The Wizard's Guide to Timelords and Other Demons Book 1: The Forgotten War

The Last Dance

Kendra's serendipitous discovery of stopping Jawbellies by hitting them with old rocks came as a welcome relief to the struggling teachers as they continued their battle to defend the students against the relentless monsters. They had already managed to dispatch one of the creatures, though not without great loss. Two more staff members, including Professor Hagrid, were consumed as the injured Jawbelly made one last desperate attempt to take somebody with it. The fall of the beloved Magical Creatures professor was a painful blow to everyone, but it inspired them fight on with even more determination.

"For Hagrid!" shouted a first-year before he confidently launched his most powerful spell at the rampaging monster with a hardy, "Alohomora!"

Unfortunately, the charm did little more than bounce off the Jawbelly's torso and strike a locked confection cart parked against the side wall. The cart burst open, spilling chocolate frogs and an entire jar of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans onto the floor.

Even with their new tactic, the battle was still a difficult one. Two more Jawbellies had joined the fray through the hole in the back wall, and these were much wiser than the first ones. With alarming agility, the were able to avoid much of the ancient rubble being dropped on them from above, and mostly stayed clear of stone walls that might explode. This, of course, led to another serious dilemma for the Hogwarts staff: How to stop these creatures without inflicting so much damage upon the Great Hall that it collapses in on top of them.

The students had been gathered in groups. The younger first and second years huddled together in the center of the hall for protection. They were surrounded by older students who used their limited skills to protect them from falling debris and other inanimate perils.

At the front line were a few teachers and other staff members, including Professor Sprout and Madam Hooch, who faced the monsters fearlessly, keeping them at bay with a constant hail of stone and debris, carefully carved from the walls and ceiling so as not to weaken the structure or open more holes to the outside.

Without warning, one of the Jawbellies started to charge at the line of teachers, jaws open wide. Professor Sprout acted quickly and blasted the ceiling above it. Stone debris came raining down, but the beast quickly swerved to the side to avoid it. While doing so however, the creature lost its balance when its huge, clawed foot slipped on a large pile of jellybeans. Its massive body slammed into the side wall but did little damage to the old stonework. Professor Sprout took aim at the wall where it had fallen and shouted, "Reducto."

The wall exploded and the fallen Jawbelly evaporated into flames. All the students in the Great Hall cheered aloud for their Herbology teacher, but the victory was short lived. As the dust from the blast cleared, they saw that a new hole had appeared in the side of the hall, and three more monsters from the outside were cautiously stepping through it.

The four Jawbellies that remained in the hall spread out and surrounded their prey, hissing and growling as they stood ready to attack. Professor Sprout determined that the only way to stop them would be to bring the entire ceiling down on top of them. Unfortunately, that would likely crush everyone else in the hall as well. If she only had more time, she and the other teachers could have easily conjured up a defensive spell to protect the students from a collapsing ceiling. One of the Jawbellies leaned back on its hind legs and was about leap into the center of the crowd where it would certainly find an easy meal. The students had run out of time.

All at once, there was tremendous jolt that shook the great hall. The Jawbellies began to move about, glancing nervously at the air around them. Something new had just happened, and whatever it was had made them very uneasy. Suddenly, one of the monsters burst into flames and vanished into the air. It was followed by another, then another. Everyone in the hall watched in bewilderment as one by one the Jawbellies disappeared until only one remained, which began rocking its huge body back and forth as it glanced about, not knowing what to do.