Chapter 3 Omaha Beach
"Where are we?" asked Ron. Harry had no answer. They were standing on what appeared to be a beach. The weather was cloudy. The ground was laid with what Harry recognized as obstacles. Bunkers were built to guard against the direction of the sea. Harry could make out amphibious landing vehicles making their way towards the beach. It was relatively peaceful now, like just before a storm.
"Ron, I think we're in France," said Harry. Thinking quickly, he remembered the concept of pensieves. He had experienced such or similar things twice: Tom Riddle's Diary and the once in Dumbledore's room. Both cases, the viewer was considered only an observer, and what he saw wasn't real. What can guarantee that the viewer won't also be interacting with the environment in this particular pensieve? Details of the environment, such as flying bullets, might be all too real. "France? Why do you think that?" asked Ron, puzzled. "I have reason to believe it's D-Day, and the allies are making an attempt to land, right here and right now," said Harry. Ron looked back with an expression even more puzzlement. "The Muggle War, Ron. You know, the World War. We're looking at an important chapter of it," Harry said, pointing to the amphibious vehicles. "We are in a pensieve?" asked Ron. Harry nodded, glad that he was familiar with the concept. "No, Harry, this can't be. A pensieve is a product of a person's memories. We should be seeing all this through the perspective of a person. Right now, we are alone here on the beach. And where's Hermione?" To Harry, that made sense. "You suppose everything here is real?" Harry asked. As if an answer to that, the first artillery fire boomed. The sound shook the two friends. A huge splash appeared on the sea. "What was that?" demanded Ron. Harry was already tugging Ron's robe to run for safety. "That was a muggle cannon!" cried Harry as more booms sounded. Harry led Ron to where he thought was safest, to the bottom of the bunkers. He carefully touched the barbed wire. He could actually feel the sharp edges, and it was obvious he wasn't going to get past it without tools. "This feels too real! Wands ready! We have to blast out of here, away from the beach." Ron and Harry produced their wands. What the effects of using magic inside a book will be, they weren't sure. But they were about to find out. "Destructos!" Ron and Harry's wands let out brilliant yellow bolts, blasting the barbed wire perimeter open. The sound of machine guns started to rattle behind them. Harry ducked, while Ron only blocked his ears from the sound. "Ron! Duck! Bullets can kill!" cried Harry, tugging at Ron's robes. "What are bullets?" asked Ron as he lied down on his stomach, still covering his ears. Bullets wheezed over their heads. "You hear those things flying real fast over our heads?" "Yeah?" "Lead pieces flying real fast to kill anything in its way!" Ron and Harry looked behind, the amphibious crafts had reached the beach, but as the soldiers poured out from them, they were met with machine gun fire from the bunkers. The men fell like flies. Some men fell back without limbs or a head. All the blood started to change the color of the water. "This is terrible!" yelled Ron over the noise. His face had an expression of extreme panic. He had never seen such horrors with his own eyes before. Neither had Harry. Smoke and splattered sand filled the air, screams of pain died out in sounds of explosions and guns firing. "Let's go!" Ron yelled. The two started to crawl their way through the hole they made in the barbed wire fence. They had to climb a hill and several bullets landed only meters away from their path. They crossed over to a flat land behind the bunkers and crawled into a trench. "Where now?" asked Ron. "Anywhere but here!" said Harry. They ran through the trenches when they ran into a big figure. Harry replaced his crooked glasses and looked up at what he had bumped into. It was a Nazi soldier looking down at him. He looked confused and angry, and had a machine gun aimed at Harry and Ron. Apparently, he was wondering what two little boys with odd-looking robes were doing in a trench in the middle of a battle. Soon enough, he looked like he had made up his mind, as he lifted his gun at Harry and Ron. Ron fell back, screaming. Harry tried to shield Ron, hoping to give Ron a chance to run away. Just then, a flash of light went off behind the Nazi soldier and he fell forward unconscious.
