Adventures at Hogwarts

Chapter 14: The Attack

Once the match was over, the group headed back to the tent to get ready to go home. Whilst in the tent, the twins, Ron, and Ginny were celebrating the Irish victory. It was an intense match. Ireland pulled a victory against Bulgaria even though the Bulgarian Seeker, Victor Krum, caught the Golden Snitch. Ron started this celebration by talking about Krum's performance. "He's like a bird the way he flies in the wind. He's not just an athlete, he's an artist." Ginny mocked her brother's description, "Think you're in love, Ron!" Ron immediately retaliated, "Shut up!" The twins, Harry, and Meg started singing mocking Ron, "Victor I love you! Victor I do! When we're apart my heart sores." Everyone began to laugh. A few minutes later, Fred acknowledged the screams coming from outside. "Looks like the Irish have got their pride on!" Mr. Weasley was quick to retaliate, "It's not the Irish. We've got to get out of here." The group began to quiver. They all looked outside to see six masked, dark men with torches making their way through the camp site and destroying everything in their path. The kids' eyes widened tremendously, especially Meg's. She hadn't seen Death Eaters in seven years. Mr. Weasley started giving instructions. "Everybody get back to the portkey and sick together! Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility! Now, get out of here!" With that, Meg, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and the twins made their way out of the camp.

As the group made their way back to the portkey, they ran into a forest area. Somehow on the way there, the group got separated into two groups. Fred, George, and Ginny were one group, and the four friends were the other. As the four friends made there way to the forest area, they ran into Draco Malfoy. Meg was probably the most shocked out of the four of them. Meg spoke up first, "Hi!" Draco responded, "Hey!" Meg continued the conversation, "What's going on? Why are Death Eaters attacking everyone at this hour?" Draco hesitated, but he still answered her question. "They find joy in terrorizing Muggles and Muddbloods, and they figured the Quidditch World Cup was a good place to find them since the stadium belongs to the Muggles." Meg wasn't surprised about his explanation, but it still amazed her that Death Eaters would still attack even though Voldemort has not yet returned. Draco continued, "If they find that you're smuggling a Muddblood out of this place, they'll do the same thing to all of you. Including you, Granger." Meg looked back at Hermione who looked extremely frightened. So, Meg did what she thought was necessary. She hustled to where Draco was standing and held her wand against his chest with it pointed to the underside of his chin. She was furious that he would make that accusation about her best friend. Besides, Ron stood up for Hermione quickly last time, so it was her turn. However, Draco thought this gesture was quite amusing; he smirked at her. "You don't have the guts, McCown." Meg retaliated, "Wanna bet?" Harry was quick; he grabbed Meg and held her back. Harry questioned Draco even further, "Isn't YOUR father participating in this chaos, Malfoy?" Draco hated this question, because he knew Harry was right, but he couldn't admit that. Not now at least. So Draco responded, "Wouldn't YOU like to know, Potter?" Harry and Draco glared at each other. Harry still had a good grip on Meg, but he still noticed Draco was making glances at her. Sadly, Draco knew he lost that battle and decided to leave. The four friends watched him storm off. Meg felt pity for Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione all felt hatred. They didn't approve of his feelings for Meg, but they would let Meg make her own decisions.

