Hunter and Prey
"Protego!" Remus shouted instantly.
A magical shield appeared in front of them just as one of the monster's massive claws came crashing down where Grover had been standing a second earlier. The impact made the entire shield tremble before it exploded apart instantly, and Remus gritted his teeth as he felt the monstrous force behind the blow, which sent him flying back several meters.
"Remus!" Grover shouted, while at the same time looking toward the creatures beside them, as if trying to communicate with them through his eyes alone.
They hesitated for barely a second because of the fear that aberration inspired in them, but they moved anyway.
The first to charge was the hellhound.
With a savage roar, it launched itself forward and slammed into one of the monster's legs, sinking its fangs deep into the black, badly stitched flesh. The Howling Beast let out a horrible sound, something between a roar and a scream, as it brutally kicked the dog away, sending it flying several meters to the side.
The hit was so strong that the animal rolled across the ground several times before finally stopping.
The hellhound howled in pain for a moment, but quickly got back up.
Meanwhile, the centaur had already moved.
With a battle cry, he charged head-on with the full force of his body and slammed into the creature's side, making it take a step sideways.
Only one.
But even that was insane considering the size of that thing.
Remus took advantage of the opening.
"Diffindo!"
The spell sliced through the air and struck one of the stitches across its chest directly, causing a line of badly joined flesh to split open a little more. Instantly, several desperate howls burst from inside, much louder than before, as if something in there had felt pain.
Grover's eyes widened.
The chest.
But he had no time to think further.
Because the Beast turned violently toward the centaur and swung one of its massive fur-covered arms at him. The blow struck him square in the torso and sent him flying through the air, crashing into one of the mansion walls with a horrible crack of splintering wood.
For a second, Grover genuinely thought he was not going to get back up.
"Mr. Centaur!" Grover shouted.
Suddenly, something silver shot past Grover's side.
The small dragon roared in fury.
It leaped forward and opened its mouth, unleashing a great blast of fire that slammed directly into the monster's chest and neck. Flames wrapped around part of its torso for a second, and the Howling Beast let out a deafening roar as several parts of its skin began to burn.
With a pained cry, it lashed out at the dragon.
"Watch out!" Grover shouted.
Hearing Grover's warning, the dragon snapped its jaws shut and quickly leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the creature's stomp, which made the ground shake, while its gaze darted wildly in every direction toward the nearby creatures.
Grover looked around, and his eyes landed on the harpy, who was barely managing to stay airborne with most of her feathers torn out.
Even so, she had not fled.
She was still fighting.
"Go for its eyes!" Grover shouted on instinct.
The harpy did not hesitate for even a second and dived with a savage screech, driving her claws straight into its face and raking across one of its green eyes. The Beast roared in rage and tried to grab her, but the harpy flung herself backward just in time.
At that same second, the griffin joined in. One of its wings was broken, so it charged across the grass instead and leaped upward, slashing at the monster's chest with its claws.
And behind the griffin…
another creature came charging in.
A massive feline beast, with the body of a lion and golden fur covered in dark spots, but with a long segmented tail like that of some wild magical creature.
A Wampus.
Grover barely had time to recognize it before the feline leaped directly onto the monster's back, driving its claws in with fury and tearing away a chunk of fur and badly stitched flesh.
The Howling Beast roared in pain and fury before catching it in one hand.
And it was about to slam it into the ground.
"Its leg, now!" Grover shouted toward the hellhound, who had already been running in for another attack, and the moment it heard Grover's words, it leaped instantly and sank its sharp teeth in once more.
That made the Howling Beast reflexively release the Wampus, which landed on its feet with feline agility before leaping again, this time aiming directly for its other leg, sinking both teeth and claws into it.
At the monster's pained cry, something inside its chest moved again.
Grover saw it.
Remus looked startled for a moment when he saw Grover directing all those creatures as if they could truly understand him, but he quickly shook it off and raised his wand again.
"Confringo!"
Remus's spell struck its neck directly, and the explosion was strong enough to violently hurl it to the side, sending it crashing down with its legs already weakened by the attacks of the two beasts.
The monster immediately writhed on the ground, kicking wildly and sending both animals flying away with force, before instantly slamming its hands into the ground to push itself back up.
And then it leaped toward Grover.
As Grover saw a shadow fall over him, he looked up and saw the monster hurling itself straight at him, as if it had already marked him as the biggest problem there.
But at that moment, a whip suddenly wrapped around Grover's waist and yanked him away just as the monster crashed down where he had been standing.
Grover hit the ground for a moment, realizing it had been Remus.
"Get up!" Remus shouted as he fired another spell toward the monster's chest. "Don't stand still!"
"Bombarda Maxima!" Remus shouted, and an even more powerful explosion thundered in front of the beast, causing several of the stitches across its chest and neck to split open for a moment.
The howls inside its chest became even more chaotic.
More desperate.
Grover felt something.
"Remus!" he shouted. "The chest! Attack the chest!"
Remus did not hesitate for even a second.
"Diffindo! Bombarda Maxima! Depulso! Confringo!"
