Glenn tossed a tactical suit to Draco, gesturing for him to put it on. With two quick dual spells, he knocked out Goyle and Crabbe and wiped their memories of the enter.

  Draco: "...Bloody hell."

  "So that's why I've been feeling se these past nights! Sometimes I wake up lying on the ground with those two, and now I know why!" he excimed indignantly.

  Good news: The mystery that had been b him fes was finally solved.

  Bad news: The culprit was the one who told him.

  Ign Draco's resentful gre, Glenn headed to the Great Hall first, where he had arrao meet Neville and Draco.

  Neville arrived shortly after, already dressed iactical suit Glenn had given him earlier, armed and cloaked.

  "How's your spell mastery ing along?" Glenn asked, gng up from cheg his equipment as he sensed Neville's arrival.

  Neville's expression turned bitter. He had only mao learn the castihods but couldn't guarantee success every time. He answered truthfully.

  When Draco arrived and overheard the question, his face darkened as well. He wasn't much better off than Neville, though slightly more petent—enough to feel a bit smug. Just as he was about to moeville, Glenn interrupted.

  "Let's go. We're heading to the Forbidden Forest."

  "The F-Forbidden Forest?!" The two turned pale as sheets. They never imagihey'd be going there tonight.

  "Glenn, is this where you usually train at night?" Draco thought back to the times he had been knocked out and had his memory wiped by Glenn. A chilling realization dawned on him.

  And it seemed very likely to be true!

  Glenn nodded, firming his suspi.

  Leading the way, Gleered the Forbidden Forest, with Neville and Draco trailing nervously behind. The two kept gng around, as if some monster might leap out from the shadows at any moment.

  And perhaps it wasn't just their imagination—they could feel something watg them.

  Glenn noticed it too. With a flick of his wand, he cast a charm on both of them, and they immediately felt a cool sensation spreading through their bodies.

  "Invisibility Charm?" The two, being from pure-blood families, quickly reized the spell.

  Glenn didn't reply, instead following up with a perception-blog charm for added security.

  After a series of twists and turns, they finally mao shake off their pursuers.

  "Stay here. I'll find your target for tonight," Glenn instructed before vanishing from their sight.

  "L-Longbottom, what do we do now?" Draco, trembling, stood back-to-back with Neville, raising his wand i.

  "What else we do? Wait flenn," Neville replied, the life-ah situation temporarily setting aside their usual animosity.

  "Rustle... Rustle rustle rustle!" Strange noises suddenly came from the distance, growing louder and closer.

  To their hlenn rinting toward them—with a massive creature in tow.

  As the beast came into view, its full form was revealed.

  An Aantu?!

  "What the bloody—" Neville, who rarely swore, couldn't help himself this time.

  They had been far too naive.

  "I'm su idiot, truly," Drauttered, regretting signing that Unbreakable Vow and joining this iraining.

  Ohe Aantu was brought to the designated spot, Glenn swiftly turned around. In an instant, he disabled all eight of its legs, bleart half its body with a Bsting Curse, and used the bde at the tip of his staff to extract its venom sac.

  The Aantu let out a pained screech, its walnut-sized brain uo prehend why the prey it had been chasing had suddenly bee so powerful.

  Neville and Draco stood dumbfouhis was a Css Five X dangerous creature, a had been so easily crippled?!

  Glenn turo them, his expression calm. "The rest is up to you. Kill it, or it'll be you who dies." With that, he disappeared.

  Neville and Draco: !!!!!

  After its initial pain subsided, the Aantu's eight red eyes sed its surroundings. Not finding the terrifying human, it focused its attention owo young wizards standing together. Letting out a pierg shriek, it dragged its mangled body toward them!

  Draco, jolted by fear, quickly dodged to the side to avoid its charge. Neville, however, froze in pce, his legs refusing to move.

  As the creature bore down on him, Neville bit his lip hard, steeling his resolve. He raised his wand and began casting spells.

  "Im-Impeding Barrier!" Uhe pressure of immi death, a silvery light struck the Aantu, signifitly slowing its charge.

  But it wasn't enough!

  "Legs Lod Freeze!" Just as the Aantu was about to reaeville, Draco finally cast the Leg-Log Curse. He had no choice but to save Neville—if Neville died, he'd be .

  There was no way one person could defeat such a monster alone.

  They weren't Glenn, after all!

  The Aantu's remaining legs were instantly bound together, causing it to crash to the ground. Neville dove to the side, barely avoiding the creature's falling body, his heart pounding in terror.

  "Don't just sit there! Hit it with spells!" Draco shouted at Neville, who was sitting on the ground, stunned.

  "Fiendfyre! Damn it, Fiendfyre!" Draco's first attempt at the fire spell failed, but he quickly adjusted his stand succeeded on the sed try.