As the group made their way through the woods, it became harder and harder for the group to see. So, Meg pulled out her wand and said, "Lumos," which made the end of her wand light up. Ron and Hermione did the same thing, but Harry was having trouble. Meg, Ron, and Hermione looked at him in confusion, and Harry looked up at them and said, "I think I lost my wand." Meg, Hermione, and Ron looked at Harry in disbelief. Meg was the first to speak, "Please tell me you're joking." Harry responded to her, "I wish I was." Meg became exasperated with Harry. She knew he was irresponsible but she didn't think it was that bad. Before Meg could go off on Harry, Hermione was quick to point out a limping shadow in the mist. Everyone turned to look where Hermione was pointing. Meg walked away from Harry and walked closer to the figure. Meg was shocked to see who it was. The figure looked a lot like Winky, Mr. Crouch's house-elf. Meg noticed that Winky was holding something and was about to give that something to a tall, dark figure. Meg couldn't quite see what was going on, but a few seconds later, she heard a mumbling and then all of a sudden she saw a green, smoky skull in the sky that had a snake in it's mouth. Once Meg really looked at it, she immediately recognized it as the Dark Mark. Suddenly, her head started pounding, so much so that she fell to the ground holding her head in agony. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran towards Meg to help her. Harry lifted Meg and held her in his arms. After a while, Meg's pain began to subside, but all of a sudden, the four friends noticed multiple wands were pointed at them. They duck in time to avoid being stunned. Harry held Meg closer to him, and Ron and Hermione protected the two. Before anyone could do harm to the four friends, Mr. Weasley stepped in and stood up for them. However, Mr. Crouch was a lot quicker and began to interrogate the four friends. "Which of you conjured it?" The four friends looked at each other in confusion. Hermione spoke up, "All we heard was a man mumbling something and then it appeared." Mr. Crouch didn't believe Hermione in the slightest. One of the men who was surrounding the four friends turned out to be Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. He went to where Winky was and brought her to the scene, but she was unconscious. She was holding a wand that turned out to be Harry's wand. Meg looked up from Harry's chest and saw the scene before her. She was frightened slightly, but she still was in pain. A few minutes and spells later, Mr. Diggory brought Winky back to reality and asked her what happened. She didn't explain much other than the obvious. Mr. Crouch went from disbelief to denial within about 30 seconds. He decided to drop the subject and let the four friends go. He fired Winky and apparated away immediately. Hermione was horrified at this. She felt Winky didn't deserve to be fired after what just happened. She knew Winky didn't do this on purpose. Harry, Ron, and Meg knew they wouldn't hear the end of this from Hermione. Mr. Weasley urged the group to get back to the tent. Since Meg was still in pain Harry carried her back to the tent. Mr. Weasley found Fred, George, and Ginny on his voyage to find the four friends, so they all headed band to their tent to discuss what happened.

Once they arrived back to the tent, Harry laid Meg down on one of the beds, and Hermione got a wet, warm washcloth and laid it on Meg's head. Harry sat by Meg and held her right hand while Mr. Weasley explained everything. "What you all witnessed tonight was an attack that no one expected to see. When Voldemort first came to power, he had many followers that he called 'Death Eaters'. They reeked havoc on the wizard of world to get rid of Muggles and Muggle-borns all over. After every kill that they performed, they would always cast the Dark Mark in the sky to terrify anyone who saw it. However, everything is and will be okay. Not to worry." The four friends believed Mr. Weasley, but Harry, Ron, and even Hermione were confused about Meg's pain. They wouldn't ask her yet, however, she needed her rest. Harry remained by her side till they went home.

Three days later, the group headed back to the Burrow. Meg felt better but she still felt kind of dizzy. Harry remained by her side throughout the trip home. Meg appreciated it, but she felt kind of weird. Of course Harry was her best friend, but it felt kind of strange for him to be this protective of her. As soon as the group made it home, Mrs. Weasley greeted them in tears. She had read about the attack in the Daily Prophet and was worried sick for her family. After they greeted Mrs. Weasley and assured her that they were okay, the kids headed upstairs to unpack and get ready to head to Hogwarts. Hermione was quick to ask Meg about what exactly happened with her and Malfoy and the fact that she became nauseous and in pain after seeing the Dark Mark. Meg was hesitant, but she answered Hermione's question. "The reason why I felt sick and in pain after seeing the Dark Mark is because I can't be around any form of Voldemort's magic. As in, I can't be around any form of magic that is associated with Lord Voldemort. My father created my magic to where if I'm even around it, I get sick and I feel so much pain. I don't really know how to explain it. As of Malfoy, I have no idea what you're talking about." Hermione understood the first part pretty good, she got aggravated when Meg ignored the question about Draco. So she asked it in a different way. "What I mean is, what was with the situation that happened before the match started and when we were trying to escape the attack?" Meg understood the first question perfectly, she just didn't want to answer it. However, she complied and answered Hermione's second question. "He does that a lot, okay. It's become a regular thing for him and honestly, I don't mind it that much. Plus, he and I have become rather close friends as of last year, and I think you should respect that." Hermione was quick to respond, "Meg, can't you see it? He wants you! He's always wanted you! The only thing boys want out of a girl is sex, Meg! Especially Malfoy! Do you not remember what he did to you two years ago in the Astronomy Tower? He wants to shag you, Meg! Why can't you see this?" Meg didn't like this at all. "He's different 'Mione! He actually does care about me! Why can't you see that!" Hermione didn't argue any further. All she said was, "I just want to protect you. I don't want you to be hurt." Meg appreciated this. "I know, 'Mione. I appreciate you doing this, but I believe he's different than you think. I hope you can trust my judgement on this. If he's anything like he was seven years ago when we were close, I'll be okay. I promise." Meg hugged her best friend. Hermione said to her best friend, "I trust you completely." Meg smiled and hugged her best friend tighter. Hermione did tell the truth. She trusted Meg completely. She knew Meg could handle herself, but that didn't stop her from worrying for her best friend.