Arrival

"I'll kill you!" hissed the Death Eater. 

The only one of the attack squad that remained conscious, he still didn't look good. Harry's statue had the man in a fierce headlock, while the embers from the fight had burned through the front of his robes and marred his skin. The silver surface of his skull mask had char marks and soot stains. His wand had been knocked from his hands, falling out of reach while the statue held him down.

"That doesn't seem very likely," Harry said.

"You won't escape this forest alive!"

"That one's more plausible. Still won't be happening, though." Harry summoned the mask off of the man's face; the features underneath didn't stick out, but sure enough it was one of the men from Minsk. "There we go. Face-to-face is the way to go for a conversation, don't you think?"

The man spat at him. The saliva only made it about an inch.

"It's harder to do than everyone imagines, isn't it?" Harry said.

Still, the man was hard to deal with. As one of the two to took the lead during the attack and the last one to fall, it was likely he was in charge of this group. Leaders were typically less likely to break. Harry turned his attention to his unconscious allies.

A couple of charms woke them back up. One by one they fought the binds they found themselves in, growling as they realized they were stuck.

"Maybe you'll be more willing to talk," Harry said. "What brings you all here? Just running Novik's errands, or is Voldemort worried the giants are getting away from him?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" said the original Death Eater. He possessed a square jaw and beady eyes, leering at Harry while the others recovered their bearings. "You'll die in these mountains. I can't wait to see your body being picked clean, mudblood."

"Mudblood?" Harry asked.

"I've never heard of you in my life. You've got the Potter name, but I bet you've only got a little of their blood. A bastard child, I wager. Part blood traitor, part mudblood. No wonder you're weak!"

Harry looked the five wizards over again. "Weak? I'm not sure how you got to that conclusion. I beat you easily enough."

"Yet we're alive," the Death Eater said. "That's all I need to know. You can't even follow through! You're nothing compared to men like us!"

Harry was silent for a bit. "You're awfully proud of killing."

It was a different Death Eater who answered— a wizard with a slighter build whose mask was dented from one of the statue's punches.

"Curious how we do it?" this one said. "Even wizards cower from the thought of our raids. They can't stand against the power of the dark arts. When we're loose, we'll kill you like a dog. We'll rip you apart one piece at a time! Tear you up like a filthy Muggle! And when we get our hands on the half-breed next to you—!"

The others joined in, raving and screaming at Harry, thrashing into their restraints. He flicked his wrist and silenced them leaving them to scream without sound. Only the assumed-leader was spared.

"Your friends are even less helpful than you," Harry said.

"You won't get anything out of us." The man Harry first interrogated, the square-jawed leader, was calmer than his friends. On the outside, at least; his eyes gleamed with malice. "I don't care how good a duelist you are. You can't finish your enemies— you're not strong enough. Sooner or later, we'll slaughter you, no matter how many tries it takes."

"People like you always talk about being strong enough to kill," Harry said. "I don't get it. It's easy to do awful things, way too easy. Anyone can get mad, lash out, and kill someone with a curse. Hurting your enemies is not hard. What's challenging is changing them."

"Go on then." The man wore a nasty sneer. "Do your best to change me."

"I'd like to," Harry said. "I really would. But frankly, I don't believe I can. We can't have a conversation no matter how much I try. None of you are willing to change."

"I'll reform," said the Death Eater. "Get this thing off of me, give me my wand back, and I definitely won't curse you. Not now that I know revenge is too easy!"

His silenced friends laughed without sound. Harry accepted the mocking words in silence.

"Send us back already," said the Death Eater. "Get us back to Britain and they'll throw us in Azkaban. We might even stay there for a month before we're out. If you're lucky. And when I get out, I'm going to track down that pretty lady on your shoulder. Screw Novik, I'll take her for myself. And while she screams—"

The ground started to shake.

The Death Eater stopped talking and his friends quit laughing. Pressed against the ground, they could feel it better than anyone else. The cave floor wouldn't stay still.

"They're finally here," Harry said.

The shaking only got more extreme. The lead Death Eater jerked his head up. "What are you doing?"

"This is giant territory," Harry said. "They're voracious eaters. Every night, they go out to hunt. They're awfully sensitive for such simple beings. They can sense magic, see? Someone should have warned you. Giants are curious, too. When they discover something unexpected, their first thought is, 'Can I eat it?'"

"What?" asked the Death Eater. He didn't sound so confident anymore.

"I was a little worried camping so close to them. Originally, I was planning to stay hidden by avoiding magic," Harry said. "You spoiled that plan, but it's fine. Unlike you, giants kill for food. Once they're full they're quite docile, to the point that they'll leave any other prey alone. I'm not an expert, but even I know five adult men will tide them over for the night."

The ground was still shaking. The Death Eaters fought their restraints, thrashing against the ropes so hard that their skin chaffed and burned. The leader couldn't look away from Harry.

"M-Monster," he said. "Freak. You're insane."

"I tried to do things the hard way," Harry said.

