"Enemy attack—"
The piercing alarm rang out in the wake of the explosion. Solid, shimmering protective barriers immediately appeared outside the vault struck by the blast, while streams of magic reinforced the vault itself, leaving it as stable as ever. No serious damage had been done.
The same was true for Hagrid and the others, who had nearly been buried alive beneath stalactites and rubble.
"Damn it! Who was it?! Who had the nerve to rob Gringotts?!"
Griphook stretched out his goblin claws and cast a massive protective barrier, shielding both himself and Hagrid, who had bent over Harry and Dudley to protect them. The barrier blocked the torrent of falling rubble.
"Harry, Hagrid! Listen to me. If that Black Wizard comes over later, Hagrid, you take the lead and try to knock away his wand. Harry, use all your strength to cast the 'Calm Mind' spell on him. Calm him down so he can't gather killing intent and cast the Killing Curse!
"I'll support you from the middle and strike when I get the chance!"
Inside the barrier, Dudley calmly laid out a battle plan for his nearby companions in a low voice.
"Yes, Cousin!" Harry nodded resolutely. Over the past few years, his cousin had often led him through simulated combat drills against wizards.
"Dudley, no, it's too dangerous..." Hagrid was worried and did not want the two children taking such risks.
"Don't talk, Hagrid. Do as I say! Otherwise, we might all die here! A Black Wizard's spells don't care whether you're a child or an adult!"
Dudley spoke with extreme severity. Then he crawled out of Hagrid's embrace, ducked low, and stood behind Griphook.
Harry moved as well, covering the scar on his forehead with his bangs as he stood by Hagrid's thigh and began charging his spell in a murmur. "Calm... calm down..."
The two spells he and his cousin had developed were not yet mature. They had not formed into true spells and could not be cast quickly, so charging them in advance was the best option.
Seeing Dudley and Harry's actions, Hagrid had no better solution and could only accept Dudley's plan. He gripped the Umbrella Wand tightly in one hand and clenched the other into a fist, ready for battle.
If that Black Wizard dared come closer, his fist might be faster than any spell!
"Young guest, what are you...?"
Griphook held up both hands to maintain the barrier. Feeling Dudley crouching behind him made him rather uncomfortable.
"Stop talking! Keep your barrier up! Fire dragon protection, spell lockdown, the safest vault—you bragged so much you nearly reached the sky! This is just... pathetic!"
Dudley mercilessly mocked the goblins' security measures, leaving Griphook nearly too ashamed to show his face.
At the same time, he issued another command to the system in his mind.
"System, fuse the Philosopher's Stone for me!"
Clearly, Dudley had already succeeded!
[Command received! Consuming 1 Magic Item Fusion Opportunity of S-Class.]
The small paper packet Dudley had secretly swapped into the inner pocket of his coat shriveled. The S-Class magical item wrapped inside—an object resembling a ruby, the Philosopher's Stone—instantly transformed into an invisible, intangible mysterious power and fused with Dudley.
[Congratulations, Host!]
[You have obtained Exceptional Wizard Bloodline!]
[From this moment onward, your magical power and reserves rival those of an elite magic professor. Your magical talent is exceptionally outstanding. As your mental will stabilizes and strengthens, as you grow older, and as your magical knowledge increases, your magical cultivation will continue to rise. Its ultimate limit will be five times your current state.]
[You have obtained Pure Gold Transmutation!]
[You may consume magical power to transform any non-gold metal into pure gold. You may transmute up to 100 ounces, approximately 2,835 grams, every seven days.]
[You have obtained Elixir of Life Transmutation!]
[You may consume magical power to imbue any beverage with the effects of the Elixir of Life. You may transmute up to 10 gallons, approximately 45.5 liters, of beverages each year.]
[Note: For every gallon of beverage containing the effects of the Elixir of Life consumed, a person's lifespan may be extended by two years. The Elixir of Life can only extend lifespan; it cannot preserve a youthful appearance, heal physical injuries, or grant immunity to instant-death attacks.]
[You have obtained partial advanced Alchemy knowledge and techniques!]
