THC Round 9 - It all ends here
House: Slytherin
Class: DADA
Entry: Drabble
Prompt: [Quote] "For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won." Lucy Maud Montgomery
Word count: 668
Betas: Butterflies765, Aya Diefair, Fires Of Eden Red Rose Aurora, VanillaAshes
A darker piece than what I usually write. I hope you enjoy it!
The Perish Of The World As We Once Knew It
Carter Longbottom looked out over what had once been London; the city that he had grown up in, the city that he used to love. However, what was now left of it looked nothing like he remembered.
Columns of smoke trailed up into the darkened sky where grey clouds swallowed them up, preparing for the next thunderstorm. Here and there, fires were burning, destroying what little was left of a past life.
He could still remember the very moment when the war between the Muggle and the wizarding world had started.
He had been at home, sitting at their dining table. His mother had made her signature casserole, one he would die for. It had been an expression, but now he was really, truly willing to give his life to eat that casserole again, or just simply to see his mother. The first rumble of an explosion had followed shortly after the Patronus had flown into their kitchen.
"It is time. Prepare yourselves and raise your wands to defend your rights."
They had raised their wands. To defend their lives. And it had been for nothing; he was the only one left.
They had been in their bedrooms, packing everything necessary into small bags when the first bomb had fallen in his neighbourhood, only eleven minutes and forty-two seconds after the Patronus.
It had blown away half of their street. It hadn't been enough time.
Carter felt a lone tear roll down his cheek as he watched two children run through burnt-down Diagon Alley. What had once been Gringotts was now an ugly, twisted, charred ruin that loomed over them threateningly, a constant reminder of the terror that lay ahead. One of them was clutching something to their chest—it looked like a plush toy. Where were their parents?
'Probably also dead,' a nasty voice whispered in the back of his mind as the pain of losing his own family washed over him anew. 'Just like almost every innocent person in this country.'
It was true, those who had started the war were somewhere safe, hiding in a bunker or under the Fidelius Charm, far, far away from all the terror and death the rest of the population had to endure.
He didn't even know what the reason for the first attack had been. Was it that some powerful and influential wizard had wanted to live out of hiding for once? Was it that he had wanted to rule over the Muggles, put them in their rightful place?
A lot of witches and wizards thought that way and it scared Carter. It had always scared him, even back at Hogwarts. He had no idea who had planted the thought into people's minds first; but then again, he wasn't sure of a lot of things these days. If it were Grindelwald's era, he would understand. If it were Lord Voldemort's era, he would understand. But this wasn't anyone's era.
All of the great war heroes, including his great-grandfather, Neville, from the nineties were dead, perished of old age. Their children had followed them eventually. The second wizarding war had been over a century ago, and yet wizardkind had apparently not learnt anything from history.
There always had to be someone who thought it was their right to just take whatever they wanted. But there was a price. There always was a price, and they never paid it any mind. It didn't matter who was at power at what time, the human mind always behaved similarly stupid.
Selfish.
As he looked at the smoking remains of what had once been his hometown, he felt all emotions leave him. This was what had to happen. For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won.
London had paid the price, they all had. And now they had to live with what was left.
I hope you liked it!
Until next time - see ya!