Chapter 6: Empty
"Children settle down for a moment, I have some good news to announce!" Miss Brenda announced one night during supper, her voice cutting through the general buzz of chatter at the table. Harry glanced up the table towards her, frowning as the four pebbles he'd been attempting to make float in a small circle above his hand beneath the table fell to the floor due to his loss in concentration.
"Oh for the love of- what does she want to tell us now? Is she dying? Now THAT would be some good news," Harry thought to himself in annoyance, doing his best to keep his displeasure from showing on his face as he looked towards the matron who looked oddly excited. For as long as Harry could remember she was one of the least excitable people he'd ever met. Even the new assistant that had been hired just a few months ago when the last one had quit due to being bitten one too many times by the toddlers looked excited about whatever it was the announcement entailed. The noise around the table slowly died as the other children started doing the same. Well, for the most part at least, two of the younger boys, year one students, Harry vaguely recalled, seemed too busy giggling about something or another to pay any attention to what was going on around them.
"Tobias, Marcus! I said to settle down! Stop talking and pay attention!" The matron reprimanded sharply, causing the two boys to jump in their chairs, looking around wide eyed as they realized the entire room was silent except for them. They settled down moments later, looking rather sullen.
"Now then, as I was trying to say, The Natural History Museum of London recently decided to give out free tickets to certain groups of children who would be otherwise unable to go, and our orphanage happens to have received an offer for a completely free tour of the museum as part of that decision, I feel many of you could benefit from seeing such a magnificent display of our world's history, and so I accepted their offer. Come Monday we'll all be taking the bus to London. It'll be quite a long drive so those of you who want to, feel free to bring something to pass the time. That will be all for now, you can go back to eating," She explained, a small smile on her face.
"A field trip? To London? This actually might be good news, it would be alot easier to arrange a freak accident on a field trip than here in York. Still, it's sooner than I would've liked, I know I told myself I was ready and all, but it's only been a week since then, even if I have been progressing pretty well recently," Harry pondered to himself, thinking over the decision. Deep down though, he already had a fairly good idea of what he was going to do. He wouldn't pass up such a perfect opportunity for revenge.
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The following morning, the entire orphanage of nearly forty kids had piled onto the old, beaten up bus the orphanage had possessed since long before Harry could remember. Thanks to waking up early, as he always did, Harry managed to be one of the first kids on, allowing him to secure a seat near the back where he hoped to be left alone for the ride. Sadly, as more and more kids started trickling onto the bus and the seats started filling up, it became clear that the vast majority of kids were going to have to double up.
"Harry, why don't you come sit up here by Nigel so that Thomas can have that seat, he's quite a bit bigger than you are?" Miss Brenda called from the front of the bus as she slowly started getting the children situated.
"Great, just because he's a brute he gets a seat to himself and I don't," Harry complained to himself. It wasn't that he had anything against Thomas in particular, the boy was certainly nice enough, and he always greeted Harry whenever they passed each other in the hallways, despite being seven years older than him, but that didn't mean he liked him enough to be happy about giving up his seat.
"No problem Miss Brenda!" He said cheerfully instead of voicing his thoughts, following her instructions despite his wishes as he moved towards the front of the bus where he saw Nigel sitting.
"I don't want to sit by him! He's so weird and mean too! Why can't he sit somewhere else!" Harry heard Nigel complaining to the matron as he drew closer.
"Nigel! Be polite when speaking about others! And it's only a bus ride for heaven's sake, you'll survive!" She replied to him, giving Harry an apologetic look.
"Well screw you too you little moronic nose imbecile," Harry thought as he reached where Nigel sat plopping down beside the child who looked like a kicked puppy the moment Harry sat down. The pair sat in silence as the matron sorted out the other children, eventually finding everyone a spot and then, finally, they were off to London. Deciding that he was unlikely to manage anything too productive with all the children around, Harry decided that a quick nap might be in order to help the drive seem shorter.
Harry quickly realized though, that the matron's warning the previous night of the drive being a long one might've been putting things a bit mildly.
It wasn't the drive itself that was the issue. It was the forty children confined in a metal box for the four hours that the drive took that were the issue. Someone, Harry wasn't quite sure who, had decided a ball would be an acceptable form of entertainment while on a bus and had taken to throwing it around the entire vehicle at random. Thankfully, Miss Brenda had quickly taken care of that particular problem, but that still left a bunch of hyperactive children all talking obnoxiously loud, kicking the back of Harry's seat and just generally making a nuisance of themselves in every way they could think of. To make matters worse, Harry's seat partner, Nigel, had apparently decided that even if he strongly disliked Harry he was required to strike up a conversation with him anyway.
