A/N: Chapter beta read by Forty-Two Dreams. All remaining mistakes are mine.
ATTACKED
As all of them left the castle for the school's grounds, Dumbledore explained what would be their defence tactics, which he had obviously already worked out.
They would form four teams of three wizards, each with at least one good duellist and one good broom rider. As a team would take on a giant, the wizard on the broom would be able to divert its attention and attack it from behind, allowing the other two to lead a hopefully successful frontal attack.
Dumbledore had already worked out the members of each team as well. Snape was paired off with Hooch and Trelawney. Not the worst of teams, Snape was sure that at least Hooch would be able to give him good support up from her broom. As for Trelawney… Well, if she could keep herself alive long enough to see the end of the battle…
Snape quickly noticed the Heads of House had been split in all four teams as the duellists. The ones that would fly were Hooch, Sinistra, Vector and Arienda, the Ancient Runes teacher. There was also a fifth team made of two wizards only, Dumbledore himself and no other than Ursaglow, buffoon extraordinaire.
Snape found it extremely ironic to see Dumbledore had chosen to keep Ursaglow by his side. A great wizard like Dumbledore could stand up to a giant on his own. That showed just how much faith the Headmaster put in the young wizard's abilities. It was easy math after all: if their pair was meant to be as strong as three wizards, and Dumbledore being worth at least four wizards, that left Ursaglow with minus one, Snape concluded with a nasty smile.
Dumbledore would have been better off putting Ursaglow in a team with Madam Pomfrey - who was paired with Wilson and Vector. It could be wise to have a Medi-witch handy if the young man managed to wound himself inadvertently.
All five teams took position and split to cover all the grounds around the castle, except from the side flanked with the lake, all wands out and brooms ready to take off. All their surroundings were white with snow. The giants could be seen, far on the grounds but getting closer fast.
Hooch was holding her broomstick firmly, her eyes set on the distance, while Trelawney was muttering under her breath. The seer's jewellery was rattling madly.
"Nervous, Sybill?" Snape teased. "Didn't you see this coming in your tea leaves?"
"Of course I did," the witch retorted stiffly. "The stars spoke of a great conflict for late December. It has been written for months."
"You wouldn't know who's going to win then, by any chance?" Snape asked mockingly.
"We certainly will," Trelawney assured him, though she didn't seem totally convinced herself.
There was a loud thud afar, and in the distance Snape saw a giant falling to the ground. Probably trap number seven, he snorted. Or was it trap number twelve?
As the giants were getting closer and closer, Snape managed to estimate their number. His conclusion was they were way, way too many. He tightened his grip on his wand. The traps wouldn't stop them all, he thought as another giant fell to the ground.
Hooch and the other broom riders took off. Some flew towards the giants to get a better view of the situation. When Hooch came back, she warned her companions.
"Get ready, there's a very ugly one heading right over here," she said, a twinkle in her eyes.
Snape nodded. Trelawney's jewellery was rattling more than ever. A minute later, Snape could confirm what Hooch had told them - that was one ugly beast. It was five or six yards tall. Maybe even seven, it was hard to tell from down there.
It growled nastily as it crouched and swung its arm at Snape, but he managed to avoid it in a swift dodge.
"Repulso!" he cast, and the giant was pushed two steps back.
"Stupefy!" Snape heard Hooch cast in the giant's back.
The creature brought a hand to his nape, as if something had just tickled it, before turning round angrily. It took a step and tried to grab Hooch, but the witch was too quick on her broom.
"Ligarius!" Snape cried, and a set of ropes flew from the tip of his wand to tie the giant's legs.
It fell forward, throwing up a cloud of snow as it touched the ground. Its arm jerked up as it tried to catch Hooch again.
"STUPEFY!" all three of them, Snape, Hooch and Trelawney shouted almost simultaneously. The giant's arm fell back.
Hooch flew down to their level. "One down… but another one would like to have a go at us!"
Snape observed the giant Hooch was indicating. It was even uglier than the previous one. In the distance, Snape could see three other giants waist-deep into the ground, slamming their fists around angrily. A Swamping Charm, he smiled - very clever, with the snow it was undetectable.
