Camp Hogwarts Challenge Collection
Camp Dumbledore
Archery- Write about a medieval duel
Chapter 2 - Archery
(I had loads of fun writing this one!)
Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of this.
One moment he was lying in bed next to his lovely wife and the next he was alone. Here. Wherever here was, anyway. Glancing around wearily, he noticed that he was in a home that could only be described as a shack. At least by modern terminology anyway. The holes in the walls that seem to be designated as windows were covered simply by some sort of animal skin. The same was true for what he suspected to be the door.
The next odd thing that he noticed was that, despite not currently wearing his glasses, he was perfectly capable of seeing. His wand was on the mat, not the bed but the mat, beside him but it wasn't the holly and phoenix feather that he'd grown used to over the years. If he was to hazard a guess the wand lying next to him was mahogany. He couldn't be certain of the core but it was clearly not his wand.
Things just kept getting more and more strange.
He was startled out of his observation by the animal skin curtain being snapped open and a large, imposing figure entering 'his' shack.
"Sir," the figure, obviously male, said sharply, a note of urgency and panic in his voice, "They are coming. We must prepare to defend the village."
Harry frowned and blinked in confusion, "I'm sorry, but who, exactly, is it that's coming?"
"The Muggles, sir," the man clarified, clearly confused as to why he was needing to explain himself further. "The lookout said that they should be here by nightfall. They are well armed and appear to be prepared to destroy the village. It is just as we feared, sir, we have somehow caught their attention. Despite our best efforts to remain unnoticed. They know of the magic here and they will not let man, woman, or child escape if they can stop it. The same thing happened to the Staves' village just a fortnight ago. It is why they sought refuge here, Sir."
Harry briefly pondered over the influx of information. Strange or not, it was apparent that he was going to have to become involved in the defense of this magical village. Not only that, but given this man's repeated use of the term "sir", he was apparently someone who was meant to guide the defenses.
Rather than focus on the increasing strangeness of the situation, Harry rose from his mat with wand in hand. Noticing that he was already fully dressed, he nodded to the man in understanding, even though he truly didn't. Understand, that is.
"Very well," Harry said, "Lead the way, if you would."
With that, he followed the large man out of the shack and into a quaint little village. He quickly took stock of his surroundings so that he might better help these people defend the village. In the distance, he could see small plots of farm land, just on the outside of a wooden gate that surrounded the village. The gate wouldn't do much for what was coming, if Harry remembered his history correctly, but he imagined that it did well enough against the animals who might otherwise decide to pay the village a late night visit. He racked his brain in attempts to remember some of the warding spells that he, Ron, and Hermione had used while on the run. Something that help to lessen the potential casualties and damage.
Once they had reached their destination-a larger and much sturdier built shack than his own-they entered and Harry glanced around. There were several other men surrounding a crudely carved table and rudimentary maps were spread over the table's surface. This was, hopefully, a meeting to determine strategy. When the men surrounding the table noticed Harry's arrival, each stood tall and nodded curtly but respectfully his direction. Still puzzled by his apparent role in the current events, Harry returned the nod and approached the table.
"What have we got so far?" He asked the table in general.
"There are eighty men by my count, sir," the man who answered was clearly the scout he had been told about. "Several are on horseback but most are on foot. All are very well armed. There appeared to be a regimen specifically for a long ranged attack. They carried bows and I am certain that I saw one of the horses with extra arrows. If the rumors are true from the other villages, including information provided by the Staves', there will be several with the ability to launch fire into the village. What I could not tell was whether they intend to do their entire destruction from a distance or if we might be facing two fronts."
Harry nodded in thought, "And where is the safest place for us to send the elderly, women and children?"
"To the forest, sir," another man said. "Merek has given us warning with enough time to ensure that they have been relocated safely"
"Merek, is there any indication that they might attempt to intercept the women and children should we send them into the forest?" Harry asked the scout, thankful that his name had been said before Harry had been required to ask for it.
"It is impossible to tell for certain, sir," Merek shook his head. "Information that we have gathered from the survivors of other villages indicate that if we can get them far enough, fast enough, the Muggles won't bother. However, if we waste time and the Muggles come across them before they can reach safety there is no telling what they could do."
"That is our first priority then," Harry said firmly. "However, if there are two or three women who would be willing to stay behind, we would all benefit greatly from their presence."
"Might I ask, in what capacity, sir?" a third man asked, tentatively.
