In the Shadow of Power - Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 25

"Bombarda!" Natty shouted the spell and despite the distance they stood from the camp, Alayna watched as the spell struck one of the poachers right in the chest and sent them flying head over heels. The rest watched in shock for a moment before turning to where the spell had originated. Most of them began charging up the hill at them although one remained in the camp and began fighting back immediately. Alayna was so shocked herself that Natty had cast a spell at that distance that she almost forgot she was supposed to be adding her support once the poachers ran up the hill. 

"Diffindo!" Alayna shouted, catching one of the poachers across the chest before ducking behind a tree as a spell came flying from the poacher that had remained in the camp. Natty was trying to take care of that one, leaving the rest to Alayna. The one she had struck fell to the ground screaming, rolling down the hill a little while the rest tried their best to run up the hill. Two others were still huffing their way towards them. 

One of them was falling behind and instead of trying to continue, decided to stand where they were and cast at them. Alayna stepped out fully from behind the tree and cast Protego to deflect their spell. She wished she could direct the deflection so they would hit other enemies. Perhaps it was something to ask Professor Hecat about later. Instead, she cast her own spell at the poacher closest to them around the same time Natty cast towards the one in the distance. The poacher Alayna cast at was so focused on climbing the hill and watching her steps that she only had time to look up before being slashed across the chest by Diffindo.

"Nice work, Alayna!" Natty cheered her on. It was short work to take care of the last poacher who, upon seeing his other comrades fall, turned to run back to the camp. He tried to protect himself along the way, but with two against one he stood no chance.

"I don't see anyone else in the camp," Alayna commented once all of the poachers had been knocked out. No sign of Archie either, which was concerning.

"You're right. Maybe they took Archie somewhere else?" Natty suggested. "Let's go take a look anyway. There might be other clues and evidence in the camp we can use." Alayna nodded and the two girls carefully ran down the hill, maneuvering around the unconscious poachers and into the camp. 

The camp itself felt pretty empty besides the tents that had been erected. There were no cages full of magical creatures or crates of supplies stacked in or between them.

"Where is everything?" Alayna asked out loud. Natty pulled back the entrance flap to one of the tents.

"Alayna, over here!" Natty shouted and waved her over. When she joined the girl at the entrance to the tent and looked inside, she saw more than what she was expecting. Rather than a space the size of, well, the tent, she was looking into merely an entranceway to a much larger space within. "They're using an Extension Charm." Alayna had never heard of such a thing before, but she could understand what that meant just by the name alone. Somehow, the poachers had made the tent bigger on the inside using magic. Which meant there was likely a whole lot more inside.

"They must have taken Archie in here then."

"My thoughts exactly." Natty held back the flap of the tent to allow Alayna to enter first and then followed after. The flap fell behind them, blocking out the natural afternoon sunlight and casting them into dim light. Alayna blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the darker light. 

The interior didn't look like what one would expect to find inside of a tent. It looked more like a fortress. Wooden structures made up the interior, almost like they were fortifying the otherwise flimsy exterior. As Natty and Alayna moved further in, they could see that here was where the poachers were keeping their prizes. They entered a large chamber onto a platform overlooking a pit within. Lining the room were cages, some with magical creatures and some still empty. In one of the cages in the middle of the room was a young boy: Archie.