The Matter Resolved
Beneath the vast starry sky and upon the expansive lake, every spell Dumbledore cast illuminated the night as if it were day, and every swing of his wand stirred up towering waves and caused the earth to tremble!
As Xiwen and Helena looked toward the battlefield, Dumbledore casually waved his wand, summoning a surging expanse of the Black Lake. The water then transformed into a ribbon, swirling and enveloping the embodiment of Death within its depths, forming a sturdy water prison.
The black mist surrounding Death could not stop the water prison in the slightest. Even when he swung his Death's Scythe to try to cleave the towering water curtain, the water flowed on, and the water prison would Reparo after a short while, completely covering Death and the Bone Throne beneath him.
Death struggled amidst the chaotic waves in the water dungeon, forcibly relying on the power of the throne to stabilize himself. He then swung his Death's Scythe, unleashing a sinister, purplish-black blade of light that cleaved through the solid water wall formed by the lake and slashed towards Dumbledore's location along the current.
The next moment, Fawkes perched on Dumbledore's shoulder and gently flapped its wings twice. Golden-red flames immediately enveloped Dumbledore's figure, carrying him instantly to the back of Death.
After Dumbledore appeared, he switched places with the golden-red bird. He stepped lightly on Fawkes' broad back and, with the help of the Phoenix, flew over the Black Lake.
Then, he waved his wand wildly above his head—
Countless red flames rose out of thin air from the water's surface, even burning intensely in the lake in an illogical manner.
One after another, fiery balls danced in the air, and the scorching heat waves pounded against the turbulent currents of the Black Lake, causing the drifting water to murmur and hiss. Lures of yellow and red Winky chased each other across the lake's surface with vibrant energy, occasionally leaping high into the air and splashing out sparks.
At that moment, the Flame Storm on the lake and the bright starlight in the night sky were evenly matched, neither giving an inch!
The throne forged from bones was instantly ignited by flames, and Death fled in a disheveled manner in another direction. However, there was no direction for him to escape in the Mirror Dimension.
The embodiment of Death was ultimately consumed by flames in agony, never again regaining its former arrogance as it sat on the throne.
"I'll remember you all. Once I break the seal, I'll definitely come back and 'take care' of you!" Death only had time to utter this harsh word before turning to ashes.
No one present cared about the harsh words Death had uttered. Destroying Death, even if it was just an incarnation of Death, brought smiles of relief to everyone's faces.
This battle can be considered representative; it can prove to all wizards in the Wizarding World that even Demon God are not invincible, and even Death itself is nothing to fear!
Amidst the jubilation of the entire audience, a flash of light appeared, and Dumbledore, along with Fawkes, appeared before Xiwen.
"Strange, do you know how much of an impact we've had on his true form by taking down one of Death's incarnations and one of his projections?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Xiwen.
"As far as I know, it takes a lot of energy for Demon God to use secret techniques to divide its power, project it into another world, and create an external avatar," Xiwen explained slowly after thinking for a moment.
"It's hard to pinpoint exactly how much power this projection used, but destroying that avatar would take Death at least six months to recover its power. And Death needs to maintain peak power to break through the seal of the alternate dimension, which means it can stay quiet for at least six months and not do anything major."
After hearing Xiwen's explanation, Dumbledore slowly exhaled, seemingly relaxing his entire body.
"It would be good if things could stay peaceful for a while," he said. "The key now is to first resolve the problems caused by the Pure-blood Party led by Grindelwald. Grindelwald is right about one thing: dealing with internal strife is the best way to deal with external disasters."
"Amidst internal and external troubles!"
Dumbledore and sighed.
"Yes, we're beset by internal and external troubles," Xiwen sighed. "Tell me, if you two didn't have differing ideologies and could work together to fight against the Demon God trying to invade this world, what problems could the Wizarding World not solve?"
Hearing Xiwen's words, a hint of longing appeared in Dumbledore's eyes, but it quickly dimmed, and he shook his head, saying, "There's no point in thinking about these things now. Let's just take it one step at a time!"
"Albus, well done!" Professor Slughorn's voice came from that moment.
From the side of the Great Hall where a large hole had been blown in, several professors with minor injuries helped each other walk over, smiling as they looked at Dumbledore and Xiwen, the two great heroes.
Xiwen nodded slightly to them, then his eyes flickered as he noticed the professors' injuries.
"Helena, we should go back." He turned to Helena and said, "I think the professors probably need to go to the Hospital Wing too, right?"
Helena chuckled and nodded.
Then, a ripple, like countless shattered pieces of glass, swept across the ruins of the Great Hall in the Mirror Dimension.
Where the ripples swept, the ravaged and chaotic Great Hall miraculously transformed into a scene of perfect order, with even the bottomless pits in the ground and the large holes beside the ruins in the walls restored to their original state.
It was late, and most of the thousands of candles above the Great Hall had gone out, but the magically illuminated ceiling still cast a soft glow with the Great Hall.
Professor McGonagall, Mrs. Dallaire, and others had been waiting in the Great Hall for quite some time, and they rushed over to greet them when they came out.
"It's a good thing we have this Mirror Dimension, otherwise we don't know how long it would take us just to rebuild the campus." Professor Merrythought, who had tossed his top hat somewhere, smoothed his gray hair and said with a click of his tongue in amazement.
"Please stop marveling at the magic for now, I'll take you to the Hospital Wing!" Mrs. Dallaire looked at the group of injured professors, her eyes slightly red.
"Yes, let's go." Professor Merrythought nodded obediently.
Then, she pulled Professor Birley and Professor Slughorn aside and followed Mrs. Dallaire toward the Marble Staircase outside the Great Hall.
"Don't worry, Minerva, we're fine." Dumbledore smiled slightly at Professor McGonagall, who was still waiting, and said, "You should go back too; you have to teach the young wizards for me tomorrow!"
Professor McGonagall's already somewhat downcast mood was immediately disrupted by his words.
She pursed her lips, glared at Dumbledore, and left the Great Hall without looking back.
After Professor McGonagall left, Headmaster Dippet took a breath, slowly stood up from a wooden chair he had casually found, and said, "Albus, Galadia went to the Hospital Wing, so you'll come with me to the Headmaster's Office to discuss how to deal with Death."
"That's fine," Dumbledore nodded, then said to the headmaster. "But are you really alright, Armando? Shouldn't you also go to the Hospital Wing to get checked out?"
Headmaster Dippet, as expected of a dueling Champion in his youth, was one of the few who remained uninjured in the battle just now. However, he is still too old after all, and the unusually strenuous exercise today has left his body somewhat unable to withstand the strain. This is why he immediately found a chair to sit down and rest as soon as he came out of the Mirror Dimension.
"It's alright, it's normal for older people to not be able to exercise," Headmaster Dippet shook his head and said to Dumbledore. "But you're right, I think I should consider having Silvanus make me a cane too."
Upon hearing this, Xiwen's lips twitched involuntarily.
'Are you sure you want Professor Kettleburn to make me a cane?' he thought to himself. 'The wooden sticks he makes don't look like proper canes at all...'
However, before Xiwen could finish his internal monologue, Headmaster Dippet abruptly turned to Xiwen and said, "Doctor Strange, if you have some free time, why don't you come to the Headmaster's Office and discuss the matter of Death with us?"