Chương 23: Riot II
Euphemia looked at James until he turned and started to head into the woods. Amos followed him. Seeing this, Euphemia sighed in relief and followed her husband and the others to the source of the trouble.
James and Amos were running shoulder to shoulder. The huge crowd was fleeing in the same direction as them, while some people ran in the opposite direction. James guessed they were Ministry wizards attempting to reach the hooded figures, but they seemed to be encountering difficulties.
The colored lanterns that had lit the way to the stadium were out. Dark silhouettes lurched through the trees, and the cries of children could be heard, anxious screams and terrified voices echoed all around them.
James trudged forward, pushed this way and that, by people whose faces he could not make out. He couldn't believe that a few hours ago he was enjoying one of the happiest moments of his life, and now he felt his heart beating a mile a minute and a great anxiety.
This was not because of what his mother believed. He was not afraid for his life. He was afraid that something might happen to his mother, father, or grandfather. Just the thought that those hooded men could hurt his family or worse, made him very anxious and nervous.
'Why am I hesitating so much!? I can't leave mom alone,' thought James as he stopped. At first he obeyed because of his mother's tone, not out of fear, although it was a new situation for him, and it wasn't that he didn't feel fear at all. He was more concerned about the well-being of his family.
However, it was too late. He could not stop because of the large crowd running and pushing him, and trying to get out was very difficult. With no other option, he kept moving forward. He had already lost sight of Amos.
He tried to position, himself to the sides to get out of the crowd. Finally, he made it and almost tripped over a tree root.
"Phew... I lost a lot of time," James muttered as he pulled out his wand. One of the things he didn't forget to bring was his wand, and more so in such a chaotic situation that it could be heard from inside the tent.
The forest was dark but not silent; a great mix of screams could be heard.
"Lumos!" exclaimed James, pulling out his wand. Suddenly the tip of his wand lit up allowing him to see into the darkness of the forest. Without wasting any more time, he took the route back through the forest.
As there was no path, it was much more difficult. If he did not look carefully, he could stumble. His anxiety grew with every step, the thought that something could happen to his family tormented him, for thinking about it he stumbled. Luckily, he held on to his wand and just ate some dirt.
'Calm down...' thought James, taking a deep breath as he stood up. As he was taking a deep breath and about to resume walking, he could hear a scream a short distance away from his position. The strange thing was that the scream was coming from a remote area of the forest, not from the road where the whole crowd was.
"What...?" muttered James, looking in the direction of the scream. The darkness was absolute his Lumos couldn't illuminate the entire forest. The scream was heard again. He could identify that it was a girl.
James was debating whether he should head to the place where the scream came from or continue his way to his parents and the hooded men. Again, he heard the scream, this time more desperate, without further thought he started to head towards the scream.
His parents were very skilled, plus he could notice many wizards and witches from the ministry going to help. On the other hand, the hooded men did not seem to want to kill, their only purpose was to torment the muggles for all to see, and now and then they attacked the tents.
With his wand illuminating the path he marched quickly, after walking a bit through the dark forest he could glimpse three figures. There was one figure that caught his attention, thanks to his Lumos he could distinguish that it had gray skin, a bulky body, and flat and horny feet. Worst of all, it was twelve feet tall and exuded a horrible smell.
'A mountain troll!?' thought James in confusion. He also noticed two girls lying on the ground. They were Penny and her younger sister. Mountain trolls were not supposed to be in this area, and if this had been their habitat the ministry would have taken care of them so that they would not cause problems since there was a supermassive event.
Not least of all, the troll had a giant club that he wielded as a weapon. The light from James' wand made him turn his head, but he quickly turned his gaze to Penny, who was clutching her shoulder in pain.
Penny's younger sister cried. The troll raised its club high in the air and with a single motion began to swing down towards Penny's head, who closed her eyes, her legs too shaky to stand up and run.
"Immobulus!" shouted James, pointing his wand at the troll.
Penny opened her eyes slowly and noticed that the club was mere inches from her face. The troll was perfectly still the only thing moving was its confused eyes.
"Run!" shouted James, bringing Penny back to reality. She struggled to her feet and grabbed her sister's hand with her functional arm.
With the strength the troll possessed the Immobulus spell didn't last long. After a few seconds the troll regained mobility and the club finished its journey by making a pothole in the ground.
