Inferno | Draco Malfoy

096 | Fight or Flight

19th December
1997.

The mist on the train window obscures my vision from the outside world. I sweep my arm across a small patch of cold glass, revealing a breathtaking panorama that lies beyond. It's a sight for sore eyes, the ethereal beauty of the distant mountains with their peaks that are shrouded in a layer of snow. At that moment, all my troubles seemed to melt away, replaced by a deep sense of connection to the beauty of the natural world. After all, we are just a bundle of atoms in a universe, sharing the same atmosphere globally.

All of a sudden, the Hogwarts Express comes to a halt, reverberating the unsteady screeching of brakes. I'm immediately pulled into reality upon seeing that the impact of the halt had caused some of our possessions to tumble onto the carriage floor.

A frantic first-year runs into our carriage. "They're here!" He screams in hysterics. "The Death Eaters are here!" He screams once more before running down into another carriage.

The news echoes in everyone's ears, causing some students to gasp in disbelief, some to exchange confused or worried glances and some to put on a brave face. Nonetheless, the sense of alarm fills all our veins, and our first reaction is to succumb to panic. After all, the once serene journey is now disrupted, furthermore troubled, and students are left restless with the realisation that they are no longer safe and secure in this train on the way for the Christmas holidays.

"Why would they be here?" Blaise cautiously opens the carriage window and peers his head out of it, scanning the surroundings to spot any signs of unusual activity.

"Why would you believe a child?" Tracey sighs. "Children fib a lot. There's no need to worry, the train just probably spotted a faulty track."

"Tracey, I understand that rationality is always the best answer," Milly looks around, seemingly becoming distressed. "but do you not feel it? That sickly feeling in your stomach that's eating your flesh away?"

I feel it too. My breathing fastens, my heart rate escalates, and a sense of trepidation engulfs me, as though I am put on edge. Each breath I take becomes shallow, and the constant echoing of my beating heart reminds me of the uneasiness coursing through me. All the simplest of sounds become amplified, and my eyes dart everywhere around the room, vigilant and watchful to notify my senses of any nearby danger. Something is seriously not all right, my intuition knows that.

Tracey shakes her head with an eye-roll. "That's because you ate chocolate this morning—"

BANG!

The compartment door is slid open with immense force, causing a resounding thud to echo throughout everyone's ears, and hell, now I know why my body is put in fight or flight mode.

Two hooded Death Eaters, with faces concealed by masks and figures clad in sombre robes (only adding to the dismaying ambience that seems to permeate the air), stand stoically by the door.

A hush falls over the compartment; the silence is deafening, with the occasional sounds of heavy breathing and nervous fiddling (tapping, shuffling, etc.) Everyone can feel the apparent danger and threat the Death Eaters propose, it's in the atmosphere, and we only collectively brace ourselves for whatever may happen next as we watch them with attentive eyes.

It is not until a third Death Eater, unmasked, taller and brawnier, appears from behind the two, that the waves of fear begin to course through my body as he suspends a boy from the ground by gripping the hem of his jumper, and it's a boy whom I recognise as Terry Boot.