"There are several warding schemes that I have been investigating that require the assistance of feminine magic," Harry said, winging his explanation. Hermione had found warding schemes that were more sympathetic to feminine magics and had prattled on about it for hours on end during the time that Ron had left them while on the hunt. After her lectures, Harry had them memorized. They would definitely come in handy here and now. "Additionally, healing often tends to react more kindly to feminine magics. While I hope that none of our men would become injured, it would be foolish not to prepare for the possibility. That being said, I would like to see at least two, but preferably three, women who are willing to stay behind to assist me with the warding. If they are willing to stay after that to act as healer in the event that one of us are interested then we would be in their debt. But I must stress that only women who are willing must stay behind. We offer them no pressure to do so. We can manage if none are willing. Now, Merek, if you would gather what rations you require and return to following the Muggles. Return to us just after midday with any further information that you might be able to bring us. If many are on foot, as you say, then we need to keep an eye on them. It would be to our advantage if they are beginning to tire well before they reach the village."
"Yes, sir. I'll go now," Merek quickly excused himself and departed the shack to carry out his orders.
"What do you require of Josef and myself, sir?" the second man asked, cordially.
"If you would gather the elderly and the women and children. Josef, escort them to the forest and ensure that those who are travelling slower make it to the tree line. Further, if you are willing. I would like confirmation that they have truly left the city and are safe. Send two of our men with them. Despite Merek's reassurance, I would prefer to take no chances. Please ensure that you have gathered those who live and tend to the farmland outside the gates, as well. They are far more defenseless on their own," Harry ordered, the oddness of the situation was still there but seemed to have taken a backseat to the current problems. "Before you leave for the forest, let the women know of my request. Ensure that they are aware that it is a request only. Once Josef leads the people to the forest, you will bring any volunteers to me. Once that has been tended to, gather all the able men and meet me here. Hopefully, Merek will have returned by that point and have more information for us. In the meantime, I will be doing a bit of research in preparation for our defenses."
The men quickly broke off to accomplish their tasks and Harry sunk down on a makeshift stool, running his hands over his face and through his hair in weariness. He wished that he had a bit longer so that he could test the skill levels of the men without draining them just prior to the inevitable battle.
Hours later, just as the sun was beginning to set, the wards were set. Alianor, Peronell, and Isolde, the three women who had volunteered to stay behind, were secured in the centermost building in the village. A location that was relatively easy for them to ensure was protected. And those who would be fighting were prepared the best that they could be.
Harry was surprised to note that the small village was quite the mixture of magical and non-magical. The men scattered around the perimeter of the small village were armed with wands and various melee weapons that they had managed to find earlier that day. Doran, the man who had come to wake him that morning, stood beside and just behind him.
Tension rose among the scattered men when the glow of flames began to appear at the horizon. The steady sound of marching footsteps soon reached them as well and the men began to get antsy the closer the incoming horde came. Harry just hoped that they all remembered the strategy that they had spent much of the afternoon reviewing.
To be fair, Merek was correct in his information that the mass had many archers. Unfortunately, that information hadn't included that those archers would be lighting their arrows on fire before releasing them towards the village.
"COVER!" Harry bellowed as the ash and sparks rained down on the men as the arrows flew over. Harry followed the trail of fire, sincerely hoping that the wards they had set would be strong enough to withstand the damage. He watched in fearful awe as the fire flowed over the dome shaped wards, dancing across the surface that was only now visible. Another volley of fiery arrows made contact with the wards and the wards appeared to be on fire. If his theory was correct, however, it was a ploy. It gave the attackers the belief that their attacks had landed, all the while the wards would be absorbing energy from the flames dancing across their surface. It was that particular element that required the assistance of the village women.
Harry grimaced when hot ash landed at the crook of his neck and shoulder. Quickly brushing it away from his skin, he uttered a quick cooling charm and called it good for the time being. It was minor enough that true triage would have to wait.
With a sharp nod to Doran, the man led the men who would be attacking physically, those who were non-magical and those who did not have the core strength for a prolonged magical battle. The group of men surged forward, their primary goal was to dismount those on horseback and to distract the archers from continuing their assult.
And then it began. The villagers clashed with the inbound attackers. The magical element of the village launched the stunning spells that Harry had ensured that they had known earlier in the day. Harry was reluctant to lethally harm the invading muggles. That is until he recalled Remus's words from the night he left the Dursley's for the final time, the same night that George lost his ear. They were stunning the opponents but how long would that last? Until they won? Or would their targets wake up too soon, angrier than before?
With his resolve reaffirmed, his hexes and jinxes became more potent. While he left the rest of the men to utilize the stunners, as he wasn't certain of their skill levels, he began using severing charms and other more direct spells. As he began doing so, however, he noted something else odd. There were familiar jets of light coming towards them from the midst of the invaders. They, apparently, had managed to gather a witch or wizard to fight alongside them. To what end, Harry didn't know, but it didn't quite matter at the current time. But that also meant that their stunners were potentially void in this battle.
Quickly, he approached one of the men nearest him, "I need a horse. They have a magical on their side, I need to get closer so I can find my target."
