Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 83 Fierce Fire

One after another, white heads emerged from the pitch-black water, and an army of wraiths, twice as large as in the movies, silently approached the island in the middle of the lake. Facing the sunken, lifeless eyes of so many dead men, Mo Ran felt an even greater sense of contempt for Voldemort.

To borrow the words of the coffin shop owner—the necromancy of creating undead isn't difficult, but compared to powerful magical creatures, wizards, whose spirits are primarily driven by their souls, are actually less suited to being made into puppets. Unless some dark wizard has too many lives on their hands and feels they have too many raw materials to waste, they wouldn't be so depraved as to create an army of undead puppets—an army even necromancers would despise.

......

"Professor, are you alright?"

Mo Ran asked in a low voice, but unfortunately, all he heard in response was the principal's heavy breathing.

Dumbledore's state after drinking a double dose of the potion seemed somewhat contradictory. On the one hand, his body had suffered even greater damage than depicted in the movies; according to Mo Ran's magical perception, Dumbledore's magic was so depleted that he resembled an old Muggle. On the other hand, despite enduring immense torment from hallucinations, Dumbledore showed no signs of collapse. Even though his face was paler than an Inferi, a faint smile remained on his lips.

"Rennervate." (to restore vitality)

As the spell was whispered, a soft white light shot from the tip of Harry's Phoenix Feather Wand.

As a time traveler, Mo Ran could easily understand that Dumbledore had most likely released himself from the inner demons that had tormented him for years at the last critical moment. After witnessing such a brilliant and bold plan firsthand, he couldn't help but murmur his praise to himself.

"Incredible! Truly worthy of being called the greatest wizard of this era. So that ring was obtained by Dumbledore using the Time-Turner to travel back in time. The reason he returned it to his past self was to give himself the confidence to fight his inner demons. Otherwise, given his guilt towards his sister and family, he would never have been able to resist the temptation of the Resurrection Stone... Ha! What a fantastical yet far-sighted idea! He not only perfectly broke through Voldemort's curse trap, but also gave me a lesson in time travel through his own actions! I'm speechless."

The infernals swam and moved much faster than traditional zombies. Just as Mo Ran was marveling at this, several infernals that had surfaced near the lake had already climbed onto the island in the middle of the lake. Without even checking how much of his revitalizing spell had worked, he immediately raised his wand and chanted:

"Pestis Incendium."

A ferocious demonic flame, tinged with a blood-red hue, burst forth, carrying an aura of violence. Whether it was due to absorbing the Dementor's magic or Grindelwald's knowledge of dark magic at work, the Fiendfyre spell cast by Mo Ran became remarkably similar to the Obscurial's berserk state.

Bang! Bang! Crash!

The sounds of the infernals colliding and falling into the water shattered the deathly silence on the lake. Faced with the enormous lasso formed from Fiendfire, the monsters, who should have obeyed Voldemort's orders to attack the intruders, forgot their command and began to thrash about in a disoriented and chaotic manner. Soon, the whooshing sound, like that of a high-powered gas stove being ignited, replaced the sounds of the infernals fleeing and became the dominant melody on the lake.

The flames that shot up one after another turned the originally pitch-black dome crimson, and the sudden increase in temperature of the raging fire even showed signs of melting the cave.

This startled Mo Ran!

When he arrived at the cave, he had planned to wipe out every single one of the hidden corpses. However, to his surprise, the Fiendfire, upon encountering the necromancy, seemed to have found some kind of accelerant, becoming scorching hot.

Seeing that the fire was spreading beyond his expectations, Mo Ran quickly gripped his wand tightly with both hands and focused all his attention on controlling the already unruly Fiendfire. However, before he could calm the "beast" hovering in the air, an uncontrollable anger ignited in his chest along with the Fiendfire.

Amidst the countless splashes of water, and among the vast expanse of tattered, pale monsters, the small, underdeveloped figures of inanimate children stood out starkly. It's no exaggeration to say that they embodied a pure evil that even the most depraved descriptions of Voldemort couldn't fully capture.

Stimulated by the scene before him, Mo Ran's eyes widened like copper bells. At the same time, his anger was reflected in the Fiery Blaze just as his happiness was reflected in the Guardian Spell.

In an instant, the black and red flames suddenly came to life, and a dragon with red eyes and a roar like thunder plunged straight into the black lake.

......

Awakening from his sweet dream, Dumbledore unconsciously smacked his lips a few times. Having undergone extreme torment and tempering, he seemed to have directly used Voldemort's poison as a tranquilizer. Apart from being a little hot, this sleep had been almost the most perfect he had in recent years.

"You're really impressive."

