Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: Archer of Hogwarts / Chapter 2 (Working Title)
Posted Date: 27 November 2022
Tags: Hufflepuff Harry, Hawkeye Archer type Harry, Harry x Susan, Good/Well Meaning Dumbledore, BWL Neville Longbottom, Canon Snape
Possible Challenges: Harry x Hufflepuff Poly, Bad Alice Longbottom
It took a while for Harold to get his bearings about the forest. Despite his experience with this part of the woods, something appeared to be messing with his head, and it was only thanks to his fox companions that he was able to get closer to where the screams were originating from. It also helped that every so often, the foxes would start to dig at random spots on the ground that showed more of those weird stones with markings on it for him to use his knife and disfigure them. Each successful attempt made it easier for him to move on even if he had to pause to take a breath.
Eventually, Harold came to a clearing that he knew was not there previously, and based on the screaming going on, the source he seeked. As he got closer, the screaming stopped abruptly, and he could hear other people laughing cruelly. It reminded him of the way his relatives used to laugh after one of his "punishments," and the knot of fear tightened in his gut. He could tell that these were the sort of people he should avoid at all costs but he had to see who was the one that needed saving. Harold looked about and spotted a good branch for him to stay off the ground and stand on for alleviation. With a quick step, he climbed the trunk to grab the branch and pulled himself up to kneel on it and looked at the direction of the sounds.
A few feet away from his hiding spot, he spotted a young girl, not much older than him, huddling by the foot of a large oak tree while cradling her left leg that was clearly broken and bent at such an unnatural angle that Harold winced in sympathy. Having experienced broken bones a few times in the past, he could tell even he would have issues handling such a fracture. She had red hair that was roughed up and caked in dirt and sticks, and tears were streaming down her face along with a trickle of blood from her mouth. She was no longer screaming her lungs out, but was whimpering softly in pain.
More concerning to him were the three adults that stood around her. It was clear that none of them (adult males from the sound of it) were there to help the young girl; for one, all of them were too relaxed and joking with one another while dressed in some weird black dress or a bathrobe. He could not see any of their faces for the time being as they were faced away from him. The closest one to the girl was a short thin man with a small ponytail sticking over the collar of his robes who kept waving a stick that was too short for hitting anyone but was evidently familiar to the girl since she kept moving backwards in fear. A second was a brunette with greying hair who kept pacing about the clearing with slow deliberate steps, occasionally looking about as though he was waiting for someone. The last one was the biggest of the lot with dirty blond hair, sitting by a large rock chatting and smoking out of those smoke pipes in the history books.
As Harold tried to gather more details, the one closest to the girl spoke up with a drawl.
"I love putting these blood-traitors in their place as much as anyone but if Weber doesn't get here soon I say we leave without him," said Mr. Black Ponytail as he brandished his hand holding the stick. Seeing how the girl shrank away from the man made Harold's blood boil with rage at the obvious fear. Even his companions were lightly growling at the sight.
"We wouldn't be in such a rush if you three had just taken the girl silently like I told you," replied the man pacing around. His tone was notably tense, and he kept clenching and opening his hand. Harold made a guess that this might be the leader based on his age and the way that he addressed the others.
"Aww, where's the fun in that?" said the big guy with a laugh. "I haven't had this much fun in ages. 'Sides, the ward line's not far. If we hear anyone coming, we'll be out of here in no time."
"We wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding us if you guys had placed a bloody silencing charm on her, you idiot!" snarled The Leader as he turned to face him, revealing a strange white mask. "And in case you didn't notice, Grego, the wards were getting interfered with. Someone is trying to get in as we speak."
"Alright, alright, we should have cast the bloody charm," conceded Mr. Black Ponytail. "But it's too late now, and all we have to do is wait for Weber to get here, and we'll be home free."
The Leader waved the stick that he was holding (looking closer, Harold noticed that all of them were holding a stick except for the girl). To his surprise, a series of numbers suddenly appeared in midair. Apparently they represented the time, because The Leader looked at them for a moment before saying, "He is taking a while to come here. We will wait for five more minutes, by which time we will leave, with or without him."
"Perhaps, but we are also to wait for Boris to bring those bloody dogs here." The big guy called Grego answered. "Honestly, why are we working with them on this?"