Harry covered the man's retreat and took over the assault from the current position. Foregoing all passive aggressive spells after his most recent revelation, Harry dug into his memory bank of spells and began throwing the most disabling and borderline Dark spells that he could possibly remember. Where ever he might be in this odd battle, he wasn't about to let his confusing cost this village everything.
He heard the approaching hooves and without moving his attention from the battle or the curses he was throwing, he mounted the horse in a natural way that could only have come from muscle memory. Muscle memory that Harry Potter should never have had. Shaking off the newest odd feeling, Harry urged the horse forward, leaning naturally into the movement as though he had been riding for years.
As he moved swiftly forward astride the horse, Harry threw curse after curse, all the while attempting to locate his true target. The wolf amongst the sheep, never before had he found that phrase so utterly fitting. And then he found him. The turncoat wizard was also mounted upon a horse, a grey dappled one, Harry noted absently. From his distant vantage point, Harry watched several spells leave the other wizard's wand. Most were tame and relatively harmless, it seemed, but he recognized a couple nasties coming from the other wizard as well.
After a few moments of observation, Harry nudged the horse back into movement and increased the pace making course directly towards the opposing wizard. He locked his focus and flung Sectumsepra, the nasty severing charm developed by Severus Snape, towards the other man. The spell caught the unsuspecting wizard across the bicep of the he hand that had been holding the horse's reigns, which had also been severed by the spell. The wizard spun around on his mount and locked eyes with Harry.
The man simply looked insane, but also vaguely familiar. Strange, but not the strangest thing that had happened to Harry that day. Favoring his wounded arm, the other man grinned manically and returned fire. A burning hex caught Harry across the chest and shoulder, as he had done with the ash earlier, Harry shook it off and aimed a blasting hex towards the ground just a few feet forward from the man's horse. As he had hoped, the exploding earth had startled-but not harmed-the horse who immediately threw his rider and bolted towards the distant tree line.
Now covered in dirt and picking himself from the ground, the wizard immediately drew a short blade and launched himself towards Harry and his horse. Harry instinctively nudged his horse who then reared up onto his hind legs and delivered a firm-and clearly painful-kick to the wizard's chest. Once back on all four legs, he turned his horse to the side so that he could look down on his opponent who lie wheezing on the ground. Harry noted absently that his ribs were most likely broken after that kick and he was probably getting a little dizzy from the blood loss from the deep gouge in his arm.
"What is your name, Wizard?" Harry demanded, keeping his wand pointed at the man's chest.
"Tybalt," the man wheezed, grimacing when the words caused his chest to ache further.
"Well then, Tybalt, it would be wise of you to gather what is left of your men and leave," Harry stated firmly.
Tybalt wheezed a watery laugh as a thin stream of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, likely due to one of his broken ribs puncturing a lung. "I do not believe that would be in my best interest" the man said as clearly as he could.
"I don't believe that you're much longer of this world, Tybalt. You've turned your back on your kin, and now we will turn our backs on you," Harry responded, turning to guide his horse away from the dying man. Harry couldn't hold back the cry of pain when he felt his back being torn open. He couldn't be certain but he was sure that the wizard had just used some sort of flogging spell on his turned back. Breathing deeply to center himself, Harry urged the horse to continue forward, ignoring what was likely Tybalt's dying breath.
Pausing briefly to take stock over the rest of the battle, Harry smiled in relief when he saw the remnants of the invading warriors gathering their wounded and dead and retreating. He quickly returned to the gate and requested a report from the nearest man.
"We have several injuries but most seem to be considerably minor. We've taken no casualties. Josef asked that I inform you that he has gone to retrieve the women, children, and the elders. The women are tending the injured," the man responded. "Which, sir, if I may, you might want to go have the ladies patch you up as well."
"I will be fine, for now, thank you," Harry nodded appreciatively before urging his horse past the man and into the village proper. No structural damage. That was an unexpected blessing.
"Harry? Harry, you're talking in your sleep again," a familiar voice called him. Harry frowned in confusion and looked around. Suddenly realizing that he was back in his familiar bedroom with Ginny leaning over him. He shook his head to clear the remnants of what had apparently been a dream and then winced heavily when he realized with a start that both his back and his chest were excruciatingly painful.
Slowly sitting up, he put his glasses back onto his face and looked to the side table for his wand. He frowned again in confusion when two wands set side by side on the table. One his familiar holly and phoenix feather and the other the mahogany that he'd just battled a dream wizard with.
"Harry?" Ginny asked in concern, "What happened to you? You're filthy and your…your back is bleeding through your shirt!"
Harry slowly shook his head, conscious of his injuries, "I don't know that you'd believe me if I told you, Gin. I'll probably need a visit to St. Mungo's though. And one to a Mind Healer, I think."
Final Word Count: 3248
