65 Chapter 65. Libel

"W-Well, if you want that then…" Headmistress McGonagall blustered, caught off guard by this.

Her gaze darkened as she stared me down. "Albeline, did you kill Sawyer Patris?"

I looked bored now. "I did not, Headmistress…"

She wasn't even paying attention to me, to begin with, staring expectantly at Professor Slughorn.

The Head of the Slytherin House was already sweating boisterously, horror in his eyes as he stared at me.

His response was to take out his wand.

I reacted instinctively, blasting the desk nonverbally and wandless.

I could hear Headmistress McGonagall scream but there was no time to waste, I blasted the door and dashed out.

Professor Slughorn must have come to a realization that he wasn't getting past my mental walls, that in itself was enough of an incentive for him to try to incapacitate me.

As I raced down the hallway, laughter bubbled up from my chest. This was more fun than trying to act in a certain way so that people would like and accept me.

Students stared at me warily as I ran past them, all of them clearing out of the way.

I jumped out of the way reflexively when I started down an empty corridor, huge claw slashes appearing on the wall beside me.

I turned back briefly to find the very last person I was expecting to see.

Harry Potter.

"There's no need to run, running damns you as guilty…"

I glanced down at my left hand, sharp pain ricocheted from it.

I had been so quick to react to the spell and yet it had caught me, this was truly the supremacy of the main character.

I threw my head back and laughed some more but this time my laughter was laced with pain.

If Harry's attack had caught me fully, I would be out cold on the ground by now.

I looked to my side, there was a window, we were on the 5th floor but I hadn't been given an advantage like a System that catered to improving me in every way possible for show.

"Audric Albeline, turn yourself in and come with me peacefull…"

I didn't let Harry finish talking, breaking through the window and rolling into a freefall to the ground.

I brought out my wand in mid-air, gently landing on the ground and continuing my escape.

I ignored the stunned students heading away from the castle.

Apparating out of Hogwarts was impossible which was quite the convenience. I had learned how to effortlessly Apparate during the holiday but I had to get out of Hogwarts school grounds before I could manage that.

I had also been practicing unsupported flight for situations like this but I couldn't keep at it for very long.

I knew that Harry was still after me and that was the plan, I wanted to lure him further from the castle to secure my weak spots.

I was easily much faster than Harry but I didn't want him to lose me because if he did he would get back up.

However, if I lured him away and knocked him out, I could buy myself some time.

For now, Harry couldn't attack me with so many students around, it was a big risk because his spells could hit an innocent student instead.

So he would be forced to keep chasing me on foot.

I led the way further from the castle, heading for the cover of trees just before the cliff that overlooked the lake.

Immediately we went past the line of sight of the students on Hogwarts school grounds, the barrage of attacks started.

I already had a shield charm up but it didn't work for every spell, I was still in grave danger.

I jumped over the cliff, not stopping to follow the paths that led from the cliff to the lower grounds where the lake was located.

I hit the ground hard, the impact jarring me but I couldn't stay down, I had to keep moving.

A scorch mark got blasted into the ground right behind my head, horror etching itself in my blue eyes.

I could really die again. It was scary and I hated it.

I hated it all.

Why couldn't I have transmigrated as Harry Potter where everything would work out for me because I had plot immunity?

I pushed myself up from the ground, running across the light cover of snow on the ground. It was a clear trail that told Harry exactly where I was.

I had to get rid of it. I was no longer running from Harry Potter, it was time to fight.

I hid behind a tree after hiding my actual footsteps and planting fake ones in the wrong direction.

Harry wouldn't be expecting that from a juvenile student and just as I had hoped, he fell for it.

As soon as I had a clear view of him, I pointed my wand straight at him and cast the Full Body-Bind curse.

I heard his groan as the charm hit, his stiffened body going over on the cold ground.

I took a deep breath and walked out of my hiding place. I had no plans of injuring the Auror, he was merely doing his job.

Same as everyone else. Just like on earth, everyone cared about themselves. No one would go out on a limb for a stranger.

I squatted beside him, a grave mistake on my part. I reacted quickly to the spell that Harry cast even though he couldn't speak but it was too late.

I was too close to him so the full impact of the curse hit immediately.

I put out my wand in a split-second move to try and defend myself but there was simply no time to cast a counter curse.

My wand absorbed some of the impact but I was still thrown a couple feet away, slamming into a tree some distance away with a pained groan.

I slid down the tree, hunched over at the root of the tree in pain.

I looked down at my hand which still held onto my wand tightly, there were blood splatters all over it.

My hand shook as I pointed my wand at the form of Harry lying some distance away, knocking him unconscious.

My hand dropped to my side, I should have done that immediately after he went down.

I wiped away the blood dripping down the side of my mouth, casting a quick Episkey Charm for the minor injuries that could be fixed.

I spat out blood and pushed myself to my feet, continuing my escape.

I decided to try unsupported flight because I didn't have a lot of time to spare, the sooner I left the vicinity of Hogwarts the better for me.

I flew for a few meters before abruptly dropping out of the sky. It was so sudden that I couldn't react and I was already weakened from Harry's last attack that I slammed against the ground.

I rolled over to my feet, cursing loudly as I did so.

What was that about? I should have been able to keep myself in the air till I left Hogwarts, what went wrong?

I glanced at my wand, my eyes widening in realization. My wand had cracked from when I reflexively used it to block off Harry's spell.

It was dangerous for a fugitive like me to be on the run with a broken wand, one misstep and I would be caught.

I leaned against a tree for support, I was close to the Great Lake where Sawyer had apparently been found dead.

The nearest place to fix my wand was in Hogsmeade but even getting that far would be an ordeal.

I didn't have any time to waste, even as I stood here figuring out what to do, there might be people already looking for Harry Potter.

Headmistress McGonagall might have called for assistance from the Ministry, the possibilities were endless.

There was a much closer option though, I thought deviously.

Albus Dumbledore was buried on the shores of the Great Lake and the Elder wand should be hidden in his tombstone.

Breaking into Dumbledore's grave wouldn't be an easy feat, I would be betting a lot of things on this decision.

After I managed to break into Dumbledore's grave, there was a chance that I would find that the wand wasn't hidden there again.

It would sort of defeat the purpose if it was hidden in the same place twice but also, it was expected that no one would simply try to steal it.

The Elder Wand was a very complicated possession, an unlucky wand if you will.

Plus, it was believed that all the enemies of the Wizarding world had been wiped out or sent into hiding.

No one could easily get into Hogwarts and the people inside had no incentive to steal the wand, if they even knew about it, to begin with.