Chapter 74: CHAPTER 70: THE BATTLE OF THE FORBIDDEN FOREST

Facts:

The Wild Hunt, or Wraiths of Mörhogg as they are called in Skellige, was widely believed to be a group of spectres galloping in the sky. They were described by common folk as a cavalcade of wraiths on undead horses galloping across the sky and serving as an omen of war. In fact, they are a group of Aen Elle elves from Tir ná Lia who also call themselves the Dearg Ruadhri in their native Elder Speech, meaning Red Riders. They are led by the general, and later king, Eredin Bréacc Glas, commonly known as the King of the Wild Hunt.

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24th of December 1993. In the morning, Ed woke up Hermione, who was sleeping on his lap. Last night Hermione forced herself to be awake at all times, but she didn’t make it and slept while laying her head on Ed’s lap. Last night Ed was continuing his research, reading books about the history of some random worlds.

Hermione woke up, her eyes fluttering, and when she looked up and saw Ed’s face, she muttered, “I fell asleep, didn’t I?”

Ed smiled softly at the girl. “Yeah.”

“Sorry…” she murmured.

“It’s fine, wake up, it’s morning already.”

Hermione then sat up, she then looked at the wet patches on Ed’s trousers and blushed, “Sorry… drooling.” She apologised again and wiped the drool off her face.

Ed just chuckled at this and closed the book he was reading. “Come on, wash your face, and we’ll go have some breakfast.”

Hermione nodded weakly and walked up to the bathroom, while Ed quickly changed his trousers because of Hermione’s drool. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Hermione got out of the bathroom relatively fresh, although still sleepy.

“Do you have a jumper or something?” she asked Ed. “It’s quite cold.”

“I have my old sweater here…” Ed said as he gave her the sweater that Mrs. Weasley had made for him. “It has my initials in it though, do you mind?”

“It’s fine.” Hermione blushed a bit as she wore Ed’s sweater.

The two then got out of the suitcase and were now in the classroom. Ed then continued to shrink the suitcase; he put it in his pocket, and got out of the classroom, heading towards the great hall.

“How are you not cold?” Hermione asked when they were walking through the corridor, she was looking at Ed’s thin dark blue shirt. “Is your ice magic really so advanced that you don’t feel cold anymore? I never saw you use it again…”

“What? Did you miss it?” Ed said as he made an ice flower on top of his hand, giving it to Hermione.

The girl giggled and took the ice flower, “I don’t know where to put it though…”

“Just throw it away; it’d disappear anyway.”

“Then I’ll hold it until it disappears.”

Ed just shrugged and the two arrived at the great hall, walking towards the long table. It was rather empty, only a couple people were on the table itself, including Ron and Harry, who was looking at Hermione with a strange look.

“What?” Hermione asked the two.

“Your sweater… it’s Ed’s right?” Ron grumbled.

“Problem Ronald?” Hermione smiled innocently.

Ron just muttered incoherently and shoved more food into his mouth.

“Where were you last night anyway?” Harry asked, a smirk can be seen on his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “We weren’t doing anything sexual, if you’re referring to it.”

“Then where were you?”

“In an interesting place.” Ed said, “7th floor, pretty cool place.” Ed lied.

Harry raised his eyebrow. “What is it?”

“The room of requirement.” Hermione continued the lie, “It can turn any room you want.”

“Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“Because it’s supposed to be a secret place.” Hermione said, “Anyway, I’ll show you later.”

Harry hummed and continued to eat his fill. After breakfast, all of them then walked to the common room, planning on sending the gifts to distant friends and family.

Once they arrived at the common room, Ed told Hermione to stay in the room, while he grabbed the presents they wanted to wrap and send. Ed then climbed the spiral staircase, and retrieved the bag, bringing it to Hermione.

“Here.” He threw the bag at the girl, which she caught. “The paper is in there as well.”

The two then sat in front of the fireplace and just worked on the presents. Ed dropped all the presents on the floor, forming a pile of items on the carpet.

“That’s a lot.” Hermione commented.

