Ch 2: "Never Surrender"

Unable to sleep, Harry's gaze moved around the small bedroom. For two weeks he had been cooped up here. Scrolls and books littered the room from his attempts to keep himself busy. Apparently Moody, Mr. Weasley, and the others had so frightened his Uncle Vernon that he was not even required to cook and do all the other chores he normally had to do for the Dursleys. Unfortunately, they did not even let him out of his room except for quick bathroom breaks. They seemed to be so terrified that that they would be held responsible if something similar to what happened at the end of last summer when Harry and Dudley were attacked by the two Dementors that Harry wasn't even allowed to leave his room, let alone the house. On the bright side, they did allow him to owl his friends as often as he wanted. They didn't want him sending any bad reports. And they had allowed him to use one of Dudley's old TVs so he could watch the news without bothering them.

It was to the TV that Harry now turned his attention. Keeping the volume low, he quickly changed several channels looking for something to watch and take his mind off of his terrible nightmares. None of the channels seemed to be coming in very clearly, however. Harry remembered that this particular TV had taken a particular beating from Dudley one day when he had thrown a temper tantrum over a video game he had lost. "Of course they had to give me the broken TV. Wouldn't want me thinking they had gone soft on me, I suppose," he mumbled to himself.

Finally, one channel seemed to emerge from the snowy background. Harry stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what the program was. It was mostly black and white, with a narrator's voice talking over the various video pictures. As Harry watched, he felt like he was back in Professor Binn's classroom, listening to him drone on and on with lists of names and dates.

"1933—The Third Reich declared under Hitler and the Nazis… 1936—German began rearmament and rebuilt its air force, navy, and army… Germany occupied the Rhineland… 1938—Germany annexed Austria… Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be restored to Germany… after the Munich Conference, Chamberlain declared 'peace in our time'…1939—Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and then Poland… 1940—France fell to the German blitzkrieg in forty days …British managed to evacuate most of its armies from Dunkirk despite terrible losses" the voice from the TV went on and on. Though Harry spent little time in the Muggle world any longer, he still recognized that the general subject of the documentary was World War II, a terrible war that had devastated England, the Continent, and large parts of the world about fifty years ago.

"Ahhhh. Just like a good history lesson. This ought to put me right back to sleep any moment now," thought Harry. Hedwig cooed softly and contentedly, finally calmed down by Harry's brushing. "There, there Hedwig. That's better…"

"We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, What is our policy? I will say; "It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."1

These words, spoken by a new voice, captured Harry's attention. He looked back to the television and saw a short, heavy-set, nearly bald man speaking to a small audience of older men in some kind of audience chamber or government room. It wasn't the picture, but the words, and the strength and determination he heard in the voice that uttered them that stirred something deep inside of Harry. He watched spellbound as the short, heavy man addressed a similar audience again in a later speech.

"We shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do."

"Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of the Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."2

Something inside Harry sparked and began to burn, even as tears began to roll down his face. Now completely engrossed in the program, Harry watched over the next several hours as war engulfed Europe and spread throughout the world. The screen flickered between footage of the gruesome carnage of infantry campaigns, brutal dogfights in the air, massive tank battles, deadly contests on the oceans, the bombings of cities, the frenzied flight of innocent civilians, and the appalling evidence of mass murder and inhumane atrocities. He noticed that as the war dragged on year after year that the soldiers became younger and younger. Many of them appeared to be only a year or two older than Harry and his friends at school.

He watched as a small number of people on a tiny island, led by the short round man he had heard earlier, defied the strength and wrath of an entire continent led by a madman bent on destruction, domination, and the elimination of an entire race of people. He watched as the few battled the many, withstood tremendous attacks, and persevered to finally obtain victory over their enemies. He watched as they stood courageously, alone at first, and then later joined by their former colonies across the Atlantic. He watched the tide of war turn from bleakest despair, to faint hope, to certain victory. He saw how that after leading his country to incredible victory over its enemies, the stout little man named Churchill was driven from power. Amazed, he saw as Churchill once again, speaking in the former colonies this time, pointed out a new enemy, one that had been a friend. All the while, as Harry's heart burned, and the tears continued to stream down his face, these words continued to echo in his head, "We shall fight…We shall fight…We shall never surrender!"

As the program ended, he turned to look at the first rays of sun peeking over the horizon. As the new day began, he recognized one of the feelings he had felt earlier. Hope. He had almost forgotten what it felt like. Without chores to do, he lay on his bed for a long time thinking about what he had seen. Finally, exhausted by his long night, Harry rolled over and easily fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

(Author's Note)

Most of Winston Churchill's speeches can be found easily online at websites such as www.winstonchurchill.org. It is also easy to find brief audio recordings of Churchill delivering his speeches online as well.

1 From Churchill's first address as the newly appointed Prime Minister delivered to the House of Commons on May 13, 1940.

2 From another speech given by Churchill before the House of Commons on June 4, 1940.