Looking at the seaside cave, now a lava pit burned by Fiendfyre, Dumbledore praised Mo Ran with a hint of surprise. He had anticipated that Mo Ran would clean up the Inferi and destroy the hideout where Voldemort's secret weapons were stored, but using Fiendfyre to evaporate the entire lake in the cave was still a bit premature for him.

Seeing Dumbledore nod after waking up, Mo Ran, who was sitting on the stone steps, got up, put away the wand he had been playing with, and then took out the compass and time-tamper from his pocket and asked the old headmaster:

"What's next? Should I go to the next place?"

"Be more patient, there's no rush."

As Dumbledore surveyed the extent of the damage Fiendfire had caused to the cave, he said:

"In my personal experience, when a person is unsure of what to do or how to do it, it usually means they are not ready or the time is not right... I noticed you seemed to be examining Harry's wand the whole time. Did you feel it wasn't quite right for you?"

Having had his thoughts read by Dumbledore, Mo Ran looked down at the phoenix feather wand at his waist and nodded in lingering fear, admitting:

"Just now, when I was finally calming down the raging fire, I almost burned it all down with it."

“I see… Indeed, Fiendfire can easily evoke negative emotions in its user. Before you master it, I suggest you find an open area to practice casting without a wand, or you could combine the use of the Ironclad Charm and the Barrier Charm, which would also be a good option. Alright, let’s go back to Hogwarts together.”

Dumbledore, who had just recovered some of his magic from Voldemort's poison, slowly extended his arm. A few seconds later, with a "snap," the two figures returned to what the wizarding world had repeatedly called the safest place.

The sudden appearance of the two in the office startled the portraits of the former headmasters on the wall. Seemingly not wanting to hear their cacophony of questions about where he had gone, Dumbledore simply sat down on the nearest chair, grabbed a handful of cockroaches, and began to munch on them.

"Go get some food from the fairy; you might need it later."

He said incoherently:

"Oh, by the way, Sirius Black hasn't been rehabilitated as a hero yet, so if I were you, I might consider how to use public opinion to mislead those who don't know the truth. You know the rest of the story, so just go for it."

Compared to the portrait on the wall depicting Dumbledore in the same room, Mo Ran was clearly unfamiliar with his headmaster's scurrying, bee-like demeanor. However, upon reflection, his body, having just consumed two doses of poison, certainly needed a good rest, so he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll go down now."

Dumbledore nodded upon hearing this. At that moment, he was enjoying a glass of orange-yellow Olaf iced drink that he had somehow conjured up, but he still didn't forget to remind Mo Ran:

"The castle's kitchen is behind a canvas depicting a large silver bowl filled with fruit. To get inside, you need to scratch that pear. Start from where the Fat Lady's portrait is, walk back down the corridor, go down six floors, then turn left at the entrance hall along the marble staircase. If you really can't remember, go to Harry's dormitory and borrow the Marauder's Map. He should be in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey and the other professors, busy calming down the students."

"How could you abandon the students and run off outside alone, Dumbledore! You're not behaving like a headmaster at all!"

A wizard dressed in an ancient-style robe seemed unable to contain his anger and was the first to reprimand him. Soon, others who had doubts or objections to Dumbledore's actions joined this "debate" that was destined to be lost.

Dumbledore, who was busy holding up desserts and drinks, didn't reply for the time being. He looked at Mo Ran and gave him a "leave this to me" look, then stuffed two more cockroaches into his mouth and refused.

Mo Ran, who had just been about to complain about Dumbledore's gluttony because the headmaster remembered the way to the kitchen too clearly, pursed his lips and swallowed his words. He drew his wand, cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, and left the headmaster's office like a child who had accidentally stumbled into an elders' argument.

Hogwarts, having just experienced the Dementors' disturbance, was much quieter than usual. Apart from a few exceptionally capable and daring older students, most of the younger wizards had obediently retreated to their respective common rooms. Mo Ran had assumed he would have a smooth journey to the kitchens, but unexpectedly, at the end of the marble staircase, he encountered Malfoy and his two henchmen.

"Damn it, this damned Ministry of Magic is completely unreliable. Even something as simple as a Dementors going out of control has to be solved by the Hogwarts teachers and students themselves. I'm definitely transferring to Durmstrang next semester!"

"Oh! Really! Then I'll go back and tell my dad that I want to transfer to Durham something something Lang next semester!"

“It’s Durmstrang, but this school doesn’t seem to be in England. I remember my father mentioning that it was located in France.”

"Idiots, that's Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Besides, can't you tell I was just saying that out of anger? How could I possibly transfer schools? I always tell you to study more, but you two act like Muggles, all you do is eat! If it weren't for you two dragging me down, the Weasleys wouldn't have gotten all the limelight today! Sigh..."

Draco Malfoy's angry voice was tinged with a hint of helplessness. Unlike the carefree Crabbe and Goyle, he looked quite tired and seemed to have contributed a lot to the chaos just now.

