The Lightsaber
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#22: Second Battle of the Forest

Forbidden Forest
April 9, 1996
The Next Day…

The day started out cold and misty, winds blowing in cold air off the North Sea. The skies were overcast with cloud cover, only brief patches of sunlight being able to break through the clouds above. Yet it was close to impossible for the defenders in the forest to notice, since the forest was in a perpetual state of darkness under its cursed canopy. It was only the varying states of the depths of the darkness revealing that night had truly passed and day was beginning again.

Harry stood upon the high rise of rock he'd found the evening prior. Reaching out with his magic, he could sense the arrival of some strange new magical presences over near Hogsmeade. Wizards, Witches, and most types of magical creatures all stood out like beacons, lighthouses easily seen on dark, calm seas. Because of this, Harry was the closest thing to an early-warning signal that the alliance had to another incursion into the forest. He could easily sense the large groups and gaggles of magical power that were the Wizards and Witches of Great Britain. He could sense where the Lycans and Centaurs had set up their new defensive position, only a bare twenty meters away from the Hogwarts grounds itself. He could sense the two brilliant presences of Sorcery that remained at Hogwarts, and the faint echo of a third one that had long since vanished. Though they somehow felt familiar, he couldn't quite place why they were so. Maybe the addition of Sorcery to their natural magical presence was what was preventing him from recognizing them?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts of that minor mystery, Harry again focused his attention on the strange new presences he detected. They were clearly magical, yet they somehow felt…off. That was the closest he could describe what he was sensing. Magic was clearly a part of their bodies and presences, and yet it also felt somehow resistant, trying to repel all other forms of magic from interacting with them. As if their own natural magic was trying to overwhelm and overpower all other magic that was within their direct vicinity. What kind of creature could have a presence like this? And, even more troubling, he could sense at least three of them.

"Hendrick," Harry said, holding up his holo-communicator that was strapped to his wrist like a watch, a small and shimmering form of the armored Lycan Alpha appearing. "We've got trouble. I sense the arrival of three new…creatures. I think the Wizards are going to renew their assault shortly."

"Roger," Hendrick answered, nodding his head in understanding. "Anything you can tell me about these new arrivals?"

"Only that they're strong for sure," Harry said, uncertainty creeping into his tone. "Their magic feels wrong, like it's trying to dominate everything else around it, but only as long as it's in direct contact. Does that help any?"

"No," Hendrick said bluntly. "But I'll pass the word and keep the boys on alert. You going to help us out today?"

"If things go bad, I will," Harry promised earnestly. If there was one thing he disliked, it was sitting on the sidelines while others were fighting in a battle he dearly wished to be part of. It had taken all of his self-discipline to not join his cousin in the ambush against the Wizards yesterday. But, if his unease about these new creatures was accurate, he'd probably see plenty of action today. "Think of me as the last resort." Hendrick nodded again from cutting the transmission.

Turning his attention back to where he was sensing the concentration of magicals, Harry frowned as he noticed something else. He hadn't noticed it before because his attention had been directed to the magical auras themselves, trying to get an estimate of the Wizards' levels of morale. But now that he'd pulled back, just doing a basic scan, he noticed something wrong. There was a strange blank spot, a dead zone, near the highest concentration of Wizards, where he was sure The Three Broomsticks was located.

But the strange part was he knew—knew—that that dead zone hadn't been there yesterday!

'What's that?' he wondered to himself. 'I've never felt anything like that before. Could it be something that the Ministry set up? Did they figure out a way to circumvent my Sorcery?' It was an eerie thought for him, knowing just how incredibly dependent on it he had become. Plus, they still had possession of the Ser Henry Morgan's journal, or at least Umbridge did. So the possibility was there. But how extensive had their research into it have gone?

'They must've,' Harry realized. Sorcery worked by drawing in the ambient magic of the surrounding world. The stronger the ambient magic is, the stronger the Sorcerer became. 'Maybe they found a way of creating a dead zone to try and choke me off the ambient magic? But if that's the case, why create such a zone in Hogsmeade? They don't know I'm here…not yet anyway… Are they trying to hide something inside it?'

He wasn't able to dedicate more time to that train of thought as he sensed the sudden spike in activity emitting from Hogsmeade. The Wizards and their assets were on the move again.

Shrieking Shack, Hogsmeade

Voldemort strode into the shack, looking around at it with impassive distaste. The wood was rotting and weather-beaten, even here on the inside. The floorboards were incapable of being walked upon without emitting loud creaks of protest. There was no glass in the windows, instead they were boarded up, only letting in small patches of daylight. And the air was heavy with dust and disuse. If not for the strong magic that was holding it all together, the Dark Lord had little doubt that the miserable building would come crashing down within days.

