Heroes of Magic and Might
Prologue
…
Murky and gray, covered in specks of green and small chunks of ice. The salty water of the swamp was very nearly frozen in the winter chill, its heavy saline content being the key factor in resistance.
"There it is!" The water rippled as a trio of bodies moved through it.
"Wicker basket, full of herbs, just like she said." The basket in question sat on the nearly solid water neatly frosted to a patch of reeds and grass. It took a couple tugs before it peeled free.
"Alright, so we know we're in the right place, now what?"
The twin gingers shrugged, "Search us."
"Why? What would I find?"
The twins snickered at his response, "Good one Harry."
"Nice to see you in better humor."
Harry smiled; he was in better humor, despite recent events. Bad as they seemed it was a welcome change from the last few months with Dolores Jane Umbridge; but that didn't bear thinking about.
"We came out here to find the thing that attacked them. Ideas?"
"We could make a lot of noise," said Fred.
"Bright lights and colors," offered George.
"Would help if we knew what we were looking for," said Harry, to which they all nodded.
Four students from Slytherin had wandered out through the woods and into the near frozen swamp. Only one had returned. Somewhere in her incoherent babbling she'd mentioned Snape and herbs as an explanation.
But as to what had taken her three housemates, only frantic eyes and pitiful whimpers.
"Alright, what do we know? They were out here, so it must have been in the water" said Harry.
"It was big enough to take three of them," offered George.
"But quiet enough to get the jump on them," added Fred.
"Am I the only one that suddenly feels very unsafe?"
By the dawning look on the twins faces, he was not.
"Maybe wee…"
"Shh!" Harry cut them off suddenly, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
A voice, smooth and low, crooning a sinister welcome, "Hello little morsels. How nice of you to come. Oh yes, oh yes, so very nice indeed."
"No joking Harry, it's not funny."
"I'm not joking. You don't hear that voice?" he protested.
The twins looked at each other, then at Harry, "We don't hear anything Harry."
Then why could he? He looked around frantically for the source of the voice which seemed to come from everywhere.
"Familiar. Why does this seem familiar?"
He knew he was missing something obvious. A voice he could hear but no one else could. And he couldn't find it.
"Oh bollocks," now he remembered.
"What?!"
"It's a…"
But before he could finish, Fred was yanked back and thrown into the air by a long thick cord with teeth.
"Snake!"
"Fred!" yelled George as his twin went sailing up into the air without the use of a broom.
"Catch him," shouted Harry, before firing a trio of stunners into the massive serpent who looked to be waiting to swallow the rapidly plummeting ginger down its throat.
The snake hissed angrily at the assault, forgetting its first victim in favor of its assailant.
"It stings! The little morsel stings!"
"I can do a lot more than sting," Harry hissed back.
The snake wavered in surprise, but only for a moment, "It talks as well. Will that change the flavor I wonder?"
Harry scowled. There would clearly be no negotiating with it. Not that he'd really considered that an option, but it was still good to know. He hurled another barrage of stunners which it easily dodged.
"Slippery customer," commented George.
"He's got some moves," agreed Fred, taking advantage of his position to get his own shots in.
The giant snake appeared acutely aware of its surroundings and easily dodged the spells from the wizard floating over its head.
All three wizards took their turns trying to stun the snake. It evaded their sorcery with insulting ease. Seeing stunners were not going to cut it, Harry decided on a different tact and a brilliant gout of flame burst from his wand. The serpent reeled back then retaliated, spewing a concentrated blast of water.
Harry was completely unprepared for this assault and once the spray had gone through his fire it took him square in the chest. The force of the spray knocked him off his feet and into the frigid swamp.
By some miracle he managed to keep his glasses on his face as he sloshed around in the sub-arctic water. His head broke the surface just in time to see another concentrated spray smash through Georges shield. George must have been anticipating it because he vanished a bare instant before the blast would have hit him.
Apparition, "Need to have them teach me that," Harry muttered as he crawled to his feet and prepared to reengage.
"I did not forget about you little morsel," the snake hissed.
Harry braced, ready for another frontal assault. The thing that latched onto his foot came as a total surprise, viciously hoisting him into the air.
"Harry!" two voices called, and he had a brief glimpse of both twins floating above him.
So that's where he went, Harry thought absently as he was flung back and forth by the tail end of the snake while the other followed him with its eyes. Dazed and shaken, Harry refused to give in so when the head moved to strike, he did the only thing his addled mind could think to do. He jabbed his wand, right into its open mouth.
"Ah! Bloody hell!" he exclaimed when the snake clamped down, trapping his wand and the hand holding it.
The snake gave a hissing laugh as it began tugging at both ends, trying to rip Harry apart.
The twins yelled and hurled spells, but the serpent avoided and kept on pulling.
Harry could see his end swiftly approaching if things continued as they were. In desperation he released his wand, un-balling his fist. The snake tugged, and Harry screamed, its teeth raking across his hand as it slid out of serpent's mouth.
Rather than be displeased, the snake cackled, "I have your stinger now little morsel," it taunted.
And Harry was unarmed.
Perhaps it was all the blood rushing to his head, but he didn't feel the panic he thought he ought to. His mind raced but it was all forward at a steady pace; watching the snake distend its jaw, preparing to swallow him whole, he snagged a stray thought as it ran by, and an idea formed.
It could work. The snake was mostly submerged in water which would help, but he didn't have his wand. Did he need it? He remembered casting a spell in a moment of terror and his wand responding. Could he do it again? Did he really have choice?
As the snake made to lower him down its gullet, he reached. He couldn't see his wand, but he swore he could feel it. Focusing on that feeling and the power building at his fingertips he shouted.
"EXSTATIC!"
Untold volts leapt from his fingertips and surged downward through the snake. It spasmed hard as the excessive surge ripped through it and Harry was once again dumped in the swamp.
From their vantage point Fred and George watched the massive snake spasm and twitch as it toppled over like a felled tree. Its body lay across the surface of the water still twitching, though by all other measures it was surely dead.
"Bloody hell," they whispered.
Their sense of awe was shattered when Harry surged out of the water.
"Dammit!" he cursed.
"Harry!"
"Didn't think— that through," he shouted as he spasmed and twitched.
Maybe it was the adrenaline or maybe it really was 'that' funny. Either way, while Harry danced in the frigid swamp the twins rolled around in the air laughing.
"Oh, think it's— funny— do ya? Why don't ya— come down—here and— laugh!"
When their hovering charms wore off, they did precisely that. Then it was Harry's turn to laugh.
"Hahaha— haha— hahaha— ha!"
"Spose we had that coming."
"That we did."
Soaked, shocked but still alive they all had a good laugh at their situation till the chill really began to sink in.
After a liberal use of drying and warming charms they tied a rope around their catch and began dragging it back to Hogwarts; all thirty odd feet of it.
Hagrid would surely love to see it, whatever it was. Out of everyone at Hogwarts he had been the most optimistic about their situation. Harry thought he understood. Hagrid was a hardy sort; he could survive anywhere. And a brand-new world meant every manner of strange new and dangerous creatures to see.
When you looked at it that way, it made perfect sense.