Harry Potter and the Last Dragon

Chapter 2

The Hurricane

At last, the thirtieth of August had come. Tomorrow morning they had to be at the "King's Cross". But now the Weasleys' house stood on ears. The twins Fred and George were showing their newest inventions to all; Harry, Ron, Ginny and even Mr. Weasley were laughing at their tricks. Mrs. Weasley was trying to prepare a "good-bye" supper, desperately trying not to mix recipes. Hermione was sitting in the armchair in a corner of the room, having clamped her ears with her fingers, and was studying a new book about spells, which the twins had found (with large difficulties) in London. Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, was chasing two gnomes around a corner, and those were laughingly hiding from him anywhere.

Mrs. Weasley, after the pressing of Mr. Weasley and Hermione, had allowed garden gnomes to live for a while in the entrance-hall: the strongest downpour, that wasn't stopping for three days already, flooded the gnomes' holes and expelled their inhabitants to the street. Fairly spoken, it was raining without a break for almost a month, but such a strong downpour was a first. Because of it, Harry had to leave his hopes to fly once again on "Thunder-storm", his new broom, and to try to reach its maximal speed.

The fun in the house wasn't continuing too long. The twins started their last invention for juvenile wizards - the UFO-pistol. The tiny UFO, blinking with multi-coloured lights, silently departed through the room. Suddenly Fred pushed his twin and pointed to his watch. Having looked to each other, the brothers started to move to the entrance door. And the UFO, meanwhile, was flying right to Mrs. Weasley. The clock in the corridor exclaimed nine and at this moment the UFO, having hung near an ear of Mrs. Weasley, exploded with such a roar, as if it was, not less, dynamite checker. The mother of the family, not expecting it, jumped away with a loud squeal, having waved with her wand. Nothing good, except for a good lightning bolt, happened from it. The lightning punched the room, by a miracle having touched nobody, and hit the wall. Above this place was the old radio. It wasn't used to receive such an electroshock. The old device began to sneeze, but had to turn on. Harry was the first who understood that the radio began to accept, not a magic radio station, but the Muggles' channel BBC - he recognized the announcer's voice:

'...we can only hope the next changes its course. Eventually, there were four of them during the last two days. But now the hurricane "Betsy" is still confirming the worst fears of weather forecasters: it is still moving to Great Britain. The pictures from satellites are showing that the hurricane is going to the south of the country. If it won't change its course, the centre of the hurricane will pass one hundred miles to the south of London tomorrow. In Wales mass evacuation has begun. Sharp strengthening of wind is expected everywhere. The hurricane has already caused torrential rains which have flooded half of the country. People are strongly recommended to stay at home and to refrain from distant trips. Apparently, it'll be the strongest nature disaster in our country for the last two hundred years...'

The radio sneezed for last time, and the program broke.

For some time silence established. Then Mrs. Weasley started screaming:

'Arthur, what's going on? The Muggles are warning for this, and our Ministry of Magic is silent. Have you heard what that radio told? "It's recommended to refrain from distant trips..." And we're sending the children to school tomorrow! What shall we do, Arthur?'

'First of all, Molly, don't panic,' said Mr. Weasley. 'The Ministry isn't blind, they too see what the weather is like. And in general, I don't see special reasons for anxiety. The hurricane should pass through the south of the country, and the children will go to the north... Though you are right about the silence of the Ministry,' added he. 'I should go to the Ministry now and find out about it myself.'

With these words Mr. Weasley went upstairs to change clothes. And Mrs. Weasley urged all to go to sleep:

'There's no reason to sit here, tomorrow you'll have to get up early. And you,' she addressed the twins, terribly angry, 'behave yourself as silent as mice, or I'll remember that I've not yet punished you for today's outrage!'

Without superfluous words all went to their bedrooms to not annoy Mrs. Weasley. The room of Ron and Harry was under the roof; therefore the rain's noise was heard in it especially strongly. Harry couldn't sleep for a long time, listening to it and remembering Hogwarts. Before him was the next school year, it was time already to think about the future. But all Harry's ideas were about Quidditch, and he fell asleep, dreaming of a place as the Seeker in a national Quidditch team.

Harry woke up from the loud scream of Mrs. Weasley: 'Time to get up!' For about a minute he sat on the bed, understanding nothing: it was still dark outside the window, the rain was falling as from a bucket, there had only appeared one new sound - the singing of the wind. On the next bed Ron fussed, swearing through his dream on the too early awakening.

