Harry Potter: I am the Legend

As soon as the middle-aged woman left, it was as if a battle horn had sounded in the cramped kitchen. Chaos was on the verge of breaking loose.

Anker was the first to yell, "Damn it, Aldo! Is that your mother? Didn't you say she died a long time ago? So, what is that woman—some kind of ghost?"

Hoffa turned to Chloe. "And you? How did you end up in this house?"

Chloe shot back, "You're asking me? I haven't even asked why you're hanging out with them!" Her voice carried an uncharacteristic bitterness.

Anker sneered. "It seems you don't know your friend at all. He's actually on our side."

Chloe glared. "Do you think I'd believe your nonsense?!"

Anker scoffed. "Hmph. Aldo, what are you waiting for? Help me take down LeMay first!"

"Enough!"

In the midst of the turmoil, it was Aldo's furious roar that brought silence to the small dining room. "We're still stuck on this island! And for the record, this was once my home. If you want to argue, do it outside!"

His chest heaved, and his shoulders trembled. His emotions were visibly unstable.

After a brief pause, Aldo spoke again. "I have a feeling that if we don't figure out what's going on here, we might never leave."

"Island? What are you talking about?" Chloe asked Hoffa.

"Nightmare," Hoffa said abruptly.

"What?" Anker narrowed his eyes coldly.

"I said we're not anywhere real. Not in any physical location, and not in any timeline. Our minds are trapped in a nightmare, and everything we see is an illusion."

"Proof?" Anker demanded.

Hoffa silently pointed out the window. Following his gesture, everyone except Chloe was stunned.

Outside, the eerie, perilous island full of insects had vanished. It was now a bustling street filled with life. Black carriages and automobiles shared the road, and old but lively residential buildings lined the streets, exuding a harmonious, commercial atmosphere.

Hoffa said, "There's no other explanation for the constantly shifting, bizarre scenery, the unnatural monsters, or the sudden loss of our magical abilities. In the real world, such things are impossible. The only explanation is that we're in a dream, crafted by someone else."

A dream.

"Just a dream?" Aldo seemed almost relieved.

"It's your dream, Aldo," Hoffa said.

"Mine?!"

"Yes. Neither Anker nor I have any particular fear of giant worms or arthropods. You, however, still sense LeMay's presence. This house, so familiar to you, has appeared here. If it's not your dream, then whose is it?"

Anker interjected, "If this is a nightmare, then why haven't we woken up after realizing it's a dream? And—"

Smack!

Without warning, Anker slapped Aldo across the face.

Aldo leapt back, clutching his cheek. "What the hell, you jerk?!"

Anker said, "See? If it's a dream, why aren't we waking up?"

Hoffa replied, "He's the master of this dream. Everything here is a projection of his mind. But he's not the source of the dream. Hitting him won't help."

"The source of the dream?"

"That's right. Before we lost consciousness, I remember a white mist rising over the sea and a voice humming in my ear. That voice didn't belong to any of you. I believe the owner of that voice is the source of this dream."

Anker frowned. "Now that you mention it, I do recall something like that. But what's the source, and what's its purpose?" He fell silent, lost in thought.

As the three of them pondered, Chloe raised her hand. "I have a question."

Hoffa looked at her.

"From what you're saying, it sounds like you were on an island filled with bugs before this, right?"

"Yes," Hoffa confirmed.

"Well, if this is a dream, it's clearly not a pleasant one. It's a nightmare, isn't it?"

"Undoubtedly," Hoffa replied.

Chloe hesitated. "If it's a nightmare, why haven't I seen any bugs or experienced anything particularly terrifying? Everything has been calm since yesterday."

Calm? Hoffa glanced at Aldo, who was clutching his face, pale and visibly different from his usual irritable, explosive demeanor.

"Hey, Aldo," Hoffa asked cautiously, "is there something terrible in this house that hasn't happened yet?"

Aldo flinched as if recalling something. Suddenly, he shot to his feet.

At that moment, a loud crash echoed from outside.

Bang!

The front door was violently kicked open.

The woman who had left earlier returned, but this time she was accompanied by a man. The man wore a tattered, indistinguishable-colored undershirt, its coarse texture suggesting he was a factory worker.

He stood in the doorway holding a bottle of liquor. His face was covered in a thick beard, his cheeks were flushed red, and the intense sunlight behind him made him appear larger than life.

At the table, Aldo began trembling.

The drunken man slurred, "Where's Aldo? That little bastard, where is he!?"

"Berkeley, get out of here! I've already cut ties with you!" The woman clung tightly to his arm, standing firmly beside him.

"Shut up, you wretched woman!"

The drunkard swung his arm, knocking the woman to the ground. "You're still protecting him? I… hic… I lost a watch. Aldo, did you steal it?"

He staggered into the house. "You little thief, I'm asking you! Did you take my watch and sell it for money?"

Inside the room, the other three's eyes were all on Aldo. After Hoffa's explanation of the nightmare theory, they knew this wasn't real. It was a manifestation of Aldo's nightmare.

"Are you mute?!" The drunkard stood over Aldo, spraying spit everywhere. He reached out to grab Aldo by the collar. "Hurry up and give me back my watch!"

"I… I never took your things. You… you lost it gambling," Aldo stammered, his teeth chattering as he spoke.

"Liar!"

The drunkard roared, tossing the bottle aside. "Are you mocking me, saying I'm not good enough? Let me tell you, I've been winning these past two days!"

He raised his right hand high, ready to strike. His fist stopped just a centimeter from Aldo's nose when he was suddenly shoved aside. The middle-aged woman stepped in front of him.

