Chapter 5
Chapter 5
We settle in easily at the corner pharmacy. One of the bottomless bags has several mattresses and bedding so I set up a little sleeping corner. A soft sponge like rug in swirling blues and purples is laid beside it. Unshrinking several of the toys keeps the girls occupied and mostly quiet. I vanished the windows that line the building near the ceiling. That way we can get fresh air and plenty of sunlight. It's a bit too open for me to be comfortable but if more people come then there will be enough space for us all. At least I hope people come.
On our second day at the shop, we wake to a dead one hitting at the metal door. It's loud in the otherwise silence of the cool quiet morning. What was once a man, large and bald with black tattoos swirling thickly up and down both arms. A bombarda destroys his head, leaving a chunky red mess spraying out behind him for his large body to fall back into.
A quick glance around shows the gray lot still empty. I step over the body, closing the door so the girls won't come out. They don't need to see this, not at their age. A levitation charm picks up the body which I float to the narrow side lot of the long building that partially shields us. I'll still need to clean up the shattered bone and blood but at least he can't stink up the place.
Still, it's dangerous letting them get that close. Perhaps a fence would be safer. There is a wide grassy field, uneven and overgrown, that stretches from behind the pharmacy along the long building and behind the restaurant. I could fence it in too, give us a little breathing room.
With that thought, I decide to get to work.
I don't have any fencing but a simple transfiguration turns the otherwise useless makeup and cigarettes into strong metal poles. A low powered blasting hex bursts open the ground so I can stab the poles into place. Then another transfiguration turns clumps of thick crab grass into a solid thick line of cement.
I try to place them about three feet apart, in a mostly even line. The ground beneath, along with the intricate roots of the stubborn grass, are turned to concrete to steady them. Then some bundles of yarn are woven around the poles, twisting and looping back on themselves until I have a decently covered area. Another transfiguration turns the more fragile thread into thick steel wire as wide around as my thumb. Once the area between two poles is complete I move on to the next one. At each spot between two poles, yarn is twisted and looped, then transformed.
The whole project takes a day and a half to complete. I could've finished much quicker but the twins made it difficult. By the third time they loudly cried that first morning, I figured it would be easier to let them outside. So I float the toys to the parking lot, throw down a thicker woven rug so they don't get hurt, and get back to work.
By early afternoon of the second day working, third day at the pharmacy, I finally get the gate finished. It was slightly more difficult simply because it would need to open and close. I took two of the doors, along with the hinges, from inside one of the other stores and transfigured them together into a tall and strong steel barred door.
Honestly, I think I've been doing well with all the spell work. McGonagall would be proud. Or perhaps she would be a bit disappointed that some of my transfiguration is a little unusual or misshapen but at least I tried. I should get points for that.
"Ten points to Griffindore, Mr. Potter," I giggle, whispering more to myself than anyone else.
An engine rumbles loudly in the distance. I hurry to shoo twin A and B inside. I really need to think of names for them because I can't keep calling them A and B. But I've never really thought of names before. By Merlin, I picked Hedwig's name from my first year history book.
The engine gets louder even as I close the doors. In fact, it sounds like more than one. I should check it out but I can't take A and B with me. Maybe food will distract them. I open a box of chocolate biscuits and pour them each a sippy cuppy of milk. That and a few light up toys gets them to settle down on the rug.
The engines are loud as I step outside, definitely more than one. If I'm not wrong, they're on the main road near the burnt down petrol station. I leave out of our gate, locking it behind me and hurrying to the long shop that hides us somewhat.
The back of the shop has two half ladders, that is the ladder only comes halfway down the wall. A quick transfiguration of a broken wooden palate adds the missing length and I'm able to climb up to the roof. Besides a couple boxy air conditioning units, there isn't anything really up here so I hurry to the far edge.
It's not difficult to spot them, they're in the middle of the road. Three men on motorcycles are driving circles around two women who are hugging each other fearfully. Each of the men have a weapon; a length of heavy chain, a long metal pipe with a curve at the end, and a shiny fat metal gun.
I remember the death eaters at the quittich world cup last year. The death eaters reveled in the fear of the muggels and the wizards fleeing before them. These men have the same twisted smiles, visible even at this distance. They have the same cruelty.
The women are clearly afraid. Their long blonde hair is mused and neither is wearing shoes. I can even see where one of the women's shirt is torn up the back. They aren't a threat to anyone.
A few dead stumble forward from down the road, no doubt drawn by the noise the men are making. I raise my wand, not wanting the dead to get to close. Only, I hesitate to cast the spell.
It's an easy spell, bombarda, just a concentrated burst of energy that punches through an object. I've used it on more dead than I can remember. It destroys their head so the body falls unmoving, the danger passed.
I've cast the spell so many times that it comes as easily as expelliarmus. It's a spell that my magic knows and jumps to accomplish. It's quick and efficient even if it is messy.
I don't hesitate because of the dead. I doubt the men or women would realize it's magic so that isn't why I hesitate either. I hesitate because...
If I don't help the women then the men will hurt them.
I could scare the men away without ever getting close.
If I scare the men away, they will just hurt someone else.
But to stop them, without letting them leave to hurt another, means I will have to...
I will have to...
I have the power. I have a good line of sight and it would be all too easy to cast. They wouldn't know it was me. Even if they realized where I'm hiding, they wouldn't be able to reach me in time.
I could do it but...
This isn't like Quirell in the stone room. He attacked me! I wasn't TRYING to hurt him, it just happened.
This isn't like Riddle in the chamber. He wasn't real, not really. He was some monstrous thing possessing Ginny through that cursed journal. I HAD to save her!
These men are bad but...
They're not some cursed diary. They're not a basilisk or a dementor. They are human, fragile and flawed. They are human but so are the death eaters.
Can I...
Should I...
What would Hermione say? What would Ron or Neville say? What would Sirius...
My parents fought against the dark lord. They were at war. They would say...
No, I don't know what they would say. They're not here. No one is here! So... what should I do?
Fingers grip my wand tighter, raising it only a little. The spell whispers past my lips. One... two... three pops.