Amulet of Time 2: Two Worlds, Two Wars

Chapter 11: Boom! Boom! Boom!

Everyone in the room was thrown to the floor in the blast. Charles threw himself on top of his son to protect him, and Agnes covered Minh. The other four were trying to take cover as best they could under a ruined table. As the dust began to settle, the loud wailing of the air raid siren could still be heard penetrating the darkness. The sound of dozens upon dozens of aeroplanes provided a frightening background noise, and the nearby explosions of bombs were bringing plaster down from the ceiling. Another bomb hit too close by, making the upstairs of the house start to collapse, and it was only a matter of time before the roof gave in completely. Minh, Ginny and Eustace were screaming, the two adults were shaking and clutching the two youngest members of the group, and Harry, Ron and Hermione all had silent tears running down their faces. After a few minutes, the dust had thinned enough for everyone to see each other, and the four time travellers made their way from under the table to where the others were positioned.

" What should we do now?!" Hermione asked Charles.

" I suggest we gather what we can and head to the nearest underground station. They are the best places to escape the bombs, as we don't have our own shelter."

Everyone shakily stood up, but was soon thrown to the ground again from a shockwave as the house next door was annihilated. After staggering to their feet a second time, they quickly moved around the house and gathered what they could as fast as possible. There seemed to be a brief brake in the bombing, but they knew it wouldn't last long. The students grabbed the bags they had brought down earlier to fill with their shrunken Christmas presents, and threw in as many extra items as they could fit in there. Once they had everything, they met up again at the door. It was Ginny who suddenly had a terrifying thought.

" Mr. Potter? What happened to the butler and maid?"

" I'm afraid they were upstairs when the last bomb hit. I found them when I was trying to gather potions from the bathroom cabinet. They're dead."

The group became even more depressed at this latest pronouncement, but vowed to put it out of their heads until they were somewhere safe. Before they could dwell on it too much, they wrapped themselves in their thick winter cloaks and went out of the door.

What met them out there was something they had never expected. The snow covered ground was littered with rubble and bodies, both whole ones and pieces of those unfortunate enough to have been right on top of a blast. A deep red stained the white in some places, vivid splashes of colour in an otherwise grey world. Buildings all along the street were reduced to piles of stone and mortar, people's possessions littering the ground in various stages of destruction. To the left, where the neighbouring house had once stood, was a heap of rubble with a porcelain bathtub sticking out, and a spray of water from a burst water pipe. The people inside hadn't had a chance.

Looking around, the group could see frantic Muggles running back and forth. Down the road, one family was frantically trying to pull two burning children out of a demolished building as their screams of agony filled the air, only to be suddenly cut off as a nearby wall collapsed. Wardens were trying to gather the injured and herd the healthy into the nearby station. Each and every one of the people on the street was wearing a hideous gas mask, making them look like demons in a hellish landscape.

After a few minutes of standing, Agnes pushed the group along the street as the hum of the aeroplanes once again grew louder. As they ran down the street, they could see their path lighted by the enormous search lights scanning the skies for any enemy craft. The harsh sound of anti-aircraft fire added to the overall din. A bomb hit the ground a few houses in front of them, throwing them across the road and into a burning building. It gave them a good view of the exploding home, among other things a flaming Christmas tree flying out of the front window. Getting to their feet, they made one final dash to the underground station, desperate to leave Hades behind them.