Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

Chapter 1130: Chapter 215: Fall

”Ha!”

With a bitter laugh, Bloren sneered, ”Do you think this will be the end?”

Enduring intense pain, he withdrew step by step, pressing his hand against the bleeding hole in his chest. With utter hatred, he glared at the person opposite him, gritting his teeth as he spoke:

”Don’t think this is over, William Stonefield! I will come back sooner or later, and I will kill every one of you!”

As soon as his words fell, his body suddenly began to distort and transform!

”Whoosh—”

A bizarre sound of rushing air was heard, and Bloren instantly vanished from where he stood. Only his blood-soaked robe, now unsupported, drifted down.

Chris exclaimed in shock, ”He Disapparated? Is he a Wizard?!”

He hurriedly looked around, worried that Bloren might suddenly reappear out of a nearby corner.

Even Sir William felt a shiver run down his spine, his fingers clenching tightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

”Don’t worry,” he said to Chris. ”I invested a huge amount of money to have Wizards cast an Anti-Disapparition Charm inside and outside this mansion... and besides, I have never heard of a Wizard leaving behind their clothes while Apparating.”

”But he disappeared.” Chris remained unconvinced, ”It’s said that some Magical Creatures are immune to the Anti-Disapparition Charm...”

Sir William also considered these fragmented and uncertain pieces of knowledge, but something still felt off to him as he looked at the pile of clothes on the ground.

”You two—”

He extended his claw-like fingers, pointing at the two Vampire Puppets.

”Pick up those clothes and examine them carefully.”

As the Vampire Puppets bent down to pick up the clothes, Sir William pressed a button on the armrest of his wheelchair, causing a transparent circular barrier to rise around him again.

He was worried that Bloren had left some dangerous weapon—such as poison gas or some sort of stealthy lethal creature—before disappearing.

The circular barrier wasn’t as sturdy as the outer layer of glass but provided more comprehensive protection.

The Vampire Puppets lifted the clothes and gave them a shake, causing several Golden Galleons, rolled-up banknotes, and a lighter to clatter to the ground.

”Something’s not right!” his assistant Paul suddenly exclaimed, ”There seems to be something inside the sleeve!”

He noticed something concealed inside that was clinging tightly to the fabric, creating raised contours.

The Vampire Puppet reached in with its other hand, probing through the collar and into the sleeve—

Suddenly, something slipped abruptly from the sleeve, plummeting downwards, only to unfurl its wing membrane just before hitting the ground, like a black silk scarf caught by the wind, swiftly gliding towards the ceiling.

It turned out to be a small bat, its body drenched in fresh blood. It appeared frantic after bursting from the sleeve, frenziedly swirling in the air for a few loops before finding its bearings and shooting towards a tiny stained glass window high above!

That window was only as wide as a handspan, too narrow for even a human arm to reach through, but for the small bat, it was a wide-enough escape route!

”Stop him!”

Chris shouted sharply, ”Don’t let him escape!”

The surrounding Poppets immediately reacted—

Several Werewolf Puppets leaped up, claws reaching for the air;

The Vampire Puppets sprang into action, blocking the window ahead of it!

The bat moved with astonishing speed, making sharp turns, hovering, and diving swiftly, as if it could ignore inertia and gravity. Its flight path became an ever-changing zigzag, repeatedly dodging attacks by the skin of its teeth.

It was about to crash into another small window—

”Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!!!”

A sudden outburst of concentrated and intense sounds erupted!

It wasn’t the thunderous roar of Magic exploding but the sharp, continuous, and metallic ringing of Muggle firearms!

—At least a dozen of the previously silent guards simultaneously drew their weapons.

Muzzle flashes spit tongues of fire, weaving a deadly storm of metallic bullets in the air.

They didn’t futilely chase the bat’s erratic flight path like the Puppets, but instead, they skillfully sealed off all possible escape routes, even firing into the air.

The bat frantically evaded the rain of bullets. For a moment, Chris thought it might succeed.

However—

”Thud!”

A dull thudding sound.

A bullet pierced through the bat’s left-wing membrane! A mist of dark red blood sprayed out, and the bat emitted a piercing screech, its flight instantly spiraling out of control.

Like a kite with a broken string, it spun downwards, flapping its intact right wing desperately in a bid to regain height, but it irrevocably plummeted—

”Bang!”

The bat crashed heavily onto the marble floor.

With a loud ”bang,” he reverted to human form, curled up on the ground, letting out a hoarse howl, a conspicuously gruesome puncture wound on his left shoulder blade, and the once severe wound on his chest nearly stopped bleeding.

He tried to stand up, but after several attempts, he could only brace the ground with one hand, breathing heavily, his face ashen and paper-like.

Sir William’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, ”I see... you’re a Vampire after all! No wonder you joined the Scourers... you’ve hidden yourself well, Bloren.”

William signaled for the Puppets to bring him over. Two Vampire Puppets dragged Bloren to the front of the wheelchair as if pulling a dead dog.

”You... you’ll regret this...”

Bloren struggled, his crimson eyes glaring fiercely at William, hissing:

”William Stonefield... if I die, who’s going to cover up your crimes? The Magic World won’t let you off...”

The old man looked down at his former partner, now a prisoner, coldly saying:

”The Magic World? Now you’re hoping to use the Magic World to seek revenge?”

He sneered, not even bothering to speak further with Bloren, and merely waved dismissively:

”Sedate him and lock him in the cage we’ve prepared for Vampires. Don’t let him die.”

Bloren tried to say something more, but the Puppets had already gagged him and dragged him out of the hall, leaving a long trail of blood on the floor.

The magical Puppets restraining him made no effort to avoid his wounds. Amidst the sharp pain, Bloren had completely lost the strength to struggle.

In a state of stupefaction, he vaguely heard William’s words from behind:

”Contact Ms. Laira Picquery. Tell her the Stonefield Clan has prepared a special gift for her—congratulations on her soon-to-be appointment as the new President of the Magic Congress.”

Sir William paused, smiling as he added,

”I believe a fugitive leader of the Scourers, and a hidden Vampire no less... this gift will certainly add an unmistakable luster to her new position.”

Paul bowed respectfully, ”Yes, Sir. Lady Laira will be most grateful, and our future collaboration will undoubtedly be even smoother.”

Chris watched the direction where Bloren had disappeared, then looked around at the Puppets who had returned to serene stillness, as if nothing had happened, and the ripple of upset caused by Bloren’s intrusion slowly calmed within him.

At that moment, Chris heard his grandfather’s voice again—this time, carrying a completely different, cold weight:

”Yes... she will certainly be grateful. After all, Laira Piqueley is a smart woman who understands the principles of equivalent exchange.”

William’s wheelchair slowly turned to face Mark Paul, who remained standing respectfully to one side.

The light from the side and behind streamed in, casting deep shadows into the hollows of the old man’s eyes and along his sharp cheekbones, momentarily obscuring his expression.

Chris suddenly noticed that, at that moment, Paul’s expression closely mirrored the old man’s, mirroring it almost identically as if cloned.

”But Mark...”

William’s voice slowed like a dull knife slicing through leather:

”What about you?”

Chris’s heart clenched suddenly, his breath halted.

He heard his grandfather slowly ask, ”Do you wish to take my place?”