Phoenix

The next instant, Vaughn fired off another "Expelliarmus."

The black-robed man's Shield Charm shattered at once, but that brief moment had already been enough for him to prepare a counterattack. The instant the Shield Charm broke, his wand shot out a red beam.

But to his surprise, the red light shattered into sparks right in front of Vaughn. A Shield Charm that looked even more proficient than his own blocked the attack.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Protected by a Level 4 Shield Charm, Vaughn cast spell after spell without pause. Streaks of red light tore through the dark corridor, forcing the black-robed man into a frantic scramble.

No one knew how shocked he was.

He was shocked by Vaughn's practiced spellcasting, and by the abundant magical power Vaughn possessed—almost equal to that of an adult wizard.

Driven into a miserable state by the successive "Expelliarmus" spells, the black-robed man let out a deliberately distorted, shrill cry. "I'm sorry, Master, help me!"

The instant his words fell, the faint, low hissing that had vanished earlier rang through the corridor again.

Another strange power awakened within the black-robed man.

It was so distinct that merely its ripple-like waves spreading outward caused the weak magical flames on the walls to suddenly turn pale.

As though everything were fading.

The black-robed man screamed and wailed, as if someone were torturing him—and controlling him!

Harry let out another pained hiss.

The horrifying scene from moments ago appeared again, only stronger this time. In Harry's eyes, nothing remained but distorted halos of light.

He saw that terrifying figure raise its wand!

Vaughn's expression had never been so grave.

"...Voldemort..."

If not for Harry and Hermione, he would never have come face-to-face with the other man now—not because he was afraid, but out of habitual caution!

He had never feared anyone!

A storm of complicated thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Facing the now utterly terrifying "black-robed man," Vaughn summoned every vicious thought he could and shouted the incantation:

"Sectumsempra!"

There was no light, no sound of air being split. The silent, vicious spell sent ripples through the air.

Through Harry's hazy vision from where he lay on the ground, everything seemed to move in slow motion. He saw Vaughn cast that unfamiliar spell. Trailing ripples through the air, it sharply pierced through the "black-robed man's" Shield Charm and buried itself in his shoulder.

He saw the "black-robed man" let out a hoarse roar as an unprecedented green light flared at the tip of his wand.

"Avada—"

He also saw Vaughn immediately pull a fiery red feather from his pocket after casting the spell. A moment before the "black-robed man" could finish his incantation, he threw the feather into the air.

With a flick of his wand, he ignited it!

"—Kedavra!"

Green light and flame blossomed at the same time, colliding!

The moment Fawkes Apparated in response to someone summoning him at Hogwarts, before he could even react, he saw a sheet of sickly green light fill his vision.

Was there anything more miserable in the world than this?

Recognizing that green light, that question instinctively surfaced in Fawkes's mind.

Then, with a "Caw—," every feather on his body exploded away.

He landed on the floor butt-first, transformed into a naked little chick...

At the same time, another immense magical power was rapidly approaching from below!

Dumbledore!

The "black-robed man" sensed it too. He let out a completely different hiss, one filled with both fear and fury, but still decisively clutched his shoulder, transformed into a cloud of black smoke, and fled in panic.

Only then did Vaughn, who had already grabbed Hermione and Harry and dived into the Charms classroom the moment he ignited the phoenix feather, finally let out a breath of relief.

Thank goodness for his caution—he had notified Ron before coming up.

And thank Fawkes!

Only now did Vaughn realize... his clothes were already soaked through with sweat, and even the hand gripping his wand was trembling slightly.

Unlike his easy slaughter of the troll before, this counted as his first real battle against a wizard.

And his opponent had been the infamous Dark Lord... Voldemort!

Though only a battle-damaged version...

He instinctively ignored Quirrell. That guy was useless.

After sitting on the floor and gasping fiercely for several breaths, Vaughn looked at Harry, who was still limp, then at Hermione, whose face was pale but whose eyes sparkled. He had no mood to scold them.

The professors would handle that.

He looked toward the corridor outside, where Fawkes was still sitting bare-bottomed on the floor. Its eyes were dull and vacant, as though it was still immersed in this sudden calamity.

Vaughn crawled over and held it in his hands. "Thank you, Fawkes. I knew you'd come."

Fawkes finally snapped out of it. It stared at Vaughn in disbelief, its short pink beak trembling.

If it could speak human language, it would probably have cursed him out long ago.

Was this something a human could do? Why had it been so stupidly eager, rushing over the moment it sensed someone calling it? It suddenly wished it could turn back time, back to the day Vaughn had picked up one of its feathers. That day, it had stood proudly on its perch, watching Vaughn treasure one of its shed feathers, secretly laughing at the poor, weak little wizard.

If it could go back to that day, it would definitely kick itself, then sit atop Vaughn's head and peck him like crazy!

At that moment, a mass of white mist flew up, gathering and condensing in an instant. Dumbledore landed and hurried over to Vaughn.

The old man looked rushed. His bright blue eyes swiftly swept over Vaughn, the dazed Harry, and Hermione, finding that all three were unharmed.

Then he glanced at the corridor, which had been left in utter ruin by the flying spells, and let out a slight sigh of relief.

Then he saw Fawkes, already reborn in Vaughn's palm...

Dumbledore's lips trembled a few times.

"I simply cannot believe it. How could there be children as reckless as you? Two of you skipped the feast and sneaked out to play. You ran into a troll. Then, when two of you discovered that your friend was missing, instead of informing a prefect or finding a professor, you went looking for her yourselves."

"You..."

In the headmaster's office, Professor McGonagall clutched her chest and took several deep breaths to calm her agitated emotions.

Vaughn, Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood obediently before her. They had already been scolded for over ten minutes, but what angered Professor McGonagall was that not one of them showed any remorse.

Vaughn kept glancing around, Ron was glowing with excitement, and Harry wore a dazed, vacant expression, only occasionally looking at Vaughn and the other professors, as though no one knew what he was thinking. Even Hermione, who had always been well-behaved and disciplined, was unusually distracted.

Snape was distracted as well. His lifeless eyes were fixed on Vaughn, and no one could guess what he was thinking.

Until Dumbledore called his name. "Severus, you and Filius clean up the troll's corpse. Our dear Vaughn blew its head off, and there's blood everywhere. It's a very grisly scene."

Professor Flitwick nodded and left the office with the silent Snape.

Dumbledore then instructed Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, please take Harry, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger to Madam Pomfrey for an examination... Ah, right, and Professor Quirrell, who is lying in the Great Hall."

Professor McGonagall, whose anger had yet to subside, finally stopped scolding them. Just as she called for them to leave, she heard Dumbledore say, "Vaughn, stay behind."

Professor McGonagall hesitated, as if she wanted to say something.

She met Dumbledore's bright blue eyes and ultimately said nothing.

Ron dragged the muddle-headed Harry along, following Professor McGonagall with his head held high. Hermione looked at Vaughn worriedly. Vaughn nodded at her, and only then did she reluctantly follow the others out.