Snape gave a quick look around to check how his colleagues were faring. There were already two stunned giants lying in front of a very serene looking Dumbledore, while Ursaglow was fiercely battling one on his own. From where he was, Snape couldn't see or hear what spell the young wizard used, but it resulted in a rigid giant falling head first towards the immobile spell-caster. Ursaglow came back to his senses just in time to avoid being squeezed between a heavy giant and the ground.
Too bad, Snape thought. It had been so close…
Snape turned to check the team on their other side, and saw Vector take a violent hit that ejected her from her broom. While Wilson and Pomfrey neutralised the giant, Snape followed the trajectory of the broom-less yet flying Arithmancy teacher. A blue jet of light aimed at the ground spurted out of Vector's wand. When she touched down, the ground subsided under her weight and she bounced back, as if on a trampoline.
"Severus!" Hooch warned.
Snape turned back and saw a menacing giant dangerously close to him.
"Protego!" he shouted.
The Shielding Charm didn't resist very long, for the giant was too strong. Snape took a step backward as the creature took a step forward and lunged at him. But as Snape dodged the attack, it grabbed Trelawney.
The witch yelped in surprise and fear, and let her wand go.
"Pyro!" Hooch yelled as flames erupted from her wand to burn the giant's arm, but it didn't let go, on the contrary: out of rage it squeezed all the more. Trelawney yelped again, gasping for air.
From the corner of his eyes, Snape noticed another giant, not walking towards them but past them, heading right for Hogwarts' entrance doors. With another quick look he knew the next closest team was already too busy to take care of another opponent.
They had to get rid of this one quickly.
"Exquartarium!" Snape shouted, extending his wand arm towards the giant hand holding Trelawney. He maintained the spell, struggling to spread the giant's fingers out, but it was no use - the giant was too strong.
"Exquartarium!" Hooch helped. With both their contributions they managed to open the giant's fingers enough for Trelawney to drop to the ground. She instantly picked up her wand and moved aside.
Snape gave a quick look towards the other giant: it was dangerously close to the castle's entrance. Once there, it would make short work of the wooden doors.
"Rolanda!" he called. "Remember that debatable Quidditch feint we discussed a couple of years ago?"
Hooch nodded with a broad smile. "Certainly, Severus! Accio bat!"
"Quidditch… They're discussing Quidditch…" Trelawney muttered as she recoiled further while the giant advanced towards her.
As soon as Hooch had her hands around one of Hogwarts training beater bat, she took an impressive dive in front of the giant, diverting its attention from its target. Then she flew between its legs only inches above the ground, disorienting it completely, before straightening up sharply right behind it.
The giant turned round just in time for its jaw to connect violently with Hooch's beater. It fell to the ground under the shock.
"Wooh!" Hooch exclaimed. "Much more fun than with a bludger!"
The giant straightened on its elbows groggily.
"Stupefy!" Once again, all three of them had the reflex to cast the Stunning Charm at the same moment.
The giant fell back to the ground just as another attacked them. Snape glanced quickly towards the entrance door: it had been smashed open. There was a giant inside Hogwarts castle. Snape then cast a half panicked look at Dumbledore. As if sensing his gaze, the Headmaster looked at him during his fight with a giant, looked at the open door, then back at Snape with a smile before giving his full attention to his opponent.
So Dumbledore knew there was a giant inside but didn't do anything about it. But with all the children inside… Snape took a quick decision.
"Keep this one busy!" he yelled to Hooch and Trelawney before running back to the castle.
"What? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING, SEVERUS SNAPE!" Trelawney called with a high-pitched voice.
When Snape reached the Great Hall totally out of breath, he was totally confused to find the giant on the floor, circled by two dozens of sixth and seventh years from various Houses - even a couple from Slytherin. The giant was struggling to get back to its feet but was failing. And Longbottom gave what was probably the final straw of a long series started by his comrades.
The giant fell back to the ground for good. All the students around erupted in a cry of triumph, some asking for the next one to come. Snape recognised many members of the infamous DA, including Potter and friends.
"Mr Filch, make sure no one leaves the Great Hall on the spur of the moment," Snape whispered to the caretaker who had moved next to him.
