Harry Potter and the Fantasy Quest

Chapter 7 - Giants and Tigers and Ogres, Oh My!

The staircase the party now ascended was very narrow, forcing them to walk single file. This made Harry nervous for many reasons. At the top, the stairs opened onto a large landing with a double door. Fred checked the door and found it to be clear, and Harry moved to open it. George stopped him, though.

"I think we should do some preparation, first," he said. "I'm planning to use Mage Armor and Stoneskin on myself. Would anyone else like Stoneskin?"

Ginny did, so George obligingly cast those spells. When that was done, he took out a scroll and cast Darkvision on Harry, explaining that Harry would find it useful in assuming the lead position.

Now Harry peered through the door. Seeing nothing in the large room ahead, he opened both doors to allow their group to enter two at a time.

Harry and Ron walked in cautiously, followed by Ginny and Hermione. The light from George's Continual Flame barely reached Harry, though this hardly bothered him since he could now see in the dark for 60 feet. His vision was in black-and-white, however, which took a little getting used to. He had ventured about 20 feet into the room when the large flagstone under his right foot depressed about 3 inches.

"Oh, that can't be good," he muttered, stepping back off it. Of course, it was too late. There was a horrible grinding of stone on stone, and Harry could see a portion of the far wall slowly lifting. He turned to see what the others were doing, and found Fred and George pressing their hands against an invisible wall that had apparently formed directly in front of them. Harry swore under his breath. They couldn't go back, and whatever was coming at them, only he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would be able to face it.

"What's that noise?" asked Ginny nervously, peering uselessly toward the end of the room.

"There's a piece of the far wall that's some kind of door or gate," Harry answered, readying his crossbow. "It's pulling up into the ceiling very slowly."

Ron pulled a small object out of his belt pouch and waited.

"Karma, light," Hermione murmured, tossing a now-lighted coin into the middle of the room. The illumination it created didn't quite reach the other end of the hall, so Harry was still the only one who could see the ponderously rising door.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ginny's outline blur and assumed she was changing form. Hermione drew her mace and cast Divine Favor to aid her in battle. Ron didn't move but kept his eyes on the circle of light in the middle of the floor. By this time, the door had retreated far enough toward the ceiling that Harry could make out two sets of large, muscular legs, two torsos bearing three arms each, and two misshapen heads. He quickly fired two crossbow bolts, both of which landed solidly into the body of the one on the right. The creature scarcely seemed to notice, however, as it and its companion emerged and moved quickly toward the adventurers. As soon as the one on the left was visible to Ron, he threw something at it, which exploded on contact and encased the three-armed giant in a transparent sphere.

"Athach!" Ron muttered, almost to himself. It sounded like some sort of curse, but Harry had no idea what it meant.

The trapped giant was beating against its confinement with a club on either side; the third arm, protruding out from the middle of the chest, was apparently of little use to it.

An orange tiger leaped out from behind Harry and pounced on the other monster, clawing it ferociously. Harry assumed that was Ginny in her new fighting form and noted that she seemed to avoid biting it. Harry didn't blame her; the things smelled horrendous. The Dire Weasel, however, had followed her; it did attempt to bite and missed. Hermione stepped forward, though not quite far enough to engage in combat, and shouted "Holy Smite!" The creature howled and threw one arm over its eyes. Harry decided to take that opportunity to charge in. He ran up to the thing's left side and thrust his sword into it. The giant flailed blindly, hitting Ginny with a club, but she shrugged it off. Harry then saw Ron, sword drawn, coming around the giant's other side.

The Ginny-tiger continued to claw, and the Dire Weasel made another bite attempt, this time catching the large ankle and holding on. Hermione moved up and struck the creature's right side with her mace; Harry swung his sword twice, penetrating once. The giant apparently regained its sight and hit both Ginny and Hermione. Ginny, again, hardly seemed to notice, but Hermione reeled back slightly with the blow. Ron sliced it from behind with his sword. Ginny clawed once more, and the creature fell down, lifeless. Only then did the Dire Weasel let go. Hermione looked over the fallen giant for a moment.

"It's dead," she confirmed. She looked over toward the other creature, and the others followed her gaze. The second giant had stopped beating at the cramped sphere and appeared to be resigned to waiting for the spell to run out. Ginny returned to human form.

"What did you call these things?" she asked Ron.

"Athach," he replied. "That's what they are. They like to collect jewelry and stuff, though the way they look, who knows why?"