“Well, let’s get to work, I guess…”

The two sat down, and they worked on the presents, rather slowly, enjoying the process. The two went one until the afternoon; they were occasionally joined by Harry and Ron, but they quickly got bored, so they left again.

“Have you written the letters?” Ed asked the girl, who was still cutting the paper.

“No, not yet.” She said, “You want to write it? The parchments are over there.” She pointed to the couch. Ed just hummed, and continued to work.

“Are you hungry?” Ed asked again.

“No, not really.” Hermione said, “You want to go to the great hall for lunch?”

“No, I just thought that if you’re hungry I could call Dobby to bring us some food.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes, looking like she still can’t get over the idea of House Elves, but it was Dobby, so she kind of allowed it. She sighed as she continued wrapping the presents, “Sure, I’ll eat if I’m hungry later.”

Ed hummed, and called the house elf. “Dobby…”

Dobby then appeared in front of Ed; he looked a bit too ecstatic. “Sir Ed! Sir, finally called Dobby after a long while. Dobby is beyond happy, sir!”

“Hello Dobby, good to see you too.” Ed said as he rummaged through the presents, grabbing a small baby shirt. “Here’s your Christmas present, Dobby. I know it’s quite early, but I really don’t know if I can’t give it to you tomorrow…” Ed gave Dobby the shirt, but Hermione heard Ed’s words, and she frowned, yet she didn’t say anything.

“Oh thank you Sir! Dobby didn’t have a present for Sir…” Dobby was happy, but quickly turned sad, as he didn’t have a present to give to Ed.

“It’s okay Dobby, maybe next year…” Ed said. “For now, can you bring us some food, Dobby?”

“Oh! Dobby will do just that. Sir!” Dobby then apparated away, preparing the food.

“Don’t be pessimistic Ed.” Hermione suddenly commented, “I know you said that you’ve got a bad feeling about Christmas, but you will still celebrate it.”

Ed didn’t say anything and continued working with the letter. A couple minutes later, Dobby had dropped off the food, Ed ate first, while he continued to offer the food to Hermione, but she kept saying that she wasn’t hungry yet.

Hours had gone by, and it was now in the evening. The wrapping had finished and Hermione went to the Owl Post Office to send it. Ed was now sitting in the common room, staring at the crackling fire.

But then, Ed heard a whisper in his head. “Help them…”

“Shit… I knew that there’s going to be a bad thing that happens around Christmas…”

“Help them…” he heard the whisper again.

“I know alright! But I didn’t even know when it was supposed to happen!”

“Help them…” he heard again.

“Shut up!” Ed pounded his head, good thing the common room is empty right now, otherwise people will start calling him crazy.

The voice then stopped, and Ed sighed in relief. “Is it going to happen tonight?...”

Hermione then came into the common room again, she was only bringing the charmed bag, probably already empty. 

“Finished?” Ed asked with a soft smile.

“Yeah.” Hermione said weakly, almost mumbling even, as she threw herself onto the sofa, and laid her head on Ed’s shoulder. “I’m tired… let’s go to bed early tonight…”

“Hermione… I told you that was a one-time thing… at least for now.”

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“But—”

“Sorry Hermione… you know how it turned out last night.”

Hermione continued to whine incoherently over Ed’s shoulder. She was really tired from all the gift wrapping, and she practically begged him to sleep together with her, but Ed stood his ground.

Soon though, Hermione gave up, but she didn’t move; instead she leaned closer. Ed knew what she wanted to do; she wanted to sleep on Ed’s shoulder, so he would be forced to sleep with her on the sofa, as she knows that he doesn’t want to wake her up when she’s asleep.

Ed sighed at Hermione’s plan, but didn’t stop it. He was on guard all the time though, and after that voice in his head just now, it may very much be the day that he had to help Ciri.

In his head, Ed started to remember all the useful spells that could be handy in battle. The Wild Hunt looks like they have some ice magic, so his ice magic is a no-go. So he tried to remember all the fire magic spells that were taught to him; he practised it in his head, imagining the hand movement, the incantation, the intent, the magical output, everything.

