strokinit Chapter 180 Cracking and Release
Chapter 180 Cracking and Release
Chapter 180 Cracking and Release
Dobby's words were incoherent and full of the logic unique to house-elves, but the information they revealed made Lynch's gaze even more profound.
A huge danger?
This inevitably reminded Lynch of the recently opened secret chamber and the basilisk roaming the castle.
Just then, a huge gasp came from the stands, sweeping across the entire stadium like a tsunami. The sound pierced through the shadows at the base of the tower and interrupted Lynch's thoughts.
The main body that remained on the teacher's seat suddenly opened its eyes and witnessed a heart-stopping scene—Harry Potter's entire body had slipped off the broom, clinging to the broom handle with only his two hands, hanging high in the air like a leaf in the wind!
He was clearly in such a dangerous situation because he was trying to dodge that crazy, wandering ball.
At the base of the tower, Lynch's clone's gaze instantly turned icy cold. He stared at the bound Dobby and commanded, "Immediately release the spell on the Wandering Ball. Now!"
"No! Dobby can't!" Dobby screamed, shaking his head desperately despite being bound, his large eyes filled with painful struggle. "Harry Potter must leave! It's for his own good! Dobby can't—can't let him stay and face the danger!"
It started pinching its own body even more.
Lynch frowned as he saw blood seeping from between Dobby's fingers.
"Sir, Torts can give it a try!" Torts, who was standing to the side, immediately stepped forward, looked up at Lynch, and his big eyes shone with determination. "Torts is familiar with the magic of the fairies! Let Torts go!"
Lynch gave Totz a deep look, his gaze sharp as a knife, assessing the likelihood of success.
But time was of the essence; Harry, high in the air, could give up at any moment, or be knocked away by the ball before he could.
Without any hesitation, he ordered, "Go!"
"Yes, sir!"
Totz's figure vanished instantly from the dark base of the tower.
The next second, just as the out-of-control ball, with destructive force, was about to crash into Harry, who was suspended in mid-air and unable to dodge, Thorts' figure quietly appeared in the shadows of the east tower near the Forbidden Forest!
The location was extremely secluded, in a blind spot for most people. He raised his hand, aiming at the wandering ball high in the distance that was once again violently crashing into the suspended Harry. His slender fingers moved rapidly, and a string of rapid, ancient syllables escaped from his mouth.
A barely perceptible magical fluctuation, like ripples created by a pebble thrown into water, traversed space and struck the dark sphere with pinpoint accuracy.
The aggressive ball seemed to have all its malice suddenly drained away, shuddered violently, and its momentum decreased sharply. The trajectory that had been firmly locked onto Harry also shifted, and finally, with a harmless whistle, it flew past Harry's suspended body and disappeared at the other end of the field.
The crisis is temporarily over.
Having completed his mission, Totz immediately Apparated again, returning to the shadows at the base of the tower. Slightly panting, he reported to Lynch, "Sir, the spell has been lifted."
"Well done, Totz," Lynch said, not holding back his praise.
Upon hearing his master's praise, Totz's thin body straightened abruptly, and his large, tennis ball-sized eyes instantly shone with an astonishing brightness.
He clasped his hands tightly, his voice trembling with emotion, "This is what Totz should do, sir! It is Totz's greatest honor to serve you!"
In stark contrast to Thors' excitement was Dobby, who was bound by magical ropes.
Seeing his plan completely fail and Harry Potter escape danger, Dobby let out a desperate whimper, his whole body went limp, his huge ears drooped helplessly, and his eyes were filled with gloomy frustration and deep loss.
It muttered to itself, "Failed—Dobby failed—Harry Potter is still in danger—bad Dobby! Useless Dobby!"
Lynch turned his gaze to Dobby, his voice regaining its usual calm: "Dobby, tell me, who is your master?"
"No!!" Dobby reacted violently, letting out a piercing scream as if being whipped by an invisible whip. Even though it was bound, it twisted desperately. "Dobby can't say it! Never! Bad Dobby! Dobby would rather punish itself than betray its master!" Its nails dug deep into the skin on its outer thigh again, and blood seeped out even faster. Clearly, some ancient contractual force was punishing it and even making it think of saying its master's name.
Lynch keenly sensed the abnormal fluctuations in Dobby's magical power and its extreme pain. If he pressed further, the stubborn little elf might suffer severe damage, or even lose its life, from the backlash of the contract before he could get any information.
He immediately abandoned his plan to forcefully interrogate him.
Looking at Dobby's twisted, self-punishing loyalty, Lynch had a sudden realization: Dobby's "saving Harry Potter" was probably indeed its truest motivation. It was just that the house-elves' enslaved and contract-distorted mindset led them to adopt this extreme and foolish method to try to achieve the purpose of "protection" by causing harm.
He waved his hand lightly, and the invisible ropes binding Dobby instantly vanished.
Caught off guard, Dobby fell onto the cold ground. It curled up and stared at Lynch in fear and confusion.
"You can go now, Dobby," Lynch said calmly. "Go back to your master."
Dobby stared wide-eyed in disbelief, seemingly unable to comprehend why he had been released.
Lynch looked at the astonished house-elf in front of him: "I am Jim Lynch, currently a professor of Magical Studies at Hogwarts."
"If the great danger you speak of refers to the basilisk left by Salazar-Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets—"
Dobby's body stiffened abruptly, as if he had been petrified.
"—Then you can rest assured. I'll handle that basilisk. Harry Potter's safety is now my responsibility. You don't need to resort to that—foolish method anymore."
After saying that, Lin Qi's figure transformed into a crow and soared into the sky in a slight spatial distortion, disappearing into the shadows of the tower.
Totz followed in Lynch's footsteps and Apparated away from there.
Dobby was left sitting on the ground, dumbfounded. The words "secret room" and "basilisk" that Lynch had casually mentioned exploded in his simple mind like thunder.
How—how could he know?
Not only did he know, but he was also so confident that he could deal with the most terrifying monster in the legend?
Dobby's enormous eyes were filled with unprecedented shock and bewilderment. His once firm belief that "saving Harry Potter requires taking him away from Hogwarts" began to waver violently for the first time.