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Post by Fate on Dec 14, 2010 19:52:38 GMT -5
It was an ordinary day on Diagon Alley. The grey of British Winter had set in, and the streets were chilly and mostly empty, which was to be expected on a Wednesday in December. It was cold, but inside the shops the fires were burning and keeping the buildings warm.
"Henry, Love, could you hand me that book over there? Ministry Encyclopedia F through M, it should say," An old woman sitting behind the checkout desk of Flourish & Blotts pointed a shaky finger in the direction of a bookcase, smiling feebly at her grandson. "Its so good to have you here over the winter holidays, Henry..."
"Anytime, Gran," The lanky Hufflepuff 5th year crossed the bookshop for his grandmother; the old woman had been running the shop for decades, and with her failing health of late she needed all the help she could get. Though they hadn't told Henry, he knew there was discussion of whether or not his Gran would make it through this winter. It was supposed to be a rough one, and with the creatures out and about at night it was becoming increasingly dangerous for everyone, not just Henry's ailing grandmother.
"Thanks love," Gran smiled, her dark eyes sparkling in admiration for her grandson. She placed the book on a pile of similar encyclopedias, ones that Henry would assume were the rest of the set. "The Minister of Magic himself requested these from the shop. I'm so proud! Think it will get more people coming in... Henry? Is something wrong?"
Henry glanced back at his Gran, smiling lightly at the elderly woman. "No, nothings wrong, just a little cold, is all."
"Oh, I've got that lovey. Just close the windows then..." The old woman took out her wand and flicked it lightly at the windows--
THTOOM. Flourish and Blotts suddenly exploded, the entire building going up in smoke. Panic broke out in the streets of Diagon alley as smoke and debris flew everywhere, and the fire spread.
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Post by Jaxon Bronx Pietri on Dec 18, 2010 15:18:56 GMT -5
His uncontrollable hankering for sweets had brought him to Diagon Alley, but the weather kept him walking down the cobbled lane. Winter was his favorite season and he never missed the chance to take a stroll in the chilly air. Besides, the crowd in the sweetshop was far too dense for his liking. He'd return later on. Flourish and Blotts was his next choice: in his free time, he was a voracious reader of books, Muggle and wizard alike. There was one that had been on his list for quite a while, dealing with the Wizarding War and the famous Harry Potter. Today was as good of a day as any to stop by and see if it was in stock.
Too bad today wasn't as good of a day as he thought it to be. As he was passing Flourish and Blotts, a large explosion sent him flying backwards off his feet. Dazed, he rose from the cold stone to see the bookstore consumed in flames. Other shoppers were also pulling themselves off the ground in shock, some running from the scene screaming while others stood with their mouths open in shock. Shaking his head of the clouded feeling, Jaxon caught sight of a woman shaking a younger man, trying to get him to answer her questions. After a few seconds, she gave up, attempting to help a fallen victim and trying to put out the fire.
This was a fire of immense size. There was no way that even the two of them would succeed in putting it out. His hands scrambled to his jean pocket, and sighed in relief. Since his magic was of limited ability, Jaxon usually left the useless thing in his desk drawer, but luckily, today he had brought it along. Concentrating hard, he put his wand tip to his throat and began to speak. It wouldn't be the loudest call for help they'd have or the most clear, but it could possibly aid in their situation. His voice came through like a cellular phone with bad reception. He hoped it got his point across. "Fire... Flourish and Blotts... in dire need... assistance," he said, his voice louder than usual. Hopefully that was enough to draw in Good Samaritans and Ministy workers.
Jaxon's expertise was more likely to pay off with those injured by the blast but he realized that the fire needed to be tamed first or there would be more injuries than two could handle. "Aguamenti," he shouted above the crackle of the flames, producing a small jet of water that didn't do much. The amount of concentration that he had to pay to this simple spell already made his head ache, not to mention the knock to the head he received when blown over backwards. "I can't do much more," he yelled to the woman, hoping that she would be able to do more than he was.
The man whom the woman had shaken was still standing there, watching the fire in shock. Jaxon put an arm around his shoulders and led him to The Leaky Cauldron across the road. It would be better for the bartenders to take care of the man indoors. A woman cried out in pain somewhere to his right and he went through the smoke after her.
When would the help arrive?
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Post by Elle Callahan on Dec 19, 2010 13:29:42 GMT -5
It was December. Everything seemed to move faster in December, not that Elle was complaining but she found herself reminiscing for her school days when December was one of the longest months of the year. First waiting for finals to be over, break to begin and then Christmas to finally appear. Now, having been an "adult" for seven years she found herself sometimes wishing that she was a child again. No worries. No rushing. But it was just a silly dream and not a very practical one. She had a good childhood but she would not want to relive the pain of losing her mother, or the teasing she had endured at school.
There were perks to being an adult. At the moment though they were buried under the burdens of higher education, work and expectations from the family she just discovered she had.
