Travelers

Chapter 19 - The Captives

Jacob found himself searching. He had noticed that Mal hadn't been at their last class, so now he found himself searching anywhere he could, and now he had lost himself as well, as the castle seemed almost like a maze in some ways. Finally, he found himself in the clocktower courtyard, and ran across the bridge. He knew that sometimes Mal flew around the quidditch pitch to think, so that was his next destination. Upon reaching the pitch, he could see no one on the field, but there in the middle of the pitch was her broom. He ran to grab it, and found it undamaged, but it was then that he turned around to find Lyndsey standing in the door. Jacob drew his wand ready for a fight. Before either of them did anything, a voice came from behind Lyndsey, and she stiffened suddenly and fell to the ground, petrified. Cat stepped out of the shadows and smiled. When Jacob met her eyes, she scowled.

"That was reckless. It was obviously a trap. Mal wouldn't leave her broom just lying around," she scolded.

"And if I knew you would get here soon enough?" Jacob responded, a little smuggly, "Either way, I could have taken her." Cat pointed out the hoof prints on the field, which Jacob had thought were from the previous attack, but he then realized that the rest of the field had been repaired. Jacob knew that they more than likely had taken Mal to the centaur camp, but without another pair of earmuffs, only one of them could get past the centaur's defensive pitch. Being a pair of Gryffindors, the only person that they could turn to in this case, their head of house, Professor Mcgonagall.

Jacob realized that it was a horrible idea, but it really was their only option, or at least that was what he thought. Before he could leave the pitch, Cat grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him. "Where are you going?" she asked, "We need to get to the camp." Jacob explained that he only had one pair of earmuffs. It was then that Cat looked straight into his eyes, raised one eyebrow, and asked, "If I needed earmuffs, then how did I follow you last time?" Realization spread across his face, and he smacked himself in the forehead with his palm.

"Oh man, I really can be an idiot sometimes," He realized

"No, you just weren't thinking fully," She responded, consoling him, "But we do need to get going if we plan on saving her from those centaurs." He was going on another adventure with her.

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The two of them drew closer to the forest. She had Mal's broom in her hand, but she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to try riding it. As soon as they encountered the sound, Jacob slipped on his earmuffs, and she turned into a cat. She prowled just ahead of him, watching with her feline eyes for any movement that was hidden by the darkness made by the foliage of the forest. She had always thought the forbidden forest was only dark during the night, but she had been wrong about that. It was truly dark as they walked over some unseen path, and on multiple occasions Jacob tripped over a root that was sticking up out of the path. It wasn't long before the sound faded and they found the camp. Transforming back to her original form, she spoke to him.

"You stay here. I'll be less suspicious if they see me," she said, "See you in a bit." She transformed back and prowled about the edges of the camp, searching for her friend. In her search, she noticed a group robes bundled together. from what she could make out, it wasn't just Mal that they had. She saw Richard and Cedric as well, and slowly approached them, but noticed the centaur guard that was posted facing towards them. She slowly creeped back into the undergrowth and returned to Jacob.

"They don't just have Mal," She started, "They also have Richard and Cedric, but they are holding them all in one place. I can't get them free." She gave him a smile and he knew just what she wanted.

"Alright, I'm on it. How long will it take you to reach them?" he asked.

"Only a minute. once I leave count to sixty, then I'll be in position," Cat said back. She took off and he started counting. Each second ticked by, and when he reached sixty, he drew his wand and his secret weapon. Then, he leapt straight into the camp.

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Mal looked up when she heard the clamouring. She looked across the camp and saw a figure in a red lined robe swinging his arms like a crazy person. She saw arrows bouncing away from from him as they met his... wands? Suddenly, the others were shuffling, and she felt something furry brush against her wrists, which had been bound a moment ago. She didn't have her wand, but when she turned she saw her broom in the undergrowth on the edge of the camp. She stood and rushed for it. She mounted up and turned to find some of the centaurs realizing their prisoners had been released. She spotted the centaur captain that Lyndsey had given their wands. She made a beeline for him on her broom, kicking a few others to get them out of her way. She snatched a satchel away from around his shoulders, and the strap snapped as she shot away from him. She circled low so that the centaurs had no chance to fire arrows at her, but she landed next to the others where Cat was now doing her best to defend them. She reached inside the satchel and handed the others their wands. Their defense strengthened, but still only Jacob was on the offense. He seemed to be using some sort of trapping charm that used the earth as a weapon. He would hit a centaur with it, and the earth would grab its feet like it had hands. As a matter of a fact , the earth that reached out and grabbed the centaurs was in the shape of hands.

They heard him cast the spell, "Manibus terrae!" The spell hit a centaur and hands of earth grabbed his ankles, toppling him. She saw that he was taking down two centaurs at a time by using a second wand that seemed to have come from nowhere. He hadn't told any of them about it. He glanced over at them and noticed that they were all free, and away. They stepped out of the camp and started running. Once they were a ways away, she heard a shout from the camp. "Protego Tarrae Maxima!" Jacob's shout could be heard, and then the creaking of trees came, but the sounds of battle were silenced. They reached the edge of the forest and Mal mounted up and called to the others.

"I need to go get him!" She called. Then she realized there was no need to fly back for him, as he was just behind them, apparently that final spell had been his grand finale. He waved her back, and they ran for the castle. When they looked where they were running,they noticed several students looking at them, and even Professor Kettleburn teaching his care of magical creatures class. He turned, looking to see why there was a group of students rushing out of the forbidden forest. It was then that the wave of centaurs burst out behind them.

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Richard turned to face the group of centaurs, and readied himself for a fight, but Jacob decided to show off again. He pointed both of his wands at the ground on either side of him and shouted, "Protego Tarrae Maxima!" He flicked both of his wands forward and back to their places on his right and left. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then the earth rumbled and a wall of earth shot up from the ground in front of him, creating a large half dome. Richard could hear many of the centaurs crashing into the wall as they tried to come to a sudden stop. Richard didn't want to hurt the creatures, but it seemed necessary to prevent harm to any of them. Professor Kettleburn told his class to stay put and rushed to help them. He arrived with an impressed look on his face as he examined Jacob's earthen shield spell. Richard hadn't really met professor Kettleburn, as first years didn't take care of magical creatures, but he definitely looked as though he handled beasts regularly. His gray hair was wild and somewhat receding, and an eyepatch hung over his left eye, not to mention the mechanical claw he had in place of one of his hands and his false leg. He glared at one of the centaurs as it charged around the wall, the herd having gathered it's wits once more. Richard followed quickly behind him, readying himself to face a group of centaurs. When Kettleburn saw the true number of centaurs and the looks in their eyes, he turned and waved for the students to retreat then began running himself. Richard followed the command and turned to go, but he noticed that the others stood their ground, even Cedric. He knew Jacob had never been very serious, but when he looked at him, he looked years older than the freshman he knew. Richard was about to join them, when Mal turned to him and gave him a command.

"Richard," she called, "Get the others back to the castle, we have a little experience with fighting large groups. Help Kettleburn!" Richard found he was a little relieved at first, but he did feel horrible leaving his friends behind to face the centaurs alone. He turned, winced at his own decision, then started herding the other students back towards the castle, much to the surprise of the class of third years. He glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see something he hadn't expected. His friends were holding their own, each fighting in their own unique style. His friends were winning.