Harry and Ron entered into the dining room together with the twins. George at once stated the common ideas:

'Why was it necessary to awake us at four o'clock in the morning? In fact, to the station it is only one hour of driving. And the train departs at eleven -'

'And why awake me and George?' added Fred. 'We could say good-bye to our dear sister from our warm bed...'

'Quiet,' Mrs. Weasley silenced him. She seemed very excited. 'Have breakfast, your father will return soon and explain everything.'

Once all had a meal, Mr. Weasley came, all wet and dirty.

'Good morning, children,' said he and turned to Mrs. Weasley: 'Molly, dear, please give me another robe, mine is very dirty. The weather is so mad, that during the Apparation, instead of ending up in our hall, I was thrown out into the garden. And there the dirt stood knee-deep...'

'Dad,' asked Fred, 'why were we awaked so early? What's going on?'

'We have big problems,' answered Mr. Weasley. 'The Muggles knowingly gave the alarm. About weather prediction they are better than us. They have satellites and a heap of other things. By the way,' he addressed Harry and Hermione, 'what are these satellites like? I know that from them the Muggles can see far more about the weather and -'

'Later, Arthur,' Mrs. Weasley stopped him.

'Well, Molly,' he obeyed. 'And so, the Ministry had mistaken in the forecasts, and it didn't strongly trust the Muggles. To them, obviously, their pride prevents from asking help from others. To say it shortly, we should've sent the children to school two-three days ago. And now even to get them to the train - it's a problem. And to stay home is impossible: the hurricane is moving to the north. It, most likely, will by-pass the London's area, but all the same, it'll hit us strongly.'

'And what does the Ministry suggest?' asked Mrs. Weasley.

'To send the children to the school. There it'll be more safety. To enable the children from dangerous areas to get to the train, the Ministry has employed Knight Bus.

Harry shuddered: the mad driver of this magic bus could not stay at a road at sunny weather and then where would he appear during the storm?

'Transport for us will come now,' Mr. Weasley finished the conversation. 'So gather quickly.'

Yawning, all went to put on their clothes. School things had been packed yesterday, so gathering didn't take up a lot of time.

Suddenly there resounded a loud hoot, by force not inferior to a locomotive's. From the unexpected sound, all jumped up. Ron's tiny owl Pigwidgeon began to rush in his cage with cries, and Crookshanks scratched the back of the sofa on which he sat with one stroke. Fortunately, Mrs. Weasley didn't notice that.

'It's time to leave,' said Mr. Weasley. 'The transport has arrived.'

Harry, dragging his trunk, was the first to pass to the porch, towards the storming wind. And bumped into a huge wheel. It was about two meters high. Peering into a veil of a rain, Harry distinguished the contours of a gigantic multi-wheeled machine. Only the Knight Bus was higher, but it yielded in length to this machine. In the meantime all others had left the house and, as if on command, they opened their mouths in surprise.

Between two wheels a small door opened, a wizard in glasses came out from it and shouted:

'Here, Arthur!'

'Get in,' ordered Mr. Weasley. One by one, all climbed into the machine by a small ladder. There was one more ladder inside. It ended in a cabin the size of a good room. All empty space was filled by armchairs in which schoolchildren, basically of the second and third years, and their parents, were slumbering. In the next premise Harry noticed the trunks lying down in a heap.

'Take seats,' told the wizard in glasses. 'Excuse us, Arthur -,' he addressed Mr. Weasley, '- we, apparently, passed through your garden. Not so easy to unroll such a machine.'

'Forget it, Enthony,' said Mr. Weasley. 'The garden was already soaked.'

'It's Enthony Proug, the chief of the Ministry's garage,' he said to the others. 'Enthony, you couldn't have found something smaller?'

'"Something smaller" can't drive,' answered Enthony. 'At the London's highway, the bridge was demolished, in other places the road was simply flooded.'

He sat at the driver's armchair and started the engine. Harry felt that the floor under his feet began to vibrate. Enthony pulled the lever, and the machine smoothly got going. It seemed smoothly, for there were no ditches or fences. Having passed through a field, the machine got out to a road, and occupied it from one side to another.

'Dad, what is this technical thing?' asked George.

'It's the Ministry's machine for extremes cases,' he answered. 'It was bought not so long ago in Russia. There, it has been used in military forces.'