"Harry, what do you think the museum is going to be like? Will it be worth the drive?" He asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat. Harry opened his eyes and looked over at the boy for a minute, considering his words.
"I suppose it'll be interesting, the Natural History Museum is famous internationally as a pretty good collection, now if you don't mind I'm trying to sleep," He answered, letting his head lean back against the seat once more as he did his best to get some rest. Unfortunately, the boy didn't seem capable of taking a hint, and he constantly harassed Harry with random questions and attempts at starting conversation, despite Harry repeatedly asking him to leave him alone. It was during one of Nigel's many attempts at getting Harry to talk with him, one right as Harry was almost falling asleep, that he finally snapped.
"Did you see that car that just passed us! It was-" Nigel began excitedly, only for Harry to cut him off as his eyes snapped open once more.
"Nigel, I've tried being nice but let me explain this to you in a way your clearly useless brain will understand. If you speak to me one more time until we're both off this god forsaken bus, I will personally ensure your life is a living hell in every possible way from this moment until the moment we leave the orphanage,," Harry interrupted making sure to keep his voice low, taking quite a bit of satisfaction in the way Nigel's mouth clicked shut as he finished talking.
Luckily for Harry's sanity, the rest of the bus ride was blissfully interruption free and he was able to finally fall asleep despite the noise level of the bus. When he awoke, it was to London coming into view.
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"Come along children, come along, towards the museum let's get moving," The matron yelled loudly, doing her best to shepherd the small horde of children away from the bus and towards the museums impressive front gates, Harry made sure to straggle behind as the group moved, only moving again when he was the last person in the group. It was always easiest to stay unnoticed if he was in the back. vAs they made their way towards the museum's front doors, fighting through a crowd of people heading in and out of the building to do so, an older man without any hair on his head aside from a rather impressive beard greeted them.
"Ah! Are you Miss Brenda by chance?" He asked as they drew closer, eyes locking on the orphanage matron. She glanced his way distractedly, doing her best to ensure none of the children ran off at the same time.
"I am yes! I take it you're our tour guide for the day? Mr. Smith I believe?" She inquired. The man laughed slightly as he extended his hand.
"Mr. Schmit, Timothy Schmit, though I understand the confusion, Smith is definitely a more common last name here in the UK," He answered with a smile.
"Ah I see! My apologies then Mr. Schmit," Miss Brenda replied. Harry rolled his eyes slightly at the exchange. He knew the matron well enough from experience to know she didn't give a crap about the man's name. He was actually somewhat surprised she bothered learning it at all, he supposed some measure of cordiality had to be maintained when on a free trip though.
"No harm done, now then, I was told you only have about three or four hours to spend here?" The guide asked the matron.
"That's correct, the drive is about four hours each way so we'll need to get going around three or four o clock," She told him in confirmation. The guide nodded his head in understanding before turning towards the group of children.
"Who's ready for a tour of some of our fossil collection before we get you all some lunch?" The tour guide asked the children cheerfully. He was answered by resounding cheers that left Harry wincing at the noise level.
"Well then! Let's get started! " He told the group, opening the doors and gesturing inside. The matron led the way inside, the group of children following after her as they rushed into the museum with Harry still trailing behind them at the back of the group.
What followed was a pretty enjoyable tour for Harry, the tour guide seriously knew what he was talking about, and he made it fun for the children. Harry particularly enjoyed seeing some mummified animals, they even had a cat coffin that was over a millennia old. Sadly, despite looking for an opportunity, he wasn't able to find a good time to get Derek and Michael alone, at least, not in a way that wouldn't have been suspicious. Quickly though, lunch approached, and with it, an opportunity arose.
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"Now this particular fossil was discovered in Africa in 1956, and while it was originally-oh my look at the time, we should've started heading to lunch almost ten minutes ago!" The guide said, cutting himself off as he caught sight of a clock on the wall behind the group. Miss Brenda and her assistant both looked towards the clock with expressions of surprise on their faces.
"I wonder what we'll be eating? I know food in museums and other attractions is notoriously overpriced but we're here on what's essentially a charity case," Harry wondered momentarily. The orphanage's food was never anything particularly impressive, so the chance to eat somewhere else for a change was an appealing prospect.
"Olivia, didn't I ask you to remind me when it was time for us to head to lunch?" The matron reprimanded her assistant.
"My apologies Miss Brenda, I must've lost track of time," Olivia apologized profusely.
"Well that's fairly obvious now isn't-," Miss Brenda began, stopping as the guide cut her off, doing his best to smooth things over.
