CHAPTER TWO
THE ABADDON
The sun refused to shine that afternoon, missing its usual appearance at dawn and staying away all day. Dark, angry clouds rolled slowly and menacingly overhead in its absence. The Hogwarts castle was covered in shadows, looking more eerie than it already was.
Across the grounds towards the forbidden forest, which seemed to almost radiate with anger, Hagrid's small hut stood under the deep gray sky. The group of twenty or so pupils stood by the garden watching Hagrid trying to force a small donkey-like creature through a gate. It obviously did not want to cooperate today.
"These Mayan Unicorns are much easier to 'andle than our own native ones," Hagrid grunted, finally using the rope to make a sort of sling and pull the now braying animal into the pen "but ten times as stubborn, they are."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing by the gate and Ron reached over to close it behind Hagrid so the creature didn't run out between his legs.
Suddenly, from the western sky came a streak of lightning that pierced the clouds. Startled, everyone stared up and watched till a loud rumble came from above that seemed to dare anyone to mention a storm.
"It's about ten miles away, I'd say." Hagrid said, staring out in the distance; but just as soon as he said that, a soft wind started to blow and another lightning bolt shot from the Heavens. Only eight seconds after, a low roar came from the same direction.
The students began to whisper amongst themselves, pointing at the sky. Harry stared towards the horizon where the lighting was coming from and almost had an expression of longing. Hermione glanced at him raising an eyebrow and waved a hand in front of his face. "Harry, what's the matter?"
Harry blinked and glanced around at her almost as if coming from a trance. "Oh... nothing. I just hope we have a storm, that's all."
He saw the expression of disbelief on her face and grinned. "I love storms!"
"I guess..." she said, and turned around to face Ron.... who had disappeared.
Ron was leaning on the fence, talking to Hagrid. A few moments later he walked back over to Harry and Hermione with a wide grin. "Guess what? They might give us the rest of the day off!"
Hermione almost looked insulted. "What? Why?"
"I don't know, he didn't tell me. Isn't it great though? We could stay up in Gryffindor tower and have a party in the common room all day!" Ron was starting to look so enthusiastic, they were afraid he would explode at the slightest hint of them not getting the day off after all.
"Why would they cancel all our classes because of a silly storm?" Harry asked, looking almost as miffed as Hermione.
"I know," said Hermione, "something's not right. Perhaps we could ask a professor... I mean, I doubt they'd tell us since they hardly ever do during these situations. Yet, of course it's worth a try."
Ron obviously couldn't understand why the other two were upset at this new turn of events. "What's the matter with you? Have you gone mad? They're giving us the day off!" he said, poking a finger hard on Hermione's head, which she swatted away.
"Ron, they wouldn't just do that because of a storm! It's not like the castle runs on electricity!" said Hermione, now glaring.
"What does... 'eckeltricity' have to do with a storm?"
Harry chuckled a little, forgetting that Ron's knowledge of the Muggle world was very limited coming from a wizarding household.
"Never mind that. The point is, what if something has gone wrong. Naturally they wouldn't tell us to keep us from panicking."
"Hermione, you're already overreacting about this. Besides, if there were something really wrong that would threaten our well-being I think they'd let us know." Ron had now started walking away towards the castle with the rest of the class. Harry took a quick glance back at Hermione as if to say 'You know, for once, I think he's right.' and jogged off to catch up with Ron.
Hermione was truly left alone with this and didn't let either of them forget it as they made their way into the Great Hall for lunch.
Harry had decided that it would be much safer if he sat himself between Hermione and Ron. He caught them shooting each other fuming looks when they had come inside the doors.
Indeed, before the food appeared onto the golden plates, Dumbledore stood before the room in front of his usual high-backed chair which much resembled a throne. He held his arms up for silence, which he seemed to achieve almost instantly. Harry glanced across the tables and caught a glimpse of the Slytherins whispering excitedly amongst each other. They had apparently heard what Ron had told him and Hermione. He wished those bunch of gits would mind their own business once in a while. They always seemed to be able to get into other people's matters... especially Malfoy. He was probably the one who was eavesdropping in the first place.
