45, The Stubborn Girl

Watching the headless corpse fall to the ground with a thud.

Hoffa was dumbfounded, completely dumbfounded.

His vision blurred and his ears rang. In that instant, blood rushed to his head, and his heart pounded wildly in his chest like a giant drum. An inexplicable bestiality surged from his left arm into his brain, gradually devouring his reason. His eyes turned blood-red, and his body began to mutate.

It was true that he disliked Argeleia—very much so.

Countless times, he had imagined how great it would have been if he had entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters a little later. Then he would never have met that girl. He had also wondered whether none of this mess would have happened if he had just put up with her back then.

But even that level of dislike did not mean Hoffa could watch an eleven-year-old girl die before his eyes without feeling anything. These three had actually committed such an inhuman act so openly!

Unforgivable!!

He had no magic, but he still threw a punch at Schmidt.

Without realizing it, his arm had begun to thicken, fine white fur sprouting across it.

Schmidt expressionlessly raised his left arm and caught Hoffa's fist.

He took a slight step back, then lifted his leg and kicked Hoffa hard in the abdomen with tremendous force.

At only eleven years old, Hoffa was no match for him. He was sent flying more than six meters, slamming heavily into a tree.

The trunk shook, and pine needles rained down.

Hoffa stubbornly climbed back to his feet. This time, the bones all over his body began crackling like popping beans.

The bestiality surging from his left arm washed over Hoffa's reason like a tide.

Just as he was about to spring forward again, a pebble suddenly flew out of the darkness and struck him squarely on the head.

Some of Hoffa's reason returned, but when he saw Argeleia's corpse, his anger began rising again.

Another pebble struck Hoffa, then rolled across the ground.

That blow cleared his head considerably.

He began to sense that something was wrong.

The mutations in his body receded completely as Hoffa stared at the pebble on the ground.

Then he looked again at Argeleia's corpse.

His pounding heart slowly calmed, and he felt something strange. That half of a corpse had not bled a single drop after all this time.

The person bitten in half by the Poison-Pouch Leopard looked like a plastic doll.

Schmidt noticed something was wrong as well. He did not continue attacking Hoffa, instead slowly walking forward and staring gravely at the "corpse."

The Poison-Pouch Leopard was chewing a silver head in great bites when, suddenly, the head let out a puff and dissolved into green smoke.

Then the half-corpse on the ground also burst into green smoke with a bang.

The Poison-Pouch Leopard did not react at first and continued chewing at empty air.

The two dark wizards stood frozen on the spot.

Schmidt reacted very quickly. He immediately realized something was wrong.

He spun around.

Unfortunately, he was too late. The moment the head in the Poison-Pouch Leopard's mouth vanished into smoke, a small figure rushed out from a highly inconspicuous corner. Moving at incredible speed, she reached Hoffa in an instant.

It was Argeleia!

She wrapped one arm around Hoffa's back and hauled him up in one motion.

The wild ups and downs left Hoffa feeling as though he had just bungee-jumped off a cliff, dizzy beyond belief.

"What was that?" he asked in utter shock.

"Heh heh, a Copying Charm. Did you learn your Charms lessons from dogs?"

Her tongue was as sharp as ever.

After saying that, she propped up his head and decisively poured a vial of potion into his mouth.

As the potion went down his throat, Hoffa felt only one thing.

Spicy. Spicy to the extreme!

Spicier than the strongest liquor he had ever drunk in his previous life.

He felt as if he had not swallowed a potion, but an entire tube of nitroglycerin. Once inside him, the potion transformed into huge waves of magic. It spread from his mouth through every limb and bone, stimulating his nerves. He felt as though he had endless strength.

He sat bolt upright from the ground, then sprang to his feet, his pupils contracting. His mind was intensely focused, and the magic surging within him made him desperately want to unleash something.

Schmidt's expression finally changed. Without a word, he and his two companions raised their wands at the same time.

The bursting spell-light reflected in Hoffa's eyes, making his pupils shift in color. Swooping Evils swarmed in from every direction, while the Poison-Pouch Leopard leaped high from afar, clearing dozens of meters amid dense gray poisonous mist.

Unfortunately, one second before those creatures reached Hoffa, he vanished into the Forbidden Forest with Argeleia.

Swooping Evils crashed down in droves.

The Poison-Pouch Leopard barreled straight through two huge trees.

Two spells blasted the swarm of Swooping Evils on the ground to pieces, purple blood spraying everywhere.

Yet they had failed to kill the one person who most deserved to die.

Faced with this unexpected development, Schmidt remained expressionless. But one of his subordinates was already furious, smashing his fist into a nearby tree trunk until blood poured from his knuckles, seemingly without noticing.

"How can he be so slippery!"

He roared in German.

Schmidt said calmly, "No matter where he runs, his destination must be the school. Go block the exit. Don't let him enter Hogwarts!"

His deduction was correct. Hoffa's destination was indeed the school, and he was running straight toward it.

It was not that he had never considered throwing them off with a feint, but no matter how he laid out the deception, his destination would still be the school. Rather than waste time, he might as well charge straight ahead.

Ghostwalk was incredibly fast. Hoffa could cover more than two meters in a single stride, even while carrying Argeleia.

But Argeleia could not keep up with Hoffa's high-speed advance.

Though she was one meter forty tall, exceptionally tall for an eleven-year-old, her legs still struggled to keep pace with Hoffa at a time like this.

After running a hundred meters, Hoffa emerged from Ghostwalk just as he was about to activate it again.

Carried by the momentum, Argeleia tripped over an oak root and fell to the ground.

Hoffa turned and saw that she was curled beneath the tree, clutching her ankle with her lips tightly bitten.

"Can you still walk?" Hoffa asked.

"Walk."

