FicFrenzy

0696 St Mungo's

It took Hermione several minutes after she opened her heavy eyelids for her foggy consciousness to fully realize that she was still alive.

Everything in front of her was shrouded in a wavering, misty light sprinkled with shadows that shifted and blended together, making it impossible to distinguish shapes or see anything clearly.

She was so weak that even the simplest act of turning her head was entirely beyond her capabilities. Her neck muscles refused to respond to her desperate...

0695 Misfortune

A handsome face down at Louise—a face with soft, silky gray hair that caught the faint moonlight and seemed to shimmer in its glow. But it was those remarkable pale purple eyes that captivated her.

Louise blinked hard several times rapidly, her vision momentarily blurring as she stared in disbelief at the young man standing before her. Her lips parted comically in shock, forming a perfect 'O' of astonishment.

"Mr. Watson—" She breathed, her voice barely audible above the whist...

0694 Her

The shimmering magical barrier that had been encircling the entire area was dismantled by the team of Aurors, but not before they had restored the dilapidated small house where the horrifying Inferi had been discovered, back to its original state.

"But what about this unfortunate Muggle called Fraser?" Kingsley inquired with genuine concern. He watched as the glass window that had been hastily boarded up with cracked planks miraculously reformed from its scattered, dust-like state and f...

0693 The Call

After the explosion within the milky-white light screen truly occurred, a blinding crimson sun suddenly appeared in front of the disbelieving eyes of the Ministry of Magic's elite Aurors!

The remarkable light screen created by Bryan Watson's spellwork not only isolated the devastating explosion within its boundaries but also contained the agonizing, flesh-melting heat that radiated out in waves.

However, the Aurors, still standing in the unnaturally cool air outside the containmen...

0692 The Target

At the hazy twilight boundary, the fading sunlight divided the sky into two contrasting halves. One hemisphere was bathed in a melancholy, dull amber glow, while the opposing half remained in the pale icy blue of late winter's lingering grip.

The distant sounds of bustling traffic had been weakened by distance until they became nothing more than an indistinct blur of noise, as if perceived through the hazy filter of a half-remembered dream.

Meanwhile, the nearby streams did not co...

0691 Actions

The Leaky Cauldron was an important passageway connecting the magical world and the Muggle world. Every day, there were endless wizards and witches passing through it.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, more and more magical folks entered the pub. However, upon walking through the door these newcomers immediately froze. Their expressions transformed from casual anticipation to alert wariness as they saw the stern-faced Aurors stationed throughout the main hall.

At the center of...

0690 The Investigation

"You still went ahead and mailed the package, didn't you?" Kingsley's deep voice filled with anger thundered across the silent tavern, his eyes were narrowing as he overlooked over the trembling Tom. "Even when you already noticed and intuitively felt that this person was behaving in a suspicious manner that was unusual and more than a bit off?"

Tom's wrinkled face crumpled further with distress, his bloodshot eyes were darting frantically between Kingsley's imposing figure and the othe...

0689 Unlucky Tom

After seeing the appearance of the young man who walked in through the back door, the Aurors throughout the bar hall lowered their vigilance one by one, their tense shoulders relaxed slightly as they dropped their wands to their sides.

In the Ministry of Magic, apart from the Department of Mysteries, the Auror Office was probably also considered a department with a relatively high degree of confidentiality.

These weren't ordinary desk-bound bureaucrats shuffling parchments between...

0688 The Message

London, at the break of dawn.

The Christmas holidays and its festivities had finally passed, and the world-renowned metropolis of London had reluctantly returned to its usual rhythm of everyday existence.

Perhaps because the city's residents had expended far too much emotional and physical energy in the enthusiastic celebrations and merrymaking of the holiday season, the Muggles now walking along the frost-filled streets all had signs of fatigue on their slightly pale fac...

0687 The Curse

"The curse seed and the curse itself are completely separated from one another?"

Verrence's face froze in genuine surprise. He stood motionless digesting Viper's strange inquiry. After a moment's contemplation, he tilted his head at a curious angle and stared at the Golden Viper with a slightly odd expression.

"You've encountered trouble?"

"It's not me—" Viper said lightly, but felt a sudden relief in his heart.

Verrence had spent most of his entire life to the tradi...

