Time Remaining — 8 minutes
Let's work together…
The words felt bitter on the tongue, especially as the three boys exchanged glances.
It was clear beyond clarity that Harry and Black disliked Draco as much as he abhorred their presence around him.
However, one thing was even clearer.
Darcie Malfoy was unstoppable.
The only good thing was that the boys didn't get the time to rethink their decision.
Darcie was like a black-white stroke in the sky, smoothly, but surely chasing the Remembrall.
It would only take her minutes, if not seconds, to snatch it out of the sky. Then it would all be over for them, the boys knew.
If there was a time to act on their decision, then it was now. Or never.
With a massive whoosh, the boys hurled their brooms in Darcie's direction.
Don't think… Harry thought, feeling the wind's burn on his face. Don't think….
Draco eyed his sister's back, sensing the Mudblood and bloody Potter on his right. Don't think… he chanted the spell. Don't think…
Within Black's mind, the Ad Infinitum was banging its head, trying to overpower the ridiculous existence of the main storyline Character — Darcie Malfoy.
Think… he narrowed his eyes, holding himself back as much as he could under Dumbledore's watchful eyes. Think hard…
Darcie looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes into thin, green needles.
Finally, she thought, letting out a small smile. It was getting boring…
And thus, she stopped holding herself back.
Under the stunned gazes of almost everyone, Darcie reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. She sensed it. The tremor ran through her arm. Of electricity. A majestic cry. The call of an Emperor.
Darcie twisted her torso, slowing down and letting the boys come closer.
Unlike everyone, they hadn't seen her taking out the Wand. So it stunned them for an instant, but their speed didn't decrease.
Darcie lifted her right arm and pointed the wand at them.
"Fan out!" Draco shouted, his face paling.
"Avis!"
A flock of a dozen birds shot out from the tip of her wand and threw themselves at the boys, the sky roaring with the birds' tweets.
The first years stared at the birds and then looked at each other, stunned.
Hermione's eyes had gone wide, her pupils dilating like a puppy's.
Daphne narrowed her eyes, seeing the use of the spell. If she remembered correctly, then Darcie could call out many dozens of birds using the wand, especially when those birds had nothing special to them.
Ron just kept gulping. At first, he had felt jealous. He also wanted to be up in the sky, flying alongside Harry and Black.
But then he remembered he couldn't fly as well as these two; it never felt like they had ridden brooms before, either.
Now, though, he was just glad he wasn't up there, facing Darcie of all.
It was just, why did it feel like they were working with Draco?
In the sky, hearing Draco's shout, Harry's body had gone taut.
However, because of his innate dislike toward Draco, Harry thought what if he was faking it? So, by the time the birds broke into three groups and came at him, it was already too late.
Four birds hit Harry right on his face and exploded in a feathery bomb, cracking his right glasses.
Black, flying in the middle, dipped his broom forward, letting the birds hit his back. They felt like stones. They couldn't hurt him, but it did make him come to an unwanted and unavoidable stop.
Why's Dumbledore watching me? He complained, sensing the gaze. What's he up to?
Draco flew around, chased by the birds.
The moment one came closer, he took out his wand and poked it, exploding it. It took him a few more circles to take care of the birds one by one. He flew toward Harry and Black and hovered midair near them.
Harry's glasses were as good as gone, Draco saw.
"Can you see?" Black asked, frowning.
Harry shook his head. He looked toward the school building and shouted, "Sir, this is cheating!" he complained, remembering everything that Ron had told him. "You can't use magic in Quidditch."
Standing behind McGonagall's office window, Dumbledore smiled. Then he sighed.
He put his wand against his throat, and said, "Yes. You can't. But… you aren't playing Quidditch, are you, Mr. Potter?"
The humor in the Headmaster's voice echoed through the School.
Draco looked shaken instantly, cursing the old man. He had had it. That's it. No more.
Draco pulled out his wand and pointed at Harry's glasses. "Reparo!"
Harry, slack-jawed because of Dumbledore's answer, let his jaw drop even lower. He put his glasses on, closed his mouth, and looked at Draco.
But the young Malfoy had already flown away, almost blurring out of sight.
