The Dark Lord's Imminent Arrival, the Red Demon Mask

"Ugh!" Aaron slapped his forehead. "What a hassle! I hate hassles."

"I don't like trouble either, but sometimes you have to make choices, don't you?" Lucius said meaningfully. "I can guarantee that the Dark Lord won't harm you, and you can even leave safely."

"Don't listen to him!" Hermione shouted, then pointed the Shore Flower at Lucius. "I'm not a hostage."

"Naive," Lucius sneered. "You're no different from a hostage now."

"Aaron, you don't want your girlfriend to get hurt, do you?"

"Uh... well, I have to correct you, she's not my girlfriend yet," Aaron said somewhat embarrassedly. "My time is tight, and I won't be thinking about dating anytime soon."

Actually, there's a difference between liking someone and having a crush. The reason I took such a big risk coming here wasn't because I liked her, but because I didn't have many crushes on any girl, at least not during my school years—she was the only one.

Hermione:???

Is it really necessary to divide it into such detailed categories?

Everyone:...

Damn it! Even if you're going off-topic, at least consider the context!

"Enough. He won't listen to reason, so he'll have to suffer the consequences." Antonin said coldly. "Malfoy, he clearly doesn't appreciate it, so you don't need to be polite to him either."

Bellatrix laughed as she lifted Neville up, pointing her Wand at his throat. "Perhaps the death of his companion will make him face Reality Stone a little better."

"Avada Kedavra..."

"No!"

Hermione pulled the trigger with a sharp glint in her eye, and a burst of blue-white lightning erupted from the dark muzzle, accompanied by a thunderous roar.

"Damn it!"

Lucius stared in astonishment, completely unprepared for Hermione to actually fire. He was caught off guard and grazed by the lightning, tumbling off the platform.

Bellatrix instinctively turned around, holding her Wand in front of her, creating a white barrier with her magic.

The blue-white electric light collided with the barrier, producing a hissing sound.

After a stalemate lasting several seconds, Bellatrix roared and unleashed her magic to neutralize the blue-white electric light. She herself took a few steps back, her body twitching from the subtle electric current.

The third shot took away all of Hermione's remaining magic, and she staggered to the ground, her face completely pale.

"Damn Mudblood!" Bellatrix snapped out of her daze, glaring angrily at Hermione. "Cruciatus Curse!"

"Expelliarmus."

As soon as Bellatrix finished chanting the spell, a white light shot out from Aaron's Wand, blasting her away.

"What did I tell you before?" Aaron walked up to the platform and glared at Hermione with annoyance. "After the third shot, you'll have no choice but to run away. It seems you didn't listen to me."

"Well, here you are!" Hermione said with a forced smile.

"Yes, you'll definitely be fine as long as you're here," Harry said confidently.

"Heh! You guys seem quite confident in me."

"I'm sure I can protect myself, but..." Aaron paused, then pointed to Ron, Ginny, and Luna, who had been captured by the Death Eater, "... they, and you guys, it's a different story."

"Kill them," Bellatrix said viciously as she got up from the ground. "Do it now."

"Wait," Lucius immediately interrupted the three Death Eater who were about to attack, "Don't make a move yet."

"What do you mean by this? Are you going to protect them?"

"Of course not. It's just that since Gaius is here, these people can't be killed for the time being," Lucius said very seriously. "Don't forget that the Dark Lord put me in charge of this operation."

Upon hearing this, the Death Eater immediately abandoned their plans to attack.

Aaron frowned slightly, as if he had grasped something important, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

"What did Voldemort tell you to do?"

"I can only tell you that the Dark Lord understands people's hearts, and your attitude was naturally within his expectations."

"To be honest, it's easy to trick Potter out of Hogwarts, but it's difficult to drag Gaius into this mess," Lucius said meaningfully, while subtly winking at Aaron and lingering his gaze on the door for a moment, clearly conveying a message: Run!

Aaron noticed this and immediately realized something, which made him feel a great shock.

