In The Safety Of Magical World

Chapter 25

I met up with my parents in a small, open-air cafe on the other side of the town, far away from our house. The blood-drenched clothes were stuffed at the bottom of the garbage bin and I was changed into a clean polo shirt and some jeans that weren't exactly new, but one never wears their best clothing for moving. On my shoulders, there was a backpack and behind me, I was pulling my scarlet travel bag, the same one I had with me at Hogwarts. Both of them were filled with clothes, shoes, toiletries, and a bit of food. 

I almost felt as if I was on my way to the King's Cross station to walk through the barrier in the wall and board the Express once again. I wasn't. Everything was upside down this time. I was about to go as far from the station as possible.

I would lie if I said it wasn't difficult for me to leave my house behind. My heart felt like a stone in my chest as leaned the front door against where it used to be. Bellatrix's spell had damaged it to the point where only tiny scraps of metal were left from the hinges. The house was pretty much destroyed. 

Everything in the living room was splattered with blood, the dried stains had taken a dark, plum-colored tint. Even though Bellatrix was gone, part of her was still here in the shape of a big puddle of blood in the place where the Dark Witch died. Fragments of the TV were scattered across the room, irreparable.

The second floor wasn't better. The bed in my room was turned bottom up and snapped in half, the shelves where Fawkes used to sit, were blasted to chips. My computer was wrecked too, melted like butter in the sun. I couldn't believe my eyes. And it seemed that no one from outside had taken any notice of what happened in here. 

It was as if the whole town was either abandoned, blind, or totally deaf. Nobody had heard my screams when Bellatrix was torturing me with the Cruciatus Curse. Not a soul saw the outside damage of the house. And the cops never appeared.

But the material damage wasn't the main reason we had to leave our house. My father with his hard-working nature would have eventually renovated every little thing. This house wasn't safe anymore. It had become a target for the Death Eaters and any day some of them might come and finish what Bellatrix started, especially if they were alerted by her death. Neither I nor my parents could return and I was trying my best to explain it to them.

" Leave our house? Forever? You cannot be serious, Thomas! "

Tears welled in my mother's eyes as she was holding father's hand on the table. The coffee in the small mugs had gone cold, neither of us had touched it. I expected this reaction. Initially, my heart was splitting in two. Though houses were nothing but four walls and a roof, it almost felt as if we were losing a family member.

" There's no other way. You need to move away. Hide. Start life in a new place. "

" But...but it's our house, " mother spoke through tears, sobbing, " your dad and I moved in there soon after the wedding. Then you were born. All the joys and misfortunes our family has gone through happened there. How could we ever live elsewhere?"

" It's just a house, mom, " I answered, staring at the glossy surface of the cafe table. " And those are nothing but memories. They'll always be with you, no matter where you live. "

" The witch is gone, isn't she? " my father asked and even without lifting my eyes, I felt his gaze on me. " What's the issue then? Your mother's right, you cannot simply place us in front of the fact like that. We left in such a hurry and must at least gather our things. Surely you don't expect us to move with empty hands. "

" No possessions are worth your life. You'll have to start from zero, dad, it's the only way. I cannot allow you to go back for anything, as I don't know what's going on in that house now. Bellatrix's gone, but she might not be the last one. There could be dozens of Death Eaters swarming our rooms now for all we know. "