"Greyback wants Bones to pay for that raid that saw those creatures burned to a crisp." Mr Black Ponytail answered his query. "Personally, good riddance to that lot."
"Better not let them know what you said, Yaxley." The Leader warned him. "You may share your uncle's passion to hunt those creatures down, but you don't have the same protection. He may not be able to help you if we get caught."
"Relax, we are alone for now. And I can keep my mouth shut around them when needed." Mr Black Ponytail, now named Yaxley, waved his hand carelessly. Harold would have listened more if not for the wind that blew by and his fox cubs letting out a startled yelp.
Crap.
"Carl." Grego stood up from the rock with his stick in his hand, his expression stern as he looked about.
"I know." The Leader did something with his wand that sent alarm bells ringing in Harold's head. With a quick step, he moved away to another spot outside of the immediate perimeter and to a rock formation behind them. He felt something hit him briefly before fading away, and he pulled out his bow to notch an arrow at ready just in case. He may not know what was going on, but he could tell it was not something good with the injured girl there. Harold lightly clicked his teeth to have his companions drop to the floor and look at him expectantly.
It was at this point that Harold had a revelation. This was not like the other times that he had to hunt down animals like deer and rabbits; this time, actual people were the targets that he was going to fire an arrow at. He knew about rogue poachers under his brief stint with his foster guardian, and the few times the man had to threaten them to leave the forest, but this was not the case. Briefly he played with the thought that the men may actually be the good guys, but another scream from the girl stopped that line of thought. Even if that girl was someone bad, no one should be allowed to hurt her in that manner.
No child had to feel pain by any adult.
Harold swung his knapsack to the ground and checked the contents for anything to help him with any idea, with his fox cubs moving closer. He briefly paused to look at them before a smile appeared on his face. He now had a rough idea of what to do. He grabbed what he needed for the plan before pulling out a hunter's mask.
This was his forest, and these guys did not pay their rent to be here.
~ooOOoo~
"Was that just my imagination?" Carl frowned as he looked about.
"I think we are getting too jumpy with this place." Grego muttered as he lowered his wand down. Yaxley grunted as he looked about his end, his wand dimming from firing the latest curse at the girl.
"Guess you got a point. Weber is taking too long and it is making us bloody paranoid around here." Carl muttered as he looked in a certain direction.
"Do you think we have been compromised?" Grego asked. "After all, we felt the Wards starting to fail a while back. They may not know where we are now, but they could be gaining on us if that sound we heard was that close."
"Perhaps we are." Yaxley looked at the girl with a speculative eye. "Think we should cut our losses?"
"Keep her alive for now." Carl countered that thought. "We will need some assurance to ensure we get out free if we have that woman on our arses."
"And after that?" That got Carl to look at the girl who drew back even further at the look in his eyes.
"Well, this is a forest with dangerous animals. It is not safe for a little girl to be wandering alone, especially with werewolves in the area." That got the adult men chuckling darkly at that while the girl let out fresh tears from that statement. The sounds of bushes rustling stopped them and drew their attention with wands out. Carl casted another spell to check for human presence and found none, which reassured him somewhat since the spell was designed to bypass invisibility cloaks, disillusionment spells and even Animagus. It cannot detect real animals though so he cast a spell to check for wildlife and werewolves; can't be too careless in this part of the woods.
They need not worry too much as a fox cub appeared with a small rabbit in its mouth and stopped looking at them with the tail wagging back and forth.
"Just a little fox." Yaxley lowered his arm with a scoff. "Nice fur though."
"I'm surprised that little one can catch the rabbit on its own. It can't be any older than 11 months." Grego commented on that, making Carl look at the fox cub with narrowed eyes.
"You are right. It can't." Carl waved his wand again, this time casting the spell over a wider area. This time he got a minor blimp, but it was there nonetheless.
And it was behind him!
The sounds of something whistling through the air was the only thing that may have saved him as he spun on his heel, the same could not be said about his wand as it snapped and left his hand. He cursed as everyone got down to the ground and he checked for his wand. He found the snapped wand by the ground and noted the arrow that had managed to embed itself deeply into the tree ahead of him.
"Is it the Aurors?" Grego waved his wand to cast his own detection spell.
