Wiping Them Out in One Go

Judging the situation and weighing the pros and cons were not things a group of teenage Gryffindor wizards excelled at. If they had been Slytherins, then upon seeing the Forbidden Forest around them ravaged and badly damaged, they would probably have behaved with considerable restraint and decorum.

"Why are you still wasting words on him, Charlie? We'll cover you—find a chance to save Prian!"

A Gryffindor player riding a Comet Series Broomstick above Amosta's left shouted, then decisively flung a dazzling red beam at him.

The Gryffindor team members truly worked well together. That Stunning Spell seemed to be a signal to attack, and the other three players, apart from Charlie, reacted immediately upon receiving it.

To confuse Amosta as much as possible, they continuously shifted positions in midair on their broomsticks. Their interweaving shadows wove a great net above Amosta's head, while they occasionally hurled Stunning Spells and Petrification Curses at him.

To be honest, Amosta had originally intended to return Prian to them, and he had not planned to fight them either.

Philoya had already gone to the castle to fetch help. The professors would probably soon learn that students had started fighting in the Forbidden Forest. Points would be deducted and detention would be unavoidable, but Amosta still hoped his detention would be a little shorter. He had no desire to remain in Snape's office until Christmas next year.

However, since the Gryffindors had struck first, there was nothing wrong with defending himself and retaliating. It would also be a good chance to vent some frustration.

With a flick of his wand, a vortex of silver and black magic appeared before Amosta. At its center lay a sunken, unfathomable black hole.

Like Charybdis's Eye from Greek mythology floating at his side, whenever a spell came at him from any direction, the magical vortex would automatically meet it without any control from his wand and swallow it with ease.

"What kind of magic is that?"

The Gryffindor team members tried everything. Whether they attacked simultaneously from several directions or concentrated their firepower in hopes of breaking through the vortex, none of it had any effect.

"I don't know, but it looks like Dark Magic!"

Another person shouted an answer.

Charlie Weasley knew that he had to act. He could not just stand by and watch.

As the talented Seeker discovered by Gryffindor House, Charlie's flying skills were indeed a cut above the others. He was like an elusive ghost—after lingering briefly in one spot, he would be somewhere else by the next blink.

Moreover, his spellcasting was quite impressive. Even while moving at such high speed, every spell he cast was accurately aimed at Amosta. That was no easy feat; even Professor Flitwick in his youth might not have been able to move so nimbly.

Unfortunately, that did not mean he could break through Amosta's defenses.

Late at night, Amosta unexpectedly found himself enjoying a high-level aerial performance in the Forbidden Forest. Those pleasing flying techniques made even Amosta, who was not particularly interested in Quidditch, secretly admire them. No wonder the Slytherin team had been utterly trounced by the Gryffindor team on the pitch last school year.

"Little worm, do you only dare hide behind that thing and refuse to come out?"

Unable to make any headway after attacking for so long, the Gryffindor players resorted to taunting him.

"Maybe we can try a different approach!"

Seeing his Disarming Charm fail once again, the panting Charlie came to a stop in midair. He looked around, and an idea immediately came to him.

"Fly higher, all of you! Watch out for the big spider's venom melting your robes—Finite Incantatem!"

Everyone understood what Charlie meant, including Amosta. He immediately turned to look at the Acromantula and saw the light fired from Charlie's wand strike one of its thickly furred black legs.

Click, click, click!

Freed from its restraints, the spider immediately waved its two enormous, gleaming black pincers and let out an angry hiss at the wizards before it.

After being toyed with by Charlie and the others for so long, the Acromantula shook its ugly head and madly blinked its emerald compound eyes. To its senses, those buzzing red flies in the sky and the young wizard on the ground not far from it were all in league together!

Crack!

The eight-legged spider moved with astonishing speed. As its enormous body charged forward at full force, its tremendous power easily snapped several trees as thick as bowls.

Amosta raised an eyebrow. He knew about Acromantulas. The venom of these magical creatures was extremely valuable—a pint could sell for one hundred Gold Galleons. Of course, this spider was still too young, so it might not yield that much.

Still, every little bit counted. Amosta did not have the bad habit of wasting things.

When Charlie saw Amosta standing motionless before the spider, a trace of concern appeared on his weathered face. He worried that Amosta had been frightened stupid by the terrifying giant spider. Just as he was about to warn him, Amosta suddenly raised his arm and pointed his wand directly at the spider as it leaped into the air and pounced toward him.

"Shrinking Charm!"

The Acromantula's huge body abruptly stiffened in midair. Confusion appeared in all eight of its compound eyes at once. Before it could react, the world around it rapidly warped in its vision, and then it found itself flying uncontrollably into a glass bottle.

"Thank you for the gift," Amosta said after adding several protective spells to the glass bottle. He raised his head. "I like it very much."

As he spoke, he gripped his raised wand as though holding a drumstick and sighed.

"Next, I probably have a lot of trouble to deal with, so let's end this unpleasant situation quickly and return to the castle. If everything goes smoothly, I might even be able to squeeze out half an hour to take a nap in the dormitory."

"Keep dreaming, Breen. You still think you'll get to sleep?"

The Gryffindor who had launched the first attack earlier recovered from the shock of seeing Amosta effortlessly subdue the Acromantula. He bared his teeth and snarled viciously.

"The Dementors will give you a proper welcome for us!"

"It's windy up there. I suggest you don't fly so high, or it'll hurt when you fall later."

Amosta ignored the threat completely and looked at Charlie instead.

"What are you going to do?"

Having been warned, Charlie warily held his wand before his chest and tightened his grip on the broom handle, ready to dodge at any moment.

However, Amosta did not fire a spell at anyone. Instead, as though swinging a drumstick, he viciously smashed his wand against the empty air before him!

Buzz!

With that strike of his wand, a violent storm immediately erupted in the unseen world. Centered on where Amosta had struck, magic surged outward in intense ripples in every direction, like a placid lake disturbed by a falling stone.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Swept by the chaotic magic, the Gryffindors dropped from their flying broomsticks like dumplings falling into a pot. After several heavy crashes, every one of them had been knocked unconscious.

"I warned you, it would hurt... Ah, this really never ends."

Amosta turned toward the castle. Bill Weasley, riding Philoya's broomstick, was rapidly crossing the boundary between the Forbidden Forest and the grounds, hurrying over with a worried expression.