A flurry of thoughts went through her head as she tried to think her way logically out of her situation. Could bears climb trees? She could try to scale one in a hurry, but that would leave her within biting range for far too long. Would throwing her arms out to make herself appear larger and more aggressive scare them off, or would she just be giving them more surface area to choose from for their next meal? Would playing dead work? Possibly, but who would be stupid enough to stop mid-chase and drop motionless to the ground based on a possibility?
In the end, Hermione chose the latter option; or, rather, it chose her, given that the ground suddenly shook harder than it had before, presumably as one of the large bears pounced for her and just barely missed. Actually being on the ground made the "play dead" aspect of this tactic seem like an automatic death sentence, and so she turned around, one hand tight on her wand as she used the other to try and scoot backwards.
One of the bears was frightfully closer than the others, and so she immediately went for the first spell on her lips. "Impedimenta!" Personally, she would have much rather not seen how close that massive paw - now moving in slow motion - would have come to ripping her face off, but she was grateful to have had time to avoid it.
As she scrambled to her feet, Hermione tried to think of a suitable hex for the other bear. She knew a few that could cause serious damage, of course, given that she'd survived a war, but it didn't seem right to hurt or kill an animal just because it had been defending its young.
no subject
In the end, Hermione chose the latter option; or, rather, it chose her, given that the ground suddenly shook harder than it had before, presumably as one of the large bears pounced for her and just barely missed. Actually being on the ground made the "play dead" aspect of this tactic seem like an automatic death sentence, and so she turned around, one hand tight on her wand as she used the other to try and scoot backwards.
One of the bears was frightfully closer than the others, and so she immediately went for the first spell on her lips. "Impedimenta!" Personally, she would have much rather not seen how close that massive paw - now moving in slow motion - would have come to ripping her face off, but she was grateful to have had time to avoid it.
As she scrambled to her feet, Hermione tried to think of a suitable hex for the other bear. She knew a few that could cause serious damage, of course, given that she'd survived a war, but it didn't seem right to hurt or kill an animal just because it had been defending its young.