Chapter 19: Seamus
My name is Seamus.
First of all: I've got to get a dolphin morph of my own. And convince the others to get one and let me ride them. The first part, while we were still out of range of the Dementors, was better than being on a broom. These guys were fast and thanks to all the rocks just below the surface, were weaving and curving left and right with amazing speed and precision. The cold didn't even bother me as the water streamed over my skin. There wasn't a ride ever made that was more thrilling than the back of a dolphin and we hadn't even experienced the underwater element yet.
However, the closer we got to the island, the more the thrill of it disappeared and dread refilled my stomach. A feeling that only tripled as we got close. Raising my head up as Jake weaved closer to Marco and Neville, I almost screamed at just how many Dementors were circling the building. The place looked like it had a giant, black ribbon flowing around it for crying out loud! And if there were that many outside, there was no telling how many were inside.
"I thought the Dementors were being spread out all throughout Hogsmeade, Hogwarts and Diagon Alley! How...blablbla...how are there still so many here?" I asked between mouthfuls of salty water. Talking on the back of a high speed dolphin with your head low to the water? Not the best idea.
"There must be more of them than we thought." Was Neville's shaky response and the shakiness had nothing to do with the water. I started growing really worried for him as I watched him. His arms were shaking as much as his voice and between that and the water, he kept losing his grip. Every few seconds, he had to pull himself back up towards Marco's dorsal fin.
Looking to my other side, I found Anthony was only doing a bit better because Ax was taking everything at a slower pace for him and arching his body when the Ravenclaw did fall back. When we started this, that move would had all the blood in his body rushing to his head, but now he barely even noticed it happened. Dread, despair, thoughts, feeling and memoires best forgotten, they were overflowing in all of us, even those of is in dolphin morph were growing extremely rattled. But of all of us, Anthony was taking it hardest. He hadn't developed the same level of resolve the rest of us had yet.
/Do not fret Anthony. It is almost time to morph./ Ax said rather calmly, though you could still hear the tremor of fear and pain within it. /Rachel has beached herself and it will only take thirty of your seconds to reach her./
/Start morphing now guys. We'll keep your heads above water if anything happens./ Jake stated a little breathlessly. I guess he either wanted us ready quicker and give them less to worry about while they morphed or were trying to spare us the 'humiliation' of Rachel seeing us in our birthday suits. I honestly couldn't care less about the last one, but I did as I was told anyway.
Closing my eyes, I forced all the negative thoughts and feelings from the forefront of my mind and focused on my first morph ever: the mountain goat.
I'd been curious about exactly what it felt like to become an animal. It didn't look or sound pleasant even once, it had always looked like you'd be in agony all the way through the process, though we were reassured repeatedly that it was painless.
They were right, it was painless, something that deeply relieved me. The first thing I felt was a pinching sensation on the top of my head. No pain, just like someone was gathering a chunk of bone and pulling it up. Crackling and snapping sounds, like bones breaking and replacing itself met my ears throughout the whole thing and when I raised a hand up to feel it, it ran across two thickening horns.
/Haha! Where's your tail and pitchfork?/ Marco joked half heartedly before gasping in surprise as he started to sink. Neville's first change turned out to be bulging out, especially around the shoulders and head. It was actually enough to send an unprepared Marco down for a few seconds.
Chuckling humourlessly at the joke, I just focused harder, willing the changes to occur quicker, right as Jake jerked. He flailed his body and managed to crawl a few inches ahead, but it was done, he was beached.
Loud cracks came from all down my spine, shoulders and back next, frightening me for a second as my bone structure changed into that of a quadruped and forcing my torso flat against Jake's tail, leaving my head resting awkwardly beside his dorsal fin and forever being struck by the churning waves.
The cold started receding a little, though not by much since most of it was caused by very despicable magic, as an itchiness covered my entire body, heralding the arrival of thick white fur, something that I was relieved for. The external change of the fur growing all over my suddenly expanding body was a good distraction from the squelching and squishing feelings coming from my organs. The roaring waves blocking out the sounds that were sure to be there really helped too. My hands and feet reshaped themselves not a minute later, my hands developing the goat's inner pads first and followed by the cloven hooves while my feet did the reverse. When they were done, they all simultaneously sprouted dewclaws out of what remained of my fingers and toes. A tail sprouted out by my butt a moment later.
