Chapter 75. Fierce Battle in the Forest
"Duncan, what should we do?"
Fred and George stood beside Duncan.
It was the first time they had seen such a large-scale situation.
They were a bit nervous, but relatively composed.
Compared with them, Lee Jordan was doing worse.
His legs were shaking so badly he could hardly stand.
"Throw every spell you know," Duncan replied.
"But save some strength."
"Why?" Fred asked.
"So you've strength left to run!" Duncan said as a matter of course.
"Do you really want to lock horns with these things here and now, playing the great hero who saves the world?
Who knows how many of them there are—and this is a school.
As long as we hold them up a bit, the professors should arrive.
Just treat this as a slightly more thrilling live-combat game!"
"Is that so?"
Fred and George caught on, and their nervousness instantly faded.
"Don't chat, you lot—those things are coming," Professor Kettleburn warned.
Duncan stopped talking with Fred and the others.
He stepped to the other side to help block the Acromantulas advancing from there.
He glanced at the branches scattered over the ground, and an idea rose in his mind.
He swished his wand.
The branches rose, swiftly changed shape, and fitted together into simple small crossbows.
They could reload and fire automatically.
So long as an Acromantula entered their range, a bolt would immediately fly.
Only, the crossbows' power was a bit low.
Unless a bolt struck an eye, it could not inflict a mortal wound; it could only slow the spiders' advance.
But lack of power could be offset by numbers.
After Duncan placed several crossbows around, the pressure on their defence eased a great deal.
If a few fast ones slipped through, Duncan could also command the roots to become spikes and give the spiders a through-the-heart surprise.
As practice deepened, Duncan increasingly felt that the Transfiguration he had obtained from the Kelpie was unusual.
As its name suggested, it was wish-fulfilment—more wondrous than what the school taught.
If not for his lack of mastery, Duncan felt he could even use Transfiguration to rouse the surrounding trees, turning them into warriors charging at his command, to cut down these clueless Acromantulas.
While he slew spiders, Professor Kettleburn kept stealing glances at Duncan from the corner of his eye.
The more he looked, the more astonished he became.
Duncan's performance was not like that of a first-year—he was nearly on par with a well-trained Auror.
He couldn't help recalling himself as a student.
What had he been doing in first year?
Probably wondering why the pumpkin pasties at lunch weren't as good as yesterday's.
As he thought, a pang rose in his heart, along with a faint jealousy.
Merlin's beard—why are the Scamander children all so gifted?
The son had only just graduated and was already able to tame fire-breathing dragons, stirring up black markets worldwide yet coming to no harm.
The grandson was even more outrageous: a first-year who could hunt Acromantulas, with Transfiguration that would make the upper-years admit defeat.
"Could it be that letting a child go through more thrilling experiences early helps develop the brain?" a notion popped into Kettleburn's head.
"Otherwise there's no explaining why the Scamander family are all this excellent..."
He wondered if he ought to resign as well and take that eight- or nine-year-old grandson travelling for a bit.
Perhaps he could cultivate a genius just like Duncan...
While Professor Kettleburn's thoughts ran wild, Fred and George were in a flurry.
At first they had wanted to imitate Duncan and make a few crossbows, but their Transfiguration wasn't up to scratch, and after a long struggle they still failed.
So they could only use their not-so-familiar offensive spells to hold back the Acromantulas' charge.
At the beginning it was all right.
Though the spiders were thick-skinned and tough, the twins could barely hold them.
But as their numbers grew, they had just beaten the spiders back on one side when more swarmed up on the other.
Their wands were moving so fast they were almost afterimages—still to no avail.
"I should've pinched a couple more wide-area spells from the library back then..."
Fred muttered inwardly, then shouted, "Duncan, send some of your crossbows our way too!"
"Right!"
Duncan floated all the crossbows in front of him over to the twins, and while the Acromantulas had not yet closed in, a gust of wind swept through and sent fallen leaves billowing into the air.
With another flick of his wand, the edges of the leaves shone with a metallic gleam and became sharp little knives.
Then came another gust, and the leaf-knives rode the wind, turning into life-taking blades.
The Acromantulas jostled forward.
Facing blades that came with the wind, there was no room to dodge—they could only run headlong into them.
Like cutting bean curd, the leaves sliced through their bodies with ease, severed their eight legs, and lopped off their lives.
When the gale died, a heap of countless spider corpses lay before Duncan.
The viscous fluid flowing from them joined into trickling streams, pooling in low ground as ink-green ponds, reeking foully.
"That Transfiguration was beautifully done.
Pity Professor McGonagall isn't here—she'd be delighted to see it..."
Professor Kettleburn spoke with a smile.
Perhaps because he judged their performance sound, he did not use higher-powered spells.
He coolly picked off the onrushing Acromantulas with ordinary magic instead, as if wanting the youngsters to get more practice while there was no mortal danger.
Duncan did not answer.
His breathing had grown heavy; fatigue was setting in.
There might be no "mana bar" in the wizarding world, but casting still drains a person's strength.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan felt the same.
Looking at the spiders still swarming in wave after wave, they felt powerless.
Heavens knew why these spiders could multiply so; it felt as if they had already overrun the whole forest.
"Shall we pull back?" Lee Jordan panted, canvassing the twins' opinion.
Fred and George flicked a glance at Duncan still fighting not far away and hesitated, then shook their heads.
"You go first—we'll catch up," Fred said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lee Jordan feigned anger.
"Am I the sort who abandons friends?"
"Of course not—you're a proper Gryffindor!" George laughed, snatching a breath between incantations.
"That's more like it!" Lee Jordan replied, continuing to help block the Acromantulas lunging from all sides.
Seeing everyone was nearly spent, Professor Kettleburn suddenly relaxed and called out, "Dumbledore, that's about enough.
You've watched from the side long enough—time to come out, yes?"
As his words fell, Professor Kettleburn aimed his wand ahead.
The ground shook violently, and spike after spike burst forth.
In the blink of an eye, the Acromantulas in that swathe were skewered like meat on spits.
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