"No, I only detected one person, and this one is too small in size." Carl took out a spare wand from his robes while checking where the fox was previously to find it gone. "That fox was a distraction. Are there any centaurs in the area?"
"Not in these woods." Yaxley muttered as his eyes flicked about. "The only people near here are Bones and a few blood traitors, and they live on the outskirts. We are deeper into the forest than most people."
"That must mean a muggle is here." Carl cast another detection spell to find the presence had moved away from the initial spot and somewhere to the right. "Right side, roughly 5 feet!"
"I got this!" Grego cast a spell that gorged out the earth and sent trees flying about the area as the spell worked its way towards the target and widened its trajectory to ensure anyone jumping would still be caught in the aftershock. It continued on for another ten feet before tapering away. "Did I get him!"
"No, whoever it is got away again." Yaxley cast his own detection spell. "That one keeps jumping around. Too fast for a muggle."
"One way to find out." Carl placed the tip of the wand to his throat before calling out loudly. "Nice of you to place hide-and-seek, but this game is over. Come out now or the girl gets it!" To emphasise on that, Grego directed his wand at the girl and called out "Crucio!" The red beam of light that came off his wand hit the girl, making her scream as her body shook violently.
"Got a reading!" Yaxley called out, making Grego lift his wand to stop applying the spell. The men waited for a moment until the bushes rustled again and parted to reveal, much to their surprise, a young boy dressed in what looked to be a mix of muggle clothes and tree leaves wrapped around him while wielding an assortment of weapons on his body and a bow in his hand. A hood covered his head with a mask colored green and black hiding his identity that would help him hide among the woods, making it ideal to ambush any animals he is hunting.
"Who the hell are you?" Grego demanded with a gesture of his wand. The boy appeared to be studying them before answering.
"Leave this forest." Carl frowned at how young he sounded. This boy could not be any older than eight, yet there was something about him that made the man reconsider if the child was truly a muggle. Unnoticed to him, the others laughed at the boy's demands.
"Do you honestly believe you are in any position to make demands, brat?" Yaxley sneered at the boy. The boy tilted his head to one side and then to the other. Somehow that gesture sent chills down Carl's spine and made him tighten his hold over his wand.
"Leave the forest and the girl." Grego snorted while raising his wand.
"I don't think so boy. Bombarda!" He fired the spell at the boy who should logically be dead by this point. Instead the boy appeared to have leaped forward and went right into Grego's guard with a machete pulled out from somewhere, using the momentum to cut off his wand arm at the same time. Grego screamed while the boy grabbed Grego's arm and threw it away, but not for long as the boy spun and cut his leg, making the wizard fall to the ground. Carl and Yaxley directed their wands at the boy and cast the stunning spells at him to avoid collateral damage with Grego, but the boy kneeled briefly before jumping straight up and over their heights, throwing out some rope to the trees to pull himself through and hide among the trees.
"Terramotus!" Carl slammed his wand to the ground to make it swell and rushed towards the trees, uprooting and crushing every single one in its way. Yaxley provided cover for his back and fired off a few other spells to supposedly attack the boy. After a while, Yaxley rushed to Grego and began treatment.
"FUCK! I am going to kill that brat!" Grego screamed as Yaxley did some field work on his leg. "Where is my arm!"
"Hang on! Accio dismembered arm!" Carl summoned the arm in question and passed it to Yaxley who began trying to reconnect it to Grego.
"Grego, stop moving!" Yaxley glared at the man.
"It would help if you did not make it worse!" Grego growled while biting on some cloth.
"Well sorry if my healing spells are not as good as you want it, I am better at dismembering limbs instead of reattaching limbs. Be thankful my uncle is not the one doing the healing." Yaxley grumbled as he attempted to do some field reattachment. Not a pretty sight to behold with the blood leaking and tendons present along with the bone.
"Where's my wand?" Grego tried to distract himself from the healing process by looking around for it.
"It was not in your hand, my guess is that it dropped out." Carl answered while looking around the area. "Damn it, that kid moves fast."
"When I get my hands on that kid, I am going to…" Whatever he wanted to say got interrupted by an arrow that whistled through the air and pierced his chest, causing blood to issue from both it and his mouth over Yaxley, making the latter yelp as he scrambled away from Grego. That left the expiring wizard to crash to the ground with blood trailing from the mouth.
