‘Hey!
What do you—’
Before Hermione could demand to know why he had pushed her, dust erupted from the spot where she had been standing.
Something had charged straight through it.
She looked up at Black, her anger swallowed by fear.
If he hadn’t shoved her aside, that creature would have sent her flying.
Black clicked his tongue, watching the direction it had taken.
For a moment, Hermione had been angry with him.
But before the system could draw a chest, her anger had turned to fear of the Hidebehind.
No reward.
‘Let me handle this,’ he said.
‘But you’re a Muggle.
How can you fight something like that?’
‘I don’t know what a Muggle is, but I can deal with it.’
Hermione opened her mouth to argue.
Then her eyes widened.
Dust and grit were rising from the ground, gathering in the air around Black.
‘You’re… you’re a wizard too?’
[Shock detected.]
[No chest obtained.]
Black gave her a puzzled look.
Hermione hesitated.
Didn’t he know what a wizard was?
Perhaps he was like she had been before her letter arrived.
Perhaps he had no idea.
In fact, Black’s confusion had nothing to do with the word ‘wizard’.
He was wondering why she hadn’t produced a chest.
Useless system.
He turned his attention back to the Hidebehind.
‘Spread.’
The dust scattered outwards.
Hermione watched, baffled.
Even if he was a wizard, surely he couldn’t know much more than she did.
How was he supposed to fight that creature?
And what good would a bit of floating dust do?
Was the monster so fussy about cleanliness that it would refuse to come near them?
Then she saw the answer.
Five metres in front of Black, the drifting dust began to collect on something in mid-air.
A shape emerged.
‘Found you,’ Black said.
As each particle touched the Hidebehind, his magic held it fast against the creature’s body.
Within moments, a dusty outline had rendered its invisibility useless.
Hermione stared.
He’d used dust to make it visible.
She hadn’t thought of using magic like that.
‘But what spell is it?’ she murmured.
She searched her memory of her textbooks.
The Hidebehind sneezed twice as dirt settled over its face.
It glared at Black.
It did not appreciate being toyed with.
With a heavy pounding of feet, it charged again.
Now Hermione could follow every movement.
It was hurtling straight at him.
At that speed, it would knock him flat unless he moved.
He could be killed.
‘Get out of the way!’
Black stayed where he was.
He merely raised his right hand.
‘Up.’
The ground cracked.
Dozens of thick, sharply pointed spikes thrust upwards into the creature’s path.
The Hidebehind had no time to stop.
Its foot came down on one.
A howl tore through the clearing.
The spike had pierced straight through its right foot.
Pain shattered its concentration.
Its invisibility failed, exposing the creature beneath the coating of dust.
Hermione remained on the ground, too astonished even to get up.
She had thought Black was frozen with fright.
He had barely lifted a hand, and the monster was badly wounded.
‘What sort of magic is that?’
Then she got a proper look at the thing.
Its hideous face filled her with a fear unlike anything she had known before.
Brave or not, she was eleven.
She had none of Black’s experience of another lifetime to steady her.
The Hidebehind wrenched the spike from its foot and hauled itself upright, limping.
That had dealt with its speed.
Black watched it calmly.
This was what he had expected.
Earlier, he had been too short of magic.
He could have raised spikes then, but they wouldn’t have been hard enough to pierce the creature’s foot.
That was why he had run.
Now, with far greater reserves and much finer control, his Transfiguration could produce something strong enough to hurt it.
The Hidebehind stared back.
Beneath its anger, there was wariness now.
Its kind were highly intelligent.
It had taken the two human children for easy prey.
Clearly, it had been mistaken.
It considered retreating.
Yet abandoning the hunt rankled.
They were only human young.
How could they possibly be a threat?
Besides, it had stepped on the spike itself.
Bad luck.
That didn’t mean the boy was powerful.
The longer it considered this, the more convincing it seemed.
Its caution began to fade.
Black saw the renewed aggression in its eyes and sighed.
‘You really won’t leave it alone, will you?’
The Hidebehind charged.
This time, it watched the ground.
It would not step on another spike.
Its wounded foot slowed it considerably, but there was still frightening force behind the rush.
Hermione stared in horror.
How could it still attack with an injury like that?
It was almost on Black.
Then a boulder beside the path changed.
A roughly formed stone lion sprang from its place and slammed into the Hidebehind, pinning it to the earth.
The creature roared and struggled.
The lion was immensely heavy.
The impact alone had broken several bones.
Then its jaws opened.
Crude though its shape was, Black had not neglected the teeth.
They closed on the Hidebehind’s neck with a sharp crunch.
Its roar became a scream.
For the first time, there was desperation in its eyes.
It had fallen for another trap.
The hastily Transfigured lion could never have caught it in a chase, even with its injured foot.
Under ordinary circumstances, it wouldn’t have managed to pin it down.
But the Hidebehind had been watching for spikes.
It hadn’t spared a glance for a rock beside the path.
The lion had struck before it knew there was anything to avoid.
Hermione watched in disbelief.
‘That’s… Transfiguration?’
Professor McGonagall had demonstrated it in front of her family.
But she had said it was a complex branch of magic.
Difficult to learn.
How could a boy her own age do it?
And so well?
Perhaps he came from a wizarding family after all.
She stared at Black.
[Shock detected.]
[Chest draw in progress.]
[Gold Chest obtained ×1.]
With the fight all but won, Black heard the notification and broke into a delighted smile.
A Gold Chest.
His first.
And if Hermione could produce rewards like this, what might he get from Dumbledore?
He was very much looking forward to finding out.