46, Advanced Transfiguration

His magic was drained dry in an instant.

Blood gushed high into the air, splattering all over Hoffa's head. The dark wizard holding Hoffa staggered backward and dropped to his knees with a thud. His wand slipped limply from his right hand.

He clutched desperately at his chest, only to find a huge gash across his neck as well. A massive wound ran from his lower abdomen all the way to his forehead, slicing his face diagonally in two.

He glared at Hoffa with his only remaining eye, his lips moving, but all he could produce was a rasping sound.

The sensation of having his magic drained left Hoffa's lips bloodless. He staggered to his feet and backed away repeatedly, only managing to keep himself from falling by leaning against a tree trunk.

"Useless."

Rather than retreating, Schmidt stepped forward. He kicked aside his injured companion and pointed straight at Hoffa. "Cruciatus Curse!"

A cruel red flash shot toward him.

Hoffa's pupils shrank to pinpoints, but at that moment, he had no desire to retreat at all. Having overcome his fear, some inexplicable strength deep within his bones supported him as he stood upright.

He stared at Schmidt, spat on the ground, and actually charged toward the Cruciatus Curse with his blade dragged behind him.

Even if he died, he would cut the other man down first.

Schmidt had not expected a boy to be so ferocious, but he had no intention of yielding either. He stood where he was, his expression icy.

Hoffa raised his blade.

The spell painted his face crimson.

But at that moment, an ancient oak beside him suddenly came alive.

It tore its roots from the ground, leaped up, and landed between Hoffa and Schmidt. Two enormous branches crossed before them.

The Cruciatus Curse was completely blocked by the massive trunk.

Hoffa slammed into the tree trunk with a thud, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

Schmidt lowered his wand and slowly took a step back.

Hoffa turned around, his face somewhat pale.

At the entrance to the Forbidden Forest stood an old man in gray robes. He was tall, with a reddish-brown beard.

It was Dumbledore.

Schmidt's expression did not change. He decisively raised his wand, and a bolt of blue lightning shot toward Dumbledore. Dumbledore vanished as his cloak spun around him.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Schmidt. The surrounding trees came alive one after another; wherever he stepped, trees sprang from the earth.

The enormous oak man slowly set Hoffa down, then pressed one hand against the ground.

Countless branches pierced the earth with crackling sounds and began growing wildly. As the soil churned, countless small tree men emerged from the ground.

They held wooden swords, their eyes glowing a deep green.

The living tree men surrounded Schmidt in layer after layer, sealing him in completely.

The sight made Hoffa's heart pound wildly. This was Transfiguration!

Schmidt narrowed his eyes and said softly, "Albus Dumbledore."

"It is I. I truly did not expect you to be in such a hurry," Dumbledore said calmly. "The war has not even begun, and you are already eager to go to prison?"

As he spoke, he flicked his wand casually.

Golden light burst forth, turning night into day. The magical power rippling through the air made Hoffa's scalp tingle as he hid behind the tree men.

Under that spell, Schmidt's expression became grave. He waved his wand.

Rows of metal shields appeared before him, but they could not stop the golden light from passing straight through them.

At the critical moment, Schmidt reached out and seized the unconscious Argeleia from beside the tree.

He used Argeleia as a human shield.

Dumbledore immediately raised his wand.

The golden spell, with its immense penetrating force, curved away, severed several thick tree trunks in succession, and vanished into the Forbidden Forest.

"Schmidt, have you truly fallen this far? What a pity," Dumbledore said with emotion. "I think I liked the old you better."

"For a bright future, necessary individual sacrifices are indispensable," Schmidt said lightly.

Dumbledore sighed.

"Yes, I understand. But coming to Hogwarts with two companions and a group of magical creatures is rather too arrogant, isn't it?"

With that, he flicked his wand like lightning.

A sharp stone wall shot up from the ground. Its edge was like a blade, and in an instant, it severed Schmidt's arm.

Schmidt's arm, along with Argeleia, flew high into the air. Dumbledore spread his arms, catching Schmidt's wand in one hand and the unconscious Argeleia in the other.

Yet Schmidt, having lost an arm, merely smiled faintly. Without hesitation, he turned and ran.

But vines burst wildly from the ground, binding Schmidt tightly like a bundle of rice dumplings.

In less than a few seconds, everything was over.

At least, that was what Hoffa thought. After Dumbledore slowly laid Argeleia down, his expression showed no sign of relaxing.

Schmidt, bound by the vines, suddenly twisted and collapsed. Before Hoffa's shocked eyes, he turned into a transparent, limp jellyfish with many tentacles, sprawled across the ground.

There was nothing else.

"A substitute jellyfish," Dumbledore muttered, lowering his wand.

"I should have thought of that."

He then put away his wand, carried Argeleia in his arms, and came over to Hoffa.

