The skull with a python spilling from its mouth blazed in the pitch-black night sky, lighting up the entire wood like a neon sign.
Screams erupted throughout the surrounding woods.
"The Dark Mark?" Hermione let out a terrified scream too, her face deathly pale.
Ron's face was just as white, his lips trembling.
His expression grave, Su Er silently stepped forward, placing himself in front of Hermione and facing the direction the incantation had come from.
"What's going on?" Both bewildered and startled, Harry could not help asking.
"We'd better get out of here." Ron came to his senses and, still deathly pale, grabbed Harry's clothes and dragged him backward.
"That's the Dark Mark, Harry, that monster's personal mark! It's his symbol. If that mark's here, it means the Dark Lord's here too!"
"Come on, Harry, hurry! He must be after you. The Dark Lord knows you're here!"
"Su... Su Er..." Hermione's voice trembled as she spoke to Su Er, who stood in front of her. "Let's... let's go. Go."
"It's too late." Without looking back, Su Er raised his arm, his expression grave. "You go first."
"Hmm? Little wizards?" A pleasantly surprised voice came from the shadows behind the trees. "Heaven really is on my side."
Thick tree trunks blocked Su Er's view, and the surrounding screams interfered with his judgment. He had no idea whether there was one person back there or more.
"Hurry up and hide," Su Er told Hermione and the others without looking back. "Hurry!"
Without checking whether the others behind him had obeyed and hidden, Su Er flicked his wand, striking first with the spell he was best at.
"Confringo!"
But another spell shot out of the woods and knocked the Exploding Charm off course, sending it into the trees on the other side.