It turns out he wasn't the only one stalling for time, but he was waiting for reinforcements from the Phoenix Society, while Lucius was possibly waiting for Voldemort himself.

"Heh! He really went to great lengths!" Aaron said speechlessly. "Was it really necessary?"

"Who knows?" Lucius chuckled easily. "After the Dark Lord was resurrected, in addition to reclaiming his former power, he also devoted some of his energy to investigation and analysis."

Originally, the Dark Lord did not want to act so quickly, but when Potter entered the Forbidden Forest Dark Lord read his mind and realized that this might be an opportunity.

It's okay if we fail; at least we can get the Prophecy Orb. But if we succeed, that's a different story.

"We have to thank Potter for this. If he hadn't insisted on coming, and hadn't brought Granger along, the Dark Lord's plan might not have progressed to this point."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, puzzled.

Aaron rolled his eyes, and just as he was about to say something, the Book of Prophecy suddenly spoke up, "The Dark Lord will arrive at the Department of Mysteries in ten minutes. Please be prepared, Master."

"Do you even need to tell me that?"

"For so long, apart from trivial news, you haven't given me a single good Prophecy."

"What is this?" Lucius asked, staring intently at the book in Aaron's hand, a guess forming in his mind.

"It's a book of Prophecy, but it's not very reliable," Aaron explained generously. "The Prophecy that someone will die at the hands of Death Eater tonight was made by it. Without this Prophecy, I might not have come."

The Prophecy that the Dark Lord would arrive at the Department of Mysteries was a little late; if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come. And these idiots also caused me to be stopped.

"But... he came all this way just for a Prophecy Orb?" Harry frowned. "Wasn't he planning to stay out of the public eye for the time being?"

"How much is the Prophecy Orb worth? He's after me."

"You?" Harry was stunned for a moment, his eyes twitching in surprise. "He really can't forget you!"

"If you can't speak properly, then shut up," Aaron cursed, then helped Hermione up. "I don't want to see Voldemort again, I have to go."

"Do you think that's possible?" Bellatrix laughed wildly. "This room is protected by an anti- Apparition spell. With your magic, you can't Apparition."

"Gaius, I advise you not to act rashly," Lucius said meaningfully. "You might be able to break out on your own, and possibly with one person, but there are six who are holding you back, and three of them are hostages."

The Dark Lord only wants to confirm a few things with you. As long as you're sensible, he won't do anything to you.

This can be seen as a hint to Aaron: either run away alone, or run away with Granger, but don't even think about taking everyone with you.

Furthermore, the Dark Lord won't do anything to you, but only if you cooperate properly.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Aaron scoffed. "I originally planned to stall for time until Order of the Phoenix arrived, but now that I know he's coming, I dare not take any more risks."

"If you dare leave, I'll kill them right now," Bellatrix warned.

"Tsk! I've said I don't accept threats. They came here because they asked for trouble."

Besides, I've already stalled for enough time. I can't risk my own life for them; I'm not that selfless.

"Potter, my darling, Longbottom, what do you think?" Bellatrix looked at them with a half-smile. "If Gaius leaves, you three friends will have to say goodbye forever."

"Aaron," Harry said hesitantly, "Can you save...?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I can only take one person with me when I leave."

It's not that I'm heartless; I've already done my duty by coming here.

"But you just saved me," Neville said seriously. "You're not just going to stand by and watch, are you?"

Aaron paused for a moment, then nodded seriously. "Actually, I really can."

Neville:...

"I've seen plenty of life and death separations. If I caused this trouble, I will do my best to resolve it. But your current situation is entirely of your own making."

"Yes, it's all my fault." Harry lowered his head bitterly. "I'm the one who led everyone into danger."

"Why didn't you do it sooner?" Aaron scoffed, "But it's not too late to repent now."

"Huh?" Harry was a little confused by this sudden turn of events, so he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Will you help us?" Neville asked in surprise.

"I made my choice when I was forced to get involved. It would be too frustrating to just slink away like this."

"Then why did you just say we couldn't take risks?" Hermione said with a hint of resentment.