The whole time all of that had been happening, I'd been growing and bulking up and by the end, I wished I had a camera so I could laugh at how ridiculous I looked. I had the full, complete body of a mountain goat, but with a human head with horns. The others would have laughed hysterically if we'd been anywhere else in the world. Not that I was the only comical one.
Neville had fully developed the size, legs and head of the bison, but his torso, which he modestly fought to keep below the water, was still mostly human, minus the bison's bulk. He'd already gotten right off Marco, his weight too much for a dolphin to handle. On my other side, it was hard to tell what was Anthony and what was water in the dark. He was a small fur ball, forever moving higher up Ax' body as best he could. A move that was still relatively easy considering the only things that hadn't changed yet were his hands and feet.
Off to our side, Rachel was already morphing again too and looked like a ten foot, fully shaven bear in a long, blonde wig and clipped claws, while a little past her I could see what looked a lot like that cat headed goddess from Egypt, only with a lot more fur and leaning on an alligator as her body continued to change shape, a dolphin turning into a human at a far faster rate next to her. Strangely, the only one of us that seemed out of place where only the dolphins belonged was Harry the human.
/Ok guys, let's start our own process./ Jake called as I forced myself off of him. He started shrinking immediately, Ax and Marco doing the same, at a much faster rate than I was growing. I guess you got faster with experience. By the time my head had shifted on my neck and the lower half of my face had stretched out, growing more white fur and a beard along the way, they were already around a third of the way back to human.
Well, that was an interesting experience. I thought to myself as the last of the changes finished up, that being my ears. It was definitely a weird one that I was confident that I'd never get used to, but...
My head snapped high as a sudden demand to get out of the water took over, the feeling only growing stronger as the waves crashed into my head. What the hell was I even doing in it anyway? Panic took over rather quickly as another wave struck me and pushed me further out to sea. I couldn't swim, my home was mountains, not rivers, I could run on ice, not water, whoever was responsible for putting me here was going to feel the sting of my horns as I shoved them right through their...
/Anthony, please stop biting me./ A sudden voice said calmly, but firmly, startling me so much that I thrust my head and hit some weird, blubbery mutant.
/OW! Seamus, get a grip!/ Another voice snapped, sounding really disgruntled, and making me swing again. /OW! Seamus, you are human, not a goat! Get control of the animal mind already, at this rate you'll kill me./
"Neville, stay put! Anthony, stop chewing Ax-man's tail! Neville, knock it off, I'm not a good swimmer." Ok, that one wasn't in my head. Turning to my side, I found myself staring at a very big and dangerous looking bison, tossing in the water as a rubbery skinned, humanish thing struggled to hold onto his side without getting killed. "Guys, focus!"
/The three of you are wizards, not animals. Do not let the instincts control you./ The first voice...Ax, I realised, stated as his fully formed tail came down held a snarling wolverine in place on his back. However, as he talked, the snarl disappeared and the little powerhouse, one of the predators that kept my mind extremely wary, became completely still.
/Are you-/ Jake started, only cut right off. I guess he found the point the others told us about. When you're too human to use thought speak anymore. "In control now?" He asked a moment later, albeit a little squeakily. "If you are, focus your thoughts toward us and tell us."
/I'm good now. Sorry Ax./ Anthony muttered sheepishly, not moving an inch after settling on a fully demorphed Andalite's deer-like back. Lucky shrimp, Ax' humanoid half was shielding him from the waves. Probably for the best though, his small form would get washed away out here. hell, Ax, Jake, Marco and I were well at risk.
/It is fine Anthony. All damage shall be healed when I next morph./
/I..I'm good now too./ I stated, forcing the instincts back down. Man, that was intense. Let me just say that Cassie lied. This beast was not a docile little guy. He had attitude. He was possessive and keen to show off in a fight, be it all for show or truly dangerous. And with the amount of muscle power I was packing, I could kick a guy right through a barn wall.
/I'm back in charge too./ Neville declared, forcing himself to stay still, well as still as he could with the wave. Though, he was definitely having the easiest time dealing with it. /But I'm tempted to let it take over again./ He added, sounding a bit more unsure than he had a moment before.
I could understand it though. While the mountain goat's mind had been in charge, I felt uncertain and panicked, especially about being at the mercy of these consistent, rough waves, but the ice to the bone cold feeling and a feeling of growing misery hadn't been there. With our human minds back in front, we weren't nearly as protected from the Dementors' dark effects.
