Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Fifteen

 They were under attack.

When the wall behind them was blown up, Avalon was thrown off her chair and her head hit against the stone floor with such a brute force that her vision was turned into a disoriented array of black and white spots. She heard screams, cries, coughs, and everything in between breaking out around her, but everything felt echoed, as though her head was submerged in a violent ocean.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and scoop her up, carrying her out of the line of chaos and setting her down hastily but gently against a wall. Her eyes fluttered open to the sound of her name being screamed in her face. "Avalon! Avalon, wake up!"

Orion's wide blue eyes were the first thing she saw when she started batting her eyes, trying to get her head back on straight as she looked around and saw the commotion around them. Riddle was sitting inches away, his chest rising and falling quickly as he caught his breath. The Three Broomsticks had been blown to pieces, chairs scattered the floors, students and professors were strewn across the floor unconscious, and dust hung so heavy in the air that it was hard to breathe without coughing.

"Holy shit," she said under her breath, quickly coming back to her senses as she looked around. She grabbed her wand out of her coat pocket, mirroring Avery, and scanned the room.

Suddenly, clouds of sinister black smoke dipped in and out of the crumbling building as wizards apparated into view and immediately began casting spell after spell, aiming right for the students, professors, and workers that were scrambling to get out of their way.

"Grindelwald's men," Riddle said, his wand gripped tightly in his fingers. The three of them were hidden behind a counter, just out of eyesight from the witches and wizards casting flashes of red every which way. Avalon peaked out from behind the safety of the counter to get a good view of the scene before them.

She spotted Lestrange and Mulciber pulling Rosier out of the center of the chaos. It appeared Adonis had been hit by the impact of the explosion and was knocked unconscious. Xavier's eyes were scanning the room, searching desperately for Avalon, but he couldn't find her in her hidden corner. The three boys retreated into a corner, quickly ducking down as a spell went flying at their heads.

The professors were all either ushering students into safe spaces or engaged in battle, trying to ward off the Alliance members that had invaded the village. Merrythought was deep in combat with a dark-haired wizard, throwing spell after spell after spell back and forth between them. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor looked as though she was in her element, sending powerful magic rippling through the air, hitting the dark wizards square in their chests with each forceful blow.

Avalon looked at Orion. She had never seen him look so tense. His eyes kept darting towards the exit and she could see the worry flashing on his features as he turned to her and spoke, quiet enough so that only she could hear, "I have to find Clara."

She peeked out from their spot once more, a red flash of light nearly hitting her the moment she stuck her head out to get a view of the scene. It was a warzone-- blinding lights flying in nearly every direction as people and chairs were thrown every which way. "Let's get out of here," she said, turning to the boys.

They wasted no time bolting upright and darting towards the exit. The instant that they rose up from their hiding spot, several of Grindelwald's followers spotted them, turning their attention towards throwing flashes of blinding curses their way.

Avalon could hear her professors screaming at them, telling them to go back into their safe spot and to get out of the battle, but she didn't care. As she ran towards the door, the two boys following her closely from behind, it was almost instinctual how she dodged the spells that were flying towards them and quickly shot a defensive shield behind them over her shoulder, not even hesitating a moment as her actions came to her like second nature.