"I have some presumably good news for some of you," Dumbledore began, gazing about the room at his pupils, "and I have bad news for all of you." Instantly, a buzz rose in the hall, bringing some of the professors to their feet and patrolling about, getting everyone to quiet down again. The Gryffindor table went especially quiet as Professor Snape strode on past them, black robes billowing out behind him. He seemed to give a strict sneer to each and every one of them. His eyes paused as they landed on Harry, and his expression went especially bitter. Harry simply kept a strong gaze on him, not wanting to seem weak and break away as he'd been doing during all his years at Hogwarts. Ron noticed Snape's expression towards Harry and almost succeeded in sticking his foot out in the aisle, but Harry felt his foot move and kicked at his shin. Ron made a light muffled noise that caught Snape's attention as he swooped past them. Harry was glad he had stopped Ron; he would have hated to see what kind of turmoil would have occurred had Ron succeeded in tripping Snape.
As soon as all was quiet once again, Dumbledore continued. "The good news for some of you I mentioned is that all classes have been canceled for the rest of the day, and perhaps longer." As soon as these words left his mouth, the entire Great Hall erupted into cheers and whoops of excitement. It took the patrolling professors twice as long to get them to settle down. Harry glanced once again at the Slytherin table only to see them with their usual sniggering expressions that simply made him want to put jinxes on them all. He hated it when they looked especially evil... like they had done something to cause all this chaos. He knew that the Slytherins would never do something to the entire school that would result with classes being canceled... but they loved it when someone else did.
Finally, Professor Dumbledore was able to continue. "The bad news is that the storm you saw coming off in the western sky is not just a lightning storm... it's the beginning of a hurricane." No one stirred. Why was this bad news? Why would a hurricane be a threat to a bunch of witches and wizards? Surely, the professors could conjure up a spell to repel it somehow. "Now, I know what you're most likely thinking..." Dumbledore continued, "why are we worried about a hurricane? The truth is, this is also no ordinary hurricane. Every fifty to seventy years, extra bits and pieces of spells being cast all over the world will join and create a furious mass of magical elements that resembles a large storm, usually formed in areas where little or no interfering spells are being cast like, in our case, over the ocean. These magical storms are called 'Abaddons'."
The Great Hall remained perfectly silent, no one really knowing exactly how to react. Harry was beginning to have doubts whether or not he really wanted a storm after all.
"I expect you're wondering how this will affect us. I can only say that I'm not too sure myself. Though I have seen one before approximately sixty-five years ago, I have heard that each one is different. The spells in which the Abaddons are made from will determine what damage they cause. They will whirl about and shoot spells, charms, jinxes, or even curses at random objects. Sometimes, they are aimed at people..."
By now, every face in the Great Hall wore an expression of absolute horror, confusion, or a mix of the two. Dumbledore eyed each student, perhaps making sure that no one was about to leap up screaming bloody murder.
"I wish that you not panic, keep calm, and follow instructions. If all this is done, no one will be in any danger. As of now, this is not an enormous threat to us, but we should stay alert all the same. We have had to cancel the classes because the professors and I will be busy doing everything in our power to ensure the safety of all students and the Hogwarts grounds." Dumbledore seemed not at all worried about the Abaddon itself, but more concerned for both the safety (and sanity) of the students.
Harry glanced quickly at Ron and Hermione to find that they both wore the same look of confused fright as the rest of the Great Hall. No one was moving, all eyes remained on Dumbledore, perhaps for fear that he might say something else important that they would miss otherwise. Harry suddenly realized that he had been nervously folding and tearing his napkin which now lay in pieces on the table in front of him. Hermione's hands were clenched on the edge of the bench so hard her knuckles had turned white, and Ron's fingernails were chewed to bleeding ragged edges. Neville Longbottom had turned as white as a ghost and looked close to tears, while over at the Slytherin table Malfoy's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head any second now.
The professors were standing at the ends of the tables, keeping an eye out for any students who looked like they were going to either throw up or pass out. Dumbledore suddenly smiled, "Alright then, now that that matter's out of the way, on with lunch!"
There was not one student who didn't turn green.
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