Chapter 11:Halloween Ambush

In the following period, Toby's life was much calmer and more regular. Just waking up everyday in the morning, getting praised by all the teachers for good behavior, being scolded for horrible transfiguration, and being glared at by Alyssa and Professor Snape. In his opinion, Snape is really an excellent wizard and potion master,and an excellent teacher, but it's a pity that Snape was too unapproachable.

Soon, it was Halloween, and in the early morning of this day, the entire Hogwarts was decorated. Early in the morning, Hagrid arrived at Hogwarts with many pumpkins. Based on the books, Toby assumed that all the jack-o-lanterns were made with magic but as it turned out, all the pumpkins were supposed to be carved by the Hufflepuff students. It was probably because Helga Hufflepuff wanted each pumpkin to be unique for the festival.

Dinner in the grand hall was amazing, with a special assortment of new drinks like pumpkin juice, cranberry 'blood', and some green coloured liquid that one can only assume to be poison. For the main meal, Cobweb themed pizza, pumpkin shaped sandwiches, and some special barbeque was placed on each plate. Finally for dessert, some delicious pie was served generously to each student. Afterwards, they dispersed back into their respective houses.

That night, Toby was sleeping peacefully in his dorm when he was suddenly awakened by Professor Flitwick.

"Toby, wake up."

"Professor," Toby rubbed his eyes as he rose from his bed," What's the matter with waking me up so late?"

"There's been a murder attempt against your friend Alyssa."

Shocked, Toby sprung to his feet and asked," Alyssa! What happened to her!!!"

Professor Flitwick said," I am also not sure of the details, but she wants you to come meet her."

While walking over to the Hufflepuff common dorms, Toby mentally cursed himself for being careless. His grandmother Rosier clearly reminded him many times that Alyssa's identity was sensitive, but he didn't take her seriously at all. Now, he was beginning to wonder why Alyssa would even be assassinated.

Upon entering the Hufflepuff dorm rooms, he saw Alyssa, Cedric, Wilson, Professor Dumbeldore, and all the teachers assembled. They were also looking as clueless as him.

Upon entering, Alyssa began to explain," After I came back to my dorm, I found a jack-o-lantern on my bed. Just as I was about to touch it, I divined into the future and found that the pumpkin was actually a portkey that would teleport me into a black wizard's lair. I then called professor Dumbeldore so that he could help me."

At this time, Snape also came up, and after carefully looking at the pumpkin in front of him, Snape asked Dumbledore with some uncertainty:

"Headmaster Dumbledore, is this really a portkey?"

Dumbledore said very calmly:

"I do not know either."

Snape: "..."

"One thing, I want to explain to the professors, Alyssa is indeed one of the few students with a talent for divination. You must have heard Professor Trelawney's rumors about Alyssa. I want to say, "That's all true, she does have the ability to do dream divination."

Everyone nodded. After all, this matter is no secret among professors, but Cedric and Wilson were shocked by Professor Dumbeldore's affirmation of Alyssa's talent.

Dumbledore paused for a while and set his eyes on Alyssa.

"Alyssa, what do you want to do with this pumpkin?"

Before Alyssa could respond, Professor Sprout said: "Obviously, the portkey must be destroyed. We can not let anything that has the potential to harm the students remain here in Hogwarts"

Professor Ilona directly objected: "That won't happen. If we go ahead with that plan, we will never find out who planned this. Headmaster Dumbledore, let me go. I'll find this cunning mastermind"

Surprisingly, as soon as Professor Ilona's voice fell, Snape said: "This time, I agree with Professor Ilona's suggestion."

But Professor Sprout still hesitated. "That's what I said, but you heard Alyssa's words just now. Obviously, they are all wizards who are good at using black magic. Who can guarantee that no one will be hurt?!"

Seeing that several professors were about to quarrel, Dumbledore could not help but coughed twice, interrupting their argument, "Let Alyssa decide on this matter."

Alyssa thought for a while and said," Professor Dumbledore, can we go together? I believe that I won't be in danger if I go with you."

Professor Illona immediately rejected this notion, but Alyssa was adamant. Finally, she compromised and said okay.

Professor Dumbledore said," Toby, do you also wish to come along?"

Before Toby could respond, Alyssa interjected," Of course he's coming. He doesn't have a say in this."

Toby shrugged as if he was resigning himself to his fate and grabbed Alyssa's hand. Dumbeldore also held Alyssa's hand and then touched the portkey. Immediately Toby felt all his surroundings blur. When he could finally see again, he found himself in a dark forest surrounded by seven to eight wizards in dark robes.

"This kid is finally here! I've waited so long! Wait? There's an old man and another boy along with her. ."

