The tip of Hermione's wand shot out a cluster of not-so-blinding red sparks.
The spark only hit the wall by the window and then went out, but she was sure that Lee and Jon outside the castle had definitely spotted the signal she had sent.
Hermione didn't hesitate after that, she waved her wand and used a transfiguration spell!
The next moment, countless pieces of parchment fluttered out of her coat pocket, and they fluttered around the headmaster's office, while transforming into countless bright green vine stalks, which then grew and sprawled around her like living snakes, and soon surrounded the three armours which were charging.
The armours raised their weapons and the sharp blades cut through the vines that surrounded them!
What Hermione needed from the products of transfiguration was not to defeat them but to keep the armours at bay for a while.
Just as the fastest armour with a single sword was within a metre of her, Hermione pulled a sphere the size of a ping-pong ball out of her pocket at some point.
The knight's sword raised high had come crashing down from mid-air and Hermione lightly tapped the surface of the suit of armour with her own wand at the same time!
"Arresto Momentum!"
Since the tip of the wand was right next to the surface of the armour, the spell basically took effect as soon as Hermione recited it!
The armour's swinging motion was noticeably slower, but the blade still fell with a firm motion and slashed straight down towards Hermione's head.
Hermione didn't try to dodge, the blade, reflecting the orange candle fire, was stopped by a pale blue shield of light ten centimetres above her head!
Hermione waited for this opportunity, the hand holding her wand caught the corners of the armour where the head and body met, using it to hold the armour close to her body while holding the orb high in her other hand and shoving it into the armour's dark eye sockets!
"Bam!"
There was a distinct sound of an orb meeting metal inside the armour, and Hermione's entire body backed up as fast as she could as soon as she heard the sound!
No sooner than she had just pulled away from the armour by a distance of three metres, a loud, ear-splitting boom rang out abruptly throughout the Headmaster's office!
At the same time, outside the great hall, the few Aurors guarding the stairway to the ground floor clearly heard a muffled sound from above the castle.
The Aurors looked at each other and eventually, the leader of this squad sent one of his men to inform Lucius in the great hall of this incident, while he took the others to the various floors upstairs in the castle to check out the situation.
Compared to inside the Castle, it was actually from this position in the gardens outside the Castle that the movement in the Headmaster's office was more likely to be noticed.
It was just that by this time, both Jon and Lee had already received an early signal from Hermione.
"Can you pinpoint Crouch and Snape's location?" Lee asked, somewhat hesitantly.
Jon said calmly.
"We took a straight path when we came in; unless they specifically went around this garden to the back, they could only be in the same direction we came from the castle, so take my word for it, just have your back in that direction."
Even at this point, Lee still had the leisure to say rotten things.
"I'll say this upfront, even if I look and sound like Hermione at the moment, you can't really mistake me for Hermione, I still have my first kiss and I don't want to give it to a man, even if it's you."
Jon wished he could just shove his wand in his mouth and throw a blasting curse on him right then and there.
"What do you mean, do you think I would actually kiss you for being Hermione? It's not like Hermione and I have any special relationship right now, and what do you mean even for me, you couldn't possibly have any special feelings for me, right? That would be pretty sickening."
"I'm just describing our brotherly love, but still, your words are hurtful."
"Shut up and hurry up, don't drag the time any longer than we already have!"
As they spoke, the position of the two men had changed at the moment, with Jon's back facing the direction of Hogwarts castle and Lee facing the castle, only most of his face was blocked by Jon's, and looking from the direction where the castle was located, all that could be seen was, the two of their faces slowly getting closer, but there was no way to see what sort of actions the two were actually carrying out.
The spot where Crouch and Snape stood now was one that they had just hijacked by scaring away a young pureblood couple.
It couldn't really be called scaring, as the two students who had been exchanging saliva saw Crouch and Snape coming together silently like ghosts in the cold, the girl almost bit the boy's tongue off in fear.
"Keep your mouth shut and get out, and when Christmas break is over hand me up a foot-long review each!"
After Crouch's whispered reprimand was over, the unlucky young couple left in disarray, not knowing whether the night's experience would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
The spot they had picked was indeed a good one, with the cover of the bushes and the light from that lamp on the garden path giving them a clear view of the bench where Jon and Lee were sitting, while Jon and Lee could not see them.
