Chapter 61: The Beast "Salvia hexia…Confundus…Protego maxima.." Ariadne was reciting incantations to herself under her breath at breakfast, ensuring she had memorized the long list of spells they had practiced.
It was the morning of December 8th.
It looked like Ariadne's careful combination of astronomical and Muggle weather prediction might come true. The ceiling in the Great Hall was an opaque white and the temperatures outside were well below freezing. In fact, in between her murmured recitations, Ariadne frequently glanced up for any sign of snowfall.
Sirius was also tense, and although he did his best to conceal it under his usual façade of languid assuredness, Ariadne knew him well enough to read some telltale signs: frequently running his fingers through his hair and fiddling with his red-and-gold tie, as though he found it suffocating around his neck.
James and Remus were stationed outside the greenhouses in the Invisibility Cloak, with instructions to send a message immediately as soon as they noticed any sign of activity. Despite all their practice and preparation, Ariadne felt woefully unprepared, as though this were an exam she had forgotten to study for. There were still so many unknowns around this Death Eater plan. The night before, she had quite nearly lost her nerve and gone straight to McGonagall to report everything they knew. But then the image of Professor McGonagall's disappointed face, and her empty threats of house points and detentions, loomed before her face and stopped her. She knew that no one would believe something so outlandish and catastrophic as a giant attacking Hogwarts under the instruction of student Death Eaters, until it happened.
And what a terrible wait they were facing until it did.
Ariadne was also keeping a close eye on Yaxley, Florian, and Clarice to see if their actions betrayed any signs of the plan coming to fruition. So far, they had behaved normally ("normal for filthy bigots, that is," Sirius had muttered when Ariadne shared this observation with him) and were simply eating breakfast at their respective house tables. Ariadne had to admit to herself, they had very little knowledge of what exact role these Death-Eaters-in-training were going to play. Would Skullfeather, the witch who was helping them from outside the castle, show herself today? Or would the Hogwarts students be trusted to carry out the plan themselves?
As Ariadne pondered these questions for the umpteenth time while pushing some scrambled eggs around her plate, several things happened in quick succession that marked the deterioration of the situation.
First, McGonagall and Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, quietly disappeared from the staff table. Second, Yaxley slipped away from the Great Hall, his absence only marked by Sirius because Ariadne had urged him to keep watch too. Third, James and Remus came sprinting into the Great Hall, invisibility abandoned. Ariadne was hardly able to begin reprimanding them for completely going off protocol, as they were supposed to maintain their post and send message by the enchanted notebook Ariadne had provided, before she was silenced by James's face. It was white.
Then they heard the screams.
Running through the entrance doors and out onto the grounds, Ariadne barely registered the white, wet flakes falling onto her robes. As they rounded the corner to the greenhouses, Remus, James, Sirius, and Ariadne stopped dead in their tracks. The Death Eaters had not snuck a giant onto the Hogwarts grounds. It was a chimaera.
The beast was larger than Ariadne ever could have imagined from simply seeing images and illustrations in textbooks. It towered nearly as high as the greenhouses themselves, and as its mismatched limbs thrashed about, it crushed greenhouse four, scattering broken glass everywhere. Ariadne now understood that they had misinterpreted Clarke's "large problem" comment, as it could equally apply to this monster as to a giant. But there was no time to regret that mistake now.
Professor McGonagall, Professor Kettleburn and the other Hogwarts professors skirted around the base of its feet; the front pair, enormous lion's paws and the back legs, massive hooves. They were casting spells in an attempt to disable the chimaera, but afraid to get too close. Ariadne understood why as the great lion's head roared, baring teeth as large as a saber-toothed tiger. The sound of the roar probably carried across the lake.
But Ariadne immediately thought of a different approach. Beckoning to Sirius, she began casting shield charms across the steps to the castle and the great wooden front doors. Following her lead, Sirius, James, and Remus rushed past, all muttering, protego maxima. They may not be able to defeat the chimaera, but by maximizing the density of spells per square meter at the entrance to the castle, they could enhance its defenses and at least protect the students inside.
Not all of the Hogwarts students were prudent enough to remain inside, however. A terrified, awestruck crowd gathered on the steps to witness the chimaera, its dragon's tail now thrashing and beating the ground with incredible force as the teachers dodged it. "Stay back!" yelled Professor McGonagall, turning her head to the address the students. The momentary distraction was nearly fatal—an instant later, she leaped out of the way as a torrent of flame scorched the spot where she had been standing.
"Holy Merlin, it breathes fire?!" yelped James, jumping back from the heat they could feel even fifty feet away.
