The first cracks of light were just beginning to peek over the horizon, but it was still too dark for Harry to be able to spot anything when he reached the outer walltop.
Snape nodded at the far end of the wall, not facing the front gate.
"The only advantage we have is the walls of Hogwarts and the forest at our back. We'll take our place near the edge of the wall, and we'll know if the gate's been breached."
Harry pulled his wand out, motioning for others to do the same.
"Can you see anything?" he asked the person next to him, not knowing who it was because of the polarized visor.
"No, not yet at least." Dean's voice said.
"How're they going to attack exactly?" Harry asked Snape, who was easily the tallest figure.
"They'll obviously charge from the front, Potter. And then someone will need to watch for Dementors from behind."
"At least they can't give you the kiss." Harry said, shrugging. The gesture was multiplied twofold through his enormous shoulder pads.
"But they can still paralyse you, Potter, just enough to let something else finish you off." Snape snorted.
"True," Harry said. "We'll need to slow the charge down, buy some time."
"Exactly, Potter." Snape said, his helmet gazing at the open fields. "What we need to do is hit them with the Epicentre Curse. The initial earthquake will likely cause them to trip, and we'll start raining spells on them."
"Sounds like a plan." Harry said, clutching his wand tightly. "How're they going to get onto the walls?"
"All will be answered in good time, Potter..." Harry could hear a tone of impatience in Snape's voice.
Harry decided not to annoy Snape further, and started relaying the plan to the others.
"Wait, what was that?" Ron's voice wondered aloud. He was gazing intently at the horizon.
"What was what?" Harry asked urgently.
"Something....kind of 'flickered'." Ron muttered.
Harry scanned the fields........
....and there, something flickered and caught the sunlight. It was gone the next.
"What on Earth......" he muttered.
"Oh, no." Hermione said.
"What?"
Her gloved finger pointed; there were several more flickers.
She turned to him, her face masked by the visor. "Where's Moody?"
"On the far side." Harry said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
"Get him, now!"
Harry didn't stop to argue, he started running as fast as he could, knocking down a couple of armoured figures in the process, who protested.
"Moody!" Harry yelled as soon as he neared; he was easy to distinguish, since he was the only one with a reinforced metal rod for one of his legs.
"What is it, Potter?" he said, turning. He was obviously scratching out a battle plan for his command on the floor and hadn't noticed.
"What do you see?" Harry gestured outside the wall, at the land beyond.
It was still rather dim, but as Moody stood up, Harry watched his face turn stony. The grizzled Auror raised his wand and shot a sparkling comet, seemingly straight into nowhere. Until it hot the ground, and exploded, sending an ever-expanding aura coursing everywhere.
The sight that met Harry's eyes made his jaw drop.
The giants had not spoken wrong, it was an army of epic proportions. Harry could not see any Death Eaters; instead, what met his eyes were a vast armada of creatures. They were varying species, but the majority were strange humanoids with shields, rods, and armor. Harry could see some small figures that could have been goblins, and the large silhouettes were most definitely giants. They were armoured, too.
"Potter, get back to Snape and the rest of your group. Go!"