After an eight hour shift at St. Mungos, Elle had decided to spend what was left of the day shopping. She had been ignoring that task for sometime but as now a new Aunt to little children she had to live up to the role and that meant buying gifts. She had just walked out of the store next to the bookstore when the explosion happened throwing her forward into a rather large pile of snow that had been plowed from the side walks. Disorientated, Elle slowly came to her knees, staring in horror as one of her most cherished places burst into flames. In a matter of minutes billowing clouds of smoke rolled out of the building, ashes turned the once white snow gray. Hat askew, robes slightly singed and wet with snow, Elle quickly checked herself for wounds. A few scratches and red skin but nothing serious. That over she quickly made her way through the panicked crowd, her mind reeling with what happened. Who set off an explosion? How many were inside the bookstore? Will the fire spread? How much smoke is filling the air? Is anyone allergic to smoke, asthma?
Elle ordered her thoughts as she skidded to a stop in front of the burning building. Injured were everywhere, fleeing the scene, Elle fought the urge to help them just yet. Something had to be done about the burning building and the people trapped inside. Summoning water would take too much energy and time. There just wasn't enough able people around. Snow! Elle glanced around and began to levitate the snow off the ground and flung it at the fire. Sizzling sounds issued forth and steam rose in the air, combating the smoke, pushing it higher. The fire dimmed a little but not as much as Elle hoped.
"Has anyone gone inside to check for survivors? " She asked a woman near her who seemed to be helping. In this chaos barely anyone was recognizable.
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Post by Jaxon Bronx Pietri on Dec 20, 2010 13:25:59 GMT -5
The question made him jump violently. No one had thought to look for survivors! They could all be dead by now! A look of panic crossed his face as he glanced over to the two women. The one who had been helping before asked him if he had had any experience with fire. He didn't answer. It was obvious that he hadn't, but the next question lit a fire under him. "My student is in there, and his grandmother! At the very least, those two!" His heart pounding fast and hard, he knew what he had to say. "I'm only a Care of Magical Creatures professor, and I haven't been much help so far. It's the least I can do."
Without a second thought, Jaxon darted off toward the flaming bookstore, stripping off his robe as he went. He didn't want anything to impede his process. "Henry!" he called as he dodged a falling bookshelf. The heat was intense; he felt beads of sweat collect and run down his face. "Henry!" A muffled noise from his right sent him bolting toward what was left of the clerk's desk. Gran. The elderly woman was coughing terribly due to smoke inhalation and he ran to her, scooping her up in his arms. "Where's Henry?" he shouted to no one in particular as he delivered the old woman to safety.
His eyes met with each of the other helpers, the two women who were tending to the injured and putting snow on the fire, then he turned back into the flames. A coughing spasm racked his body as he searched for Henry.
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Post by Mordecai Caulfield on Dec 21, 2010 12:04:57 GMT -5
Immediately, calls had been made into the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Tens of calls turned to hundreds, frantic voices shaking the halls of the Ministry. Diagon Alley was burning. People were dying.
Mort Caulfield didn't have to be told.
Mort had been in the Alley already, inside Gringotts when he heard the explosion. He acted immediately, before waiting for his department to arrive. He assumed they knew what was happening; Mort was on the scene, helping get as many witches and wizards away from the blow as quickly as he could. Ash was falling on the Alley; if there was much more, or if the fire spread, the danger would get much worse. They had to stop the fires before they hit a potions shop, or their troubles would be far more dangerous.
"The Hell is that guy doing?!" Mort growled, leaving his place helping others as he saw a man run recklessly into the burning ruins of Flourish & Blotts. The Ministry Head touched his wand to his lips, muttering a spell for the Bubble Head Charm. Though it was usually used in water, the charm could be used wherever normal breathing was difficult. Mort hustled towards the burning building, but he only reached the opening the explosion made when the man reappeared, now with a victim in his arms.
"Where's Henry?"
"Who?" Mort moved with the man as he brought the woman to safety, his gruff voice slightly muffled by the bubble-head charm. "What the Hell do you think you're doing running into a burning building like that? The last thing we need are more bloody victims..." Mort tended to the old woman as a coughing spell stopped the young man. His silvery eyebrows rose in surprise when he recognized the victim. "Maelsta? C'mon, Mrs. Hargreeves, we need a little information before I can let you go off to the kind healers..."
The old woman's eyes opened wide and her brown gaze fell on Mort. She grabbed at his shirt, immediately bursting into tears. Sooty coughs accompanied her sobs. "H-e-enry..... Oh He-nry... I only wanted to clo-ose the windows..."