  Fmes ignited on the Aantu's body, spreading through its wounds.

  "Hisssss!!" The creature screamed in agony, rolling on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the fmes.

  "Diffindo!" Neville, snapping out of his daze, aimed a Severing Charm at the creature's legs, fog on disabling its mobility.

  To his surprise, the spell worked, severing one of the Aantu's hind legs almost pletely, leaving only a small piece of tissue attached.

  The Aantu, now enraged, ighe lingering fmes on its body. Struggling to its feet, it lu Neville!

  "Stay back! Impeding Barrier! Full-Force Repulsion! Diffindo! Petrificus Totalus!" Neville, terrified, fired spell after spell from his wand in a desperate attempt to fend off the creature.

  The Aantu, enduring the pain aance, let out a shrill cry as it drove its sharp f toward Neville.

  "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

  Neville mao roll away just in time to avoid a fatal blow, but his left hand ierced through by the creature's sharp leg!

  He screamed in agony, tears and snot streaming down his face, blurring his vision.

  Yet at the same time, his hidden ce aermination were awakened. Fueled by adrenaline, he roared through his tears, furiously casting Severing Charms at the creature's abdomen.

  "Diffindo! Diffindo! Diffindo! Diffindo!!!" He unleashed his pain and anger, nearly losing his sanity.

  The Severing Charms, amplified by Neville's emotions, became even more lethal. Blood and flesh spttered from the Aantu's underbelly, and one of its legs was severed entirely.

  As his magical energy drained, Neville gasped for breath, his spells faltering. Desperate, he abandoned magic altogether. Gripping his wand tightly in his remaining hand, he plu into the Aantu's wound and twisted it violently.

  "Draco, you bloody coward! Where the hell are you?! Get over here and help me!" Neville roared in pain, his voice filled with both fury and desperation. He was on the verge of colpse.

  "Shut up, you filthy lion!" A shadow suddenly dropped from the branches above the Aantu's head—it was Draco. Tears streamed down his face, his expression twisted in a mix of fear aermination. Clutg his wand in a reverse grip with both hands, he plummeted from the air.

  Gravity amplified the force of his dest as Draco drove his wand straight into the Aantu’s head, smming the massive creature into the ground. But the impact reverberated through his legs, and the siing sound of bones snapping echoed in the air as his legs bent at grotesque angles.

  His legs were broken.

  "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! Fxxk! ! Frin! Go!" Draco screamed, the pain unbearable. But with an iron will, he bit down hard on his lip, f his mind bato focus. Through gritted teeth, he eled his magito the wand still embedded in the Aantu’s skull and unleashed the Bsting Curse.

  A thunderous explosion shattered the creature’s head, sending Draco flying backward. He crashed into a tree with a bone-jarring thud and crumpled to the ground.

  "I'm not worse than you, so stop whining, Longbottom," he muttered weakly, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes rolled back, and he fell unscious from the agony.

  ---

  —Fshback to the moment after Draco cast Fiendfyre—

  "This isn’t enough to kill it!" Draco thought in frustration. He khat burns alone wouldn’t be enough to fatally wound the Aantu.

  "We’re running out of time and magic. We need a way to finish this irike," he murmured, panic creeping into his voice as the Aantu began to rise again.

  "fringo..." It was the most powerful spell he had learned so far. Inspired by Glenn’s mastery of the spell in the dueling arena, Draco had spent hours researg it in the library and even sought out Snape for instru. But now, with his magic reserves nearly depleted, he could only cast it once or twice at most.

  Using it directly wouldn’t guarantee a fatal blow, and it would only make the Aantu more cautious. His mind spun as he tried to find a way to break the stalemate.

  "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Neville’s scream tore through the night. Draco turned in horror to see one of the Aantu’s legs impaling Neville’s arm, blood gushing out and pooling on the ground.

  We’re going to die here!

  Neville’s agonized cries were relentless, hammering into Draind.

  Every fiber of his being screamed at him to ruurned instinctively, fag the dire they had e from.

  But he couldn’t take a siep.

  His teeth sank into his lip, drawing blood, but still, he couldn’t bring himself to flee.

  I ’t just stand here and watch him die. Despite his disdain for Neville, Draco couldn’t abandon him. His eyes darted around, nding on a sturdy-looking tree branch directly above the Aantu.

  Draco forced himself to breathe, his mind sharpening as he raised his wand.

  "Strengthen! Silencio!" He cast the spells on himself in rapid succession, then scrambled up the tree, positioning himself directly above the Aantu.

  From this height, jumping down would almost certainly result in severe injuries. And he only had one ce—if he failed, there would be no escape.

  "Shit! I’m pletely iears streamed down Draco’s face, a mix of fear a. He cursed himself for ever getting involved in this madness.

  But he didn’t hesitate. With a final, shaky breath, he leaped.