Chapter 385: Pirates Attack
Facing the blood bats that blotted out the sky and came surging in, the Aurors did not so much as blink.
"Attack!" the Auror captain ordered.
The command had barely left his mouth when every Auror raised a wand and fired at once.
Countless spells streaked into the air.
Explosions erupted across the sky in a chain of violent blasts. Dazzling light flared so bright that everyone reflexively squeezed their eyes shut, and then came the roar, thunder upon thunder, as if the heavens themselves were cracking apart.
The combined power of dozens of Aurors tore straight through the swarm. The blood bats were shredded, ripped apart, and wiped from the air.
The few stragglers that remained seemed frightened out of their wits and scattered in every direction, fleeing for their lives.
Only when the bats were completely dealt with did the Auror captain turn back to the travellers. His gaze lingered mostly on Gandalf, and respect softened his expression.
"Professor Gandalf. Never thought we'd run into you here!"
These Aurors were all Hogwarts graduates, and of course, they recognised the professor who taught them Flying.
Gandalf greeted them with a kindly smile. He even remembered every one of their names, and he thanked them for arriving in time.
"Professor Gandalf, you're too polite," the captain said quickly. "Defending the territory is our duty. These dark creatures dared cross into Hogwarts land. Of course, we were going to wipe them out."
By now, Hogwarts' territory stretched from the Last Bridge in the east to the Barrow-downs in the west, from the South Downs in the south to the North Downs in the north, covering much of Eriador. Within that range, everything fell under the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office patrol and watch.
If enemies like Orcs, Trolls, or malicious spirits appeared inside the borders, Aurors would respond to purge them and keep the land safe.
To support this, the Ministry also held a copy of Kael's Marauder's Map, a three-dimensional moving map that displayed the entire territory in real time.
Ministry staff were assigned to watch it around the clock. The moment anything abnormal appeared, they would report it immediately and dispatch Aurors to handle the threat.
That was why the Aurors had appeared near the Last Bridge. They had spotted the blood bats crossing into the territory on the Marauder's Map and Apparated here at top speed to eliminate them.
Gandalf understood this as well. That was why he had led the decoy party across the Last Bridge as quickly as possible, pushing into the Ministry's protected range and using the Aurors to shake off the blood bats.
With the bats dealt with, the Aurors bid Gandalf and the others farewell, then Apparated back to the Ministry.
As for Gandalf, he declined their offer to take them by Side-Along Apparition to Hogsmeade. Instead, he chose to keep riding the two winged horses and travel to Hogsmeade at a steady pace.
Now that they were inside Hogwarts territory, there was little danger of another attack. No one needed to rush.
The two winged horses, however, could not fly for the moment. Their wings had been injured by the bats.
A blood bat's bite carried poison, and the wounds bled relentlessly. Gandalf had used magic to treat them, but he was no healer. He could only force the injuries closed enough to stop the bleeding.
The venom and blood loss left the winged horses weak, unable to carry them through the air.
So the five decided to follow the road west, all the way to Hogsmeade, and then visit Kael at Hogwarts.
And after the ambush, Gandalf and the others were certain of one thing: Sauron's gaze had been drawn to them. Those bats, and the crow, were Sauron's eyes.
The bat attack had been a test.
So the decoy party decided to keep Sauron's attention hooked, continuing westward, not too fast and not too slow.
At the very least, they could not reach the Grey Havens too early, not before Círdan returned by ship. Otherwise, the Grey Havens would become a beacon for all enemy fire. In the scramble to seize the Ring, the Grey Havens might suffer Mordor's full assault and be brought to ruin.
The purpose of this open party was simple: keep Sauron and Mordor chasing shadows, keep their eyes locked on the West.
In that process, Mordor's armies, Ringwraiths, and even Sauron himself might appear in the western lands.
That was exactly what they wanted.
When Gandalf and the others finally reached Hogsmeade and visited Hogwarts Castle once again, Kael welcomed them warmly and urged them to stay for a while.
Under Madam Amanda's care in the hospital wing, the two injured winged horses recovered fully.
After a brief discussion, Gandalf and the others released them to fly back to Rivendell.
And during that same span of days, the Corsairs of Umbar, commanding more than a hundred great warships and over a thousand smaller vessels, surged north across Belegaer and reached the waters off Lindon.
The corsairs did not immediately enter the Gulf of Lune to storm the Grey Havens. Instead, they sealed the sea, preparing to cut off the Grey Havens from all contact by water.
Inside the Gulf of Lune, the ports closest to the mouth were Harlond and Forlond.
To strike the Grey Havens, they would have to take those two harbours first, and then press onward to the Grey Havens itself.
But the corsairs' ambition was larger than that.
They blocked the strait leading into the Gulf of Lune, then split their fleet into three forces and launched attacks on Harlond, Forlond, and the Grey Havens at the same time.
Worse still, the corsair warships had been fitted with cannons thanks to Saruman's invention, a gunpowder-like explosive known as Isengard Fire. The firepower was terrifying. Even Elves would struggle under bombardment.
That was why the corsairs dared to divide their strength and strike three Elven ports at once.
But cannons did not mean the Elves were helpless.
In the Elven harbours, the ships moving over the waters were steamships, iron-hulled vessels. They had no oars and no sails. Instead, they hissed and breathed steam as they cut across the surface of the Gulf.
It was a scene unlike anywhere else in Middle-earth.
And it all traced back to decades ago, when Kael had given Círdan an "inspiration" for the principles of the steam engine.
Because of that, the Grey Havens' ships had transformed from wooden hulls driven by sail and oar into steam-powered vessels.
More than that, their engines were fuelled by ever-burning Elven-fire, needing no coal or other fuel, producing no smoke or soot. It was the cleanest steam engine imaginable.
The steamships were faster than wooden ships, and far more durable.
The corsairs might have cannons, but their hulls were still wooden. Against iron steamships, that difference was decisive.
So when the corsair fleet surged into the strait, it found steamships already in position, waiting for them.
This time, Umbar had deployed more than a hundred warships and over a thousand smaller craft. Beyond the cannons, they carried more than ten thousand corsairs—Haradrim, Black Númenóreans, and even Orcs and Trolls.
The Orcs and Trolls were used mostly as labour: hauling gear, shifting heavy loads, and working the guns.
When needed, they could also become brutal fodder.
The corsairs of Umbar had come out in full force. The Captain of the Haven led them personally.
Under Sauron's command, he meant to seal the sea-lanes at any cost, to stop the One Ring from being sent west to Valinor.
The corsairs meant nothing less than to destroy the western ports and burn every Elven ship.
If they succeeded, not a single vessel would remain that could sail into the West.
And once the Elven ships were gone, the corsairs planned to seize the harbours, use them as a foothold, and drive eastward to join Mordor's armies advancing from the other side.
A pincer.
All for one purpose: to seize the One Ring.