CHAPTER 72 Deadly Exchange

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CHAPTER 72 Deadly Exchange

Two horses got cut loose, and the carriage started to free-fall. As they came closer to the ground, Harry was panicking, but Elmi tried to calm him, "There are safety features that will activate when we are closer to the ground." 

But Elmi knew that was not their real problem. Even if they landed safely, one of the men was right behind them. As the falling carriage came to lose to the ground, the safety feature activated, and it slowed down.

At this moment, an idea came to Elmi's mind. First, he released Hedwig and grabbed Byakko. Then he took a cloak from his bag and wrapped it around himself and Harry. As soon as the Man got to the other side of the carriage, they jumped down from the other door. 

Elmi didn't have time to return Harry's invisibility cloak, and it was a good thing he did not, or it would have been in Harry's trunk back at Hogwarts. This was a great opportunity for them. He was now grateful to himself for having the impudence to hold on to the cloak until Harry asked for it, and Harry had not asked for the cloak back yet because he felt guilty.

The wind was preventing his cloak from standing properly, and Elmi cast a spell that caused the cloak to freeze. With his wand raised, the Man slowly approached the window of the slowly falling horse carriage and created a giant fireball. when the fireball reached the carriage, it caused a big explosion and destroyed its front half. 

As he was doing this, he saw some shoes fall out of the carriage, and a white owl flew down toward the meadow at the ground, but he didn't care much. When he realized there was no one inside the carriage, those falling shoes felt weird to him since none of the luggage at the back was destroyed.

When he destroyed the front half of the carriage, the safety feature was canceled, and it plummeted to the ground. His attention turned towards the meadow and saw the white owl dive into the trees.

...

Elmi and Harry were falling down, and he held Harry's mouth so he wouldn't scream. They were diving head-first, which is why their feet were visible. They kept falling really fast. He had to cast the spell. He was sure he could handle it if it was only him, but it was going to be really hard with two people.

As they came close to the ground, Harry's eyes almost popped out of their place. Elmi calmly waved his wand and cast another spell on the cloak. 

"Wingandiam Leviosa"

They started to slow down for a few seconds—it was like the cloak had turned into a sack—but Elmi was having a really hard time holding on to the spell, and he couldn't hold it anymore. The spell broke, and they resumed free fall again.

Elmi could feel Byakko's claws digging into his back and Harry was sticking onto his right arm with a vice-like grip. Because the spell broke, the top of the cloak opened, and When Elmi looked up, he saw the Man coming after them.

Elmi focused and cast the spell again, but this time, he pulled onto iota of winds of magic too. Volatile energy passed through him, and it didn't want to listen to him. Beads of sweat started to form on his head. The ground was coming closer and closer.

Elmi managed to keep the violent energy under control and activated the spell. It took a lot of time to cast, so in normal circumstances, it wouldn't be that useful, but the power difference was evidently clear.

They started to slow down rapidly when they were 10-15 meters from the ground. As they got closer to the ground, the branches of the trees around them also slowed down their speed, causing them some pain as they were hit by the branches.

The Man was chasing after the white owl he saw flying towards the meadow. He could swear he saw two heads falling down, but then they disappeared again.

....

When Elmi and Harry reached the ground, Elmi pulled him behind a tree. The Man landed a few meters away from them and cast a shielding spell right away. They held their breath and waited for him to go away.

The Man looked around and realized they were using some kind of concealment. He used Homenum Revelio but there were no effects. He was sure those two boys couldn't use Apperation so they were definitely around here somewhere.

He realized they must be using a powerful artifact to conceal themselves. There was no such thing as an item that could conceal everything. First, he used sound, but they were in a meadow, and sounds were coming from everywhere.

He shouted with a thick Portuguese accent, "Do ju sink ju can hide from me!"

This accent sounded familiar to Elminster's ears, but he had traveled so many places with his mother that he couldn't put his finger on exactly where he had heard it. This made Elmi realize something: This Man most likely wasn't after Harry.

"Fulmen Dissimulatus" 

An endless stream of ashes started coming out of the Man's wand, flying like swarming bees. As the Man moved his ward, around a 5-meter radius of ash moved according to it.

Elmi tried to think of every possibility and figure out how to escape. They were invisible, but the meadow floor was filled with dead leaves, which is why moving without making noise was impossible.

As the swarming ash-like particles came close to them, Elmi cast Mufliato's charm. Snape had taught him every charm he invented other than the Sectumsempra. A buzzing sound filled the area. Elmi and Harry started to run, but the Man was following their general direction thanks to the effect range of the spell.

Since the effect range was less than 10 meters, the Man could gradually determine their direction. Elmi said,

"He cannot hear us right now, but his detection magic is coming closer to us every passing second. I have to land a surprise attack, or we will lose our advantage."

Harry stuttered, "I-I can h-help."

Elmi shook his head, "No, I cannot fight him when you are close. You will put me at a disadvantage; if you are close, I have to defend you or attack recklessly to keep his attention away from you. I am not strong enough to face a grown wizard head-on. The second I start attacking, run like hell, and don't be anywhere close."

With great hardship, Elmi pried Byakko away from his shoulder and gave her to Harry, "Keep her safe." When they were behind a rock, he got out of the cloak and started to run in the opposite way. The Man saw Elmi and turned his detection spell and attention towards him. Then, he started to send spell after another towards him as Elmi zigzagged between trees and cast a shield spell. 

An explosion spell blasted a rock right next to Elmi, and the fragments flew toward him but got deflected by his shield, causing it to get weaker. Elmi used, "Invisibilis Fumus." With a puff of green smoke, he became invisible. 

The Man sent his detection spell towards Elmi, but he changed direction and managed to dodge the ash cloud with a few cm. He got close to the Man as much as possible and cast an overcast "Glaesum Lancia." before his invisibility run out.

A big amber lance darted towards him and broke through his shield, but the Man, albeit with hardship, managed to deflect it. The force of the spell had caused him to stumble. Elmi could attack with another attack spell, but 

the Man's eyes were fully focused on him. He was expecting an attack spell, so Elmi chose a curse,

"Toxicus Nebula, Ossum Fragilis"

He conjured a toxic rain that caused drowsiness, and this was not a time to hold back, so at the same time, using his other hand, cast another curse at the same time. Causing sprains and soreness on his target's ankles if he moved around too much. 

The Man was receiving one surprise from another. He knew none of those spells, and his shield was ineffective against those curses. He felt his body get more destabilized, but as he fell, he managed to fling a fireball towards Elmi. This caused his detection spell to be broken, and all the ashes started to disappear.

"Noxus Guardium." Elmi conjured shadows that enveloped his body, forming a protective barrier that could deflect the fireball barely and was full of cracks. Simultaneously, the shadows provided a cloak of concealment, making him blend into his surroundings in this dimly lit area. He wasn't invisible, but he had turned into a shadow for a few seconds, just enough for Man to lose sight of him.