Altercation at the Greenhouses.
Curse-flinging from sulkycorner, neville_really, and Moody and Tonks (NPC'd to great effect by broomstickwitch)
"OOF!" An errant root wrapped itself around Tonk's ankle, and she faceplanted on the damp, muddy ground. She spit out bits of grass and dirt. "Shite," her voice came out in a frustrated whisper as she cursed her clumsiness, scrambling quickly to her feet. Bad time to be falling on your face. She'd gotten separated from the group while taking on a couple of Death Eaters, and now she only occasionally caught glimpses of the continuing battle up ahead - a bright flash illuminated the greenhouses, but she was too far away to see who was there.
The Death Eaters... she shuddered. They'd been wearing the masks - why were they wearing the masks at this point? She had no answer for that, but she admitted she was glad. Glad because she'd killed them, and she didn't want to know who they were. Let them remain faceless and nameless. Killed them... Auror training didn't prepare you for that, did it? No petrification, no stunning this time, no laws or bureaucratic nonsense to get in the way - just Sectum Sempra - thank you, Snape - and gaping red mouths bursting open as the skin split, peeling back to let torrents of blood pour forth, red rivers flowing down into the earth. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.
Behind her, she heard an odd thumping sound and a rustling. She spun, wand at the ready, pleased to see that her hand was steady - and nearly fell over again in shock as Alastair Moody came stomping up.
"Close your mouth Tonks, before a doxy flies in," Moody said gruffly. "Looks like I got here just in time." Ever vigilant, his eye was swirling around in its socket as he tried to see in all directions at once.
"Wha... where have you been?" A strong odour of fish and seaweed pervaded the air around him. "And what's that smell?" Nose wrinkling in disgust, she lifted her hand to cover it.
"Never mind that now - no time! Best get up there," and he gestured with his staff towards the sparks and flashes of colour up ahead, "we've got a war to win!" He stabbed at the ground with his staff as he headed off towards the fight, pulling her along with him.
"I... killed two Death Eaters," she said as she hurried to catch up with him so he wasn't dragging her by her sleeve. Why did you tell him that? There was no need to mention that. Guilty conscience, maybe? Something had irrevocably changed, she could feel the cells that made up her body shifting, moving in new ways.
He stopped, and turned to look at her for a moment, then lifted one hand and clapped her on the shoulder. "Well... well done, then." No time to ask questions, no time to offer comfort - not while others might be dying. He squeezed her shoulder in what he hoped she would interpret as meant to be reassuring, then turned and continued on.
***
Giants were a great flaming pain in the arse. Not like that was anything original, but Michael felt it deserved to be thought, anyway. He didn't have time to say it out loud.
"Stupefy!" It wasn't a chant any more, it was a howl. Neville was hopping back and forth in pain. Michael thought it'd be the last time Nev ever got close enough to a giant to get his foot stepped on. The spell didn't do a thing beyond irritate the giant.
The giant grabbed the nearest thing, a portion of potting bench that looked like a chopstick in his meaty hand, and swung at them. Neville did duck this time. Michael felt the wake as the thing whooshed over his head.
"Expulso!" He stabbed at the giant's arm with his wand, ending it with a sharp, upward flick. Was it upward or downward? Oh, God of all the times to forget..
The potting table exploded into a hundred little fragments, and most satisfactory, so did part of his hand. The giant's roar got exponentially louder, angrier and more pained.
***
"Giants!" Moody shouted as he and Tonks got closer. Lifting his staff, he twisted it in his hand until the end pointed at one of the giants. "Versarus!" He thundered the incantation out, growling on the "r's" as he gave the staff a corkscrew-like motion and then a stab. The giant, who had just lifted his foot, suddenly began to spin around like a top.
Tonks gave the same shout as she stepped up next to Moody and flourished her wand in the same manner, sending another giant spinning in place. There was an anguished scream as the giant spun in place.
The giants were still spinning; faster and faster, until their bodies were a blur. Then, with a lurch, the spinning stopped. Green-faced and looking more than a little nauseous, they wobbled for a moment, trying to keep their balance, to no avail. Each one fell over, sending a tremor through the ground. Moody was already looking for his next target, but Tonks was faster.
