The three wizards struck head-on by the Blue Flame did not even have time to scream!
Their bodies, wands, clothes... everything they had was silently burned to ash the instant it touched them. In the blink of an eye, they became wisps of acrid smoke that drifted high into the sky on the night wind.
The rest screamed in terror and staggered backward, their encirclement collapsing in an instant.
Even Fontana grabbed Lila and retreated quickly. For the first time, his face showed stunned disbelief and horror.
The ghostly blue flames circled elegantly through the air. They did not pursue the others, but with a whoosh, they swept rapidly around the grounds, setting all the surrounding trees ablaze and forming a ring of deep blue fire.
"Run!"
Someone suddenly let out a heart-wrenching howl. Spinning in place without a care for anything else, he Apparated!
Bang!
He vanished in the tremendous blast, never hearing Fontana's furious shout: "Stop! Don't Apparate!"
The others barely managed to halt their magic. Several of them collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Within the span of a breath, the grounds erupted again. Accompanied by a deafening explosion, the man who had just Apparated away reappeared nearby, just as Hawthorne had before.
But this time, he had stumbled down too close to the Blue Flame. He had barely risen, terror appearing on his face, before the fire swallowed him whole.
Everyone watched as the ghostly blue tongues of flame curled around him as if alive, leaving him nowhere to escape. They watched him stretch out an arm futilely at death's door, his mouth wide open as though begging for help—or repenting.
In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished. The Blue Fire surged up and then drew back, puffing out a cloud of smoke