stardust ⋮ george weasley

twenty-three :

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

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The campground had become a scene of chaos, but it wasn't the fun type of chaos that Adeline had loved so much that afternoon. Instead, the joyful singing and celebrations had been replaced by screams of horror. Tents had begun to catch on fire, but none was more blazing than the one of the Muggle family that ran the campground. People were screaming and running every which way, but all seemed to be heading away from a group of people in dark robes and creepy masks that resembled human skulls.

Death Eaters.

Adeline had only read stories of the group that had terrorized the wizarding world for ages until the downfall of Voldemort so many years ago. The stories she had read horrified her, detailing how they ruthlessly slaughtered anyone who went against them or what they believed. People who dared to speak out against Voldemort. People like the sweet Muggle family that was now being levitated and cursed above their tent. People like Adeline.

But as she read these stories, Adeline was naively comforted by the fact that Voldemort was gone. Death Eaters seemed like a thing of the past, and Adeline would never have to worry about them in her lifetime. Minus the Chamber of Secrets being opened during her fourth year, Adeline never lived in fear because of her Muggleborn status. Sure, she would sometimes faced scorn from her peers who believed that no one who was Muggleborn had a place at Hogwarts. But they weren't Death Eaters.

However, seeing them there in front of her struck a new type of fear through Adeline's heart. This was a group that would kill her in an instant if they knew what her blood status was. They were standing only meters away from her, seeming to be gleefully torturing a family of innocent people.

Adeline wanted to burst into tears at the sight of her nightmare come to life, but she was so overwhelmed by all the screams and noise that she could barely even speak. Estelle, sensing her distress, grabbed tightly onto her hand.

"Girls, you need to get back to the Portkey and take it home!" Mr. Badin managed to scream over the noise. "I need to help the Ministry sort this out! Stick together and, whatever you do, don't stop moving!"

Him and another Ministry official ran off in the opposite direction, directly into the heat of action. Meanwhile, the four girls stood frozen in shock until the shoves of people around them forced them to start moving. None of them could seem to process how a day filled with so much joy and laughter could so suddenly turn so dark and terrifying. Ophelia seemed to be the first to snap to her senses and start tugging the group in the direction of the Portkey they had taken earlier that morning.

Adeline kept a tight grip on Estelle's hand as the four girls frantically pushed through the crowd, trying their best to get as quickly as they could to the Portkey. The farther away they got from the Death Eaters, the more relieved Adeline felt. It wasn't much, but it was at least some sort of comfort to know she was with her friends.

Those feelings were quickly ripped away, however, when someone pushed into Adeline, causing her to fall and hit her head on the ground hard. Estelle reached out for her and tried to help her back up, but between Adeline being in so much pain and the crowd pushing them apart, her friends were suddenly taken away from her in the sea of chaos.

Adeline tried to many times to stand, but each time she felt herself being knocked to the ground once more. She was so overwhelmed with panic after being separated from her friends that she couldn't think straight, causing it to be a long while before Adeline was able to pull herself up again. Adeline tried looking through the crowd to see if there was any chance she could find her friends, but between flames from the tents and the general pandemonium, she wasn't able to see them anywhere. She was in a state of panic and had lost all sense of direction, not even being sure of where the Portkey was anymore, and Adeline was terrified of running into the thick of the crowd once more.