Ron gestured toward the dead Athach, and Harry saw he was right. It was wearing a silver bracelet with a blue gem mounted on it. Of greater interest to him, however, was the wand at its side. He drew it away and showed it to Hermione.

"Do you recognize what kind of wand this is?" he asked her. She studied it for a moment, then nodded and pointed to a symbol on the handle.

"Cure Moderate Wounds," she explained. "This could prove very useful."

"I suggest we use it now," Harry said, taking it from her and using it to heal some of her injuries. "Anyone else?"

"Thanks to George's spell, I hardly felt a thing," Ginny shrugged. "And my transformation healed some of what that Fireball did. I'm fine."

Ron and Harry had not been hit, so they decided they didn't need healing yet, either. Harry put the wand in his bag.

"What was that you threw at it?" Hermione asked Ron, nodding at the still-trapped Athach.

"Bead of Force," he replied.

"How long do you think it'll last?" wondered Ginny.

"About ten or fifteen minutes. What about that invisible wall behind us?"

Hermione and Ginny both went to examine it.

"Wall of Force?" Ginny asked, looking to Hermione for confirmation. Hermione nodded.

"Can you do anything about it?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," Hermione answered. "This was cast by a powerful wizard. None of us could do anything to dispel or destroy it."

"So, there's nothing to do now but wait?" said Ron. "Well, we might as well try to rest a little."

He sat down on the stone floor, and the others followed suit. They drank from their waterskins and tried to relax a little, though keeping weapons at the ready. Harry located the trick stone with his eyes, trying to make sure he wouldn't step on it again.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about this thing?" Harry asked Ron.

"Well, they're not very bright. Oh, and try not to let it bite you. Their saliva is poisonous."

After Harry estimated that nearly ten minutes had passed, the four stood up again and readied themselves for the Athach to again be free.

"When it first gets free, stand back for a bit," Ginny said. "I'm going to cast a strong spell toward it that will cover a certain area around it."

The others nodded, and Harry readied his sword and shield. Eventually, the transparent sphere disappeared, and the Athach's large feet hit the ground again. At precisely the same moment, the wall behind Harry vanished as well, and Fred and George stumbled quickly forward (apparently, they had been leaning against the magic barrier), followed closely by Draco and Siofra.

Fred recovered his footing and fired off two arrows; the first one struck the giant with a burst of electricity. Siofra, not missing a beat, used her Wand of Magic Missile on it, and Ginny cast her promised spell, enveloping the creature in a cylinder of fire. The Athach charged Ginny and hit her with a club; again, the Stoneskin spell absorbed most of the blow. Ron was close enough to take one step forward and strike twice with his longsword; his first strike couldn't penetrate the thick skin, but his second opened a wound in the monster's side.

"Bless," Hermione said, stepping back out of the fray. Harry immediately felt a little stronger and more confident. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Draco also moving back.

"Magic Missile!" George shouted, following Siofra's lead and hitting the Athach with magical energy. Harry, angry at having watched Ginny get hit right next to him, made two large strokes with his sword. One found its target and sank deeply into the creature's innards.

Another Magic Missile from Siofra impacted the Athach. Ginny tried to slice twice with her scimitar; the first struck the hide without entering the skin, and her second failed to connect. She uttered a low growl of frustration. The Dire Weasel darted in, trying to bite, but it, too, failed. The Athach bit Ginny's shoulder, and Ginny lowered her scimitar as though it had become suddenly much heavier. This seemed to give Ron new strength as he hit with both his sword strikes this time.

"Spiritual Weapon," Hermione called out, and a magical mace appeared in midair, hitting the giant's head. George sent out a Ray of Frost and touched the creature with it, though Harry couldn't see whether it accomplished anything.

Harry struck the Athach one more time, causing it to go down. Fred came up with his rapier drawn and plunged it into the area one would assume the heart to be.

"It was still breathing," he explained.

Harry went to Ginny and laid down his sword and shield.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her damaged shoulder.

"The poison; it sapped my strength," she answered, sinking down to the floor. Harry followed her there, wondering what to do. He laid his hands on her, murmuring a prayer. The wound closed, and some of the burns she'd acquired earlier healed, but he knew the poison was still coursing through her bloodstream.

"Can you do what you did for Ron?" he asked worriedly. "If not, I have some potions...."

"No; I got it," Ginny said and closed her eyes. Then she touched her own chest with one hand, gestured with the other, and said, "Neutralize Poison."

Harry didn't see any immediate improvement. Then he remembered what she'd said after casting that spell on Ron - that she could only prevent the poison from doing any further damage. She was still lacking in strength.