Argeleia answered in a trembling voice.

Hoffa immediately grabbed her arm and slung it over his shoulder, but the moment they took one step, she cried out in pain.

"I twisted my ankle."

She was not pretending. Hoffa lifted her sock and saw that her ankle was swelling at a visible rate.

Damn.

Hoffa frowned deeply as he saw the dark wizards rapidly approaching in the distance.

Without another word, Hoffa crouched down. "Hurry up. I'll carry you."

Argeleia hesitated for a second, but when she heard the shouts behind them, she stopped caring about anything else and quickly climbed onto Hoffa's back.

This body of Hoffa's was only eleven years old. Running by himself was hard enough; carrying another person nearly made him lose his breath.

But inspiration struck him in his urgency. He cast Levitation Charms on both his shoes and clothes. Their weight immediately became much lighter.

The moment Hoffa hoisted Argeleia onto his back, a cold voice came from behind.

"A true wizard disdains running away, little boy. Didn't your parents teach you that? Or do you not have any parents at all? Are you just a Mudblood?"

He was trying to provoke him, but Hoffa's gaze did not waver as he prepared to leave.

The voice came again.

"I'm curious. Are you really so willing to submit to everything? Don't you feel humiliated? What kind of future can a man have if his goal is simply to run away?"

Argeleia's eyes filled with worry. Lying on Hoffa's back, she covered his ears with her hands.

Hoffa pulled her hands away and said in a voice so calm it was almost cruel, "I'll run forward. You watch behind us. If any spells come flying, warn me immediately."

His calmness affected Argeleia. She nodded firmly.

"Okay!"

While Schmidt continued his provocation, his companions kept waving their wands.

Spells shot toward Hoffa like raindrops.

Hoffa leaped over two obstacles in succession when Argeleia suddenly warned him.

"Watch out, spells!"

Hoffa immediately used Ghostwalk and leaped into the shadows with Argeleia.

A chaotic barrage of spells all struck empty air.

When he appeared again, Hoffa had widened the gap between himself and the two men behind him by a great deal.

Schmidt narrowed his eyes, but he did not give up as he watched the boy draw ever closer to the forest exit.

"Little girl, you're from a Veela family, aren't you?"

The cold, mocking voice reached both Hoffa and Argeleia.

Hoffa cursed inwardly. What a sinister bastard. Knowing that provoking him was useless, he had turned his attention to Argeleia instead.

As he ran, Hoffa hurriedly said to Argeleia, "Ignore him!"

Argeleia pressed her lips together tightly, her face pale.

"I heard that creatures like Veela can do nothing except sleep around with men. Did you come into the woods with him to seek excitement?"

Argeleia stiffened, turning her head away as she bit down hard on her lower lip. Her eyes instantly turned blood-red.

Hoffa panicked and gripped Argeleia's arm tightly.

"Get out quickly. Once we're out, it'll be fine."

The cold voice relentlessly continued. "I heard Veela sleep with many different men throughout their lives, and none of them lasts long. I wonder if that's true."

Hoffa was shocked and tried to warn Argeleia.

But it was too late.

Trembling, Argeleia said to Hoffa, "Go by yourself. Leave me."

"Hey! Don't be stupid! A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years!"

"When I have a grudge, I settle it on the spot."

Before Hoffa could say anything else, Argeleia shoved him hard and slid off his back. After landing, she drew her wand and limped toward Schmidt on her injured leg.

Her eyes were blood-red, her face frosty.

Hoffa had already reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Seeing this little girl actually turn back nearly enraged him to death.

As long as he entered the castle, as long as he entered the castle, he would be safe.

He looked toward the Forbidden Forest's exit, painfully closed his eyes, and began swearing loudly.

"Fuck!!"

After cursing, he stomped his foot and turned to rush at Argeleia.

Argeleia waved her wand, roaring an unintelligible spell.

Yet Schmidt merely tilted his head coldly. Three Swooping Evils charged at Argeleia in succession, enduring her spell as they clawed at her face and ripped the wet cloth from it.

The Poison-Pouch Leopard's poison gas instantly invaded Argeleia's lungs.

She clutched her throat, unable to say a word. All she could do was glare at Schmidt with furious unwillingness.

"Idiot."

After saying that, Schmidt spun and kicked her in the forehead, sending her flying. She crashed heavily into a rock by the stream, her head splitting open. She fainted immediately without even a moment's hesitation.

Hoffa, diving toward her, reached out in an attempt to pull Argeleia away.

But at that moment, an invisible rope tripped Hoffa.

Another of Schmidt's accomplices emerged from deeper in the Forbidden Forest. He grabbed Hoffa by the back and lifted him one-handed by his school robe.

Hoffa raised his wand, but the dark wizard snatched it from his hand and threw it to the ground.

Schmidt looked coldly at Hoffa. "Weakness and sympathy will eventually be killed. If you do not learn to discard such impurities, how can you become a higher existence?"

Hoffa did not answer. He gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand.

That blood-connected feeling returned. Sensing Hoffa's danger, the wand rose into the air and flew toward him.

As it flew, it rapidly transformed. By the time it landed in Hoffa's hand, it had become a sharp cross-shaped dagger.

The dark wizard holding Hoffa saw a flash of cold light in the darkness, and his brow immediately furrowed.

He clenched his hand into a fist and punched toward Hoffa's temple.

Hoffa swiftly swept the blade sideways, slashing fiercely behind him.

As the blade moved, it grew longer and longer.

The dark wizard behind him sensed something wrong and decisively abandoned his attack on Hoffa.

He shoved Hoffa hard in the back, then leaped backward in an attempt to widen the distance between them.

He succeeded.

But it was already too late.

The blade lengthened rapidly, and a silver crescent arc flashed through the air.