Harry Potter: I am the Legend

Headmaster Armando Dippet and Reiner saw Aosivia and Hoffa rounding the corner. Their expressions shifted from astonishment to pale dread.

The oppressive atmosphere in the dim, violet glow of the basement was thick with silence—one heavy with fear, madness, and unspeakable tension.

Hoffa glanced at the two older men, then down at the mechanical magical watch on the back of his own hand.

Disconnected fragments of thought began to weave together in his mind, forming a tentative yet chilling conclusion.

He recalled the task he had assigned himself last summer. He thought about how his inexplicably deteriorating health had suddenly improved. He remembered the black coffin involved in Dippet's deal with Grindelwald years ago and the mysterious breach of agreements with the lake-dwelling merfolk at Black Lake.

Who else but the headmaster would have the power to rewrite such agreements?

For a moment, Hoffa found himself speechless.

A faint clink echoed in the silence.

Aosivia staggered back a step, her face a mask of disbelief.

She stumbled again, leaning against one of the transparent glass tanks, using it to steady herself. The next second, she clutched her mouth and began to retch violently.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Hoffa turned to Aosivia. In that instant, he couldn't afford to unravel the complexities of the situation. Countless future possibilities flooded his mind.

What if Armando Dippet was the Half-Human King?

What if he had been controlling hundreds of constructs to commit massacres?

What if he intended to open the black coffin to gain forbidden knowledge?

What if he had harmed students to gather the necessary keys?

And, most urgently, what if all of this became public knowledge?

Given the international wizarding authorities' intense pursuit of the Half-Human King over the past year, Hogwarts would face an unprecedented scandal. Worse, every teacher and student in the school might become implicated.

The consequences would be unimaginable.

Dark-robed Aurors began to converge from all directions. Their faces twisted in shock at the sight of Dippet's metallic body.

Hoffa moved toward Aosivia, hoping to steady her, but she shoved him away with a forceful hand.

Her eyes were bloodshot now, and she staggered forward, transforming as she went. Her features became monstrous, her hair writhing into serpentine locks. In her hand, her wand transformed into a sharp, curved blade.

"Armando Dippet," she said, her voice trembling.

"Was it you? Were you the one controlling these people? Were all of this year's atrocities your doing?"

The headmaster and school healer instinctively took a step back.

Dippet's face turned pale. "You misunderstand—"

"Was it you who killed my father!?"

Aosivia surged forward.

"I did not!"

Dippet's reply was flustered, his tone disbelieving.

"Did not?"

Aosivia pointed to the corner, her voice rising into a roar. "Then tell me—what is that coffin? And why does my family's key rest in your possession?"

Armando Dippet turned to look. When his eyes fell upon the black coffin with its embedded crown and bracelet, his face drained of all color.

"How... how could this be...?" he murmured in shock.

Reiner stepped forward, raising a hand. "Miss Romanoff, please calm down. Things aren't what you think—"

Boom!

Aosivia's fist slammed into Reiner, sending him hurtling several meters backward. He crashed into a glass tank, shattering it, and collapsed in a pool of blood before passing out.

"You betrayed me, Dippet!" Aosivia screamed. "I did so much for you! I trusted you completely!"

Armando Dippet remained fixated on the black coffin, utterly oblivious to the impending danger.

Aosivia's face twisted into a ghastly mask of hatred. "I swear, I will carve every piece of flesh from your body with my blade! I'll let countless serpents feast on your corpse until you bleed to death. And every single person in your organization will suffer a hundredfold the pain you've caused me!"

With those words, she lunged at Dippet without hesitation, blade aimed straight for him.

The air was heavy with murderous intent, snapping Hoffa back to his senses.

This was bad.

If Aosivia killed Armando Dippet now, it would only exacerbate the chaos. She was being irrational.

He needed to take control of the situation immediately. At the very least, Albus Dumbledore needed to be informed.

Channeling his magic into a transformation spell, Hoffa's wand morphed into a massive sword. He leaped forward, intercepting Aosivia's blade. Sparks flew as the weapons clashed, the sheer force of her strike forcing him to his knees.

He turned to the Aurors and shouted, "Go! Alert the other heads of house!"

The group hesitated briefly before one of them turned to run.

"Seal this area! Not a single Hogwarts staff member is to enter!" Aosivia roared, her voice trembling with rage.

