Chapter 11: The Forbidden Forest Liberation
Charlie's stomach dropped; just as he and Hermione got acquainted with Ailsa, she was found out about.
"But who could have known about the dragon? You don't think it was Adam and Josh, do you?" Charlie asked, his anger flaring instantly.
"I don't think it would've been Adam or Josh. I mean, they've known for quite some time now; why would they wait until this instant to speak of the dragon and besides, how do you think the Ministry found out about the dragon from two students?"
"So you think it was a professor?" Charlie looked into Hermione's eyes and found the answer to his question. She nodded her head briefly in response.
"Where is Professor Roberts now?"
"He's in the hospital wing. I don't know all the details but he was bleeding from his head so I'm guessing he put up a fight when Ministry officials came in to question him," responded Hermione.
"What about Dumbledore? Do you think he knows of Professor Roberts and Ailsa?" Charlie asked.
"I'm almost sure of it. But Professor Dumbledore has so far been quiet on the matter," replied an anxious Hermione. "But Charlie, I heard Ministry officials saying they were going to contact the dragon reserve in Wales. They could be here at any moment or could even be here now."
Fear reigned through Charlie's bones as his fists clenched with fury. "Hermione, we have got to release Ailsa. There's no other possibility. Professor Roberts doesn't want her to go to a dragon reserve or else he would've put here in there already. Wait here."
Charlie took off a lightning speed away from Hermione, rushing with all of his might towards Gryffindor Tower. Inside, he bolted up the staircase to his dormitory, grabbed his broomstick, and raced back to find Hermione.
Without stopping, Charlie grabbed Hermione's hand and the pair of them rushed down to the Entrance Hall. Pushing up open the Oak Front Doors, Charlie stopped and turned to Hermione, saying, "We've got to fly there and release her as soon as possible. Hermione, I'm asking you to trust me." Charlie held out his hand, gesturing towards Hermione as she slowly made her way behind Charlie.
Once she fastened her arms around his stomach, Charlie shot off like a rocket into the dusk-filled sky, a blood-red sun beginning to set. Charlie sped faster and faster over the Forbidden Forest, diving unexpectedly through the thick of trees.
Hermione hid her entire head behind Charlie's back, as he wove skillfully in between large trees, trying to scout out where Ailsa was hiding. Charlie then slowed his broom down as he heard shouts nearby.
Hovering over the ground, Charlie and Hermione spotted at least seven men, short yet powerfully built, running around to encircle the dragon while Ailsa snarled nastily. Ailsa spewed out fire yet it seemed as if the men had invisible shields around them to protect them from the flame.
"Hermione, do you have your wand," Charlie asked.
"Yes. But what is our plan? What are we going to do? We can't fight against those men." Hermione whispered.
"No, we can't. We should create a diversion. You distract the guards while I release Ailsa. I'll keep flying my broom circling around the area until Ailsa is freed. Okay?" Charlie felt Hermione nod her head in agreement. "Okay, ready, on the count of three: one, two, three!"
Charlie flew his broom higher into the air as Hermione shot out a blue jinx at the nearest tree which exploded on impact. As branches, twigs, and leaves started to fall on those nearest the tree, the other men looked around and flung red jinxes towards the pair.
Charlie easily dodged them as he swung his arm at the nearest rope he could see and yelled RELASHIO; he smiled triumphantly when the rope snapped away and fell on the ground.
Hermione aimed another yellow jinx towards the ground which exploded with a thunderous BOOM as the men were flung backwards with incredible force.
Ailsa roared, its mighty head wringing from side to side as her nostrils puffed out streams of smoke. She spit out a massive fire ball at the men on the ground but their invisible shields effectively blocked them from any harm.
The men scattered behind trees, trying to take down Charlie's broomstick. A stream of hexes soared over Charlie and Hermione's head, exploding or setting fire those to trees they collided with.
A jet of yellow light flew out of Hermione's wand and hit one of the men directly in the face; he crumpled in a heap.
"You can do nonverbal magic?!" Charlie was stunned beyond belief that she had already accomplished this feat.
"Yes! Now keep flying and try not to get hit!" Hermione screeched.
