"Where are they?" Ron asked.
"They're fiddling around in the front courtyard." Harry recalled.
Without a backward glance, Ron tore off.
"Doesn't look too good." Ginny said, pointing. The gate looked like one large, ugly smear of red.
"Of course not." Neville said.
Just then, the gremlins started shooting green beams at the front gate. It immediately started turning darker.
"Bring them down!" Harry yelled. He knew that the gate would go down very soon and hoped to buy Ron the time to fetch Grawp, Rawth, and Torgus.
It was sadly little use; for every one they put down, a score more seemed to leap into place.
Harry burned three and froze another; still, they kept pouring out like a tide of death.
The gate began to sizzle.
He glanced over and to his relief, that part of the wall had been vacated.
Any second now, he thought.
Sure enough, the gate melted. It didn't sink down slowly, there was no sound except for the groaning of the foundations. It just liquified.
"They're coming through." Hermione said desperately. "Where are the - "
As if awaiting her queiry, three huge forms sped out from the bottom passageway and met the tide like a thunderbolt. The impact of the charge was so great that opponents crowded near the stairs were either beaten aside or driven back ten full paces.
But there was only three of them; Harry knew that there were enough out there to annihilate at least a score of giants. However, they were holding their own quite ably.
"We need to back them up." Harry said quickly. Without a backward glance or another word, he dashed for the nearest stairwell.
From the panting and the clattering sounds of armored greave on stone, he knew that the others were only a few steps behind him.
Ron was near the entraceway alone, casting spells off as fast as he could dish them out.
"We need to help them." Harry told Ron, who nodded without comment and ran with Harry.
Caught up in the heat of battle, Harry raised his wand and bellowed his challenge out to the enemy. The others complied, their determined voices rising clearly above the din.
They met with a thundering clash that nearly tripped Harry. Neville nearly got a Gremlin Rod straight in the face, but ducked in time.
Hermione took a charging gremlin on the point of her Marathia blade, and whipped it up again and around at head height, slaying another.
"We can't hold them off forever!" Ron yelled, pulping a gremlin's face with his armoured glove.
"I know!" Harry called back. "When the odds look nasty, we'll pull back inside!"
"It already looks nasty!" Ginny shouted. She froze the ground and caused several more to lose their footing, and dove on her knees, slashing wildly.
Harry sidestepped another gremlin spell and accidentally slipped opon Ginny's arcane ice.
He cursed as another bore down at him, but it was utterly destroyed completely from a swing of Grawp's broadsword.
"When we pull back?!" the giant barked, trading blows with a armor-clad troll's mace.
"Now!" Harry yelled. "Before we're overwhelmed!"
"Pull back to the gate!" Ron roared at everyone.
Harry hadn't expected the three giants to comply so fast, but they did so. He was scooped up by Rawth's spare hand, and didn't even have time to curse before he was gently set down near the destroyed gate.
A very tall figure and Hagrid, along with at least a score of Hogwarts students arrived on the scene.
"Goodness, Potter!" McGonagall's voice gasped from the tall figure's helmet. "It's a wonder none of you weren't killed, if not injured at least."
She peered through.
"Well, for three giants and a few sixth-years, you did quite well, I must say."
Harry peered beyond too, and was very much suprised as to the damage that he'd done. There were corpses strung all around.
"They're retreating." Hermione said in awe.
"No." Torgus grunted. His tower shield was burned, dented, and spattered with blood, his or otherwise. "Just regrouping."
"When they regrou', they'll charge in here and try to overwhelm us." Hagrid said grimly, nodding his agreement.
"We'll need to hold as long as we can." Professor McGonagall said. "Potter, we'll do the spellwork; the giants will handle if they get too close for comfort."
Harry nodded. At the same time, he felt an odd chill on his back. He saw Hermione shiver.
"You feel it too?" she asked.
Harry saw Hagrid straighten suddenly, and exchange looks with McGonagall.
"The Dementors!" she cried. "Bones, Macmillian, come with me!"
Ernie and Susan followed her stride.
"When're they going to - " Neville began. But a silver arrow struck the wall a foot from his head.
"Death Eaters!" Harry said angrily. Sure enough, figures on broomsticks were darting around, avoiding spells and casting their own Dark Magic.
Before he could raise his wand, however, a huge spiral of energy snaked out and drove one straight off their broom to fall to their death.
"Thank heavens fer' the Aurors." Hagrid said.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Harry wondered. "I haven't seen him throughout this battle yet."
"He's castin' his ultimate spell." Hagrid said. "If we hold out long enough."
"How long would that be?" Ron said.
"Dunno' yet, either," Hagrid replied. "But just try an' hold out long as yeh can, all righ'?"
MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MO
No, they just think I'm computer obsessed.
The first wave came at them viciously, screaming bloodcurdling warcries. The giants were lagging behind, but Harry was thankful for that. Without prompt, he tried to slow them down as best as he could. He immobilized one gremlin, and raised him high into the air to fall opon several more of his comrades, who were flattened.
The giants were getting closer.
"Feet!" Harry yelled unecessarily.
But the giants had gotten smarter. They either jumped right over the spells casted at them or simply covered their feet with their own imbued weapons.
"Uh oh." Ron muttered.
"Aim to slow them down. Not directly at them."
With those words, Harry aimed at the ground and started melting the ground as best as he could. Some giants stepped on the burning ground and roared with the pain, but otherwise get over it rapidly.
Harry swore. "Never mind, aim for the troll's feet instead! They're too stupid to figure out how to stop it."
Sure enough, the troll's IQ was considerably smaller than a giant's. Several howled with anguish and dropped, clutching their maimed feet.
But the giants were closing in; Torgus met the charge with a mighty smash from his tower shield. The impact was large enough to drive back a giant and cause him to bump his comrade. The split second of disorientation was enough for the three Hogwarts giants to take the initiative and start battering away madly.
"Stay back a bit!" Hagrid warned. "It wouldn' be too nice if one of them stepped on you, accidental or no!"
Harry heeded the advice wisely.
A bright flash of silver caught the corner of Harry's eye. He riskeda look and saw that Ernie, Professor McGonagall, and Susan had shot their Patronuses.
Harry quickly scanned the trajectory and saw a huge mass of Dementors hovering above the castle. His jaw dropped.
After he had recovered from his initial shock, Harry turned and raised his wand, summoning the happiest thought from his head. He imagined them standing victorius with the army in full retreat.
"Expecto Patronum!"
His silver stag flew out and up to join the three charging ones: A gigantic seagull, an owl, and a moose.
"Expecto Patronum!"
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Hermione's otter and Ron's polar bear flew out and charged as well.