"Such a wretched ruin, my dear," he said softly to the one being he held closest to his black heart. Floating weightlessly beside him in a starry, transparent bubble that was as much a cage as means of transportation, Nagini the baby Basilisk hissed in agreement. She was swirling and coiling with all the grace of a serpent underwater, safe in her bubble her dearly beloved master had made for her. "When I rule this great land, I think I shall burn this place to ash in celebration…after putting Potter's head up on a spike over my mantle." He and Nagini sneered at that wonderful, delicious thought.

Walking over to the nearby window, the Wizard looked between the boards and gazed out over the Black Lake towards the one place he'd only ever truly call his home. Hogwarts was just as formidable and beautiful as the first time he'd glimpsed it as a worthless orphan. Staring up at the castle once again brought back what few good memories he had as a child and student. But it also brought back many more memories that were very unhappy ones as well. Following that train of memories brought a slight smirk to his face as he remembered coming to a decision he'd made for himself in his Second Year. 'I'll be the first true Magic King of Great Britain since the days of ancient Druids before the Roman Invasion, and I'll make Hogwarts my seat of power.'

It was this solemn vow and desperate desire that had since guided his every action in life. He wanted to be remembered for all time as the greatest of the greats. He was terrified to be live a mediocre life, to return to his life as a worthless orphan, to die as a nobody with nothing, just as how he was raised. He felt that he was now closer than ever to finally achieving that dream. And he would most assuredly see his dream come true since he'd made himself nearly immortal, which was so gratifying now that he knew with utmost certainty his precautions had been sufficient.

"My Lord," Bellatrix said quietly behind him. She and a handful of other Death Eaters, the truly faithful ones that he'd recently liberated from Azkaban, had accompanied him to the Shrieking Shack. Though she suspected what they were doing here, it was best to not jump to conclusions and to wait for her master to reveal his intent. Despite not getting any response, she continued, "We have completed the preparations as you'd instructed."

"And you inscribed and measured the runic displays to perfection?" Voldemort asked without turning away from his view.

"I performed it myself, my Lord," Bellatrix confirmed resolutely. "We are ready when you are."

"Excellent," Voldemort purred approvingly. "Anything else?"

"Greyback has sent word that he's ready to make his move very shortly," Bellatrix answered, her grimace of disgust obvious in her tone as she mentioned that foul beast.

"Then let's not waste any more time," Voldemort said, finally letting a sneer cross his face fully. "Give Greyback his marching orders. I want that place destroyed now."

Turning around, he marched out of the room he was and headed downstairs with Bellatrix following faithfully as she spoke into an enchanted mirror. At the bottom of the stairs, he entered what might've been the dining room of the building in another life. Filling the sides of the room were eight figures, all dressed in black cloaks and wearing stylized white skull masks. The reason they stood along the walls and not in the center of the room was due to the white lines painted into the floor in a clear ritualistic style. Lying at the center of the ritual lines was a large marble bowl filled with a mixture of water and fresh unicorn blood.

At Voldemort's approach, all of the masked figures slowly approached the ritual. Kneeling down at the ten points drawn into it in perfect symmetry as their Lord, the Death Eaters all drew their wands. In one voice, they started chanting an archaic spell of considerable complexity as they pooled their magic into the runes. Instantly, the runes and ritual lines burst to life in a bright flash of white light. Almost like it was a liquid, the light stretched and connected until only the center remained untouched. Collecting at the edges, as though preparing to crest a high hill, the light of the ritual brightened considerably. Then, in a flash, the light and magic rushed into the center of the ritual and entered the marble bowl. The light became absolutely blinding for several long moments before it died down after they'd finished their chant.

Lying inconspicuously at the center of the now completed ritual, the ten dark wizards gazed at the marble bowl that had a slight bit of blue mist rising up off of it. Within the bowl itself, the water and unicorn blood had been mixed with and been altered by the cast magics to become something else. Like a window to the outside world, the dark wizards watched with interest as their new scrying bowl zeroed in on the events occurring in the forest out beyond Hogwarts Castle.

Hagrid's Hut

"I can't believethey broughtGiants!" Diggle ranted, his fear and anger obvious in his voice. He, like the other six members of the Order of the Phoenix presently available, was watching the lumbering brutes through the windows with weary eyes and dread vibrating through every pore of his body. "I mean, bloody hell, what were they thinking?! Were they even thinking?!"

"Calm down, Dedalus," Dumbledore said in his usual passively assertive voice. "Panicking will not help matters. And, sadly, there's really nothing we can do about the situation anymore."

