At their h eight, hundreds of giant tribes once roamed Europe, large and small.
By nature savage, they frequently invaded Muggle territories, perpetrating small-scale massacres; To this day, countless tales of their savagery persist in muggle legends and fables.
Due to an innate fear of magic, few giants dared attack wizard settlements; yet when encountering lone wizards, these brutal creatures showed no mercy... Such giant assaults were far from uncommon.
As early as the beginning of the 18th century, the newly established Ministry of Magic classified giants as "Magical Creatures requiring extermination."
Damocles Rowle, the infamous and unpopular second Minister for Magic (1718-1726), had only one commendable act during his tenure: signing the "Giant Extermination Decree"—under which any wizard submitting a complete Giant scalp to the Ministry would receive a reward of 50-100 Galleons (100 Galleons for an adult Giant, 50 Galleons for others).
During the tenure of Aldrich Diggory, the fourth Minister of Magic, the Auror recruitment program was first established... The original purpose for creating and training Aurors was to hunt Giants.
Wizard hunting was merely one factor; a more significant reason was the Giants' own internecine warfare...
Giants are not Magical Creatures suited for large-scale communal living, as their brutal nature makes conflicts highly likely when they gather together.
After wizards destroyed their territories and forcibly relocated them to fixed settlements, internecine warfare became rampant among the Giants, turning their settlements into constant killing grounds.
After two centuries of relentless effort, by the early 20th century, fewer than 300 Giants remained across Europe, scattered across several isolated enclaves...
During the First Wizarding War, most of these Giants joined You-Know-Who's forces and perpetrated some of the most horrific muggle massacres... though they did not play a significant role in the war itself.
And with You-Know-Who's sudden defeat overnight, the Giants vanished completely...
At least within the British Isles, no giants had been sighted for nearly a decade.
It wasn't until over a year ago that Rubeus Hagrid, Albus Dumbledore's trusted confidant, discovered the last surviving group of giants in the mountains of Dijon...
But they soon aligned themselves once more with You-Know-Who, becoming enemies of the wizarding world...
As one of the few students who paid attention in Professor Bins' A History of Magic class, Jon was no stranger to the long-standing feud between wizards, muggles, and giants.
Now that the giants had fully sided with Voldemort and orchestrated the "West Coast Hurricane" incident, causing hundreds of muggle casualties...
Jon believed their annihilation to be justified.
Thus, for this operation, he sought assistance directly from the Ministry's Aurors rather than Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix...
As a staunch "dove," Albus Dumbledore had always advocated for peaceful dialogue to win the Giants over to their side...
To Jon, this was nothing more than Dumbledore's wishful thinking.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic, its reputation severely damaged after the "hostage exchange" incident and forced compromises with Death Eaters and You-Know-Who, was desperate to achieve tangible results quickly to justify itself to the entire wizarding world.
...
Voldemort's concealment magic was quite sophisticated, yet it soon crumbled under the combined efforts of several Aurors.
With a sharp crack, the illusion of the "lake" vanished completely from the Aurors' view.
In its place lay a small stream littered with disgusting "debris," and beyond it, over a dozen caves at least twenty yards high.
And, of course, two Giants locked in combat.
Ten minutes earlier, distracted by Jon's "Powerful Confusing Concoction," they had been drawn away to wrestle in a tangled heap over there...
But now—
Both giants released their grip and ceased fighting.
Spotting dozens of fully armed wizards on the opposite bank, even with their limited intelligence, they sensed imminent danger.
One giant picked up a fallen wooden club, while the other attempted to sprint toward the fire.
"Stop them!" Scrimgeour bellowed. "Don't let them raise the alarm!"
A dozen Aurors had already Apparated swiftly to the Giants' sides, surrounding the two from different directions.
The Aurors did not unleash a barrage of offensive spells upon the Giants... in fact, doing so would have been futile.
The Giants' thick skin granted them exceptional magical resistance; Stunning Spells were unlikely to inflict significant damage.
"Incarcerous...!"
The Aurors chanted in unison, unleashing the binding spell—
Thick ropes materialized out of thin air, coiling around the Giants' ankles...
With their immense strength, breaking free wasn't difficult; however, each struggle caused their massive frames to stagger slightly.
The taller Giant wielding the wooden club attempted to swing it, trying to knock down these bothersome "insects."
"Protego!"
Each time the Giant swung his club, an Auror cast the Shield Charm to shield their comrade...
Another giant lunging toward the fire tripped on a thick hemp rope, instantly losing his balance and crashing to the ground—less than ten yards from the flames.
"Reducto..."
The moment the Giant hit the ground, five Reductor Curse spells struck its back of the head with pinpoint accuracy... or more precisely, its brainstem.
While other parts of a Giant's body are exceptionally hard and highly resistant to magic, the back of the head is a vulnerable spot...
Typically, giant leaders favored helmets to protect their heads; ordinary giants rarely enjoyed such protection.
A technique passed down through generations of Aurors over two centuries of giant hunting; otherwise, even the Killing Curse might not have achieved such devastating results.
Struck by five consecutive Reductor Curses, the Giant's brain stem shattered almost instantly...
The scene became a gruesome mess, making Jon feel slightly queasy.
The Giant hit by the Reductor Curse collapsed, letting out a wretched howl...
It could no longer move an inch.
With one Giant down, the pressure intensified on the other, the one wielding the wooden club...
It didn't hold out long.
After just over ten seconds, it too was tripped by the ropes of the Imprisonment Charm.
The Aurors then repeated their tactic, striking its brain stem with the Reductor Curse.
