Professor Flitwick?!

"It's been almost a minute of fighting. Baron should be about ready by now..."

Avada kept his Shield Charm up, desperately defending against the fake Baker's onslaught while keeping his eyes locked on the imposter's gaze, silently calculating: "As long as I can stall until Baron finishes preparing his Dark Magic, we can end this once and for all. He should be at..."

Even in the heat of the intense battle, he spared a sliver of his focus to glance at a piece of cover behind the fake Baker: "That spot."

"So much time has passed; Baron's Dark Magic must be ready. He's watching me now... As long as I keep Professor Baker's attention fully occupied and give Baron the signal, he can use a powerful Dark Magic spell to strike from behind and win in one blow..."

"Perfect. Professor Baker and I are in a stalemate. He seems to have forgotten about Baron entirely. Time to signal!"

"Three, two, one..."

Avada's left hand, which had been performing auxiliary gestures for his spells, suddenly stiffened. It looked like a small opening, causing the stability of his Shield Charm to plummet. If the opponent increased the intensity of his attack now, he might just shatter the shield and break the stalemate!

"Hah."

However, the fake Baker ignored this golden opportunity, responding instead with a sneer of disdain. The next moment, he whipped his wand around to point at the cover behind him and fired a sharp, vicious spell—directly at the spot where Baron was hiding!

"Impossible!!"

Avada was horrified: "How could you see through my plan?!"

"There are many things I can see through..."

The fake Baker was about to retort with a sneer when he suddenly realized the magical fluctuations from the spell that had just struck the cover felt wrong. It didn't feel like it had hit a person or been blocked...

Bang!

A massive cloud of blinding, glowing smoke erupted from the cover where Baron was supposed to be hiding, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield!

"Ugh!"

The insidious smoke was composed of countless tiny, luminous particles. Before the fake Baker could react, some of the particles entered his eyes, causing instant, searing pain. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, and he nearly went blind on the spot!

[Since Baron Shafiq is invisible and K is holding me off, preventing me from sparing the focus to defend against potential threats, I will definitely use Legilimency to read K's mind and learn your next move. Don't worry, my energy is too depleted to maintain the Hyper-Senses Charm, so it will definitely be Legilimency...]

[At this point, K needs to use Occlumency while intentionally making eye contact with me, allowing me to read false information. My mind is already extremely weak; I won't be able to see through even the most rudimentary Occlumency. My thoughts will be chaotic from being ambushed by two first-years, and I won't immediately consider the possibility that first-years could master Occlumency. Of course, this is also because Occlumency is notoriously difficult to master; K, you might need to spend more effort learning it...]

[What? You already know it? That's fantastic!]

Of course Avada knew Occlumency—he had spent half a year staring at the mental structure of Snape, a master of Occlumency, during his lessons every day. How could he not know it!

[Although this will cost me dearly, it will also make me realize that all my patterns have been completely seen through, which will make my subsequent actions increasingly unpredictable. Furthermore, my covert actions have been uninterrupted. Therefore, the next phase will be the most volatile, and I haven't yet thought of an absolutely foolproof plan... K, what do you want to say?]

'All my techniques and habits have been completely seen through... Who is it? Who the hell is it?!'

The fake Baker quickly treated his eyes, his heart filled with terror. This was a situation he had never encountered in his entire adventuring career—he had run into someone who could see through everything he did, formulate counter-tactics, and force him into such a pathetic state using two first-year students!

Who could possibly know him this well? And who could possibly understand him to this degree?!

'I don't know why you understand me so well, but... you've underestimated me!'

'Found you!!'

Under the cover of the glowing smoke, he dodged a few spells based on instinct and sound, then suddenly spun around and waved his wand, firing a beam of azure light toward a seemingly empty space...

"No!"

The fake Baker's lips curled slightly, satisfied to hear the enemy's cry of pain.

The next moment, the azure radiance finally struck its target. With a crisp sound like shattering glass, the space within the Room of Requirement began to twist violently like a piece of taffy, only to return to normal a moment later, as if nothing had happened...

However, the door to the Room of Requirement, which should have been hidden by Professor Baker, had quietly reappeared in its original position!

Yes, this was what the fake Baker had been doing in secret from the very beginning, even while he was trading blows with Avada under the influence of curses and toxins—he had been breaking the Spatial Magic of the room.

The moment he discovered the door to the Room of Requirement had been hidden, he realized there was likely someone else secretly using Spatial Magic to try and trap him. So, during the ensuing battle, the fake Baker had only appeared to be attacking Avada, pretending to be fighting with his back to the wall, while in reality, he had been searching for the flaws in the Spatial Magic!

In the end, he was the more skilled one, just as he had been in countless battles before.

The fake Baker squeezed every last drop of energy from his mind, casting several speed-enhancing spells on himself, then forced himself to charge at full speed toward the door of the Room of Requirement, moving so fast he left a blur in his wake!

The Spatial Magic was trying to hide the door again; he had to get out before that happened!

As long as he returned to Hogwarts Castle, to the domain of Dumbledore, any conspiracy or trap would lose its meaning! Besides, Professor Flitwick, a powerful wizard, lived on the eighth floor and could certainly help him escape any danger!

Finally, his hand touched the smooth wooden door. With the momentum of his charge, he shoved it open and tumbled out—he was back in the eighth-floor corridor of Hogwarts.

Looking at the familiar floor tiles and walls, and the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, the fake Baker wanted to laugh out loud.

But his remaining sanity kept the impulse in check, and he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs: "Professor Flitwick, help me! I've been attacked!!"

Bang!

With a loud thud of the wooden door hitting the wall, Professor Flitwick, wearing messy pajamas and looking as if he had just woken up, came trotting over. He couldn't help but gasp when he saw the disheveled fake Baker.

"Merlin's beard! Professor Baker, what happened to you?!"

"Someone in that room tried to attack me, I just escaped! They might be coming out any second, be careful—the opponent is extremely skilled and is controlling two first-year students..."

The fake Baker pointed at the smooth wooden door that hadn't yet vanished, his voice trembling as if he were about to faint.

"Good heavens, how could this happen... Oh, Albus, you're here too? Thank goodness, Professor Baker is... Expelliarmus! Incarcerous!"

The next second, to the fake Baker's utter shock, Flitwick suddenly turned his wand and fired two lightning-fast spells at him from point-blank range!

"You?!"

But soon, he had no time to question "Professor Flitwick." The door to the Room of Requirement in front of him had opened once more, and standing behind it was Baron Shafiq. And on his wand, a chilling, ghostly blue light was radiating—the kind that made one's heart turn cold just by looking at it...

'Dark Magic, Soul Freezing Charm!'

This was the final thought that crossed the fake Baker's mind before his consciousness solidified.