"Where are we?" asked Ron. Harry had no answer. They were standing on what appeared to be a beach. The weather was cloudy. The ground was laid with what Harry recognized as obstacles. Bunkers were built to guard against the direction of the sea. Harry could make out amphibious landing vehicles making their way towards the beach. It was relatively peaceful now, like just before a storm.
"Ron, I think we're in France," said Harry. Thinking quickly, he remembered the concept of pensieves. He had experienced such or similar things twice: Tom Riddle's Diary and the once in Dumbledore's room. Both cases, the viewer was considered only an observer, and what he saw wasn't real. What can guarantee that the viewer won't also be interacting with the environment in this particular pensieve? Details of the environment, such as flying bullets, might be all too real. "France? Why do you think that?" asked Ron, puzzled. "I have reason to believe it's D-Day, and the allies are making an attempt to land, right here and right now," said Harry. Ron looked back with an expression even more puzzlement. "The Muggle War, Ron. You know, the World War. We're looking at an important chapter of it," Harry said, pointing to the amphibious vehicles. "We are in a pensieve?" asked Ron. Harry nodded, glad that he was familiar with the concept. "No, Harry, this can't be. A pensieve is a product of a person's memories. We should be seeing all this through the perspective of a person. Right now, we are alone here on the beach. And where's Hermione?" To Harry, that made sense. "You suppose everything here is real?" Harry asked. As if an answer to that, the first artillery fire boomed. The sound shook the two friends. A huge splash appeared on the sea. "What was that?" demanded Ron. Harry was already tugging Ron's robe to run for safety. "That was a muggle cannon!" cried Harry as more booms sounded. Harry led Ron to where he thought was safest, to the bottom of the bunkers. He carefully touched the barbed wire. He could actually feel the sharp edges, and it was obvious he wasn't going to get past it without tools. "This feels too real! Wands ready! We have to blast out of here, away from the beach." Ron and Harry produced their wands. What the effects of using magic inside a book will be, they weren't sure. But they were about to find out. "Destructos!" Ron and Harry's wands let out brilliant yellow bolts, blasting the barbed wire perimeter open. The sound of machine guns started to rattle behind them. Harry ducked, while Ron only blocked his ears from the sound. "Ron! Duck! Bullets can kill!" cried Harry, tugging at Ron's robes. "What are bullets?" asked Ron as he lied down on his stomach, still covering his ears. Bullets wheezed over their heads. "You hear those things flying real fast over our heads?" "Yeah?" "Lead pieces flying real fast to kill anything in its way!" Ron and Harry looked behind, the amphibious crafts had reached the beach, but as the soldiers poured out from them, they were met with machine gun fire from the bunkers. The men fell like flies. Some men fell back without limbs or a head. All the blood started to change the color of the water. "This is terrible!" yelled Ron over the noise. His face had an expression of extreme panic. He had never seen such horrors with his own eyes before. Neither had Harry. Smoke and splattered sand filled the air, screams of pain died out in sounds of explosions and guns firing. "Let's go!" Ron yelled. The two started to crawl their way through the hole they made in the barbed wire fence. They had to climb a hill and several bullets landed only meters away from their path. They crossed over to a flat land behind the bunkers and crawled into a trench. "Where now?" asked Ron. "Anywhere but here!" said Harry. They ran through the trenches when they ran into a big figure. Harry replaced his crooked glasses and looked up at what he had bumped into. It was a Nazi soldier looking down at him. He looked confused and angry, and had a machine gun aimed at Harry and Ron. Apparently, he was wondering what two little boys with odd-looking robes were doing in a trench in the middle of a battle. Soon enough, he looked like he had made up his mind, as he lifted his gun at Harry and Ron. Ron fell back, screaming. Harry tried to shield Ron, hoping to give Ron a chance to run away. Just then, a flash of light went off behind the Nazi soldier and he fell forward unconscious.