Chapter 344: Halt
The parade participants stood frozen in their tracks, feeling as if their eyes were ying tricks on them. The wizard with a lightning-struck hat stared in disbelief at his bloodied chest. He took a few steps forward, turned around, looked at hispanions, and then copsed in slow motion.
Among the leading hooded wizards, one bent down to inspect, "Severely injured, but not dead." He narrowly dodged the second ck lightning bolt that came flying towards him and struck hisrade''s abdomen behind him.
Next, Felix''s fingertips clutched the ck lightning, bursting into crackling explosions. Arcs of electricity spread like a vast web, approaching them. While these smaller arcscked the sheer power of the initial two lightning bolts, they proved more troublesome. Parade participants were hit by the arcs, convulsing and falling to the ground like harvested wheat.
The hooded wizards were quick to react. They pulled their woundedrades back, erecting magical barriers and shields. They counterattacked through the openings, gradually retreating, positioning themselves at the heart of the parade.
However, while they gained safety, they distanced themselves from Felix. Most spells faded and vanished in midair.
"Counterattack! He''s alone" a confused, red-faced wizard shouted, swaying with a wand in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other, his disheveled beard matching his drunken mor.
"He''s too far!" another person yelled in frustration.
The intoxicated red-faced wizard roared, "Follow me!" He and a dozen simrly-mindedpanions charged at Felix, closing in on him. Most parade participants watched in cold detachment. As expected, a mass of ck lightning struck their feet. These individuals hadn''t even cast basic defensive spells. They fell like broken dolls, howling in pain.
The next moment, Felix vanished from midair, appearing suddenly fifty feet ahead of those fallen. His expression was icy, and his eyes seemed to flicker with mes.
"Foolish people," he muttered, his gaze not lingering on the charging wizards. They were mere pawns in this game, his attention fixed on the bulk of the parade.
"Damn it! Does he want to take us all on alone?" someone protested indignantly.
Before they could react, a powerful spell burst from the tip of Felix''s ck wand, its red light coloring every face.
Felix''s target was clear: the group of hooded wizards nestled within the crowd. They were likely the organizers of this chaos. d in unified attire and disying coordinated tactics, they knew each other well, perhaps having fought side by side before.
Names of various known and unknown wizard groups flickered through his mind, but the most likely one was
"Death Eaters," Felix murmured softly.
These parade participants were a disjointed mob,cking coordination. They erected spells haphazardly, often hindering each other and causing failures. This allowed Felix''s spells to flow unobstructed, disarming them with powerful spells, sending them flying one after another.
But the counterattack was swift.
Felix had to conjure a golden shield, seemingly imprable. Spells pinged and ponged against it. While individual spells had minimal impact, the sheer volume of attackers created a dense barrage. After a dozen seconds, the golden shield finally gave way, copsing into golden dots. But before that happened, Felix had already shifted his position.
Felix sporadically employed Phantom Apparitions, vanishing suddenly to evade focused spells. He''d reappear a dozen feet away, each reappearance apanied by a series of spells that curved from hidden angles, knocking out several individuals.
A cacophony of spells followed his every move, yet they couldn''t touch the hem of his robe. When pressure mounted, Felix swiftly shifted to the other side of the parade. Each time he did, he imed six or seven casualties.
Amid the chaos, nobody paid any attention to the Roberts family floating in the air. When the Levitation Charm''s effect ceased, they screamed and plummeted. Felix appeared suddenly, extending his wand to immobilize them, then shifted them to the side, ready to hand them over to Ministry officials nearby.
Only three officials remained, having narrowly avoided the parade participants'' wrath, trailing behind the procession. They wanted to rescue the Roberts family, but like Mr. Weasley, they hesitated to use magic, fearing coteral damage.
"Good opportunity" someone shouted from the midst of the parade crowd.
They simultaneously raised their wands and fired various colored spells towards Felix''s direction. A dense magical radiance turned the surroundings fiery red, but these spells halted about three feet away from Felix, forming a wall of magic.
These spells didn''t stop; instead, they moved forward in slow motion. Felix deftly sidestepped a few steps. After a couple of seconds, spells whooshed forward, leaving small burnt or decayed craters in the ground, scattering bits of grass.
During these seconds, the Roberts family safelynded in the hands of Ministry officials. "Thank you, Mr. Harp!" a Ministry worker eximed, using magic to catch them.
His gratitude seemed to mock the parade participants. A malicious curse shot from the crowd towards the Roberts family. Suddenly, a few figures emerged: Mr. Weasley, with Charlie and Bill on either side. Sirius took a step forward, deflecting the curse.
"Well done, Arthur," the Ministry worker said joyfully.
Felix sharply turned, his ck ebony wand thrust like a sword. A burst of golden mes detonated within the crowd. The attacking wizard was engulfed in mes, emitting a burnt smell.
By this time, many had realized the peril and hastily employed Phantom Apparitions to escape, including the hooded wizards.
Felix, in haste, couldn''t afford to be meticulous. He scattered awork of ck lightning arcs, trying to form a sealed electrical cage. Once established, it would be difficult for these individuals to perform another Phantom Apparition.
Amidst the chaos, a hooded wizard croaked, "I promise you"
Felix''s magic stuttered for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, the hooded wizard vanished through a Phantom Apparition, taking his tworades, whose chests had been pierced by ck lightning. The next second, the extensivework of ck arcs converged, forming an airtight cage.
"What''s special about those two?" Felix pondered carefully. They were positioned quite near the front, though not leading. If they were Death Eaters, it suggested they held a significant status.
Felix stood outside the cage, calmly flicking a spell, much like catching turtles in a jar. Two hooded wizards desperately attempted Phantom Apparition but ended up leaving behind an arm and a thigh, their cries of agony echoing.
At this moment, Felix needed to conserve energy. Most of these people were tourists from various countries. Even if they incited a riot, he couldn''t risk killing anyone, or he''d face trouble himself.
His initial two fierce attacks were directed at the hooded wizards, but whether fatalities urred remained uncertain.
Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, Sirius, and three more Ministry officials arrived to help. Casting spells through the gaps in the electrical web, they immobilized the people within, all lying like harvested wheat.
After a while, Felix dispelled his magic, revealing over a hundred parade participants inside, including several hooded wizards. He removed their masks, seeing familiar faces. Adding the broken limbs left behind due to disapparation, the scene looked quite horrifying.
Sirius nced at the hooded wizards, coldly snorting in disdain.
The turmoil was finally subdued.
Silence, an intense silence, like someone had pressed the pause button on the scene. Even the cries of children were hushed by their parents.
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