CHAPTER FOUR: HOSTAGE

The facility shook violently as Noelle’s monstrous form tore through steel walls somewhere behind him. Harry stumbled as another explosion r

The facility shook violently as Noelle’s monstrous form tore through steel walls somewhere behind him. Harry stumbled as another explosion rocked the corridor, catching himself against the wall. The Patronus had bought him seconds of escape—nothing more—but the wet, guttural screams of consumed mercenaries behind him told him she wasn’t far.

He skidded around the corner, nearly colliding with a fleeing guard. The man didn’t even stop to question him. He just ran, his exposed face bloodless with terror.

Reaching into his pocket, Harry pulled out a twisted piece of metal from Noelle’s containment chamber. He’d palmed it during the initial chaos, thankfully large enough to work with.

“Avenseguim!”

The spell left his lips and the shard snapped to life in his palm, trembling slightly as it spun, then jerked forward, pulling toward the left corridor. Dinah was close.

Harry sprinted down the hall, the makeshift tracker guiding him through the maze of identical steel passages. The shard grew hotter and vibrated noticeably as he neared a reinforced door stenciled with two words: Observation Room 3.

Somewhere behind him, more screams echoed through the facility. Noelle had found more prey.

Harry didn’t hesitate.

“Alohomora!”

The lock clicked. He kicked the door open…

And froze.

Coil stood beside Dinah’s cot, one gloved hand tangled in her hair, the other pressing a pistol to her temple. The girl was pale, her wrists bound to the IV pole with thick restraints, and an oxygen mask hanging askew from her face.

“Ah, Mr. Potter,” Coil said, his voice smooth beneath the mask. His black bodysuit was pristine despite the dust and smoke outside. “I was just explaining to young Miss Alcott how percentages work.” He cocked the hammer. “Would you like to hear her current odds of survival?”

Dinah whimpered.

Harry’s magic burned under his skin. He could try Expelliarmus, but wandless and at this range, he might miss. And she was right in the line of fire.

“I’d hoped we could come to a mutual understanding,” Coil continued. “But you’ve proven quite… disruptive.”

Harry’s hands clenched. “What do you want?”

Coil’s mask hid his smile, but Harry heard it in his voice. “A demonstration. You’re going to walk back out there and stop Noelle.”

A lie, but Harry didn’t need Legilimency to know that.

Dinah’s glassy eyes met his. 

The facility shook again, closer this time.

Coil’s grip tightened. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen—”

The wall behind him exploded.

Noelle’s monstrous form erupted through the steel, her half-digested victims still visible in her writhing flesh. Her milky eyes locked onto Coil, and for what felt like the first time, the supervillain flinched.

He tried to do something, maybe use his powers. Harry felt it, the strange shimmer of layered intent that came upon the world, but nothing happened. Just like with Dinah. Just like every time she tried to use her power around him.

Harry didn’t hesitate.

“Stupefy!”

The spell was weak without his wand, barely more than a spark, but it was enough. Coil staggered, his grip on Dinah loosening enough for the girl to move.

Her teeth sank into Coil’s wrist with a burst of desperate energy. He roared out in pain, the gun clattering to the floor, just as Noelle’s pseudopod lashed out, wrapping around his torso.

Coil had time for one last, desperate plea of mercy before the monster girl pulled him in.

Harry grabbed Dinah as the room collapsed around them, screaming out a desperate, instinctive “Protego Maxima!”, forcing out too much power through his raw emotion and with no foci. The shield burst from his hands, flickering erratically, but it held just long enough. Somewhere in the midst of the falling debris, he heard Coil scream. 

Then the world went white.