A relentless barrage of perfectly controlled spells shot from his wand like a magical turret, slamming into the massive monster without pause as it tried to shield itself with its arms.
Even if its skin did not seem to take real damage, the stitches across its chest began to split open slightly.
The small dragon also started spewing fire directly at the same spot, while the other creatures attacked from different angles.
"AAARGH!" the monster roared in fury, lashing out in every direction. It struck the centaur and sent him flying once again. Then it grabbed the griffin by its legs and hurled it straight into the harpy, and seized the hellhound by the tail before throwing it into the dragon, the impact knocking both of them unconscious.
Even after all that, the Wampus launched itself at its back again, as if it did not care about dying as long as it could keep attacking. But the massive creature turned and caught it before slamming it into the ground.
"No!" Grover shouted as he saw all the animals fall.
The monster, now fully enraged, barely seemed to care about Remus's spells anymore. They burned at its stitches, but did little to its skin, which was only slightly scorched by the attacks.
Then it raised one of its massive feet, aiming to crush the small dragon, intending to finish them off one by one, starting with it.
The dragon did not even seem fully conscious yet.
Grover immediately moved to run toward it.
At the same time, Remus stopped his attack, trying to reach the dragon first.
But they would not make it in time.
Then, suddenly, an arrow appeared out of nowhere and pierced one of the stitches on the monster's chest, making it freeze for a brief moment.
It looked down, noticing how that strange arrow had cut precisely through one of the seams.
And then… the rest of the stitches could not hold any longer.
For a second, everything went silent.
Then its chest began to split open rapidly.
When it did, hundreds of ghostly animal faces suddenly emerged, howling violently. Dark specters. As if every creature trapped inside that thing had left behind its hatred before dying.
Grover listened to those howls carefully.
"Remus. Hit them with your strongest spell," Grover shouted immediately.
Remus glanced at him for a moment, while the monster seemed to hear his words as well. Its eyes widened in urgency as it moved its hands quickly, trying to cover its chest again.
But Remus was faster.
For something that dark, there was only one spell that would truly work.
"Expecto Patronum!" Remus shouted with force, casting the most powerful defensive spell in the wizarding world, one that countered darkness itself.
The spell burst from his wand as a silver mist, which quickly took shape into a massive wolf that ran through the air straight toward the monster's chest, opening its jaws and attacking the creatures within instantly.
For the first time since the battle had begun, the Howling Beast let out a sound that was not rage.
It was fear.
"Aaaaah! Noooo!" the monster screamed in agony. Those creatures were not only its curse… they were the only thing still keeping it alive.
"Is it okay?" Remus asked for a moment, watching as the monster convulsed in pain while the creatures inside it were destroyed one by one.
"Yes… they… they wanted to rest," Grover said quietly, his voice almost breaking.
But he did not look away.
It was the least he could do for them.
"I killed it. I am the hunter. I am not the prey!" the monster shouted, trying to tear the wolf away from its chest, but unable to touch it properly, as if its hands could not fully close.
"I killed it," it repeated again, before raising its hands in confusion and staring at them.
Among that entire grotesque body made of monsters and magical creatures, the only thing that did not quite fit were those human hands.
As if even after defeating him, it had wanted to keep a part of him.
It looked at them for a moment and said:
"I killed you, Pellinore. I won. No… I won."
Once again, it tried to grab the wolf and tear it away, but its hands no longer responded, as if they had never truly belonged to it.
Moments later, its arms fell, and its body stopped writhing.
And for the first time…
the Howling Beast fell silent.
Grover saw that and could not help but drop to the ground, sitting heavily as a soft, tired sound escaped him. He quickly looked around and saw that the animals who had helped him were, for the most part, still alive, though badly injured, and he let out a breath.
Meanwhile, Remus looked toward the mansion, searching for whoever had fired that arrow.
"I'm sorry… I wasn't much help," Grover said, feeling a bit guilty.
Remus raised an eyebrow at that.
He was about to say something, but suddenly looked up, confused, as an owl appeared out of nowhere.
It swooped down toward Grover's shoulder, grabbed onto his clothes with its claws, and suddenly took off, lifting him with surprising ease.
"What… what?" Grover said before feeling himself being pulled. "Aaaah!" he shouted as he was carried away without warning.
Remus blinked in confusion and moved to raise his wand, but before he could, sharp cracks echoed around him as multiple wizards began appearing all at once.
"Hands up! We are Aurors! Drop your wand now!" they shouted, pointing their wands at Remus and the creatures around him, cautiously.
Faced with everything happening at once, Remus did not know how to react. He slowly raised his hands while being surrounded, his gaze still fixed on the direction where Grover was being carried away by that unnaturally strong owl.
And without anyone noticing…
from one of the shattered mansion windows, a masked figure watched the arrival of the Aurors for a brief moment.
Then their gaze shifted toward the direction Grover had been taken.
A bow still rested in their hand.
After calmly putting it away, they leaned down slightly and picked up a strange, bright green key from the ground.
A second later, they were gone, disappearing before anyone could even realize they had ever been there.