"Hermione," he called to the Cleric. "Can you...?"

Hermione checked over the smaller girl quickly.

"Yes, I can restore her," she said. "I'll need to rest after that, though."

"That's probably a good idea for all of us, anyway."

Taking his cue, George again cast Leomund's Tiny Hut over everyone. The room was perhaps not the best place to settle in, especially since the stone door at the other end was still wide open, but they had no better alternative at the moment.s

"Do you think you could be any more useless?" Ron rounded on Draco, who had stayed out of the fight. Ron carefully cleaned his swords before sheathing them, clearly not expecting any kind of answer.

"Why should I fight something that hasn't attacked me?" was Draco's response, chin lifted in disdain. "I have no reason to help any of you."

"Only that we're helping keep you alive," Fred put in casually.

"Ha!" Draco replied. "Keeping me alive is incidental. You're just trying to survive yourselves. I can't risk getting myself hurt when I don't know if anyone will be willing to heal me."

"If you got killed, you could go home," Siofra pointed out. Draco seemed to think that over for a moment, but he said nothing more.

Hermione and Ginny used the last of their spells to heal everyone who needed it. They agreed to rest for an entire day. Meanwhile, Fred was going through the second giant's body. Looking over his shoulder, Harry saw that it had some gold pieces, a mug that looked more decorative than functional, and was wearing a necklace. In addition, it was carrying a particularly well-made sling.

"Hey, Ginny," Harry said, calling her over. "Do you think you could use that?"

Ginny picked up the sling and turned it over in her hands.

"Yes; it's excellent," she answered. Then she went to George to ask him to find out if it was magical. George confirmed that it was, and Ginny's eyes lit up. "Even better!"

"I will take responsibility for this new healing wand," Harry stated, looking around as though daring anyone to question him. No one did.

Since it had not been long since they had awakened, no one was really tired yet. They simply sat back and relaxed, ate some food, and drank a little water. Eventually, people began to sleep in shifts. After 16 hours, George re-set his protection spell and went to sleep. At last, everyone was fully rested, and all the spellcasters had done their meditations for the day. Harry had just finished buckling his armor back on. Suddenly, Siofra looked around sharply, sword at the ready. Although the Hut was transparent from the inside, the room outside was dark, and the Continual Flame was in the middle of the dome, only extending as far as the dome itself. She came over to Harry.

"Something's out there," she whispered. "I heard some noises, then it suddenly stopped. And now, there are Ogres on either side of us."

Harry knew that elves had better senses than humans, so he believed her. Since his Darkvision spell had worn off long ago, he could no longer see in the dark. He nodded to her, readied his sword and shield, and they both went around to quietly spread the word.

Before they were quite done, two giant longspears flew into the Hut, one from either side. Neither came close to hitting anyone, but they confirmed that the party was under attack. Fred took a potion and began rising off the floor, shortbow in hand.

"Greater Magic Weapon!" announced Siofra, holding her sword tightly. Harry cast Bless on everyone.

"Get ready, everyone," George called out, then he gestured, and the Hut was no longer surrounding them. The Continual Flame spell only lit the former dimensions of the Hut, however, so Harry still couldn't see what they were fighting. Hermione cast Light on her mace, illuminating that side of the room and revealing one Ogre wielding a very large club. Draco ran into the darkness on the opposite side as Ron shot two arrows into the Ogre.

"Faerie Fire," said Ginny from across the room, but Harry's attention was fixed on the Ogre in front of him and the actions of Ron and Hermione. This was a good thing because the Ogre advanced on him immediately and slammed him with his club, hard. Harry had grown so accustomed to his armor protecting him from hits that the pain surprised him. Also odd was the complete silence that had enveloped him ever since the Ogre had approached him. Although Harry could see that the club's blow had dented his armor, it had made no sound.

Fred, hovering above, tried to shoot at the Ogre but missed completely, possibly due to his effort not to accidentally hit Harry. Harry then swung at the creature with all his might. His first sword stroke downed it; he gave it a second to make sure it was dead. Breathing heavily, he turned to see what was going on in the rest of the room, since he could hear nothing. On the other side of the room, against the darkness, he saw the glowing green outline of another Ogre-like figure lying prone on the ground. Even as he watched, George fired four bursts of magical energy into it, Hermione started to move in that direction, and Draco backed slightly away from it. Suddenly, a cone of magical energy came from above, hitting George, Ron, Hermione, and Siofra. Harry looked up to see a creature he was not familiar with. Although bearing a slight resemblance to the Ogres, this had blue skin and horns on top of its head. Also, it was flying freely and could obviously do magic. Ron shifted his aim to the flying mage and hit it solidly twice.

