Outside of the castle, the battles between the Death Eaters and their opponents continued to rage fiercely. Every few minutes the sound of an explosion could be heard, or the sound of a toppling giant. The sounds were getting increasingly less frequent, however, as the teachers, Aurors, DA members and members of the Order of the Phoenix slowly retreated into the castle. Everywhere the sheer numbers of their opponents were forcing them back, especially where the Death Eaters were led by the cunning Lucius Malfoy and the shrewd if more than slightly insane Bellatrix Lestrange. At Voldemort's orders, the two of them had taken command of the assault and, although they had lost several Death Eaters, giants, snakes and many of Voldemort's lesser servants, they had killed several of their foes in exchange while the rest were forced to withdraw. The only exceptions to this pattern were the Forbidden Forest where the forest's denizens were holding at bay the giants and the few Death Eaters who had followed Gurg Golgomath and the lake where the merpeople were still viciously resisting the few giants and Death Eaters who continued to oppose them. In the midst of this, the lake began to bubble followed by a whirlpool from which the Durmstrang ship slowly emerged.
"Ve must attack the forces of You-Know-Who," Viktor Krum told those who had accompanied him and Charlie Weasley onto the ship's deck as soon as the ship surfaced. Krum was carrying his Firebolt in one hand and gesticulated wildly with the other as he spoke. "Poliakoff," he continued, talking to a shorter, stouter man standing slightly behind him and Charlie, "take tvelve others and help the merpeople fight against the Death Eaters beneath us. The ten best fliers vill accompany me vile ve attack our foes from the air and the rest shall follow Charles into the forest." As soon as he finished speaking, Krum leapt into the air followed by ten others. Poliakoff dove over the side of the ship into the water, performing a Bubble-Head Charm as he did so while a dozen others followed him, some performing the same charm, others transfiguring themselves while one changed herself into a large bright yellow frog before jumping into the lake.
"You should probably take the ship and go back to Durmstrang," Charlie said to the wizard he and Krum had agreed would stay on the ship. "If we lose, we don't want You-Know-Who to get his hands on her. She'd make it too easy for him to attack other places. If we lose, stay at Durmstrang and do what you can to keep resistance going." The new captain of the ship nodded silently then went below deck to make preparations for his departure. "Well then," Charlie said after he was gone. "Let's get a move on. Dumbledore wants us to find Hagrid as quickly as we can." He disembarked the ship at a run, the remaining half-dozen witches and wizards racing along to try and keep up with him. It didn't take them long to reach the forest, although on two occasions they found themselves attacked by snakes and a few isolated giants. Charlie found them fairly easy to deal with after several years dealing with dragons. They also rescued two Aurors who had remained behind while others retreated into the castle.
Upon reaching the forest, Charlie found it exactly the same as he had the last time he had entered it; a dark, forbidding place in which echoes could be heard mixed with the noises of the numerous creatures that lived inside it. "Split up," Charlie told his companions. "We need to find Hagrid then get to the castle as soon as possible." Half of the Durmstrang graduates headed deeper into the forest, calling out Hagrid's name as they went. "If you find Hagrid or if you need us send sparks into the sky," Charlie called after them. "All right," Charlie said once the other group was out of sight, "we'll go this way. Hagrid!" he called out, moving towards the sounds of battle that could be heard dimly in the forest's interior.
Charlie's group continued moving deeper into the forest, shouting Hagrid's name every few minutes attempting to find the half-giant. Unfortunately, however, their shouts didn't attract Hagrid. Instead they drew four of his larger cousins, drenched in blood from the battle raging deeper in the forest. The giants apparently didn't want to wait to see who the new arrivals were. Instead they raced to attack, their massive weapons raised high above their heads. One of the Durmstrang wizards, a dark haired young man with a foul temper whose name Charlie had never learnt, was caught by surprise despite the size of the giants and was chopped in half by a sword stroke from the lead giant then trampled flat as the following giants ran over him. Charlie and the others dived out of the giants' way as best they could then begin to send spells in the direction of the giants. The simple stunning spells they used initially, however, had no noticeable effect on the magically resistant giants. They tried again, this time using more destructive spells with one of the former Durmstrang students using a spell that he had learnt while studying the Dark Arts. One of the giants went down, clutching his eye as blood poured forth from a massive wound opened just above it while the Leg-Locker curse Charlie and the two nearest wizards had used on it caused it to fall flat on its face.