/Keep the two minds in a more equal position./ Cassie's voice called, drawing my attention to her only to do a very human thing and let my jaw drop. It wasn't the best course of action considering it earned me a mouthful of salty water, but the reaction was understandable. Jake and Marco had only just made it back to fully human and Ax to Andalite, but Cassie was already halfway into the form of a bird on Luna's back and changing fast. She had to be doing it twice as fast as I was at the least, much faster than the other original Animorphs. They'd all started demorphing at about the same time. I wondered how much experience it would take to get that kind of speed. /You can still use the animal mind as a shield and it's better if the two minds work equally anyway. It provides a greater advantage with whatever action you perform and lessons the chances of the animal mind fighting the human one again./
Doing as she said, I loosened my grip on the goat's instincts and almost sighed at the immediate difference. Both the human and goat sides to me were still unnerved, but the cold and misery receded by a lot. Compared to before, it was bliss.
"Let's get this started." Jake muttered, closing his eyes and frowning hard as he struggled not to be swept away. Seeing it was a losing battle, I forced myself to take a few steps toward him and let him press against my side, getting a thankful nod in return.
/Harry and I are heading up./ Rachel declared before heading toward the island, the soaked Harry Potter being held flat against her upright chest with an enormous paw. Looking back on the memory, I always fall into a giggling fit when I remember the look on Harry's soaked face. It was priceless.
"Ax, tell the others it's time." Jake ordered as grey fur started growing all over him. That surprised me a little bit. It was clearly wolf fur. From what I knew of the guy, I was expecting a tiger. But then, I reminded myself as Cassie flew ahead with Harry and Rachel, I wasn't expecting an owl morph either. But in retrospect, maybe I should have. They were trying to hide the fact that the 'Andalite Bandits' had entered the magical world and using their most well known and used line up of morphs could easily give them away, even with us adding to the numbers.
/We have caught up and begun to morph for battle./ Ax stated, returning my focus to those of us still in the water as he started bulking up like crazy. /Ginny is holding onto Luna a little further behind us. Prince Jake says that it is time to begin./
/Got it. Going in./ Tobias called back. Not a moment later, two things happened right before us at once. The first was that the Dementors finally noticed Harry and a bear walking through the water and surged for them. As for the other...
"EXPECTO PATRONUM! Harry's voice echoed throughout the entire area as an enormous silver light exploded from his wand, hurting my eyes, quickly taking the form of a stag and charging straight for the Dementors, sending them flying away as fast as they could with their tails between their legs. I just sat back and admired the show. Harry easily had the most powerful patronus of us all. In our third year he cleared an area of a hundred Dementors at once and his magic had only grown more powerful since then. There was no doubt in my mind that we'd be safe from them.
Two streaks of light descended from the clouds at about the same time and surged right for the roof of the building, dispelling the dark and dark creatures alike from above. Ron and Hermione were in full swing.
/All wizard opposition is down./ Tobias reported, though it came in really faint. I barely made it out. Especially considering at the same time Harry threw three strong spells at the thick door and blew it off its hinges. /We're heading in now./
/Harry's just blown down the door. We're heading in too./ Jake responded, he, Marco and Ax finally finishing their own morphs. I was now surrounded by a bison, a wolverine, a wolf, an elephant and a rhino. With all that power, two of its most common predators close by and its greatest predator floating a little further back on top of an aquatic killer, the goat mind wasn't exactly thrilled. I was though. /Be careful, we don't know the full extent of this place's defences. Who knows what the dark wizards have added?/
/Or anything the Ministry didn't reveal to the public./ Ernie sighed, again so softly that it was almost lost in the sound of crashing waves. Still, he had a point.
No sense worry about that right now though. I reminded myself as we headed towards the shore, the bigger members blocking the force of the waves from me and making my stroll much easier while Anthony continued riding an elephant. It looked like the elephant had a toupee.
It was still a slow trek through harsh waves and rocky ground, but by the time us guys made it to the shore, nothing slowed us down. While the girls stayed back, waiting for Harry to clear out any need for magic on the first floor, Anthony, Jake and I ran in ahead of everyone else, travelling rocky terrain being our specialty. Getting through the door one at a time, we made it in just in time to see the stag patronus chasing a few Dementors down a corridor while Harry was opening a large trapdoor, revealing a staircase.
