Light Piercing the Thick Fog

Brooklyn neighborhoods shrouded in thick fog.

The Aurors of the American Magical Congress were scattered throughout the district, guarding the sewer outlets from which Werewolf Inferi were constantly overflowing with sewage. They had lost count of how many Werewolf Inferi they had contained, only feeling that these ghostly things were densely packed and seemed endless.

The barrage of beams of various spells gradually thinned as the number of people dispersed, and the Aurors ' movements became less rapid due to continuous casting. Their encirclement grew larger and larger, and the time it took to deal with each wave of Werewolf Inferi gradually increased.

The Aurors ' faces were covered with large droplets of water, it was hard to tell whether they were formed by the thick fog, dirty water splashed on their faces and stuck there, or... tired sweat.

At the head of a main pipeline in South Brooklyn.

Mike, a black man in the temporarily assigned action team, stared intently at the sewer manhole ahead, his wand held horizontally forward, the Binding Charm he had repeated dozens of times before coming to mind.

Mike, who had just graduated from Ilvermorny a year ago, clearly remembered that the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor had said that fire should be used to deal with these Dark Arts ghosts, but fire was too conspicuous in the thick fog, so in order not to attract the attention of the Muggle, they could only use ordinary spells.

The Stunning Spell and the Repelling Charm are not very effective against these lifeless Inferi; the Binding Charm is the most suitable.

"Don't let the Werewolf Inferi get close, don't let the ghosts escape..." Mike kept repeating to himself. He didn't have the energy to think about anything else, and could only keep repeating the captain's orders to prevent himself from collapsing from exhaustion.

Seeing a Werewolf Inferi manage to escape the gunfire and approach a colleague in the inner circle, Mike quickly cast a spell: "[Petrificus Totalus]".

His colleague glanced at him gratefully, but before he could say anything more, a jet of water gushed from the well, accompanied by a massive number of Werewolf Inferi crawling out of the ground.

"Alert!"

"Alert!"

The team leader in charge of this wellhead shouted, "Use all your magic to get rid of these monstrous things!"

For a moment, the gray-white Binding Charm almost cleared away the thick fog, but the layers of Inferi were stacked one on top of another, and many Binding Charm repeatedly struck the Inferi in the front row, causing a large number of Inferi to squeeze out and move closer to their Aurors comrades in the inner circle.

"Cast the spell! One more time!"

The Aurors captain, neck stiff, extended his wand and pointed it at an Inferi in front of him: "[Powerful Repulsion]"

boom--

A restrained, light green enhanced Repelling Charm shot out, blasting away a large group of Inferi and clearing a buffer zone. The temporary team members assigned there hadn't even had time to breathe a sigh of relief before their hearts jumped again—

The wellhead erupted again.

A greater number of Werewolf Inferi surged out than before. Everywhere you looked, there were dark heads and hands, pale, sharp teeth and claws emanating a chilling aura. The mud in the sewage made the floor slippery. The Inferi lay on the ground, their withered limbs gripping the slippery floor as they crawled forward. Their empty, misty eyes stared at the Aurors, and their sunken faces wore cruel sneers.

"[Petrificus Totalus] "

"[Powerful Repellent]"

"..."

Several rounds of dense magic were fired, and a large number of Inferi staggered and fell to the ground. However, the Inferi behind trampled and squeezed these corpses forward.

The temporary team members who had been assigned to the operation kept retreating, staring intently at the wolf-shaped corpse.

Just then, a series of heavy footsteps sounded, and a group of homeless people dressed in tattered clothes broke through the water, splashing foul-smelling water as they charged towards the Inferi, knocking over a large number of the already slow-moving Inferi.

They probably weren't very good at magic, or rather, their agile and nimble movements were more effective than magic.

Undeterred by the Werewolf Disease infection, they quickly took down a large number of Inferi, and the captain took the opportunity to collect the Inferi under his control into his briefcase.

Inside the Brooklyn underground pipes.

The dark, foul-smelling sewage blocked all vision, and all that could be heard was the rumbling sound of water.

Dozens of people enveloped in the Bubble-Head Charm were darting around underwater, led by Bellatrix Lestrange!

Countless Werewolf Inferi floated on the bottom of the water, but the Inferi seemed to be unaware of the people's presence. Even when people passed by them, the Inferi remained blank and unresponsive.

