The enormous basilisk's body began shrinking rapidly.
Dark scales disappeared while the massive coils folded inward upon themselves until, within moments, Victor stood beneath the trees of the Forbidden Forest once again.
Above him, the Dementors were already recovering from their surprise.
The creatures had paused when Harry was pulled away, but now they were descending again towards him.
Victor looked upward.
His expression had become darker with every passing second.
After everything that had happened tonight, these creatures were still refusing to leave.
Harry remained behind him trying to stay conscious while Sirius was still trapped high above the forest floor among the swarm.
Victor slowly raised his wand.
"Expecto Patronum."
Silver-white light erupted from the tip immediately.
The glow expanded rapidly through the clearing, illuminating the surrounding trees and throwing long shadows across the forest floor.
The magic continued building instead of taking shape immediately.
The light grew brighter.
Then something burst outward from the center of it.
A dragon.
Its enormous body emerged from the Patronus charm in a storm of silver energy while gigantic wings unfolded above the clearing.
Every scale looked forged from pure light.
The creature's presence alone caused the nearest Dementors to hesitate.
The dragon spread its wings completely.
The first beat sent a wave of Patronus energy crashing through the forest.
Several Dementors were hurled backward through the air as if struck by an invisible wall.
Then the dragon roared.
The sound rolled across the woods like distant thunder and shook branches overhead.
A second wingbeat followed immediately afterward.
This time the burst of silver light spread even farther.
The nearest Dementors scattered instantly while others attempted to regroup around Sirius.
The dragon gave them no opportunity.
Its enormous body surged upward through the darkness while silver trails followed behind it.
Every time it passed near a Dementor, the creature recoiled violently as though exposed to fire.
The freezing cold that had filled the forest began disappearing.
Harry could finally breathe properly again while the horrible voices inside his head slowly faded into silence.
Above the treetops, the dragon banked sharply before diving through the largest cluster of Dementors.
A brilliant explosion of silver light erupted across the night sky.
The formation broke completely.
Creatures that moments earlier had advanced confidently now fled in every direction.
Some vanished into the darkness beyond the forest.
Others retreated toward the distant grounds of Hogwarts.
The dragon climbed higher once more before releasing another roar powerful enough to echo across the entire forest.
By then no Dementor seemed willing to remain anywhere near the clearing.
"I dislike this development." Victor muttered while looking down at Sirius Black.
The man lay unconscious among the roots and fallen leaves, looking like he had just barely escaped death.
And honestly, he had.
If Victor had arrived even a minute later, both Harry and Sirius would have had their souls sucked out.
There would have been nothing left to save.
Victor clicked his tongue in annoyance.
After all the trouble they had gone through exposing Peter Pettigrew, it would have been incredibly stupid for Sirius to die right before proving his innocence.
Then a familiar notification appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations. Your Fortune has increased.]
[Ability Assimilation Acquired (3 Uses)]
[Description: Allows the user to merge magical objects into the body without side effects. The user acquires one hundred percent of the object's magical abilities.]
Victor stared at the notification.
Then he read it again.
His eyebrows slowly rose.
Now that -
That was actually useful.
For months the system had mostly rewarded him with things ranging from mildly helpful to completely ridiculous.
This, however, was genuinely valuable. The possibilities behind an ability like that were absurd.
Victor dismissed the notification after a few seconds.
There would be time to think about it later.
Right now he still had a problem lying unconscious in front of him.
Victor looked down at Sirius again.The man looked terrible.
His face was pale, his clothes were torn, and he looked one strong breeze away from collapsing even harder.
Still.
Half dead was considerably better than fully dead.
"Honestly," Victor muttered, "your talent for attracting disasters should be considered a magical ability."
Sirius remained unconscious.
Victor sighed.
Then he bent down, grabbed Sirius by one leg, and started dragging him through the forest.
Leaves and dirt scraped beneath Sirius while Victor walked deeper between the trees.
There was no way he could leave him here.
The moment Snape found Sirius again, the man would be heading straight back to Azkaban before anyone had time to explain anything.
And with Pettigrew unconscious somewhere on the grounds, the entire situation was already unstable enough.
Victor continued dragging Sirius through the darkness.
"Let's hide you somewhere before another catastrophe shows up," he said.
Considering Sirius Black's life so far, that was not an unreasonable concern.
*****
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