"Arieto!" She pointed at the foot of another giant, promptly causing him to trip and fall flat on his face. At the same moment, Moody sent another one spinning.
"We'll get 'em down - you keep 'em down!" he roared at Neville and Michael.
Neville didn't hesitate, he *remembered.* "Malleus Necros!" He pointed his wand at the first fallen giant's head.
The sound, decided Michael, he would probably remember for the rest of his life. Damp and crunching and somehow..meaty. He caught himself--what the hell was he doing woolgathering like this? He whipped out his wand in a downward slash, with a flick up at the end. "Expulso!" Bloody charms class. He hadn't paid enough attention in bloody Charms.
A fourth giant joined his three fellows on the ground, the whirling proving too much for him, generating another resounding thump and another shaking of the earth as he fell. Then, Moody found himself having to dive to the ground to avoid the ham-handed swing of another giant. With a bellow, it attempted to pounce on him as he rolled out of its reach. On the ground was definitely not where he wanted to be.
"Alastor!" Tonks shouted, fear in her voice. She aimed another trip curse at his attacker, causing the giant - already half-hunched over - to slam its chin into the ground. She grinned, watching Moody get to his feet. He turned towards her, lifting a hand to wave and she began to lift her own, when she saw his expression change to one of horror as his mouth opened.
That was when there was a cracking sound, and an explosion of pain along the left side of her head, and for the brief second before she thankfully lost consciousness, she felt herself flying through the air.
The air was split by the giant's bellow of triumph, and its club rose unhurriedly to deal a final crushing blow.
"Hold." It wasn't so much a command as an icy statement of how the world would arrange itself. The giant turned ponderously, its jaw hanging slackly as it faced the speaker. "Lay down your club. I want them alive." There could be no mistaking the cadaverous figure, robes drifting like black mist around it. Reluctantly, the club was lowered, its owner scowling in fear and resentment, deprived of its prey.
The Dark wizard nodded approvingly, then turned slitted, smouldering eyes on the witch and wizards...
Yes... it's another cliffhanger.
~runs away~
"OOF!" An errant root wrapped itself around Tonk's ankle, and she faceplanted on the damp, muddy ground. She spit out bits of grass and dirt. "Shite," her voice came out in a frustrated whisper as she cursed her clumsiness, scrambling quickly to her feet. Bad time to be falling on your face. She'd gotten separated from the group while taking on a couple of Death Eaters, and now she only occasionally caught glimpses of the continuing battle up ahead - a bright flash illuminated the greenhouses, but she was too far away to see who was there.
The Death Eaters... she shuddered. They'd been wearing the masks - why were they wearing the masks at this point? She had no answer for that, but she admitted she was glad. Glad because she'd killed them, and she didn't want to know who they were. Let them remain faceless and nameless. Killed them... Auror training didn't prepare you for that, did it? No petrification, no stunning this time, no laws or bureaucratic nonsense to get in the way - just Sectum Sempra - thank you, Snape - and gaping red mouths bursting open as the skin split, peeling back to let torrents of blood pour forth, red rivers flowing down into the earth. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.
Behind her, she heard an odd thumping sound and a rustling. She spun, wand at the ready, pleased to see that her hand was steady - and nearly fell over again in shock as Alastair Moody came stomping up.
"Close your mouth Tonks, before a doxy flies in," Moody said gruffly. "Looks like I got here just in time." Ever vigilant, his eye was swirling around in its socket as he tried to see in all directions at once.
"Wha... where have you been?" A strong odour of fish and seaweed pervaded the air around him. "And what's that smell?" Nose wrinkling in disgust, she lifted her hand to cover it.
"Never mind that now - no time! Best get up there," and he gestured with his staff towards the sparks and flashes of colour up ahead, "we've got a war to win!" He stabbed at the ground with his staff as he headed off towards the fight, pulling her along with him.
"I... killed two Death Eaters," she said as she hurried to catch up with him so he wasn't dragging her by her sleeve. Why did you tell him that? There was no need to mention that. Guilty conscience, maybe? Something had irrevocably changed, she could feel the cells that made up her body shifting, moving in new ways.