The other Order members all glanced at one another with deep frowns. Diggle was definitely the most vocal of the lot, but none of the others were of the mind to reprimand him. Though it was annoying, he was essentially voicing their own fears and concerns for the eldest Wizard to hear. Moody stood off to the side, beside the entrance to Hagrid's hut, watching the line of Aurors and Giants make their way towards the forest from across the Hogwarts' grounds with his magical eye. Mundungus Fletcher was cowering in the farthest corner from Moody, trying to blend in with the shadows as much as was physically possible to escape the others' notice. Hagrid was with Diggle, Elphias Doge, and Emmeline Vance, peering out one of the windows to watch the procession, talking relatively quietly amongst each other. And Dumbledore was seated at the table, genially sipping a cup of tea while also gazing out the window that was nearest to the events taking place outside.

This group of seven Wizards were all that were willing and able to arrive on the scene to witness the strange events taking place in person. The other members of the Order were either caught up in the conflict itself, like Tonks and Kingsley, or had resigned their positions in the Order for whatever reason, like the Weasley clan had largely done at this point. For his part, Dumbledore was finding himself very torn about what was happening out there and what he should be doing about it at this point.

Dumbledore suspected that the original cause of this war wasn't due to a misunderstanding or pent up rage of the Centaurs, though it was a possibility. But he also believed that the Ministry had reacted in an entirely disproportionate response to the initial clash that sparked this war and things had quickly escalated from there. 'Why must people be so ready and willing to harm, subjugate, and kill others who would have otherwise been of no harm or danger to them beforehand?' he wondered the umpteenth time.

Although he had lost all of his official political power, thanks in large part to Fudge's paranoia, the depredations of power-hungry opportunists like Headmistress Umbridge, and the whisperings of Death Eater influence, Dumbledore still carried a vast amount of clout among the common wizarding folk and possessed a nearly-unrivaled knowledge, power, and skill in magic. Though it'd be difficult, he knew that he could end the hostilities and this pointless conflict without further bloodshed. However, he was also something of a wanted man with a standing order to be arrested and imprisoned by the Aurors. And, though powerful and skilled as he was, he knew he could never stand up to the might of the entire Auror force alone should they decide that he was a threat that needed to be neutralized immediately rather than later, preferably after this conflict was resolved. And he knew that they'd quickly be goaded into attacking him. If nothing else, he was sure Fudge and Umbridge would see to that. But all of that wasn't even touching on the subject of this conflict that he was questioning.

The details of what had started this war had been purposely smudged and vaguely understood, which was clearly the Ministry's doing. What was told by the Daily Prophet in this morning's edition, and likely also accepted by the populace at large, was that the Centaurs had finally let their natural aggression and undeserved pride finally boil over. The Daily Prophet claimed that the Centaurs had initiated an unprovoked attack on a simple, routine inspection. The breaking news headlines of the paper today dealt with the horrendous and unexpected defeat that the honorable Aurors had suffered when they had gone into the forest to try and restore order to the beastly herd. There were entire articles dedicated to vibrant and highly-graphic accounts of the massacre and wild tales of the survivors, most of them most likely exaggerated beyond recognition. However, there were a few kernels of truth hidden inside those articles. The most prominent being that the Centaurs had apparently allied with a new Pack of Werewolves called the Lycans. Then there was the fact that the Lycans and Centaurs both possessed incredible new powers and magics that had never been seen before and had terrifying killing potential. Powers and magics like the Lycans' new controlled transformation, strange new killing spells, and weapons that strongly resembled a certain forbidden light blade.

'If my guess is right,' Dumbledore thought somberly. 'Then the Centaurs and these 'Lycans' have formed this alliance under Harry's influence, if not outright command. That must mean that he's here, somewhere out there in the forest, right now. What will you do now, my boy, now that the Ministry is starting to raise the stakes even more? How far are you willing to sink into darkness to achieve whatever goals you have now? How does this conflict tie into those goals? Are you even still in the Light or has Sorcery truly robbed you of it as Moody has been saying from the start?'

"What'll we do when things start going out of control?" Moody demanded, glaring over at Dumbledore with his normal eye.

"…We will not get involved directly," Dumbledore decided, speaking quietly as his expression mirrored his thoughtful contemplation. "Our focus should be on preserving the future of the Wizarding World. That means protecting Hogwarts should the battle somehow reach these hallowed grounds."

Clearly not liking the idea of fighting on the sidelines, Moody's angry scowl deepened but he remained silent. The other Order members looked relieved that they'd be spared having to rush into combat when Giants were nearby. Dumbledore returned his gaze outside as he watched the frontlines of the approaching force of Aurors and Giants nearing the borders of the Forbidden Forest, walking a relatively short distance away from Hagrid's hut.

The next battle was about to begin.

