Looking over to his left he saw the marching soldiers stop moving as a loud
shout rent the warm, heavy air. "HALT!"
As one the army saluted and they immediately set to work building a temporary camp; as many took out their wands they exchanged rueful glances and returned them to belts or sheaths. Harry realized that they probably were under 'magic-silence' which he remembered from reading books about radio silence. He also remembered last summer, where a group of wizards had rescued him from the Dursleys and had not even talked about magic.
Harry moved closer to the people building tents, glancing casually, almost, at the many groups of people. He saw several nationalities there, like English, and French, judging by the languages they were speaking in, but he even saw Italians and Orientals, and many Greeks, of whom one could only have been a younger Aetius. He was talking to a person with jet-black, messy hair, hazel eyes, and a thin face that could only belong to one person at this time — Harry's grandfather.
His heart suddenly pounding in his chest and his breath constricted, Harry moved closer to what was a carbon copy of James.
AN: It's the reverse of it; James is a carbon copy of him, but I don't know a word for that.
"Casp!" asked Aetius.
"Yes?"
"What are you thinking?"
Harry's grandfather, obviously called Casp, furrowed his brow and frowned thoughtfully.
"I'm wondering about the war . . . what it'll take us all into . . . what it'll turn us all into . . ."
"I meant a little closer to earth,"
"Oh," said Casp. "Well I was thinking about how we're beginning to mix with the Muggle soldiers here. I mean, we're already marching with them, eating with them, fighting with them . . . dieing with them even. . . .
"What d'you think will come out of it all? Some wizards are already using their weapons, d'you know,"
Aetius nodded, his gaze far off.
The view suddenly changed and Harry reappeared in the camp a few hours, or even a whole day, maybe, later. The camp had been completed and sentries patrolled around its few borders with machine pistols and wands stuck in their belts.
Odd combination, thought Harry dryly. A few soldiers who were wearing looks of great discomfort or distrust on their faces seemed to agree with him.
A sudden crash of sound made him jump and twist around quickly. Two sentries suddenly crumpled to the ground. As Harry approached the sight he almost vomited in disgust.
The two dead men lay on their backs with feet pointing straight up, ones hat had fallen to the floor and his head was pouring blood into it; the once grey had began to lose it's stiffness as it filled with dark blood. The top of the man's face had been blown away, and he —
Harry looked away, the bile rising in his throat once again. His first sight of death. . . .
The other sentry was no better. As Harry looked at him a trumpet suddenly blew brazenly and someone roared something to the wind.
Men suddenly leapt out of tents holding their rifles and machine pistols and running to the commotion.
"What's happening?" Harry heard someone ask.
A low voice answered him back urgently.
"Germans, curse them! Attacked two nights ago and we manage to beat them, lost four men, and now they're back again! I think the order about wands is gonna go out soon."
The man pulled out an automatic rifle and released the safety catch as he ran towards the not-far-off gunfire.
Harry ran with him, wanting to see what would happen . . . hoping Casp wouldn't be hurt in it; he had seen him running out of a tent, Aetius closely behind him, holding a rifle in his hands, with a pistol and wand in a combined sheath strapped to his belt.
Harry reached the action after a few seconds of running and he immediately closed his eyes in revulsion. Several Germans seemed to have managed to breach the barbed wire fence and had reached almost where Harry stood.
It had been too close for gunfire, and the smashed heads of about five dead German soldiers spilled blood over the ground, while a nearby soldier tried crawling away.
A loud sound suddenly blew over Harry's head and the swishing sound of twenty five wands being drawn simultaneously filled the air. Spells flew in the air, German soldiers' eyes popping out in shock for a few moments before many closed for the last time. . . .
Aetius and Casp had been cornered and were fighting back-to-back, surrounded by six cocky, overconfident German soldiers. Harry saw Casp's fingers close around his wand and yell something.
A bright red dome of light suddenly grew around them. Harry watched, in slow motion almost, as the Germans one by one pasted expressions of pure terror for half a moment, and then the dome of light burst and the bodies of six dead Germans fell to the ground with loud thuds.