"Have you activated the aphrodisiac effect or not? Why haven't they made any further moves till now?" Crouch's tone gradually became aggravated, and it was clear that he was a little impatient to wait.
He had been planning this for so long, waiting for this opportunity tonight, and now that things had come to this point it was out of his hands and he could only trust the potion Snape had brewed to be reliable.
Snape's voice remained calm.
"This kind of potion that emits from the bead is not as effective as the one you drink directly into your stomach, it won't work abruptly and will only affect a person subtly. If you really can't wait, I have a ready-made vial here, so you can just rush out and force it into Jon Green's mouth and tell him to kiss the girl."
Crouch, who had long ago become immune to Snape's cynical tone like this, simply glanced at Snape.
"You can just make sure that nothing has gone wrong at your end."
And just as they spoke, there was a noticeable movement at Jon and Lee's end.
A view from both Crouch's and Snape's side of the line revealed that the two figures were slowly overlapping, and their heads could be faintly seen getting closer and closer together, illuminated by the lamp on the path by the bench.
And as the two figures overlapped, even Crouch, who was known for his moodiness and anger, subconsciously clenched his fists.
As long as Jon and Hermione kissed, his plan would be a complete success, and Jon himself would be dead for sure, regardless of whether or not it was a violation of the blood pact Voldemort and Dumbledore had made, the point was that by killing the most popular rising star on Dumbledore's side, it would be a complete victory for them!
Whether it was Crouch or Snape, they were staring at the boy and girl under the lamplight, their eyes narrowed with almost zero emotion, no one could tell what was going through their minds right now.
Both men almost held their breath, their attention entirely fixed on Jon and Lee, not even noticing that behind them, on the seventh floor of the castle, there was a distinct shuddering of the window frames in one place.
They simply saw the figures of Jon and Lee overlapping in the lamplight and did not separate for a long time.
Jon was close to Lee, but of course, the two didn't really kiss; they were practically face to face, wide-eyed.
The commotion coming from the castle that Crouch and Snape hadn't noticed was obvious to both of them, as their attention had always been on that spot where the seventh-floor window had been from the beginning.
"Hermione must have got into a fight with something in there, it's a good thing the glass didn't break, or they would have noticed the commotion even if we had kissed in front of Crouch and Snape."
Lee whispered, as he faced the castle, he had a clear view of what was really going on up on the seventh floor.
Jon, for his part, couldn't help but frown.
"What did you just eat?"
"Hey, you guys are having a big feast in the castle great hall, and you won't let us have something nice in the wagon yet? Professor Dumbledore has sneaked out some goodies for us, telling us it's a secret Christmas present, it's the famous food he brought back from France, blue cheese."
"That yucky stuff that is made specifically by growing mould on cheese?"
"How can you say such a thing about it? There are a lot of scaredy-cats out there who are afraid to try it, but you'll only find out it's actually a rare treat after you get over the prejudices in your own mind and take a pretty bite."
"Have I had a vendetta against you before? If so, I'll apologise once we get back, but please don't get back at me in this way, okay?"
"I can't believe you think like that, you must try it for yourself when we get back to the wagon, and you'll know I'm right."
"Please, Lee, don't open your mouth, will you? Otherwise, Crouch's plan is really going to work, and I'm going to die of stink!"
Crouch and Snape were no fools after all, on the contrary, each of them was completely sharp-witted in their own right.
After not even daring to blink for a full minute as he watched Jon and Lee, Crouch turned his head to look at Snape.
"You assured me that no man would live past the next second once that potion took effect!"
Snape frowned slightly, looking like he was a little confused as well, but still said in an icy voice.
"Of course, the potion I've prepared won't have any problems, can't you think of a reason why from your side?"
"There would be even fewer accidents in my plan! You saw it, that little mudblood has taken the bracelet with her, and they are now kissing! But what now? They're still kissing!"
Snape was silent, there was certainly no way that what was in front of him was a lie, but he was also convinced that nothing could go wrong with the potion he had made.
So what was the problem?
After a few seconds of silence in the air, Snape suddenly spoke again and asked.
"Are you really sure, Jon Green is a boy?"
----
#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!
#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!