Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

A few days later, the unthinkable happened. It was a fairly normal morning, as sunlight slowly crept its way into the Hufflepuff boys' dormitories. Nobody expected that anything was amiss. I opened my eyes, grabbed my glasses, and rolled over to take a look at the clock. It was a little bit late, so I rushed to get ready. I told myself to set my clocks early because I knew that I was always late.

Once I was ready, I went down to the Great Hall. By the time I got there, I was a little bit early. Only a handful of other students were there, but thankfully, Pete was one of those students. I went over to the Gryffindor table to talk to him.

"Hello there, Rickster," Pete said. "How are you?"

"I'm not okay," I answered, but we were interrupted by a swarm of owls that all darted into the Great Hall at the same time. One of them dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet right into Pete's hand.

"I don't even subscribe to the Daily Prophet!" Pete exclaimed. Despite my hatred for the newspaper, I couldn't help but look at the headline.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC HEADQUARTERS BURNED: MAGIC THIEVES TO BLAME

I had to know more. What exactly had happened at the Ministry of Magic? Pete and I both read the rest of the article.

The Ministry of Magic Headquarters in London was burned last night, killing twelve employees and injuring many more. The fire is believed to have resulted from a Fiendfyre Curse; however, the caster of the curse is unknown. The entire building was burnt, along with many important documents and records. Twelve Ministry of Magic Employees were killed in the fire, including Senior Undersecretary Donna Way and her husband. Dozens more are injured. Among the injured Ministry of Magic Employees is Head of the Department of Magical Transportation Percy Weasley. In addition, Kingsley Shacklebolt has gone missing after this event. His current whereabouts are unknown, along with Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement Hermione Granger and Head of the Auror Office Harry Potter.

During this time of crisis, Darren Travers has agreed to act as the temporary Minister for Magic. "The Muggle borns were the ones that created this horrible tragedy," Travers claims. "They stole their magic, and they intend to kill us all. It's only right that a pure-blooded wizard steps up to deal with this chaos until Shacklebolt returns to his position. We need to destroy them before they destroy us." Travers has already begun rebuilding the Ministry of Magic Headquarters, and plans to find replacements for the missing and dead employees.

"Darren Travers is the Minister for Magic?!" Pete exclaimed. "Doesn't everyone realise how bad of an idea that is? He was awful to us when he was here at Hogwarts."

"I know," I said. "This is all completely insane. Someone burnt down the Ministry, Shacklebolt is gone, the Daily Prophet's blaming the Muggle borns for it all, and now Travers is the Minister." I thought about telling Pete about my suspicions, but I decided that it was better to keep it secret. I didn't know for sure that the Death Eaters had burnt the Ministry, and it wasn't worth telling Pete something that might not be true.

The other students came into the Great Hall, and as they did, they all saw the news. The entire Great Hall begin to panic: I saw everything from Andy Hurley screaming about how the Muggle-borns were innocent to Teddy Lupin crying at the Hufflepuff table. Amongst all of the chaos, Professor McGonagall stepped up to the front of the room. "Students, I have an announcement to make," she said, and most of the chatter stopped.

Pete rolled his eyes. "She's just going to repeat what the Daily Prophet said," he stated. "I've seen sinking ships go down with more grace than this."

"Five points from Gryffindor for that rather rude comment, Mr Wentz," Professor McGonagall said. Pete gave me a quick glance and thankfully stopped talking. "It seems that most of you have heard about the tragedy at the Ministry of Magic," she said. "It is truly a sad incident, but what is even more sad is that the Daily Prophet is not telling you the whole truth."

Another wave of chatter weaved its way through the Great Hall. What wasn't the Daily Prophet telling us about? Professor McGonagall soon gave us an answer. "Silence!" she shouted. "We have reason to believe that the Death Eaters have reformed and were responsible for the burning of the Ministry of Magic Headquarters. Additionally, the acting Minister for Magic, Darren Travers, is associated with the Death Eaters."

"That's what I thought," I mumbled, but other students seemed far more surprised.

"As a result of this, we must implement some safety measures to protect all of our students, especially those who may be targeted by the new leaders," Professor McGonagall said. "Until Shacklebolt is re-instated as the Minister for Magic, Muggle born students are forbidden from visiting Hogsmeade. There are Death Eater sympathisers in the village, and all students are safest in the castle."

"Wait, what?" Josh said. "You can't do that!"

"It's for your protection," Professor McGonagall said. "Our hometown's in the dark."

Professor McGonagall sat back down at the High Table, while the rest of us went back to eating breakfast. Nevertheless, it felt like nothing would ever be the same. Things had only gone from bad to worse, and it would only be a downward spiral from here. 

A/N: I feel like I need to say something about the US presidential election, but I just want to follow Fall Out Boy's advice and get new passports and get out now.