Last time, Harry and co. teamed up with W.I.T.C.H. to find Huffelpuff's cup. After working their way through several boobie-traps, they retrieved the Horcruxes, and exorcised the soul-fragment from it. Three down, three to go, on with the show!

Chapter11: Ambushed!

The next day dawned bright and clear, as a sign of good things to come. Our heroes, now numbering eight, were up and relaxing after yesterday's adventure. "I don't call nearly getting killed an adventure." Said Cornelia in her usual pessimistic manner. "Admit it," said Irma, "You missed the excitement of putting your life at risk." "I'm not going to answer that." Replied Cornelia as she walked over to Herminoe.

She had a large leather-bound book in her lap, and was writing in it. "What are you writing?" asked Cornelia. "Oh, I'm just recording what we did yesterday," replied Herminoe, "So what we're doing won't be forgotten."

Harry walked over to Will, who was staring at the sky. "It's quiet this morning," she said. "Yeah, quiet," replied Harry, "Almost too quiet." "Oh come on Harry, "said Ron, "Don't be such a spoil sport. Nobody knows where we are, and you convinced the Ministry of Magic to ignore what we are doing. I seriously doubt You-Know-Who can find us." "Well, if that's true," said Harry grimly, "Then why do I have the feeling that something bad is about to happen?"

"Because something bad is about to happen, Potter," replied a voice from behind our heroes. Everyone turned to see three Death Eaters in full masks and hooded cloaks. "Surprised to see us boy?" asked one of the Death Eaters. "Not really," replied Harry. "I just want to know how you found me." "They probably got lucky and saw us as they were passing through." Said Will.

"What if we did got lucky?" asked the second Death Eater. "Yeah, lucky," said the third. "Lucky that we found you before Lestrange did. Now the Dark Lord shall favor us instead of that mad woman." "Never mind that," said the first Death Eater, "You have a choice, either come with us to be presented before the Dark Lord, or your companions die."

"If Voldemort wants me so badly," said Harry, "Then he should come and get me in person. Or better yet, he can send his cowardly laky Snape. That way I can deal with him first." "How dare you say the Dark Lords' name in vain!" yelled the second Death Eater. He started to rush towards Harry, but was stooped by the first one. "No, the master wants Potter alive and unharmed." "Like I said," yelled Harry, "If he wants me, he should come and get me himself." "This is your last chance Potter," said the first Death Eater, "Surrender or watch your friends suffer until they die!"

"I hate to interrupt," said Will, "But you seem to have overlooked one small detail. There's eight of us, and only three of you." The Death Eater glared at Will. "You foolish muggle. Do you really think the Dark Lord would send his servants to capture Harry potter without reinforcement?" It was then that our heroes discovered that they were surrounded by creatures that were, most foul. They were at least seven feet tall, with thick, muscular torsos. Their heads were humanoid but had only one red eye, and had rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. In their right hands was, a sword, a spear, or an axe. Their left arms ended in a crab-like claw.

"What the bloody hell are those things?" asked Ron. "I have no Idea." Replied Herminoe. "As you can see," said the first Death Eater, "We've come well prepared. Now, what's your answer?" "I told you," said Harry, "If Voldemort wants me that badly, then he should come to me in person." "That does it!" shouted the third Death Eater, "Kill them!" he shouted to the creatures as they charged to our heroes.

Taranee stepped forward. "I'm on it!" she yelled as she sent fireballs from her hands into the oncoming ranks of the creatures. Several of them caught fire, and exploded. "Hey, I wanted to take the lead." Said Irma, as water shot from her index fingers. Two of the creatures exploded on contact. Hay Lin exhaled a whirlwind towards the creatures, sending several skywards. Cornelia slammed her food down and caused a tremor that shook apart several of the creatures. Will sent several energy blasts into the ranks, destroying several creatures.

"Why are we letting them have all the fun?" asked Harry, as he pulled out his wand. He sent several curses and hexes into the creatures, destroying several. "Well, I'm not going to stand around and do nothing." Said Herminoe. "Me neither." Said Ron as they both bulled out their wands and joined Harry.

Within minutes all of the monsters were destroyed. Harry looked around at the remains, and then saw the three Death Eaters looking at him. "Well," he said, "Is that all you got?" The Death Eaters looked at each other, and Dissapparated. "Bloody cowards, the lot of them." Said Ron. "What were those things?" asked Taranee. Herminoe and Will examined the remains. "I won't know until a proper examination," said Herminoe, "But one thing is for certain. They are not from this world." "Gee, that's obvious." Said Irma. "Could you be more scarcastic?" asked Cornelia.

"I think the idea of these things," said Will, "is to overwhelm their enemy, (us) with shear numbers." "Voldemort must be really desperate to use such weak creatures." Said Irma. Harry stared at her before she said, "Well, you saw how easily we tore them apart, didn't you?" "I doubt Voldemort is desperate," said Harry, "There were only forty of those things." "Only forty?" asked Cornelia, "It seemed like a lot more than forty." Harry replied "Well imagine what would have happened if there were 400, or even 4,000."

As our heroes pondered the horrors of that possibility, several loud cracks sounded around them. "Oh great!" exclaimed Ron, "They're back!" But it wasn't more Death Eaters. Several Aurors, led by Alastor 'Mad-Eye Moody had Apparated onto the scene. "Professor Moody." Said Harry. "Potter," said 'Mad-Eye, "What in god's name is going on here?" His magical eye swerved around to survey the area. "And who are those five?" he asked, pointing at Will and her friends. "They're on our side." Replied Harry. "Hang on," he said, "How did you find us?" Just then he noticed that Professor McGonnagal was there as well. "Just because the ministry isn't paying attention to what you're doing, Potter," she said, "Doesn't mean that I can keep an eye on you. Come now, I'll explain at my house."

The End of chapter 11. Next time, Harry receives word of why Voldemort is keeping quiet. See you next time.