Emma Potter; Going to War

91: Fallen

There was a great roar from the motorbike, and I felt thesidecar give a nasty lurch: I was rising through the air fast, my eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off my face. Around me brooms were soaring upward too; the long black tail of a thestralflicked past. 

My legs, jammed into the sidecar by Hedwig's cage and my rucksack, were already sore and starting to go numb. So greatwas my discomfort that I almost forgot to take a last glimpse ofnumber four, Privet Drive; by the time I looked over the edge ofthe sidecar I could no longer tell which one it was. Higher andhigher we climbed into the sky — 

And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, we were surrounded.

 At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed avast circle in the midst of which the Order members had risen,oblivious —Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yelland the motorbike rolled over. I lost any sense of where we were: Streetlights above me, yells around me, Harry and I were clinging tothe sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and our rucksacks slipped from beneath our knees — 

"No — HEDWIG!"

 The broomstick spun to earth, but I just managed to seizethe strap of both our rucksacks and the top of the cage as the motorbikeswung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of thecage. Harry and I both gave a horrified yell.

 "No" whispered Harry."No — NO!" 

 The motorbike zoomed forward; I glimpsed hooded DeathEaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle. 

"Hedwig —" I whispered  "Hedwig —" 

But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor ofher cage. I could not take it in, and my terror for the others wasparamount. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a mass of peoplemoving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaringoff into the distance, but I could not tell who we were — 

"Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" I yelledover the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out my wand, ramming Hedwig's cage onto the floor, refusing to believe that she wasdead. "Hagrid, excuse my language and all, but, TURN  THE FUCK AROUND!"

 "My job's ter get you there safe, Emma!" bellowed Hagrid, andhe opened the throttle.

 "Stop — STOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back  two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters hadbroken away from the circle and were pursuing us, aiming forHagrid's broad back. 

Hagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters werekeeping up with the bike; more curses shot after us, and Harry and I had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid them. Wriggling around I cried, "Petrificious Totalus!" and a  bolt of light shot from my own wand,cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it. 

"Hold on, Emma, this'll do for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and I looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger intoa green button near the fuel gauge.

A wall, a solid brick wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipe. Craning his neck, I saw it expand into being in midair. Three of theDeath Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky:He vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder from behindit, his broomstick broken into pieces. One of his fellows slowed up tosave him, but they and the airborne wall were swallowed by darknessas Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up.

 More Killing Curses flew past my head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for Hagrid. Harry  responded with further Stunning Spells, and I used a variety: Red, Blue and other various coulurs and green collided inmidair in a shower of multicolored sparks, and