Charlie aimed his wand at another rope and yelled RELASHIO again; Ailsa was able to stand slightly straighter as the rope snaked to the ground.
Charlie saw the man who was with Professor Roberts in the Three Broomsticks: Paul. Paul placed a well-aimed jinx towards one of Ailsa's eye; she roared with fury and shot out another ball of flame as the jinx connected with its target.
A wave of fury stole over Charlie as he watched Paul aim another jinx at Ailsa. "Hermione, look down there! Remember him; I think he's trying to blind Ailsa!" Charlie yelled, as he wove his broomstick in between the thick brush of trees.
Hermione's head snapped around and a jet of orange light flew out of Hermione's wand and soared over towards Paul's hands; Paul however yelled, "PROTEGO"and the orange light whipped back around at Charlie and Hermione. Charlie diverted his broom to his right side as Paul sent another jet of red light at them.
The other men were starting to tether the dragon once again but Charlie yelled, "REDUCTO" at the ground and the floor beneath the men exploded, sending dirt flying into the air.
Hermione sent a jet of purple light at Paul who dove out of the way with a look of fury mangled onto his face.
Aiming his wand at the chords again, Charlie yelled RELASHIO and another bind broke away from Ailsa. She was beginning to feel her break towards freedom as she clawed the ground in anticipation.
Paul was hiding behind a tree and poked his head to spot Charlie and Hermione. Once he did so, Ailsa spotted him and spewed out a colossal line of fire. The tree Paul was hiding behind was instantly ablaze, causing the tree to act as a flaming tower in this dark part of the forest, as the flames danced across the rough surface of its bark.
Paul ran over to hide behind another tree but not before Hermione aimed a blue jinx at him which him in the legs and he stumbled out of sight.
Hermione shot a purple hex at two other men who fell to the ground when the hex hit them both in the chest. Charlie flew his broom closer to Ailsa as Hermione yelled, "RELASHIO"and the binds holding down Ailsa's wings broke apart.
She then stretched out her wings forcefully, knocking over one tree and crashed into Charlie's broom with her other wing. The strength was so great that his broom rocketed Charlie and Hermione past the burning tree and out of sight from Ailsa.
Charlie just about took hold of his broom when two jets of red light hurtled itself towards them. Barely having enough time to react, Charlie rolled his broom upside down to avoid contact with the jinxes. In doing so, Hermione lost her grip and slid off the broom.
Hearing her scream, Charlie's head diverted over to Hermione. He watched in horror as she seemed to fall in slow motion: her hair whipping up over her face, her arms and legs flailing wildly.
Charlie grit his teeth and dove in the steepest dive he had ever dared to try, and caught Hermione mere inches from where she would have fell onto the hard earth.
Breathing heavily and her voice cracking, Hermione said, "You caught me, Charlie." Her voice sounded as if she couldn't believe he had caught her.
"No matter how many times you fall, I'll always be there to catch you," Charlie said back, leaning forward on his broom as it raced back to the scene.
Ailsa was roaring furiously, her wings beating, creating a wild wind that Charlie could not divert. Instead, he flew higher, up over the dragon, as Hermione rained down curses of every color at the remaining men.
Paul looked up at them in rage as he sent another jet of red light at Hermione. Charlie maneuvered his broom around the stunning spell as Hermione sent out a jet of blue light at Paul who deflected it with a wave of his wand.
Ailsa had stopped beating her wings and let out another mighty roar. She then realized nothing was holding her down anymore; all of her binds were broken. Ailsa moved forward and leaned against a tree; slowly but surely, the tree's roots were ripped up from the ground, as the tree slowly fell over, creating a loud CRASH onto the surface of the earth.
Charlie flew his broom over Paul as Hermione shot a yellow jinx at him which hit him in the back. He crumpled forward with a gasp. Charlie had his broom level with Ailsa's head. She slowly turned to look at them as the pair looked back at her.
A moment passed until Ailsa stood up to her full height. She spread her wings, knocking over three other trees; she crouched down and shot up suddenly with a burst of energy. She flung her body through the thick foliage of the treetops, creating a gigantic hole, toppling over another two trees in the process and raining down branches, twigs, and leaves down below.