"Perhaps you didn't understand clearly. What I meant was that we cannot risk delaying the process."

Ten minutes, no, now there are less than eight minutes left.

You must leave the Department of Mysteries within seven minutes, or you'll have to face the Dark Lord.

"You really don't know what's good for you," Bellatrix said angrily. "I really don't know why the Dark Lord would appreciate you. You have no sense of the situation at all. Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch. is much smarter."

"I suggest both sides exercise restraint. We have three hostages on our side. You don't want them to get hurt, and we don't want the Dark Lord's plan to go wrong."

"Don't make a move; waiting patiently is beneficial for both sides."

"Uncle Lucius, how could you say such a shameless thing?" Aaron scoffed. "He's already plotting against me, and you're just telling me to sit here and wait to die?"

"What do we do?" Harry asked earnestly, gripping his Wand tightly in his right hand.

Neville stood beside him, ready for anything.

Hermione wanted to join in, but before she could even draw her Wand, Aaron glared at her fiercely. "What are you doing getting involved? You probably don't even have the strength to cast the simplest Levitation Charm right now. You'll be lucky if you don't drag us down."

"Stand next to me, otherwise I might not be able to protect you later." Aaron said, taking a black key out of his pocket and placing it in her hand. "You absolutely cannot lose it. If the worst happens, you can only rely on it to save your life."

"I understand." Hermione nodded seriously, though she was still full of doubts.

"You two, and you three." Aaron glanced at Harry and Neville beside him, then at Ron, Ginny, Luna, the three prisoners. "I'll give you some time. You have to use every ounce of your strength to escape at full speed, get out of this execution chamber, get out of the Department of Mysteries, get out of the Ministry of Magic, and get out of London."

"Hahaha..." Bellatrix laughed wildly. "This joke is really funny. We have six elites, and each of them has just as much magic power as you."

"And you have six burdens. If you can all escape, how are we Death Eater supposed to survive?"

The other Death Eater also revealed mocking smiles. Do you think you're Dumbledore? What nonsense is a sixteen-year-old student spouting?

They have the advantage in terms of timing, location, and people; they have an absolute and unshakeable advantage. It would be difficult for them to lose this game.

"I hope you'll still think that way later," Aaron said with a hint of helplessness, then extended his right hand.

A black shadow formed a vortex in mid-air, and a strange Red Demon Mask appeared in his hand.

Everyone present widened their eyes involuntarily when they saw the mask appear. They were all Warlock and could sense the terrifying dark magic contained within the mask.

Harry and the others avoided it like the plague, fearing they might get caught up in it.

The Death Eater, however, had their eyes shining. Familiar with Dark Magic, they knew that the mask held a tremendous attraction for them; it was undoubtedly the finest of all Dark Magic tools.

However, in reality, the power within the Nika Mask had long been completely absorbed by Aaron, and what they saw in the mask was merely a small part of his power used to create a dark Dark Magic tool.

Anyone who wears this mask can summon fifty ninja soldiers to command, with a maximum of one hundred. Any more than that will consume magic power, stamina, or even life.

However, he can withdraw the power within the mask at any time, and he also has absolute control over the ninja soldiers.

"I didn't want to do it, after all, we'd have to pay some price, but we need manpower to break this deadlock!" Aaron put on a mask with three parts helplessness, six parts bitterness, and one part determination, and then forcefully put the mask on.

The mask's outline emitted a ghostly blue light, clinging tightly to his face as if embedded in his skin, becoming one with his flesh and blood.

"Aaron, are you alright?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Okay, I'm very, very good." Aaron said casually, but it sent chills down their spines.

Because his voice became a few decibels deeper, and his entire face was covered by the mask, it was as if his body had been possessed by an evil spirit.

"Malfoy, do you know what that is?" Luke Wood, one of the escaped prisoners, asked with interest. Before being imprisoned in Azkaban, he had worked for the Department of Mysteries and knew a thing or two about all sorts of strange and wonderful Magic World tools, but he had never heard of this kind of mask before.