Hogwarts Grounds

At the back of the Aurors who were marching back into the Forbidden Forest, Tonks couldn't stop herself from staring quite blatantly at the three Giants. The massive creatures wore little more than tanned animal hides which was scarcely enough to cover their modesty and were carrying entire tree trunks for clubs over their shoulders as carelessly as a Muggle would a simple baseball bat. They were lumbering onwards next to the column of Wizards, all of whom were more preoccupied with closely watching the Giants for even the faintest sign of aggression rather than watching the approaching tree line of the forest. Needless to say, the column was extremely tense and scared but were gamely pushing on towards their goal.

Tonks had no idea what madness pushed to the Ministry 'war council' as it'd been dubbed to bring in Giants of all things. It was so far beyond necessary that it even seemed to put 'overkill' to shame. If she could've, Tonks would've turned back time to curse whoever's brilliant idea this was! The threat of the Giants deciding to attack their hated oppressors instead of following through with the agreement of subduing, or more likely massacring, the Centaurs was just too high a risk for even the most illogical and insane of Wizards.

She had absolutely no doubt that this was going to end very, very badly, even worse than yesterday's battle. She had been very lucky and smart to hide at the back of the march yesterday. That luck was the only reason she had made it out unharmed that day when the ambush struck. The scant hundred meters she'd walked into the forest placed her well outside the battlefield. It was a strategy that she hoped would work again today. Hoping that by hiding in the back, she wouldn't be forced to actually participate in this madness. Plus, she had no intention of going up against those deadly new weapons that MagiTech was supplying the Centaurs and Lycans for this conflict.

The attack came abruptly, with no warning or offer of negotiations. Just a sudden hail of blue beams shooting out of the forest towards the column of wizards and giants. Understandably, most of the fire was concentrated on the giants. The frontline Wizards reacted quickly, throwing up shields or erecting barriers to ward off any shots towards themselves. The line of Wizards behind them cast a variety of spells out into the forest, over the shoulders of their foremost companions.

Spells like fireballs, Blasting hexes, conjured arrows, and even a rare Transfiguration spell like a leopard flew into the trees. Some of the spells had no apparent effect beyond exploding against unfortunate trees in their path. Others impacted against bizarre blue domes of transparent light, bouncing off or exploding harmlessly and leaving the interior of the dome unaffected. Although, several of the spells were close enough to the shooters to cause them to dodge to the side and expose themselves to the Wizards. Tonks watched as several of these exposed Lycans started making their way forwards, rifles blazing as they fired into the frontline of the Wizards. The Giants, upon seeing their foe finally start exposing themselves, let out loud roars of rage and begun to jog forward to meet them.

"THA' HURT!" one of the Giants cried out, angry and incredulous at the same time.

Up until that point, the Giants had been unable to do anything but take the hits of the strange blue streaks of light that were heading towards them. Strangely, something the Giants just couldn't understand why, the blue lights actually hurt. Granted, they were the equivalent of bee stings, but that was still more pain than they normally ran into whenever they fought with a Wizard or a Wizard-trained Werewolf. And they were getting hit quite a lot. The pain was unfamiliar, which angered the Giants quickly.

And in their anger, they charged headlong to meet their aggressors, completely forgetting any agreement they had made with the Wizards behind them. The Lycans wisely abandoned their charge when they spotted the Giants rushing towards them, dodging to the sides. Most of them shifted into their wolf-forms for greater speed and maneuverability.

"COM' 'ERE, LIL' WOLVES!" the Giant on the right yelled. "COM' DIE! ME SMASH YA' REAL GOOD!"

"Retreat!" one of the Lycans cried.

"No! Hold your positions! Keep firing!" another yelled back as the incoming fire started wavering indecisively.

Then, over the sound gunfire and exploding spells, the sound of hooves thundering against the ground was heard. Tonks looked to the side, where the sound was coming from, and spotted an incoming group of galloping armored Centaurs. Clad in their gleaming golden armor that reminded Tonks strongly of the Ancient Greeks, they were quite a sight to see. Especially with the assortment of glowing and battle-ready lightpikes, blasters and bowcasters, and bow and arrows as they raced along the front of the line, between the forest line and the frontline of Wizards and the approaching Giants.

"Target the Centaurs!" one of the Auror captains shouted. In response, several dozen Wizards shifted their aims. The irritation of the Aurors, blue shields similar to the domes earlier sprang to life around the Centaurs and protected them or the Centaurs were able to deflect the spells with their lightpikes.

"HORSES!" the left Giant cried out mockingly, turning to face them as it hefted its club up and ready. "COM' TA' DIE?!"

