It might have just been Adelaide's imagination, but the feeling was so strong and real—she felt as if Madam Norris had already noticed her presence and even shot her a vicious glare.
Adelaide was not one to back down easily. Facing the other's provocative gaze, she unhesitatingly raised her hand and cast Petrificus Totalus at Madam Norris on the second floor. As she waved her wand, a powerful surge of magic instantly erupted from her hand, sweeping toward Madam Norris like an invisible rope.
Madam Norris was clearly no ordinary cat either. With a flash of its body, it easily dodged Adelaide's attack with extremely agile movements. With a few small leaps, it actually escaped the Castle and appeared right in front of Adelaide and the others!
"Merlin's laxative!"
Amandine's face darkened as she muttered curses under her breath, while simultaneously reacting quickly.
She used her left hand to tightly pull Adelaide back, retreating desperately, while raising her right hand to point her wand straight at Madam Norris, who was not far ahead.
Immediately after, a series of fierce and vicious curses flew out of her mouth: "Confringo! Crucio! Avada Kedavra!"
With every curse shouted, Amandine's expression became increasingly distorted and terrifying, scaring Adelaide so much that she didn't even dare to struggle.
Seeing this situation, the surrounding Centaurs also understood that this ominous little cat was their target tonight. They raised their bows and crossbows one after another, aiming at Madam Norris's position.
In an instant, countless arrows shot toward Madam Norris like a rainstorm, forming a chilling volley of ten thousand arrows.
The dense swarm of spiders on the outer walls of the Castle also seemed to be stimulated by something. One by one, they threw themselves down recklessly, scrambling to pounce, as if they wanted to completely submerge Madam Norris.
Just when everyone thought Madam Norris had no way to escape and was certain to die, a shocking scene occurred.
Madam Norris suddenly stopped without any warning, then violently jerked its head, flinging the cockroach diadem from its neck toward Adelaide's direction at extreme speed.
The cockroach diadem wants to take her down with it—that was the first thought that flashed through Adelaide's mind at this moment.
In this life-or-death moment, she had no time to think about anything else. Instinctively, she ducked down and used all her strength to lunge to the side, narrowly dodging the cockroach diadem that was flying straight for her head.
Because her movements were too hurried, she even accidentally tripped Amandine, who was holding onto her tightly, causing both of them to stumble and fall to the ground at the same time.
Regardless, she had finally escaped this disaster, shaken but unharmed.
One must know that no matter how powerful a Horcrux is, its power lies in the soul. A soul without a physical form cannot move the physical ravenclaw diadem; it can only rely on seizing the minds of other creatures to make them carry the Horcrux and flee.
Once a Horcrux loses its host, it becomes like a kite with a broken string, completely losing its ability for independent action. Lord Voldemort probably wanted to go all-in to control Adelaide, but he failed, and now he had no more chances.
Just as Adelaide, having survived the ordeal, was about to let out a long sigh of relief, an inadvertent glance back made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar!
The cockroach diadem, which should have fallen to the ground, was now moving in an extremely eerie and unpredictable trajectory, leaping straight toward Alice's head!
Adelaide felt as if her heart was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand. A breath was forced back into her chest, and she nearly fainted from the excessive shock.
Even worse, she suddenly realized that Alice had been standing behind her the whole time, watching the scene unfold. Adelaide standing in front of her had partially blocked Alice's view, preventing her from noticing the Diadem flying toward her in the first place.
By the time Alice realized danger was approaching and wanted to dodge, it was already too late!
Alice: "Merlin's chest hair! I was just watching the show!"
At the very moment the Horcrux Diadem made contact with the top of Alice's head, a thick, ink-like black mist suddenly erupted, enveloping Alice entirely with lightning speed. The density of this black mist was even several times thicker than the one on Madam Norris.
Alice's hand, which had originally reached out toward the Horcrux Diadem to remove it, now seemed to have been hit by a Body-Bind Curse as it slowly lowered.
The initial shock on her face quickly vanished, replaced by a chilling expressionlessness.
Alice suddenly raised her wand. With a "swish," she aimed it at Adelaide, who was still rolling on the ground.
Adelaide instinctively felt the danger of death—"Alice" really intended to kill her!
In that split second, Amandine, who had remained highly alert, was the first to react. Almost at the same time, she flicked her wand and shouted loudly: "Imperio!"
A dazzling light shot out along with the incantation, accurately hitting Alice while she was still chanting.
Hit by this sudden attack, Alice's body instantly stiffened, as if she had turned into a statue, remaining in a stalemate for several seconds.
Taking this opportunity, Adelaide also quickly raised her wand and muttered an incantation. Immediately after, an Expelliarmus flew toward Alice.
With a crisp sound, the wand tightly held in Alice's hand flew out of her grasp, tracing an arc in the air before landing far away.
Seeing this, the always short-tempered Centaur Bane immediately charged forward like an arrow from a bow, unhesitatingly blocking the space between Adelaide and Alice.
He raised both hands high and shouted at the top of his lungs, while methodically directing a group of Centaurs to take action.
These Centaurs were strong and agile. In the blink of an eye, they had Alice surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.
At the same time, several giant White-browed Huntsman Spiders silently scurried past beneath the horses' hooves, gradually closing in on Alice, who was trapped in the center. The Wizards inside the Castle also arrived just in time, panting as they ran toward Alice's direction.
At this moment, Alice's situation, possessed by the Horcrux Diadem, was quite dire. Her wand had been knocked away, losing her most important weapon; meanwhile, she was heavily surrounded by Centaurs and Wizards. It seemed the Horcrux Diadem was now out of options.
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