While he’s doing that, he also constantly uses his space magic to scan the surroundings, especially the forbidden forest, for any space fluctuation. He kept his wand near his left hand all the time, ready to blink and fight at any time. Hermione besides him was also a back-up plan, if it ever happens, Ed will wake up Hermione, and tell her to call Dumbledore to the forbidden forest.

It was now seven in the evening. Ed saw Harry and Ron enter the common room, walking to the dorm room to sleep. Hermione had fallen asleep beside him, and when the two saw them, Harry just snickered, while Ron grumbled.

Eight in the evening. Hermione had started snoring, a sign that she was really tired. Can’t blame her really, gift-wrapping is quite a chore.

Nine in the evening. Ed heard that the wind outside started to howl loudly, making the window crackling from the frozen wind; it really was a calm night, too calm in Ed’s opinion.

Ten in the evening. He felt it. A space fluctuation in the forbidden forest. He panicked a little, as he was sleepy, but he quickly gathered himself and tried to wake up Hermione.

“Hermione.” Ed whispered to the girl, and he shook her rather roughly, causing her to jolt up.

“Ed? What’s going on?” She asked as she stretched her body.

“I’ve got no time to explain.” Ed whispered loudly. “Listen, go to Dumbledore’s office, and tell him to go to the forbidden forest tonight. You understand?”

“W-What? Where are you going?” Hermione started to panic as she saw Ed’s frantic behaviour.

“Hermione, trust me, go to Dumbledore right now!” Ed was now shouting.

Hermione nodded furiously and bolted off to Dumbledore’s office.

Ed then took a deep breath. “Okay… here we go.” He then blinked, leaving the common room.

He appeared in the same place as he had passed out before. The snow was thick, but he only wore his dark blue shirt. The gust of cold wind hit Ed’s body; it was a strong wind, too strong for a wind in a forest.

He walked against the wind, fighting the stream; as he got closer, the wind was stronger, and it was colder. He then saw a young girl riding her horse; beside her was a running unicorn. Following them were strange hounds; they have ice as its skin, and Ed also saw a couple of wraith riders wearing red cloaks, trying to catch the ashen-haired girl. Ed then ran to them, and as he noticed that the hounds and the riders were catching up, he used space magic to speed him up, and blocked the Riders’ path.

“You shall not pass trespasser!” Ed shouted, he then drew a straight line in front of him using his wand, and a burst of white flame suddenly sprouted from the wand, forming a blade slash that is coming towards the Red Riders.

The hounds were instantly burned, while the Riders fell to the ground, as they used their horses to protect themselves from the agonising flames.

The white flame then made a wall, separating Ed from the Riders. He then looked behind him and saw that the unicorn suddenly stopped and ran to Ed’s side.

“Horsey!” Ciri shouted, but her horse kept going. Her emerald eyes then met Ed’s silver eyes. They looked like they had an understanding, as they had known each other for a long time. Ed smiled at the older girl, and murmured, “Good luck on your journey.”

Ciri nodded, and she quickly made a portal, teleporting away from the place.

Ed then turned back to the horde of Riders in front of him. “Now to stall…”

Ed then pushed the white fire wall using his wand. The flame burst again as if the wind blew to it, strongly, burning the Riders and hounds close to it.

“Greetings Moon Eyes.” He suddenly heard a voice in his head. Ed knew who it was.

“Oh, Ciri gets Star Eyes, and I got Moon Eyes because of my silver eyes now? That’s wonderful.” Ed said sarcastically.

The unicorn ignored the sarcastic comment, and stood his ground besides Ed. “Let’s stall for some time so Star Eyes can flee far away.”

Ed hummed, “You know…” he said as he saw the man that Ciri fought on the boat coming closer to them, “I hope I really got what I wanted after this…”

Ed then rushed through the fire wall with the unicorn; he controlled the fire to follow him; it was like a big white snake following him, burning everything in its path.

“Who dares block our path?!” The man that Ed just eyed shouted.

Ed smirked at the man, and he quickly blinked to the back of the man in an attempt to surprise and backstab him. But he quickly realised that it was a big mistake, as the man knew exactly where he had blinked. He choked Ed, just like what the Head Council did.