0686 Negotiations

"Since when did you start selling such worthless junk?"

In the underground world's infamous trading market, Golden Viper stood in front of a particularly notorious shop specializing in selling cursed items of questionable origin. His tone was filled with disdain as he mockingly observed the goods displayed in front of him.

The shop's owner, Verrence was momentarily stunned into silence by such sharp words. Then, quickly grasping the implied negotiation strategy in Golden Viper's w...

0685 Market

Sizzle—

The molten wax dripped down from the nearly extinguished candle that shook unsteadily on the edge of the coffee table. The scalding wax made a sharp hissing sound the instant it collided with the wooden surface. Amidst a few wisps of black smoke, a pungent burnt odor permeated the room.

Aeschylus extended his arm in a precise arc and from the tip of his wand a concentrated beam of dark green light flung out. The spell streaked across the short distance b...

0684 The Culprit

London, South Heathmans Road

A dirty river flowed alongside the residential area, its murky waters were partially concealed by thin, ghostly mist that rose from its polluted surface. The pungent smell of stagnant water and industrial waste permeated the damp night air.

Weeds—not the delicate wildflowers that might beautify a countryside meadow, but resilient, persevering ones that thrived in neglect grew rampantly on both banks of the polluted river, their twisted roots were int...

0683 Curiosity

Curiosity shone in the eyes of everyone coming towards him as they rushed through the corridors of Hogwarts. Students lined the passageway, some standing on tiptoes to get a better view craning their necks, as if they all wanted to discover the truth of the matter from him.

Faced with their stares and hushed, excited sounding murmurs, a surge of anger welled up in Harry's heart. His fingers trembled, and he could feel the blood pounding in his temples. He was already angry enough about ...

0682 The Ministry's Attitude

"This is completely and utterly slanderous, Watson!" Umbridge shrieked with indignation, "Inspecting private packages mailed by innocent magical residents? Oh, is that your outrageous suggestion, Watson? It's beyond ridiculous! The Ministry has absolutely no legal right of any kind to do that!"

"Then perhaps the Legislative Department should immediately pass a law granting that right!" Bryan shouted coldly, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he took a step forward.

"Have you ever c...

0681 The Confrontation

It was obvious that the Ministry of Magic had a network of patrols and well-placed informants strategically stationed throughout Hogsmeade. Otherwise, there could be no other explanation for how they had managed to receive the news about the incident and react with such unusual swiftness. These politicians, expert at the political chess game also recognized both the extraordinary sensitivity and the seriousness of this matter.

Hogwarts under the leadership of Albus Dumbledore and Bryan ...

0681 Questionings

The day had started off normal, the crisp autumn air of Hogsmeade carrying nothing gloomier than the scent of burning leaves and the distant aroma of butterscotch and cinnamon from Honeydukes.

Harry's unlucky morning encounter with Cedric and Cho had been just an awkward, fleeting moment in what should have been nothing more than another pleasant Hogsmeade weekend —at least that's what Harry had thought at the time. Yet what happened later that day was completely beyond Harry's unders...

0679 Result

True anger, in its most terrible form, is utterly silent.

After Severus left hastily from the headmaster's office to prepare the life-sustaining potions, Bryan and Dumbledore remained standing on opposite sides of Hermione's conjured sickbed.

Their gazes were lowered in concentration upon the unconscious body of Hermione who lay between them. The surging emotions emanating from these two renowned and powerful wizards caused the magical ocean that existed in the invisible air surro...

0678 The Curse

Hermione had already lost all control of her body. Moody had to roughly pinch her chin between his fingers and forcibly pry her jaw open. He removed the cork and poured the liquid emitting green lights carefully between her split lips.

Bryan narrowed his eyes but did not stop Moody's actions.

As the glowing green liquid trickled down Hermione's throat, the paleness of her appearance eased a little. Yet the danger remained obvious as black smoke continued to rise from her body. The...

0677 The Darkness

The darkness before Hermione's terrified eyes was countless times thicker than the deepest, most starless night sky imaginable. This endless abyss ignited the most instinctual fear in the depths of her usually rational heart, the instinctive human terror of complete loss of senses.

Hermione desperately wanted to blink her eyes, to somehow physically dispel this suffocating curtain of darkness that had fallen on her. She couldn't determine with any certainty whether the frantic signals f...

