Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 355: Hermione's Attack
The Hungarian Treecrest Dragon, the Hebridean Black Dragon, and the Ukrainian Ironbelly are all fire dragons with extremely strong physical strength.
Just as the professors in the observatory were using magic to defend against those iron bellies, a Hungarian Treecrest Dragon and two Hebridean Black Dragons suddenly crashed into the edge of the tower!
The castle shook violently!
This is the highest point of the entire school, which is equivalent to a slender entity extending from the main body of the castle, so the defense is not that strong.
The shaking ground caused most of the professors who were casting the universal spell-breaking spell to lose their balance. Two or three of them fell directly to the ground, and a few others staggered a few steps, and naturally could not continue to cast the spell in their hands.
It was precisely because of this gap they revealed that the fanatical dragon breath finally broke through the blue barrier!
The golden-red flames instantly engulfed the entire astronomy tower. The scorching heat made the professors who were the first to be impacted scream.
Alecto's robes caught fire, and she screamed like a rolling ball, trying to escape the astronomical tower in the flames.
However, before she could run to the door, a bright red spell hit her!
"Crucio!"
The scene in the Astronomy Tower, which was in a panic, suddenly became quiet because of this spell. Every professor present looked at little Barty in disbelief as he raised his wand and cast a spell on his colleagues.
Little Batty's expression was more ferocious and cold than ever before.
Alecto howled wildly under his torture, but he ruthlessly stepped on her fat face, then raised his head and looked at everyone present.
"I warn you, don't forget your identity! You are the master's servants, you should do everything to protect his property! This castle is the master's most precious thing. If it is destroyed by these beasts, I will kill you all first without him doing anything! Then I will commit suicide to apologize to him! Even if this castle is to be destroyed, we must die before the castle collapses!!!"
Little Batty roared like a madman.
Everyone present knew that he was not joking. This wizard's worship of Voldemort had reached a pathological level. Otherwise, how could a normal person kill his own parents for an outsider?
As the most trusted confidant among the confidants, Barty Jr. knows better than anyone the importance of Hogwarts Castle to Voldemort. His words are not meant to intimidate. If it really comes to that, he will definitely do what he says and let everyone in the castle die before the school collapses!
His ruthlessness shocked everyone present. Looking at Alecto who was still lying on the ground groaning, everyone temporarily gave up the idea of escaping from the observatory. Even the professor, whose body had been set on fire by the dragon's breath, hurriedly put out the flames on his body, then turned around and pointed his wands at the fire dragons in the sky that were gathering strength for the next wave of attack.
…
Inside the castle, the entire Hogwarts was in chaos.
Pure-blood students are fine, as they have a dedicated lounge manager and even three house-elves to serve them exclusively.
So when the fire dragon attacked the castle, these pure-blood students were quickly led to the safe auditorium. Unless the entire castle collapsed, they would not be in any danger.
The mixed-race students were not so lucky. Their dean Greengrass was still in the astronomy tower, and there was no administrator to take charge of their safety.
These people could only run around the castle like headless flies, and finally returned to the common room under the guidance of the prefects in panic and fear.
But it is not safe here. The lounge for mixed-race students is in a separate tower, which is likely to be the target of attack by some fire dragons. In order to enter the castle, these guys are looking for a passage that can be opened in the fortress for them to enter and exit.
Only the auditorium is the safest place, because if anything bad happens, the students here can escape from the castle in the shortest time. If such a situation happens, the mixed-race students hiding in the lounge will have no way out.
As for the "mudbloods" who were locked in the basement after dinner, no one cared at all. However, their current situation was actually very safe, and no dragon could dig a tunnel through them and break into the castle.
In addition to the students, the professors in the castle were also in great confusion.
Amycus followed Barty Jr.'s orders and kept summoning the remaining professors to launch a counterattack against the fire dragons that were attacking the castle. He also ordered the head of the Aurors stationed in the school to immediately go to the Astronomy Tower for reinforcement.
The attacks of these dragons were not concentrated, and Batty and his men were under the greatest pressure in front of the Astronomy Tower.
But even if they organized all the forces in the castle, there were only more than thirty professors and Aurors left here. When facing these fire dragons, there was not even a way for two people to deal with one!
Fire dragons are never easy to deal with. Even the most professional dragon tamers or dragon slayers in America need the cooperation of at least five people to defeat them one by one and easily control the number of dragons or tame them.
Regardless of whether the people in Hogwarts Castle have the professional knowledge to deal with dragons, they are naturally at a disadvantage in terms of numbers alone.
So this battle to defend Hogwarts Castle was very difficult for them.
At the same time when the dragon launched an attack on the castle, on the fourth floor of the castle, in a secret passage, Hermione was holding the Marauder's Map and carefully observing every move of everyone in the school.
She saw that most of the professors and Auror guards had headed to the Astronomy Tower. The names of the professors were crowded on the tower, constantly changing positions, and the scene looked very chaotic.
The students have all hidden in appropriate places, and the Hogwarts Castle now seems emptier than ever before!
Hermione didn't know what exactly happened, but the occasional dragon roars coming from outside and the shaking castle made her guess almost instantly that something must have gone wrong in the competition in the Forbidden Forest, and such an accident was most likely related to Jon.
