Worthy Of Magic

Part 54 - Ground Zero

The Settlement by the Sea, Time Unknown

Sirius Black was a tragic story. The outcast and disappointment of his dark magic fanatical family; the member of a secret organisation that cost him everything he held dear and now - a man trapped in a desert by his own godson whom he had failed.

The only thing that kept him going was the deluded idea that he was a good man despite all that he had survived. He never wanted to hurt anybody. In fact, all he cared about was laughs.

He was sitting by the edge of the sea, his feet planted in the wet sand, sinking deeper by the will of the gentle waves washing the surface of the sand.

He could see Azkaban clearly now. It's black walls rising high, radiating a malevolent energy that the dementors fed on during the day. Even the muggles could feel it.

Daphne had already left to find Harry. He had tried to stop her and show her that she was more useful and wanted in the Settlement, but there was no changing her mind. He felt she had lost her hold on reality.

Sirius sighed.

Without Daphne, he was unsure where the settlement would go. Despite her young age, she had captured the hearts and minds of all, and created a safe haven for all kinds of humans with bias or prejudice. She had injected in the survivors, the will to keep surviving. Without her, it was up to him, as one of the first settlers to ensure the camp did not fall into disarray.

It was why he sat by the beach more often nowadays. He had to figure out how to prevent Azkaban from coming into range of their protective magical shield.

Arthur joined him to watch the sun set.

"They left," Arthur said with a sigh. "Daphne was hoping to see you. She had instructions for you."

"They're idiots," Sirius replied sadly. "We have something good going on here. She rebuilt a society and now she's gone to pursue a freaking mad man. She's not going to find peace in that."

"She's hunting for her heart," Arthur said with a smile. "She just doesn't know it."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't be corny Arthur. She's just obsessed. He's the one who destroyed her dreams."

"Not just hers," Arthur said quietly. "We've all lost things precious to us."

"Hopefully he's dead," Sirius muttered darkly. Thinking about Harry always put him in a bad mood.

They lapsed into silence, just staring over the ocean at the solitary island and the red horizon that had almost swallowed the sun whole, when suddenly, a tremor rippled under the sands.

"Did you feel that?" Sirius said with a start.

Arthur stood up, his eyes widening with each tremor. "It's coming from Azkaban."

He was right. The island was shaking.

Another violent tremor hit them hard and panic could be heard from the camp as people ran out of their huts and headed towards the beach.

"What's going on!" many shouted in panic.

"Is it an Earthquake?!"

Cracks began to appear in the walls of Azkaban and the sky began to crackle with unnatural electricity.

Everyone was struggling to hold onto their footing as the Desert shook uncontrollably.

And then, to everyone's disbelief, the island exploded into black flames and its shattered rocks spewed into the sky, with fiery smoking trails of debris.

"Take Cover!"

An inhuman screeching sound pierced the skies and brought everyone to their knees with the pain and terrifying nature of the sound.