Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

Chapter 841 - 212: Applications of the Explosive Spell

In the nick of time, the girl seemed to have eyes on her back and suddenly dodged, but the lizard’s tongue still pierced her shoulder and sliced past it.

Blood splattered everywhere!

"Ah!"

Hope cried out in pain, and the Disillusionment Charm failed immediately. She staggered back, and her magic wand flicked quickly!

"Iron Armor Protection!"

The invisible barrier barely blocked the lizard’s second wave of attack.

The poppet leaped off the thorn wall and pounced aggressively. The girl’s wand swung, and her whole body seemed to be hit by an invisible car, bouncing away just in time to avoid the lizard’s raid.

The lizard did not immediately pursue. It crawled around Hope on the ground, its eyes eerily swiveling independently, one tightly watching Hope’s magic wand, the other monitoring her footsteps.

Cold sweat trickled down Hope’s forehead as she moved her steps slowly. As she approached the entrance, she suddenly cast a Diffindo spell:

"Defodio!"

The spell hit the lizard’s body, but only knocked off a few scales. The lizard screeched and then lunged aggressively!

At this moment, Hope suddenly did something unexpected—she suddenly pointed her magic wand straight at the ground and shouted loudly, "Confringo!"

"Boom——"

The girl’s Explosive Spell was extraordinarily powerful. The ground exploded, and the blast wave toppled the lunging lizard, yet flung her whole body toward the passageway!

She succeeded!

Hope felt a thrill of joy in her heart, seizing the opportunity to roll into the narrow entrance. Before the poppet could pursue, she threw a spell backward: "Impedimenta!"

The lizard, having just turned itself upright, suddenly felt an invisible resistance, as if it had sunk into a thick swamp, its steps becoming sluggish.

Seeing Hope rushing into the passage nonetheless, it roared angrily, turned around, and whipped its tail, which detached from its body, flying straight toward the girl!

Trying to seal the entrance, the girl was struck heavily by the tail and was shoved to the ground. She scrambled up to cast another spell, but her raised wand was knocked askew by a tongue shooting out like an arrow!

Immediately following, the lizard charged in, biting down on the girl’s ankle, forcibly dragging her out of the passage!

"Ah!!!!"

Hope screamed. When the lizard released her ankle and turned to bite her, the girl straightened up, thrusting her magic wand right into the lizard’s mouth, even stabbing her own wrist inside, pierced by the row of sharp teeth, bleeding profusely.

"Taste this!"

She roared with an eerily clear gaze:

"Confringo! Confringo! Confringo!"

The blinding white light burst out from the gaps between the poppet’s scales, followed by a deafening explosion!

The lizard’s head was immediately blown apart, various components scattering like raindrops, yet the explosion’s impact also flung the girl several meters away, with shards of scales and stones "puff puff puff" shooting into her body, turning her into a bloody gourd!

"Well done!" With a rough shout, Moody appeared from the sky riding a broom and praised even before landing, "Kid, that move was ruthless!"

His magic eye spun wildly scanning the surroundings, and then Moody landed to check the girl’s injuries, asking, "Can you continue?"

Hope tried to prop herself up but sucked in a cold breath from the pain, not even having the strength to crawl over and fetch the magic potion from her backpack.

She looked at the bramble entrance so close yet gritted her teeth in reluctance, "I... I give up."

Those words were almost squeezed out through gritted teeth.

Moody showed a look of approval, "A wise choice."

He waved his magic wand for a rough treatment of the girl’s horrific wounds, saying, "In some battles, conceding takes more courage than holding on; only by surviving is there infinite possibility."

"Professor." As she was levitated away, Hope couldn’t help but ask, "At the end of the passage... is the Goblet of Fire?"

"Passage?"

Moody laughed, saying, "You know, this passage wasn’t originally here. Vid, that rascal, didn’t want to take a detour, so he made it himself."

Hope’s eyes instantly widened as she glanced back at the bramble wall and the deep passage gradually falling behind, a bitter smile appearing on her face.

In her ears, she could still hear Moody’s complaining voice:

"Truly, he shortened the process by half! And to think I spent half a month setting up interesting traps along the way!"

"By the way, if you chose to detour, you’d encounter a resting area about two hundred meters out, where you’d not only get food and supply of potions but also meet someone who could help you."

"Too bad... As it stands, all that design was in vain. Vid, that brat..."

Perhaps because all his painstaking efforts went to waste, Moody, who typically wasn’t verbose, took the chance to grumble for quite a while.

However, during this time, the girl could not ignore the trace of pride and boastfulness in his tone.

——Teaching such an excellent student himself, surely must be very proud?

But as for herself... she disappointed Ms. Owens...

Her heart felt tightly gripped by an invisible hand, her eyes heated suddenly, and a tear uncontrollably slipped down, mixing with the blood stains on her face and vanishing into her hairline.

Everything after this, in Hope’s mind, was a blur.

She vaguely knew she was sent into a healing tent, where a very kind witch took her over from Moody, laying her onto a bed.

The surrounding curtains were pulled up as the witch removed various debris lodged in her body, stopped the bleeding, and treated her wounds while angrily scolding everyone—

The organizers, the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts’ headmaster Dumbledore, the competing champions, Vid Gray, and even Hope herself for fighting desperately.

Hope buried her head in the pillow, wishing she couldn’t hear any of it.

But the witch’s Healing Magic was really strong...or was it just practice makes perfect? In what felt like the blink of an eye, most wounds were dealt with.

This was also because, despite the severity of Hope’s injuries, they were all physical and unmarked by any spell, thus making the treatment relatively easy.

When the curtains around the bed were pulled open, Hope was stunned—

The students and faculty of Salem were not watching the match but rather quietly waiting outside. Upon seeing her open her eyes, they immediately erupted into cheers.

"That was amazing, Hope!" A boy exclaimed excitedly, waving his fist, "You actually turned that terrifying lizard poppet into fireworks!"

"We saw everything." Another girl’s voice, teary-eyed, grasped her hand, "That last move was truly brave!"

"Inserting your hand into that big guy’s mouth... weren’t you scared at all?" Her sister asked, both excited and frightened.

"You... you were too bold!" Her mother said in hindsight, "Can an Explosive Spell be used like that? You nearly blew yourself up too!"

Ms. Owens stood at the back of the group, with a few strands of her neatly gathered hair fallen out. Once the excited students quieted, she walked over and gave Hope a firm hug.

For the girl, this gesture spoke volumes more than any words could.

She smelled the familiar scent of cedar on her professor, couldn’t hold back any longer, and began to cry.

"I’m sorry, professor, everyone..." Hope sobbed, "I... I lost..."

"But to me, you’re not only strong but a winner as well."

Ms. Owens ran her hands through Hope’s hair, singed by the explosive flames, and said warmly, "You displayed courage I had never imagined, child... I’m genuinely proud of you."

Hope cried out loud, and everyone else teared up as well but also wore gentle smiles.

Antoine, also a professor, was in the tent. He clapped his hands and said, "Alright, two people can stay with Hope, and the rest should go... the patient needs rest."

Right now, Hope naturally needed her family’s company the most. Everyone, though reluctant, stood up to say goodbye.

"Rest well, Hope. Once you’re healed, we’ll discuss the usage of the Explosive Spell!"

"Shut up, will you? Forgot about the proper spells usage guidelines?"

A burst of good-natured laughter echoed in the tent, and Hope wiped her teary eyes, unable to help but smile through tears as well.