At last, Hoffa's hanging heart settled. Dumbledore's arrival had saved him from death. But it had also brought another crisis.

Having entered the Forbidden Forest, what punishment would he face?

Would he be expelled?

Dumbledore stood before Hoffa, his blue eyes looking down at him. For a while, he said nothing, and the expression on his face made Hoffa uncomfortable.

"A brave but reckless act. I never expected to meet you here," Dumbledore said slowly.

Hoffa did not know how to explain, so he remained silent.

Dumbledore asked sternly, "Do you still have the strength?"

Hoffa nodded silently.

"Take her back. Go to the school hospital and find Healer Rainer. I will deal with matters here."

With that, he handed the unconscious Argeleia to Hoffa.

Five minutes later.

Hoffa emerged from the Forbidden Forest, panting heavily with Argeleia on his back, and headed toward the school castle.

Along the way, he saw that the castle was brightly lit. The heads of the various houses were leading staff and prefects swiftly toward the scene of the incident.

Hoffa saw Professor Merrythought of Gryffindor, Slughorn of Slytherin, and Professor Heblao of Hufflepuff. Yet he did not see Professor Gorshak, nor did he see Headmaster Dippet.

Hoffa avoided the crowd and took a small path back to the castle with Argeleia on his back.

On the lawns within the castle, students from every house laughed and played, teasing one another as they enjoyed the leisure at the end of the day.

The air was filled with the faint fragrance of flowers and the scent of dead grass. The cool late-autumn night breeze stood in stark contrast to the horrifying carnage outside.

They knew nothing of what had happened in the Forbidden Forest. They had no idea that less than twenty kilometers away, an entire centaur tribe had been slaughtered.

But their happiness could not reach Hoffa. His heart was full of worry. He did not know how Joey was doing. He did not know what would happen to Argeleia, and he knew even less where his own fate would lead.

The school hospital occupied its own tower, far from the main building, on the eastern side of the castle.

By the time Hoffa reached the hospital, his legs had gone weak from exhaustion. Having overdrawn his magic, his head throbbed as though it had been split open by a giant axe.

Fortunately, the nurses had already received word and came running to meet him from afar.

In his previous life, Hoffa had only known that Hogwarts's school nurse was Madam Pomfrey. But he did not see her now. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey was still studying, or perhaps she was interning at some hospital.

The person currently in charge of the school hospital was a tall, elderly man named Rainer. His hair was grizzled, and he wore a mask.

He merely checked Argeleia's breathing before turning to a nurse. "Prepare an isolation room. Take these two inside for disinfection and examination."

"I'm not poisoned," Hoffa said.

But Healer Rainer had no intention of paying attention to him. He only glared at Hoffa.

After a series of embarrassing disinfection procedures and physical examinations, Hoffa was placed in a general ward.

His body had not suffered much damage. What was truly injured was his mind. The sickly agitation caused by repeatedly overdrawn magic left him unable to sleep peacefully for two days.

During those two days, he truly experienced what loneliness felt like. In his previous life, he had seen Harry get hurt too, but every time Harry was injured, a whole group of friends would come visit him.

But Hoffa simply sat blankly on his bed for two days. Aside from a few nurses changing his medicine and bringing him liquid food, he did not see anyone else.

Fortunately, he had Milarepa Walker's Meditation Method, which allowed him to continually repair the mental damage caused by overdrawn magic. That made the time somewhat easier to endure.

It was not until two days later that Miranda and several dormmates came to visit Hoffa.

They brought Hoffa some sweets and Chocolate Frogs. Miranda was shocked to learn that Hoffa had been injured, and said that the school had sealed off news of it. No one knew what had happened in the Forbidden Forest two nights ago.

But compared to the tense-looking Miranda, the other two dormmates seemed more concerned about news of Argeleia than Hoffa's condition.

Miranda asked Hoffa what had happened in the Forbidden Forest, but instinctively, Hoffa did not want anyone to know about that night.

So he lightly said that he had merely fallen from a horse and forgotten everything that happened afterward. This made Miranda very upset.

"Hey, Hoffa, you're always so mysterious," Miranda said.

Hoffa did not know how to answer, so he used needing sleep as an excuse to send his friends away. As Miranda left, he saw the disappointed expression on her face.

That night, Hoffa finally got a little proper sleep.

The next day, when sunlight streamed into the hospital ward once more, he saw that Argeleia had left the emergency room. She was now lying in the bed to his right, fast asleep.

And to his relief, Joey lay in the bed to his left.

Though his face was bruised and purple, and his expression pained, at least his life did not seem to be in danger.

"You're awake?"

Just as Hoffa let out a breath of relief, a voice came from beside him.

He jumped.

Only then did he notice someone sitting in the visitor's chair beside him.

The chair had been in the shadows, so he had not seen him at all.

It was Dumbledore.

His hands were folded over his knees as he quietly watched Hoffa.