Chapter Two – The Big Funnel

As soon as Lily stepped out of the fireplace, she was immediately carried by the panicked people. It took her several minutes to manage staying put. She eventually could hold onto something to stop being carried. Everyone was running, calling for their children, Disapparating or entering the fireplaces.

Lily was scared out of her mind. She needed to find her family.

She still wasn't able to see what was happening. Despite being afraid, she really wanted to know what was going on. Maybe then she could look for her family.

Lily made her way through, finally reaching the eye of the storm. Now she could see a bit of the disorder. Lily saw one person wearing red clothes… then one more… no, definitely there were more than two people. She could see a fair lot of people wearing red. Probably they were the ones to blame.

"Not again!" someone shouted.

And suddenly she was on the ground. Someone had collided with Lily and made her fall to the ground. Pain shot up her ribs. She couldn't tell if anything was broken, but it was hurting like hell.

Lily got up quickly, because she didn't want anyone to step on her. Again, she was carried by the crowd. Her ribs were screaming in protest.

She fell on the ground again when she reached the main area of Diagon Alley. Here, the people in red were more numerous, and so were the regular witches and wizards. Lily wasn't able to get up as quickly as she did before. Someone kicked her stomach. She couldn't breathe.

Lily finally stood, stumbling. The people in red were casting spells and imprisoning terrified witches and wizards. There were a few ones lying on the ground. Were they dead? The idea terrified her. And even if they were just injured, Lily could tell they weren't just lying on the ground of Diagon Alley because they wanted to.

Lily knew she had to get away from there, and quickly, but how? She didn't know how to Apparate, and she didn't have any Floo Powder with her. Her only hope was to find her family among all those people. It would be a difficult task.

She took her wand out of her pocket, though she had no idea what she could do with it. She was underage and, assuming those people were from the Ministry – and Lily was almost one hundred per cent sure they were –, doing magic wouldn't bring her any benefits. Even if for self-defense.

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm. Lily tried to get rid of the tight grip, terrified to have been caught by unknown people wearing red, but the person was really strong. Then everything started to spin and went dark. A Side-Along-Apparition. Lily's eyes were forced against her skull. The stranger's hand was heavily compressing her arm.

And then it simply stopped. Lily's feet hit somewhere else's ground and she fell. Only then she was able to open my eyes.

She was home, at Godric's Hollow. Lily recognized gradually the living room's floor, the furniture… It was all so quiet and peaceful, the complete opposite of Diagon Alley.

Lily jumped to her feet, ignoring the pain which came after. Albus was there, standing before her, eyeing her worriedly. He had a black eye and looked really pale, but seemed fine apart from that.

Lily's eyes filled with tears. She was so happy to see him alive that she threw herself on his arms, sobbing. She couldn't even put into words what she was feeling.

"It's okay," Albus whispered, striking his sister's hair. "Are you hurt?"
"Just a little." She sniffled. "You?"

"I'm fine," he assured.

Lily let him go, drying her tears and looking at him. "Where's James? Where are Mum and Dad?"

"I don't know." Albus's voice trembled. "You were the only one I could find."

Lily felt a thrill of fear. Her body trembled. She didn't even want to think what could've happened with her parents and her brother.

Albus put his hands on Lily's shoulders, looking right into her eyes. She immediately felt safer. Lily had always know that, behind all that intelligence, there was a hero inside Albus. Just as in Harry.

"Lily," he said, "I have to come back to see what's going on."

Lily grabbed hold of his wrists desperately. "No! Don't go back there! You can end up dead!"

"And so can James, Mum and Dad!" He sighed. "I have to look for them. They were supposed to be here by now. They know how to Apparate. Something might have happened."

He was right, of course. But Lily couldn't even think about letting him go, not again. Not when she might lose him.

"Well, then I'm coming with you," she said firmly.

Albus shook his head. "You're not allowed to use magic outside school, and you can't Apparate, Lily. Besides, someone has to stay here to see if they come back."

"And how am I supposed to tell you if they get back?" she asked. "Don't expect me to stay here waiting in safety while you're risking your life! I–"

James suddenly Apparated between Albus and Lily, interrupting the argument. He didn't seem injured at all, apart from some scratches on his cheeks. Lily and Albus immediately forgot they were fighting and hugged James at the same time.

"Thank Merlin you guys are here," James said, patting his younger siblings' hairs. "You good?"

"Where have you been?" asked Albus desperately. "Why didn't you come back right after you saw the mess? We were worried!"

"Calm down, okay?" James sat down on the couch. "I'm here, I'm fine. See?" He moved his arms and legs to show they weren't damaged.

Albus and Lily sat too, at each side of James, feeling a bit more relieved.

"Come on, James, just tell us," Lily said. "Do you know what was happening at Diagon Alley? Where are Mum and Dad?"