Now was not the time to lecture James for not paying an ounce of attention in Care of Magical Creatures. Ariadne was standing by helplessly, wracking her brains for any knowledge that could be useful in facing this formidable threat. A chimaera had only been slain once in recorded wizarding history. She looked at Sirius.
Once again, they didn't need to talk. They both know that the chimaera couldn't be killed through any kind of spellcraft. The magic in its hide was too powerful, nearly as strong as a dragon's.
They would have to capture it.
Sirius leapt out of harm's way as the chimaera roared and sent a blast of fire that decimated the grass within ten feet of the steps to the castle. Making certain he was now out of range, he gestured to Ariadne.
"We need to dig," he said to her urgently.
Ariadne was only able to respond with a look that clearly indicated she thought Sirius had lost all his mental faculties.
"We can trap the chimaera in an underground pit," he said, clearly frustrated that he had to waste a precious moment explaining. "We can dig one and lure it so it falls in."
"It'll just fly out!" objected Ariadne, her voice strained with desperation.
"Not if we enchant a magical barrier over the opening," said Sirius.
Ariadne merely nodded, not wasting any energy on unnecessary words. It was the only plan they had.
Ariadne and Sirius both turned as a most unexpected development leapt out from behind the greenhouses to confront the chimaera. Yaxley appeared, looking far more bold and confident facing this monster than Ariadne thought any sane wizard should. His booming commands rang out over the gasps of students and panicked shrieks of the teachers pleading with him to retreat.
"Beast, hear me and obey. Dejante calmus chimaerium!"
For the briefest moment, there was stillness, as everyone waited for a reaction and even the chimaera seemed to pause its relentless assault. Then, it reached out with one great, clawed paw and struck Yaxley to the ground.
"No!" Ariadne heard Florian Clarke scream. But no one dared get close enough to the beast to retrieve Yaxley's seemingly lifeless body. Ariadne seemed to realize at the same moment as Sirius that the best way to save Yaxley was to implement their plan.
"Dig!" Sirius yelled at James and Remus, indicating that they follow his and Ariadne's lead.
Without saying a word, Ariadne began to carve great cracks in the earth of the Hogwarts grounds around them. With a different spell, she began lifting and moving large mounds of dirt freed by the cracks. Sirius, James, and Remus did the same, and before long, a pit over 50 feet deep and many yards wide gaped before them.
"Now we just have to trick the beast into coming over here," muttered Sirius.
"Wait!" Ariadne threw out her arm to stop him from approaching the chimaera any closer, as the Hogwarts staff, far too preoccupied with battling the monster to notice what they had been up to, continued to feebly test and torment it with various spells that had little effect.
Ariadne closed her eyes and summoned one of her best appearance-changing spells, the same spell she had once used to enchant a table full of firewhisky to look like a pile of books. The air around the opening of the pit seemed to shimmer, then morphed into a muddy patch of grass. Hopefully, it would be enough to fool the chimaera for a few moments.
"Good thinking," said Sirius, more terse than approving, given their perilous situation.
Now came the dangerous part. Ariadne, Sirius, Remus and James began to bait the chimaera, casting Stunning Spells, Booming Hexes, causing explosions, and anything else that, although it would do nothing to harm the chimaera, might attract its attention.
The chimaera snarled and bared its gargantuan lion's teeth, pawed the ground with its back hooves, and began to approach the place where the Marauders stood.
The Hogwarts teachers, finally catching onto their plan, joined them in drawing the chimaera toward the location of their trap. Staying just out of the reach of its flames and ducking its spiny, massive dragon's tail, they backed up, wands drawn and constantly sparking with various spells, moving ever so slowly toward the pit.
Ariadne kept glancing backwards toward the hole they had dug and disguised. A hundred feet now…seventy-five…..fifty…they were almost there…
Without warning, the chimaera reared on its hind legs and beat its enormous wings, almost knocking them over with the force of wind they created. Most of the teachers and Marauders hurried back to put some more distance between them and the chimaera, but Sirius held his ground. "That's it," he muttered, not taking his eyes off the beast. "Just a little farther…"
"Sirius, look out!" Ariadne screamed.
She recognized the signs of its fire-breathing a fraction of a moment before it happened. When the chimaera was about to breathe fire, its eyes glowed red, it opened its mouth, and the inside of its momentarily exposed throat appeared like a glowing furnace.
But Sirius had glanced back to gauge his distance from the pit and didn't see this. Ariadne watched, as if time had slowed down, as the jet of flames erupted from the beast's mouth, aiming directly at Sirius.
Unaware of the movements of her own body, Ariadne threw herself in front of Sirius. She uttered no incantation, verbal or not. She just crossed her arms in front of them.