"I'm dealing with the basement first." He declared as he stag came running back and dashed ahead of him down the stairs. "If it's emptied, we might be able to use it to seal away some of the Dementors. You guys should make sure this area stays clear and free whoever's imprisoned."
/Oh no, you can't go alone./ Jake argued, surprising me a little. I hadn't noticed it once before, but he just spoke with the same air of authority that Hermione does. The similarity had to be the only reason Harry didn't argue. He was too used to having to concede to it. /At the very least, you're taking two people with you, including Rachel. We can't afford anyone to get caught playing the lone hero./
"Fine!" Harry sighed in defeat as Rachel lumbered to and down the stairs before turning to me. "You wanna come Shay?"
/Sure./ Seeming satisfied, Jake followed Cassie and Anthony down the hall as I followed a grumbling Harry downstairs. We barely missed the moment when a Bison ran through the front door, followed by a rhino who brought the doorframe in with him and an elephant who decided to upstage the rhino by bringing in a huge chunk of the wall with a thunderous boom.
Reaching the floor, we had to stick close to Harry as his freshly lit wand was the only source of light, but it didn't slow down our search much. There was wasn't much to search.
/The basement's just a storage space./ Rachel grumbled disappointedly as she looked around. The place was fill to the ceiling with barrels. A lot of them looked rotted through and all of them reeked.
"What is this crap anyway?" Harry grunted, scrunching up his face at the smell. Seeing that one of the barrels was open, he pointed his wand over it only to pull right away with a dark scowl. "It's spoiled food! They haven't even put any preservation charms on it!"
/You mean wizards basically aim to give every convict food poisoning on top of everything else?/ Rachel cried disgustedly, a low growl leaving her muzzle and setting off alarm bells in my head. /Does this story of mistreatment every stop getting more despicable or are the 'good wizards' really as bad as the rest?/
"No, it wasn't this bad before." Harry shook his head angrily, giving the barrel a good kick. "People have lived for decades in Azkaban. If they were given spoiled food they wouldn't make it a year. The food was apparently substandard, but never this bad. Voldemort's made it even worse here."
/All the more reason to speed this up and get everyone out of here./ I stated firmly, already heading back up the stairs. /Let's get back. After all, the others will need a patronus and a stack of wands for the freed and right now, Harry's the only one in our group with either./
/Not much of a problem right now. All the cells were empty./ Neville called disappointedly as a loud crash shook the stairs. Panicking, I sped up my run, the others right behind me, and made it back to the first floor just in time to see Ax crush a Dementor between his head and the stone wall, leaving a hug dent behind. Taking a step back, he watched with a shocking amount of satisfaction for an elephant as the Dementor dropped to the ground and stayed there.
/Whoa! You actually managed to take down a Dementor? No one's ever managed that!/ I stated, watching with an equally stunned Harry beside me. Ax merely raised his trunk and gave out a victorious cry.
/Clearly, no one ever thought to fight them in confined spaces with something bearing the strength of a charging elephant./ He stated smugly. /My understanding is that only a very few creatures on Earth could withstand such an assault./
"And Dementors are apparently not one of them." Harry muttered with a grin as his stag took off down the hallway. "Good to know this area will be good an secure."
/Can you guys please hurry it up!/ Ginny suddenly snapped, sounding both annoyed and unnerved. /In case you're forgetting, with all the Patronuses inside now, the Dementors are free to come at us and a few have already noticed us!/
"Oh, right." Harry muttered before taking off at full speed, Jake motioning his head for us to follow him. They must have already found the next staircase. I quickly followed them and passed by Harry, Anthony, Cassie and a thundering Marco coming along with us while Neville, Ax and Rachel stayed behind.
/Harry and his light animal are now many meters away from the entrance. It is safe for you to come in now./ Ax announced, getting an irritated 'it's about time' from Ginny. Still, you could hear the relief in her voice too.
/Will Marco be able to get up the stairs in that morph?/ I asked, mentally frowning as we turned a corner. I knew enough about rhinos to know that they were grazers that lived in open plains and were extremely heavy. Your average staircase would give way under Marco, even if he could climb it.
/Don't worry, going up will be fine. I might need a costume change on the way down though. We'll see./ Marco replied nonchalantly. /Just tell me when we get close. I can't see very well and I'll need to slow down to climb./
/Slow down now. We've reached them./ Cassie stated, pulling into a circle near the stairs only to scream as a wave of Dementors shot down. It figured they'd all be together down here. They were stationed to the second floor, but with no one imprisoned on the first and probably very few on the second, our minds would seem like an irresistible buffet to these emotional vampires, even if they were animal minds.
