A powerful clot of energy flew directly from the hands of the "unarmed" Malfoy and sent Higgs flying into the left side of the corridor. The Gryffindor slammed hard into the wall after a short, angled flight and collapsed onto the stone floor.
This served as the signal for the battle to begin. A battle that would soon change the lives of everyone present. The three still-unharmed Gryffindors, raising their wands, immediately attacked Malfoy — from both sides at once, filling the space with a crossfire of spells. Magical beams flew one after another — red, blue, yellow… dozens of various spells sliced through the air, some so dangerous they chipped stone from the walls and gouged the floor at their feet. But their single opponent moved through this maelstrom with an unnatural grace, twisting like a snake, dodging and deflecting spells with slight movements of his body.
The three upper-years, in this manner, slowly formed a semicircle, cornering Malfoy against the corridor wall.
Another spell flew dangerously close, but a slight lean at the last moment allowed Arcturus to clearly see the spell pass right before his eyes.
He drew his wand immediately after, realizing his body could no longer keep up. The density of the attacks had exceeded his physical limits. The Gryffindors were now standing so close that the crossfire no longer endangered each other. But there was one factor that rendered this circumstance irrelevant. The rage, as Arcturus had intended, began to flood his mind. The wand, for now, was only needed to deflect some of the incoming spells. The light flicks of the ebony wand were the pinnacle of defensive mastery. Even without attempting a counterattack, he was wounding his opponents.
Another spell flew from Farmus's wand, and this flying fiery lash was deftly redirected by Arcturus into a nearby Gryffindor — an unexpected jet of fire to the face, and the singed target recoiled with a cry.
But they continued their relentless assault. Four — no, temporarily two — forgetting everything, unleashed a hail of spells upon Arcturus. But now there was one attacker on the left and one on the right… for a short time, at least.
Arcturus had trained for three years at Hogwarts to fight multiple opponents simultaneously. Blackmore, Warrington, and sometimes Avery would jointly attack Arcturus for tens of minutes, and he was forced only to defend. That's why his reflexes had long since surpassed all possible limits for a boy his age. He raised shields, deflected spells in mid-air, sending them ricocheting off walls and into his enemies.
The true mastery of redirection — deflecting back to the sender — allowed Malfoy to control the battlefield without even attacking. After all, his opponents were laying down a heavy barrage of magic, meaning they regularly received their own attacks back at them.
Gradually, they began switching to spells that could no longer be redirected. But the Gryffindors, initially not expecting such skill, had already taken a fair amount of their own spells. All except Farmus. The former prefect had become even stronger over the past year than he was in that duel with Answorth.
The boy who had received a minor face burn was slowly backing away, attacking less frequently and shouting something, but Malfoy didn't hear. His mind was now entirely dedicated to a single goal — to kindle the rage, to learn to control it. To be able to use it when needed, knowing the final effect.
Dodging all the while, Malfoy had been slowly approaching the wall, but if the Gryffindors intended to use such a barrage to eliminate the risk of hitting their own, Arcturus played along, as his goal was to leave them no blind spots.
It might have seemed like a foolish move, as it freed up the attackers. Now they no longer had to worry about hitting each other. Higgs, having recovered and gotten to his feet, sent a powerful piercing spell, aiming directly at Malfoy's torso. Such a spell could easily punch through a simple Protego, then the boy's ribcage, and still damage the wall behind him. Arcturus had to raise a powerful protective barrier, interrupting his movement. A two-layer shield, externally divided into honeycombs, flared up, absorbing the impact and was immediately breached, but the inner layer, a simple Protego, neutralized the remaining force. Many other spells harmlessly struck the self-repairing Protego with Arcturus Malfoy's personal modification — the honeycomb Protego.
It seemed to them that the three of them were controlling the battlefield, but in reality, only one was. Which is why this was no mistake. Protected by his shield, while the Gryffindors had not yet switched to killing curses and breached his defense, Malfoy began. He began to change the rules of the fight.
Whoever first takes the field of battle awaits the opponent in serenity. Whoever arrives second finds themselves at a disadvantage.
If such a thing happens, then a change of positions is necessary. Malfoy raised his left hand, regally. His enemies continued their hail of Stunners, Banishers, and other weak but quickly woven spells.
But with the raising of his hand, the fragments of stone chipped from the floor and walls during the battle rose into the air, froze for a single brief moment, and with a light flick of his wrist, shot out like a fan in all directions. The speed of the flying fragments was such that each of his opponents received at least a couple of cuts and wounds before they could hide behind protective magic.