“You? Only a baeg'dh'oine interrupted our path?” The man sneered.

Ed cannot breathe. The man was about to stab him again. Ed was reliving his memories right now, and the feeling of helplessness started to kick in. Ed was having a hard time, he tried to fight off, but his grip was strong. Right now he felt helpless again, just like last time.

“A bug like you shouldn’t disturb our work!” The man shouted.

Ed then calmed himself, refusing to go down in such an embarrassing way, he tried to fight off his fear of helplessness, and he succeeded. He then used space magic to push everything around him. A force of blue particles came out of Ed, knocking everyone down around him, including the man that was choking him.

Ed fell down as he gasped for air, he looked around, the trees had fallen from the force, the snow went away, he only saw the dirt.

Ed then saw the man drag himself as he still stood, holding his sword that was stuck to the ground tightly. “Well, well, well, a blood similar to Lara’s?” The man smirked.

“Not quite.” Ed didn’t know who Lara was, but he guessed that he was probably talking about Ciri’s blood, and that his power was nearly as powerful as hers. “My magic is mine, not from a bloodline.”

The man sneered as he stood up, pointing his sword at Ed. “Interesting, you’ll be welcome to join our Riders.”

Ed chuckled dangerously as he summoned an ice sword. “I refused to join in with an outlaw band.”

“Outlaw?” The man laughed. “We are not an outlaw baeg'dh'oine… we are a superior race!”

“Oh Merlin, everywhere I go I always meet supremacists…” Ed groaned.

“If you don’t come with me baeg'dh'oine, I will drag you then.” The man sneered as he suddenly teleported; it was a portal teleportation though, so it was much slower, and Ed was able to block his attack easily. “Too slow!”

Ed then pressured the man with spatial pressure, making him unable to move.

“Interesting power, Silver-Eyes…” The man said, “Control over space, is it?”

Ed didn’t say anything; instead he pointed his wand at the man, and shouted, “Avada Kedavra!”

The blinding stream of green light shot at the man, and it hit him, but Ed felt something was wrong, and then he felt a punch from behind him, knocking him to the ground.

“You think you can just kill me that easily, baeg'dh'oine?” The man said, “A curse that forcefully ejected a soul from a body… that is an interesting spell indeed.”

The man then continued to toy with Ed, as he kicked him in the stomach, making him groan in pain, “But what if I’m only using a projection? While my soul is still safe in our world?” The man grinned madly. The man then prepared his sword and stabbed Ed with it. But it only passed through his body, as Ed had made himself intangible.

‘Space magic is powerful indeed.’ Ed thought, and he then summoned a wall of ice, separating them completely.

“Intangibility, your power is really interesting…” The man said, “My name is Eredin Bréacc Glas; join me baeg'dh'oine!”

“You and your pathetic little gang? Never.” Ed spat.

“Pathetic little gang?” Eredin laughed, “Look around you baeg'dh'oine! You’re surrounded! Along with that one-horn over there! We outnumber you! Give up!”

As he said that, the hounds came closer to Ed, growling at him.

Ed clicked his tongue in annoyance. Eredin was right; they had outnumbered them 2 to a lot. He took a deep breath, thinking about what he should do, and he remembered that he saw the older him do it, and he quickly wanted to try it. “I’m definitely going to pass out again after this… let’s just hope Hermione won't kill me when I wake up…”

Ed then dropped his wand and stretched his two hands to the enemies. “Here we go…”

But before he tried anything, he felt the ground rumble; he heard galloping, which made Ed confused. “What’s going on?” He whispered to himself

Eredin is also confused as he heard it also, but soon all the questions were answered.

“Reinforcements Moon eyes!” said the unicorn to his head. “I’ve called my lesser friends in this forest, and it looks like they brought some friends too.”

Ed then turned around and saw unicorns of the forest and centaurs galloping together, side by side, charging towards the Red Riders.

Ed grinned widely, and turned to Eredin, who looked furious at the scene. “What did you say about outnumbering us, Eredin?”

The Battle of the Forbidden Forest, a battle that wasn’t recorded in history, had just begun.

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