This was not because she knew something, but because she had absolute confidence and trust in Jon.
Hermione didn't know what the situation was like outside or who was in the favorable position, but she knew that this was the best opportunity for her to take action in the castle!
At this time, no one would pay attention to what was happening in the castle, because the professors did not have enough manpower and had no way to send more people to patrol the castle.
Moreover, the noise made by the fire dragon was so loud that it could completely cover up some of the preparations Hermione was going to make next, giving Hermione, who had been waiting in this secret passage for a long time, finally a chance to get out.
"Fox, don't sleep anymore, we have to get ready to go out."
The little girl whispered to the Phoenix on her shoulder.
At this time, Fox also opened his light golden eyes and opened his sharp beak as if he was yawning.
After making sure that everything was safe outside, Hermione didn't hesitate at all. She straightened a small bag on her body, held the wand in one hand and the Marauder's Map in the other, and walked out of the secret passage wearing an invisibility cloak.
The corridor was empty, but it did not seem quiet. The surrounding walls and ground were shaking from time to time, and the dragon's roar outside was shaking people's eardrums.
Hermione's steps were fast.
She didn't know how long it would take the professors and Aurors to deal with the fire dragons, so she could only prepare for the worst and give herself twenty minutes.
She had to eliminate all wrong options within these twenty minutes. Even if she still couldn't gain anything today, she had to verify all the objects that Mr. Slytherin and Professor Dumbledore had suspected at the beginning.
She ran down the stairs quickly without slowing down her pace and arrived at the first floor.
After walking down the stairs, she began to move more cautiously, because the pure-blood students were gathered in the auditorium, where there was an administrator and many house-elves guarding. Hermione had to be careful that they might notice the movement.
But as she walked to the left along the corridor, she saw that she was getting farther and farther away from the auditorium. After making sure that there was no one else around, she loosened her pace again and even started to jog.
The shoes she was wearing were specially enchanted by Dumbledore, which could greatly eliminate the sound produced by the soles of the shoes touching the ground. No one could notice it unless they were standing very close to her.
Fox stood very steadily on her shoulders, even opening his wings slightly to help her hold up the invisibility cloak she was wearing and prevent the cloak, which seemed to be made of water, from accidentally slipping off her body.
Soon, Hermione came to the area that Slytherin had assigned to her, and the girls' bathroom where she had found the faucet with the snake mark last time was also in this area.
However, this time Hermione did not choose to go directly into the bathroom. Instead, she wandered along the corridor in this area, making a slightly hoarse and unpleasant hissing sound from her mouth.
The sound she made was not small, but it was completely drowned out by the noise outside the castle. There was no one else around, so no one could hear that there was a little girl here imitating the sound of a snake.
After three or four minutes of trying this, nothing unusual happened in response to Hermione.
Hermione was not disappointed. She immediately left here and ran towards the stairs again, climbing up to the upper floors until she reached the corridor on the seventh floor.
This place is undoubtedly even more empty. Not to mention this floor, even the three floors nearby are empty.
Wearing the invisibility cloak, Hermione quickly crossed the restricted area in the castle, which was an absolute boundary for other people, and finally stood in front of the door of an office.
This place was not unfamiliar to her. More than a year ago, it was here that she personally captured Jon who had just dealt with the basilisk. It was also here that she truly got to know the boy who claimed to be "Dumbledore's professor."
Now he is indeed a professor, but at Durmstrang.
Revisiting the old place didn't make Hermione think too much, as she knew very well how important the mission she was responsible for was.
Arriving at the door of the headmaster's office, Hermione was about to push it open and walk in.
Although John had broken into this place once and taken away something that represented the foundation of this school, Voldemort would definitely strengthen its defensive measures in the future.
She simply touched Fox's smooth feathers, and the phoenix's entire body turned into a golden light.
The light lasted for a long time, but Fox did not disappear as he did before. The castle was deliberately enchanted with anti-Apparition magic, making it impossible for Fox to Apparite so easily.
But just two or three minutes later, the golden-red light disappeared on Hermione's shoulder, and then Hermione stood in front of the headmaster's office, making that "hissing" sound again.
There seemed to be a noise coming from the principal's office, but the noise soon disappeared.
Hermione did not show any impatience, she just waited quietly.
This wait did not last long, and soon the golden light of Fox appeared around her again.
After Fox came back, he was obviously more disheveled than before he went in, with his feathers a little messy, but his light golden eyes were still bright.
After coming back, it shook its head at Hermione, which made Hermione feel a little discouraged.
This was the last place they could think of, and they still found nothing. Although Professor Dumbledore would certainly not blame her, Hermione herself felt a sense of frustration.
However, just as she was about to turn around and leave and return to the secret passage, her mind suddenly flashed back to something that Jon had mentioned to her when they were chatting on the Hogwarts.
She suddenly became a little excited, but quickly took a deep breath to calm herself down. Then, without any hesitation, she walked straight to the eighth floor. Soon she found the place according to her memory.
There is a tapestry here, which depicts a funny scene of a giant monster hitting a ballet teacher with a wooden stick.
Opposite this tapestry is a blank wall.
Hermione took a deep breath, and she did as Jon had told him to do, standing in front of the wall, pacing back and forth while thinking to herself.
"I want a room that leads to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets!"
