"Watch out!"
Just as they were about to leave, Neville shouted in horror, staring at the Death Eater whose head was in the bell-shaped glass.
The three of them raised their wands again, but no one hit it: they all stared with their mouths agape, watching the changes in the head in horror.
It shrank rapidly, becoming more and more bald, black hair and stubble retreating into its head, its cheeks becoming smooth, and its head round and covered with a layer of down.
As the Death Eater struggled to stand up again, a baby's head grew strangely on its thick, muscled neck.
However, as they watched in awe, the head began to swell back to its original size, and thick black hair grew out of the top of its head and chin.
"It's time," Hermione said in a fearful voice. "Time."
The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to wake himself up. But before he could pull himself together, his head once again began to shrink back to its infancy. A shout came from the nearby house, followed by a crash and a scream.
"Ron?"
Harry shouted, turning around immediately from the strange phenomenon that was unfolding before him. "Ginny? Luna? "
"Harry!" Hermione screamed.
The Death Eater had pulled its head out of the bell-shaped glass, and it looked very strange. The little baby's head was screaming, and its thick arms were flailing dangerously, almost hitting Harry, who had ducked to avoid it.
Harry raised his wand, but to his surprise, Hermione grabbed his arm.
"You can't hurt a baby!"
There was no time to argue about it!
Harry heard more footsteps coming from the Hall of Divination, getting louder and louder. He realized that he shouldn't have shouted so loudly and exposed their position, but it was too late.
"Come here!"
He called. The door at the other end was open into the black foyer, and they ran quickly towards it, leaving behind the wobbly Death Eater with the ugly baby's head.
They were halfway there when Harry saw, through the open door, two other Death Eaters running towards them through the dark room.
He immediately turned and rushed into a small, dark, cluttered office on the left, slamming the door behind them.
"Hurry —" Hermione began, but before she could finish the spell, the door burst open and the two Death Eaters rushed in.
Accompanied by the cheers of victory, both of them shouted, "Obstacles are everywhere!"
Harry, Hermione, and Neville were all knocked away.
Neville was thrown behind a desk and disappeared.
Hermione crashed into a bookshelf, and thick books poured down, burying her immediately.
The back of Harry's head slammed into the stone wall behind him. He saw stars, and for a moment he was too dizzy to do anything.
"We got him!"
The Death Eater closest to Harry shouted, "In an office, lea-"
"Silent and undetectable!"
Hermione threw a spell, and the Death Eater's voice.
Through the hole in the mask, his mouth was still moving, but there was no sound. His accomplice pushed him aside.
"Petrify!"
Just as the second Death Eater raised his wand, Harry did the same. The Death Eater's arms and legs snapped together, and he fell face down on the carpet at Harry's feet. He was as stiff as a board and could not move.
"That was great, ha —"
The Death Eater who had just been beaten dumb by Hermione suddenly waved his wand, and something like a purple flame pierced through Hermione's chest. Hermione seemed to be surprised and said softly, "Oh," and curled up on the ground, motionless.
"Hermione!"
Harry hurriedly knelt next to her, and Neville quickly crawled under the table, holding his wand in front of him.
When the Death Eater saw Neville, he immediately kicked him in the head — breaking Neville's wand and kicking him in the face.
Neville screamed in pain and shrank back, covering his mouth and nose.
Harry turned and held his wand high, and saw that the Death Eater had pulled off his mask and was pointing his wand at him.
Harry recognized the long, pale, distorted face. It was the Wizard, Dolohov, who had killed Mr. and Mrs. Purvis, published in the Daily Prophet.
Dolohov grinned, and with his free hand he pointed to the Orb of Prophecy in Harry's hand, then to himself, then to Hermione.
Though he could not speak, his meaning could not be more clear.
Give me the Orb of Prophecy, or you will end up like her.
"Give me the Orb of Prophecy, and you will kill us all!"
There was a flash of panic in Harry's head, and he could not think straight.
He put one hand on Hermione's shoulder and could still feel her warmth, but he did not dare to look at her.
Don't let her die, don't let her die. If she dies, it will be my fault.
"Whatever you do, Harry," Neville said agitatedly under the table, his hands hanging down a little, and his nose broken and blood running down his mouth and chin, "don't give it to him (don't give it to him)!"
Then there was a crash at the door, and Dolohov looked back. A Death Eater with a baby's head appeared in the doorway.
His head screamed, and his huge, uncontrollable fists swung at everything around him. Harry seized the opportunity. "Petrify them all!"
The spell struck Dolohov before he could do anything to ward it off.
He fell forward, and lay across the body of his comrade, both of whom were as stiff as planks, and motionless.
"Hermione," Harry said, shaking Hermione at once, as the Death Eater with a baby's head stumbled out of sight again. "Hermione, wake up."
"What did he do to her?"
Neville said, crawling under the table and kneeling on the other side of Hermione, blood gushing from his rapidly swollen nose.
"I don't know."
Neville fumbled for Hermione's wrist.
"There's a pulse, Harry, I'm sure of it."
Harry gave a deep sigh of relief and felt a little faint for a moment.
"She's alive?"
"Yes, I think so."
Neither of them spoke again, and Harry strained to hear, but could only hear the whimpering and stumbling of the Death Eater with a baby's head in the next room.
"Neville, we're not far from the exit," Harry whispered.
"It's right next to the round room.
If you can get through there and get to the right door before the other Death Eaters arrive, I bet you can get Hermione into the corridor and into the Lift.
Then you can find someone, or call the police. "
"What are you going to do?" Neville said, wiping his bleeding nose with his sleeve and frowning at Harry.
"I'm going to find the others."
"Well, I'm going to go with you to find them."
Neville did not hesitate.
"But Hermione----"
"We'll go with her," Neville said firmly.
Neville said firmly. "I'll carry her. You can handle them better than I can."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.