The four Death Eaters bound with rope were dragged out of the cave by an unseen force. Bellows like the ones echoing from the valley sounded right outside. A huge hand flashed into sight for a second and yanked one of the men away. Still silenced, the man couldn't even yell.

Harry's enchanted statue stood up off of the last Death Eater. It grabbed him by the ankle, walking toward the entrance.

"No. No. No!" He reached out, his fingers dragging in the mud. "I refuse to let this happen—"

The statue tossed him outside. He landed on his back. Seconds later hand snatched him up. All five Death Eaters disappeared, followed by more tribal bellowing. A giant figure crouched down at the entrance to the cave, looking inside with a curious expression. Harry waved at it. The giant cocked its head, its belly full, and disappeared in the direction it came. The ground shook again, then gradually went still.

Harry felt something against his side. Apolline was stirring. She blinked blearily, not fully awake. Her hand came up and touched the earmuffs that had appeared on her head before looking inquisitively at Harry.

"Did something 'appen?" she asked.

"Nothing to worry about," Harry said. "You can go back to bed."

Her head wilted against his shoulder again. The fire was sputtering, having lost one of its largest logs during the duel. Harry let it die naturally, looking out over the valley, listening to the songs of the last giant tribe. When the last ember cooled, Harry went to sleep sitting up, acting as Apolline's pillow.

O-O-O

"I cannot believe eet! So close to ze cave?" Apolline exclaimed.

Harry crouched in front of her, his hand planted on the ground beside an enormous footprint. An entire trail of them, three different sets of tracks, led down into a high valley.

"You're a deep sleeper," Harry said. "It's a good thing they passed us."

"More than zat. Eet eez unnatural," Apolline insisted.

"I guess avoiding magic paid off."

"Yet ze cave was quite warm when I awoke."

"I kept the fire going most of the night," Harry said.

Her suspicions were right. It was his warming charm, not the fire, that kept the worst of it off of them. But Apolline wasn't used to missions like this, and Harry didn't know her well enough to judge her reaction to the truth. If she thought he went too far, it might affect how likely she was to listen to him when they visited the giants. That was an extra variable he saw no reason to add.

If they got out of this in one piece, he'd give her the full story then, once their lives weren't at stake.

"Can you walk?" Harry asked.

Apolline puffed her chest out proudly, a motion that did delightful things to her breasts. "I 'ave told you, you do not need so worry about zat."

"Good." Harry stood up, gazing into the valley ahead of them. "Because we've got a trail now. All that's left is to follow it."

That wasn't the easiest of tasks. Giant strides were long, and they covered the rugged ground with infuriating speed. Harry and Apolline walked for the better part of a second day. Harry calves were burning by the end, he couldn't fathom how exhausted Apolline must have been. Her skin was covered by a sheen of sweat despite the frigid cold.

It took hours, but eventually they were rewarded. Something came into view ahead of them: a lake. Although Harry couldn't explain why, he knew that they had found it. Hagrid mentioned this lake. The giant village was on one shore, and sure enough when you looked closely, huge primitive houses were visible.

You could even see the giants. They were on the south side of the lake, all of them standing together in a strange formation. Harry frowned. That was unnatural behavior. Usually, during the day, giants wandered around eating, sleeping, and fighting at random, scattered around their territory like cattle in a field. 

"This is bad," Harry said.

"What eez eet?" Apolline asked. "'ave you seen something like zis before?"

She was looking at the same thing Harry was. "No, I have no idea what they're doing," Harry said.

"Zen 'ow can you be so certain eet eez a problem?"

"Because it's unusual," Harry said.

"Zat's eet?"

"When unusual things happen around me, it's always trouble," Harry said. "It's never the easy way. If magical creature smugglers aren't putting up a fight, it's because their juvenile basilisk got loose. If a thief turns himself in, it's because the safe house you're both inside is being raided by the local mafia's hit wizards."

"You 'ave a very acteeve imagination," Apolline observed.

Harry looked at her for a second, then turned back to the giants. "Yeah, imagination. Anyway, we have to go."

"You zink Maxime eez caught up in zat?"

"Logically, I have no idea. But my gut?" Harry started the last portion of the walk, Apolline at his side. "It's saying almost definitely."

The two of them went as fast as they could. The brush was thick and Apolline's muscles were struggling, even if her mind was as sharp as ever. Even with Harry's help it took them another half hour to cover the majority of the distance.

"The ground eez shaking," Apolline said.

She was right. As they approached the lake, the dirt under their feet bounced and trembled. It made traversal extra difficult. Fortunately, they soon broke through the treeline and stumbled out onto a plane of knee-high grass that ran to the waterline.

"'Arry!" Apolline said.

She pointed at a wizard dressed like those Harry dealt with the night before, minus the skull mask. The black robes were all the identification Harry needed to recognize a Death Eater. He hadn't expected lookouts to be posted so far out. Fortunately, the Death Eater was equally surprised by their appearance. Harry cast a spell. The Death Eater aimed his wand into the sky instead of at them, ready to send off some kind of signal flair. Harry's spell hit him first, knocking him clear off his feet and rendering him unconscious.

