Then, with a rushing whump, the river blasted over the ship completely, submerging it in dim blue depth. The Gertrude sank away from the tunnel ceiling, fortunately, but began to turn, rolling into a sluggish corkscrew. James held onto the ship’s wheel while Zane grappled with the railing behind, struggling to stay on his feet as the wall and floor began to switch places.
The view ahead changed. The ship shot out of the confines of the tunnel into some larger space full of murky, shifting depths. James couldn’t recognize it at first, if only because he was looking at it sideways, from the odd capsizing perspective of the ship. Then, with a cold shock, he recognized the huge circular space, the row of tunnel mouths, the terraces leading up to the closed and locked door. It was the cavern beneath the lake, only completely submerged now, dense with shifting beams of what could only be moon glow sifting down from the lake far above.
Something disastrous had happened, flooding the erstwhile moonpool.
Shapes swam through the dimness, darting between shadows, glinting like metal in the dim moonlight. James couldn’t tell for certain, but he had a cold suspicion that the shapes were not fish.
The Gertrude slowed as it propelled out into the airless abyss, still turning, turning upside down. James and Zane clambered over each other, banging from the wheelhouse’s walls and tumbling to its ceiling.
Noises boomed up from the ship as its contents shifted, rolled, crashed through corners and angles. James hoped, fleetingly, that Rose and Scorpius were hanging on tight somewhere, safe from the loose cargo.
The Gertrude was angling upwards now, even as it continued to corkscrew, tumbling slowly upright again. Through the windows, the beams of moonlight broke into tatters, resolved into rolling facets— waves seen eerily from below. They rushed closer, grew larger, and James tightened his grip on the wheel.
With a thunderous roar, the ship exploded to the surface, crashing down and bobbing crookedly on oily waves, where it listed precipitously, streaming water from its decks.
James was bruised and sore from his tumble around the interior of the wheelhouse, but he forgot his own pains entirely as water ran from the windows, revealing the view beyond.
Hogwarts castle was lit against the blue night sky by a seething yellow glare from below. James could not see its source beyond the trees, but the flicker of fire was unmistakable. Shadows moved past the trees, forming a mass of silhouettes, some flitting in furtive groups, others worryingly large and lumbering. And then, as the crash and trickle of water fell away, James heard voices as well. Echoing over the lake came shouting and bellows of rage or pain, the distinct roar of a large and angry crowd.
“What’s happening?” Zane asked, his eyes wide, lit by the yellow glow beyond.
James shook his head weakly, stunned and deeply afraid. He broke his paralysis and bolted to the door, wrenching it open with a screech of bent metal.
Something clanged against the wheelhouse just to the right of his head. He barely registered it before the object clattered to the deck. He glanced down at it. It was a spear with a rough-hewn stone point, green as jade. Further down the ship, more clangs and thunks indicated an ongoing attack.
All around, the lake was suddenly full of splashing figures. They were unrecognizable in the dark, mere muscular shapes surfacing with arms raised, hurling their weapons with frightening accuracy at the already wounded Gertrude. Their war cries were piercingly shrill, screeching like rusty gears.
“The Merpeople!” Rose cried, stumbling as she ran from the hold. “They’ve gone totally berserk!”
“Not that they’re ever exactly friendly,” Scorpius added crossly from behind, ducking as a spear spanged off the wheelhouse, leaving a deep dent.
James stumbled into Rose, nearly knocking her back into Scorpius, as the Gertrude suddenly surged forward, its bow rising against the waves.
“Hold on!” Zane called from inside the wheelhouse. “I don’t know much about driving boats, but I’m pretty sure red means fast!”
James clambered to hold onto the open door, even as Rose grabbed his arm for support. Inside the wheelhouse, Zane had one hand on a large brass throttle, ramming it to its maximum. His face was wide-eyed and hectic as he steered with his other hand, aiming for the fiery glow of the castle. The ship listed harder as it steamed ahead, pitching James, Rose, and Scorpius toward the outer railing and the rushing waves below. Cold mist began to spray into their faces as the barrage of spears fell behind.
Struggling to hold on, Rose called, “Where you taking us!?”
“Um,” Zane shrugged a little manically. “Away!?”
The castle hove nearer with unlikely speed as the Gertrude accelerated, rising onto the waves.
“Getting close to the docks, Walker,” Scorpius warned loudly.
“Yeah,” Zane nodded, scanning the console before him helplessly. “Only boats don’t come with brakes, as far as I can tell. You all might want to, you know, hold onto something.”
The bow of the Gertrude hove over the dock. James heard the crash and splinter as the wooden structure crumpled beneath the hull.
The ship obliterated it without slowing. The shore was barely twenty yards away, approaching with inevitable speed. Trees lined the rocky beach, dark against the starry sky—and yet even now, James saw that the sky wasn’t entirely clear. Just past the canopy of the Forest, low storm clouds boiled, flashing silent bursts of lightning. The Gertrude had beaten the storm to their destination, but it was raging relentlessly onward anyway, seeking its target.
The Gertrude struck the rising beach with a screech and grind of rocks under wood. The ship juddered upward, buckling James’ knees, while momentum continued to carry it forward, even as the bow thrust into the fringe of Forest, bashing between tree trunks and tearing away limbs. The ship’s sideways list grew precipitous as it began to keel over, causing James, Rose, and Scorpius to hang on desperately, lest they fall and be crushed under the rolling hull. Finally, with a devastating crunch, the Gertrude beached itself completely, crashing to rest against some unseen impediment in the trees.
Zane half climbed, half fell out of the wheelhouse, clambering to the railing where it now leaned low over the rocky shore. “Home sweet home,” he announced breathlessly.
Much closer now, the noise of shouting voices and angry grunts seemed to fill the forest.
“What’s happening here?” Rose nearly demanded, fear making her voice strident. James couldn’t help thinking that she suddenly sounded a lot like her mother.
“If I had to guess,” Scorpius said, climbing over the broken railing and dropping to the beach below. “I’d say that the Centaurs have made good on their promise. Friday’s magical quake was likely the last straw, and now they are invading. Only things aren’t going as planned.
They haven’t breached the castle yet.”
“What about the Merpeople?” James asked, clambering after Scorpius and helping Rose down behind him. “They aren’t partnering with the Centaurs. Why are they attacking?”
Zane stumbled as he jumped to the beach. “Everything’s happening at once. It’s not coincidence. It’s just the end.”