0676 The Gift

The enchanted rose within the pastry box was not an artificial creation but a real flower. The mysterious sender who had mailed this gift to Hermione had obviously performed several complex magical enchantments upon it. Each petal of the rose had an extraordinary dazzling beauty. The petals shimmered with flowing light across their surface as if countless tiny diamonds were embedded within their velvety texture.

There was, perhaps, no young woman in the entire wizarding world who could ...

0675 Aftermath

For Harry, what should have been an enjoyable outing to Hogsmeade had been utterly and completely ruined by that unexpected and torturous encounter with Cedric and Cho Chang earlier.

The interaction had left a bitter taste in his mouth that not even the sweet aromas wafting from the village shops could dispel.

Hogsmeade was truly spectacular under the snow blanket. The ancient, crooked buildings with their frost-rimmed windows seemed to have sprung directly from the pages of a fai...

0674 Hogsmeade

To avoid the inevitable barrage of curious questions from their classmates about what the packages on their backs were for, Hermione, Harry, and Ron got up very early in tacit understanding.

When they finally arrived at the Great Hall, they found the vast chamber nearly deserted. At the staff table, only Snape sat was eating quickly hunched over his plate. Meanwhile at the Gryffindor table, there were only the three of them sitting alone.

Harry glanced up at Snape with disgust. He...

0673 Training

The back-and-forth exchange between the three came to an abrupt halt. Harry and Ron's mouths fell open simultaneously, their expressions turning ashen as if someone had soaked them with a bucket of icy water from the Black Lake.

"Oh, of course!" Seeing their reactions, Hermione actually became a bit flustered. After all, her words were tantamount to accusing a Hogwarts professor of secretly training an army of young wizards as soldiers to fight in a war.

The seriousness of this ma...

0672 After Winter Break

Although the joyful Christmas holiday had passed like a fleeting dream, leaving only memories of festive lights and warm gatherings, it was obvious that the students of Hogwarts had not yet managed to shake off its lingering influence.

Throughout the entire first week of the new term, most of the students were listless, their bodies seemed to be present but their minds were clearly wandering to cozy fireplaces and family gatherings they had recently left behind.

They were not focu...

0671 The First Drill

The first escape training drill turned out exactly as Bryan had expected. If one had to describe it in a single word, it would be: mess, a complete mess.

Faced with an enemy force three times their own, the only thing the tested groups could think of was to have all three members charge in one direction and break through. The outcome for the students was instant and embarrassing; they were overwhelmed by the oncoming attacks with the unstoppable force amidst the resulting chaos. Several...

0670 New Training

Professor Watson's self-deprecating joke triggered a wave of relaxed smiles across the classroom. The laughter rippled through the rows of students like a gentle breeze, easing away the fear and uneasiness these mostly underage children had about the discussion of potentially law-breaking magic.

Amidst the fading chuckles and sidelong glances between the students, Bryan leaned forward slightly, and his expression shifted toward something more earnest and educational.

"What I want ...

0669 Safety

"How to get yourselves out safely from particularly unfavorable environments—"

Bryan lifted himself off the edge of the desk and began pacing back and forth in front of the eager students.

"So, who can tell me what methods we can use to get from one place to another in an instant?"

The response came immediately and enthusiastically. Nearly eighty percent of the class shot their hands into the air with some waving frantically to catch his attention.

Bryan's eyes scann...

0668 The Next Phase

Bryan entered his cold office room, set down his briefcase on the floor with a soft thud and let out a long, contented sigh as he surveyed the office.

While most of his colleagues and countless other wizards across Britain were indulging in various activities during the Christmas holiday—visiting family, traveling to exotic magical locations, or simply enjoying the comforts of their home by a fireplace—he was putting in considerable overtime.

Throughout the past half a month, ...

0667 New term

Bryan had originally planned for Remus and Sirius to take Harry and the others away from the orphanage and return to the wizarding world at the crack of dawn the next morning.

However, to Bryan's slight surprise, these few folks seemed to have reached an unspoken yet unanimous consensus on one particular matter: they insisted on remaining at the orphanage for one more day.

Initially, Bryan had thought they were still hoping to get some crucial information about Barty Crouch Sr. fr...