Just after the ground shook following the giant's fall, the reason the giants were running so fast away from the battle became very apparent. A loud clicking could be heard over the sounds of the numerous spells being cast. Following the clicking, several dark shapes began to emerge into Charlie's field of vision. The shapes swiftly became clear – dozens of eight-legged, eight-eyed creatures with large mouths. "Acromantulas!" Charlie heard one of his companions scream in panic. Most of the giant spiders pursued the giants who had continued to run, while several of the others fell upon the fallen giant and ravenously began to feed upon him. The giant's screams of agony echoed eerily through the forest. Ten or so of the spiders, however, ignored the giants and moved towards Charlie and his companions, either not knowing or not caring that they were on the same side. "Run!" Charlie yelled, hoping that they would all be able to escape from the spiders and that none of them would suffer the same fate as the rapidly dying giant.
The wizards moved away from the pursuing spiders as quickly as they could. The acromantulas, however, scuttled along after them quicker than the humans could run. One of the wizards turned in panic and sent the killing curse at the spiders. One spider died, but it was soon avenged as the wizard was pounced upon and had his head bitten off by one of the others which settled down to enjoy its meal. The remaining spiders continued to chase the fleeing wizards. Amidst the chaos, Charlie heard a sound that made him think he was imagining things; the sound of a car engine. To his surprise, they burst into a clearing in the forest. Inside the clearing were several skittish unicorns and a battered blue car. The unicorns briefly raised their heads to look in the direction they had come from, then ran away from the wizards. "Charles, look," one of the Durmstrang wizards called out, indicating the way they had come from. Charlie turned around was astonished to see the acromantulas being reluctant to follow. After apparently having a brief conversation, the spiders turned, leaving the prey they had pursued so tenaciously alone. "Vy are they leaving?" the wizard asked?
Charlie thought for a moment, searching his memory for what Ron had told him about his and Harry's encounter with the giant spiders in their second year. After a while, he replied, "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it might have something to do with the car." Charlie gestured towards the placid car, now examining the other wizards with apparent interest, though apparently it was quite reluctant to get too close to them as it always kept a respectable distance away. "I think," Charlie continued, "that the spiders might have encountered it before and come off second best so these young ones were reluctant to approach it."
"I don't really care if that is the case," one of the witches who had accompanied Charlie said. "I'm just glad that they haff left. I vould not haff vanted to become spider food."
"I think we can all agree with that, Ludmilla," Charlie agreed. "Now, we really should get back to trying to find Hagrid." Charlie left the clearing, giving the car an affectionate pat before he did so, with the rest of the group following. After another fruitless ten minutes of searching, Charlie's attention was drawn to the sky when one of his companions said, "Look, sparks," and pointed upwards. Sure enough, hanging in the sky were a group of orange sparks that had been formed into a giant arrow. "Looks like our companions have found Hagrid," Charlie said, a smile on his face for the first time since he had received Dumbledore's letter. "Let's go see them."
Charlie set off towards the area the sparks had come from, the Durmstrang graduates following him. Just before the reached the sparks, a massive humanoid shape appeared looming out of the forest wit a massive club in one hand and a crossbow in the other. The crossbow appeared small in the giant's fist, but it was far too big for any human to use. The group prepared to do battle with another giant, but they were surprised when they heard the giant boom out "Why you here?" Charlie took another look at the giant and saw that he was a fair bit smaller than the other giants they had seen. "Put your wands away," Charlie said quietly to his companions. "I think that's Hagrid's little brother." Amidst some grumbling, the others obeyed his instructions. The giant, apparently not having heard what Charlie said, repeated its question, this time more loudly. "Why you here?" it said, the sound of its voice reverberating through the trees.
