Chapter 119 Hermione's Decision
Evan's wand emitted a blue light, dark blue like the sea.
Greyback, who was about to sink his teeth into Evan's neck, suddenly froze. The hideous wolfish face, besides madness, displayed a glint of fear for the first time. He felt the looming threat of death from Evan's curse.
He recoiled. Despite being in his transformation, devoid of reason, his instincts warned him not to be hit by that spell.
He wanted to flee, but he was too close to Evan. Even with the speed his transformation granted him, he couldn't evade it.
Just then, the deep blue light reached him.
Greyback let out an unprecedented sigh of regret. On his face, the area struck by the spell rapidly eroded in the blink of an eye, the erosion outpacing his healing ability.
Evan's spell was a corrosive curse.
As one of the darkest and most evil curses of Dark Magic, not even the sturdy body of a werewolf could fully withstand its damage.
Last semester, Tom Riddle controlled Ron to use this magic against Evan, which ate away at the hard marble floor of the auditorium.
The image remained vivid in Evan's memory.
After that, he leveraged Professor Lockhart's approval to borrow the book "Secrets of the Darkest Art," containing the corrosion spell, from the restricted section of the library. He studied the spell deeply and meticulously.
With Tom Riddle's assistance, Evan completely mastered the curse.
Even though it was his first time using it, and even though his remaining magical power was insufficient, and though his heart was not malicious, to protect Hermione, Evan unleashed his potential. He gritted his teeth and cast the curse, which accurately hit Greyback.
After casting this spell, Evan felt his magical power rapidly depleting.
Sweat ran down his cheek like pearls falling from a broken necklace.
He was overwhelmed by an intense feeling of fatigue and weakness. Due to the excess of magic, Evan's face turned pale, and it seemed he would faint at any moment.
But he tried to focus and stay awake.
Before him, Greyback recoiled, howling. The wolf's head was bloodied, still screaming and whimpering terrifyingly.
Evan panted, leaning heavily against the door of the tent behind him, gazing coldly at Greyback. He held his wand tightly in his right hand, fearful of letting his guard down.
If it had been an ordinary person hit by this spell, they would have already perished.
But the man before him was a werewolf, the most powerful werewolf. Evan knew that if the damage he inflicted was not absolutely fatal, Greyback should eventually survive.
Evan didn't expect to be able to kill Greyback. It was too unrealistic. He only hoped that this spell would buy him and Hermione enough time.
If they could wait for rescue, this battle would be their victory.
Evan struggled to appear as if he still had more energy. But in truth, he had no strength at all, his legs constantly shaking, and nearly all the magical energy in his body had been depleted. If Greyback were to lunge again, Evan would undoubtedly fall.
"Enough, you foolish werewolf!" shouted the dark wizard, clad in black, who had been standing there observing the spectacle from behind. "You are but a furry bluff that could be defeated by a lesser wizard."
He waved his wand and lunged towards Greyback, addressing him with a spell, and Greyback's cries ceased.
Evan wanted to stop him. He raised his wand to cast Stupefy.
What used to be an easy feat for him was now an unbearable burden.
A red light flew from across the street and reached Evan.
He felt the muscles of his body begin to stiffen, and all his remaining strength suddenly vanished.
The wand, which Evan had held in his hand, fell to the ground and rolled to the side.
His body also fell backwards. Surprisingly, he felt no pain at all. The ground was so soft, comfortable, and warm.
No, that's not the ground!
Evan immediately realized he was in Hermione's arms.
He didn't know when she had run out of the shop. She held him, repeating his name. Besides the redness of her eyes swollen with tears, he could not see half of the color of her little panic-stricken face.
"I'm fine, Hermione," Evan said with difficulty. "Don't cry!"
Hermione sobbed, tears falling down her cheeks onto Evan's face.
She seemed to have a thousand words to say, but she didn't know how to express them. Images of the time she spent with the boy in front of her kept flashing through her mind.
The moment Evan closed the shop door, Hermione thought she had lost him forever.
She hugged him tightly and dared not let go. She feared losing him if she ever loosened her grip.
Seeing Hermione's sad face, Evan wanted to reach out and wipe her tears, but he didn't have enough strength to do so, not even enough strength to breathe. He could only lie silently in Hermione's warm arms.
His tears flowed down his cheeks into his mouth. They were salty, but to him, they were so sweet.
If there weren't a dark wizard and a werewolf nearby, Evan would have been in his greatest happiness.
"Get up and bite, hurry!" the anxious man with the black mask urged them, "We've wasted too much time. We need to get out of here fast."
Greyback roared and lunged at them again.
Due to the curse of corrosion, the flesh of his face was all exposed.
That, along with his reckless madness and ferocious nature, made him look more horrifying than he had ever been!
"Stand up, Hermione, leave me alone!" Evan shouted anxiously.
"I'm not leaving. So far, you've been protecting me. Now it's my turn!" Hermione decided and said softly, "I'll protect you, Evan!"
"Don't do something foolish. You're no match for that guy!" Evan had an ominous feeling upon hearing Hermione's words.
He struggled to stand up, but he had no strength.
But then, his eyes widened at the sight of Hermione standing in front of him. She held her wand against the approaching Greyback. Her face was full of panic, but her eyes were so determined. She was ready to shield the werewolf with her fragile body.
Hermione knew she was no match for Greyback, but she only had one thought in her head, to give it her all to protect Evan!
"No!" Evan wanted to stop her.
To Greyback's strong body, hers was like a ragdoll. Evan couldn't imagine what would happen next.