The three soldiers threw themselves out the door in different directions. Right out of the gate Sean and Brian fired their weapons at something or other, then Harry quickly went over and shut the door. He waited five seconds. Then he opened the door a crack and listened. There was gunfire and explosions off to the left, receding fast. With iron will Harry didn't slam the door when a large number of relatively weak magical creatures stormed past. None of them took any notice of Harry, fortunately. Harry listened harder, hearing the gunfire and explosions redouble, and the roaring of another Yeti. Most importantly, all the creatures he could hear were miles off to the left.
"Let's go." Harry ordered, heart hammering.
Harry, Ron and Hermione crept out the door, wands raised. Dean followed with his MP5 submachine gun in the aim, shutting the door behind them. Harry thought about the architecture of the school quickly. "This way." he whispered, walking silently in the opposite direction Shepherd and his men had gone. He wanted to stay away from all the creatures who'd be moving towards the soldiers but still get downstairs quickly so they could hide unnoticed in some room or other. He was hoping to go down a small staircase he knew to be hidden behind a tapestry.
The four of them got to the tapestry without a hitch. Harry drew it back and prepared to step in.
"Wait!" Dean whispered urgently.
Harry looked at him quizzically, but drew back nonetheless. Dean came over and looked closely. "It's trapped." Dean announced. "Tripbeams. I didn't know these were available to the military yet. See those two things on the wall, there and there?" He pointed at a couple of squat, ugly electronic devices stuck to the wall which definitely didn't belong there. "They project a laser beam, which is basically a kind of invisible light, Ron. If you interrupt the beam, it explodes, and because of the ball- bearings on the outside of the thing it's guaranteed to kill whatever trips it. Try and step between them, and lift up your robes so they don't trip it either." The party carefully stepped between the tripbeams, making sure nothing blocked the laser. They successfully circumnavigated the explosives and carried on down the stairs, careful to look for any more explosives and still be totally silent.
They got to the bottom of the spiral staircase and Harry moved the tapestry back a smidgen to look past. The hallway appeared to be deserted. Harry brashly lifted it all the way back and clambered over, wand covering all angles of attack. The hallway this tapestry was on was completely deserted. The main doors to the Great Hall were only fifty metres away and there were several classrooms to choose from to hide in. Harry recognised one and instantly decided it would be the best one to hide in by far.
Harry quickly opened the door to Firenze's classroom and strolled in, wand raised. It appeared to be devoid of animal life. The trees, including the ones which were really just illusions of trees on the wall of the room, all swayed in a magical breeze, ruffling Harry's already unkempt hair. Dean was again the person furthest behind and shut the door, which camouflaged itself once shut so that unless one was looking for the door it didn't throw off the natural appearance of the room. Harry looked down sadly at the arrow-studded body of beautiful Firenze.
"He wasn't in the Forest, so he wasn't put under Voldemort's control with Windegelt's spell, so they killed him." Hermione stated sorrowfully. "Even if they were his brethren."
"You know, the centaurs did attack him before he came to teach." Dean stated. "Even if they had come up to the castle outside of Voldemort's control they probably would have shot him full of arrows." He realised Harry and Hermione were glaring at him. "It's true." he defended. "I'm not saying his death isn't a bad thing."
"We might as well hide properly, behind bushes and trees, so if any Death Eaters decide to have a look-see we'll stay hidden." Ron advised. Everyone did as Ron suggested without affirmation or argument.
Minutes passed while everybody lay in wait. Once they heard people marching past, closely followed by some large grunting creatures, but nobody opened the door.
"Tanks." Dean said suddenly. From a lying down position, hidden from view by bushes, he sat up. "Muggle tanks are coming."
"What are tanks?" Ron asked apprehensively.
"Vehicles made of really thick steel armed with the biggest guns you've ever seen." Dean replied. Outside came a volley of explosions from some way away, then greater explosions on the castle walls. The ground didn't just shake, it wavered. "That's those guns firing." Dean explained calmly to a whimpering Ron.