However, just as Cassie moved away, the stag patronus jumped ahead, aiming its antlers right for them. Dispelling the head Dementors, it ran from one wall to the other a couple of times, keeping the Dementors far from us, before charging in again in circles. It didn't take long for it to have them crashing into walls an flying away as fast as they could in all directions.
/They're heading for the others./ Anthony muttered worriedly, turning his head back the way we came as the rest of us ploughed on.
/And when Ax, Rachel and Neville are done with them, they won't be bothering anyone for weeks./ Jake responded reassuringly, already dashing up the stairs while Cassie swooped past over his head. /Don't worry, they'll be fine. Now come on, I can smell five people on this level. And a lot more Dementors. Marco, we're gonna need you up front real quick./
/You got it Big Jake./ Marco stated, already following him up with Harry, Anthony and I behind him, Harry keeping his stag patrolling around the top of the stairs and shielding it from any more Dementors.
/Ok, coming through, out of my way, you freaky zombie wannabe./ He shouted, as he reached the top. He didn't even wait for the rest of us, he simply charged down the hall, ploughing a hole right through the swarms of rotted skin and black fabric and trampling over however many were unfortunate enough to be forced to the ground. While none of them looked like they'd been killed, it was pretty satisfying to see every one of them, and a lot of the ones he barrelled through and sent through the air, actually in a great deal of pain.
/One question./ Jake said as he followed along, grabbing a rising Dementor's arm with his teeth and yanking hard, forcing it to crash back into the ground only to rise again. /Why don't these things die?/
/You can't kill what was never truly alive to begin with./ Was Anthony's response as we followed Harry to the nearest cell and launched himself at the head of a Dementor as it bypassed the stag while it chased his brethren. Ramming my head into another one, I was stunned still as I watched. The wolverine instincts must have been dominating the moment, because he was ferocious, his teeth ripping rotting flesh from its face furiously while his claws were tearing through flesh so fast that all I saw was a blur and the gruesome result. If he'd done it to me, I'd be dead already, powerhouse legs and deadly horns or not. Seeing the Dementor about to grab him, I let out an aggressive cry and slammed my horns into its gut, knocking it back while Anthony dropped safely beside me. We easily managed to buy Harry the time he needed to open the cage and by the time we turned, a sickly looking man in his mid thirties walked out, taking a wand from the pile Harry held up.
"Will you help us free everyone else?" Harry asked as the man picked a wand, putting the rest back into his pocket. "Most of us breaking in are only any good fighting Dementors as Animagus. We could use more help with wand work."
"I...I'm weak. And was never any good at fighting Dementors. And they've..." The man was having trouble standing on his own, even with Harry's patronus coming back to shield them. But that was expected. He'd been here too long. He'd been forced into constant, severe depression, fed spoiled food and staying with Dementors for extended periods of time drains your magic. You can restore it, but, like getting over the depression, it takes time away from them with warmth, healthy food and proper rest. This guy obviously didn't have the strong will to bear through his time here. "I'll...I'll help open this floor's cages. Then I gotta get out."
/Guys, Marco and I found the stairs. We're going up ahead./ Cassie called back. She and Marco had turned a far corner a while ago and I'd only just realised that I hadn't seen them in a bit. /Five cages on your floor have prisoners, seven people in all. I'll report in when I know the number on this floor./
/Don't go any further than that floor Cassie./ Jake replied firmly, worry evident in his voice. /Even rhinos can be overwhelmed and you're only an owl. We don't know how dangerous the middle, high security areas are going to be./
Continuing on our way around the floor, Harry kept his stag up front, easily shielding us from and driving away all newly arriving Dementors while Jake, Anthony and I attacked those that remained or returned from behind, though no matter how hard I kicked or the others scratched or bit, they kept coming back. Amortal creatures are impossible to truly get rid of. Even the ones Marco brutalised pulled their bodies back in shape and pursued us again soon enough.
Fortunately, the sickly man was still sufficient with a wand. That meant that Harry didn't have to split his focus from his patronus and cage doors opened much quicker with him waving his wand wherever there were bars and destroying them. By the twentieth he'd done it, we were more than halfway through the floor and joined by four of the other six people.