"We're looking for Hagrid," Charlie replied loudly to make sure the giant heard him. "Do you know where he is?"
"Why you want Hagger?" the giant demanded suspiciously. "If you want hurt Hagger Grawp hurt you."
"Don't worry, Grawp," Charlie said, trying to placate the clearly agitated giant who was shifting his feet repeatedly, churning up large mounds of earth in the process and hefting his weapons dangerously. "We just want to talk to him. Dumbledore sent us."
"You fight for Dumb-door?" Grawp said, evidently still quite suspicious. "You not Death Eaters?" The wizards vehemently shook their heads. "Okay. Grawp take you to Hagger. But if you try hurt him you regret it." Grawp turned around and quickly strode towards the sparks, the much smaller wizards racing to keep up with him. Grawp didn't go around any obstacles in his path. Instead he uprooted trees and kicked large rocks out of his way as if they were pebbles. The wizards therefore made better time than they would have without the humanoid bulldozer. They soon reached a clearing that seemed to have been made by Grawp as felled trees were strewn across the landscape. On the outskirts of the clearing, a centaur could be seen treating the wounds of a giant while another centaur waited patiently for its own injuries to be dealt with. In the middle of the clearing, talking to Firenze while two giants and the other former Durmstrang students looked on was Hagrid. "We continue to fight, Hagrid," Firenze said. "Many giants and Death Eaters have felt the sting of centaur arrows. I fear it will not be enough though. For every strike we make against our foes we pay in our blood. Over a dozen of us have fallen to the giants, some of which I fear have been eaten afterwards, while the wizards have also managed to harm us. And the forest itself is paying an even worse price. I fear it will be many years before it can recover."
"Sorry 'bout that Firenze," Hagrid responded, his face gloomy. "We need ta fight though. If we don't You-Know-Who will make the world not worth living in."
"Indeed, Hagrid," Firenze said, his head deeply inclined in agreement. "If only more of my brethren could have been persuaded of that. Those I persuaded will fight until we are victorious or dead. Our foes will not leave the forest while one of us lives. Have no fear of that. I hope we shall meet again." Firenze turned and walked away, pausing only briefly to acknowledge Charlie, then he galloped into the forest.
"Now then Charlie," Hagrid said, turning to tower over the younger man, "what are yeh doin' here?"
"Looking for you, Hagrid," Charlie replied, giving him the letter Dumbledore had sent with Fawkes. "Dumbledore wants me to take you to the castle."
Hagrid quickly read threw the letter, then read it again before responding. "I can't leave the forest now Charlie," he said when he had finished. "We're fightin' hard here, and if we leave the Death Eaters will be able ta get inta the school."
"Dumbledore only wants you at the minute," Charlie said, trying to persuade Hagrid to return to the school with him. "The battle can continue without you."
Hagrid paused for a moment to consider what Charlie said. He turned to look up at his brother and asked "What do yeh think o' this Grawpy?"
"Hagger should go," Grawp replied. "We fight here. Dumb-door needs Hagger more than we do. We fight until all dead or victorious."
Hagrid listened to his brother, though he was still visibly reluctant to leave, but he acquiesced. "All righ' Grawpy, I'll go where Dumbledore wants me ta be. You're in charge 'ere. Try not ta let Aragog and his lot eat too many people. Let's get a move on then Charlie." Charlie nodded then began to lead the former Durmstrang students in the direction of castle. Hagrid gave Grawp a hug which the larger giant awkwardly returned, taking care not to crush his smaller brother. Soon afterwards, Hagrid strode away from Grawp, his long legs easily allowing him to catch up with the smaller wizards. Grawp's eyes followed him, a fond look visible on his misshapen face, then turned away and led the two giants who had stood quietly in the clearing to serve as Hagrid's guards and messengers deeper into the forest and towards the continuing battle.