As Aetius clasped Casp's hand a harsh voice yelled, "Alright men, let's MOVE!"
Magically the tents packed themselves and the world once more revolved around Harry, coming back once more on a dirt road where Muggle soldiers rode along in jeeps and tanks, singing war songs victoriously.
Their commander stood aloft in the foremost tank, silhouetted against the setting sun and striking a pose that made the hair on Harry's neck stand on end. . . .
Or was that the reason? Harry suddenly shivered; some sixth sense warned him that something . . . something was very wrong.
He was very right. At first he only saw an orange thread-like substance arc through the air and strike the commander in the head. He collapsed as if a mountain had fallen on him.
Then a thunderstorm of noise erupted and Harry cringed as several missiles exploded on the nearby tanks, one of them several feet from Harry.
He watched aghast as three men in a truck immediately behind the destroyed tank were thrown in the air out of the truck, as machine gun fire carried out its deadly work, leaving three corpses of what were unrecognizable as human beings. Harry heard a soldier near him wretch and felt like joining in.
He wandered what this had to do with Aetius, but was answered quickly enough.
As troops jumped over the edges of the jeeps, five wizards suddenly dropped from several trees nearby onto the road and at once fanned outwards to the enemy ambush.
Harry recognized his grandfather, who looked around twenty at the time, and saw him glance at Aetius and replace the Bren machine gun he was carrying in his hands and unsheathe a wand.
He waved it violently in the direction of the German troops and was rewarded by a red beam of light that soared slowly through the air to them and land, lazily, almost, in their midst.
A huge explosion rocked the ground as the German bodies were flung into the air bodily and thrown to the ground. Harry heard the almighty snap as one of the necks cracked against a nearby tree. . . .
Harry looked away, sickened, but it didn't help at all; two more Germans fell to the road and a tank rolled over them. Two soldiers, both with casts on their arms, and one with a bloodstained bandage around the head, cheered loudly and many others ran over to the small band of wizards to congratulate them. Three soldiers stared in shock at Harry's grandfather, while Aetius walked over and patted him on the back.
"Good work," he said quietly.
"I-I killed them — they're-they're dead! I — "
"You did what was right. You saved scores of lives with that spell . . . what was it, by the way?"
"Oh-oh, that," he seemed happy to get off the subject. "That was just an advanced version of a Stunner, and it has a type of — er — push, if you can call it. You remember when they briefed us about spell negatives? Yeah? Well this has a really strong negative, it reacts to the positive force in the air and it just erupts, that's really what most spells and charms are, you know. You might know him or not, I dunno, but our Charms teacher, Flitwick, he told us that after we graduated seventh year at Hogwarts."
"Never learned that in Greece, I guess. And of course I know Flitwick, who doesn't after he took down Sylvaticus in that power duel in Rome?"
"I forgot about it; don't go for those stuff usually. Anyway, now that you mention it, Flitwick did use that spell against the other guy before Sylvaticus, what's-his-name, remember?"
"What are you guys talkin' about?" a soldier asked them quizzically, his eyebrows contracted slightly in concentration.
"The old days . . ." said Casp. "A different world, if you understand. . . ."
"I do, I think." The man replied. "Never seen you guys, but I've heard stories about strange folks like you guys from some of the old boys. Said we're not to tell anyone who ain't a soldier, by the way. You know that, I imagine. I'm Tom, by the way,"
"Caspian," said Harry's grandfather. "But you can call me Casp, they all do."
"Aetius, I'm Greek," said Aetius. "Nice to meet you."
AN: I'm listening to LOTR two soundtrack, really uplifting for this story, some of the tracks. My favorites are tracks 3 and 16. Any of you guys have it? If you guys want I can do one more battle by Tuesday or Wednesday, or I can go straight to the final one with Aetius. Review and tell me what you want. Goes by vote. And thanks to everyone and especially to David305 for being helpful (not sarcastic) if I ever revise this story I'll change it a lot thanx again.
