Witcher at Hogwarts

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Rasputin still hadn't detected Ethan's deception. Turning away from him, he seemed to be lost in thought.

"All right, now hand it over!"

Rasputin suddenly turned, his pale, thin palm outstretched.

Ethan hesitated, uncertain about what Rasputin expected. He scrambled for a response.

"I didn't bring it with me," he blurted, hoping to stall.

"You'll have to come outside with me to get it."

'Maybe that'll throw him off for a bit,' Ethan thought, buying himself time.

If he could lure Rasputin out of this lair, he might be able to alert the Polish authorities to neutralize this ancient menace.

Rasputin frowned, clearly irritated.

"Didn't bring it?" he repeated, incredulous.

"Then why bother waking me?"

"Wait!" Rasputin's eyes narrowed, his gaze locking onto Ethan with sudden suspicion.

With a flash of recognition, Rasputin's pale blue eyes bore into Ethan's amber, cat-like eyes. He sneered in fury.

"Witcher? You—you're not with them!" Rasputin spat.

Without hesitation, he thrust his hand forward, unleashing a lethal spell—a streak of gray-white magic shot toward Ethan.

Ethan barely evaded the blast, dodging just in time. Rasputin hadn't used the standard killing curse, Avada Kedavra, favored by modern dark wizards. Instead, he summoned a more potent and obscure spell, one that instantly transformed the tree behind Ethan into ash.

'That spell's even deadlier than Avada Kedavra,' Ethan thought, alarmed.

Every instinct sharpened as he prepared to face the legendary wizard.

He quickly drew a protective seal with his left hand, summoning a soft yellow barrier around himself. Then, with a swift motion, he fired a volley of enchanted crossbow bolts at Rasputin.

But Rasputin only grinned and flicked his fingers, diverting each bolt with a strange, effortless deflection. One by one, the bolts fell harmlessly to the ground.

"Gaga! Now's the time!" Ethan yelled to his companion.

"But... but I can't do anything against a wizard!" Gaga stammered, frozen in place.

"Hahaha! You fools!"

Rasputin's laughter echoed.

He gestured, and thick, vine-like tendrils, dark and pulsing like veins, surged from the ground, lashing out toward Ethan.

Ethan didn't flinch. Gripping the Sword of the Lake, he swung with all his strength, cutting through the attacking tendrils.

The blade arced through the darkness, severing the thick vines. A putrid, acidic sap sprayed from the cut, splattering onto Ethan's face and burning his skin.

But he had no time to react. Another vine whipped toward him from behind, and he couldn't counter it this time. The tendril slammed into his Quinn shield, shattering it instantly and throwing him forward. He rolled twice, barely recovering his footing.

A sharp cry from behind snapped him back to the fight.

Rasputin had turned his attention to Gaga, and now a thick vine was mercilessly lashing at his companion. Too terrified to move, Gaga crouched low, helpless under the assault.

"Gaga!" Ethan called out, trying to warn him.

But a deadly curse shot at him before he could get another word out.

"Take care of yourself first!" Rasputin sneered, sending the spell with brutal precision.

Ethan barely had time to react. Unable to summon Quinn's shield, he raised the Sword of the Lake in defense.

The curse clashed against the blade, emitting a piercing screech that echoed through the hollow cave.

Thankfully, the enchanted sword held strong, deflecting Rasputin's lethal spell without harm.

In a swift motion, Ethan flicked his wrist, summoning his wand into his hand. He'd noted that Rasputin's primary weapon in this enclosed space was the sinister, vine-like tendrils of the ancient tree they stood beneath.

'If I could burn this tree with Fiendfyre, it might cripple Rasputin's strength.'

Just then, Gaga, still entangled by the vines, looked up and cried out to him,

"Sir! Don't burn the tree! It holds up the whole cave—if it goes down, it will collapse!"

Before Ethan could respond, a thick vine whipped Gaga hard across the nose. She yelped in pain, clutching her nose as tears welled up in her small, beady eyes.

But something in the pain triggered a ferocious change in Gaga. Her breathing grew heavier, and her eyes filled with a fierce red rage.

With a thunderous roar, she tore a vine in two, and the raw power awakened in her, driving him straight toward Rasputin.

Rasputin only laughed, raising his hands, which began to glow with a sickly gray light.

"Avada Kedavra!" he chanted, sending the curse hurtling toward Gaga.

Ethan's warning died in his throat as the curse struck Gaga's chest with full force. Yet, to Rasputin's surprise, Gaga barely faltered.

The powerful spirit magic protecting her absorbed much of the impact, slowing her only momentarily before she continued her advance.

For the first time, a look of shock crossed Rasputin's face.

Like other dark wizards, he was too arrogant to consider non-human creatures—like house elves or mountain spirits—a real threat. And now that arrogance was costing him dearly.

Taking advantage of the moment, Ethan sheathed the Fiendfyre idea and edged closer to Rasputin, wand at the ready.

"Sectumsempra!" he shouted, casting the powerful cutting spell.

He'd mastered it from Snape's old notes in the potions classroom.

The spell would inflict a wound that only special counter-curses could heal, causing relentless bleeding.

But as the spell neared Rasputin, a strange force field around him deflected it, causing the curse to veer off course.

Despite this, the spell's deflection caught one small target—slicing off a piece of Rasputin's beard.