ESCAPING WAS NO LONGER AN OPTION.
Death Eaters were around every corner, and students, teachers, and even some people I didn’t recognize were joining the battle. If I needed to, I could always blast a hole in a wall to escape from; but right now, I realized that I could run or hide. My father was somewhere around here, and I needed to speak to him. I needed to know how he could betray me like this. How could he be one of them?
The debris that was scattered around the castle was beginning to pile up. As I ran through the halls, I saw things that I had wished I’d never seen. Bodies every here an there, and I saw one that I had recognized”a fourth year student that must’ve snuck back into the battle after evacuation.
At that moment, a large, thunderous boom sounded straight ahead, and the castle shook under my feet. I gasped and held onto the wall, and started to run towards where the sound had come from.
I suddenly stopped short, however; piles of debris blocked the way. Up ahead, I heard people scrambling, and I heard someone scream. I gasped at the sound of the wail. Maybe someone needed help.
I began to climb up the small pile of stone and debris, and what I saw made tears swell in my eyes.
There was a boy, probably about seventeen, with round glasses and jet back hair. I knew immediately that it was the Potter kid that He Who Must Not Be Named was after. He was holding a girl’s hand; the girl had bushy brown hair, and she looked completely stunned. At her feet was the dead body of a boy, who looked a couple years older than Potter and the girl. He had red hair, and a small smile was etched upon his face. His eyes scared me the most, for they were wide open as if the boy was laughing.
Leaning over the body were two other red headed men; one obviously older than the other. They were crying, but the oldest one was wailing hysterically. Beyond them, the wall was blasted apart. I could see the stars twinkling in the night sky over the Forbidden Forest.
“No! No! No!” shouted the eldest man, shaking the body. The words themselves tore my heart out, and left me breathless. If only I could help them”
And then, in the night, curses began to soar through the air. I ducked down, gasping and crying, as Potter’s voice shouted, “Get down! Percy, come on, we’ve got to move!”
I looked back at them, and Potter was trying to get the eldest redhead to get up and run. The younger redhead, a seventh year like Potter and the brunette, shouted, “Percy! Percy, you can’t do anything for him! We’re going to””
A spider, the size of a small car, crawled through the gaping hole in the wall. More followed, and I turned around and ran as fast as I’d ever ran in my life as I heard Potter and his friends scream and shout.
The shrieks, bangs and booms of the battle were getting louder and louder every second. Death Eaters were everywhere now; they dueled students and teachers alike. Everyone I passed were hurt somehow, whether they be cuts or bruises, or even losses of limbs.
“Dad!” I shouted as I ran through the corridors, my wand out in front of me in protection. Every Death Eater I saw was either too short, too tall, or didn’t look like my dad at all. Some were masked, other weren’t. I began to shout curses to the Death Eaters, then dodging to get out of site. Once I had disarmed at least five of them, I had entered the Entrance Hall once more”only, it was now a battle field. The damage was immense. Death Eaters were dueling seventh years and teachers.
I stayed to the corners, out of sight, walking along, until suddenly, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. Gasping, I turned around and shrieked, “Stupefy!”
A jet of red light hit the Death Eater that had grabbed my shoulder; he fell to the floor, not moving a muscle. I rushed to him, crouched, and pulled of his mask. There laid my father, suddenly stiff and not moving. I pointed my wand at my dad, and said, “Rennervate!”
My father began to move. “I’m sorry,” I said, and I helped him sit up. But he pushed my hands away.
“Follow me,” he said, and he stood. Without anyone noticing, we slipped into an empty classroom and shut the door. It was dark, and I could hardly see any thing. The shrieks of the battle never left us, however.
“This is all because You-Know-Who wants that Potter kid, isn’t it?” I asked. My father nodded.
“I’m so sorry, Owen.”
“How did this all happen?”
My father sighed. “The Death Eaters were looking for purebloods, and when they asked me to join them, I couldn’t refuse. If I did, I knew that you and mum would be in danger, so I said yes.”
“Then, it was you,” I realized. “You saved me from that Death Eater earlier, didn’t you?” My father nodded.
I still didn’t understand…my dad would never have joined You-Know-Who’s side, even if it was for my protection. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by a giant boom that shook the castle. I looked up, and I saw dust falling from the ceiling.
“Let’s go,” said my dad.
“Where?” I asked, but my dad just grabbed my hand and ran out of the classroom. We ran through the battle, and I pushed my legs faster, trying to keep up with my dad. We were running towards the side of the school.
As we ran, my dad whipped out his wand from under his robes and pointed it at the wall. He muttered a curse, and the wall was blasted apart. “Duck!” he shouted, and we crouched down as stone flew past us. We stood, and suddenly we were outside. The cool night air was so refreshing, and as we ran, I looked up into the stars that were shining above.
“Where are we going?” I asked again, but my dad didn’t answer. I turned my head and looked back at the school, and I felt the sudden urge to cry. The castle was up in flames; half of the castle was blown apart. Black smoke billowed from every corner, reaching towards the sky.
I looked away from the castle, and continued running. The Forbidden Forest loomed ahead of us, and its presence was like a safe haven compared to the burning school. I pushed my legs to keep going, but suddenly I ran over something, and I stumbled onto the grass.
My hand broke away from my dad’s. I quickly stood, brushed myself off, and looked at what I had tripped over. Pure horror filled me up, until I was crying. My dad ran over and shouted, “Owen! Let’s go!”
But he stopped when he saw who I was looking at. I had tripped over the body of a girl who I’d had a huge crush on. She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen, and she still is. Even lying in the grass with a huge gash in her forehead, dead, Holly will always be best girl I’d ever know.
And here she was, dead. I was confused”she had evacuated! She had escaped! How could this have happened? And then I remembered her screaming my name, begging me to come with her and the rest of the Ravenclaws.
I sobbed even harder when I realized that Holly’s death was my fault. My dad put his arm around me, but he said nothing. After a few minutes, my dad shook me and said, “Owen, we really have to go. Come on…”
He pulled me and we kept on running, but my heart will forever stay with Holly.