James sighed. "Well, as soon as I got there, my first thought was to look for you two. I asked for a group of journalists of Daily Prophet what was going on, and they said the Ministry people were doing what they called The Big Funnel. I don't know what exactly that is, but I decided not to ask. I was focused on you. But I only found Mum and Dad. They were going to talk to the people in red to know what was going on. I was told to come back home to see if you two were here. And here you are."

So, they really were from the Ministry, those people in red. And what was The Big Funnel? Why that person had shouted 'not again'? Lily was sure nothing named The Big Funnel had happened before. Not with that name, at least.

Then she gasped. "It's happening again."

"What?" asked James and Albus at the same time.

"When Voldemort was controlling the Wizarding World, he had the entire Ministry on his side," Lily recalled. "There was a time when they were sending Muggle-borns to Azkaban, saying they had robbed magic from a wizard, because the Ministry was trying to prove is only possible to a wizard be born in a magical family."

James and Albus looked at me, their eyes wide.

"The Big Funnel," said Albus. "They are trying to do it again. To exclude Muggle-borns from our world."

"I knew this Minister was mad since I read that article on Daily Prophet," said James. "Discipline above it all. That's just a nicer way to say 'I'm taking absolute control of the Wizarding World.'"

His words hit everyone hard. That killed the mood. They were about to face a new era like Voldemort.

The three of them heard a noise. They jumped. Ginny and Harry had Apparated in the middle of the living room. They weren't injured, just a little frightened. Lily, Albus and James threw ourselves to them.

"Heavens, you're all right!" said Ginny.

"Not all right," Harry obsserved when he looked at his children.

I finally remembered my broken ribs, which started to hurt very painfully. But I didn't care about them, not right now.

"What was happening there?" Lily asked her parents "The boys and I thought it might be problems with the Muggle-borns again."

Harry and Ginny exchanged nervous looks.

"You're right," Harry admitted. "That was a sample of what our world will look like from now on."

Both Albus and James set their jaws. Lily's hands trembled.

Ginny summoned an ice cube and gave it to Albus, so he could put it over his black eye. "I'll give you something to that later, sweetie. James, you all right?"

"I'm okay, Mum," he said.

Then Ginny turned to Lily. "You go to your room and rest for a bit. I'll go up in a minute. We still have a family dinner to attend."

The family dinner. I'd completely forgotten about it. It wouldn't be easy to face my family after this. All I could think was about aunt Hermione, who was Muggle-born. What would've happened to her if she was at Diagon Alley when The Big Funnel had started?

Lily went upstairs slowly. Her ribs were hurting more than ever now that the adrenaline rush had passed. She lay down on her bed with difficulty.

Soon after, Ginny entered the room. She was carrying a kit of medicinal potions with her. Lily could see how worried she was.

"Where does it hurt, sweetie?" she asked, trying to smile.

"My ribs," Lily answered. "I think they're broken."

"I have Skele-Gro here," Ginny said.

She filled a glass with Skele-Gro and gave it to her daughter. Lily drank it. She already knew the taste – when you're a Chaser on Gryffindor Quidditch team, it's normal to get injured often –, but it didn't make things easier. She almost threw up. And it was like her throat was being burned down. Worst of it was the excruciating pain which was coming soon.

"Mum, what about the school supplies?" Lily asked. That had been what the family had gone to Diagon Alley for in first place.

"Don't worry, dear," said Ginny. "We'll go back there when things calm down. Maybe a couple of days from now."

Lily sighed. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. "This thing, The Big Funnel," she said. "Is it all about Muggle-borns?"

Ginny was trying to avoid the answer by checking the potions. Finally, she looked up and said simply, "We don't know yet."

"It's just like it was before, isn't it?"

The question came out before Lily could help it. But, as expected, Ginny didn't answer. She just cuddled the top of Lily's head and changed the subject. "I'll give you a Dreamless Sleep Potion," she said, "thus you won't feel your bones growing. If you take it now, you'll be awake in time for dinner."

Lily knew she wouldn't be able to extract any more information from her mother, so she nodded. "Thank you, Mum."

She drank the potion. And she was grateful her mother had given her a Dreamless Sleep Potion, not a simple Sleeping Draught. Lily was almost sure she would've dreamt about the people in red if she hadn't.

When she woke up, Lily felt dizzy and her vision was blurred. Her head was extremely heavy. Her ribs were fine, though. When Lily was able to see properly, she went downstairs, where her parents and her brothers were waiting. Lily could sense they'd been talking seriously before she arrived, but stopped quickly at the sight of her. But she decided not to say anything. She was pleased to see Albus' eye was better now.

They went to the fireplace.

Lily was willing to go to The Burrow, her grandparents' house. There was a family dinner there once a month, when everyone had to come. Lily loved her big family. They were everything to her. Perhaps they could still save this disastrous day.

Ginny was the first one to go through the fireplace this time. Albus came next, then James, then me, and Harry was the last one. Granny and Gramps Weasley were waiting for them.

