Harry Potter and the Children of the Clan

Chapter 29

"Well, that's good to know. It's been really crazy, I mean it's been three days since everything happened and it's all anyone has been talking about when they come into the shop. It has everyone wondering," she said, those expressive eyes watching James. "Plus, I was, you know, worried about you."

"Me?"

"Well, sure. I mean I know how you feel about your dad and how much you worry about the stuff that he has going on," she said.

"Well, you're right about that."

The 'everything that happened' that Kai was referring to was the incidental consequences of Harry's final confrontation with the old ones. It seemed that because it occurred in what was some sort of focal point of the lines of power, the shock waves radiated out along the lines and was felt in a number of locations thousands of miles away. In some places it was just strange rumblings that were shrugged off as minor earth tremors. In those places that were more strongly tied to the lines the results were more dramatic.

Ron and Anthony had stopped by the house several times in the last few days to check with Harry and James made sure he was able to hear what they had to say. The three school buildings of Hogwarts, Beuaxbaton and Black Seas had been subjected to much heavier tremors but having been warned, precautions had been taken to secure loose and or valuable items. Black Seas took the hardest hit when an ancient and decrepit tower that had been perched on the sea cliff had tumbled into the water.

Hagrid had delivered the worst news of all in terms of damage. According to the Centaurs, the cavern was rocked by several extremely loud detonations that were heard from the edges of the forest where they had taken refuge. When they went to take a look they found dozens of fallen trees, their trunks shattered as if they had been hit by an incredibly large hammer. All of the above ground stone work had been shattered and nothing but small fragments could be found covering the forest floor for yards around. A large chasm had opened, apparently the result of the roof of the entire chamber falling in or blowing out. They weren't sure, since hooves were not the most reliable for moving on the loose ground. Bill, Charlie and Eleanor had already begun making plans to go up and poke around.  

The muggle news was also full of stories of strange sounds and lights from such places as Stonehenge, Carnac and other well know locales with mystical ties. So when Kai mentioned the non stop chatter in her parents shop he couldn't help but smile.  

"I suppose I can trust you. You know what Da and the others were dealing with. Well, some things turned up that Da couldn't just ignore so he tracked them down and had it out with them. As he puts it, things got noisy. He won." 

"But it was felt all over the world, it seems, or at least this part of it," Kai said. "How is that possible? And who were 'them' that he went after. Was it more of the bad wizards? Like the ones you ran into?" 

James expression flickered as he was reminded of the fatal encounter with the witches and wizards who tried to infiltrate the forest. He recovered quickly and said, 

"No, I'd guess you'd call them the bosses. I don't understand it all but these creatures never came out of their lair or whatever. They just gave orders." 

Kai nodded but she hadn't missed the look that had crossed the boys face so she decided it was time to change the subject. 

"So, how did it go today?" 

"Not too bad. We won by twenty points, but it was pretty sloppy actually. I did manage a few good stops, so all in all, it was alright." 

"Do you think you'll take a shot at the house team?" she asked. 

"I've been thinking about it. It's kinda hard to say no. I mean, my Da, my granddad," he said with a shrug. 

"I think I understand. Um, since we've finished eating, do you think you'd like to go watch a match. Or do you need to get home, you know, to be with your dad."