"Yes well, no harm done I suppose, have you informed the children of where they'll be eating today?" The guide interrupted, doing his best to smooth things over between the two.
"Ah, well no not yet actually, I was planning for it to be a surprise," The matron said, sounding more than slightly disgruntled at being interrupted. Harry had to give the man credit for his guts, he hadn't seen someone interrupt the matron in a long time, she was well known around the orphanage for her fiery temper. The guide smiled at the information, looking over the assembled children happily.
"Well then if you'll all follow after me, I'll tell you on the way," He told them, turning and striding quickly away from the exhibit, towards the doors of the museum. The group scrambled to catch up, caught off guard with how quickly he'd started moving, the matron and her assistant included.
"Now then, just a short walk from the museum is a beautiful Italian restaurant by the name of Pierino and when we told the owner about the outreach program we were doing, he offered to give free meals to the children who were receiving our tours on charity, so that means, all of you get to eat there completely for free!" The tour guide explained excitedly, leading them past the welcome desk and back outside.
The guide hadn't been wrong either, the walk really was short. While crossing the two streets that separated the Museum from the restaurant was a harrowing process, with the matron keeping a close eye on the younger kids, they managed it eventually. The food at the restaurant alone made Harry glad for the trip that day. He ordered a plate of pasta with garlic bread and it was some of the best food he could remember eating. Though, in fairness, that might've had more to do with the fact that he'd grown up almost exclusively eating poorly cooked mass produced meals at the orphanage and the even worse meals that the school provided than it did the food quality of Pierino.
"Still, I need to act soon, we only have a few more hours in London and this is probably my best chance to get rid of Derek and Michael," Harry mused, scowling slightly to himself as he continued eating his pasta. He glanced around the restaurant, doing his best not to glare at where Derek and Michael sat, eating their food as they chatted animatedly with several other kids their age that had been dining at the restaurant when they'd come in.
As fate would have it, luck would actually be on Harry's side for once. As the group trailed out of the restaurant a short while later, and they crossed the street, Harry noticed a car not slowing down as it approached the red light that was allowing the children to pass. While most of the group was alright safely on the road, both Derek and Michael hadn't yet reached the other side. A plan quickly formed in Harry's mind as he saw his chance.
"Am I really going to do this?" Harry hesitated for a moment, glancing at the two boys again. Remembering Bo's grave though, he steeled his resolve. The two boys deserved what was coming to them as far as he was concerned.
"Look out everybody!" Harry yelled in warning, doing his best to act scared as he ran to the other side, getting safely out of the car's way. Whilst doing so, he drew on his magic, quickly channeling it through his body and reaching out towards the feet of his tormentors, knocking them over with a quick pull as they started moving, making it look as if both boys had tripped over each other. The other children, already out of the way after hearing Harry's warning, were only able to look on in horror. The car finally started to slow down as the driver noticed the two children still right in their path.
However, it was too late and, unable to stop in time, the car drove right over the two boys who were still scrambling to get up thanks to Harry strategically shoving them with his mana at crucial moments. The sound Harry heard in that moment as the car ran over the two boys he hated more than anyone else on earth would live on in Harry's mind forever. Harry watched as the car kept driving for a few more moments before finally screeching to a halt as an extremely distressed looking middle aged man quickly climbed out of the driver's seat.
Harry looked away, his eyes locking onto the bodies of the two boys, lost in thought. He barely noticed as the children around him screamed, the adults all quickly rushing forward to look at the two boys, neither of which was breathing any longer.
"Children, come away from the street, away from-" Harry heard Miss Brenda's voice calling out, breaking slightly before she could finish her sentence, pulling him from his thoughts. Distantly, he heard the sound of sirens approaching and he finally shook himself free from his stupor, remembering to do his best to start acting like the other children, all of whom were crying and panicking at what had just happened. He sidestepped quickly as he noticed one child around his age that was vomiting profusely as she looked at the scene of the crime. He quickly forced some tears into his eyes, putting on a show of looking as distressed as he could as the matron guided them away from the street, attempting to lead them towards the lawn of the museum which would be out of sight of the road thanks to the small wall around the place. In that moment, as Harry took one final glance at the two that had killed his first friend, Harry didn't feel the satisfaction he'd expected. No, instead as he took in the view of their bodies laying in the street, he felt nothing but empty.
AN: First of all, I apologize for the shorter than normal chapter, but frankly, the next part of this story doesn't have quite the same impact that ending on this one does so I decided to end things here. I know this chapter was pretty dark, but I promise that, at least for a while, the following chapters are less so. Secondly, while this chapter is dark as hell, I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out, but I'm curious to hear what you guys thought of it.