Nobody calls a Centaur a 'horse.' Ever. Not even the most arrogant pureblood would ever dare call a Centaur a horse to their face, not if them wanted to live. There was no single way to draw a Centaur's wrath quicker than by calling or comparing them to a horse. And that was readily apparent as several of the Centaurs suddenly broke out of their charging formation to attack the offending Giant. The Giant sneered arrogantly as it swung its club, hitting two Centaurs in the process and knocking their lifeless bodies back into their fellows with a laugh.

However, that laugh was soon changed to a cry of anger as one of the Centaurs dodged around his recovering or dead companions and charged the Giant's side, stabbing his lightpike deeply into its side. Though the Giant kicked the Centaur away quickly, the angle of the kick and the Centaur's strong grasp on his pike caused the blade to get yanked out of the Giant's side at angle rather than pulled out in a straight line. This resulted in the Giant's abdomen getting cut wide open like a dissected frog with its guts spilling out in a grotesque pile of flesh. The Giant died soon afterwards, along with the crushed Centaur attacker.

As this was taking place, the rest of the Centaurs were weaving along the line of the forest. They would make charges towards the Wizards so they could take swipes at them or shoot over their heads towards the Wizards in the third or fourth lines, before rapidly retreating. This manner of combat was somewhat unorthodox, catching many of the Wizards off guard and causing quite a few causalities in the middle and rear portions of the line. Even Tonks had to throw up a shield to block an arrow aimed at her.

But while the Centaurs were busy distracting the Wizards, the Lycans weren't having nearly as much luck against the last two Giants. One of the Giants had entered into the forest, slamming trees about, stamping and smashing the earth in an attempt to flush out more of the Lycans. Several of the Lycans in wolf-form had mounted the Giant, using their teeth and claws to ripe and shred its flesh, though with limited success. Others continued to fire at the Giants with their rifles, hoping to slowly whittle down its natural magical defenses with overwhelming firepower. But the problem with that strategy was that they had limited ammunition and not enough heavy weapons, having not predicted the Wizards would be willing and/or desperate enough to use Giants to attack them.

"ME MAD NOW!" that Giant was shouting as it tried to grab ahold of the Lycans crawling and clawing at it with its massive hands to crush them himself. But the Lycans were much faster than it was, able to dodge or jump off of it before it could grab them.

Two Lycans crawled up to its shoulders, digging in deeply with their talons. Unlike earlier, these two each had something their companions hadn't, holding up large blaster cannons and aimed directed into the base of the Giant's skull. Pulling the triggers, they unleashed a quick burst of shots into the Giant's unprotected head. Unlike with the smaller shots of the rifles and because of the cannons' pointblank range, the shots easily punched through its skin and blasted through its skull, reducing its small brain to a fleshy mush.

The Lycans continued firing into the cavity they made in the Giant's head until their shots started punching out through other side, through the Giant's face, by which point the Giant's body was already collapsing limply onto its knees before toppling over.

The last Giant stepped out from behind the Wizards' line and started walking towards the forest, roaring angrily, only to be confronted by a single and somewhat smaller form than the other Lycans present. The figure wore a camouflaged body armor and some kind of black mask with a hood over its hair. The figure was firing a rifle in his hands, roaring up at the Giant defiantly in a manner that would've made many Gryffindors proud. As the Giant drew back its club for a powerful strike, the masked boy leapt to the side, rolling as the tree-club passed harmlessly over him.

Coming up into a crouch, the boy ejected the rifle's ammo clip after its ammo was exhausted. With missing a beat, the boy held up his clenched fist towards the Giant as it was preparing to swing back at him. A wave of fire erupted from the gauntlet on the boy's arm, catching the Giant by surprise and sending it stumbling backwards. A loud roar started up from the boy, this time noticeably artificial, as the backpack he wore suddenly ignited and blasted him skywards. The boy continued spraying fire into the stumbling Giant's face as he flew upwards and slightly to the side. Roaring, the Giant swung his club at the boy, who easily rolled over the tree. Although he did finally discontinue his flamethrower as he dodged. Quickly digging into one of his pouches, he slapped a new ammo clip into the rifle and started firing into the Giant's face, pelting its jaw and cheeks with stings as he aimed for its eyes. As he did this, the boy again reached for something hanging on his shoulder straps.

"S'OP IT!" the Giant roared, reach out with one hand unexpectedly and catching the boy in its grasp. Glaring at the small figure it held as it hefted up its club, the Giant growled savagely, "ME MAD!"

"Hey, ugly!" the boy shouted in a muffled voice that sounded familiar to Tonks. Lifting up his free hand, he threw something small and round into the Giant's open mouth. "From me to you! Choke on it!"

Before the Giant could do anything other than look confused at what the boy was talking about, wondering why he'd throw something in its mouth, and if it should spit it out or swallow it, the apple-size thing's timer reached its end. In a burst of fire, smoke, blood, and flesh, the Giant's head literally exploded in a spray of gore. The Giant's body fell limply backwards, catching a couple of Wizards who'd been too close nearby by surprise and crushing them. The boy didn't go with it though, having reignited his jetpack once the Giant's grip had lessened and shot up into the air to hover over it.