"Hand me one fast!" A man, this one, though still looking sick and malnourished, proving to be in a far better condition as he thrust his hand out for a wand. The second Harry handed him one, he thrust it out and cast his own patronus charm and unleashed an impressive looking squid the size of Harry's stag behind us. It was almost comical to watch as it swung its tentacles around like nunchucks, batting away every sole sucking fiend that dared to get close.
"Very impressive." Harry commented as we moved on, the other freed convicts destroying every other cage in the corridor and releasing another man and women who, like the squid guy, looked uncared for and weakened, but defiant. As the two approached, he absentmindedly held out the collections of wands and allowed them to take whichever felt friendliest to them.
"Not bad yourself kid." The man shrugged, looking around the group. "Well, well, isn't this a large number of Animagus. No way all of them did it legally though, unless you've simply transfigured your friends."
"Nope, this was training for years in preparation for fighting Voldemort. The best weapons are the ones you enemy doesn't know you have." Harry responded.
/Everyone, Hork-Bajir landed on the roof! They're coming down through the upper levels and we're barely holding out against a freaking crazy number of Dementors!/ Ernie shouted, fear and panic lacing his voice.
/Three Bug Fighters are landing outside the structure. Each will be carrying one Taxxon pilot and up to five Hork-Bajir warriors./ Ax added from below, only making us tense even more.
/Oh and by the way, the number of Dementors on this level is about three times as high as the last one./ Marco added, really scaring me. Just by that one sentence, you could hear he was being overwhelmed. If he was talking with his actual voice, he'd be sobbing. /Please get here fast./
"Ok, we've reached the stairs up. Everyone on this level is free. Now I'm going." The first guy saved stated, bringing us back to our location. Well, other than Jake. As soon as he heard Marco's cry, he sprung up the stairs faster than a wolf was supposed to be able to run, an act that greatly confused the freed captives.
"There's currently one of three fights going on down there." Harry informed him sharply, grabbing his ragged sleeve as he went to leave, stopping him and two of the others freed in their place. "Five Animagus are fighting weird creatures no one can identify, looking like humanoid dinosaurs with blades all over their bodies. Two of the Animagus are underage and still have Tracers, which means we can't have any magic used anywhere near them while they are here, otherwise the Ministry will send Aurors or Death Eaters right to us and make everything worse. If you don't want to go help the others above, then you'll need to stay on this level at the other staircase and wait for one of the others to lead you down."
"Fine." He agreed, the others nodding shakily behind him as they headed off once again.
"I'll go with them. Shield them if the Dementors make a return visit." The squid guy declared, following after them. That was fine. It was a really good thing actually, it guaranteed that this floor would be still more or less conquered territory when we came back down.
"So are you three coming up to help us?" Harry asked as Anthony informed those below of the squid guy's group, nodding his head toward the staircase as a wolf's enraged howl met our ears.
"Yes." A woman no older than twenty seven nodded simultaneously alongside the stronger pair, both looking to be in their late thirties, early forties. "I can only make incorporeal patronuses at the best of times, but I can still help free the prisoners.
"In the maximum security cells are forty two Muggleborns, twenty eight of them below the age of fifteen, some as young as six." The other woman stated disgustedly, her knuckles turning white as she clench her new wand. "I'm not leaving until every one of them is free!"
"We were imprisoned for trying to save some of them. A Muggleborn woman and her two children." The man added, looking just as ready for war. "We're not walking away without from them now!"
"Then let's move!" Harry exclaimed, already running up the stairs, Anthony and I racing ahead of him. "The others upstairs don't have a single patronus to help them."
"Well now they'll have three." The man stated as both new fighters raised their wands.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Now, I feel the need to point out again that these wands most likely hadn't chosen this witch and wizard. On top of that, casting the Patronus Charm, even the weaker incorporeal version, was extremely difficult. Plus, these two casters had been in constant depression of the most unrelenting kind for who knew how long and it took an extremely happy memory and feeling to cast the spell. So you could understand why I actually stopped and watched in wonder as a silver ox and coyote flew right past me alongside Harry's silver stag, both shining beautifully. It was a beautiful sight to see. We were talking about a talented pair here. Trio really, the squid guy was just as impressive.
With any luck, we'd find a few more people like them further up. If we did, we'd have a real chance at pulling this off. And if not...well, let's just say that I don't intend to let any of us die or be infested. Even if I had to burn this Godforsaken place to ground.