She pressed down harder, her blade gradually forcing Hoffa's sword downward.

The Aurors exchanged uneasy glances but remained rooted in place, unsure how to proceed.

Hoffa growled, "Aosivia, what are you trying to do?"

"Stay out of my way!" she snarled, her blade mere inches from his face. Her voice was venomous, her teeth bared in fury. Completely consumed by hatred, her blood-red eyes gleamed, and her teeth had grown unnaturally sharp.

"Calm down!"

Hoffa's body bent under her immense strength, inch by inch. Even with his life conversion ability activated, it was no use.

At last, Dippet snapped out of his daze. He barked, "Romanoff, listen to me! I'm doing this to protect the school!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Hoffa felt the pressure on him surge. Unable to withstand her overwhelming force, he sidestepped and dislodged Aosivia's blade.

In the brief opening that followed, a flash of steel streaked past.

Dippet, standing behind Hoffa, screamed as one of his arms was severed. Clutching the stump, he stumbled backward, his voice shrill with desperation. "Stop, Romanoff! You'll bring destruction upon Hogwarts!"

"Shut up, you hypocrite!"

She charged forward again. Dippet managed to draw his wand, but before he could cast a spell, her foot connected with his abdomen. The force sent him flying several meters, smashing through a glass tank and then the wall behind it.

His limp body slumped against the wall, the arm holding his wand twisted unnaturally, the wand itself shattered on the ground.

The heavy blow rendered him unconscious.

Aosivia gave chase, crashing through the broken wall, her blade poised to strike Dippet's body.

Hoffa darted into her path.

Clang!

Blade met shield in an explosive collision, sparks scattering as a deafening shockwave shattered nearby glass.

Hoffa blocked her again.

His body had entered an activation state, electricity flickering across his frame. As his muscles swelled and stretched, his stature grew. With immense effort, he managed to counter Aosivia's serpentine strength. He roared through gritted teeth:

"Calm down! We need to assess the situation!"

"Assess what?!" she snarled. "Are you blind, or do you think the horrors in this room are just illusions?"

"I see it!"

Hoffa shut his eyes in frustration before reopening them, his tone firm but pleading. "But let someone more qualified handle this, please!"

"Qualified?" Aosivia's face twisted with derision. "What's the difference? They're all the same—a world of chaos and madness, filled with people who stop at nothing."

Fully activating his abilities, Hoffa's body became lean and muscular, his tendons defined, every ounce of fat burned away. Using his enhanced strength, he slowly pushed back against her blade.

"You're being irrational! This won't help you or the school!"

"Irrational?" Aosivia laughed, a bitter, mocking sound. "You're talking to me about rationality?"

Her laughter stopped abruptly as she drove a fist into Hoffa's abdomen. The force sent him flying five meters into a surgical table, scattering scalpels and clamps that clattered over him.

Raising her blade, she turned her focus back to Dippet and aimed for his legs.

Hoffa shoved the surgical table aside and sprang up, clapping his hands together. From the ground, three stone hands emerged, intertwining to trap Dippet within.

Thud!

Her blade struck the stone hands, chipping away shards of rock.

As debris flew, Aosivia whirled around, her voice seething with fury. "You're really going to stop me?"

This time, Hoffa said nothing. But his actions spoke volumes.

She snarled, "Aurors, guard Dippet for me!"

The Aurors stepped forward, encircling the stone structure Hoffa had conjured.

"Will you listen to nothing I say?" Hoffa asked bitterly.

Taking a deep breath, Aosivia slammed her blade into the ground. The weapon grew larger, the impact sending tremors through the floor. She spat, "It took me a long time to accept who I am, to accept my fate. I won't let a few empty words change my resolve!"

For a moment, the two stood in tense silence.

Finally, Hoffa exhaled and gave a slight nod. "Fine."

In an instant, he vanished.

Without hesitation, Aosivia tore the necklace from her neck and hurled it to the ground.

A massive serpent spiraled upward, forming a towering ring-shaped wall. Its metallic scales glimmered like cold steel thorns, sharp and unyielding.

The serpent wall sealed the exit, cutting off any chance for Hoffa to leave and summon reinforcements.

But Hoffa, still in his phantom-like state, didn't act rashly.