He stopped, and turned to look at her for a moment, then lifted one hand and clapped her on the shoulder. "Well... well done, then." No time to ask questions, no time to offer comfort - not while others might be dying. He squeezed her shoulder in what he hoped she would interpret as meant to be reassuring, then turned and continued on.
***
Giants were a great flaming pain in the arse. Not like that was anything original, but Michael felt it deserved to be thought, anyway. He didn't have time to say it out loud.
"Stupefy!" It wasn't a chant any more, it was a howl. Neville was hopping back and forth in pain. Michael thought it'd be the last time Nev ever got close enough to a giant to get his foot stepped on. The spell didn't do a thing beyond irritate the giant.
The giant grabbed the nearest thing, a portion of potting bench that looked like a chopstick in his meaty hand, and swung at them. Neville did duck this time. Michael felt the wake as the thing whooshed over his head.
"Expulso!" He stabbed at the giant's arm with his wand, ending it with a sharp, upward flick. Was it upward or downward? Oh, God of all the times to forget..
The potting table exploded into a hundred little fragments, and most satisfactory, so did part of his hand. The giant's roar got exponentially louder, angrier and more pained.
***
"Giants!" Moody shouted as he and Tonks got closer. Lifting his staff, he twisted it in his hand until the end pointed at one of the giants. "Versarus!" He thundered the incantation out, growling on the "r's" as he gave the staff a corkscrew-like motion and then a stab. The giant, who had just lifted his foot, suddenly began to spin around like a top.
Tonks gave the same shout as she stepped up next to Moody and flourished her wand in the same manner, sending another giant spinning in place. There was an anguished scream as the giant spun in place.
The giants were still spinning; faster and faster, until their bodies were a blur. Then, with a lurch, the spinning stopped. Green-faced and looking more than a little nauseous, they wobbled for a moment, trying to keep their balance, to no avail. Each one fell over, sending a tremor through the ground. Moody was already looking for his next target, but Tonks was faster.
"Arieto!" She pointed at the foot of another giant, promptly causing him to trip and fall flat on his face. At the same moment, Moody sent another one spinning.
"We'll get 'em down - you keep 'em down!" he roared at Neville and Michael.
Neville didn't hesitate, he *remembered.* "Malleus Necros!" He pointed his wand at the first fallen giant's head.
The sound, decided Michael, he would probably remember for the rest of his life. Damp and crunching and somehow..meaty. He caught himself--what the hell was he doing woolgathering like this? He whipped out his wand in a downward slash, with a flick up at the end. "Expulso!" Bloody charms class. He hadn't paid enough attention in bloody Charms.
A fourth giant joined his three fellows on the ground, the whirling proving too much for him, generating another resounding thump and another shaking of the earth as he fell. Then, Moody found himself having to dive to the ground to avoid the ham-handed swing of another giant. With a bellow, it attempted to pounce on him as he rolled out of its reach. On the ground was definitely not where he wanted to be.
"Alastor!" Tonks shouted, fear in her voice. She aimed another trip curse at his attacker, causing the giant - already half-hunched over - to slam its chin into the ground. She grinned, watching Moody get to his feet. He turned towards her, lifting a hand to wave and she began to lift her own, when she saw his expression change to one of horror as his mouth opened.
That was when there was a cracking sound, and an explosion of pain along the left side of her head, and for the brief second before she thankfully lost consciousness, she felt herself flying through the air.
The air was split by the giant's bellow of triumph, and its club rose unhurriedly to deal a final crushing blow.
"Hold." It wasn't so much a command as an icy statement of how the world would arrange itself. The giant turned ponderously, its jaw hanging slackly as it faced the speaker. "Lay down your club. I want them alive." There could be no mistaking the cadaverous figure, robes drifting like black mist around it. Reluctantly, the club was lowered, its owner scowling in fear and resentment, deprived of its prey.
The Dark wizard nodded approvingly, then turned slitted, smouldering eyes on the witch and wizards...
Yes... it's another cliffhanger.
~runs away~