As one the army saluted and they immediately set to work building a temporary camp; as many took out their wands they exchanged rueful glances and returned them to belts or sheaths. Harry realized that they probably were under 'magic-silence' which he remembered from reading books about radio silence. He also remembered last summer, where a group of wizards had rescued him from the Dursleys and had not even talked about magic.
Harry moved closer to the people building tents, glancing casually, almost, at the many groups of people. He saw several nationalities there, like English, and French, judging by the languages they were speaking in, but he even saw Italians and Orientals, and many Greeks, of whom one could only have been a younger Aetius. He was talking to a person with jet-black, messy hair, hazel eyes, and a thin face that could only belong to one person at this time — Harry's grandfather.
His heart suddenly pounding in his chest and his breath constricted, Harry moved closer to what was a carbon copy of James.
AN: It's the reverse of it; James is a carbon copy of him, but I don't know a word for that.
"Casp!" asked Aetius.
"Yes?"
"What are you thinking?"
Harry's grandfather, obviously called Casp, furrowed his brow and frowned thoughtfully.
"I'm wondering about the war . . . what it'll take us all into . . . what it'll turn us all into . . ."
"I meant a little closer to earth,"
"Oh," said Casp. "Well I was thinking about how we're beginning to mix with the Muggle soldiers here. I mean, we're already marching with them, eating with them, fighting with them . . . dieing with them even. . . .
"What d'you think will come out of it all? Some wizards are already using their weapons, d'you know,"
Aetius nodded, his gaze far off.
The view suddenly changed and Harry reappeared in the camp a few hours, or even a whole day, maybe, later. The camp had been completed and sentries patrolled around its few borders with machine pistols and wands stuck in their belts.
Odd combination, thought Harry dryly. A few soldiers who were wearing looks of great discomfort or distrust on their faces seemed to agree with him.
A sudden crash of sound made him jump and twist around quickly. Two sentries suddenly crumpled to the ground. As Harry approached the sight he almost vomited in disgust.
The two dead men lay on their backs with feet pointing straight up, ones hat had fallen to the floor and his head was pouring blood into it; the once grey had began to lose it's stiffness as it filled with dark blood. The top of the man's face had been blown away, and he —
Harry looked away, the bile rising in his throat once again. His first sight of death. . . .
The other sentry was no better. As Harry looked at him a trumpet suddenly blew brazenly and someone roared something to the wind.
Men suddenly leapt out of tents holding their rifles and machine pistols and running to the commotion.
"What's happening?" Harry heard someone ask.
A low voice answered him back urgently.
"Germans, curse them! Attacked two nights ago and we manage to beat them, lost four men, and now they're back again! I think the order about wands is gonna go out soon."
The man pulled out an automatic rifle and released the safety catch as he ran towards the not-far-off gunfire.
Harry ran with him, wanting to see what would happen . . . hoping Casp wouldn't be hurt in it; he had seen him running out of a tent, Aetius closely behind him, holding a rifle in his hands, with a pistol and wand in a combined sheath strapped to his belt.
Harry reached the action after a few seconds of running and he immediately closed his eyes in revulsion. Several Germans seemed to have managed to breach the barbed wire fence and had reached almost where Harry stood.
It had been too close for gunfire, and the smashed heads of about five dead German soldiers spilled blood over the ground, while a nearby soldier tried crawling away.
A loud sound suddenly blew over Harry's head and the swishing sound of twenty five wands being drawn simultaneously filled the air. Spells flew in the air, German soldiers' eyes popping out in shock for a few moments before many closed for the last time. . . .
Aetius and Casp had been cornered and were fighting back-to-back, surrounded by six cocky, overconfident German soldiers. Harry saw Casp's fingers close around his wand and yell something.
A bright red dome of light suddenly grew around them. Harry watched, in slow motion almost, as the Germans one by one pasted expressions of pure terror for half a moment, and then the dome of light burst and the bodies of six dead Germans fell to the ground with loud thuds.