"Did that kid really just kill a Giant by himself?!" one of the Wizards near Tonks gasped out in amazement and horror.

"Who is that kid?!" "Is it Potter?!" "No way! Potter's not that buff!" "That kid just became the new Giantsbane!"

Despite herself, Tonks couldn't help smirking as she shook her head. Giantsbane for a Muggle, really? That would probably be the first time in all of recorded history! Naturally, Giantsbane was a title given to any Wizard or Witch who were able to kill a Giant. Normally, Giantsbane was a title given to groups of Wizards, since it almost always required a team effort to fight against, much kill, a Giant. But those rare few individuals who could kill a Giant by themselves…? They truly deserved the title and the honor that went with it. And she had a strong suspicion that Dudley would likely love his newfound nickname and infamy in the Wizarding World when he found out about it.

It cannot be understated the amount of distress the Wizards felt upon seeing the Giants fall so quickly and easily. Wizards feared Giants above all else. In fact, the origins of the distrust against half-breeds were started because of Giants, half-Giant offspring, and their violent ways back in the millennia prior to the Statute of Secrecy. But as much as Wizards feared and hated Giants, they also had a very healthy respect for them and their incredible magic-immunity. They could shrug off most types of magic that would've killed or crippled a normal Wizard or Witch easily. So they were forced to tread very, very carefully around Giants for fear of upsetting them. So, seeing their figurative aces be brought down so easily, it brought out something in the Wizards.

Fear is a powerful motivator, when its used in the correct manner. And for the Wizards in this case, it most assuredly was. Where before the Wizards had been focusing on the Centaurs, trying to focus on maintaining their formation and keep up a strong barrier between them and their aggressors as their fellows lobbed spells over their heads, a standard battle formation tactic among Wizards. But now, seeing the last of the Giants fall to a figure who couldn't have been more than a boy, triggered a realization that they had far, far underestimated just how dangerous their enemies were. And without the Giants there to take the brunt of their attacks…

The shields were dropped as a wall of offensive spells was suddenly launched, catching the Centaur group by surprise. If not for the shield generators they were wearing on their backs, the sudden magical tsunami would've crippled or killed them. As it was, they were fast to realize it was too much magic for the generators to defend against and retreated into the forest. Dudley, still hovering in the air, was forced to dodge and weave as he rapidly retreated back into the forest as well. Even with that, he was still clipped by a few spells and accidentally dropped some of his weapons and his cloak caught fire as he fled. But he managed to escape by flying full power away.

It took the Wizards a few moments to realize that they had just caused their now greatly feared enemies to retreat before their incredible combined magical might. It took even less time for their newfound fear to evaporate and be replaced with seemingly well-deserved pride and arrogance. Of course they'd sent their enemies running! They'd had them use up all of their tricks and show off their fighting styles by sending the expendable Giants in first. Now that they knew what to expect, they'd finally crush them and return the Wizarding World back to its proper state! They were Wizards and Witches of Wizarding Great Britain after all! The greatest of magical nation in all of the world!

"Forward!" Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour cried out. "Don't let them recover! FORWARD! ATTACK!"

With that command and these arrogant thoughts coursing through their minds, the line of Wizards charged forward after their retreating prey and entered the forest at long last. They finally had the initiative and they weren't going to let it go so easily!

Warlock, near the Village

As the line of Wizards and Giants were approaching the forest, the activity around the Warlock was at an all-time high. The Lycans at their radio stations were frantically trying to coordinate with their forces to set up a new defensive line. This should've been easy since they'd spent most of last night laying traps and building small defensible areas. However, it seemed the Wizards were gripped in some kind of battle-lust. They were pushing hard and fast into the forest, nipping at the Lycans' heels and preventing them from being to consolidate anywhere for too long.

"Bloody hell," Sirius growled as he watched the hologram of the battle with a deep scowl of anger. "I knew that they were desperate, using Giants showed that much, but I didn't think they'd be this quick either."

"Like I said, Sirius," Hendrick spoke up from the other side of the table, also gazing down at the hologram. "Never underestimate your opponent." Turning to the side, he barked out, "Squad Gamma, move twenty meters north. Squad Charlie is about to be ambushed!" The Lycan he spoke to didn't bother responding before relaying the orders.

"Sirius," a familiar young voice spoke up from the back of the command center.

Turning around, Sirius saw his godson approach. The boy was wearing a frown every bit as deep as his own. Clad in a battle armor similar to his cousin's but also with a brown wizarding cloak pulled over it, the boy looked ready to fight in a war.