Ailsa took flight, her wings spread out to their fullest extent as she flew away from the Forbidden Forrest. Charlie flew over the treetops and he and Hermione watched the great dragon fly away from Hogwarts castle.
Charlie and Hermione watched in awe as Ailsa flew into the blood-red sun, its purple and pink rays procured over the sky. Unbeknownst to them at the time, that would be the last time they ever saw Ailsa.
Charlie and Hermione watched in wonder as Ailsa became a small black dot over the horizon. Charlie sighed contently as he felt Hermione tingle behind him. He smiled and turned towards her and started, "Hermione -," but he never got to finish for at that moment, the end of Charlie's broom exploded, sending splinters of wood back into Charlie as his broom hurtled back into the forest.
Charlie grabbed his broom firmly but to no avail, his broom dived under the covering of the thick foliage of the trees. His broom flew through the top of one tree, its branches and twigs scratching at Charlie and Hermione's face; his broom then dived wildly over a still-burning tree and crashed onto the ground, his broom bursting on impact.
Charlie wearily got to his feet; looking down, he saw small pieces of wood jutting irregularly out of his fingers and hands. He winced in pain as he looked around for Hermione.
"Hermione!" Charlie yelled out. Charlie wildly searched for her but could not find her.
"Lumos," Charlie rang out, his wand tip igniting immediately. He held his wand higher in the air, circling slowly around. Feet away from him, he found Hermione in a thick underbrush; her robes were ripped and her check was bleeding profusely.
Charlie crouched down as Hermione's eyes fluttered open. "Charlie? What happened," Hermione asked, her voice laced with pain.
"I don't know but I'm going to get you back to the hospital wing. Can you stand?" Charlie asked.
Hermione slowly nodded her head and she slowly got to her feet. Charlie's eyes spotted her wand lying on the ground and he picked it up and gave it to her.
"Where are you, you scum?!" Yelled out a nasty voice.
Charlie looked behind him and saw Paul and two other men, looking wildly around for them.
"Nox," whispered Charlie, and the light from his wand went out instantly.
Charlie and Hermione hid behind separate trees as they heard Paul and the two other men slowly approach them.
Charlie looked over at Hermione and saw the whites of her eyes blaze in fierce determination; he smiled to himself as he recalled that wasn't the first time he'd seen that look in her eyes.
Hermione looked at Charlie squarely in his eyes and she silently told him they were to make a run for it. Charlie saw Hermione hold up one finger, then a second, and finally a third.
Hermione dove out from behind a tree as she shot a jet of yellow light behind her and bolted. Charlie did the same and yelled "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS" and ran after Hermione.
Charlie heard a small crash and then heard yells as bodies ran after the pair, crunching over twigs and fallen leaves.
A jet of red light soared over Charlie's head. He then yelled, "Hermione, duck your head!" Hermione did as she was told and the red light flew off into the darkness.
"Charlie, when I saw so, I'm going to need you to move out of the way!" Hermione called back.
"Ok, I trust you, Hermione!" Charlie replied.
Charlie ran as fast as he could and he nearly caught up with Hermione when she suddenly yelled "NOW!" Charlie dove out of the way as Hermione sent a jet of purple light over her shoulder; Charlie heard a howl of pain as he now ran parallel to Hermione.
He kept looking over her to see if she was okay; out of the corner of his eye, Charlie saw a jet of red light fly so close to Hermione that Charlie's heart momentarily stopped. But once he saw that she kept on running, he quickened his pace to catch up with her.
One of the men was quickly catching up with Hermione. Charlie saw this and started running towards her. Charlie was about to call out to her when Hermione pointed her wanted over her shoulder and yelled "CONFRINGO!" The ground behind her exploded as the man disappeared from sight.
Charlie saw the trees thin and Hogwarts castle off in the distance. He smiled to himself when all of a sudden, Paul lunged himself at Charlie, toppling over both of them. He heard a yell and saw flashes of red and blue light fly over him. An explosion flung his body backwards into a tree and he succumbed to darkness.
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What a battle! Please let me know what you think of "And Gryffindor Roars!" I want to thank those people that have read my story and have reviewed thus far! Please leave a review and share with your friends. Chapter 12 is a work-in-progress and will be posted as soon as it is completed!