The dawn light filtered through the tiny cracks in the roof of the potions classroom. The surviving students started stirring from a restless night, or merely continuing their silent vigil of their world that had been wiped out and left lying on top of them. Lavender had gone silent, and only the occasional bat of an eyelid betrayed the fact that she was alive at all. It had been around 18 hours since the explosion, and now hunger and anxiety about what had happened above them.
The students had split into two camps over this problem. One group, comprising of most of the surviving Slytherins and a few of the pure born Gryffindors, had wanted to dig their way out, but the other group, comprising all of the muggle borne and the remaining pure born Gryffindors had opted to stay in their shelter and wait for rescue.
Arguments and insults soon began to fly between both sides, mostly aimed at the muggle borns as being part of a despicable and inhumane enemy. Open fighting had almost broken out by the time Harry yelled out.
"For god's sake people, please, we're already in so much mess as it is, and fighting is only to make things worse." He cried, begging for common sense to be restored.
"Thanks to those people," spat out Draco, pointing an accusing finger at Hermione and Dean.
"Draco, SHUT THE HELL UP!!" Bellowed Harry. Draco stopped, and stared viciously at Harry. "There will be no more insults, name calling, whatever. That is final. Now, we are going to try and figure out what to do."
"Hey," cried Draco, cringing slightly as he caught a tender burn on a sharp edge, "who made you leader?"
"Listen Draco, I am, at the moment the only person here who hasn't lost their head in panic or anger. Now, we either sort it out properly, or we sit here and do nothing." Draco didn't reply. "Right, Hermione, do you know how long it takes for this 'radiation' to pass?"
"No," replied Hermione, helping Parvati change Lavenders bandages, which were now so full of pus that a small pool of yellow had formed under her immobile body.
"What are the f**k are you asking her for?" Yelled an enraged Draco, glaring at Hermione as though she was dragon dung smeared over his Nimbus 2001. "She's, she's, one of them!"
"Malfoy!!" Replied Harry, in a tone almost as nasty as Draco's. "Shut up, or I'll do it for you!! I would trust Hermione with my life, hell I am doing now, and if she says she doesn't know, then she doesn't know." Malfoy moved directly in front of Harry, and the two sized each other up. The tension was unbearable, but Malfoy eventually backed down. He beckoned Crabbe and Goyle over, and told them to start shifting rocks from the collapsed doorway. Harry went to stop them, but was stopped by Hermione's hand.
"He's right, you know, we've got at least as good a chance out there as in here, besides, we have to do something, if only for the sake of the sane." She went back to helping Lavender and Parvati. Harry turned to Draco and his 'yes' men who were shifting heavy boulders out of the way.
Harry sat down. Lack of sleep and hunger were affecting him, but he had to keep himself and the group together. Every option went through his head. Each had its merits, and each had its pitfalls. He kept remembering this poem; he couldn't remember where he heard it. If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you then a memory blank, and then another bit would appear. Harry tried desperately to remember what the poem was, as though it would help him somehow. Then it clicked. Courage does not always mean doing some act of sheer chivalry to save a damsel in distress. No, true courage was the ability to stand up to those who want to destroy what you have created, to undo what you had done. He had to take charge, he knew it, he had to fight, to stand up and take control from all those who would take it away from him. He, he, had to get these people out, together, all of them, for the sake of everyone here and in the name of everyone who had perished that day. No, no one else was going to die, not with him.
"Right, Hermione, Parvati. Get Lavender ready to travel, transfigure a bit of furniture if you have to. Everyone else, go and help Crabbe and Goyle, now!!" Everyone turned to stare at him, most with expressions of shock or surprise. "Well," continued Harry "get a move on!"
Like Shepard-less sheep that had found their master, the students set about their assigned task. Suddenly, they had what had previously been missing. Hope. Something more powerful than even the biggest nuclear bomb, an emotion deep within anyone, even those who seemed to have lost everything. All it needed was a little spark, like a powder keg with a fuse. There was little to go on, only the prospect of what was outside, but its effect was extraordinary.
As the dawn sun appeared over then village of Kenknock in central Scotland, the sleepy inhabitants were awakened by an unusual growling noise outside their windows. They opened their curtains and shutters to reveal a column of army vehicles heading up the only road into the village. Headed by an armoured landrover and backed up by three warrior armoured personnel carriers and about ten heavy lorries, the convoy looked liked it was entering a battle zone rather than a peaceful Scottish village.