Bellatrix drifted along the water and came to the bottom of a main pipe, waving to the man behind her.

It was a fierce-looking, burly man wearing a wide robe through which the outline of his bulging muscles could be seen. His face was covered in hair, indistinguishable between beard and hair, resembling the fur of some kind of animal. His eyes were small, like a wolf's.

Fenrir Greyback twisted his neck and a cruel smile spread across his face.

The group wandered to the bottom of the pipe and waved their wands. A dozen surging dark currents swept up the floating Inferi and gathered together, rushing straight upwards.

Brooklyn, the sewer entrance from which Werewolf Inferi first emerged.

Jimmy leaned against Lupin, a half-smoked cheap cigarette dangling from his lips, enjoying a moment of peace between battles.

He watched as the Aurors captain in charge of the well opened his suitcase, summoned a whirlwind to sweep up the incapacitated Werewolf Inferi, and sent them one by one into the magical extension space.

"To be honest, when I worked at the pet store, that's how they transported pets too..."

Jimmy took a deep breath and pretended to smoke, but all that filled his chest was the stench of underground sewage. He quickly stopped inhaling, his face turning red instantly, but he still choked and couldn't help but cough violently.

Lupin chuckled and casually patted him on the back, "Someone like you, trying to smoke like others?"

Jimmy muttered under his breath, "The air here smells awful..."

Most of the other Aurors and Werewolf were also taking the time to rest and recover their strength. The liaison officer who had just returned to headquarters told them to hold on for as long as possible, as congressional officials were already recruiting Aurors and wizards from nearby cities and countries, and support would arrive soon.

In fact, if Congress could pay enough, the fastest support would be from Gringotts, whose strange and wonderful treasures would always come in handy. But the officials who make the decisions are not the frontline personnel. Even the ostracized Werewolf have come to support us, but their support has not yet arrived.

The Aurors captain in charge of this operation, who was also the head of magical security and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, looked rather grim.

He noticed that his colleagues' spellcasting frequency and speed had decreased significantly, and the kind Werewolf who were providing support were also about to run out of energy; their movements were becoming weaker and slower.

Before long, they would run out of strength to stop these damned Inferi!

Boom!

The water jet gushed out of the well again.

At the corner of the alley, Loren and Hermione peeked out from behind the wall and observed the Aurors and Werewolf putting up a difficult resistance.

They noticed that the Werewolf fighting the Inferi were already bleeding. Facing sharp teeth and claws at close range, and without any protection, they were bound to get cuts and bruises. The crimson blood dripped into the sewage, quickly swallowed by the blackness... If it were an ordinary person, being cut by sharp teeth and claws would have already resulted in infection with Werewolf Disease.

Fortunately, there was no blood inside the Inferi, Lupin and the others were not in a transformed state; otherwise, the sewage dripping into their blood would have become a route of infection.

The two women pulled their heads back, Hermione paced anxiously back and forth. "Where are the remaining reinforcements? Where is Professor Dumbledore? If we don't do something soon, this place will fall!"

"Actually, the American Magical Congress has already deployed enough people, but the multiple wells have scattered them, and they can't release spells that are too conspicuous..." Loren shook his head, "We can only wait and see what other tricks Woolworth Building has up its sleeve."

"..."

Hermione's lips pressed into a straight line, her right hand nervously rubbing her wand.

The sunlight shone on the torch held aloft by the Statue of Liberty, making the bronze statue gleam.

"The Werewolf Inferi was just an experiment for me. I'd like to try the troll Inferi and the giant Inferi later..."

Voldemort suppressed his venomous gaze, a smile playing on his lips as if nothing had happened, and said, "Perhaps Acromantula, Unicorn, or Centaur would also be good choices... and Mermaid too. The Black Lake at Hogwarts has plenty of experimental material. What do you say, Professor Dumbledore?"

A hint of anger flashed across Dumbledore's face, but his voice remained calm and unhurried. "Desecrating corpses is merely a cover for your fear. Manipulating Inferi may give you the illusion of conquering death, Voldemort, but the more you do this, the clearer people will see your fear of death and darkness."

Voldemort seemed to have heard a joke and couldn't help but tilt his head back and chuckle for a while.

"Ridiculous, I'm afraid?" Voldemort scoffed. "I'd love to see the expressions on the faces of those people in the fog, to see if they're as optimistic as you, or rather, as foolish!"