Another sullen voice said impatiently, "Do you think I am blind. I also see them. Just kill them."

The original voice quickly explained, "But that old man is Dumbledore! Albus Dumbledore!"

The black wizards were looking at them in horror. When Toby was observing the other party, the other party was also observing them. Neither party spoke. The scene was silent for a while, except for the crows that sounded from time to time in the dark forest.

After a long time, Dumbledore coughed twice, breaking the silence, but before Dumbledore could speak, the wizards surrounding them took out their wands from their arms in an instant and pointed at Dumbledore with a look of alertness on their faces.

"Everyone, you worked so hard to bring me and my students here with a portkey, but you didn't say a word, and now you're pointing your wand at us, this doesn't seem like a way you treat guests.!" Dumbledore glanced around and said in a flat tone.

Hearing Dumbledore's question, the surrounding wizards subconsciously set their eyes on the short wizard in the cloak. After a while, the sorcerer say, "Albus Dumbledore?Can you believe us if we say that this is a misunderstanding."

Hearing the words of the cloaked wizard, Dumbledore slowly shook his head, raised his eyebrows and said: "Although I don't know how you guys did it, putting a portkey on my student's bed doesn't seem like a misunderstanding!"

The bald wizard shrugged," Well, it doesn't matter if you accidentally got in the trap. Since you are here, DIE!!"

All the wizards started firing different killing curses and other black magic hexes at them. Without hesitation, Toby created an earth wall to protect them from the oncoming assault. Unfortunately, the Earth wall could only protect them from the front so Dumbeldore waved his wand and a translucent barrier blocked the incoming spells from the back.

Toby looked at the translucent barrier in admiration, but suddenly, the barrier started flickering in and out of existence.

Dumbledore started breathing heavily, "Unfortunately, I am too old and I am not strong enough anymore. Alyssa, I will rely on you to help defeat these black wizards."

Toby blinked," Professor Dumbledore, Are you serious? Do you want us first year students to help you?"

Alyssa stared deep into Dumbledore's eyes and suddenly stepped outside the barrier. With excellent spell casting skills she deflected many hexes and stunned a black wizard. Fearing that Alyssa would be overwhelmed, he also ran outside the barrier and cast an invisibility charm on himself.

Silently, he took down most of the wizards by running up to them and using 100 volts paralysis on them. Finally, only the leader of the black wizards was left panting.

The leader gave a look of hatred at Alyssa and said," Although you are a first year at Hogwarts, you have some decent combat experience. But you have run out of magic. What can you do now?"

Alyssa held her wand up and whispered," Sectumsempra"

The dark wizard saw that no beam of light came towards him, so he assumed that the spell had failed, but then, the invisible blade hit him across the torso, digging deep into his body. Unable to keep standing, he fell headfirst into the sand.

Toby looked deeply at Alyssa. She had just used black magic in front of Dumbeldore, yet he was treating her as if nothing had happened. His curiosity wanted him to investigate, but he knew that he would not get a good answer.

"Now, it's time for us to figure out the cause and effect of this incident!" Dumbledore said suddenly.

Toby walked up to one of the unconscious wizards and asked," Who are you? Who sent you to kill us?"

The black wizard was tight lipped and didn't make a sound. Alyssa shook her head," Toby, as a wizard, you must use wizard means of interrogation."

"Like a Veritaserum? But we don't have one now."

Alyssa took out her wand and pointed it against the man's temple," Cruci~"

"Stop! Stop! Damn, are you really a student of Hogwarts? This is an Unforgivable Curse, and in your UK, it will be thrown directly into Azkaban!"

Alyssa's lip curled upwards," So you are definitely not a wizard of England. A foreigner perhaps?"

Hearing her words, the wizard hunter glanced at Dumbledore and said with a trembling tone,"I don't believe that Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard of all time, would watch you do such a thing!" When Dumbledore heard this, his eyes narrowed, and he said slowly: "You're right, of course I won't watch my students do such a thing." Just when the wizard hunter heaved a sigh of relief, he saw Dumbledore slowly turn around and no longer look here.

Alyssa grinned, and pointed her wand at the black wizard lying on the ground again.

"I give in! What do you want to know? Get your **** wand away from me! I'll tell you everything you want to know!"

Seeing this, Alyssa put away the smile on her face and asked blankly:

"Who wants to kill me?"

"No one wants to kill you, at least we didn't plan to kill you. We are all wizard hunters. Whoever pays more, we will help. It's that simple. This time, it was a guy wearing a reaper mask who called us together, saying that we needed to bring a student to the place designated by the employer."

