Mastering Lightning from Hogwarts

“There's no time to lose, let's go!” Cedric didn't expect Percy and the others to appear so suddenly. Google search reading

But it made perfect sense, the Third Squad had set off earlier than them, and arriving at the shopping center now was already considered slow.

However, even though time was pressing, they didn't dare to rush straight in. They had to detour to the right, otherwise, attracting the guards at the main entrance would be troublesome.

By the time the group of six reached the appropriate position, the sounds of battle on the left side of the shopping center, while still intense, had diminished compared to the beginning. It seemed Percy and the others were acting quickly and would likely end the battle soon.

“Reducto!” ×6

After detouring and approaching the right side door, Cedric and the others didn't hesitate, casting spells almost simultaneously. Six Reducto curses shot towards the guarding skeleton soldiers.

“Aargh!”

The skeleton knight, clearly an elite monster, didn't hesitate upon seeing them. It immediately howled and raised the banner-bearing spear in its hand high.

A faint magical wave then spread out from the spear's center, gradually covering the soldiers guarding the side door, as if empowering them.

“Bang bang!”

Six consecutive Reducto curses accurately hit six skeleton soldiers, but a surprising scene unfolded.

Except for Penelope's curse, which successfully shattered an enemy, the remaining skeleton soldiers only took a few steps back after being attacked. Then, as if nothing had happened, they roared and charged towards them.

“The flag spear in that skeleton knight's hand is strange!” Penelope immediately reminded everyone upon seeing this.

“I see it. That equipment seems to enhance the defense of the surrounding soldiers. We must take him out first, otherwise we will definitely be in a tough fight!” Hermione shouted anxiously after realizing she had to cast two more Reducto curses to shatter a single skeleton.

“How troublesome. I'll take care of that guy, you guys hold off the other enemies!” Cedric, reacting quickly, called out to those around him, then charged into the crowd with his heavy hammer.

Soon, the six wizards attacking the right side door split into two groups. Cedric chose to take on the skeleton knight single-handedly, while the others tried to fend off the miscellaneous soldiers.

Cedric was extremely fierce, and no one could withstand him wielding the [Bone Crusher]. In no time, he cleared a path with his speed and equipment, heading straight for the skeleton knight.

The surrounding skeleton soldiers weren't unwilling to besiege Cedric, but the Weasley twins were also helping their companion by providing cover. →

Whenever a skeleton minion tried to approach Cedric, it would be tripped up by the Binding Curses they shot out.

After fighting for a while, the rest of the squad discovered that the skeleton soldiers were not only strengthened in defense but also seemed to have increased strength.

Almost everyone in the squad had obtained one or two [Bone Shields], so they weren't particularly afraid of close combat. However, the attack intensity of these skeleton soldiers was significantly higher than before, causing the durability of the shields in their hands to drop rapidly.

This fierce offensive startled everyone, so they could only fight and retreat.

Fortunately, there was a fifth-year student, Penelope, in the team. Her spellcasting intensity was significantly higher than the others, and each Reducto curse could take out a skeleton soldier.

However, there were at least thirty skeleton soldiers surrounding them, and half of them were skeleton archers. The force and speed of these ranged arrows had also been significantly enhanced, causing everyone to scramble for cover.

If this continued, they would soon be injured or even killed.

The opponent's offensive was so fierce that it made them doubt their lives. They were curious how Percy's squad, attacking on the left, had dealt with these guys.

However, Cedric didn't disappoint his teammates who were covering him. After breaking through a layer of guarding skeleton soldiers, he quickly caught up with the skeleton knight.

Despite being tall and mounted on a horse, the skeleton knight didn't perform as strongly as expected when it came to close combat.

For some reason, when the skeleton knight saw Cedric approaching, it neither chose to ride forward to meet the enemy nor turned to flee. Instead, it stood there like an idiot.

Of course, it couldn't be said that it was a motionless wooden sculpture. After Cedric approached, it still bravely waved its spear and thrust it towards Cedric.

But it would be strange if Cedric were hit by this kind of motionless enemy. He simply lowered his head and bent over, easily dodging the attack, then backhanded the horse's head with his hammer.

After receiving this heavy hammer blow, the entire head and neck of the skeletal warhorse were immediately smashed to pieces, and the skeleton knight above instantly fell.

Facing Cedric's several rounds of hammer blows, the skeleton knight barely parried a few moves before being hit by Cedric in an opening.

“Bang!”

After a loud noise, the skeleton knight was smashed into bone fragments by the [Bone Crusher], and the dozens of skeleton soldiers buffed by the flag spear quickly weakened, losing their former ferocity.

After taking care of the skeleton knight, Cedric didn't even have time to check the loot before immediately turning back to support his teammates.

After all, even without the skeleton knight's buffs, so many ordinary skeletons were a huge threat. Terence and Hermione even had several bone arrows stuck in them, and there might be casualties if they were any later.

However, with Cedric's support and the weakening of the skeleton soldiers' combat power, everyone managed to clear them all without any casualties. Fortunately, no one was lost.

“Everyone, seize the time to heal and recover. Judging from the sound, the battle on the left side door seems to be over as well. We can't let them get there first!” Cedric said as he took out healing potions like 'Essence of Dittany'. They had collected a lot of these along the way.

“Don't worry, we're just slightly injured. It won't affect the subsequent battles.”

Hermione fiercely pulled a bone arrow out of her arm, not even frowning at the sizzling blood, and Terence was the same next to her.

The reason they were so calm about these injuries wasn't that these young wizards were so thick-skinned.

