Boom!
A thunderous explosion shook Diagon Alley as the Obscurus tore through one of the shops. The building burst apart the instant the black, raging energy passed through it, sending broken glass, splintered wood, and clouds of dust rolling across the street.
"That lunatic!" someone screamed from the fleeing crowd. "He really means to destroy Diagon Alley!"
"Damn it, even Knockturn Alley isn't safe anymore!" another wizard shouted. His voice cracked with panic as he shoved past several others and ran for the nearest clear space to Disapparate.
Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley had both fallen into chaos. Some witches and wizards cursed loudly as they ran, while those with enough nerve and skill vanished with sharp cracks of Apparition the moment they found room to move. Others stumbled through the smoke, too frightened to think clearly, only knowing that the black storm tearing through the street could reduce buildings to rubble in seconds.
"Oh, Albus," Cornelius Fudge said helplessly, staring at the destruction with a bloodless face. "What do we do now?"
The Minister for Magic could do nothing but turn to Dumbledore. Fudge had never been a particularly powerful wizard, and too many accidents, compromises, and political favors had helped lift him into the minister's chair. Most importantly, he had gained Dumbledore's support, and without that, he was painfully aware that he would be nothing in a crisis like this.
"Professor McGonagall, Hagrid," Dumbledore said, ignoring Fudge for the moment. His eyes never left the Obscurus racing through the alley, but his voice remained clear. "Take Harry and the others away from here. What comes next will be extremely dangerous."
Dumbledore understood the threat better than anyone present. An Obscurus was not simply a creature or a curse that could be driven back by ordinary spellwork. It was unstable, destructive magic given violent form, and Harry could not be allowed to remain anywhere near it.
"Albus, be careful," Professor McGonagall said.
Her face was tense, but her faith in him did not waver. Dumbledore had faced terrible dangers before, and again and again, he had stood where others could not. She believed he would handle this, because he always had.
Then she turned sharply to the Grangers and Harry. "Mr. Granger, Miss Granger, Harry, take hold of my arm. I'm getting you out of here."
Mr. Granger had already been frightened nearly pale. First there had been a pub attack, then a bank robbery, and now a black magical storm was ripping through an entire hidden street. The moment Professor McGonagall spoke, he pulled Hermione close and gripped the professor's arm tightly.
"Harry, hurry up," Hagrid urged, pushing Harry gently but firmly toward Professor McGonagall. "It's too dangerous here."
"What about you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, looking back at him with obvious worry.
"Oh, I'll be all right, Harry," Hagrid said, forcing a reassuring grin onto his broad, bearded face. "Don't you worry about me."
"We cannot stay any longer," Professor McGonagall said.
She seized Harry's arm, made sure the Grangers were holding on properly, and Disapparated with them. A sharp crack sounded, and the four vanished from Diagon Alley.
"Everyone listen to me," Dumbledore shouted, raising his voice over the rumble of collapsing stone. "We must break that Obscurus apart. If we fail, it will not stop with Diagon Alley. It may destroy all of London."
With Dumbledore present, the frightened wizards finally had someone to follow. Even those who had been frozen in fear lifted their wands again, because in a moment like this, no one questioned the greatest wizard of the age.
The violent black energy continued to rampage through the street. Several shops in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley had already been blasted apart, and more windows shattered each time it swept past. Witches and wizards who had not escaped in time were thrown aside by shockwaves, while Aurors struggled to organize themselves amid smoke and dust.
Under Dumbledore's command, the Aurors of the Ministry raised their wands together. Spell light gathered as they aimed toward the raging Obscurus, preparing to strike it from several directions at once.
"I won't let you have it that easily," Tyler said coldly from the dragon's back.
He raised his wand and cast at once. "Serpensortia!"
A burst of black magic shot from the wand, and a giant serpent formed in midair before crashing down toward the gathered Aurors. The massive snake hissed, its dark scales flashing as it rushed forward to break their formation.
"Go and destroy the Obscurus," Dumbledore said without taking his eyes off Tyler. "I will deal with this wizard."
"Understood," Scrimgeour replied.
He led the Aurors away from Dumbledore, barking orders as they shifted their aim back toward the rampaging black energy. Whatever else was happening, the Obscurus had to be stopped first.
The giant serpent lunged at Dumbledore, its jaws opening wide to reveal long curved fangs. Its mouth was large enough to swallow a man whole, and the force of its charge sent broken stones skittering across the ground.
Dumbledore remained calm. He raised the Elder Wand with a smooth motion, and a powerful burst of magic shot forward, striking the giant serpent directly.
The summoned creature shattered apart beneath the force of the spell. Black smoke and fragments of magic scattered into the air, vanishing before they could touch him.
At the same time, Tyler, still standing on the dragon's back, pointed his wand toward Dumbledore. A thick green beam of light burst from the wand and tore downward with deadly force.
Dumbledore lifted the Elder Wand, and a strong red beam shot upward to meet it. Red and green collided in midair, locking together in a fierce struggle that filled the ruined street with flickering light.
"As expected," Tyler thought, his expression hidden beneath the hood. "He really is the strongest wizard."
With his current magical power, he was still no match for Dumbledore while the old man held the Elder Wand. Dumbledore was already terrifying in his own right, and with one of the Deathly Hallows amplifying him, even Voldemort would find it difficult to overpower him head-on.
"Ah!"
Tyler roared and poured more magic into the wand in his hand. Unfortunately, this was not his own wand. It was the one he had stolen from a random wizard in the Leaky Cauldron, and it could not carry his power properly.
A mismatched wand would never bring out a wizard's full strength. Under Tyler's overwhelming magical pressure, thin cracks began crawling across the stolen wand's surface.
Boom!
The wand exploded in Tyler's grip. The blast destroyed it completely, but the burst of unstable magic also forced Dumbledore's attack back for an instant.
Not far away, the Aurors had finally completed their coordinated assault. Dozens of spells flew together, striking the rampaging Obscurus from every direction.
Boom!
The black energy ruptured under the combined attack. The Obscurus scattered in a violent burst, leaving behind smoke, falling debris, and a silence broken only by distant screams and collapsing stone.
Nearly half of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley lay in ruins. Shops had been torn open, signs hung broken from their brackets, and the clean cobblestones were buried beneath dust, glass, and wreckage.
"We broke it!" one Auror shouted, breathing hard. "We shattered that black mass!"
"We won!" another cried, wild excitement breaking through his fear. "We actually won!"
"Do you think you've won?" Tyler's deep voice suddenly rang in every wizard's ears. "You know nothing about power. I will rule this world, and a dark age is coming."
The words seemed to sink into the air itself. Many wizards shuddered, their earlier relief dying at once as fear climbed back into their hearts.
On the dragon's back, Tyler coughed sharply and spat blood. He paid it no attention. Instead, he began chanting in a low, obscure language, the syllables cold and difficult, each one twisting the air around him.
Below, the Aurors immediately regrouped around Dumbledore. Fudge hid behind him outright now, trembling as he peered up at the dragon with wide, frightened eyes.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
As Tyler's chant continued, the dragon beneath him began to bleed from beneath its pale scales. The pain drove it into a violent struggle, and its wings beat wildly against the smoky air, but some strange force held it in place. No matter how desperately it fought, it could not escape.
.....
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