LATIBULE - F.WEASLEY

2

A scream escapes Maggie's lips as she dives towards the back of her tent. Maggie scrambles towards the back of the tent as smoke becomes thick in the air. It was wrapping itself around her neck, choking her as the flames continued tearing their way towards her.

Amidst fits of coughing and sputtering, Maggie's hand reaches for her wand. She raises her wand before making a slashing motion as she shouts the incantation.

"Diffindo!"

A rift tears through the fabric at the rear of the tent, providing her escape route. Gasping for breath, Maggie scrambles through the opening, leaving the burning tent behind.

The witch steadies herself on shaky legs, her wand still firmly gripped in her hand. She joins the stream of people fleeing the chaos, but her progress was interrupted when she stumbled over something on the scorched ground.

Her gaze falls upon a familiar figure, huddled on the floor with arms shielding his head in a desperate attempt at protection - Harry Potter.

"Hey, get up," Maggie urges, reaching out to grasp his trembling arm. "It's okay."

With Maggie's support, Harry regains his feet. By this point, the once-thriving crowd had dwindled to a mere shadow, leaving behind a haunting landscape that resembled a graveyard, with charred tent remnants scattered like mournful tombstones.

"You're Maggie, right?" Harry asks and the witch nods.

The acrid smoke still hung in the air, shrouding the stars and obscuring the night's serenity. Suddenly, a snapping branch in the distance jolts Maggie into action, causing her to instinctively pull Harry behind her.

Wide-eyed, Maggie's gaze fixes on the mysterious figure walking through the desolation of the burned campsite.

"Who is that?" Harry whispers.

"I have no idea," Maggie lies, her voice equally hushed.

Then, with a chilling incantation, the figure raises his wand.

"Morsmorde!"

A brilliant green light burst forth, weaving and shaping itself into a sinister skull. Its jaw creaked open, releasing a slithering serpent. Maggie's eyes lock on the figure of her father, and as if sensing her eyes, he turns to face her.

His eyes flick to the boy behind Maggie and he begins advancing towards the pair. Harry's breaths were ragged, the panic he was feeling was very clear. Maggie raises her wand, a spell forming on her lips as she unleashes it at her father. He deftly blocks it, his expression unreadable. Another spell flies from Maggie's wand causing her father to clutch his shoulder, blood staining his fingers.

"HARRY?!" A voice calls from the distance.

"HARRY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Maggie, what's that mark?"

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry," Maggie replies, the green glow coating both of them. "It's Voldemort's mark. He and his followers used to put it over the houses of people they killed, muggles or magical"

Two figures stumble towards them, emerging from the smoke. Maggie raises her wand, keeping it pointed at the two figures. When they finally emerge from the smoke, it reveals Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

"Woah!" Ron raises his hands. "Don't shoot. That's the saying right?"

"Sorry," Maggie lowers her wand. "Didn't want to chance it being anyone- Well, you know, unfriendly"

"STUPEFY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Maggie yanks Harry and Hermione down as Ron drops next to them. At least eight balls of red light collide in the air before dissipating.

"That would have been almost lethal," Hermione whispers.

"STOP, THAT'S MY SON!"

As Arthur Weasley runs over, Maggie stands up, watching her grandfather and a group of Aurors run over. She stares at him and he blanches slightly.

"Which of the three of you conjured it?" Her grandfather points his wand between Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Barty, they're just kids," Mr Weasley murmurs.

"There was a man," Harry interrupts the conversation. "Over there"

Maggie locks eyes with her grandfather before nodding at him, almost imperceptibly. The man's eyes doubled in size before the Aurors ran in the direction Harry had led them.

"Go home, Margot," Her grandfather says.

"But-"

"Remember your place, young lady!" Her grandfather snaps, causing Maggie to flinch. "Now go home"

Maggie watches as her grandfather follows after the group of Aurors. She could feel the eyes of the others on her. She wraps her arms around herself as she turns on her heel.

"Maggie!" Harry calls after her. "We'll walk you to your portkey"

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Harry, Ron and Hermione sit in the Burrow, talking. They had moved on from the events of that night and were now talking about Maggie Crouch-McKinnon.

"Her grandfather is awful," Hermione shakes her head. "Did you see her flinch away from him?"

"Poor thing," Molly frets to her husband as they listen to the trio's conversation. "Her mother was murdered, her father a criminal who died in Azkaban. Now she lives in that house with that horrible man"

"She looked unwell," Arthur voices his own concerns. "Terrified of her grandfather that's for sure"

"You don't think he's hurting her, do you?"

"The wards around that house are not just to keep people out," Arthur mutters. "They're to keep people in. Maggie is only seen at Ministry events when she's not at Hogwarts"

"You think she's trapped?"

"Barty Crouch is a man of image. His only saving face is Maggie, daughter of Marlene McKinnon. Her father is never mentioned,"

"So she's all alone in that big house? That poor, poor girl,"