"Aldo, go! Get out of here!" she cried.

Aldo stumbled to his feet, retreating a few steps in a panic.

The drunkard sneered, "It's all because of you! Look at him now—a thief!"

"Enough, Berkeley! I took your watch!"

The woman screamed, "You've lost so much gambling; I had to keep something! I sold the watch. If you want it, go look for it at the pawn shop!"

The drunkard trembled with rage. "Oh, I see! You took my watch to feed these worthless strangers!"

He slapped the woman hard, sending her flying over a meter into the wall.

Hoffa's eyelid twitched, Chloe gasped, covering her mouth in horror, and Anker edged along the wall, looking for an escape route. Aldo cowered in the corner, paralyzed with fear.

"When I'm home, all you ever give me are pickles!"

The drunkard picked up the bottle and smashed it over the woman's head.

"And after sleeping with that neighbor Dolko, you even made him sandwiches!"

The violence escalated as the woman resisted, screaming. The shattered bottle was replaced by a ceramic pot, and when the pot broke, it turned into a kitchen knife. Before long, the woman lay in a pool of blood, her fate uncertain.

Chloe stood trembling, as though wanting to intervene. Hoffa held her back. "This isn't real. We need to get out of here."

The drunkard left the woman and staggered toward Aldo with a deranged grin. With each step, his body grew larger. He swelled from 1.75 meters to 2 meters, then 3, and eventually 4 meters, bursting out of his clothes and crashing through the ceiling.

Aldo shakily drew his wand, holding it aloft to cast a spell, but he couldn't even utter the incantation.

"Aldo," Hoffa called out. "Stop letting your mind wander."

His words had no effect. The man grew larger and more grotesque. His muscles burst through his skin, and with a casual swipe, he sent the table flying.

Anker tried to sneak past but was swatted back by the drunkard's massive, pillar-like arm. Spitting blood, Anker shouted in fury, "Aldo, what are you doing?! Stop thinking and get us out of here!"

"You're worthless! Your life is meaningless!"

The giant drunkard bellowed as countless giant insects spilled from his mouth. He grew increasingly horrifying and bizarre.

Hoffa tried to smash a window to escape with Chloe, but the house had become unnaturally solid. The glass now resembled granite, defying all logic.

The giant seized Anker, the closest to him, by the head, lifting him into the air. He opened his gaping maw wide.

Anker struggled, kicking and clawing at the giant's hand. "Aldo, you bastard! How dare you do this to me?!"

But Aldo had already dropped his wand and fallen to his knees, sobbing in the corner. He was no longer the adult wizard he was supposed to be, but a vulnerable child, utterly broken.

They were trapped in Aldo's nightmare, unable to escape.

Chloe gritted her teeth and turned to Hoffa. "I have an idea."

"What's your idea?"

"Buy me some time," she said, her eyes fixed on Aldo.

"Are you sure?"

"Go now!"

"Damn it! You're crazy, death stick!"

Hoffa cursed the nun under his breath but didn't hesitate in his actions. He rolled up his sleeves, picked up a round wooden table from the corner, and shouted mockingly, "Hey, big idiot!"

The giant holding Anker turned to him. "Who are you calling that?"

Countless insects spilled from the giant's mouth, raining down. Hoffa raised the large table over his head for protection.

"Do you even know where your wife spent the money from selling your watch?"

"What? Where?"

Hoffa smirked mischievously. "At an inn. Your wife used your money to get a room with someone else."

"Die!"

Boom!

Enraged, the giant smashed the round table in Hoffa's hands into pieces with a single blow. Hoffa rolled awkwardly to the ground, barely dodging the violent attack. "Maybe even Durex got a cut. What's the point of raging here?"

Roar!

The giant flung Anker aside and charged after Hoffa, smashing the staircase and furniture into splinters. Horrifying insects swarmed the room.

While Hoffa kept taunting the giant, Chloe crouched next to Aldo, who was still sobbing in the corner. She gently cradled his head and began humming a lullaby.

The giant froze mid-swing, his body slowly shrinking, and his expression turned dazed.

"It's working!"

Hoffa scrambled over to Chloe. "Keep going, don't stop."

Chloe, her face glistening with sweat, struggled to maintain a steady tone. The giant stopped spewing insects, his body gradually returning to normal size. The granite patterns on the windows also faded, and everything began to look normal again.

"Let's go!"

Hoffa shouted to Chloe. Chloe pulled the dazed Aldo to his feet.

"Move!"

Anker, blood dripping from his mouth, shoved past the three of them and leapt out the window without looking back.

Hoffa didn't have time to argue. He pushed Chloe and Aldo out before jumping out himself. Once outside, he yanked the window shut, sealing it tightly.

The four of them stopped about 100 meters from the house.

Anker, clutching his chest, gasped for air before grabbing Aldo by the collar and slamming him against a nearby trash can. "You useless fool! You almost got me killed!"

Anker roared angrily, "If I had known the real you was this pathetic, even an idiot wouldn't team up with you!"

Aldo remained silent.

Chloe, still catching her breath, turned pale at Anker's furious tirade against Aldo.

"Stop provoking him!"

Before her words had fully landed, a thunderous crash echoed behind them.

The distant wooden house exploded as the giant tore through it. Rising from the wreckage was a massive centipede, stretching tens of meters long. Its shiny black armor gleamed ominously, its blood-red underbelly glistening. The most terrifying part was its grotesque human face at the forefront.

"Holy crap!"

Hoffa cursed. In all his years in the magical world, he had never seen a creature as bizarre and terrifying as this.

(To be continued...)

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