[You have mastered Alchemy knowledge and techniques related to creating the Philosopher's Stone.]
Powerful strength and profound memories flowed into Dudley's mind alongside the system notifications, and he absorbed them all.
He felt fantastic now!
In the blink of an eye!
Dudley's fusion with the Philosopher's Stone had taken only an instant. By then, Quirrell, who had just been viciously berated by Voldemort, had reached the top of the rubble trapping Hagrid and the others.
Quirrell waved his wand, swiftly moving the stalactites aside one by one. The roars of fire dragons came from afar, growing closer and closer. Goblins riding chained fire dragons were on their way to provide reinforcements.
"Hurry up! You useless fool! Find the Philosopher's Stone and leave immediately!"
"Yes, my master!"
Voldemort urged Quirrell on, and Quirrell waved his wand faster and faster. Soon, he spotted the azure energy barrier beneath the rubble.
"Master, they blocked it!" Quirrell sounded surprised.
"Idiot! Stop talking and kill them!" Voldemort was becoming exasperated.
Quirrell did not dare delay any longer. He quickly raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"
Dazzling green light shot forth, carrying overwhelming killing intent as it slammed into Griphook's protective barrier.
The barrier shattered at once.
"Not good!" Griphook cried out. His body instantly twisted into a spiral and vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already more than ten meters away.
"Honored guests, please wait. I'll go call for help!"
The goblin had no professional integrity whatsoever. Seeing that the situation had turned bad, he used the Enhanced Apparition, an innate goblin ability, and fled!
If not for the incredibly powerful Anti-Apparition Jinx installed in Gringotts' underground vaults, Griphook's flash just then would not have taken him merely a dozen meters away. Being able to see his back would have disgraced the goblin name.
"Levicorpus of the Colossus!"
With the goblin proving useless, Dudley immediately used the wand he had taken from Diggle to cast the Accio spell he had learned from the Standard Book of Spells.
Thanks to his powerful magical strength and a little luck, Dudley's Accio worked smoothly.
A massive stalactite flew over and blocked the lingering force of Quirrell's Killing Curse.
The simplest way to defend against Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse—known as the foremost of the three Unforgivable Curses—was to use a large, inanimate object as a shield.
It was a technique Dudley had learned from Dumbledore while watching the film series in his previous life.
Quirrell had intended for that attack to shatter the barrier and kill the troublesome goblin at the same time. Yet the barrier broke, the goblin escaped, and the Killing Curse was blocked by a prematurely grown chubby boy.
It enraged Quirrell. He immediately shifted position, found a new casting angle, and green light rose from his wand tip again as he prepared to fire another Killing Curse.
But at that moment, a strangely enchanting voice reached Quirrell's ears.
"Calm down! Calm down!"
For no reason, Quirrell's heart grew calm. The green light on his wand faded, and he seemed to see the youth that had been worn away from him.
He had been an outstanding Ravenclaw graduate. He had entered the Albanian Forest alone of his own accord, a highly intelligent hero who had set out to defeat Vampires and wicked witches!
He was...
"Bang—"
A pot-lid-sized fist smashed into the face of the 'once highly intelligent hero.'
Quirrell instantly experienced the sensation of flying. He was forced into three and a half midair rotations, while a mouthful of shattered teeth was caught inside his black cloth mask. Then he crashed heavily and miserably onto a huge boulder.
"No one! No one can hurt Harry Potter! Or his cousin!"
Hagrid roared, completely giving away Harry and Dudley. Then he leaped high into the air, bringing down the weight of Mount Tai as he prepared to crush the hateful masked Black Wizard beneath him.
"Ahhh! Useless! Useless!"
Voldemort completely lost it. Quirrell had clearly been an outstanding Ravenclaw—how had he become so useless under Voldemort's command?
Didn't turning evil make someone three times stronger? Why had both his strength and intelligence regressed instead?
Voldemort felt utterly miserable. He was going to act personally!
Because he had heard the name he hated to the bone. And if he did not act now, the only underling currently by his side would be squashed to death beneath that fool's enormous backside.
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