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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 77: The Forces of Nature
"Bring everyone to the back!"
"Hurry, this way."
"Seal the gates!"
The Great Hall erupted into chaos. The professors tried to organize the crowd the best they could and get them somewhere safer.
Hogwarts's ghosts had already warned them of over a dozen werewolves charging across the main corridor that fed into the hall. Running away using the other exit was too risky. There was no way to protect that many students while they all tried to run away at the same time.
Dumbledore made the decision to huddle up inside the hall and stop the invaders before they could hurt anyone.
Not even two minutes after the first warning, the massive gates of the hall were hit with tremendous force, making the entire structure shake on its hinges.
The voices of the students died out quickly, drowned in their own fear.
"Stay here. Protect them with all you have." Dumbledore glanced back at his teachers. Hagrid, McGonagall, and Flitwick glanced back and nodded.
The state of the remaining Hogwarts staff was unknown. Professor Snape, as well as a few others, were supposed to be in their chambers or their offices. There was no way to tell if they were aware that something was even happening.
A second hit on the gates. Some of the hinges gave up and fell to the clean floor, producing a loud clanking that sent a shiver down the students' spines.
The newly rescued Professor Moody was already standing ahead of everyone else, ready to tackle whoever dared to come first.
"Where are you going?" Igor Karkaroff, a lanky man with an unkempt black beard, asked Harry when he saw him leaving the group.
Harry turned his head to stare at the man. "Aren't you one of the Headmasters? Are you planning on staying there with all the children?"
Karkaroff frowned. "Whatever this is, it's Hogwarts business! It has nothing to do with my students. Let Dumbledore deal with it."
"That's right. It must be some dangerous British criminal," Madam Maxime argued. "This would never have happened in our school. What a disgrace!"
Harry stared at them with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "What a great example you are setting for your students." He turned around to leave.
But someone else had to open their mouth. "Potter, stop trying to play hero." It was Cedric Diggory. "This is not a tournament task that you pass with your weird magic." It had not sat well with him to have lost in points to someone who wasn't even a student, especially when no one was able to explain exactly what Harry had done to subdue the dragon.
Many still thought he just got lucky.
A third hit on the gates. This time, they came down, crashing onto the floor.
Harry continued to walk without turning around. "My weird magic…" His staff appeared in his right hand and tapped on the ground. "Can do much more than you imagine, child."
Several werewolves rushed into the hall. They used all their limbs to run. Their movements were swift and unpredictable.
The moment they entered, each cursed beast went in a different direction, spreading around the massive chamber.
Dumbledore and Moody had to get separated while Harry remained at the center.
The ground began to tremble. Harry tapped it with the staff again.
Two werewolves went after him. They could not speak, but Harry saw their eyes widening with recognition.
The ground trembled.
'Am I their target?' he wondered.
Harry had many enemies, but he didn't recall ever getting into conflict with a werewolf. So if he was their reason to be here, someone else must have sent them.
Two werewolves were charging directly at him. Thirty feet away.
Four more on the left side of the hall and three on the other side. Another six had just entered the chamber.
Fifteen werewolves in total inside the Main Hall. At least for now.
Harry tapped the ground for the third and last time. The crystal at the top of the staff glowed with a gentle green light, soothing everyone who looked at it.
It was known as the Crystal of Logres, a powerful artifact that he found during his youth while exploring a deep cave near Camelot. It was capable of channeling the natural energies of the planet.
The body of the staff was made from a mysterious wood that belonged to a tree from an era long forgotten. When combined with the crystal, it allowed him to establish a perfect connection to nature itself and wield its power.
This was the Staff of Annwn.
The ground shook with enough violence to make the werewolves lose their footing for a second, forcing them to slow down.
From beneath their feet, roots began to appear. Small and weak at first, but quickly growing and spreading across the chamber.
Branches wrapped around their legs. The cursed beasts growled and slashed at them with their sharp claws, breaking them apart.
But this was not enough to stop the advance of nature. The broken branches grew again. The pieces turned into new plants, relentlessly grasping at their bodies while becoming bigger and tougher.
The students remained frozen in place, and so did the adults.
Dumbledore and Moody had been ready to fight for their lives. Their wands were tightly secured in their hands. But now they had no one to face.
The fifteen werewolves who entered the hall were now being tangled in branches and roots. Their bodies were being covered with twigs and leaves.
They growled, they bit, they scratched at them. However… fighting nature itself was not so easy.
Soon enough, their growls began to change into whimpers of agony.
Harry remained at the center of the hall, his eyes closed. The glow of his staff bathed the chamber in a soft green light.
The battle that had just begun was already nearly over.
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