Chapter 266: The Second Scroll

The electric light on Snape’s body illuminated the dark Forbidden Forest, making him look like a human lantern, though the electricity seemed to harm him not at all.

Harry gripped his wand, desperately trying to recall what spell he should cast now, but his mind was utterly blank.

Then, a thick bolt of lightning suddenly split from Snape’s body and struck Harry with lightning speed...

None of those present had ever seen such a massive bolt of lightning, but at that moment, the transformed beast instantly spat out a jet of water.

The water jet collided with the lightning in midair—water conducted electricity, and the bolt was instantly channeled along the stream’s path; Harry was safe, but part of the lightning traveled back along the water jet and struck the transformed beast directly...

The spot on the beast where the lightning hit turned instantly black and charred; it let out a pained roar, its fur standing on end from the shock—but fortunately, the beast had strong natural resistance to electricity, so it did not lose its fighting ability in an instant.

Harry and his two companions finally reacted, swiftly waving their wands and casting their most practiced spells...

“Stupefy!”

“Expelliarmus!”

“Petrificus Totalus!”

But all the spells missed—the transformed Snape seemed to possess many abilities; a flash of lightning passed, and he vanished from his spot, reappearing instantly elsewhere...

“This isn’t Apparition—it’s faster than Apparition,” Professor Lupin shouted in warning.

Two vine whips suddenly appeared along the ground at the spot where Snape had reappeared, wrapping him tightly.

Harry and his companions quickly prepared their next spell.

But at that moment, countless bolts of lightning erupted from Snape’s body, racing along the vines toward the transformed beast—now the beast itself became a glowing lantern, and Harry could even see its skeleton illuminated by the electricity...

The beast quickly released the vines to avoid greater damage, then pulled back and struggled to flap its wings into the air.

Despite such severe injury, the beast had not been knocked down nor reverted to its original form; its entire body trembled faintly from the electric shock, yet it stubbornly stood its ground against the transformed Snape.

Harry’s trio unleashed their second wave of spells—but Snape dodged them all with “Lightning Flash”; the three immediately realized how dire their situation had become.

Looking into Snape’s eyes, filled with madness, Hermione suddenly cried: “Professor, wake up! We’re your students!” She tried to awaken the mad Snape...

But Snape merely paused, deaf to Hermione’s cry; his eyes burned with unrelenting madness. He felt every nerve in his body ablaze with rage, yet his battle wisdom remained untouched—he knew the greatest threat to him was this strange creature, and he focused all his attention on it.

The battle erupted again—the transformed beast, hovering midair, launched seven or eight Leaf Blades straight at Snape.

Snape instantly cast a Shield Charm—and these Shield Charms actually blocked the Leaf Blades; then he counterattacked with “Sectumsempra.” He knew the beast had high electrical resistance, so he switched tactics.

The spell moved with extreme speed; though the beast dodged quickly, it still grazed its side, leaving a deep gash from which blood immediately gushed forth.

“Snape’s spells have been greatly strengthened!” Professor Lupin shouted.

Seizing the advantage, Snape pressed his assault, hurling wave after wave of “Sectumsempra” at the beast; the beast dodged constantly, but its speed slowed, and its wounds multiplied...

“He’s completely lost his mind. Once that... magical beast is defeated,

we’re next,” Black realized the situation and shouted.

“Think of something!” Ron yelled.

“The scroll!” Hermione suddenly turned to Harry and Ron.

Harry instantly understood Hermione’s meaning—he reached into his chest—but Ron beat him to it; Ron pulled out the scroll first, tore open the metal ring sealing it, and aimed it at a broken tree trunk...

The next moment, the scroll ignited; the tree trunk rapidly transformed, then vanished from sight.

Harry and his two companions stared blankly at the spot where the tree trunk had been, bewildered—hadn’t it been meant to transform into a new beast?

But the next instant, they felt a gust of wind brush past them—as if something had just darted by...

In Snape’s mind, a sudden alarm rang out; the next moment, a white beast claw appeared before him—the claws were not bony, but made of a gleaming, razor-sharp silver metal.

The invisible barrier of Snape’s Shield Charm shattered instantly; the claw continued its charge toward him, and just then, the transformed beast also launched seven or eight Leaf Blades at Snape...

Facing both the claw and the Leaf Blades, Snape knew their power and dared not block them—he flashed away again with “Lightning Flash.”

But he had barely landed when the gleaming claw reappeared, relentless, striking again—he had to dodge once more...

The battle suddenly became bizarre—the gleaming claw kept appearing out of thin air, and Snape could only keep dodging with “Lightning Flash”; for the first time, he was on the defensive.

“That beast can turn invisible!” Ron gasped.

Black stared in shock—he had now seen the full transformation of the tree trunk. He turned to his old friend Lupin, wondering how fast the world had changed—had magic in this era advanced to this level?

Yawen Library

He wanted Lupin to answer: why had the world changed without anyone telling him, “The world has changed”?

But in his old friend Lupin’s eyes, he saw only shock and confusion—Lupin had no idea how these children had created this thing. The first magical creature, with wings, was strange but understandable—a ranged spellcaster, something he could at least imagine countering, even if he might not win.

But this new invisible creature was terrifying. Though its full form remained unseen, its relentless attacks and that claw’s ability to shatter Shield Charms made it a wizard’s nightmare.

After all, wizards in this world were essentially just ranged spellcasters, with abysmal close-combat ability—even a wizard wielding a wand in one hand and a longsword in the other would struggle to defend against such an assault.

And the creature’s claw shattered the invisible Shield Charm as easily as breaking an eggshell—making it all the more terrifying...

Even Snape himself was deeply hidden—he had developed such a terrifying potion, one that could cause his body to undergo such strange and... lovely... transformations. He suddenly felt his old classmate had become utterly alien to him.