#56 - Defensive counterattack

"Now!" Anduin skillfully controlled the door panel flying inward, sending it hurtling back horizontally. The Death Eaters outside, about to erupt in triumphant laughter, watched as the very door panel they'd blasted away came crashing back. They could only fire spells at it with slight panic.

As the two Death Eaters at the doorway shattered the door panel, Lily, Alice, and Augusta unleashed a barrage of spells from inside the room.

One Death Eater was instantly struck by two spells and sent flying backward. The other reacted quickly, dodging outside and narrowly avoiding the spells aimed at him.

Another Death Eater filled the gap left by his fallen comrade, attacking the room. However, his spells were easily deflected by Lily's Protego, while Alice and Augusta launched counter-attacks.

Spells flew in all directions. Under the fierce assault, the two Death Eaters at the door were pinned down, forced to retreat and defend passively. The few curses they managed to send were easily blocked by Lily.

Then, a figure appeared behind the two Death Eaters, instantly casting a powerful Protego to block the incoming spells. The three then charged into the room, two in front and one behind.

What was Anduin doing during all this? Besides launching a few 'cannonballs' of conjured impediment jinxes, he had been preparing another spell.

As the two leading Death Eaters stepped into the room, the floor beneath them cracked open, and they sank a third of the way into the ground.

This was the work of the 'Extraction Charm' Anduin had been preparing. When the third Death Eater appeared, Anduin knew the situation was dire and began casting the Extraction Charm on the floor. The floorboards looked normal, but the soil beneath had been removed by Anduin.

Seeing this, the others behind cover didn't hesitate. They focused fire, launching several spells at the off-balance Death Eaters. The Death Eater following behind cast two Protego spells in quick succession, but they were both penetrated. The two trapped Death Eaters were immediately knocked unconscious.

The Death Eater behind them, realizing the danger, pulled out a potion from his robes. Casting a defensive spell with one hand, he poured the potion down his throat with the other.

After drinking the potion, the Death Eater's eyes turned red. He roared and launched an assault, his spells now faster and stronger, instantly turning the tide.→

The Death Eater frantically cast spells and roared madly, even firing off two Avada Kedavra curses. Lily used a 'Super-Strengthened Shield Charm' to block the Killing Curses, but the Death Eater was increasingly frantic, his spells rapid and relentless, forcing Alice and Augusta to defend passively as well.

But just as the Death Eater was about to press forward, he seemed to run out of breath, clutching his throat with one hand and barely managing to cast spells with the other. Within seconds, he couldn't even pronounce the incantations.

"Quick, now!" Anduin struggled to maintain his spell, reminding the others when he could. Only then did they realize this was Anduin's doing. They quickly combined their efforts and fired several spells, knocking the Death Eater to the ground.

Finally, all the Death Eaters inside and outside the room were defeated, and no new Death Eaters arrived as reinforcements.

Only then did Anduin finally breathe a sigh of relief, lowering his wand. He had used the Extraction Charm on that Death Eater, but this time, instead of casting it on the ground, he had cast it on the air around the Death Eater.

Anduin had experimented on a rabbit Hagrid had caught, discovering that he couldn't cast the charm on a resisting living creature unless it was unresisting or inanimate. He had considered how to apply this charm in combat.

One method was to target the enemy's ground, as before, using the Extraction Charm to remove the soil beneath, creating a trap or unbalancing them. The other method Anduin envisioned was to remove the air in front of the enemy, causing them to have difficulty breathing, eventually leading to suffocation and shock. Of course, Anduin had considered whether he could only remove the oxygen from the air, but that required immense control and perception, which was impossible for him at the moment.

This was Anduin's first time applying the Extraction Charm in this way, and the effect was remarkable. Spells with trajectories could be blocked, but the Extraction Charm, without a trajectory, was impossible to defend against. The Death Eater was affected by suffocation and lost his ability to fight without understanding what was happening.

Of course, the drawbacks were also obvious. First, it required a strong sense of perception, or magical sensitivity, to sense and apply the spell to the air in front of the enemy. Second, it required continuous casting, because air wasn't a solid, and the air that had just been removed would quickly be replaced by the surrounding air. This meant Anduin had to concentrate fully and cast continuously until the Death Eater was suffocating and unable to speak, only then did he have the chance to remind the others.

Lily and the others, seeing no more Death Eaters attempting to attack, finally caught their breath. The intense back-and-forth had exhausted them.

Before they could even catch their breath, a figure flashed outside the door. Almost reflexively, they quickly fired spells at the doorway.

The person who came to the door didn't expect to be attacked by several spells just as he was about to come in and check the situation. Thanks to years of combat instinct, he quickly erected a protective charm to block the incoming spells, while shouting, "Don't attack, it's me, look closely."

Only then did they have time to identify the newcomer. In the dim light, they recognized Mad-Eye Moody.

"Thank goodness, you finally arrived," Augusta said with relief upon seeing Moody.

"Good heavens, what happened here? So many Death Eaters lying around. Did you guys take them all down?" Moody asked in surprise, seeing a Death Eater lying outside the safe house and three inside, two still stuck in the ground.

"Hmph, what else? Did you think they knocked themselves out? Where have you all been? How did Death Eaters find this place?" Augusta asked sharply, her tone stern now that she felt safe.

Moody then explained the battle outside. He and a number of Aurors and Order of the Phoenix members had been lying in wait nearby, and they had arrived on the scene shortly after the battle began.