Date: April 13/14, 2005 (very early hours of the morning as the town sleeps)
Characters: Miles, random unnamed townsfolk
Location: Up and down High Street and Margin Alley
Private/Public: Public (feel free to post reactions)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Thuggery.
Summary: Miles carries out his mission for Rabastan: Create mayhem in town and make everyone feel unsafe.
Completion: Complete
Miles waited until midnight, just to be sure. He'd been watching the Aurors all day, and suspected the next change of shift would be at the turn of the clock. He smirked under his hooded cloak, just waiting in the shadows. The residents were far too complacent, he'd noticed. They seemed to think that just by being in Hogsmeade, everything was just going to be fine and perfect. That silly old bat McGonagall and that pompous arse Ogden were lulling them into a false sense of security. Well he was about to change all that.
He waited until there was nobody left out on the street. He'd planned exactly where he was going to hit, and cause the most damage in the shortest time. Scrivenshafts would light up the night sky with just a couple of fire charms. Honeydukes was a bit of a problem, as the shopkeeper - some annoying little Gryffindor bastard - lived upstairs. The three Broomsticks was going to be regretful, as Rosmerta lived upstairs as well, but he had heard that Rosmerta gave information to the Order, and if she was silly enough to do that... well, he had to sometimes put his personal sympathies aside. This was war, after all, he said to himself.
It had been a half hour since the light went out above Honeydukes, and Miles raised his cloak, smirking as he kept to the shadows. Grabbing his broom, he rode slow and low. He stopped outside Scriveschafts, hovering a few inches above the ground as he cast a quick charm to break through one of the glass panes. He moved over to the broken window and aimed his wand at the back wall, where stocks of parchment were stacked high. Flammare, he cried out softly and quickly, watching as the papers started to catch alight. He cast the charm again two more times, in different parts of the store, before dashing down the road further.
Honeydukes was next, and he did the same thing. But damn, there were wards on the place, and his spell bounced off. He growled in frustration, kicking the ground and cursing himself for not checking on that beforehand. Looking down at where he stubbed his toe, he saw a large rock. He picked it up, and threw it at the window, listening as the glass smashed with a resounding tinkle. He cast two quick Reducto spells on two very large displays, and another Flammare at a pile of sugar quills. The display was starting to burn nicely, when he noticed the light above the store turned on. Curse the sound of the broken glass.
Within an instant, he was gone on his broom and heading back down the High Street towards the brooms. He heard a bit of a commotion back towards Scrivenschafts, which was now blazing nicely, and the smirk was hard to shift on his face. He tried the same spell on the window at the Three Broomsticks, grateful that the wards were either weak or non-existent enough for him to break through. Peering in the window, he summoned all the tables and chairs into the middle of the room. He was just about to cast a Flammare charm when he heard people running down the street towards him. Fuck! They weren't supposed to get here this quickly. He quickly dashed off a Reducto at Rosmerta's furniture, before throwing one in the direction of the oncoming wizards.
Flying off on his broom, he quickly raced home. But he heard a shout as someone followed him, and he narrowly missed a stunner. He needed to escape, throwing a stunner back in the direction of the wizard. He heard a cry as the man fell, but turned, realising he had only one course of action. He didn't want to do it, and he pursed his lips angrily. He smashed his own front window, setting a reducto and a fire on his own workshop from outside. He cringed at the thought of how much damage it would cause. A second later, he was inside his own burning store, throwing his robe and his second wand into the fire, coughing as the flames took hold.
He summoned his 'regular' wand, and cried out for help as he cast an Aguamenti at the burning store. He heard someone banging on his front door and opened it. "Thank goodness you're here," he said, coughing genuinely from the smoke. "I woke up and some fucker's set this place on fire," he growled, asking for help as he cast another water charm on the flames. He just hoped it wasn't going to take further hold, but with two more wands aimed at it, he hoped it would be out soon.
Rabastan had better pay him compensation for having to burn down his own stock, but if it helped him to be exonerated from blame, then it was probably for the best. No doubt if that Ginny Weasley was on the case, she'd be knocking on his front door before anyone else's. The town was awake now, as he heard the cries and shouts up and down the main street. He noted them, and tried to hide his smirk as he wore the look of desperation of a business owner who was fighting to save his livelihood.
From: bd_rosmerta
Subject:
Date: 04/14/2007 18:53:18
Rosmerta woke up the moment she heard the crash of her window. Throwing on her robes, she grabbed her wand and ran downstairs only to stand dumbstruck, staring at her furniture, destroyed, all of them save the booths.
Sinking to the floor she just sat, staring at the mayhem before her. She could hear shouts and screams on the street outside, and pounding on the door of the pub. But she didn't move. Just sat there and stared at the damage.
How would se ever afford replacing this? How would she be able to go on with her ordinary business? It was one thing to have a few girls upstairs, but at the look of things now, the three broomsticks was now just another brothel. She'd never wanted that. Never.
From: bd_romilda
Subject:
Date: 04/14/2007 19:12:02
Romilda woke to the sound of shouts and cries, and the distinct smell of smoke. In a panic, she checked into Liam's room, but he was sound asleep.
Racing downstairs, she saw people running up and down the street. "What's wrong?" she said to a passing wizard, his wand drawn. Looking over, she saw a distinct glow from what could only be a fire. It was in the direction of the high street.
"Someone's caused havoc and burned down Scrivenshafts and the broom shop. They caused damage to other places, almost all along the High Street!"
Romilda's face turned pale as she thought of Colin and Rosmerta. "Honeydukes? The Three Broomsticks?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat as smoke made her eyes water.
The wizard shrugged. "Yeah, they got hit too." He followed a crowd that was pointing and running towards the main street, no doubt to the fire.
Within an instant, she was back inside, and threw a robe over herself, and quickly carried Liam to Millicent's. Her friend was awake as well, and she handed her sleeping son over. "I have to check on Rosmerta and Colin," she said in hurried concern.
She gave Millicent's hand a squeeze as she grabbed her wand and raced into town with the other crowd.
From: bd_colin
Subject:
Date: 04/15/2007 03:50:19
Colin had been sleeping, the first night in some time that he hadn't had much trouble getting to sleep, when he heard a crash from downstairs. Immediately his mind jumped to Death Eaters, coming back to finish the job. He grabbed his wand and barreled down the stairs.
Flames were engulfing a display of sugar quills, and two larger displays had been destroyed, and the front window shattered. Colin stared at the damage for just a moment. The one thing that had been keeping him going was burning around his eyes.
He quickly shook himself out of it and doused the flames before they got any larger. It was then he could hear the shouting outside and he walked out onto the street. He could see a much larger fire further down the street. It looked like it was Scrivenshafts.
It seemed like his was not the only place that had been hit that night. And like he had gotten off relatively easily compared to the other businesses who had been hit. He pushed a hand through his hair and sighed, this was just perfect.