The convoy arrived in the village square, and troops started jumping out of the warriors, whilst opening the back of the trucks and going to each door and knocking until each door had been opened. Ten minutes later, the last truck disappeared round a mountain, and the village was abandoned, breakfasts abandoned, doors left open, and suitcases littering the floor of the village green. A single Lynx flew down the valley, Video and Infrared cameras searching for any stragglers. The only noise came from an upturned Television set in one person's front room.
"In many villages in central
Scotland, a similar scene is being repeated that has not been witnessed since
the Chernobyl accident. The Army and Air force ground units have been
evacuating over twenty thousand people whose homes will be contaminated by the
fall out of yesterday's nuclear explosion.
The Royal Navy confirmed
yesterday that the device used was a Trident 2 missile launched from the HMS
Vanguard and carrying a single WE-177 warhead. This device, creating an
explosion equivalent to one hundred and twenty thousand tons of conventional
high explosive, is the largest weapon ever used in anger in the history of
warfare. By comparison, the atomic weapons used by the United States on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were equivalent to fifteen and twenty-two thousand tons
respectively.
This new crisis has
been caused by a change in weather patterns. Originally it was hoped that the
light winds would contain the fallout in the region of the cordoned-off area.
However, a new artic weather front is pushing the atomic cloud, which has now
merged with conventional clouds, south, contaminating many villages and even
threatening a large RAF base nearby.
The situation is likely to get
worse, says an official report written by the IAEA. If the current weather
persists then the fall out could threaten the cities of Glasgow and even
Edinburgh. If this were the case, then both cities, with a combined population
of more than four million people would have to be evacuated. The British
government is handing out advice leaflets and regular information broadcasts.
But that has not stopped hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the cities,
blocking up roads and prevent access for the emergency and armed forces to
move. Prime Minister John Major is considering declaring a national emergency,
and thousands of TA reservists have been mobilised.
There has been mass national
and international criticism of the British government's 'rash' approach. There
has been a massive anti-nuclear protest march in London, attracting, according
to some estimates, around two million people. There have even been calls for
the Prime Minister to resign. The governments of Eire, the Netherlands and
Norway have expressed official concern of nuclear pollution of the North and
Irish seas. The British ambassador to the UN has been called before the IAEA in
New York, and the American government has accused Britain of 'laxing the
concept of nuclear warfare'. The US is worried that Britain's attitude to its
nuclear weapons will turn thinking from using nuclear weapons as a last resort
to a common weapon of war, particularly in the Indian sub-continent, where both
India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, are very close to conflict. Nuclear
weapons in a war in this region would wipe out as many people as in the entire
Second World War.
Surprisingly, the British
government is maintaining that its choice to deploy its weapons of mass
destruction was correct and unavoidable. The only information currently
available to the press is that the bombed area was a base of a terrorist group
responsible for such crimes as the Whitehall bombing, which left over twenty
people dead and another fifty people injured. Some reports are also suggesting
that this was a mistake, however, and many feel as though the British
government has acted irresponsibly and has needlessly put lives and livelihoods
at stake.
And just in, two news items
that are related. First of all, an unconfirmed report that several civilians
have come down with radiation sickness. Several people were admitted to Dundee
Royal Infirmary overnight suffering from 'stomach pains, digestive problems and
other symptoms which could be traced to radiation sickness'. Second, it appears
that a US navy ship observing the after affects of the nuclear strike has
disappeared off the Northeast coast of Scotland. More news as it arrives.
And lastly, all the staff and
presenters here would like to say to all those that are affected in this crisis
that that we are thinking and feeling for you, and hope that you'll be able to
return to your homes and businesses as soon as possible. Good morning.
A/N Well, I'm trying to tell the story of the effect of the bomb on both the muggle and the magical community. Below is a glossary of terms you may not be familiar with, and their American equivalents.
Lynx- an attack and light transport helicopter, built by Westland and in service with both the army and navy.
HMS Vanguard- the latest British Nuclear submarine, launched in 1994. It carries 16 Trident 2 ICBM's along with 100 125kt warheads. Is part of the Vanguard class (more commonly known as the Trident class in Britain) and is one of four boats in the group.
MOD- Ministry of Defence, the government body in charge of the military. Equivalent to the US Department of Defence
The TA- Territorial Army, a reservist army of volunteers who fight or help out in a National emergency. Equivalent to the National Guard in America.
I aim to educate. Read and Review please.