Dumbledore glanced at the thick fog shrouding Brooklyn, then at the bright sunshine overhead, and then at Woolworth Building in the distance. Suddenly feeling a bit bored, he asked, "Have you read the book I gave you?"

"Of course not! From the title to the cover, every single word reeks of nauseating preachiness!"

Voldemort noticed his gaze, roughly guessing his intention to attack, and retorted with a cold laugh, "You want to have a wizard duel with me atop the world-famous Statue of Liberty? There's no fog here, Dumbledore..."

"What a pity. I heard you got the professorship. Those two books are very helpful for Protestantism to establish correct educational philosophies..."

As Dumbledore spoke, he pulled an ancient-looking wand from his robes and looked at the shimmering water beneath the statue of the goddess. "If you ask me, perhaps I could end the battle quickly, before people notice this place... or cover it up with fire and a mirage afterwards."

As he spoke, Voldemort took out his wand, his expression gradually becoming serious.

The battle erupted instantly. Without any incantation, two beams of Magic Power, as bright and dazzling as plasma, collided.

Voldemort's deep green Magic Power carried a heavy aura of death, dark and eerie.

The crimson Magic Power emanating from Dumbledore was intensely hot and violently surging, capable of burning everything.

The dull thuds of impact continued to ring out, and the splashing turbulence splattered onto the light green copper oxide surface of the Statue of Liberty. The thin, brittle patina instantly shattered and fell off, revealing the metallic copper color inside the statue.

The Magic Power clash didn't last long, and the situation quickly turned in Dumbledore's favor.

Wormtail's body could only temporarily hold his soul; his Magic Power was not profound. Even if Voldemort mobilized all his strength, he could not withstand the old wizard's surging and overwhelming offensive.

Before the Magic Power struck, a Grey Mist, misty Wraith darted westward and quickly disappeared from sight.

In the end, the crimson Magic Power devoured the Wormtail, and raging flames instantly rose up. The surface of its body quickly carbonized, and it fell off the torch platform that symbolized freedom before it could even let out a scream.

When the burning flames fell onto the base of the statue, they turned into black dust, which was scattered by the wind and left nothing behind.

The battle lasted less than half a minute from start to finish.

At the corner of the alley, Loren and Hermione hid out of the Aurors' sight, watching the fierce battle ahead from afar.

Even though it was the pipe opening closest to the emergency gate, the frequency of the water jets was still too high, so much so that the Werewolf Inferi in the front row, petrified by the Binding Charm, couldn't be contained in time. A clever Werewolf John Moon came up with an idea: they piled up the Inferi that couldn't be contained in time to form a wall of corpses, blocking the Werewolf Inferi behind them from moving forward.

Wastewater could flow out from the gaps between the Inferi, and the Werewolf Inferi that emerged from behind could only step over them, slowly moving forward by stepping on their petrified and stiff limbs.

Nevertheless, their defenses were crumbling bit by bit, and many Aurors were exhausted. They struggled to raise their wands and often took several breaths to complete the spell.

The released Binding Charm had little effect on the thick-skinned Werewolf Inferi, only slightly hindering their movement.

Captain Aurors hadn't unleashed a powerful spell in a long time; he was gathering his last strength, intending to use Apparition to lead his exhausted comrades away from the battlefield.

Bang, bang...

The sound of flesh colliding with corpses pierced through the thick fog and spread to the surroundings. The sound was low and weak, but it stubbornly and continuously reached Loren's ears and echoed in his mind.

If this continues, it won't be long before we lose control.

Loren calmed himself and slowed his breathing, rubbing his wand between his thumb and forefinger, as surging Magic Power flowed through his body.

With the Sorcerer's Stone, he didn't need to worry about Magic Power, but individual Binding Charm couldn't keep up with the speed at which the Inferi were surging. Area-of-effect spells would be best, but spells that were too noisy might risk being exposed.

The Transfiguration should be able to delay things for a while, but with other pipes constantly spewing out more Inferi, he couldn't apply Transfiguration to all of Brooklyn's defenses at the same time.

Hermione had already taken out her wand and started walking forward.

Loren's fingers twirled on his wand, then suddenly remembered something. He reached for the Deluminator and flicked open the metal cap.

Among the many scattered light sources, two clusters of light were the brightest.

One of them shimmered with a stiff, cold gray.