The Moment of Reckoning Between the Lion and the Giant Serpent (6)

"Tarantella Dance!" Another violet flash shot out.

But this time, his spell missed its target—a rat darted out from the side and slammed into his shin. His body lurched, his wand veered off course, and the violet light struck the ceiling, ricocheting back and nearly hitting his own shoulder. He dodged the rebounding spell, but the rat had already scrambled up his trouser leg to his waist.

Ron let out a short, strangled shriek and tore the rat off himself, flinging it away. The rat twisted in midair, landed steadily on the ground, bared its fangs at him, and hissed a threat.

On the other side of the dueling platform, Harry was surrounded by snakes.

The brightly colored venomous snakes had formed a loose encirclement around him, but it was enough to prevent his escape.

Several cobras had raised their upper bodies, the folds of skin on their heads spread to either side, revealing the pair of white spectacle-like markings on their backs. Their heads turned slightly with Harry's movements, like several emotionless turrets locking onto a target. A pitch-black viper crouched ahead and to Harry's left, its body coiled into a tightly wound spring, its triangular head resting at the very top. The moment Harry took a step forward, it would launch itself at him.

There were even more than a dozen unknown sea snakes with black-and-white ringed patterns—them were coral snakes, at least five times as venomous as cobras.

Draco stood at the edge of the snake swarm, his wand hanging at his side as he calmly watched the trapped Harry. The smile at the corner of his mouth had not faded. It had only grown deeper and colder.

He did not look at the snakes, the scurrying rats and cockroaches, or the dancing spiders. He only watched