Black and Harry looked at each other and their thoughts resonated without words — Like it or not, they must trust Draco if they want to even have the chance to win.
Far into the distance, Darcie chased the Remembrall like a wraith. Left and right and up, she controlled her broom precisely, reaching out for the flying ball with her left hand. But the broom held her back every single time.
It was just a practice broom. Not only it was slow, but she could feel it always leaning toward left for some reason.
There were some things Magic could solve. Then there were some things for which there were no other solution but raw work; a lesson she had etched in her heart during her study with the two ghosts at 221B Baker Street.
Suddenly, the Hogwarts robe moved up as if trying to lift her, grabbing her shoulder.
Darcie's head snapped up instantly.
Draco dropped from the sky like a missile, his face twisting into ugliness. He was, of course, aiming to kick her off the broom.
A twitch danced on Darcie's lips. With one swift push of her palm at the tip of the broom, she slowed down.
Draco, his eyes wide, dropped right in front of her, unable to control his speed.
However, once more, the Hogwarts robe moved right.
As Darcie's eyes shifted right, she saw Black rushing toward her with a menacing smile on his face. Before she could move away, he threw a stone at her.
Darcie found that pointless.
She dived, dodging both the incoming stone and then Black.
Once more, the Hogwarts robes pulled her back. Lilith, the Lethifold, was adamant about letting her know all the incomers, it seemed. Darcie didn't even look over her shoulder and just sped up.
The robe pulled her forward, suddenly.
Huh? Darcie was surprised. Pull from both back and front?
Draco, who shouldn't have been there, given the momentum he possessed while going down, appeared with a wicked smile.
Did he use my double-back move? Darcie thought, feeling amazed by her brother. She shifted to her right, perfectly remembering that no one was there. Black had come from the right and had disappeared to the left.
Then it happened.
Thud!
A shoe fell from the sky and hit right on top of Darcie's head.
Darcie almost bit her tongue from the sudden pain, her broom losing control.
Tumbling all over the sky, she hit the long wall of the school's building with a bang.
On the grounds, the students gasped and then began cursing the boys for using underhanded tricks. Of course, among the cursing ones, the majority were Darcie's fans.
Even teachers were stunned by this development.
Madam Villanelle had seen what happened from the audience's perspective.
Without exchanging words, the boys had directed Darcie toward a certain location in the sky.
Before Draco dropped, he had already thrown his shoe up. All Black and Harry did was to shift Darcie, guessing where the shoe would fall.
Seeing their reaction, Draco knew he would have to give the final blow by appearing right in front of his sister.
It was then he had used Darcie's move against her, appearing where he shouldn't have.
Their coordination was marvelous, Madam Villanelle thought, shocked. They fooled her…
The boys chased the Remembrall, not giving Darcie any thought. This was their time to finish it before she stabilized her broom. If she fell, certainly a Professor would save her before it happened.
Darcie, falling and falling, her broom striking the wall, grabbed a windowsill.
She rubbed her head with her wand. Then looked down; looked up; looked over her shoulder at the boys.
On the grounds, Daphne finally panicked. She's mad…
Darcie let go of her hold on the stone and lifted herself high in the sky, her gaze never leaving the sight of the boys.
"What's she doing?" Hermione asked, seeing Darcie not chasing the boys.
The same question bubbled in all eyes watching her right now as she silently hovered under the blue, breezy sky.
Darcie sat up.
She reached into her pockets, took out a vial, and gulped it down.
Then she took off her shoes and socks and her Hogwarts robe, letting them fall freely beneath her. She rolled up her sleeves to the elbows, rolled her neck, and cracked her knuckles.
Draco, feeling inhumanely odd, looked over his shoulder.
Harry and Black, flying behind him, also looked over their shoulders.
All students, especially the Quidditch players, let their mouths open, gawking at the sight.
Dumbledore's blue eyes finally left Black and fell on Darcie, sensing the bubbling Magic within her. Snape's sneer became a grin. Madam Villanelle's mouth twitched.
All got to know that the Celebrity they had heard of so much… wasn't exactly the fairy they had expected.
Darcie had stood up on the broom, her toes grabbing the wood.
And thunder was cracking around her, her green eyes becoming black now and then.
Time Remaining — 2 minutes
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