'Damn... his resistance is too much...' thought James with a frown.
Seeing that its attack failed, and its prey fled, the troll roared furiously and began to run clumsily towards Penny and her sister, who upon hearing the loud footsteps turned around and noticed a beast of more than 3 meters furiously chasing them.
Penny's sister stumbled out of fear causing Penny to also stumble as she was holding her hand, plus it was very difficult to run without falling through the dark forest.
The troll caught up to them again. He raised his huge club and struck with more fury than before, but again before his club hit something happened.
"Expelliarmus!" exclaimed James. From his wand shot a dazzling flash of scarlet light, and the troll's club flew from his hand upwards. The troll retreated a few steps backward.
'It's very heavy,' thought James, approaching the troll.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" shouted James towards the club that was still in the air. The troll looked up, and suddenly the club started falling at an incredible speed straight at his head. James was controlling it to get a higher speed and aim it at the back of the troll's head.
PAM!
A thud was heard as the club hit the head of the troll, who started walking back and forth with his eyes half closed. He finally fell unconscious. Luckily he didn't crush the girls.
"Are you two, fine?" asked James, approaching Penny and her sister. He looked over to her shoulder in concern.
"James... thank you," said Penny, still in shock. She quickly hugged her little sister, who was still crying, "It's all right now Sophie..." she said as she stroked his hair.
"Is your arm, okay?" asked James, concerned.
"Yes, it just grazed me. Otherwise, it would have been much worse..." replied Penny, her lips still trembling.
Before they could converse further, James felt a presence behind him. He quickly turned around and noticed that the troll was standing with his club in hand, looking at him with a murderous expression.
"Careful!" shouted Penny in terror, seeing the troll swinging his club at James.
'Shit...!'
"Protego-" exclaimed James. An invisible shield formed, but it wasn't powerful enough, as he didn't have time to cast the charm properly.
The club destroyed the half-formed shield and hit James in his right arm, sending him flying into a tree.
"JAMES!" shouted Penny in horror and looking to where the boy shot out.
James felt great pain in his right arm and also in his back. Maybe he had some broken ribs, or so he thought.
Was he going to die again? For trying to be a hero? Suddenly memories of his family came to his mind, his mother smiling, his father playing with him, and his grandfather talking about quidditch.
"I won't die today..." muttered James, getting up with difficulty and looking towards the troll. Blood clogged one of his eyes, he could see that his right arm was a mess.
Because of the darkness, he couldn't see where his wand was, but it must be close by, "Lumos!" exclaimed James.
While the caster had to possess a wand to perform Lumos, he didn't have to hold it for it to light up, so long as his wand was some distance away.
James could see his wand was close. He clutched it angrily and looked at the troll, who was no longer paying attention to him.
"Stinking creature, trying to snatch my precious new life away from me," James muttered furiously as he approached the troll, who was now looking at Penny and her sister.
"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted James furiously. The charm hit the troll, and this time his arms and legs came together, and he fell, stiff as a board backward becoming paralyzed on the ground.
James knew his enchantment would only last a few seconds, so he acted quickly.
"Wingardium leviosa!" he exclaimed again. The club rose and redirected it at the troll's head, but this time it wasn't just once. Again and again, the club struck the troll's head, burying the troll's head in the ground and crushing it completely.
The head was completely crushed, and the troll stopped trying to move, most certainly: dead. James threw the club aside, which had blood on it. Wearily and painfully, he sat down on the ground near the troll, not taking his eyes off it, making sure it showed no signs of life.
His carelessness almost killed him, when he hit the troll for the first time, he saw it lying on the ground unconscious. He couldn't understand how it recovered so fast.
Now he couldn't stay unconscious it was too dangerous, he wasn't at home like the time he saved Gwen.
"Penny, Sophie, where are you?" shouted a voice that belonged to Richard the father of both.
Finally, he could glimpse several figures in the darkness. The most striking was a body of 3 meters or more lying on the floor. Near him was a boy sitting, his blue eyes were covered by blood coming from his forehead, and he was holding his wand in his left hand.
The boy's eyes went to the man, who felt a shiver at being watched by those cold eyes. James, noticing that the man was an acquaintance, averted his gaze and continued to recover.
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