"Of course, Professor."
Snape hurried out of the castle again to carry on the fight. But the situation had evolved since his leaving: it had worsened. All teams were now fighting off two giants at the same time, even three for some of them, and more were coming.
Snape hastened to his team's side. Hooch and Trelawney were in a delicate situation, barely managing to hold back three giants simultaneously. He stepped in, beating back one of them with a flick of his wand, destabilising another… He and his teammates were too focused on local tasks like defending themselves to manage a group attack.
From the corner of his eyes, Snape noticed a fourth giant converging towards them. A quick look to his sides and he knew everyone was overwhelmed, even Dumbledore was grappling with five giants.
They were doomed to lose. Badly.
And then there was, totally unexpectedly, a deadened roar that froze the giants on spot. And even more unexpectedly, all turned towards the Forbidden Forest. During the fleeting moment that followed, the teachers retreated at a safe distance from the giants. Many had wounds ranging from minor to serious, but all were alive.
There was another growl. Snape finally saw what the giants were looking at: a new giant had emerged from the Forbidden Forest, guided towards the castle by no other than Hogwarts Care to Magical Creatures teacher, Rubeus Hagrid.
The new giant growled once more, and this time some of the others responded. They were… yes, discussing. Snape observed his colleagues: they seemed to be wondering what was going on, talking among themselves. As for Dumbledore, he was smiling broadly.
"Where did that giant come from, do you reckon?" Hooch asked him.
"It lives in the Forbidden Forest," Snape answered. When Hooch cast him a questioning look he shrugged. "One of Hagrid's pets," he added.
The 'conversation' between the giants went on for several long minutes. All the wizards had their wands in hand, ready to fight again when the battle would take a normal turn again. But it didn't. After a last exchange of growls and other usual civilities, the giants turned round and left. All of them, except the last arrived who retreated to the Forbidden Forest again, closely followed by Hagrid.
There was a couple of seconds of hesitation before everyone cheered, clapping enthusiastically, hugging one another. Snape accepted a reasonable handshake from Hooch.
Soon they were all back in the Great Hall, and Dumbledore immediately reassured the students about the situation. He also congratulated them for beating a giant on their own. A few minutes later, the students were sent back to their Houses' common rooms, the Great Hall and the school grounds were cleared of any trapped or unconscious giant, the doors were mended, and Madam Pomfrey was taking care of the most seriously wounded while Snape distributed his Healing Potion to the others.
Sinistra, an arm bleeding profusely, and Arienda, limping and helped by Sprout, were lining up while Pomfrey was taking care of Vector. The Arithmancy teacher's gliding flight, while deadened, had given her some serious concussions.
"I'm not sure what happened, but I'm glad it did!" Hooch told Snape as he handed her a goblet of Healing Potion.
He nodded, looking around to see who else could use some of his potion. Dumbledore was of course uninjured and, surprisingly, Ursaglow was too. Either that man had more talent than Snape credited him with, or he was luckier than was wizardly possible. Snape opted for the latter - maybe Ursaglow was suffering from a Rincewind² Syndrome.
He then spotted Wilson, sitting at a table, a trickle of blood dripping from her forehead down to her cheek. He walked up to her and laid a goblet of potion in front of her. She stared at the cup, looked up at him suspiciously, stared back at the goblet. She took a sniff at its contents before pushing it away from her.
"It's only Healing Potion, it won't kill you," Snape mocked.
"There's no cardamom in a Healing Potion," she retorted matter-of-factly.
"How would you know?" he provoked, knowing full well she was right - he had added cardamom for the taste since an unflavoured Healing Potion was almost undrinkable.
The Charms teacher glared at him.
"As you wish…" Snape concluded, taking the goblet of potion back to give it to a more receptive patient that wouldn't think he was trying to poison him.
²: Rincewind is one of the main characters in Terry Pratchett's excellent Discworld series. Rincewind is a wizard, but not a very good one, since he knows only one spell (a spell he can't even use). He also has an uncanny ability to escape the most perilous dangers, as a result of his incredible luck.
Coming Next: New Plans