The next instant, everything turned upside down. At the moment the stones flew, distracted by the unexpected attack, the Gryffindors didn't even realize how their enemy had exploded into thick smoke, as if vanishing. Everything around was covered in smoke within two seconds. This was clearly no ordinary Fumos, to have filled half the corridor so quickly.
Higgs, who was further away and received fewer large, sharp stone fragments, still howled, covering his face. The second Gryffindor held his ground, protected by a shielding spell, while Farmus staggered — one of the stones had cut his cheek, covering his face in blood. The unluckiest of the attackers, with his already singed face, received a real hail of small fragments and began to back away as the cuts began to bleed. Their robes were also hit, but they were of good quality and didn't tear much, protecting the body.
While they defended themselves, the smoke covered the battlefield.
"Well, that's it!" Farmus roared, wiping the blood on his sleeve. "Enough joking!"
A powerful clap of air dissipated the smoke around Farmus. The joking was definitely over, as the upper-years had decided to stop holding back. However, they had simultaneously lost sight of their target.
Now Arcturus's opponents were visible, but he was not. He was focused on one thing, while his enemy was fragmented. To land a successful blow, you must strike where there is no defense. He knew this. He also knew that all movements must be concealed, so nothing could be seen from the outside. He had to move quietly, so nothing could be heard.
He appeared where the enemy was vulnerable. He struck where he was not expected. Higgs's friend, who had come from his side of the corridor certainly did not expect that when Farmus dispelled the remaining smoke, he would not see the white-haired Malfoy.
The upper-year carefully examined the faces of his comrades, who already sensed something, while he, in that brief moment when visibility returned, was merely outraged about where the opponent had gone, until he felt a wand at the back of his head.
"Boom!" Arcturus said with a smirk, and a powerful, concentrated blast of air from the wand pressed to the head sent the Gryffindor's body flying. The body twisted in the air, crashing into Farmus.
Only Higgs, who was still near that wall, managed to soften the fall of the now-unconscious boy, who had apparently suffered a concussion.
But Higgs had been distracted, and he was now closest to Malfoy, separated from the two other Gryffindors who were still conscious.
A sharp slide sideways, a leap upward — Farmus's spell, clearly something bone-shattering, missed his legs, and then Malfoy showed true mastery of sorcery.
A yellow-white lightning bolt shot from his wand, forcing Farmus to defend himself with a barrier. A Cutting Curse aimed at the unconscious Gryffindor was blocked by the shield of the burn-scarred Gryffindor who had rushed to his comrade's body. Then Higgs felt firsthand the hail of spells they had been subjecting the boy to moments ago. Chains of Stunners and Banishers flew so quickly and frequently that it seemed as if the opponent wasn't alone. It seemed as if the wand wasn't even moving to cast the next spell.
But the apex of this series of spells was a powerful crimson spear — a combat variant of the Banishing Charm, used at dangerously close range. Miraculously, Higgs managed to jump aside at the last moment, and the spear of crimson energy, easily destroying his shield as it caught its edge, collided with the wall. A loud bang threw Higgs to the right, and the sound, echoing off the walls, deafened Malfoy himself — for just a moment, as the spell, which had left a small dent in the wall, could not hinder the Black Rage. Meanwhile, with his free hand, Arcturus had been maintaining a shield to defend against attacks from the side. At the same moment Higgs was thrown, a scythe of nearly invisible magical energy flew from Malfoy's hand, and soon the wandless cutting curse bit into the Gryffindor's leg. It was now only a matter of time before Higgs bled to death.
At this point, Jacob Farmus decided it was time to end this.
"Incendio Faera!" A genuine fireball flew from Farmus's wand with a hum.
But could it help? The rage within the white-haired boy only grew stronger, threatening to erupt into battle frenzy. And this was the result of a conscious decision.
The dense clot of fire was sliced by the Sectum spell. Different layers of fire fell upon the corridor on either side of Malfoy but never even licked his soles.
Yes, the upper-years had clearly stopped holding back and began using spells that could easily pierce any barriers or shields raised. Because of this, Arcturus returned to endless dodging and redirection.
The wand in his hand flickered with incredible speed — block, deflect, counterattack, block again. His left hand worked separately, without a wand, attacking with Banishers, raising additional shields where his wand couldn't keep up.
The corridor filled with thunder and flashes. Dozens of spells poured through the corridor, one after another, without stopping. The walls became pockmarked, the floor turned to rubble, dust rose in clouds. And all this was done by Farmus and his companion, trying to save Higgs from being finished off.
Higgs himself, staggering, tried to crawl on all fours towards the other Gryffindors. He was badly hurt since he couldn't stand up and run.
