Harry Potter: book ii

 Harry bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late--

CRUNCH.

With an earsplitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled hood; Hedwig was shrieking in terror; a golf ball size lump was throbbing on Harry’s head where he had hit the windshield; and to his right, Ron let out a low, despairing groan. “Are you okay?” Harry said urgently.

“My wand,” said Ron, in a shaky voice. “Look at my wand--”

It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters. Harry opened his mouth to say he was sure they’d be able to mend it up at the school, but he never got started. At that very moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof.

“What’s happen--?”

Ron gasped, staring through the windshield, and Harry looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every inch of the car it could reach.