He retreated slowly to the far end of the chamber, putting some distance between himself and Aosivia.

His expertise was in transfiguration, but Aosivia knew almost everything he did. The only exception was Grindelwald's unique transfiguration spell, Shattered Grasp.

As the serpent wall parted, a three-meter-tall half-serpent witch emerged, dragging a nearly two-meter-long green blade. Her serpentine hair writhed, each snake flicking its forked tongue menacingly.

The snakes turned their heads, and in unison, they let out a hiss, quickly pinpointing Hoffa's position.

Aosivia flicked her arm, and the curved blade transformed into a whip-like weapon, its segments gleaming with an eerie green light.

With a powerful swing, the blade-whip lashed toward Hoffa's position.

Hoffa leaped high, grabbing onto a pipe on the ceiling to evade the deadly strike.

The whip carved a half-meter-deep gash into the wall.

"Standard Disillusionment Charms are meaningless against me, Bach," Aosivia said coldly.

The moment her words fell, the floor on both sides of Hoffa suddenly rose up.

Boom!The slabs of stone slammed together like massive hands.

Before they fully closed, Aosivia let out a piercing cry.

A circular shield charm materialized around her body, and the stone hands shattered into fragments as they struck her shield.

At the same time, countless spikes shot down from the ceiling, aiming to skewer Hoffa, still in his Disillusioned state, like a sieve.

Hoffa shifted into a ghost-walk state, landing on the ground. As soon as he reappeared, he sidestepped 20 meters to the left, drawing a massive sword to shatter rows of glass tanks.

Cold preservation fluid drenched him, and the air was filled with the nauseating stench of formalin.

The snakes on Aosivia's head flicked their tongues, but with no body heat or scent to follow, she lost her target.

Seizing the opportunity, Hoffa widened the distance between them again.

Still, he refrained from attacking. Aosivia was protected by two layers of defense: a shield charm and the serpent wall. Until these barriers disappeared, any offense would be futile. However, the shield charm consumed far more magical energy than a Disillusionment Charm. He could afford to wait.

Unable to locate Hoffa, Aosivia held up her shield with her left hand and dragged her blade with her right, moving cautiously.

"You're no match for me, and I have no desire to kill you. Even if I don't kill Dippet, he'll eventually have his soul sucked out by Dementors."

She turned slightly, her voice calm but resolute. "All you're doing is buying this school a little more time to linger in its misery. It's pointless. I could send you to Durmstrang. You'd be well taken care of there."

Hoffa remained unmoved, patiently biding his time.

The flickering of Aosivia's shield betrayed her growing strain.

Still, Hoffa didn't move. He knew she wouldn't falter this quickly.

Aosivia narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she dropped her left-hand shield, extending her blade to slash toward Dippet inside the stone prison.

Now!

Hoffa pushed his activated state to its absolute peak. With ghost-walk's enhanced speed, he became a blur of motion. Facing a Transfiguration professor, he couldn't afford to hold back.

Sensing his approach, Aosivia immediately pulled her blade back and retreated behind the serpent wall.

The serpent wall lashed out, its metallic tail splitting into five, resembling both swords and a massive net.

The sharp tails skimmed past Hoffa's face, piercing the ground and leaving five massive craters in their wake.

Amid the scattering rubble, Hoffa hadn't managed to harm Aosivia.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Drip.

A few drops of blood fell onto the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Aosivia noticed the droplets and smirked coldly. "I know you have some extraordinary magic, but you're too young. Your magical level is too low. You won't last long."

"Is that so?" Hoffa's voice was calm as he slowly revealed himself.

His body was soaked in green preservation fluid, a gash on his cheek steadily dripping blood.

But his left hand was clutching the head of the serpent wall. The enormous snake began to writhe, its scales contracting.

Aosivia's expression changed.

"Let go," she commanded sharply.

Hoffa chuckled. "Professor, after all the time we've spent together, do you really think I know nothing about your necklace? The essence of Transfiguration is understanding, and I understand your magic very well."

With that, Hoffa entered a meditative state, drastically boosting his mental power.

Aosivia's spiritual connection to the necklace was severed. The serpent wall reverted to a green serpent, then to a small snake, and finally back to a necklace in Hoffa's palm.

Holding the necklace, Hoffa turned to the Aurors and said, "Summon the other heads of house."

(End of chapter)

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