But then again, the reason they were here was to find some hot food in the kitchen to fill their stomachs. Although Malfoy felt good about yelling at them for "all they know is food," he also cut off his own escape route.

Gregory Goerby, slightly more emotionally intelligent than Vincent Crabbe, seeing Malfoy hesitating at the kitchen door, quickly adopted his usual goofy, head-scratching manner and said:

"Hehe, neither wizards nor Muggles can go hungry. If you ask me, let's fill our stomachs first, young master Malfoy, otherwise we'll just be doing all this work for nothing."

Draco Malfoy raised an eyebrow and sized up Goyle, then glanced at Crabbe, who was nodding in agreement beside him, and with an air of "I really can't do anything with you guys," he touched the pear in the picture frame and said:

"Let's go! Let's go inside and get some food!"

The heavy rattling of machinery came from behind the picture frame, and the pear that was chuckling slowly transformed into a large green doorknob, and a door leading to the kitchen appeared on the wall.

Mo Ran, who had no intention of attracting the attention of the elves, naturally wouldn't let such a perfect opportunity pass by. After casting a silent spell on his body with a silent wandless spell, he followed after them in a few quick steps.

The kitchen at Hogwarts Castle was almost as large as the Great Hall. Apart from a huge fireplace at the far end of the room, the space was almost entirely filled with all sorts of pots and pans. Malfoy walked among the elves with a disdainful expression, his sights set on the steaks floating on the embers, but unexpectedly, he was stopped by a familiar figure.

"Mr. Draco Malfoy? Sir? What are you doing here?"

"Dobby?"

Draco was clearly taken aback when he saw the house-elf who had been forced to relinquish his freedom after being imprisoned under Harry's "tyranny."

"Yes, it's Mr. Dobby. Dobby has been waiting for you for a long time!"

Dobby's appearance was almost identical to Draco's memory. His orange-sized eyes and bat-wing-like ears reminded him of being served by Draco when he was a child, but that was all. This time, Dobby wasn't wearing a dirty, tattered pillowcase. With Harry and Moran's indulgence, the little guy had dressed himself up in a way that, while not exactly fashionable, was definitely stylish enough.

"Your clothes... Did that guy Poot leave you?"

“Oh no, sir. Mr. Harry Potter pays Dobby a salary, and when he doesn’t need Dobby to work, he also agrees to let Dobby come and help Professor Dumbledore.”

As Dobby spoke, he showed off all the different clothes he was wearing from head to toe.

He wore a very small American Western cowboy hat on his head, something that looked like children's pajamas, a red Gryffindor handkerchief around his neck as a neckerchief, and Muggle soccer shoes in one white and one black color.

Draco was so shocked by Dobby's appearance that he was speechless, but he never expected that what Dobby took out next would be even more astonishing.

"The night before Hogwarts started, when Malfoy Manor was burned down, Dobby secretly rescued something useful. Mr. Harry Potter insisted that Dobby wait until Mr. Malfoy found him in person before telling him, so Dobby kept it with him."

Splash!

The plates piled on the edge of the table fell to the floor. Draco Malfoy practically flew to Dobby, snatched a gleaming golden object from his hand, hid it in his pocket, and whispered:

"You...how do you have this!"

Malfoy's expression resembled that of a novice dark wizard conducting his first underground transaction in Knockturn Alley, constantly turning his head to observe the other house-elves around him. Fortunately, the elves working there were all busy with their own tasks and didn't come over to join the fun.

"Dobby doesn't know what it is, sir."

Dobby said as he raised his hand to cast a restoration spell on the plate:

"But Dobby knows that Mr. Harry Potter believes you will give it to the right person."

Malfoy stared blankly at the key to Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault lying in his palm, lost in thought.

He didn't know what was hidden behind the door that this thing could open, but judging from how panicked his mother was when she was almost out of breath, the importance of this thing was self-evident.

A few minutes later, Malfoy and his men left the kitchen with a large amount of food.

Crabbe and Goyle never expected their "food-stealing" to go so smoothly; the house-elves practically stuffed food into their hands. This shows that while Slytherin students might be disliked by other houses, to the house-elves, they were all equally masters of Hogwarts.

"Shall we go back to the common room, Master Malfoy?"

Crabbe swallowed hard, his eyes practically glued to the variety of pies, steaks, and pastries.

"You guys go back first."

Malfoy said calmly:

"I have some things to do at the Owl House right now, I'll talk about the rest later."

"Then we'll save some food for you!"

Goyle shouted to Malfoy, who had already run far away, his hand already grabbing the cream cake.

Just like his questionable intelligence in the original story, he and Crabbe were completely unaware that their young master was heading not towards the Owl House, but towards the headmaster's office.