Sprout acted as well.
She pointed her wand at the ground, and the shattered stones and rubble instantly came alive. Like snakes startled awake, they surged toward the Death Eaters' feet. Several Death Eaters were tripped and fell to the ground, only to be struck by the other professors' spells before they could scramble back up.
"I hadn't actually wanted to come, but Dumbledore persuaded me." Slughorn flicked his wand repeatedly, sending several golden beams shooting from its tip. They struck several Death Eaters' wands with pinpoint accuracy.
"Damn it!"
Naturally, these Death Eaters were no match for the professors' magical prowess. Amid cries of alarm, their wands flew from their hands, soared through the air, and landed in the distant sea.
"Yes!" Slughorn was thrilled. Though he had not begun as a combat wizard, his spellwork was exceptionally precise, and he wielded Expelliarmus better than most Aurors.
The professors truly were formidable. They were not Aurors, not specialists trained for battle, but every one of them was an expert in their own field and possessed extensive real combat experience. Flitwick had once been a dueling champion; Sprout had protected her greenhouses and students through numerous Dark Wizard attacks; Slughorn, too, had lived through the chaos of Grindelwald's era in his youth. Though their coordination was not as seamless as the Aurors'—
—each of them was individually powerful. For a time, they actually suppressed the Death Eaters.
"Fall back! Regroup around my lord!" a Death Eater shouted, pointing his wand at the sky and firing a red flare.
The Death Eaters began to contract their formation, retreating toward the center of the ruins. The professors pursued relentlessly, spells chasing after them. One Death Eater was hit and fell, then another, and another.
But the prisoners were still there. At the