We have taken some of your relatives hostage. If you want them to survive, have the Headmaster of Hogwarts surrender Elias to us."

The voice paused.

"You have three days."

Its final words continued echoing throughout Hogsmeade.

"Everyone inside, listen carefully..."

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