"Shit!" Yaxley got back to his feet and brandished his wand. "That damn brat is something else!"
"We better get some insurance." Carl went to grab the Bones brat and pulled her by the collar without caring that he was aggravating her injuries. "Get to the ward lines and move out. Weber can follow us later."
"Got it." Yaxley then did something to conjure up some dark flames. "Here's a souvenir for him though. Fiendfyre!" The flames went out of his wand and descended on the trees about them, leaving enough space for the two men to drag their hostage away while the forest burned under the intensity of the cursed flames. It was not really subtle and would likely draw the attention of the Aurors seeking them out, but hopefully this would slow them down and more importantly deal with the interloper. They had to leave Grego behind, but at this point, he was just dead weight.
They moved quickly until they were a good few feet away from the burning area upwind, watching as the fire consumed the other trees in the opposite direction. Regular wildfires were bad enough, but with Fiendfyre, that was done on another level even without magic fueling it. There was a reason why the cursed flame was such a heavily regulated spell.
"Think that would do it?" Yaxley breathed heavily from the running and the usage of the dark spell.
"If it does not take out the brat, it would at least bun him a fair bit." Carl placed the girl down on the ground and fired off a few spells to check their area while tying her up. "But now we have to deal with the Aurors likely coming here. That fire is a beacon for them to come after."
"Let's get the girl further back before I try calling the others." Between the two of them, they moved the girl further up the hill against the wind so that the fire would not reach them. At least there was a fair bit of gap between them and the fire so the flames would not detect them and try to go after them for their magic to burn more. After getting to a ridge, Carl then fired off a wispy crow and spoke to it before it flew away to a general direction.
"Now we wait." The leader sat down on the nearest rock.
"Hope they come soon." Yaxley muttered as he secured the girl who had at this point fallen unconscious from all that had happened. "Can we apparate now?"
"Just a little more." Carl was checking around the area. "The wards are still a few feet away, and that fire is getting a little dangerous. We walk to the ward line then apparate."
"That's fine. I too need to catch my breath and" whatever Yaxley was going to see got cut short quite violently when something burst out of his chest in a fountain of blood. The two men looked at the protruding item that happened to be a tree branch before Yaxley looked up with blood trailing from the corner of the mouth. "What?" The branch curled lightly before Yaxley got pulled back and sent through the bushes, his screams going distant being the last thing Carl would hear of him.
"Yaxley!" Carl fired off stunners in the same direction and swore loudly as he lost track of his companion. "Where are you, brat!" Carl turned around on the spot, snarling at every shadow that was dancing about in the light of the fire. "I know you did this! You think you can hide in the shadows to take us out, well guess what? You are about to fucking die here, but before that!" Carl pointed the wand at the Bones brat. "Let's have her for a test run!"
The whistle of an arrow flying through the air was what saved Carl and the girl as he apparated quickly to avoid the arrow, using that as an indicator to point his wand to the general direction and fired off a cannon blast that destroyed a large portion of the trees in its wake. "Hah! Missed me!" His reply came in the form of five arrows shot in quick succession, and despite his apparition, his leg got clipped by the last one. That moment of pain was enough to slow Carl down enough for another volley of arrows to come at him and pierce his shoulder and the legs, forcing him to his knees as the boy leaped out of the shadows with the machete gleaming from the light as he prepared to swing it.
"Avada Kedavra!" A green light shot out of his wand as the boy swung the machete in time to catch it. The blade glowed briefly before shattering into pieces, causing the boy to yelp as some of the pieces cut through his clothes and his skin. Carl used the time to pull out the arrows and healed his wounds quickly before moving towards the brat who was stumbling from the pain. That did not stop the boy from grabbing a wooden club and swinging it upwards to force him away, using the momentum to move further.
"Petrificus Totalus!" He aimed the wand at the boy who managed to dodge at the last second. Carl aimed for where the boy would come out from and fired as soon as he saw the fur coat, and for a moment he thought he got him when he watched it drop to the ground, only to realise there was no body or blood on the ground. That cost him when his wand was torn away from his hand by some furball that leaped from behind to take it, and shortly after he felt an arrow piercing his back.