'In Russia?' Ginny was surprised.

'Far northern country,' explained Mr. Weasley. 'We build good roads for small cars, and they - big machines for bad roads. Oh, how much I've suffered with the registration of this machine! It was necessary to leave it visible for Muggles, in fact they sometimes should be transported too. And the invisibility device can't be used - the sizes are too great. One hopes, that at such weather Muggles will not consider it very strongly.'

'Mr. Weasley,' Hermione asked him. 'Does Mr. Proug operate the machine only by himself?'

'No. Somewhere below, the mechanic sits, looking after the engine.'

At this time the machine stopped. Enthony Proug went downwards and returned with a little girl, obviously a first-year student. The machine went further. Lulled by its smooth rocking, Harry dozed off. He woke up from a rather strong push. Looking around, Harry saw, that the number of people had grown. There weren't enough armchairs; so many people were dozing on their trunks. Suddenly the machine gave a shudder again.

'What's happened?' asked Harry.

'Nothing serious,' answered the driver. 'Just a tree that cut into us.'

Harry, being half-awake, didn't understand at first, what "a tree that cut into us" meant, instead of "we cut into a tree". He came to a lateral window and sighed: around the machine a river raged. It carried uprooted trees, fragments of houses and other rubbish. It was rather bright already, and Harry saw that the wheels of the machine completely disappeared under the water. However, it apparently was not reflected in the speed of the machine, for it was confidently going through the river, leaving waves behind.

'Mr. Proug,' Harry asked the driver, 'which river is this?'

'It's not a river; it's only the Stone-creak stream. It crossed the London highway approximately in this place,' answered the driver. 'As you see, the road disappeared. But it'll not delay us. Half an hour and we'll be in London.'

Harry sat near the windscreen. Only now he realized how bad the weather was: the strongest wind was bending trees up to the ground, behind a veil of rain nothing was visible after a distance of five steps. Obviously because of that, Enthony lost the road: the machine was laying a way for itself through a dense bush. Nevertheless, houses appeared ahead soon.

'Well, we have arrived at last,' said the driver to Harry and then turned to the rest. 'Everybody wake up! It's time to leave!'

He stopped the machine on a small open place near some warehouse. From below the howling of wind was heard - the door to street had been opened.

'Leave and take the buses,' declared Mr. Proug. 'They stand in the hangar near the machine. Happy journey!'

Students tumbled to the exit. It appeared that they filled not only the cabin, but also the cargo room. Mr. Weasley approached the driver:

'Thanks, Enthony. And what'll be next?'

'Now by bus to King's Cross, you take the children to the train. Then by bus back here, and from here I'll convey all parents home. I could take you to the station by myself, but I am afraid to crush something in the narrow city streets. You'll go to the Ministry then, Arthur?'

'Yes.'

'Find out, please, about my family. I haven't been home for two days already.'

'OK, Enthony. Good luck!'

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione left the machine and only now Harry could examine the machine entirely: the twenty-wheeled dark green dinosaur seemed a symbol of calmness in the storming world around. It easily managed an impact of the gale-force wind, and covered the entrance of hangar with it's size.

Harry wasn't allowed to consider the machine thoroughly: Mr. Weasley dragged him into the hangar. There were two usual Muggle buses, already filled with students. The Weasleys were placed in a front part of one of them, near the driver. When all were settled, though they had to crowd together slightly, the buses departed. They passed the gate of the hangar, and Harry at once decided that travelling with the "machine for the extremes cases" was much more pleasant and safer. The bus threateningly heeled from rushes of wind, each pool was a serious obstacle and the rubbish, flying in air, threatened to break the windows. Nevertheless, they felt that some magic was used for the bus: it passed the suburbs of the city quickly enough, manoeuvring between the tumbled down trees with surprising easiness. At last, they reached King's Cross. The bus drove directly to Platform 9 ¾ through some spare pass, after it approached the second bus.

It took only five minutes for the train to take off. Having said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and to the twins, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny quickly plunged into the train. Fortunately, the train stood under a roof protecting them from rain and wind. Ron found a free compartment in the first carriage and Harry helped Hermione and Ginny drag their trunks into the compartment. Once everyone was settled, the train moved. The train rode away from the platform, and out from under the roof and the carriages trembled from the strong impulses of wind. The trip began.