The Gryffindors pressed down on the Slytherin, not giving him a moment's respite. Their spells landed closer and more precisely. Arcturus felt the heat of battle quicken his blood, felt the exhilaration begin to cloud his eyes — and he released control, allowed the thirst for battle to melt the rage within, and it burst forth.
For why have a sword if you do not cut? Why carry a body if you spare it, not using it for what it was meant for?
A feral grin settled irrevocably on Malfoy's face.
Arcturus didn't wait. Small fragments and crumbs from the walls and floor began to swirl through the corridor, then struck the Gryffindors like an endless stream, forcing them to keep their Protegos up. He flicked his wand, and the Gryffindor who had just started to rise after his concussion received a Flipendo Duo and flew back again, sliding across the now far-from-smooth stone floor.
While the endless stream of stone fragments held the Gryffindors in a helpless state, he slowly began to approach.
Gradually, Higgs began to lose ground, as he was also protecting the victim of the last Flipendo with his shield. Seeing his companion struggling, Farmus took a risk. He seemed to twist his protective dome, then simply exploded it outward, using the force to throw off most of the stone fragments. Arcturus lost his telekinetic control over them for a second due to their sudden change in position.
At that same moment, the most timid and unlucky of the Gryffindors, who had already received a burn and dozens of wounds, simply backed away quietly and turned into the corridor from which he and Farmus had first appeared. No one noticed this in the heat of battle. But by this cowardly act, he most likely saved his life.
Arcturus, with all his speed, using every possible telekinetic push, decided to close the distance between them even further. Another piercing spell flew past Arcturus, threatening to turn the boy's head into mincemeat if it hit, but he managed to duck, push himself from a low crouch, dodge three consecutive Stunners, redirect a Petrificus into Higgs, who was no longer fully covered by the constant stream of stone fragments — and now, just a couple of meters separated the three Gryffindors from Arcturus.
At that moment, Farmus unleashed a wave of fire from his wand, which harmlessly struck a wandless analogue of Protego, and in the next second, Arcturus was hit by a duo attack. Higgs, clutching his bleeding leg, sent a jet of water at the boy. Arcturus narrowly dodged it with a quick, sinuous twisting movement, only to have to defend himself the next moment against a golden, star-shaped spell that split into pieces in flight and flew towards him at an angle.
But while creating his defense, from a distance of just a couple of meters, he wove from his wand something that another Gryffindor from his year had once tried to do, only this variant was more powerful.
Farmus concentrated on a strong frontal defense, creating only a barrier, not a full dome. But the distance of a couple of meters deceived him. Arcturus didn't intend to blast it.
"Bombarda Tria!"
The spell was aimed neither at Farmus nor at Higgs — it was aimed at the wall.
BOOM!
The powerful explosion threw everyone away from the epicenter. The blast was so loud it muffled their ears. The stone wall shattered into a thousand fragments, the shrapnel fanning out and hitting everyone. Farmus was pierced through — shards embedded in his back, tearing his robe to shreds, digging into his flesh, breaking his ribs. He collapsed face down, not even having time to cry out.
They all fell, drenched in blood, with dozens of shrapnel wounds. But Malfoy, although he had managed to direct the rage, doing exactly as he had intended, the rage still demanded a target.
Silence.
The second Gryffindor — the big one — threw up his hands to cover his face, but it was too late. Stone fragments embedded in his forearms, chest, stomach, covering him in blood from head to toe. He slumped to the floor, trying to crawl, but his body wouldn't obey.
Higgs managed to raise a semi-transparent Protego dome, but the shield didn't have time to fully form. Fragments embedded in his legs, his side, his shoulder, ripping cries of pain from him. He stood — miraculously, on sheer will alone — but blood was already flooding the stones beneath his feet.
Three lay in pools of blood, riddled with stone shrapnel. Silence.
But the rage inside Arcturus did not subside. He had done exactly as he intended — used rage as a weapon, covered them all with one powerful explosive wave. But the rage demanded a target. Demanded flesh and blood! Even though it seemed the entire plan had worked.
Meanwhile, the dust was slowly settling, covering everything with a gray film. The corridor walls resembled a lunar landscape — dozens of pockmarks, impact scars, a huge gouge from the Bombarda. The floor was littered with shards, bodies, and soaked in blood. Three bodies lay almost motionless in various positions.
Arcturus stood in the midst of this nightmare, leaning his shoulder against the wall. His robes were gray with dust, but there wasn't a single spot of blood on them. Only dust and fine stone chips. He stared blankly ahead, a slight, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.
Higgs stirred first. There was the target.