Harry Potter and the Cataclysm

"Clack, clack, clack—"

"Run!"

Carnie instantly activated magic sense, detecting dozens of sources of magical energy rapidly converging on their location.

They were scattered, but all of them were heading toward Carnie's group. The closest ones were already within ten meters.

Carnie grabbed Hermione's hand and took off, sprinting back toward the path they came from. Fred and George barely had time to react—they dropped everything and bolted.

"So many spiders!"

"And they're huge!"

They had gone through half the Forbidden Forest without encountering anything dangerous, and now, their luck had run out. Carnie risked a glance back.

The smallest spiders were the size of a human head, and the largest were as big as a classroom desk.

They were leaping from tree to tree, skittering across the ground, their legs clicking against the bark and leaves.

Strangely, they completely ignored the wild boar's corpse, not even pausing to eat it.

Carnie frowned. "Why aren't they going for the boar?"

"Maybe they prefer their meals running on two legs?" George panted.

"Or maybe the boar just tastes bad!" Fred added.

Carnie had no idea how these two used their brains to invent pranks but still managed to blurt out the most nonsensical statements under pressure.

"Spiders aren't picky eaters! And they have eight eyes, they're definitely not blind!" Hermione gasped, struggling to keep up.

"This won't work! They'll catch up!"

Carnie could easily outrun the spiders thanks to his daily training and the enhancements from his cultivation, but the others were slowing him down.

Fred and George were already lagging, and Hermione was gasping for air.

There was no way they could outrun creatures with eight legs.

Carnie turned his wand backward. "Aguamenti!"

A huge ball of water shot out, slamming into two of the nearest spiders, knocking them against a tree.

"There's too many of them, and they're too spread out!"

"Get in close!"

Carnie stopped running—Fred and George immediately closed in beside him.

"Aguamenti!"

A water barrier formed around them as Carnie's magic poured out uncontrollably.

His eyes changed color, glowing a deep emerald green as he focused on breaking down the water's molecular structure.

The water solidified, transforming into a crystal-clear barrier.

Carnie made sure to leave air vents, in case they needed to stay inside for a while. It was the largest crystal structure he had ever attempted.

"Clack, clack, clack—"

The giant spiders arrived.

Carnie's hands were sweaty, Hermione gripped his hand tightly, and the Weasley twins raised their wands, prepared to fight.

But—

The spiders completely ignored them.

They rushed past the crystal barrier without hesitation, continuing to flee in the direction Carnie's group had just come from.

Carnie blinked. "Uh… what?"

The spiders vanished into the darkness, disappearing as quickly as they had arrived.

"Hah… finally!"

Fred collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

"Let's just rest for a second!" George groaned.

Hermione slowly released Carnie's hand, and Carnie flexed his fingers—her grip had been iron-tight.

"Aguamenti."

Carnie conjured three small floating streams of water, allowing everyone to drink.

George stuck his head forward, catching the stream with his mouth. "Carnie, your water spell is insane. Do you even know any other magic?"

"Yeah, but this one's just… more useful." Carnie shrugged.

It was true—if he mastered water manipulation, he could control an entire element.

He thought back to that ice-based admiral from a certain anime. If he got good enough, he could just freeze the entire lake outside Hogwarts and walk on it like a road.

"Do you guys know a Freezing Charm?" Carnie asked.

"What? Isn't this already ice?" Fred pointed at the solid crystal wall.

"No, he's been using Aguamenti this whole time." George realized.

"Glacius! That's the Freezing Charm. But you need to use Aguamenti first, then cast it with the right wand movement—" George began explaining.

Hermione ran her hands over the crystal wall. "It's hard, but it's not cold… It really does feel like crystal."

George suddenly frowned. "Wait… are we gonna suffocate in here?"

Carnie rolled his eyes. "I left air vents, genius. Look closely."

"But why did the spiders just run past us?"

"And the boar too.

Fred and George looked at each other.

Hermione's eyes widened. "They were running away from something."

Carnie nodded. "That means something scarier is up ahead."

"It's probably the Aurors from the Ministry. They're supposed to be clearing out magical creatures around the school."

Carnie had another reason for coming here.

Recently, whenever he cultivated his inner energy, he had felt something calling to him.

The stronger he grew, the clearer the feeling became—but when he stopped training, the sensation vanished.

After much experimentation, he had narrowed down the source to the Forbidden Forest.

"Hey… is that a speck in the sky?" Fred squinted upward.

Since they had run so far, they could now see through gaps in the trees.

"It's getting bigger…" George put his hands together to form a makeshift telescope over his eyes.

Carnie immediately snatched George's hands and used them as his own telescope.

"Hmm… looks like a bird?"

Hermione gave him a flat look. "It's obviously a magical flying creature."

"It's falling!"

George suddenly gasped. "That's not a bird—it's a dragon!"

Carnie's eyes widened. "Let me see!"

He yanked George's hands back over his own eyes.

"Huh. That thing looks pretty messed up."

Hermione moved closer, making her own hand binoculars to look.

"That must be the Ministry Aurors! They probably brought it down!" Carnie reasoned.

"Wait… it's coming this way!" Fred said.

"So that's what those creatures were running from…"

The dragon was now clearly visible—its body covered in wounds, blood streaming from several deep gashes.

Even worse—a massive tear ran along its lower neck, almost as if something had tried to rip its throat open.

"Relax, we're in the trees. It can't see us." Carnie assured. "We're perfectly safe!"

"ROOOAAARR!!!"

The dragon let out a weak, exhausted roar as it staggered mid-flight.

Its wings twisted, failing to keep balance.

And then—

"ROOOOAR—"

CRASH!!!

The dragon plummeted, smashing into the ground right in front of them.

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