"There must be a dozen or more of them!" Hermione exclaimed. "You know, with that much Muggle firepower, they have a chance of killing all the creatures themselves! Should we go out and help?"
Harry shook his head. "Hermione, you didn't see how many creatures are in the Hall. No amount of Muggle firepower could kill them all. The assault force will get slaughtered. And plus, the people driving the tanks would probably shoot us as soon as look at us, whoever they are. This is just a slight hiccup in our plan. We wait."
The gunfire and roars of creatures carried on for a short while, but the tanks stopped shooting when large enemies smashed them to pieces. Then silence reigned once more, so the group sank back into a worried stupor.
They wondered what they would do if the three soldiers died trying to kill Aragog. Even if they went after Aragog themselves and managed to kill him somehow, they knew they'd never run back to the castle in time to finish off Voldemort. And there wasn't even a guarantee that Voldemort couldn't Apparate from Hogwarts, as far as anyone knew Voldemort could get around the ancient enchantments, so Shepherd's victory might turn out to be pedestrian, or even moot. Many more minutes passed as Harry's pulse stayed over a hundred b.p.m. Then suddenly something in the air (the magic binding the creatures, no doubt) splintered, cracked and shattered. Then they heard the very obvious cacophony of a Great Hall full of creatures and Death Eaters killing each other.
"Showtime." Dean said, grinning.
"How can you grin?" Ron snapped, looking pale.
"Because it's an ultimatum delivered by fate." Dean said with satisfaction. "There are no more complications. Either after all the creatures are dead we kill Voldemort and become famous the world over or we die trying. There's a good chance I'll die. If I do, I intend to be grinning even while it happens."
"You're mental." Ron summarised as he got up off the floor and started stretching and jogging on the spot.
Harry stood up unsteadily, mentally toughening himself, reminding himself that the reason he had to grow up with the veneficiophobic Dursleys was because of that ugly snake-headed screwup in the Great Hall formerly known as Tom Riddle - who had likely recently killed Albus Dumbledore, Harry's favourite wizard, after also killing all of Harry's schoolfriends, not to mention that many years ago he started an incredibly destructive guerrilla war just for his personal power advancement. No matter what circumstances I find myself in, Harry told himself, that bastard deserves absolutely no mercy. Harry's rage boiled, and he felt like knocking down trees solely from the ferocity of his glare. He was ready to kill and/or die.
"Let's go." Harry ordered, heart hammering.
Harry, Ron and Hermione crept out the door, wands raised. Dean followed with his MP5 submachine gun in the aim, shutting the door behind them. Harry thought about the architecture of the school quickly. "This way." he whispered, walking silently in the opposite direction Shepherd and his men had gone. He wanted to stay away from all the creatures who'd be moving towards the soldiers but still get downstairs quickly so they could hide unnoticed in some room or other. He was hoping to go down a small staircase he knew to be hidden behind a tapestry.
The four of them got to the tapestry without a hitch. Harry drew it back and prepared to step in.
"Wait!" Dean whispered urgently.
Harry looked at him quizzically, but drew back nonetheless. Dean came over and looked closely. "It's trapped." Dean announced. "Tripbeams. I didn't know these were available to the military yet. See those two things on the wall, there and there?" He pointed at a couple of squat, ugly electronic devices stuck to the wall which definitely didn't belong there. "They project a laser beam, which is basically a kind of invisible light, Ron. If you interrupt the beam, it explodes, and because of the ball- bearings on the outside of the thing it's guaranteed to kill whatever trips it. Try and step between them, and lift up your robes so they don't trip it either." The party carefully stepped between the tripbeams, making sure nothing blocked the laser. They successfully circumnavigated the explosives and carried on down the stairs, careful to look for any more explosives and still be totally silent.
They got to the bottom of the spiral staircase and Harry moved the tapestry back a smidgen to look past. The hallway appeared to be deserted. Harry brashly lifted it all the way back and clambered over, wand covering all angles of attack. The hallway this tapestry was on was completely deserted. The main doors to the Great Hall were only fifty metres away and there were several classrooms to choose from to hide in. Harry recognised one and instantly decided it would be the best one to hide in by far.