Having said that, the wizard hunter who was sitting on the ground glanced at Dumbledore with some fear. After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, the wizard hunter continued:

"What I said is true! That's why the guy in the cape is looking for us!"

"I'm from Canada. Some of the wizards just now had an encounter in the past. After all, they were all in the same circle. Some of them came from Canada like me, some from Mexico, and some from Brazil. "

"According to the guy in the cape, because the target of this attack is a student of Hogwarts, he did not dare to use the local wizards in the UK, but we all felt that he was afraid that the local wizard hunters in the UK would unite against him. "

Then, Alyssa opened his mouth and asked the question she cared most about,"How did you put the portkey on my bed?" Hearing her question, Dumbledore couldn't help turning around and looked at the wizard hunter curiously. After all, this matter is about the safety of Hogwarts. Although Dumbledore doesn't believe that there are bad guys in Hogwarts, the door key can't just teleport to her bed suddenly.

"I don't even know what a portkey is! Our task is to wait here. According to the guy in the cape, we just need to take away the little wizard who came here tonight and take it to the place designated by the employer. Even if it's done, don't worry about anything else."

After the wizard hunter finished speaking, Alyssa thought for a moment, then said:

"So, if I ask you, you wouldn't know who hired you, would you?"

The wizard hunter said with a sad face:

"In our business, it's all about the money, and we never ask who the employer is! I've been in Knockturn Alley since I came to the UK from Canada, and we were not called up until this evening. "

After the wizard in front of him finished speaking, Alyssa slowly stood up, turned to look at Dumbledore, and said:

"Headmaster Dumbledore, please confirm again whether what this guy said is true?"

Dumbledore looked into the black wizard's eyes. After staring for about three seconds, Dumbledore nodded," It's true. He's telling the truth."

Suddenly, Toby heard something that sounded like a whirlpool in the air. From the said swirl, multiple Aurors suddenly appeared.They raised their wands in a well-trained manner. Some aimed their wands at Dumbledore, while others held their wands at the surroundings, making a warning gesture.Obviously, the Aurors who belonged to the British Ministry of Magic came here in disguise.

"Headmaster?... Headmaster Dumbledore!"

Soon, the Aurors recognized Dumbledore, and even a few young Aurors saw Dumbledore and quickly moved their wands pointed at Dumbledore away, greeting Dumbledore respectfully. But this move was quickly reprimanded by several older and more experienced Aurors.

"Continue to be vigilant. Haven't I told you many times, rookie! During the mission, even if you encounter your father, don't let your guard down. How do you know that this is the real Dumbledore?!"

A wizard with dark brown hair and bushy eyebrows, looking a bit like a lion, strode towards Dumbledore. "Oh, Rufus, is it you? Listening to Fudge, you have now taken over from Thomas Rever as the new head of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic?"

Dumbledore said with a smile when he saw the wizard walking towards him.

And the wizard who was called Rufus by Dumbledore walked up to Dumbledore with a vigilant expression, still holding his wand tightly, and said:

"Headmaster Dumbledore? Please forgive me for being unreasonable. I need to check on you to determine your identity."

Dumbledore laughed and said without any hesitation: "Of course, Rufus, you are still so cautious, it's a good habit, just like when you dated that girl at the edge of the black lake, you would cast spells around in advance, although the spells seem to be a bit off now. Shabby, yes, that girl seems to be called..."

Before Dumbledore finished speaking, Rufus interrupted Dumbledore. "Headmaster, Headmaster Dumbledore, forgive me, this is a procedure, we want to prevent someone from taking compound decoction to impersonate you and damage your honor!"

Rufus' smile was a little embarrassing, but he slowly retracted the wand in his hand.

And Dumbledore said with a playful expression, "It seems that girl and the girl you married were not the same ?"

Rufus's expression became even more embarrassing. He quickly turned his eyes behind Dumbledore and asked curiously," Headmaster, Why…?"

Dumbledore just said," It's a matter of Hogwarts secrets, Rufus. I can't tell you all the details, but a group of dark wizards broke into Hogshead. Let's just leave it at that."

Leaving no room for discussion, Dumbledore took Toby and Alyssa back to Hogwarts. Back at Hogwarts, they found professor Illona waiting for them.

"As I said, Professor Ilona, ​​I will keep Alyssa and Toby safe."

Ilona, ​​on the other hand, was obviously still angry, and said in a stiff tone:

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I never doubt your strength, but the lives of my students are very precious, and I don't want to see them suffer any harm!"

Hearing Ilona's words, Dumbledore was noncommittal, just gently pushed them and said, "Go back to the bedroom, Alyssa, I think your friends are worrying about that for you! As for you, have a pleasant sleep Toby."