Harry Potter: I am the Legend

"Merlin's beard," Chloe groaned, barely able to speak.

As always, Anker didn't care about anyone else and bolted.

The other three followed closely behind, none of them willing to gamble with their lives. The street was now engulfed in mist, obscuring everything. The man-turned-centipede twisted and writhed in an unnerving manner, chasing after Hoffa.

"Where should we go!?" Chloe asked anxiously.

"How would I know where to go?" Hoffa was on the verge of losing it, pointing at Aldo while running. "Ask him! This is all a projection of his subconscious!"

"Hey, pull yourself together!" Chloe urged Aldo.

Aldo panted heavily, trying to glance behind him.

Chloe firmly held his head down, preventing him from looking back. "Quickly, think! What's the safest place for you?"

Chloe's words seemed to have a calming effect. Aldo's emotions stabilized somewhat, and the thick mist dissipated noticeably.

This time, a hill about 40 to 50 meters high appeared in the mist. At its center was an old, abandoned pit with iron tracks leading inside—likely the remnants of a coal mine.

Without hesitation, the four of them dashed into the mine.

The moment they entered, the half-man, half-insect monstrosity slammed into the mine entrance. The entire hill shook violently, with stones falling in showers.

Inside, the mine was filled with piles of wood and stones. Hoffa didn't dare delay and immediately yanked down the wooden beam supporting the entrance. Without support, more rubble fell, sealing the narrow opening after a barrage of strikes, finally stabilizing the cave.

The cave was pitch black. Panting heavily, Hoffa stumbled backward, tripping over someone's leg and collapsing onto the ground, too exhausted to move.

"Hiss!!"

Outside, the monster let out a terrifying insect-like screech. Countless legs stabbed through the stone walls from all directions like sharp, metallic spears.

It was an outright nightmare.

"Shh! Shh! It's all over now. It's all in the past. None of it is real," Chloe whispered rapidly into Aldo's ear, holding his shoulders firmly.

Gradually, Aldo's emotions calmed. The monster's screeches subsided, and the protruding legs withdrew slowly.

Chloe stopped comforting him, slumping against the wall, too drained to say another word. The others weren't much better off. Anker, who had run the fastest, was gasping for air. Aldo, still terrified, struggled to breathe normally, while Hoffa seized the moment to meditate, trying to recover his magical energy.

After what felt like ages, a faint light flickered in the darkness.

Anker had lit a small torch.

Hoffa realized he had been leaning against Aldo's leg and shifted away in disgust.

The cave was cluttered with old, decaying wooden crates. Anker gathered some of them and started a fire in the middle of the group.

The firelight illuminated the cave, revealing a massive shadow looming in the corner. The sight made everyone's heart skip a beat.

Upon closer inspection, the shadow turned out to be a rusted steam locomotive over ten meters long, likely a fragment of Aldo's childhood memories.

A false alarm.

They all wiped cold sweat from their foreheads almost simultaneously.

Hoffa asked, "Aldo, is this place safe? If that monster gets in here, the cave is so narrow we'd have nowhere to hide."

"This place is absolutely safe," Aldo replied in a voice barely above a whisper. "As a child, I hid all my treasures in this cave. When I was upset, I often came here to sit for a while."

"Pfft," Anker snorted disdainfully. "Don't give me that nonsense. You're well-regarded by the higher-ups in the association, yet the real you is so pathetic that you can't even withstand a bit of inner turmoil."

Aldo didn't respond, sitting silently in a corner.

"If we make it back alive, don't blame me for reporting this in writing. Your instability is too dangerous. I can't believe you even passed the evaluation."

Anker's criticisms were relentless, but Hoffa cut him off.

"Enough. Stop talking. If you push him over the edge, that monster will only get stronger."

Anker grumbled but grudgingly fell silent, clearly wary of the nightmare creature.

The four of them sat in a circle around the fire, saying nothing. A bleak sense of despair began to creep into their hearts.

In the oppressive darkness, their minds wandered, imagining the horrors that might lurk just beyond the firelight.

Hoffa rubbed his temples, unable to stop thinking about his friends. He recalled his first year at Hogwarts when he and two friends would play Cowboys and Indians on the school lawns. His friends would hide, peeking out cautiously, then dart to another tree to hide again.

Hoffa could often see their skirts or robes swaying in the dappled light of the forest. He'd point his wand at them and "fire," but even when hit, they refused to lie on the ground and play dead, unwilling to soil their clothes.

As for Hoffa, he would always "die" in the most dramatic and realistic way possible. To him, the game's real purpose was his two friends wanting to see him die in various creative ways, watching as he rolled on the ground and got dirty.

