Chapter 682
Harry vs. Natalia
Chapter 682 Harry vs. Natalia
Harry walked alone on the dark path, so quiet that he could only hear the rustling of his own footsteps on the soft, decaying leaves.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, a strange chill running down his spine.
He turned around abruptly, the light from the tip of his wand sweeping across the dark woods. Something seemed to flash by among the shadows of the trees, and the leaves rustled.
"Who's there?"
Harry called out.
But the only response he received was the rustling of the night wind through the treetops and the soft rustling of beetles rubbing their wings together.
He recalled the shadow he had just seen...it looked like an owl?
But he always felt like someone was watching him, and that feeling of being watched lingered, like a spider web stuck to the back of his neck.
He took a deep breath and pulled a compass from his pocket. The red needle spun in his palm, then suddenly stopped, pointing straight at the exceptionally dense thicket.
Harry looked around and saw narrow paths on both sides of the bushes, as if they had been made by some animal, with faint hoof prints visible on the ground.
After observing for a moment, he chose the small path on the left, where the road was slightly wider and gave him a greater sense of security.
After walking for about ten minutes, the road was deserted; we encountered no enemies or obstacles.
I looked down at the compass to make sure I wasn't off course.
Although the journey was smooth and pleasant, this very ease made Harry feel uneasy. He muttered to himself:
"Why didn't I encounter anything? Logically, I should have encountered something, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a noise behind him—a strange "crackling" sound coming from between the tree roots.
Harry abruptly stopped, his wand flashing towards the direction of the sound. A gigantic creature he had never seen before was slowly emerging from the shadows.
It was as big as a small car, covered in a hard, grayish-white shell. Six long, spiky legs supported its massive body, and sharp spines grew on its back. A black pincer at the end of its tail was sticking up, constantly spitting sparks, and it smelled like rotten fish and shrimp.
Harry felt a chill run down his spine and instinctively took a half-step back.
The creature looked at him and suddenly charged at him with astonishing speed. Harry quickly jumped into the bushes beside him, narrowly avoiding the impact.
"Boom!"
The monster crashed into a small beech tree, even snapping the trunk, which was as thick as a fist, in half. It shook its head, turned, and charged at Harry again.
Harry dashed quickly into the narrow gap between the two trees, making sure he wouldn't be hit by the monster, wand in hand, Sirius's words flashing through his mind—
……
“Harry, you must remember that if you encounter a huge creature or someone who is born with armor, ordinary spells may not work.”
Sirius leaned back in his old armchair, toying with the Hungarian tree peak model Harry had gotten from the first project, a familiar mischievous smile playing on his lips, and said:
"For example, a Stunning Curse might only confuse them for a moment. Or a Barrier Curse or Disarming Curse would be deflected by hard outer skin or shells."
"But not every creature has high magic resistance like a fire dragon—even fire dragons have the weakness of eyes! So sometimes, just using some ordinary little spells can produce amazing results."
Harry sat up straight, intrigued, and asked, "For example?"
Sirius grinned: "For example..."
……
"Tarantella dance!"
Harry yelled, and an orange beam shot out from the tip of his staff, striking the monster squarely in the front leg.
In an instant, the enormous creature's front legs began to twitch, jump, and sway uncontrollably, as if being pulled by invisible threads. The charging monster fell to the ground instantly, its dark eyes giving off a bewildered look.
Without pausing, Harry swiftly pointed his wand at a bulge on the monster's head, which looked like a pimple. "Grow bigger!"
The grayish-brown bump swelled rapidly at a visible rate, growing to the size of a basketball within seconds, and continued to expand.
The monster, which had finally managed to get up using its other five legs, panicked and tried to pry it up with its front claws, but the other leg, which was completely uncooperative, caused it to lose its balance again and fall down with a "thud".
The comical scene made Harry burst out laughing. He loosened his grip on his wand slightly and walked around the monster to leave.
Just then, the creature lying on the ground seemed to be utterly enraged by its own powerlessness. Its tail suddenly turned dangerously red, and sparks shot out like ignited fireworks.
Harry sensed something was very wrong. He lunged behind a large tree, and then the monster's tail exploded without warning with a huge bang. The scorching shockwave, carrying fragments of its carapace, scattered in all directions, crackling and pounding against the tree trunk!
"Iron armor protection!"
Harry yelled, and the invisible armor blocked the attack, but the explosion still made his ears ring.
After a while, Harry suddenly felt a burning pain in his calf and realized that his clothes were on fire. He hurriedly put out the fire and breathed a sigh of relief.
Only then did he realize that the monster beside him was lying on the ground, killed by its own explosion.
"What the hell is this?"
Harry muttered to himself, puzzled. He got up, poured a small vial of healing potion on the burns on his leg, and, enduring the pain, quickly moved away from the area.
He frequently used his compass to adjust his direction, but he always encountered obstacles and had to change course. As he rounded a corner, a figure suddenly flashed ahead, and both of their wands pointed at each other simultaneously.
Ahead was Natalia, looking rather disheveled. Spider silk clung to her hair, as if she had just burst out of a spider's nest, and her clothes bore burn marks.
The two exchanged a glance, without any pleasantries or probing. Natalia struck first, her spell striking like lightning:
"Collapse!"
Harry rolled to his side, a red light grazing his shoulder, and he swiftly swung his wand: "Expelliarmus!"
The girl ducked and ran to avoid the spell, and the wand swung again!
"All petrified!"
"Iron armor protection!"
As the barrier rippled upon impact, Harry ran and threw a spell: "Expelliarmus!"
The girls over there shouted almost simultaneously, "Immediately imprison them!"
The light from the spells collided in the air, exploding into dazzling sparks. Harry instinctively squinted, but his steps did not falter.
"There are many obstacles!"
He suddenly swung his wand, catching Natalia off guard and nearly causing her to trip. However, she reacted quickly, bracing herself on the ground and leaping into the air, simultaneously unleashing a beam of light:
"Thunderbolt explosion!"
The light of the incantation crisscrossed fiercely in the forest, yet a sense of ease simultaneously arose in both of their hearts—
This is the fighting style they are familiar with, the model they have been trained in!
There are no giant spiders, no exploding monsters, it's purely a contest of spells and skills!
Harry rolled away from the spell and was about to retaliate again when his gaze suddenly sharpened—
He saw a huge, dark shadow leap down from the tree, hurtling towards Natalia with overwhelming force. The girl, preoccupied with anticipating Harry's next attack, was completely unaware of the danger approaching from above.
Harry was startled. Without thinking, he stood up, raised his wand, and shouted:
"Iron armor protection!"
(End of this chapter)