HP:BSG - Chapter 685: Flanked

Clementine swallowed hard, her throat so dry it hurt. Fear slithered up her ankles like an icy snake, making her whole body tremble.

She didn’t care that she was soaked from head to toe — using both hands and feet, she scrambled up onto the bank and staggered deeper into the dense forest.

Not far behind her, a branch that stretched over the stream suddenly bent downward with a strained creak, as if unable to bear the weight.

Splash!

Water sprayed everywhere as the lizard crashed heavily into the creek. It shook its head, then began to crawl forward, its body submerging completely until only ripples were left on the surface.

A few minutes later, in the clearing where the two had rested earlier, a figure silently appeared.

Hope patted the dust off her clothes, bent down, and picked up her water bottle and backpack. 

Then she picked up the pack Clementine had dropped, rummaging inside until she found a sword-shaped pointer. She combined it with the disk and cylindrical bearing in her own hand.

Click.

A faint sound echoed — and the girl’s lips curved slightly upward.

…

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Bring up that footage — the last segment, play it back!”

The director in charge of the streaming mirror broadcast immediately noticed a change in one of the corner screens and shouted to the staff:

“Quick! We can’t miss a single crucial moment!”

Seconds later, the spectators in the stands saw the image on the streaming mirror flicker. Instead of showing whether Clementine had been caught by the lizard, the view switched to Hope emerging from the forest.

For a moment, the audience was stunned — then an uproar erupted.

“What? That girl wasn’t taken by the doll?”

“When did she disappear? How did I miss that?”

“By Merlin’s beard! I thought she’d been eliminated — didn’t expect a twist like this.”

“Who bet on this warrior?”

“Which academy is she from?”

When they saw Hope assemble a complete compass, the noise grew even louder.

Earlier, everyone had seen how the two cooperated: Hope held the disk and bearing, while Clementine had only the pointer. Each guarded their own pieces, combining them only when they needed to confirm direction.

Logically, since Hope held two of the three parts, she should have had more control — yet in practice, Clementine had always been the one making the decisions. Hope, the black-haired girl from Salem Academy, had remained silent and shadow-like throughout.

No one had expected this partnership to change so drastically.

As they watched Hope holding the now-complete compass and correcting her course, Ms. Owens from Salem Academy finally showed a faint smile. 

Sitting nearby, Abby and Samuel — the other two Salem competitors — exchanged knowing glances, as if unsurprised.

Ilvermorny’s Agilbert asked curiously, “Does that child of yours… have some kind of special ability?”

Ms. Owens smiled politely. “She’s just a child skilled in Disillusionment Charms, that’s all.”

Agilbert raised an eyebrow. “A Disillusionment Charm… enough to fool even a magic doll’s sense of smell?”

Ms. Owens countered calmly, “Are you sure that lizard even has a sense of smell?”

Agilbert: “…”

That thing looked no different from a real lizard — even its nostrils were twitching — and now she was telling him it couldn’t actually smell the person hiding right next to it?

You’re not underestimating Wade Grey’s alchemical skill, he thought grimly, you’re underestimating my intelligence…

…

In one corner of the stands, Antoine was also quietly explaining to those around him:

“The British Ministry of Magic has that Metamorphmagus who can change appearances at will, right? Well, this little girl Hope is something similar. But she comes with a natural Notice-Me-Not charm. 

I’ve heard even her parents often forget they have a daughter — she used to cry from hunger all the time when she was little.”

He pointed toward the Streaming Mirror. At that moment, the image shifted away from Hope — showing Wade hurrying along for two seconds — before cutting to Clementine, sprinting frantically through the forest.

Antoine glanced at the projection. “Ever since she learned the Disillusionment Charm, Hope’s been practically a walking Demiguise. Now it seems even alchemical constructs unconsciously ignore her — that’s a new discovery.”

Delaine’s brow furrowed deeply. “You didn’t warn Wade about that girl’s ability?”

Before Antoine could reply, Grindelwald let out a cold chuckle and his fingers tapped lightly on his knee.

“If he can’t handle a mere Notice-Me-Not charm,” he said icily, “then he might as well drop out of Hogwarts and come train at Gray Fortress for a few years. Better that than playing childish games with schoolchildren all day — only to embarrass himself in the real world.”

Delaine stiffened, and his face tightened. Once again, he was caught off guard by his leader’s attitude.

He had expected Grindelwald to say something like — ‘Then he has no right to inherit my legacy.’

But instead… Grindelwald wanted to pull the boy out of Hogwarts and teach him personally?

If that happened… wouldn’t Dumbledore come storming in again?

Delaine licked his lips, his throat bobbing slightly, and finally just nodded in silence.

Antoine, however, seemed unconcerned. His eyes remained fixed on the image on the screen, fingers rubbing his chin thoughtfully — until he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

“Well, would you look at that,” he murmured. “What are the odds? Those two really are fated to meet.”

…

Clementine burst out of the thicket, stumbling and gasping — and suddenly saw Natalia, leaning against a rock to rest.

For an instant, as their eyes met, it felt like a replay of an earlier scene.

“You…?”

Natalia straightened warily, wand already in hand. Her eyes darted around and she quickly noted the absence of Hope.

“A lizard—there’s a lizard doll chasing me!” Clementine panted, pointing frantically behind her. “Hope might already have been— oh God! That thing’s terrifying! There’s no way a student could’ve built it!”

Natalia’s pupils constricted sharply. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and was about to speak — when she suddenly froze.

Something was wrong.

It was too quiet. Even the usual chirping of insects and birds had vanished, leaving only the faint rustle of leaves stirred by the wind.

Crash!

The rustling of branches made her snap her head around—there, a massive gorilla hung from a tree branch with one arm, its lips curling upward into a grotesque, menacing “smile.”

Beside her, Clementine gasped sharply and a sound escaped her throat that was halfway between a moan and a sob.

Natalia turned stiffly and saw the lizard doll crawling out from the waist-high weeds, its yellow eyes cold and pitiless.

Thud!

The gorilla dropped heavily to the ground with its powerful arms swaying as it advanced. The lizard raised its head, locking eyes with the gorilla.

They were both artificial creations—yet in that instant, some eerie understanding seemed to pass between the two beasts. The air itself seemed to thrum with it, making the girls’ scalps prickle and their bodies tremble.

“Back to back!”

Natalia’s voice came out hoarse.

Clementine pressed against her at once, their backs meeting—they could both feel the other’s heart pounding violently.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump, thump!

Rooaaar!

The gorilla let out a furious roar, pounding its chest twice before lunging forward with terrifying force; at the same moment, the lizard’s tail whipped like a lash, propelling its body into a lightning-fast charge!

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