...
With both "guard" Giants down, the Aurors crossed the nauseating stream unimpeded.
Jon cast a Hover Charm on himself and smoothly "flew" across.
A dozen or so vast, bottomless caverns remained largely silent...
As if their inhabitants hadn't heard the clamor of the battle outside.
This was hardly surprising...
Giants had notoriously poor hearing.
What seemed like a tremendous racket to the diminutive wizards might be barely perceptible to fully grown giants standing 20-25 feet tall.
Yet the Aurors arriving at the cave entrance hesitated, including Rufus Scrimgeour.
The narrow confines of the cave meant that if they charged in recklessly and were spotted by the Giants, they could easily be crushed flat...
Jon followed behind Kingsley Shacklebolt, observing the Aurors hesitating outside the cave entrance.
He calmly began rummaging through his briefcase.
"Oh?" Kingsley glanced at him curiously, asking softly. "Jon... do you have a plan?"
"Of course!" Jon nodded without hesitation, already retrieving two crystal vials from the case.
He poured the potions from both vials onto the ground in succession, then drew his wand.
"Incendio!"
As a burst of flame erupted from the wand tip, the potions on the ground instantly churned into billowing black smoke.
Jon covered his nose and explained to the nearby Aurors.
"Draught of the Living Dead... and smoke potion... everyone, be careful!"
Next, Jon raised his wand toward the billowing black smoke—
Under his command, the smoke drifted deep into one of the caves.
As a potent sleeping potion, Draught of the Living Dead proved effective even against creatures with high magical resistance, like Dragons or Giants.
If the Giant in the cave was still sound asleep, the effect would be even better.
A small amount of smoke potion could generate thick fumes...
Which would carry the Draught of the Living Dead deep into the cavern.
The Aurors' expressions darkened upon hearing this.
Several Aurors followed Jon's lead, covering their noses; while Kingsley had already reacted—
He too drew his wand, joining Jon in using the "Blow" spell to direct the black smoke...
Nearly all the smoke was channeled deep into the cavern.
...
"A clever method..." Rufus Scrimgeour approached, having witnessed Jon's actions from afar.
"You carry the antidote to the Draught of the Living Dead with you?"
The cave was now saturated with the potion's fumes.
Without the antidote, even the Aurors rushing in would easily fall under its hypnotic spell.
"Indeed!" Jon rummaged through his luggage again, pulling out several crystal vials before handing one to him.
Scrimgeour glanced at Jon with a hint of astonishment, a trace of admiration flickering across his face.
Taking one vial, he approached it cautiously, opened it, fanned a small amount toward his nose, and sniffed—
Once satisfied it was indeed the antidote for the Draught of the Living Dead, Scrimgeour took a small sip, then passed the vial to another Auror.
The crystal vials passed swiftly between the Aurors' hands.
Soon every one of them had taken the antidote to the Draught of the Living Dead.
"Let's go. Into the caves! Drag those Giants out!"
Scrimgeour commanded decisively.
"Try to take them alive... but if they're not completely unconscious, kill them!"
The Aurors split into separate teams, each charging into a different cave.
Jon and Kingsley also entered one of the caves, accompanied by Auror Nymphadora Tonks and another Auror, Jon didn't recognize.
…
The cave looked crude, likely dug by hand by the Giants.
There was almost no decoration, and the Giants' living conditions were hardly good.
Although the cave had been pre-filled with the Draught of the Living Dead, meaning the Giants inside should theoretically be fast asleep...
Jon and the Aurors remained extremely cautious as they advanced.
A sudden, thunderous crash ahead startled Jon.
Kingsley, however, motioned for him to hold his fire.
Raising his wand, he cautiously stepped forward.
"Lumos!"
The light from the tip of Kingsley Shacklebolt's wand instantly illuminated the entire cavern.
Jon identified the source of the earlier "noise"—
A large, hideous male Giant.
His frame stood at least twenty feet tall, and his weight appeared to rival that of two bull elephants...
His skin was as coarse as a rhinoceros', his body obese.
Nearby lay several animal carcasses, likely cattle or sheep.
That was indeed the source of the earlier sound.
His chest heaved rhythmically, emitting a deep, snoring roar.
Tonks couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "We have to get him out before he wakes up... Rufus just said to capture as many alive as possible!"
"Let's all lift together!" Kingsley's magnetic voice suggested. "Carry him out."
The other Auror had no objections.
All three cast the "Full Body-Bind Curse," transforming into numerous ropes that swiftly bound the Giant tightly.
Then, raising their wands overhead in different directions, they murmured incantations...
The Giant's massive form was lifted by their combined "Levitation Charm," slowly moving toward the cave entrance.
...
Jon did not join them.
He continued deeper into the cavern.
Along the way, he spotted two more "young giants"...
Though "young" was relative—each stood at least as tall as a single-story building.
Within the Giant race, however, they were undoubtedly still minors.
Both juvenile Giants lay in deep slumber, and Jon paid them no mind.
He pressed onward...
Until finally, he discovered a female Giant.
Distinguishing a Giant's gender by appearance wasn't particularly difficult...
For the animal hides they wore as "clothing" could scarcely cover them entirely.
Jon decided to test his luck first.
He began by binding the sleeping female Giant with a restraining spell.
As an extra precaution, he scattered a generous amount of Devil's Snare spores over her body.
With preparations complete, he retrieved a vial of antidote for the Draught of the Living Dead and poured it into the female Giant's mouth...
The Giant slowly opened its eyes from slumber—
"Legilimens!"
A cold voice rang in its ear.