The Butcher of Hogsmeade

A barely visible shockwave rippled outwards from in front of James, its range and effect more than ten times stronger than the knockback spell he had cast. Not only was the werewolf in front of him sent flying backwards, but it also extended five or six steps to the left and right, sweeping away the werewolf, the snow, and even the sand and soil on the ground, pushing everything ten steps away.

The short, stout man, Peter, screamed and backed away, seemingly regarding Shen Hou as a source of danger, and instinctively created distance.

"Don't get distracted!" Sirius, who was also startled by Shen Hou's intervention, was much better. After a brief moment of surprise, he immediately came to his senses and took advantage of the gap in the surge of air to wave his wand continuously, shouting "Protego" several times. At almost the same moment, several beams of magical light that shot from afar seemed to hit an invisible barrier and disappeared.

James reacted just as quickly, but instead of waving his wand, he grabbed Shen Hou and retreated in a flash, causing a beam of green light to fall into empty space.

"If you see a green light, get away from it. That's a Killing Curse, and you can't block it." James didn't explain in detail what a "Killing Curse" was, but Shen Hou could guess how powerful it was just from the name.

The problem is that the green light is incredibly fast. James's pull just now could almost be considered a premonition. How could he possibly dodge it? Fortunately, the green light appears very infrequently. It seems that not all the enemies on the other side can use the "Killing Curse". In addition, the many werewolves surrounding him have blocked the "shooting range" to a great extent, greatly reducing the frequency of encountering the green light.

"Watch out, Death Eaters are approaching!" Gideon shouted from the side. Shen Hou looked in the direction of the voice and indeed saw several dark figures appear behind the werewolves; the newcomers were dressed in uniform, their entire bodies wrapped in black robes, with hoods pulled down, revealing only a chin covered by a metal mask. Apart from the different lengths of their wands, there were no other details that distinguished them.

As these black-robed figures known as "Death Eaters" drew closer, the density and accuracy of the spells they fired increased dramatically, making it increasingly difficult for Shen Hou's wizards to cope. More and more werewolves seized the opportunity to cross the "boundary" and close in.

The one in the most dangerous situation is Alastor. Although he is the strongest, he is ultimately alone with only one wand. The Death Eaters, having failed to attack the three young men, Jaime and the others, do not linger and instead turn their attention to the disabled Alastor.

"Igni!"

Shen Hou made his second move from behind Alasto. This time, he was fully conscious and clearly "knew" what he was doing. He even carefully "observed" the hand gestures he made when casting the hand seals, which were exactly the same as those seen in the illusion.

The frigid air spontaneously combusted without any medium, flames rising and rapidly spreading outward in a semi-circle. The intense heat scorched the werewolves' fur, temporarily halting the beasts' advance. But the situation did not improve. As the werewolves stopped and retreated, more spells rained down from behind them, forcing Alastor into a frantic struggle, unable to retaliate.

Shen Hou didn't understand what battlefield sense was, but he could vaguely sense that the black-robed men had always maintained the rhythm and had gained absolute initiative; the spells, combined with the werewolves, were gradually shrinking the encirclement like a constantly tightening noose, slowly strangling their own necks.

"Why isn't Dumbledore here yet?" Peter's voice was slightly hollow.

"Have some guts, Wormtail!" Sirius roared, not calling out anyone's name, but Shen Hou recognized that he was scolding the short, fat man. As he shouted, Sirius pointed his wand diagonally, and the surrounding snow, without wind, rose and gathered into a snow wall; almost simultaneously, James's magic landed precisely on the snow wall, the snowflakes turning to solid ice, and barbs growing against the grain, embedding themselves upside down on the top and base of the wall.

"Well done, James!" Sirius shouted happily as he watched the werewolf who had scaled the wall get caught off guard and was bleeding profusely from the barbs.

On the other side, Peter remained silent, simply knocking down the werewolves that had scaled the wall, but with each deep breath he took, there seemed to be a sob.

"Back up, back the way you came, to the screaming shack!" Alastor suddenly shouted.

Sirius seemed displeased: "Frank and the others are still in the village."

"Take care of yourself first, kid! You can't just do whatever you want on the battlefield." Alastor shouted sternly, moving his feet to lead the entire formation in a turn. There was no room for hesitation or questioning on the battlefield. As soon as Alastor, the leader, moved, the Prewitt brothers immediately followed. Even the young Sirius, no matter how unwilling, had no choice but to obey.

Alastor wasn't the only one with experience; the enemy on the other side reacted just as quickly, tightening the encirclement instantly, especially increasing the blockade on the way to the Screaming Shack.

The light from the curse was so dense it resembled a meteor shower. Shen Hou, ultimately revealing his Muggle background, was unable to help and barely managed to dodge. Overwhelmed, at the most dangerous moment, a Killing Curse almost grazed his ear. Just then, a clear cry rang out in the night sky, and a fiery red light burst forth above everyone's heads, illuminating almost half the village.

In the firelight, a large bird with a long red tail appeared, flapping its wings and singing.

"Fox!" James shouted in surprise. Before he finished speaking, a tall figure appeared in the light and shadow of the large bird.

Countless flowing flames poured down from above, burning the werewolves and causing them to howl in agony, while the Death Eaters shrouded in black robes retreated in panic. Without any command or warning, all the enemies stopped and retreated in unison upon seeing the large bird, only to find that they were no match for the relentless flames that were closing in.

Just as the flames were about to engulf the entire area, a cloud of eerie green "mist" surged up from the edge of the village not far away, spreading rapidly along the ground towards Shen Hou and his group. The moment the mist came into contact with the flames, it seemed to shrink abruptly due to the intense heat, and the next moment it suddenly solidified into seven pythons that rose up from the flames and pounced on Shen Hou and the other seven people in different directions.

The crimson bird flapped its wings and cried out once more. The flames in the air no longer scattered in all directions, but instead gathered into a single beam, transforming into a massive fire dragon that descended from the sky, heading straight for the location where the green mist was rising. At the same time, the ground in front of Shen Hou and his group rumbled, and in an instant, seven or eight lions emerged from beneath the snow, their bodies enveloped in crimson flames. With bared fangs and claws, they pounced on the green python and fiercely tore it apart.

A moment later, the lion and the python vanished into nothingness, and the mist on the ground dissipated. In the distance, the fire dragon landed, its flames erupting like a volcano, with white pillars of fire shooting into the sky. Yet, a black figure calmly stepped out of the flames, lightly flicking a few sparks off his robe, glancing at the location of the large bird, and then disappearing with a turn.

In an instant, the fire died down and the smoke dissipated. The Death Eaters and the surviving werewolves had taken the opportunity to escape, leaving only twenty or thirty severely wounded werewolves lying on the ground howling in pain, but no one paid them any attention.

"Dumbledore..." Peter looked up at the tall figure being pulled to the ground by the large bird, and finally couldn't help but cry out.