Chapter 25 ~ Off to Avalon.

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Karil and Ly, after an extraordinary night, expected Maurelle to be gone. They hadn't seen what had happened, they assumed Mirror had apparated away with their classmate, but instead the young with had turned up at the breakfast table as normal. The rest of the class didn't suspect anything because there were no traces of the attack showing in Maurelle's attitude or appearance. If Ly and Karil hadn't known, they wouldn't have guessed either. 

The rest few days were agony for the two boys, especially Karil. They were under enormous amounts of pressure, seeing as the incredibly daunting task of defeating two mad witches and their army. Of course, they had a plan. They couldn't do it without a plan.

New Years Eve - Karil and Ly would make sure Maurelle had slipped off to meet Mirror before racing off into the forest and apparating away to Avalon; well, they would arrive at the camping ground some way off from the lake and then get there somehow. The key thing was to get there before the two witches. The two boys needed to warn Merlin - though maybe he already knew. You would presume.

After doing something to help Merlin they would then send an owl off to the ministry to alert the attack; or something like that. 

The real problem causing pressure was the fact they couldn't tell anyone. Rolf was shut away in his hut; and he was on delicate terms with the ministry anyway, he couldn't do anything. No other student would believe them. And to their despair, Mcgongall was away on some kind of work trip - an announcement that had come when they'd been near deciding to tell the headmistress about the whole affair. Still, who would have believed them? There was a good chance of receiving a brain inspection at St. Mungo's if the truth was uttered to anyone in sincerity. Yes, a joke or a problem with the brain. That would be the diagnosis.

So for the next five days Karil and Ly were silent and withdrawn, only really talking among themselves, going over their plan again and again. But that was exactly the problem. Things did most definitely not go to plan.

The morning of New Years Eve; a fidgety, silent Karil and Ly sat down at the breakfast table nothing was eaten by the two boys. Not a word spoken. Each was trying to calm his mind, the whirlwind of thoughts raging within their minds.

And then the owls came, dropping parcels and letters received with delight, and rolls of parchment that could well have been bombs. The headline of the newspaper shouted out in large letters of bold before the whole hall became an uproar.

'DISASTER AT THE MINISTRY: FIVE WORKERS KILLED, OVER TWENTY INJURED AND MANY MORE MISSING'

Gasps that quickly turned into yells, proclamations and little cries of shock and fear rang in Karil's head as more the half the students began to cry, shout and whisper. Many had parents who worked in the ministry; relatives that could be dead for all they knew. 

Ly and Karil reacted differently. Both heads jerked over to Maurelle's seat. Her paper was untouched, simply lying before her as she looked at it with great horror. Her expression sent another wave of questions into Karil's brain, but Ly didn't give him time to get morse curious. Instead Karil received a sharp nudge from his friend and a hoarse whisper;

''Look.''

Karil followed Ly's finger to a line in the report and felt faint himself.

''It is thought to be the work of a large group of female ministry workers from all departments, though unfortunately the women have disappeared and are thought to be heading west. There is a team of aurors working on tracking the witches, but at very short notice it is very likely they will not be caught for some time. Most forces are currently working on retrieving injured workers, tracing missing officials and clearing the rubble that blocks off many parts of the ministry. This unexpected disaster has left our government damaged forever.''

Karil met eyes with Ly in absolute horror. Why hadn't they told anyone? Because of their silence, this had happened, innocent people had been killed and injured. Karil swallowed but felt like he wanted to be sick. Ly wasn't looking great either.

''What the hell are we going to do now?''

Karil felt empty, and with all his heart he wished that he had nothing to do with the whole thing. But he knew that Ly and him had to do something, they had to continue with their plan. He stood up, taking a deep breath, and whispered into Ly's ear.

''Come on.''

Ly didn't question his friend as they slipped out of the hall, he needed space, too. No one noticed their exit, Professor Silvers was to busy trying to calm everyone than to notice the absence of two sixth-years and their classmates were all wrapped up in their own reactions about the article.

Karil made his way up the stairs, Ly following him curiously.

''Where are we going?'' He wished everything would just stop for a second, and had thought Karil may have been feeling similar, but apparently the disaster had hyped him up into a determined frenzy. Karil turned round and looked at his friend.

''We're going to the owlery, Ly. We're going to send a message to Mcgongall with all we know packed into it, then we are going to get ready for glastonbury. We thought Maurelle is not getting there till this evening, but plans will have changed. This is not what Mirror planned. Right now, we need to be getting a move on.'' And without another word, Karil continued to race up the stairs.

 Ly followed him silently with no questions. He'd seen Karil like this on few occasions; usually his friend was sat in a corner, quietly observing, unnoticed by the world. But Karil also had a secretly wild spirit that apparently came from his mother, a mood that only came into play when he was deeply passionate about a subject. Ly rubbed his forehead. It was strange, Karil wasn't the heroic type, he never wanted attention or fame. No, those were his biggest fears. Ly knew his friend inside out, and ever since he had known Karil, there had been one wish in mind for his quiet best friend. Karil wanted to be accepted, to fit in. Not popular, but to be normal.

***

''Ok, that's off.'' Ly watched the snowy owl before turning to his friend, who was watching the bird solemnly as it disappeared into the distance.

''Ok.'' Karil turned round, determined again. ''Time to go into the woods. It's off to Avalon we go.''