It was mainly thanks to Ando's repeated drills over the past six months, with surprise inspections and safety exercises emerging one after another, making them a little numb.

Moreover, they had not been injured less in their daily training, not to mention the high-intensity training sessions they had been receiving nearly every month, which always left them with bruises and swollen faces.

Even a girl like Hermione might not have realized that they had gradually become accustomed to and adapted to pain, and they didn't even care much about getting a little scratch or bleeding.

So, in some ways, Ando's training had indeed worked well. At least the will of these young wizards was probably more resilient than that of many adult wizards who were used to peace.

Seeing how calm they were, Cedric nodded in relief. “Good, I'll go clear the loot. Let's take a ten-minute break.”

With that, Cedric walked towards the flag spear dropped by the skeleton knight. When he saw the attributes of the equipment, his eyes lit up.

[Guardian's Halberd]

Attack Power: 18-25

Durability: 42/50

Equipment Requirement: Intelligence Attribute ★☆ or higher, Strength Attribute ★☆ or higher

Attached Skill: Guardian's Aura

Guardian's Aura: Provides a slight power boost to surrounding allies and comes with a full-body magic shield with a strength of 20 points.

Effective Radius: 50 meters

Consumption: Consumes 10 notches of magic power per minute after activating the aura, and consumes an additional 5 notches of magic power for each ally covered, with a maximum coverage of 50 people. The wielder cannot move while the aura is active.

“No wonder…” Cedric nodded thoughtfully. He had been wondering why the skeleton knight stood there like an idiot, but it turned out it couldn't move after activating the equipment skill.

“But this equipment is really ridiculously strong. It's lucky that it was only used on ordinary skeleton grunts before. If the buff target was a wizard, we would probably be in trouble.” Cedric breathed a sigh of relief.

The power boost from this equipment was fine, but the most outrageous thing was the attached full-body magic shield.

They, these underage wizards, had fought against 'human-shaped targets' a lot before. The power of a first-year's spell was only around ten points, and a third-year's was only around 30 points.

In other words, after activating the Guardian's Aura, this shield could withstand at least two spells from a first-year student, and a third-year student would need one spell to break the defense. Only a fifth-year student's spell could break through this protection relatively easily.

So, with this equipment, it was like giving them one more chance for error. They, these lower-grade students, didn't know powerful protection spells like 'Protego Maxima'.

“Unfortunately, the conditions for using this equipment are too harsh. The wielder cannot move, and the consumption is ridiculously high. If you want to cover 6 people, it will consume 40 notches of magic power per minute. Even I can't last for more than a few minutes.”

“Moreover, if the skeleton knight defending on the left side also produced this item, then it proves that they also have a [Guardian's Halberd] in their hands.”

Cedric shook his head in distress, then turned to look at Hermione and Terence. “How much magic power do you two have left?”

“I have about 50 notches left.” Hermione glanced at the Silver Gleam Amulet.

“I have more than 80 notches left. I should be able to last two more battles.” Terence replied similarly.

Cedric nodded, then handed the [Guardian's Halberd] to Terence. “Then this halberd will be entrusted to you. It may be the key to our victory next!”

Terence took the spear and glanced at it, his expression surprised. “This spear… is so strong! But if I use it, I can only activate it for two minutes. Won't that be too short?”

“Wizard battles are ever-changing, and two minutes is enough to determine the outcome of a battle.” Cedric shook his head with a smile. “And you have to know that there are 4 first-year students in Percy's squad. Their current magic power reserves are probably lower than Hermione's.”

“In other words, if they also have such a spear in their hands, they can only activate it for a maximum of one minute. They can't let Percy use this equipment himself, can they? We already have a big advantage.”

“I see.” Terence nodded knowingly. “I understand. It seems that we have to rely on it to determine the victory at a critical moment.”

“Yes, you need to pay attention to the timing and location of using this equipment. If Percy and the others also know the information about this item, they will definitely launch an operation against you. Of course, we will do the same, so how to use it properly is the most important thing.” Cedric thought very deeply, so he earnestly said to Terence.

“Don't worry.” Hermione interjected at this time, “I will protect Terence when he uses this equipment.”

“Okay, then the frontal combat will be left to me, George, and Fred. You guys prioritize protecting yourselves.” Cedric didn't count Penelope in. When it came to the decisive battle, he didn't believe that she would still stand on their side.

After the Fourth Squad discussed their tactics on the spot, they were almost rested, and then they resolutely marched into the shopping center.

Penelope, who had been acting together with them, glanced thoughtfully at a corner behind her at this time, deliberately slowed down half a beat when acting, and threw something on the ground very obscurely, before following them into the door.

After the Fourth Squad left the right side door, two sneaky little heads suddenly poked out from a distant corner, it was Ron and Malfoy who had been missing for a long time.

At this time, they were each carrying a small satchel on their backs, and their faces were covered in dirt. Anyone who didn't know would think they were two wild children from somewhere.

“Those guys are finally gone.” Malfoy smiled wickedly as he looked at the cleared right side door. “Luckily we were patient. If we had sneaked in according to your idea, we would have been beaten into渣 by those guards. Didn't you see how fierce that team of skeleton soldiers was? How could you think we could get away with it?”

“Now is not the time to worry about these things.” Ron glared at Malfoy. “Did you see? Penelope is actually mixed with Cedric's squad. It seems she was either kidnapped or recruited.”

“Who knows.” Malfoy shook his head blankly. “But I also saw Penelope throw something on the ground before she left, and she also took a special look in our direction before she left. Do you think she found us?”

“Most likely.” Ron nodded in agreement. “Let's go, follow them and see if we can take advantage of them before those guys find us.”