Before Harry could say anything, Sirius said, "No. I will not have my godson rush out there into a battle like this! Do you know what'll happen if you show yourself out there, visibly supporting the Lycans and Centaurs in front of the entire Auror Corps? You will be justifying their war and proving everything Fudge and his ilk have been saying about you!"

"If I don't go out there," Harry countered in a low, steady voice. "Then many more will die before the fighting is over, on both sides. I can't let that happen! And if I go out there, they'll have to concentrate themselves on fighting me. That'll give everyone else a chance and time to regroup and restock."

"I agree," Hendrick said, looking pointedly over at Harry so he could ignore Sirius's sudden death glare in his direction. "They caught us by surprise and we haven't been able to recover yet. We need a distraction to counter that."

"Then I'll go!" Sirius snapped. "I'm not changing my mind on this!"

"Sirius!" Remus's voice called out over the radio. "We've got trouble! Greyback's in the Tower!"

All heads snapped over to the radio, looks of surprise and dawning horror on their faces.

"What? No! How—?" Quickly reorienting himself, Sirius's gaze snapped back to Harry, now knowing where he could send his godson without risk of exposing himself.

But the boy was already gone.

"Aaaah, no!" Sirius cried out, angry and disappointed at Harry, Greyback, and especially himself. Facing Hendrick, he said, "I'm returning to the Tower. I assume you've got things handled here?"

Hendrick just waved his hand at him dismissively. Sirius frowned at that but didn't comment. He knew his presence here was superfluous and unnecessary, but it still kind of stung his pride a little bit. Shaking his head, he quickly apparated away.

Forbidden Forest, near the Centaur Village

Sliding to a stop behind a reasonably large and thick tree, Dudley heaved for breath as he hurriedly reached to his right gauntlet and hit a small red button. Follow a hissing snap, the jetpack ejected off his back. Its fuel was nearly empty and it was just dead weight to him. Devoid of the jetpack, he leaned heavily against the tree, panting hard as he tried to ignore the burning exhaustion in his limbs. Looking to the side, he spotted George crouched next to a similar tree with another Lycan beside him, both looking as worn as he felt.

The retreat through the forest had been easy or smooth. The Wizards had pressed their advantage relentlessly, firing off spells into the woods that generally had area-effect powers like fireballs or liquefying the earth or even just blasting whole trees into splinters. While the Wizards couldn't match the Lycans or Centaurs in a contest of running speed, they could catch up to them using that teleportation trick of theirs. Combined with a few conjured blades of silver, they were able to start hack out some serious numbers of causalities among the alliance. That, along with their overwhelming numbers in comparison to the alliance's 300, the 500 Aurors were easily able to outflank the beleaguered defenders multiple times already.

Taking of his mask, Dudley wiped the sweat from his face before donning it again. Shifting the rifle that he'd grabbed from one of the dead Lycan bodies, he glared at seeing its low ammo charge light flickering. Enough for one shot, maybe two. Reaching into his pouch, he found only one clip left. 'Dammit! I knew I shouldn't have wasted them all on the Giants!'

Leaning to the side, he glanced wearily around the tree trunk. The approaching Wizards were arrogantly trampling along through the brush only ten or so meters away. They hadn't see him or the others take their hiding places thanks to the slight depression they were in. Biting back the rising fear he was feeling, knowing that he was now almost certainly going to die in the next few moments, he brought the rifle around and opened fire. His shot caught one Wizard, a large bearded man, high in the chest and he collapsed to the ground dead. Shouts spread among the Wizards as they tried to locate where his shot came from. When his next shot didn't fire, Dudley instantly ejected the cartridge and slapped the last one in.

As he was bringing his rifle up again, he watched as a small cloaked figure dropped down from above. Landing in a crouch in the midst of the Wizards, the figure thrust one hand to the ground as a wave of energy swept outwards. The magical repulse sent all of the nearby sixteen Wizards flying in all directions. The sudden attack caught the Wizards by surprise as they turned to face him. The cloak shifted in the air as the being stood up, revealing a set of armor underneath it and a pair of glowing green eyes. If those weren't enough of a clue, a familiar blue blade of light sprang to life in one hand while the other held up a simple holly wand.

"Potter!" one of the Wizards cried out, focusing his attention on the wanted criminal. "IT'S POT—!" He was abrupt silenced by a wave of magic that sent him flying backwards into a tree where he collapsed unconscious.

At that sign of aggression, the surrounding Wizards began launching spells at the boy. Harry danced about, swinging his lightsaber and waving his wand, deflecting or absorbing all spells that were launched towards him. To their eyes, it was like Harry knew where each spell would come from, which he could deflect ad which he needed to dodge, before they were even cast. Needless to say, it was very frustrating to the Aurors. Seeing the opportunity, Dudley and the two Lycans quickly resumed their firing, catching several of the Wizards in their sides before they remembered that there were still other enemies in the forest.

