Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

Chapter 88 The Basilisk Attacks

A dark green light exploded in the distance, followed by shouts and screams.

The earth rumbled, and a huge, mountain-like serpent monster raised its head, which had just been smashed into the ground, still stained with blood, with bits of tattered flesh hanging from its mouth.

His dim, greenish-yellow snake eyes, filled with intense malice, swept over the fleeing crowd. Anyone who accidentally met his gaze, whether Muggle or wizard, fell to the ground and died the next moment.

Some Death Eaters clad in black robes stood beside the Basilisk, steadily advancing inward from the edge of the shantytown. They let out sinister laughs and randomly cast killing curses on the crowd.

"It's the Green Flame Party!" Lockhart shouted, turning to face the house. "Tell the children not to look that way!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed out of the bar.

With a whistle, the winged hippogriff that had been pulling the caravan broke free of its bridle and galloped over. Lockhart mounted the horse, and the two of them soared into the air, charging towards the basilisk.

Lily hurried to the door, gazing at the chaos in the distance: "Is the Green Flame Party going to declare war on Malfoy Castle?! They dare to come all this way? Just because the child they were after rescued?!"

But when she turned to look in the direction of the city gate, she found that the Aurors of Malfoy Castle did not rush out immediately. Instead, they cast a spell to raise a curtain of black smoke from the newly repaired stone wall, as if they were determined to defend themselves.

"Damn it! Are they going to let the Green Flame Party kill people outside the city?" Lily cursed.

Old Tom remained calm as he waved his hand to lower the tavern windows one by one: "The people outside the city are not citizens. Malfoy Castle doesn't care about their lives. In their eyes, if the Green Flame Party can vent their anger by killing some Muggles, then it's a good thing."

"Wizards, take out your wands and let the children come to the center. There are some guns in the cellar, and Muggles had better arm themselves. We have to rely on ourselves."

There weren't many people in the tavern right now; most of them had gone out with Lockhart earlier. Some of them quickly paid and went into Malfoy Castle, while others ran away through the fireplace. In the chaos, the Floo Powder that was originally there was overturned, preventing anyone else from using it.

Besides Lily and the children, there were fewer than ten adults in the tavern, most of whom were Muggles.

In the sky, Lockhart flew at high speed on his hippogriff, sword in one hand and short staff in the other. He used the Explosion Charm to knock down two Death Eaters, and then used Polymorph to turn the earth into stone, burying them underground.

But before he could continue casting the spell, the giant snake head roared towards him.

With a loud bang, Lockhart narrowly dodged the attack, while the basilisk smashed a large crater into the ground.

"Ha, Lockhart, the ranger wizard who represents light and hope!" A sinister voice rang out from the side, the voice clearly altered by magic, making it impossible to discern the owner's identity.

Lockhart turned his head with lingering fear. Beside the basilisk's slowly raised head, a Death Eater dressed in a black robe floated in mid-air. His face was not visible under the hood, only a pair of pale green eyes that looked at him with a mocking gaze.

"Taking advantage of our absence with the basilisk, they ambushed the guards and kidnapped the child. How clever and resourceful!" he sneered.

"But the Lord of Death cannot be deceived; newborns are the tax He collects from this land, and since you refuse to pay..."

Then let the messengers of death bring you death!

The crazed Death Eaters charged into the crowd with screams, unleashing one emerald death curse after another, causing groups of people to fall to the ground, lifeless.

Those lingering outside the city were mainly Muggles and down-on-their-luck wizards. These wizards had never even attended school properly; they were just wild wizards with some family traditions at best, and their strength was extremely poor. Not to mention the unarmed Muggles who hadn't had a proper meal in a long time, they had no power to resist at all.

"Damn it!" Lockhart frowned. His hippogriff, which was in sync with him, flapped its wings and flew away, trying to bypass the basilisk and deal with the other Death Eaters.

But the two formidable enemies before him would not allow him to escape. Blood-stained maws and dark magic came one after another, forcing the hippogriff to change direction in an emergency. While dodging the snake's mouth, Lockhart also deflected the Death Eater leader's evil curse.

"Old Tom, watch the children for me!" Lily drank a potion and said to Old Tom, "Lockhart alone can't handle them. We have to hold out until James and the Cliffside men arrive!"

As she spoke, she opened another potion bottle and manipulated it with her wand. A large amount of white mist rose from the bottle, pouring out of the door and forming a thick barrier that enveloped the entire tavern.

This potion is highly toxic and can also block the basilisk's vision, ensuring the children's safety.

After saying that, she strode through the white mist and headed towards the direction of the battle.

Lily, wand in hand, used Transfiguration to connect the surrounding shacks, creating a makeshift shelter, and shouted to the fleeing crowd, "Come this way!"

The fleeing Muggles and wizards, as if seeing a savior, ran towards this place with all their might.

She looked back at the stone walls of Malfoy Castle, which were billowing black smoke. Behind them, fully armed Aurors stood on high alert, but showed no intention of launching an attack.

"You cowards, are you really going to let the Green Flame Party run rampant like this?" Lily questioned angrily.

"Jason! No need to hide, I see you!" She recognized one of the Aurors, one of her former students who graduated with honors and then joined Malfoy Castle, becoming an enviable Auror.

"Is this what you used to say, about protecting everyone and fighting evil?" As a professor, Lily's words almost struck Jason's nerves.

He lowered his head in shame in the ranks, but the nobleman in front of him, the captain of the Auror, stared blankly at the tragedy unfolding not far away, completely unmoved.

"I'm sorry, our duty is to guard Malfoy Castle. The lives of those outside the city are none of our concern," he said coldly.

Beside him, a fat figure squeezed in—it was Parkinson: "Of course, Master Lily, we are willing to take you and your children in and protect you, but not those Mudbloods!"

Clearly, he was referring to the Muggle orphans Lockhart rescued, possibly including Hermione.

Lily shook her head in disappointment and stopped talking. Many people had already crossed the cover and run behind her, followed by the Death Eaters who were in hot pursuit.

There were still many fleeing people around them, so Lily couldn't throw out potions that couldn't distinguish friend from foe. She could only use stun spells to attack them one by one, forcing them to stop their killing spells.

These Death Eaters weren't particularly strong, but the concentrated barrage of numerous spells was still overwhelming. Fortunately, the wild wizards who escaped did their best to fight back in their own way, but they were hardly of any use, as the skill gap between the two sides was too wide.

Lockhart rode his falcon, traversing a huge arc that transformed the stones on the surrounding rooftops into giant roosters.

They flapped their wings and let out loud cries.

But the basilisk merely shook its head impatiently, becoming even more enraged, and roared as it charged forward, crushing the surrounding shacks to pieces with its massive body.

Lockhart unleashed two more eye-striking spells at tricky angles, but they were easily deflected by the basilisk's eyelids.

The basilisk's deadly gaze is its most troublesome trait; we cannot allow it to continue killing so easily.

Lockhart then used his Transfiguration to create a hard stone eye mask, which flew out and slammed onto the basilisk's face, but was shattered by the Death Eater leader's spell the next moment.

He was also very strong and should not be an unknown figure. With his assistance, Lockhart could only run around and evade the endless attacks. He could not stare at the basilisk's face and could only estimate its actions by watching the movement of its neck. Fortunately, his hippo was quite intelligent and knew how to avoid the basilisk's gaze. Otherwise, even if he was alright, his mount would have died first.

However, relying solely on the winged hippogriff to evade the basilisk is not a long-term solution. Soon its stamina will decline, and it will likely be unable to withstand the basilisk's fierce attacks.