“Ah!!!”
A girl’s heart-wrenching scream echoed.
She ran slowly and accidentally fell, the towering wall of water chasing her closely, with fish swept into the sky plummeting to the ground with a “smack” in front of her.
Despairing, she looked ahead where the castle’s doors stood wide open, cold wind mixed with humid water vapor rushing in, leaving many students staring wide-eyed at the scene, faces frozen with near-paralyzing fear.
Snape rushed forward, his black robe billowing behind him, wielding his magic wand like a whip.
In front of the castle, those giant stone slabs that had paved the ground for hundreds, even thousands, of years, began flipping up as if they suddenly came to life.
They flew to the girl’s side, and to the students stranded behind, landing at their feet.
Students reacted swiftly, climbing onto the stone slabs, being ferried towards the castle.
But it wasn’t enough.
The wall of water surged too high and fast, and Snape was just one person with one magic wand. Even as he poured in all his effort, he could save at most a dozen people at a time.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall rushed down from upstairs, her face exceptionally pale, running while fervently waving her wand, shouting loudly:
“Piers, deploy! Everyone charge! Protect everyone!”
Amid thunderous noise, statues around the castle sprang to life, starting with those crouching on rooftops, guarding office doors, or hanging at the corners of walls — the gargoyles.
They unfolded their heavy stone wings, beating the air, skimming low over the ground like galloping horses.
One gargoyle rushed to the water wall, scooping up two young students who couldn’t run, then quickly flew them towards the castle.
A stone horse originally poised in the garden galloped, grasping a panic-stricken student with its mouth and with a toss of its head, flinging the person onto its back.
More statues ran, searching, bringing back the students who lagged behind one by one.
The students inside the castle finally reacted, seven or eight Quidditch players leapt onto their brooms and flew out, grabbing anyone they could find, pulling them onto their brooms, and desperately flying back towards the castle.
When they returned, they saw Madam Hooch from flying class had gone out for the third time.
Professor McGonagall stood prominently at the entrance, holding her wand high, lips moving incessantly, her face showing no expression.
She watched the wall of water closely, also tracking each student not yet retrieved, eyes unwavering.
The water wall kept advancing, the humid mist already striking everyone’s face, making the stone steps in front of the castle wet and slick.
Finally, the last student was tossed into the entrance hall by a gargoyle, rolling on the floor twice, gasping heavily.
Professor McGonagall suddenly swung her magic wand!
“Bang!”
The door slammed shut with a crash!
“Bang bang bang bang bang bang!”
In a series of collisions, from bottom to top, all doors and windows of Hogwarts closed tightly, the hall’s light dimming significantly.
In the next second, the candles above the long tables blazed to life, illuminating the hall brightly and warmly.
The students who barely escaped slumped to the ground, sobbing pitifully.
“Boom—”
Another loud noise, the wall of water crashing in, the rumbling sound vibrating everyone’s ears, dust falling as the whole castle seemed to tremble.
A series of synchronized screams arose from the hall.
The oak door was far sturdier than everyone imagined; it did not break under the flood’s impact, nor did the castle collapse.
Professor McGonagall lowered her wand, her chest rising and falling slightly, and turned to look at the trembling students in the entrance hall, raising her voice:
“All prefects, immediately count the students in each house!”
“Yes, Professor!”
Voices rang from the crowd as the prefects responded, holding lists to check off younger years first.
“Euan Abercrombie!”
“Here!”
“Malcolm Badock!”
“Here!”
“Stuart Ackley!”
“Here!”
“Rose Zeller!”
“Here!”
Clear answers relieved Professor McGonagall’s stern expression but her lips remained tense.
“Look quickly, what is that!!” A Ravenclaw girl suddenly screamed.
Following her finger, everyone saw beneath the door cracks, alongside window edges, and between stones, dark water seeping in, spreading over the floor.
Students near the door and walls shrieked and quickly stepped away.
“Seal those gaps!” A voice sounded from the crowd.
Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape, Professor Sprout, all the hall’s professors rushed over.
Also joining were the male and female student union presidents, bringing senior students to the walls, wands pointed at the seeping gaps.
“Solid Sealing!”
“Solid Sealing!”
Flashes of spell light repeatedly flickered, reducing the incoming water flow though countless gaps seemed infinite.
“Calm! Prefects, continue counting! Students below the seventh year, sit down!”
Students apprehensively sat at the long tables, while Professor McGonagall’s face, as if carved from hard stone, showed no falter despite the circumstances.
Harry held his cold fingers around his magic wand, seeing Dean Thomas’s frightened face across from him, guessing his own face looked similar.
Nearby, Lavender Brown anxiously bit her finger, muttering, “I’ve never heard of such a thing! Why would the Black Lake flood? It doesn’t make sense!”
—Yes, indeed! Why?
Harry was filled with doubts too; he turned to check the Black Lake’s state only to see murky water battering glass, with streams slipping through high window gaps into the hall.
The counting was finally over, except for Vid, everyone was present.
No one would believe Vid would fall into such a flood and fail to protect himself—only thinking he was likely secluded somewhere studying alchemy, unaware of the outside chaos.
“I’ll notify him not to go out and keep safe.”
Michael volunteered, pulling out a Communication Pea and speaking briefly, soon indicating with an “OK” hand gesture that Vid’s side was fine.
“Good.” Professor McGonagall breathed a little easier, nodding, “Prefects lead, everyone upstairs now! To classrooms on the fifth floor and above.”
The hall filled with the sound of pushed chairs; as if rehearsing for annual opening and end-of-term banquets, students from each house orderly moved to the stairs under prefect guidance, the lines unruly, occasionally punctuated by frightened sobs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Beyond a stone wall, the flood still crashed against the castle, rattling hearts with anxiety.