It was also at this moment that the Centaurs had managed to rally and come charging back, ready to take up the fight once again. Squeezing off a few more shots, Dudley looked up and hurriedly caught a new satchel that a passing Centaur had dropped towards him. One glance put a grin back on Dudley's face since it was jam-packed with fresh ammo clips all glowing brilliantly within. The tide of battle was turning once again.

Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade

"You're sure it was him?" Minister Fudge demanded, holding the messenger by the front of his robe to look him in the eye. "One hundred positive, no mistake that it was him?!"

"Completely, Minister!" the messenger nodded frantically, feeling very nervous by the wild-eyed look of madness starting to cross Fudge's gaze. Thankfully for the messenger, Fudge released him and allowed him to scamper back out of the door and away from the meeting room.

It was shortly after midday and the second battle had ended only a few minutes ago. Following Harry Potter's unexpected appearance in the midst of the battlefield, the Aurors had been summarily pushed back by the rejuvenated Dark Creatures alliance. And once again neither the Werewolves or the Centaurs pursued them beyond the forest's boundaries. The death toll was considerably higher than it had been in the previous battle with more than a hundred dead and many more wounded. Though, curiously, most of those deaths were from the first half of the battle, with the Giants on the Hogwarts grounds rather than in the Forbidden Forest itself.

"This is not good," the Head Unspeakable commented in the silence that followed the messenger's departure. "We are not properly equipped or trained to face off against a Sorcerer, even one as relatively young and untrained as Potter likely is."

"Sorcerer?" Bones snapped, her gaze flashing to the cloaked man for a moment before shooting back to Fudge and his curious lack of a reaction. "What's this about a Sorcerer?!"

"You didn't know?" the Unspeakable asked, clearly surprised as he too looked to Fudge. What else hadn't he told the other Department Heads and members of the Wizengamot…? What else hadn't he told him?! Shaking those disturbing thoughts from his mind, the Unspeakable returned his attention to Bones. "Potter somehow got his hands on an instruction manual for Sorcerers and started learning their magics, likely ignorant of just how dangerous they were. When it was discovered what he was doing, that was when the Minister went to Hogwarts to try and speak with the boy and that fight broke out." At least, that was the official story of what had happened there.

Bones sent Fudge a deep, loathing glare that would've frozen most men in their tracks had they seen it. But Fudge's back was conveniently turned away as he was hurriedly scribbling something into a small notebook he held in his hands. Turning back to the Unspeakable, she said, "Tell me what kinds of powers and magics we can expect out of the boy."

As Bones and the Unspeakable took over the discussion of the war council, trying to formulate a proper response strategy against Harry's unprecedented new magic, Fudge was busy with his notebook. Writing into it a series of questions, statements, and commands, he watched as they sank into the paper and disappeared. After a few moments, several sentences were written in reply with a noticeably different handwriting style. Satisfied with what he read, Fudge smiled as he wrote back a simple command. Once that command sunk in, he closed the booklet and turned back to the meeting taking place.

"Enough!" Fudge barked out, silencing the slight bickering that the meeting had devolved into. "Send the Aurors back in! All of those that can still fight are hereby ordered to return! We won't let those beasts or Potter get a chance to rest and resupply!"

"Minister, no!" Bones barked back immediately. "The Aurors are exhausted after that fight and will not have the moral to push forward again! They've been beaten back twice, watched the Lycans kill Giants with minimal effort, and now have to fight against a Sorcerer! We aren't ready yet!"

"SEND—THEM—IN—NOW!" Fudge roared angrily, banging his hand on the table to further help emphasize his command. Having silenced Bones and any other naysayer momentarily, his temper cooled enough for him to start talking again in a semi-calm tone. "I have had people researching, experimenting, and training in ways to combat a Sorcerer since Potter's escape from Hogwarts months ago. They are here, ready, and willing to fight him now. Let them worry about Potter, the Aurors concentrate on these Lycans and Centaurs!"

"As you wish, Minister," Bones bit out, her glare digging into Fudge accusingly. "But we are going to be having a talk after all this is done."

(Author's Note) Heheheh, I told you this one would be out sooner. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. Writing a battle scene is always fun. And now we are going to finally meet this Spectre Knights that Fudge is so arrogantly proud of! How well of a fight will they be able to put up against Harry?

Also, if anyone sees anything wrong with this battle scene, please tell me! That way I can fix or address the issue in the coming chapter(s). Without reviews or feedback, I don't know if what I'm doing it good, bad, right, or left!

PLEASE REVIEW!