Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

Chapter 7

"And you think nothing has changed in the four hundred years since then?" Brodie asked. "I can assure you Muggles have long grown passed torches and pitchforks. They are ingenious little things, especially in all the ways of killing."

The class still looked unconvinced. James raised his hand. "What about the bomb? The atom bomb?"

"Excellent point, Mr Potter. Who here has heard of World War II?" Brodie asked. A few students, mostly Muggleborns, raised their hands. "World War II was a Muggle war that occurred between several different nations from 1938 to 1945. The war finally ended in its entirety when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, killing 200,000 Muggles in an instant." She looked out at them all. "In addition, roughly 2,000 Japanese wizards and witches also perished. Some were instantly incinerated, others died from radiation poisoning. Their hair fell out, their organs began to bleed, they suffered seizures and fluid began to build up around their brains. And then they died." Brodie raked her gaze over each and every one of them. "Even now there are bombs pointing down at us from every direction. The Muggles have entered into an agreement of mutually assured destruction. Their governments have decided that if one drops the bomb, the others will do the same, destroying themselves, this planet, and everything on it, including us."

The entire classroom was quiet. Merlin, what were the Muggles thinking? Why was the Ministry allowing this? Why weren't they stopping them? They should take away their bombs, and prevent them from making new ones. They could do it. They had magic. Statute of Secrecy be damned.

James used to daydream about being an Auror, a hero, dueling dark wizards with long, black greasy hair and hooked noses, rescuing helpless Muggles from being sacrificed in a blood ritual. He didn't fantasize about that anymore. When he tried, the dark wizard always looked like him: handsome and with roguish grins.

*****

James flew through the air, still clutching onto the Quaffle even as Smith spiraled wildly out of control as she dodged a bludger. He could see the two Slytherin beaters closing in on him. Shit, shit, I'm not going to make it, James thought. Gryffindor was in the lead by a wide margin. The new Slytherin keeper couldn't catch a cold, much less a Quaffle, and if the Gryffindors kept this up it wouldn't even matter if the Slytherins caught the snitch. They just needed a few more points-

A shadow fell over James as one of the Slytherin beaters flew over him, his body blocking out the sun. James leaned forward, trying to make his broom go faster. His lips were chapped from the cold, stinging wind whipping past him. He could see the goal posts. He lifted the Quaffle, ready to throw-

He saw something large and black hurtling toward him from the corner of his eye. This was it. He was a goner.

And then Josiah Pines zipped up beside him, swinging out and smashing the bludger away from his face. James threw the Quaffle and-

"GRYFFINDOR SCORES! JUST IN TIME TOO! REGULUS BLACK HAS CAUGHT THE GOLDEN SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS WITH 170 POINTS TO SLYTHERIN'S 160! SLYTHERIN IS OUT OF THE RUNNING! THE QUIDDITCH CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE BETWEEN HUFFLEPUFF AND RAVENCLAW!"

James was in a daze when he found himself standing upright on the ground. He could hear the roars and cheers crashing all around him. Someone slung an arm around his neck and shouted, "Good on you!" Throngs of students decked in red and gold rushed from the stands, from all houses but Slytherin. Nobody cared who got the Quidditch Cup so long as it wasn't Slytherin.

Lily's face appeared in front of him. "Congratulations!" She yelled, and even though she was standing right next to him James struggled to hear her over the raucous din.