Pastel pink

Raids

Chapter 14: Raids

15th December, 1975

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"There's been another one." Marlene announced through gritted teeth, passing the paper to Abellina who read the headline, stating that there had been an attack on several high-ranking ministry workers and the bodies of them and their families had been left to hang outside the ministry. Below was a gory picture of 7 men and women whose eyes had been gouged out and were hanging by their necks. The women were naked and the article confirmed that all the females had been raped and the men tortured as well as their families. There was also an attack on one of the muggle surrounding areas of London. Luckily the Ministry were alerted by a squib living in the area and managed to get on site only 5 minutes after it started. It wasn't enough though. 94 died and 76 were in St Mungo's. They had had to perform one of the largest memory removal spells ever. Next to the article was a list of all the people who had died. It stretched across a whole 2 sides. More and more attacks had been happening with increasing regularity and intensity. As Abellina was scanning the page she heard someone begin to scream and cry, looking up she saw a second year Ravenclaw boy. Three of the ministry workers hanging there had children in hogwarts.

"I'm gonna be sick." Abellina choked, passing the paper over to Lily. An atmosphere hung over the room. It was an odd mix of fear, relief, pity and sorrow. Those who knew that their parents were safe felt the sickening joy that they were okay followed by the crushing guilt that just because their parents were okay it didn't mean that everyones were. The people who hadn't yet seen the paper were filled with dread of what was to come, knowing that if they saw their parents or read the name of a relative then they were now marked for death. Hushed whispers circulated the room like a game of Chinese whispers but even they were silenced when Dumbledore stood up.

"I apologise for interrupting your breakfast. In case any of you have not heard then there has been another attack. One on high-profiling ministry workers and one on a muggle town. I will save you the details although I am sure you will hear about them later. For now the Minister has asked me to read the names of the fallen to you as an act of commemoration. We will build a memorial to them to ensure that their lives will never be forgotten- nor will the acts of violence leading to their deaths." Each name was like a heavy blow knocking you off course and they just kept coming. It was an endless torrent and as each name was read the sense of doom and fear increased, as if it were a reminder of how bad things were getting out there and of how they could die- their entire lives and friendships insignificant to the fact that they had died. At irregular intervals people would start sobbing or wailing if a name they knew was read out.

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"My dad works there. It could be him next. They're going after ministry people- high up ministry people. My dads worked with all these people and it could be him next." James whispered into his hands in History of Magic, tears welling up behind his eyes and his voice was thick and bubbling with flem. He was so close to sobbing. It didn't feel right, he had always been strong and she had never seen him cry. It just added to the overall sense of wrongness. This shouldn't be happening. Neither he nor Abellina had spoken to each other since the kiss as he had been avoiding her and she had accepted that he probably had a reason to ignore her and gave him time but now time didn't matter. What mattered was that he was upset and she was there. It would have been no more or less important if they were complete strangers. His world was falling apart and she knew exactly how he felt. She had watched her own father as he walked towards his death and she knew the gut-wrenching pain of being utterly trapped and unable to help- like standing on the precipice and not knowing whether you would fall or fly.