Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

"The battle outside the castle is just a ruse! Voldemort's real trump card is Lucius, who is lurking inside the castle!" Hermione immediately pieced everything together.

Old Malfoy did indeed love Draco. After learning that he had been exposed, he decided to make one last gamble, contacting Voldemort to launch an attack from the outside while he himself took advantage of the chaos to strike from below!

He pretended to be protecting Draco by expelling him from school, hoping to make the professors focus their vigilance on Draco's departure. Little did they know that Lucius was exploiting this time difference. There was no need for two adult male wizards to go together to bring Draco home; they were clearly bodyguards protecting Draco from harm in this conflict!

They will move Draco away in the chaos, while Lucius takes the opportunity to go to the fourth floor, break through the traps that are not controlled by the professors, and steal the Radiant Stone.

As for Voldemort outside, before Lucius truly succeeds, he will only be a feint to draw fire. But when the castle completely loses the Radiant Stone and its energy is depleted, he will transform into Death and truly descend upon the school!

"But what about Dumbledore? Why did Lucius's bell cause the phoenix to fall?" Hermione frowned. She didn't believe that Dumbledore was defeated by Voldemort in one move. The phoenix's fall must be closely related to the ghostly riot. But she didn't understand why Lucius, if he had such great power, would sneak around to steal the Brilliant Stone and get injured by the two professors.

But now is not the time to think about these things. Tianmu has already warned her that while the professors are all fighting outside the castle, the ghosts' riot is unchecked and will definitely cause big problems!

But Lucius was taking the opportunity to steal the Radiant Stone, the Ghost, and the Radiant Stone, so she could only attend to one side at a time.

After only a moment's hesitation, she made up her mind. All the blame was directed at Lucius. Once he was dealt with, the problems of the Radiant Stone and the Ghost would be solved!

She abruptly stood up, her eyes sharp as a lion's. She scanned the crowd and said in an unyielding tone, "You all stay here and don't go out. If a ghost breaks in..."

She paused, then conjured a ball of spiritual fire with her staff and placed it in the middle of the classroom: "Use this to drive them away."

"Hermione, where are you going!" Harry asked hurriedly.

"Go save these stupid professors!" Hermione pursed her lips, her mind filled with the image of McGonagall riding a stone dragon and charging towards Voldemort.

She didn't know how powerful Voldemort was, but the deathly cloud and the oppressive aura like a natural disaster were things she had never felt from McGonagall.

She vanished into nothingness and donned the garment once more. She opened the door, rushed out of the classroom, leaving Harry and the others behind, staring with complex emotions at the tightly closed door.

The corridors were deserted. Some of the younger students were gathered in the auditorium, while others hid in their dormitories. Only the mournful howls of the ghosts could be heard from inside the castle.

She rushed to the staircase and saw a large number of ghosts descending from the top of the tower, roaring in confusion and rage, flying around wildly.

"They seem to be coming from the top, where the principal's office is." She squinted; now was not the time to concern herself with such things.

The irrational ghosts failed to spot the invisible Hermione, who successfully reached the statue of the One-Eyed Witch and rushed towards the cave at top speed.

Lucius needs time to get past Aragog's guards, so she'll take the shortcut and take the Radiant Stone directly, then figure out a way to deal with him.

The whole process went smoothly; the door key didn't fail at the crucial moment. Hermione appeared in the enclosed hall amidst a dizzying sensation. She plucked the brilliance stone, and the closed bud at the top of her silver wand automatically bloomed. She embedded the brilliance stone into it, and it fit perfectly. A powerful energy instantly flowed throughout the entire wand. Fortunately, Hermione's wand was modified from Cherokee's goblin metal control rod; otherwise, an ordinary wand would certainly not have been able to withstand such a terrifying energy flow.

Hermione's confidence soared; with the power of the brilliance stone, she was confident she could defeat Lucius.

The next second, with a loud bang, the wall of the closed hall was blown open, and a huge figure crashed through the stone bricks and fell heavily in front of Hermione.

"A monster is a monster. If you were in Malfoy Castle, you would only be material on the experimental table." Lucius's sinister voice came from the smoke and dust.

Hermione warily stirred up a breeze, scattering the dust. She saw Aragog's massive body lying on its side, but another figure on Aragog's body made her pupils dilate.

"Hagrid!" She was shocked to discover that Hagrid's lower body was connected to Aragog!

In an instant, the images in her mind reversed, and she remembered that every time she saw Hagrid in the cave, he was covered with a dirty blanket, and they had never seen Hagrid's legs!

They also saw Aragog behind the door on the fourth floor during their nighttime stroll, but they didn't notice Hagrid in the shadows above him!

She suddenly understood why Hagrid's disappearance had taken a large rock with him, and why Hagrid didn't want them to see Aragog—he was Aragog! They had been above Aragog all along!

She looked at the enormous eight-eyed spider, whose head and back were covered with a thick layer of gray chitin. If it closed its eyes and lay motionless on the ground, it would indeed look no different from a rock!

Hagrid turned his head with difficulty, saw Hermione, and cried out weakly and in shock, "What are you doing here! Get out of here!"

He struggled to get up, but a large, enchanted net descended from the sky, and a magical ball emitting strange, sharp hissing sounds rolled down beside him, causing him to curl up in pain.

"A beast is a beast. A mere hiss from a basilisk is enough to subdue the eight-eyed giant spider, isn't it?" Lucius said slowly.

He turned to Hermione: "Look, isn't this the most talented little girl in Gryffindor? I never expected that my journey would bring such an unexpected surprise."

He stared at Hermione with undisguised malice, beside him a floating, constantly ringing dark gold bell that was shaking vigorously.

Hermione knew that it was the magical item that caused the ghost to go berserk.

"What benefits did Voldemort give you that made the master of Malfoy Castle work for him?"

Upon hearing this, Lucius was taken aback at first, then his expression twisted: "You know quite a lot, huh? It seems McGonagall has told you everything, but how do you know how much influence my words, as the so-called master of Malfoy Castle, actually have in Malfoy Castle!"

He slammed his long, bone cane down, the heavy magic forcing the air apart: "Hand over the Radiant Stone! Voldemort will help me truly become the master of Malfoy Castle, and you, perhaps I'll take pity on you and give you a quick death!"

"Hermione, hurry... go!" Hagrid stretched out his hand in pain. Connected to the eight-eyed giant spider, he could not resist the roar of the basilisk, his mortal enemy. He used all his strength to slam his hand on a stone brick. The next moment, the entire hall came to life. He activated the defensive measures left by the other professors.

Hermione ignored him. She stroked her staff and looked at Lucius with icy eyes: "You cowardly wretch, driven by foolish ambition, utterly unfit to be king. You look rather familiar!"

The silver staff slammed into the ground, and azure energy poured out like water!