"GARH!" Carl felt his body seizing up from both the pain and the paralysis that came about from his spine, barely stopping himself from hitting the ground face first when he saw a foot appear in front of him. He looked up to find the brat without his suit and parts of his mask chipped off while wielding a hunter's knife. In an act of defiance, Carl swung his arm with a yell, just barely forcing the kid back enough to have the mask come off his face and smashed to the ground. The boy staggered to right himself, and for the first time, Carl got to see the face of his attacker in the light, and for a moment he believed a ghost had come back to haunt him.
'Potter?!'
That was the last thought he had before the knife entered his chest and all went black.
~ooOOoo~
Harold let out a small breath as he watched the lights leave the man's eyes as his life essence bled out of him. He was used to hunting animals for food or safety, but to hunt down man was a different emotion altogether. Perhaps it helped that he had prior experience with unruly campers, and the people here were clearly antagonistic against him and the girl, with the latter likely kidnapped. They tortured her and wanted to take them out.
It still made him uneasy to do what he did, not to mention a little guilty to ask the trees to help him take down the man's partner.
Harold shook his head and placed a hand on the ground while focusing his intent. The ground around the body shifted and moved, before the body started sinking into the ground with the face being buried as the last. Harold willed the earth to continue taking the body deeper into itself and away from him just in case someone would come later to find some signs. Only when he could not feel the presence of the body did Harold let up from the action.
"Yelp!" Oh right, there was the girl.
He turned to find the girl leaning against the trunk with his fox cubs lightly prodding her with their snouts. Said girl was unconscious as Harold drew closer to her to examine her wounds, the sight of which made Harold very glad that she was unconscious. Perhaps the biggest issue was her leg; it was bent almost sideways with some bone sticking out of the skin. Harold knew he needed to fix this first before he could attempt to move her, but he was going to need a little help from the earth itself for this. He took a moment to ensure the severity of the wound while raising his arm in a general direction and grabbed the bag that he had left behind earlier and flew into his hand before he got to work.
Harold took out his machete and went to the nearest tree to chop off some branches to brace her leg with. After getting them to size and laying them near her along with some rope, Harold placed his hands on her leg, and with a silent apology, pushed the broken portion of the bone back into position. The girl whimpered but remained out of it as Harold quickly grabbed the sticks with one hand still on her leg for him to get them into position, then manoeuvred the rope to wrap around it to secure it in place. Once done, Harold took a slow breath and placed both hands on the wound before focusing his intent. The trees started to rustle as he felt natural energy coming off the ground and through his foot, travelled through his body and down his arms, and finally entered the girl's injured leg. He watched closely as the wound started to glow before time appeared to reverse itself around it with the blood flowing back into it and the flesh started to close up on itself. After a few seconds, the glow diminished to reveal a perfectly healed and healthy leg with the barest hint of a bruise to show where the injury was.
Harold sighed as he removed his arms from her and stumbled to the ground in a light daze. It was always a little tiring to heal other animals compared to himself, but to heal another human was quite draining to say the least. And what little he had seen of those men, there was a chance this little girl had a power of her own, thankfully one that was 'lighter' compared to them and one willing to accept his healing after some testing. But it was also clear to him that he needed to get her out of the area if he wanted to heal her other injuries, the general area felt tainted and subdued, likely due to the men from earlier doing whatever they did earlier. He would need to get the girl to the secondary stop for him to rest up and do some more healing before bringing her back to his campsite for the rest.
Low growls drew Harold's attention to the two cubs as they were facing north with their fur on end and fangs out. Given what he overheard, Harold wagered that he was about to have some unwelcome company likely attracted from the fire and the sounds of fighting. Harold quickly secured her injured arm and picked her up with a light grunt before whistling to his cubs, prompting them to climb into his backpack before doing his disappearing act.
Barely a minute later, the sounds of bushes breaking filled the area before a particularly large wolf with long limbs crashed into the clearing, followed shortly by another two similar creatures. The first one sniffed the area while prowling, snarling with saliva dripping from the fangs. It then stood up on its hind legs while clenching what appeared to be hands with claws and taking a deep sniff of the area. Then with a loud howl which was answered by the other two in kind, the wolf went back on all fours and rushed off in a certain direction to find their prey.