Lethal force

Harry saw the group of Death Eaters walking as a tight group emerging from the pressing darkness around them. He also saw Rose, standing right in front of Lestrange. He seemed to hold on to her, using her as a shield, perhaps even without knowing it yet. He tried to find a way to get around it, but he was in the wrong position. This was bad. He had hoped they would leave Rose on the ship until they knew that they had a secure place to put her. This was the worst possible scenario. And she was simply walking along with them. What was going on? Could she be under the Imperius Curse after all?

He heard Lagasete speak commands in a hushed voice, both in Norwegian and English. He had at least three different groups with team leaders that could hear his hushed voice, but there was no mention of who would take over command if the team leaders failed. Harry's Aurors were also spread through each battle group. He hoped they would all be at the ready at the least. The situation was critical. Harry drew his wand and walked discreetly up to the chief. He needed to talk to him, but he didn't want to break his concentration at the wrong moment. He really hoped this wouldn't turn into a battle. Most of these people had no experience with it. He wished he had brought more Aurors, or that Lagasete had listened to his tactical ideas. Lagasete acknowledged his presence with a nod, telling him he could speak.

"My niece is the one in the front, being held by the large man." Harry said. "She doesn't appear to have a wand."

Lagasete ignored that, sending the agreed-on coloured sparks in the air. He shouted challenges down on the group in Norwegian. They all stopped, looking shocked. Lestrange instinctively placed himself behind Rose. Lagasete switched to English.

"Drop your wands! You are surrounded!"

Did Lagasete actually expect them to obey that command? Harry reached for Lagasete and shouted; "Just Stun them!" but it was too late.

Rose took a step forward. She made a small shout, whether it was surprise or anger was hard to tell. But at that exact moment, all the Death Eaters started sending curses towards the surrounding people. Green lights flashed from every wand. Harry cursed to himself. That was definitely a deliberate act on their part, to make it look like Rose ordered them. He suspected that was Lestrange's idea. But he didn't have time to explain this to Lagasete, as he quickly had to help deflect dozens of spells hurling towards him and Lagasete. He tried to move towards Rose, but he had more than enough trouble defending himself. A quick look to each side showed that his Aurors didn't fare much better.

This was quickly turning into a disaster! The Norwegians were all capable wizards, but they had no practical experience! They all sent out spells with impressive precision, but they weren't moving. That gave the Death Eaters easy targets, and they quickly found the weak links and went for them. The Norwegians began to fall. No! They couldn't be allowed to escape! Harry roared as he kept dodging and kept sending spells.

The Death Eaters battled to kill, revelling in the joy of the destruction and panic they were causing. They had been restrained for years, now they had nothing to lose. Why weren't the attack groups closing in on the Death Eaters? Just standing there sending spells at them made them easy targets and gave the Death Eaters room to move!

Where was Rose? What had happened to her? Harry tried to search around, whilst still dodging the everlasting spells, but there was no sign of her. There! She was running towards a group of fighters, but they shouted at her to stay down. Rose complied, standing still, hands in the air. But then Lestrange came up behind her, attacking the group above. One of them fell. The others sent Stunners that hit them both. Lestrange and Rose lay flat on the ground. Harry shouted out in frustration, but he couldn't get over there. The battle was still raging. These people had no intention of being captured alive.

Lagasete screamed out orders. Most were in Norwegian, but he did occasionally remember to repeat some of them in English. Harry saw a Stunner coming from behind them, and quickly ran to get Lagasete out of the way. In the ensuing tumble he lost all sense of direction. He no longer knew which of the bodies all around them were Rose. Lagasete helped him up with a quick nod in gratitude. That was all there was time for.

It felt like it took forever. Later, Harry would discover that it was only a few minutes, but it felt like hours. The end result was 30 dead, 10 Death Eaters, 2 of his Aurors and 18 of Lagasete's men. This could have so easily been avoided if Lagasete had been willing to listen to his suggestions! Well, it was too late to do anything about that now.

Rose, Lestrange, and most of the other Death Eaters were Stunned. Harry had tried to find Rose first, but he had to accept that she had been taken in with the others. So, he went in search of Lagasete instead. The rhetorical question they had discussed earlier had become reality.