Harry quickly opened the door to Firenze's classroom and strolled in, wand raised. It appeared to be devoid of animal life. The trees, including the ones which were really just illusions of trees on the wall of the room, all swayed in a magical breeze, ruffling Harry's already unkempt hair. Dean was again the person furthest behind and shut the door, which camouflaged itself once shut so that unless one was looking for the door it didn't throw off the natural appearance of the room. Harry looked down sadly at the arrow-studded body of beautiful Firenze.
"He wasn't in the Forest, so he wasn't put under Voldemort's control with Windegelt's spell, so they killed him." Hermione stated sorrowfully. "Even if they were his brethren."
"You know, the centaurs did attack him before he came to teach." Dean stated. "Even if they had come up to the castle outside of Voldemort's control they probably would have shot him full of arrows." He realised Harry and Hermione were glaring at him. "It's true." he defended. "I'm not saying his death isn't a bad thing."
"We might as well hide properly, behind bushes and trees, so if any Death Eaters decide to have a look-see we'll stay hidden." Ron advised. Everyone did as Ron suggested without affirmation or argument.
Minutes passed while everybody lay in wait. Once they heard people marching past, closely followed by some large grunting creatures, but nobody opened the door.
"Tanks." Dean said suddenly. From a lying down position, hidden from view by bushes, he sat up. "Muggle tanks are coming."
"What are tanks?" Ron asked apprehensively.
"Vehicles made of really thick steel armed with the biggest guns you've ever seen." Dean replied. Outside came a volley of explosions from some way away, then greater explosions on the castle walls. The ground didn't just shake, it wavered. "That's those guns firing." Dean explained calmly to a whimpering Ron.
"There must be a dozen or more of them!" Hermione exclaimed. "You know, with that much Muggle firepower, they have a chance of killing all the creatures themselves! Should we go out and help?"
Harry shook his head. "Hermione, you didn't see how many creatures are in the Hall. No amount of Muggle firepower could kill them all. The assault force will get slaughtered. And plus, the people driving the tanks would probably shoot us as soon as look at us, whoever they are. This is just a slight hiccup in our plan. We wait."
The gunfire and roars of creatures carried on for a short while, but the tanks stopped shooting when large enemies smashed them to pieces. Then silence reigned once more, so the group sank back into a worried stupor.
They wondered what they would do if the three soldiers died trying to kill Aragog. Even if they went after Aragog themselves and managed to kill him somehow, they knew they'd never run back to the castle in time to finish off Voldemort. And there wasn't even a guarantee that Voldemort couldn't Apparate from Hogwarts, as far as anyone knew Voldemort could get around the ancient enchantments, so Shepherd's victory might turn out to be pedestrian, or even moot. Many more minutes passed as Harry's pulse stayed over a hundred b.p.m. Then suddenly something in the air (the magic binding the creatures, no doubt) splintered, cracked and shattered. Then they heard the very obvious cacophony of a Great Hall full of creatures and Death Eaters killing each other.
"Showtime." Dean said, grinning.
"How can you grin?" Ron snapped, looking pale.
"Because it's an ultimatum delivered by fate." Dean said with satisfaction. "There are no more complications. Either after all the creatures are dead we kill Voldemort and become famous the world over or we die trying. There's a good chance I'll die. If I do, I intend to be grinning even while it happens."
"You're mental." Ron summarised as he got up off the floor and started stretching and jogging on the spot.
Harry stood up unsteadily, mentally toughening himself, reminding himself that the reason he had to grow up with the veneficiophobic Dursleys was because of that ugly snake-headed screwup in the Great Hall formerly known as Tom Riddle - who had likely recently killed Albus Dumbledore, Harry's favourite wizard, after also killing all of Harry's schoolfriends, not to mention that many years ago he started an incredibly destructive guerrilla war just for his personal power advancement. No matter what circumstances I find myself in, Harry told himself, that bastard deserves absolutely no mercy. Harry's rage boiled, and he felt like knocking down trees solely from the ferocity of his glare. He was ready to kill and/or die.