The memories stirred a thought: ever since he had crossed the ocean from England to come here, he hadn't sent a single letter to his friends or mentors. To them, his every move remained a secret.

Thus, he hadn't received any letters or postcards from Miranda, Dumbledore, or Osivia. This was entirely unlike Harry's adventures fifty years later, when his owl would deliver letters worldwide, keeping him in constant contact with the outside world.

If Hoffa wrote a plea for chocolate cake, he might have received it weeks later.

But now, Hoffa thought grimly, if he died here in the dark, no one would know. Perhaps, to those friends, he had already died the moment he decided to cut off contact. Maybe Chloe was right: the dual death she spoke of had already taken place. He had rotted, fallen into decay.

"Hoffa, how are we supposed to get out of here?"

Chloe's voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see the two German wizards staring at him expectantly. No one wanted to remain in this terrifying place; they hoped he could offer some vital insight.

He sighed, shaking his head. "There's too little observable information. It's not enough to unravel the nature of this nightmare."

After a brief silence, Anker stood up. "Enough. This pitch-black place is unbearable. Sitting here waiting to die is pointless. I say we take action."

"With no magic? What action can you take?"

Hoffa sneered. "Even with magic, it's doubtful we could beat that monster outside."

"What if Aldo loses consciousness?"

Anker's words made Aldo jolt in fear. He stared at his cold-faced companion, pale as a sheet.

Before anyone could react, Anker pulled a wooden stick from behind his back—no one knew when he had hidden it—and struck Aldo on the head with a heavy thud.

Thwack!

A dull, solid sound echoed. Aldo crumpled to the ground instantly, his head swelling visibly.

Chloe gasped and backed away, while Hoffa immediately grabbed a burning torch from the firepit and stood protectively in front of her.

Anker, however, casually tossed aside the stick and spread his hands in a nonchalant gesture, smiling faintly. He placed his hands behind his back and began pacing around the fire.

"I noticed something when the nun was singing earlier," Anker said. "The calmer Aldo's emotions, the weaker the monster became. So, if Aldo's emotions disappear entirely, wouldn't the monster vanish as well?"

Hoffa couldn't respond. It was a plausible theory, but knocking out a teammate on a hunch seemed utterly ruthless.

"Let's make a deal, Bach," Anker offered, smirking.

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll gather the observational data, and you figure out how to get us out of here. As payment, once we're out, I'll let you and Miss LeMay go free. How about that?"

"You're not afraid your superiors will come after you?"

"Frankly, I don't care," Anker replied with a dismissive shrug. "Mueller Mans is just a Muggle with big dreams. I work for him only because of the Imperial Wizarding Association. Even if I fail his mission, he can't do anything to me."

Hoffa glanced at Aldo, unconscious on the ground, and spoke slowly. "A deal where betrayal is inevitable? That'd make me a fool to agree."

"Don't be so quick to judge, dear Bach," Anker said smoothly. "This is just one step in the observation process. If the monster outside disappears, the nightmare is over. You stand to gain everything. If not..."

"If not?" Hoffa interrupted, his tone icy.

"If not," Anker continued, smiling slyly, "then we'll just keep experimenting until we find a way out of this dreamscape."

"Don't agree to this, Hoffa," Chloe whispered urgently, kneeling beside Aldo and checking his pulse. "He's just trying to use you."

"Mutual use, Miss LeMay," Anker replied confidently. "It seems you don't understand the dynamics of a man's world."

"You're making a lot of sense," Hoffa said, nodding slowly. "I can't find a reason to refuse."

He walked over to the blocked cave entrance and pressed his ear against it. Anker smirked at Chloe's furious glare, his expression mocking and triumphant.

After a moment, Hoffa turned around. "There's no sound. Your method seems to have had some effect."

"Fantastic!" Anker exclaimed, grabbing a torch and heading toward the cave entrance. He pressed his ear against the rock as well.

Outside, there was complete silence—eerily so, like the vacuum of space.

"It worked," Anker declared. "But we can't rely on just hearing. We need to go out and see if the monster is truly gone."

"You're absolutely right," Hoffa said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. He stepped aside. "Be my guest. Clear the way for us."

"Such a gentleman," Anker muttered with a wry smile. He reached out to move the fallen rocks that had sealed the entrance.

But the moment his hand touched the wall, his expression shifted drastically. The rocks had vanished, replaced by a seamless, polished stone surface.

Unbelieving, he ran his hands over it again.

No doubt about it—this stone wall was utterly smooth, without a single crack or crevice, as if it had existed in perfect form since the dawn of time.

"What is this?" Anker muttered, his face a mix of confusion and fear under the torchlight.

Hoffa smirked faintly. "As you can see, we're now completely trapped in this cave."

(To be continued)

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