As Aetius clasped Casp's hand a harsh voice yelled, "Alright men, let's MOVE!"
Magically the tents packed themselves and the world once more revolved around Harry, coming back once more on a dirt road where Muggle soldiers rode along in jeeps and tanks, singing war songs victoriously.
Their commander stood aloft in the foremost tank, silhouetted against the setting sun and striking a pose that made the hair on Harry's neck stand on end. . . .
Or was that the reason? Harry suddenly shivered; some sixth sense warned him that something . . . something was very wrong.
He was very right. At first he only saw an orange thread-like substance arc through the air and strike the commander in the head. He collapsed as if a mountain had fallen on him.
Then a thunderstorm of noise erupted and Harry cringed as several missiles exploded on the nearby tanks, one of them several feet from Harry.
He watched aghast as three men in a truck immediately behind the destroyed tank were thrown in the air out of the truck, as machine gun fire carried out its deadly work, leaving three corpses of what were unrecognizable as human beings. Harry heard a soldier near him wretch and felt like joining in.
He wandered what this had to do with Aetius, but was answered quickly enough.
As troops jumped over the edges of the jeeps, five wizards suddenly dropped from several trees nearby onto the road and at once fanned outwards to the enemy ambush.
Harry recognized his grandfather, who looked around twenty at the time, and saw him glance at Aetius and replace the Bren machine gun he was carrying in his hands and unsheathe a wand.
He waved it violently in the direction of the German troops and was rewarded by a red beam of light that soared slowly through the air to them and land, lazily, almost, in their midst.
A huge explosion rocked the ground as the German bodies were flung into the air bodily and thrown to the ground. Harry heard the almighty snap as one of the necks cracked against a nearby tree. . . .
Harry looked away, sickened, but it didn't help at all; two more Germans fell to the road and a tank rolled over them. Two soldiers, both with casts on their arms, and one with a bloodstained bandage around the head, cheered loudly and many others ran over to the small band of wizards to congratulate them. Three soldiers stared in shock at Harry's grandfather, while Aetius walked over and patted him on the back.
"Good work," he said quietly.
"I-I killed them — they're-they're dead! I — "
"You did what was right. You saved scores of lives with that spell . . . what was it, by the way?"
"Oh-oh, that," he seemed happy to get off the subject. "That was just an advanced version of a Stunner, and it has a type of — er — push, if you can call it. You remember when they briefed us about spell negatives? Yeah? Well this has a really strong negative, it reacts to the positive force in the air and it just erupts, that's really what most spells and charms are, you know. You might know him or not, I dunno, but our Charms teacher, Flitwick, he told us that after we graduated seventh year at Hogwarts."
"Never learned that in Greece, I guess. And of course I know Flitwick, who doesn't after he took down Sylvaticus in that power duel in Rome?"
"I forgot about it; don't go for those stuff usually. Anyway, now that you mention it, Flitwick did use that spell against the other guy before Sylvaticus, what's-his-name, remember?"
"What are you guys talkin' about?" a soldier asked them quizzically, his eyebrows contracted slightly in concentration.
"The old days . . ." said Casp. "A different world, if you understand. . . ."
"I do, I think." The man replied. "Never seen you guys, but I've heard stories about strange folks like you guys from some of the old boys. Said we're not to tell anyone who ain't a soldier, by the way. You know that, I imagine. I'm Tom, by the way,"
"Caspian," said Harry's grandfather. "But you can call me Casp, they all do."
"Aetius, I'm Greek," said Aetius. "Nice to meet you."
AN: I'm listening to LOTR two soundtrack, really uplifting for this story, some of the tracks. My favorites are tracks 3 and 16. Any of you guys have it? If you guys want I can do one more battle by Tuesday or Wednesday, or I can go straight to the final one with Aetius. Review and tell me what you want. Goes by vote. And thanks to everyone and especially to David305 for being helpful (not sarcastic) if I ever revise this story I'll change it a lot thanx again.