Meanwhile, Ginny crossed to the prone Ogre, being very careful of her footing, and slashed it with her scimitar. Her Dire Weasel followed her but stayed back a short distance, eyeing something on the ground suspiciously. The second Ogre managed to stand up, but Ginny took that opportunity to hit it again.

Fred shot two arrows at the flying creature but missed and was apparently losing control of his floating position. Siofra successfully slashed the standing Ogre. Harry, making a quick decision, decided to move in that direction. Emerging back into sound, he heard George cast Ray of Enfeeblement and Hermione cast Searing Light. In front of him, Draco hit the Ogre enough to knock it out, and Ginny finished it off.

Harry turned to see that the blue Ogre had landed and drawn a huge sword and that Ron had put his bow away and was now bearing both swords. As Harry watched, Fred lowered himself to the ground and shouldered his own bow. Siofra ran in to swing her sword at it but missed; Harry took his turn to step in with his blade, but he couldn't penetrate the creature's thick hide.

"Magic Missile," shouted George, firing four bursts of energy. However, they somehow had no effect. Seeing that, Hermione touched Ron and cast Bull's Strength on him. The monster swung her (Harry could now tell it was female) large sword at Harry but overbalanced and fell down. Taking his advantage, Ron used both of his swords to kill her.

Harry quickly looked around to see if any new threats were present. Seeing none, he evaluated the dead creature at his feet.

"That's an Ogre Mage," Ron put in. "She was probably the leader of this group."

Harry carefully removed the large sword from the Ogre Mage's hand. It was a well-made weapon, and he was very impressed. Unfortunately, it was much too large for him to use, even two-handed. This Ogre Mage had to be about 8 feet tall. On the other hand...he turned to their Cleric as an idea came to him.

"Hermione, don't you have a Potion of Enlarge?" he asked her.

"Yes, why?"

"Can we put this sword in the Portable Hole? Then, when we get ready for the final battle with the wizard, I can take the Potion and be large enough to use this sword effectively."

"Well, okay," Hermione replied, frowning in thought. "You're going to have to time it perfectly, though, because it only lasts 5 minutes."

She took out the Portable Hole and put the sword in it. She left it out in case anyone else found something to put in there. She also handed over the potion.

"Wait a bit," Draco broke in. "If you're going to take that potion, you should give up something you're carrying."

"The little ferret does have a point," Fred added, coming away from the Ogre he'd been rifling. "By the way, nothing of interest really on that Ogre. Just some silver and that huge club no one can use."

"The same with the other," Siofra commented, who had searched the second. Of course, there were the gigantic longspears already thrown at the group, which were also too unwieldy to use.

Meanwhile, Harry had been thinking about the magic items he had and considering what he might be able to give up without sacrificing his effectiveness. He smiled and turned to Draco.

"All right," he said. Then he took out one of his potion vials and tossed it to Malfoy. "Take a Neutralize Poison potion. Save us the trouble of healing you if you get poisoned."

Draco caught the vial deftly. He spared a dark look for Harry, but he accepted the potion regardless.

"Now, this is interesting," George said, taking a magic wand from the Ogre Mage's side and studying it. "Wand of Silence."

"Well, that explains why it was so quiet around those two," Siofra commented. "She must have used it on both of them to disguise their movements."

"Oh yeah, what happened over there?" Harry queried then, remembering. "I couldn't hear anything, but I saw that Ogre on the ground and Ginny watching her step."

"Siofra cast Grease under it after I cast Faerie Fire so I could see where it was," Ginny replied, grinning. "It was brilliant, really."

"Why, thank you," Siofra acknowledged with mock modesty, bowing slightly.

"Anyway, does anyone want it?" George returned to the topic. "I don't know how useful it will be, but it is valuable."

After a pause, Ron shrugged and reached for the wand.

"I haven't claimed any treasure in a while," he said, adding it to his belt.

Harry and George took turns using their cure moderate wands to heal those who were injured. To conserve their resources, they only used one charge per person. Meanwhile, Siofra had been moving around the perimeter of the room, and she made a wordless exclamation.

"I found a secret door over here!" she announced excitedly. Fred went over quickly to check it for traps and figure out how to open it. He found the control and looked at everyone else questioningly. Harry came up to join him, and the others assembled themselves into the order they would enter the next room.

Harry nodded to Fred, and he opened the door.