"Its okay, Maelstra," Mort laid a gentle hand on her forehead as her energy left her and she closed her eyes once again. The old wizard's head snapped upward, his eyes locking on a young woman who was helping the man. She looked worried, with her firey red hair and wolf-like ears. "I need a healer for this woman, as soon as possible." Mort's eyes wandered over at a dark-haired woman he immediately recognized as a healer; she had helped Mort's "nephew" Kameren when he was institutionalized. "You!" Mort stood up, putting a rough hand on the woman's shoulder. "You're a healer, aren't you? This woman needs immediate medical attention. Please," He locked eyes with the young woman, showing his seriousness, "I need to speak to this woman once this is all over. Make sure I can do that."
"We need to get back in there and look for this 'Henry'," Mort said, his blue-grey eyes darting between the wolf-woman and the man who had run in earlier, "Before it's too late. My team is on their way, but we need to act now if we hope to find him alive." Mort took out his wand and tapped it against their mouths each in turn, spawning a bubble-head charm for each of them. "Come on." Mort turned towards the ruins, running back into the building.
CRAC-CRA-CR-CR-CRA-CR-CRACK! Mort didn't turn around when he heard the loud sounds. That would be his team, here to keep order. Helping to keep the people safe. This was definitely a catastrophe.
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Post by Elle Callahan on Dec 21, 2010 23:19:02 GMT -5
"Elle, I have only a little mastery of Fire, it might be enough to shiled me from harm for a while, but do we even know how many people were inside? No one that I have tried to talk to has given me any answers, everyone is just dumbfounded. I'll go in, but I dont even know what I am looking for!"
Elle? The sound of her name startled the healer. She hadn;t recognized anyone...not that she was looking at people too closely. She was more intent on their wounds (or lack there of) than their distinctive features. A woman with wolf like ears bounded over to Elle. A gasp of surprise sprung forth when she realized it was her old friend Kit. Elle hadn't seen the girl-woman in quite some time but it wasn't the time fore a reunion. Elle quickly closed her mouth, to prevent more ash from entering it as Kit talked about fire and her limited ability to wield it.
As the conversation continued passed Elle and to the other man, she kept trying to put the fire out with snow and water.
"My student is in there, and his grandmother! At the very least, those two!" His heart pounding fast and hard, he knew what he had to say. "I'm only a Care of Magical Creatures professor, and I haven't been much help so far. It's the least I can do."
Elle's heart went out to the man and she itched to do something. A child? It was down right horrible before Elle could say anything the professor rushed towards the burning building...
"WAIT----DON'T---USE A BUBBLE HEAD CHARM!" She shouted to no avail he was already gone. Then he was back but at that point Elle was trying to keep a particularly mischievous flame from jumping onto the next building. She hadn't noticed who had arrived to help until something, or someone touched her shoulder. Elle flinched at the sudden pressure as she glanced backwards.
"You're a healer, aren't you? This woman needs immediate medical attention. Please," He locked eyes with the young woman, showing his seriousness, "I need to speak to this woman once this is all over. Make sure I can do that."
"I can't make promises sir but I will try." She said firmly as she jogged over to the unconscious woman. This was it. Elle's big test to see if she could heal people without a supervisor near by, or the help of an expert telling her what spell would work best when she didn't have the most efficient answer. The stakes were definitely higher out here among this mess. For a second Elle panicked. SHe couldn't do this, she was just a student, she had barely been training professionally for seven years. But she was all this woman had and Elle would not allow her to die.
Quickly Elle performed a body scan, detecting inflamed lungs, burns, scratches and a small bruise on her head. Elle performed her own bubble head charm on the older lady before she checked vitals. The charm would provide cleaner air which would help the woman breath a bit. Overall she wasn't critically hurt, a lucky escape really. Elle quickly cleaned her face, checked the bruise, noticed a small cut above her temple that worried her and bandaged it.
Finished with what she could do with transfigured bandages, Elle muttered the awakening spell over the woman
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Post by Jaxon Bronx Pietri on Dec 22, 2010 13:12:19 GMT -5
Maybe it had something to do with his head injury. Or perhaps he had thrown all rationality out the window. Either way, Jaxon, the shy coward, had run headlong into a burning building looking for survivors. A death wish? There was a good chance it could turn out that way. The old woman was safe, from the fire at least. Henry was nowhere to be found and his chest was burning from the lack of oxygen. The Healer had been the only person who had felt sympathy for him -- the wolf girl was silent and the Ministry man looked down upon him for it. She had suggested a Bubble-Head Charm and that would have been a good idea had he been able to cast one.
He hadn't gone far into the building when he turned around, walking back toward the Ministry man. He seemed like he knew exactly what to do and Jaxon was willing to take orders to attempt to save Henry. His ears burned with embarrassment as he glanced up at the man, but it seemed like he was done being scolded. Jaxon was thankful that the man cast his Bubble-Head Charm for him -- if he hadn't, he would have been running back in with nothing to protect his already charred lungs. He followed the man back into the building, hoping against hope that his student was still alive somehow.
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