Chapter Twenty-One - The Persecution
I had fallen asleep sometime during that long trip to nowhere. I was dreaming of my last trip on a plane with my Mum, when I was woken up by the abrupt shaking of the car, and Uncle Ron's colorful vocabulary.
"Wake up, sleepy heads!" he exclaimed, as he grabbed the wheel with both hands.
I looked around and realized, much to my horror, that we were not on the road. In fact, we were not on the ground. We were flying!
Luna woke up, and groggily looked around. "What's going on, Ronald?" she asked, sounding much like a drunk person. In another situation, I would have laughed.
"We've got Aurors chasing us!" my uncle replied, his voice incredulous. "You are sleepy heads," he muttered. But his grin quickly was replaced by a scowl as he looked through the rear-view mirror, to the people on broomsticks following after us.
I watched on in awe, but had to quickly hold on to the front seats as Uncle Ron started doing sharp turns and other dangerous moves, trying to lose the wizards and witches. Luna, still not quite awake, mumbled a protest as she nearly ended up on top of my uncle.
"Luna, wake up!" he said, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. I wondered how he could be amused in this kind of situation. With five or more people flying behind us, wands drawn out, and scowls on their faces.
"What are we going to do, Uncle Ron?" I asked, looking at Hedwig and Crookshanks, who seemed to be glaring at our chasers. Luna was finally waking up, rubbing her eyes and stretching.
My uncle shrugged. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'll just try to lose them."
That certainly didn't make me feel any better. But then again, it wasn't as if we had been expecting to be chased by the Ministry of Magic. And thinking on-the-fly wasn't one of my uncle's good points.
There was a loud explosion, and the car started falling quickly. I screamed in fear as I watched the ground getting closer. My uncle yelled something, and I felt Luna's hand on my mouth. "Calm down, John," she said urgently. "We're going to be okay." She removed her hand, but I caught it and held it tight.
The Aurors were surrounding us, and the car came to an eventual stop near the ground. Then, slowly, it descended completely, landing softly on the grass, in the middle of a field. We seemed to be in a large harvesting area, I couldn't see any Muggles or farms. Just lands.
"Come out of there, Ronald Weasley! Hand us over the child!" one man called. "If you do not comply, we will have no choice but to use our full force."
I looked at my uncle and Luna, and they both seemed to be thinking what to do. "We really can't do much, Ronald," she finally said, almost in a whisper. "We'll have to sort this out at the Ministry."
Uncle Ron scowled, but nodded. "They won't listen, though," he muttered, and sighed. Looking back at me, he smiled sadly. "I'll do my best, John. I promise."
I stifled back a sob, as I lunged myself at him, hugging him tightly. "I don't want anyone else to be my guardian!" I cried. He patted my head, trying to calm me down.
Without another word, we got out of the car. I let my parents' pets out, before I was grabbed forcefully by an Auror. Crookshanks hissed at them, his tail flicking from side to side, angrily. Hedwig hooted indignantly, pecked the Auror on the head, and flew away.
"Let's get these to the Ministry," one of the Aurors said, leading the group. It took two strong-looking Aurors to hold back my uncle, one to escort Luna, and another one was nearly dragging me. A fifth Auror shot a spell at Crookshanks, and he went stiff.
"No! That's my mother's cat!" I yelled angrily.
The Auror looked at me, a fake smile on his face. "It's okay, son," he said calmly. "I just made him fall asleep. I'll wake him up once I get a cage for him."
I glared at him, but said nothing.
Notes: Wow! Still more to come.
At those who wondered why the Ministry would even listen to Molly: In Muggle law, we have always seen that even if
allegations are not true, Child Services sometimes take kids away from their assigned guardians/parents. It should be
no different in the wizarding world, where laws are ignored or followed depending on the people (corruption).
For example, t seems as the law would be always "unfair" to a Weasley, compared to a Malfoy.