HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

There is no way to avoid it, no way to escape it.

As death approached, Hermione closed her eyes, her heart filled with resentment and regret: "Teacher, I'm sorry, it seems I can't accompany you on your magical journey from now on..."

"Oh~ my foolish disciple, you've given up so easily?"

[That voice? It's the teacher!] Hermione suddenly opened her eyes and saw a red cloth blocking her way: [The crimson protective suit, it's the teacher's crimson protective suit!]

Before Hermione could look any further, a large, strong hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her into an exceptionally warm and all-too-familiar embrace.

Suddenly, Teach Carr appeared silently behind Hermione, using his crimson protective suit on his shoulder to block the blood-red curse shot by Venus.

Then, he took the startled and stunned little Hermione into his arms, giving her a solid safe haven.

Teach's sudden appearance startled Dumbledore, who was trying to rescue Hermione but was too late.

Shake was startled as she swooped down from the sky to protect Hermione.

This startled Viner, who was lying on the ground amidst the bloodstains, about to successfully kill Hermione.

"Damn it, who are you? Who are you who suddenly appeared and blocked my fatal curse?" Vena roared at Teach, who was looking down at him.

The deadly blow, which cost him half his life, was blocked by a piece of clothing. How could this not enrage Venerer?

Faced with the angry rebuke, Teach looked on coldly and did not bother to reply.

"How dare you look down on me like that! No one... no one can look down on me!" Under Teach's disdainful gaze, Viner completely lost control of her emotions.

Griffin the Griffin, Hermione Granger—none of that mattered anymore. All Viner wanted now was to kill this person who dared to look down on him, this person who treated him like trash, and kill him completely.

Werner quickly rolled over and stood up, then raised his wand.

But the next second, Xia Ke descended from the sky, carrying the violent and malevolent aura of a human-dragon, and landed heavily on the shoulder of Vina, who had just gotten up.

The sound of bones breaking, a crisp whisper.

That sound was the sound of Xia Ke breaking Viner's entire spine.

After the faint smoke and dust dissipated, Teach finally removed the crimson protective suit from Hermione's sight.

Hermione looked closely and saw that Shakky, who had wings on her back, had ruthlessly pinned Venus to the ground, and her dragon-like jade hands had broken Venus's arms and legs.

Amidst Viner's piercing screams of pain, Hermione finally saw what he looked like.

Skin and bones, completely skin and bones. Originally, Viner weighed around 120 pounds, but now, more than half of his flesh and blood had disappeared.

Upon seeing this, Hermione left Teach's embrace and anxiously moved Venus's head aside, only to be surprised to find that the skull, which had been pierced by a bullet, showed no signs of injury whatsoever.

Just as Hermione was wondering what was going on, Teach spoke up behind her, "Little Hermione, he's lying."

"His double clone magic is quite impressive."

With his spine broken and limbs destroyed, Venus knew his death was imminent, so he boastfully explained his proud clone magic in its entirety.

He coughed up blood and laughed at Hermione, whose face was full of curiosity, saying, "Foolish, you foolish little witch, you really believe whatever I say, hahahahaha~"

"My doppelganger spell can create clones that are either fake or... real."

"A false clone, just like you saw before, is connected to my own consciousness and can use magic by borrowing my magical power."

"The real clone, on the other hand, requires me to sacrifice half of my own flesh and blood to transform the false clone into a real one... a real me with flesh and blood."

After hearing this, Hermione understood and gritted her teeth, saying, "What you said to me before, 'If the clone isn't fake, but has flesh and blood, it will be exactly the same as you,' is a lie."

"So, you're deliberately trying to mislead me with that statement, trying to make me believe that your clone can only create falsehoods."

"Hahaha~ That's right, I'm a dark wizard, how could I possibly introduce myself and explain my clone magic ability, which is my means of survival, to the enemy in detail? I'm not stupid."

After Wiener finished speaking with immense pride, he coughed up blood violently. The injury from his broken spine had left him in grave danger.

When Hermione saw that Venus was barely breathing, she hurriedly asked, "The bullet clearly pierced your brain, so why are you still alive and unharmed?"

"Heh heh, why?... Figure it out yourself, witch."

"I will not... tell... you."

After saying that, Wiener's eyes began to lose focus, and his vital signs rapidly declined and disappeared.

As Venus was about to die, Teach reacted quickly and placed a life-giving emerald into Venus's mouth, saving his last breath.

Hermione's questions remained unanswered, and the distressed look on her face made Teach shake his head and chuckle. He couldn't help but explain, "My foolish disciple, let me tell you."

"The dark wizard swapped places with his fake clone, and then you fired."

"The bullet did pierce his brain, killing him instantly, but... his dual magic might have a setting that allowed him to come back to life in the body of his clone, even though he was already dead."

"That's why you didn't find any bullet holes when you examined his head."

In Teach's narration, Dumbledore rode a flying broomstick to the rooftop, wanting to know how this dark wizard named Venus had escaped death and come back to life.

Seeing Dumbledore listening indifferently, Teach continued to explain to Hermione, "I speculate that this setup was probably pre-planned by the dark wizard in his doppelganger spell."

"The effect is..."

"If he himself dies, but his clone remains, then he must pay the price of half of his physical body to transform the clone into a real one."

"Based on the fact that he can control his clones with his consciousness and make them use his magic to cast spells, it can be inferred that when he transfers flesh and blood into his clones, his own consciousness or soul is also transferred into the clones."

At this point, Teach paused, then looked at Hermione, who was gradually realizing what was happening, and spoke.

"After this dark wizard completed his transformation and resurrection, his original body became a mere shell, meaning he became a clone."

"Then, he swapped positions with his physical clone, and then, right beneath your feet, launched that blood-red death curse at you."