"Oh, my little sweeties, not so little anymore," said Molly, hugging James, Albus and Lily at once.

"You all are so grown up, eh?" said Arthur. "Come in, come in."

They greeted Harry and Ginny. Lily and her brothers went to the kitchen, where Molly had already prepared some food for the meal.

Although Lily's grandparents had had seven children, the table wasn't big enough for all the guests. Imagine five of these children with their spouses and at least two children, each. Plus the aggregates, of course. Yes, it was an enormous family.

Apparently, Molly and Arthur didn't know about the mess at Diagon Alley yet, because they didn't say anything. And Lily's parents weren't going to tell them yet. Lily knew Harry and Ginny: they were going to wait until the last minute to tell everyone.

Then the guests started to arrive. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur stepped out from the fireplace, with Lily's cousins Victoire, Dominique and Louis.

Talk about a good-looking family. With Bill's charm and Fleur's Veela blood, it was only obvious their children would come out ridiculously beautiful. Victoire was the typical Veela, identical to Fleur: tall, slim, with long, straight, perfect blonde hair and steel blue eyes. Dominique, two years younger and equally beautiful, had inherited her father's red hair and some of his features, but she was delicate as her mother with the same blue eyes. And Louis, the youngest, was dark-blond and blue-eyed. All of them had graduated from Hogwarts.

Uncle George and Aunt Angelina came next, with Fred and Roxanne.

It was possible to tell that Fred and Roxanne were siblings just by the fact they were always pulling pranks on each other, as it was expected from George's children. He had taken his father's appearance, ginger and freckly, while she was more like her mother, with darker skin and brown hair.

Right after them came Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey with their daughters Molly and Lucy. They had only a year of difference, which explained why they looked like twins. Molly had brown hair and Lucy had red hair, but they had the same height and appearance.

Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson, arrived then. Everyone liked him very much. He was a Metamorphmagus, so his hair was never the same color. Today, it was blue. Although now he spent more time with Victoire, his girlfriend, than with his godfather's family, he was still a very good man. His parents had died when he was only a baby, just like Harry's.

Next, arrived Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione with Rose and Hugo. Rose, much like her mother, had brown hair, while Hugo was ginger like his father. Hugo, apart from being Lily's cousin, was her best friend too. They did everything together.

Uncle Charlie, who had traveled from Romania just for the party, was the last one to arrive. He remained unmarried with no children, and that had been his choice.

Dinner would take a while so the adults were laughing loudly at the kitchen while the kids talked at the living room.

Albus told everyone he was chosen to be Head Boy.

"Well," said Rose, laughing. "When I was a Prefect, you were too. Now this?"

"Don't you tell me–"

"Yes, I'm Head Girl," she said with a smile.

Albus and Rose were probably the most intelligent students from the entire school. He, a Gryffindor, and she, a Ravenclaw, deserved this more than anyone.

The kids talked about how were their vacations so far, what they had done. James told them about his job and so did Louis, who had started to work as a healer at St. Mungo's Hospital. Dominique was already established with her Quidditch career, training to join the Holyhead Harpies someday. As she'd told us, she was halfway through making it.

Albus and Rose were at their NEWTs' year, and they told everyone how they were already studying hard, even before the school year start. Fred was also in NEWT year, but he didn't seem half as hard-working. Meanwhile, Lily, Hugo, Lucy and Roxy were going to sit their OWLs that year.
After dinner, it was time to play. Uncle George had brought some products from his joke shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It was very fun.

Then Lily realized something. George's shop was at Diagon Alley. What if he had seen anything?

"Hey, Fred, Roxy?" Lily asked tentatively. No one else was paying attention. They were all playing with the WWW's products.

"Yeah?" Fred answered vaguely, laughing loudly as he tried to make his sister swallow some Puking Pastilles.

"Erm… Do you know anything about what happened at Diagon Alley today's morning?"

He dropped the pastilles and became pale. Everyone at the living room paid attention.

"Yeah," he said. "Roxy and I were at Dad's shop when it happened."

"When what happened?" demanded Rose immediately.

Lily bit her lip guiltily, regretting to have spoken about the subject. She didn't want to tell her, or Hugo. They'd be worried.

"The Big Funnel," James said.

Lily, Albus, James, Roxy and Fred told the others everything they had seen at Diagon Alley. As I expected, everyone was in shock, but Rose and Hugo were the worst.

The family reunion became less fun after that. Rose and Hugo became very quiet. Lily hated to see them like that, but they had to know.

The adults didn't seem at all cheerful anymore either. Harry and Ginny, along with George and Angelina, must've delivered the news as well.

Late at night, everyone, one by one, used The Burrow's fireplace to come back home. The atmosphere was tense, despite everyone's efforts not to ruin everything. But it was unavoidable.

When Lily threw herself on her bed, she almost asked her mother to give her another dose of Dreamless Sleep Potion.