"You are very quick," Apolline said. "But I think zat our approach 'as failed."

Harry looked where she was looking.

Every single giant had their eyes on them.

There were at least sixty of them. They looked humanoid, except for nearly yellow eyes and plaque-riddled teeth. The source of the shaking ground was obvious. The giants were lifting their feet and bringing them down in perfect unison. Somewhere in the crowd was a drum, the beats coordinating the stomps of the other giants. Harry couldn't see any other Death Eaters from here, only the tribe they came for.

"We have to approach," he said. "Chances are, that's where Maxime is."

He held himself back from saying, In one state or another. To her credit, Apolline swallowed her fear and nodded, although Harry noticed she walked slightly behind him when they started moving.

His grip was tight on his wand. If needed, he'd run and take Apolline with him. He couldn't fight sixty giants at once. He wasn't Merlin. But he could probably create enough of an opening for them to get out.

It would be bad for the war if the giants joined Voldemort, but it happened in his timeline and they still won. Losing Maxime would be a greater tragedy… but him and Apolline meeting the same fate because they were too stubborn to give up would only make things worse. For now, Harry approached at a cautious pace.

When they got within twenty paces of the first giants, the formation split in half.

They did it in sync, stepping back with their heavy soldier-like steps. Some of the giants were grunting and humming. Harry felt uncomfortable, like he was stepping into the middle of a shamanistic ritual he barely understood. They opened a path right through the middle of the crowd. Apolline moved closer to Harry's back.

"What eez zis?" Apolline said.

Harry wished he had the answer.

His eyes scanned left to right repeatedly, but none of the giants made a single movement toward them. They were definitely watching them. Those big, dim, predatory eyes wouldn't move anywhere else. It was a stunning show of coordination, only reinforcing that these giants weren't acting normally.

Apolline grabbed Harry's arm.

"I think I 'ave 'eard of zis," Apolline muttered. "Maxime told me once. When a tribe eez organized into rows, and ze drum eez beating, eet can only be a Gurg's—"

"WEDDING!"

The bellow was louder than the drums, louder than the stomps, and nearly too loud for Harry's eardrums. He knew that voice. It had been burned into his memories, full of malice that was alien to most giants. The owner was the largest, foulest, nastiest giant Harry ever had the displeasure of encountering.

Golgomath, the new Gurg of the giants installed with help from Voldemort. In Harry's time, he slew Karkus, the previous leader, to claim his spot. Golgomath tried to kill Hagrid and marched the giants under Voldemort's banner. Multiple Muggle towns were wiped off the map by him and his brood.

There he sat at the end of the path they were on, cross legged with an uprooted tree resting against his shoulder— his weapon of choice. Golgomath had black hair and matching teeth from a life of horrible hygiene. Necklaces and bracelets of bones hung from his figure. Harry was used to seeing him wear only one necklace, but today the Gurg had gone all out. He watched Harry and Apolline approach with uncanny eagerness.

On the right of the Gurg was a familiar face. Novik, the slimy diplomat from Minsk, was kneeling with two Death Eater guards behind him. Neither were wearing their masks, but Harry didn't recognize them. Macnair — the higher-ranking Death Eater who acted as Voldemort's giant liaison in Harry's time — was nowhere to be seen. That felt odd, but Harry didn't have time to focus on it. Apolline was squeezing his bicep.

"Maxime!" she said.

To Golgomath's left was a crude wood cage. Inside, dressed in a smaller version of the animal hide clothes giants wore, was the headmistress of Beauxbatons. She looked up when she heard Apolline's voice. Seeing her friend, Maxime looked shocked. 

"You should not he 'ere—"

Maxime's warning was cut short as Golgomath yanked a leash fashioned around her neck. Maxime was dragged against the wooden bars.

"You so easy to pull," Golgomath rumbled lovingly. "Stay there. Right there. Me be ready soon."

"If zis is a wedding, and 'e eez ze groom," Apolline said, "zen does zat make ze bride…"

Golgomath stood to his full height, all twenty-five feet of it. He lifted the tree as if it was a baseball bat, leveling its gnarled branches at Harry.

"Novy said you come," Golgomath said. "Me Golgomath, me Gurg. Strongest giant! Me get any wife I want! But you… You want Golgomath wife too!"

The giants behind them closed rank. Although they didn't attack, they shut Harry and Apolline's only way out, trapping them with the livid gurg.

"You!" Golgomath said. "Golgomath challenge you! If you want pretty petite giant, must fight Golgomath for her!"

The tribe stomped harder. Whoever was hitting the drum increased the tempo, and the giants matched it, the noise beating against Harry's ears. Golgomath was smiling nastily from ear to ear. Novik (or Novy, and Golgomath called him) wore a smirk Harry could see from this far away. Yet the only thing that went through Harry's head was…

What the fuck?