Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 47 | NO!

Honeydukes was on fire.

As Mia and Charlus walked out of the cafe with their mouths open in horror and shock, that was the first thing that they saw. Flames were swallowing the sweet shop as clouds of black smoke emitted from it, circling around the street and choking the shocked individuals on the street, stood just like what Charlus and Euphemia were.

Students ran out of Honeydukes screaming and coughing, sobbing and shaking with their eyes wide and their surprised expressions soon turning to fear and horror as they saw the state of the store that they had just escaped from.

Honeydukes burned like a bonfire set with gasoline, the flames licking up the walls and swallowing them whole, leaving nothing but burnt embers in return. The orange flames were garish against the brilliant paint that had once graced Honeyduke's walls, the black smoke making dark columns into an otherwise perfectly clear winters sky. The once blue door was already burning, the paint bubbling as it was consumed in seconds by the intense heat.

A window blew out with a loud bang, sending hot shards of glass into the street which made many people scream and jump back, clutching at each other. It was an inferno that would burn itself out, putting the fire out early would only increase the length of the demolition afterwards - it was better to rebuild from the ashes than work with a structure too compromised to stand.

However, there were still people in there and Charlus' frantic eyes scanned the frightened crowd to look for their friends - spotting Florean not too far away next to the brown haired boy that had stormed out of the cafe that they had been in.

"Someone owl Headmaster Dippet or Professor Dumbledore!" the Honeydukes owner yelled before ordering for everyone to get back, his devastated expression covered in soot and grime from the raging inferno.

Students were still staggering out, clutching onto each other as they coughed from inhaling smoke but everyone must've gotten out as the Honeydukes owner didn't seem too worried, only upset because of the state of his shop. But it wasn't over yet.

Honeydukes suddenly let out a huge roar and the flames, that had previously just embraced the building itself, shot out at the people watching the shop burn and sparks hit some of the students, sending them to the ground with screams that practically rattled the windows of other stores lining the Hogsmeade high street that was now crammed with terrified kids.

The flames suddenly began to spread, snaking around pillars and spilling onto the other shops like a terrible disease ruining all the places with it's horrible fire. Other shops and pubs near to Honeydukes had started to evacuate now and many students were fleeing to the end of the street, residing in the Hogs Head which was the furthest away from the burning Honeydukes.

Tears filling her eyes, Euphemia went to go and run into the crowd from where she and Charlus were stood to one side but Charlus quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her back and shaking his head frantically at her. "I have to go and find the others to make sure they're safe!" Mia insisted, trying to tug her hand out of Charlus' grip but he wasn't letting her go any time soon.

"No, you need to stay here so that I can make sure that you're safe," Charlus told her, clutching her hand even tighter as his panicked eyes scanned the crowd, who were all watching the burning building. Some Ravenclaws had tried to 'Aguamenti' the fire away but it hadn't really made any difference and now everyone was either running away from the slowly spreading flames or standing frozen in fear.

It was then that it happened.

All of them emerging from the bottom end of the street, there was a group of masked people running towards the fire, with their wands outstretched towards the crowd and the gradually growing fire. At first, Euphemia sighed in relief and relaxed in Charlus' grip because she thought that they were coming to put the fire out and it seemed that a lot of the other students gathered on the High Street also had the same idea, meaning that a lot of them weren't prepared for what was coming.