Colin Creevey and the Search for a Hero: The Giant Serpent

Colin Creevey and the Search for a Hero

Chapter One: A New Poster

Colin Creevey woke up suddenly when his brother shook him.

"Wake up! Won't you hurry now, Colin, we've already missed half the match!"

Colin felt torn between disappointment in himself that he wasn't able to wake up earlier, even to see the World Cup quarterfinal, and his overwhelming urge to fall back asleep immediately. A quick glance at the clock told him that if this weren't July, he'd have already been at school two hours by this time. He sat up in bed, noticing the way the sun was streaming in through the raggedy curtains of the Liverpool flat and illuminating his new poster tacked up over the bed.

The wall over the bed had a tremendous crack in it, not to mention a brown smudge from a cockroach once squished there, so Colin had kept it covered with a poster or picture ever since he moved in here three years ago. At first, it had been a big framed photo from his parents wedding that he had found in his grandparents' garage- but eventually his dad had taken notice and objected, telling Colin the marriage was certainly nothing that brought back pleasant memories for anyone. Dad tossed the photo into the wheelie bin and told Colin to grow up. Then Colin cut a color photo out of the newspaper of Margaret Thatcher, but several of his dad's friends seemed to object to that one and it ended up in the fireplace. Finally, Colin had decided on a big Jurassic Park poster, which his brother Dennis adored. But Colin wanted something- well, real- there had to be someone out there worth admiring, after all- so when the star of Britain's football team led them all into the quarterfinal, he decided that a big poster of Henry Mann was perfect. He'd spent two weeks of allowance to get it, and he loved the way the bright white paper looked against the grayish wall, so alive....

Colin yawned, blinked several times, and wandered into the kitchen to pour himself a huge bowl of sugared chocolate cereal, spilling a bunch of milk in his rush to join his brother at the telly. He looked around vaguely for a sponge to mop it up, but the sponge was hard to locate under the mounds of unwashed dishes and pots that cluttered the countertop. He turned his attention to the game.

Britain was winning over Portugal, 2 to 1. Henry Mann had the ball and was moving quickly down the field, swerving past the opposition. Then he met up with a player who got the better of him and kicked the ball away to a Portuguese teammate. Henry Mann kicked the ball thief in the shins, hard, and the ref called a foul. Colin frowned and wondered whether bad sportsmanship was something that always came together with stardom.

Just then his dad came home, carrying plastic trays of empty milk bottles and tracking in a handful of pebbles since he didn't pause to wipe his boots on the doormat.

"Hey dad! We're winning the match!" chimed Colin.

"Yeah, so I heard on the car radio," said his dad, walking to the kitchen table.

"And Mann just got a warning card," added Dennis excitedly. Colin knitted his brows.

"That stupid git," said his dad, and then "Now, look here, which one of you make all this mess? Milk everywhere, dripping on the floor, and nobody even bothered to clean it up-" he picked up a towel and threw it at the boys. "C'mon now."

"Sorry dad," said Colin, disturbed by the way the stiff towel seemed to have its folds dried into it and wrinkling his nose at the smell. Being a milkman, Colin's dad was rather touchy about wasting milk, even if he wasn't perturbed in the least by the condition of his kitchen. Colin's mom had left him some four years ago now, and his dad wasn't exactly living the high life with his boys. More and more people were starting to get their milk from the supermarket - convenience evidently being more important than how fresh the milk was in today's busy world- and his clientele dwindled every year. It seemed like the only people left on his delivery list were either elderly or overly frazzled upper class moms who hated bundling up the baby for a trip to the marketplace in the car.

Mum always said dad was a loser who would never amount to anything. But then, mum had purple hair and a nosering and spent her time moving some rock star's drum set from concert to concert across the globe. Mum had even given Colin a poster of the drummer when she heard about the wedding photo up on the wall. Colin had pitched that poster into the fireplace himself.

After dad had loaded his crates into the appropriate corner, he immediately grabbed his keys again. "I'm off to the Wirral now, so mind yourselves, all right? Don't make a nuisance of yourselves."

"Yes, dad...." they intoned.

"And Colin, here's a spot of cash for your school uniform. Ask Mrs. Godfrey to go shopping with you or something. Since I've got a few quid I thought you ought to have it before it burns a hole in my pocket again. I'm off!" His dad stomped out the door without waiting for an answer.

"Bye dad," they said to the slamming door. Colin felt very appreciative that his dad had remembered the money for the uniform. He took the eleven plus last year and would be starting secondary school in the fall. Last time he needed money for something for school, dad didn't have even a pence and Colin had ended up washing cars to scrape enough cash together. Colin turned his attention back to the telly. Mann had gotten carded out and was about to get into a brawl with the ref, and Portugal had tied the score.

CHAPTER TWO: OUT AND BACK AGAIN

Hours later, Britain had lost the quarterfinal 4 to 2, thanks largely to the misconduct of Henry Mann. Colin and Dennis decided to head out to see Mrs. Godfrey and hopefully go shopping before Dad needed that money back again.

Mrs. Godfrey was an elderly woman who lived with her daughter in one of the other flats in their big complex. She was also the only person who hung around the complex in the daytime who didn't look like, as dad put it, "someone your mum would have taken to".

They knocked on the door politely and waited for the usual very long time while she hobbled over to the door with her cane. She opened the door and saw that familiar cringing sort of smile that she always had when she saw them. "Oh, how lovely, the Creevey brothers again! Shall I get us some tea and shortbread?"

"Shortbread!" said Dennis, as though he'd never had such a treat. "Oh, yes, please!"

Colin smiled and shushed Dennis with a glance, and then with equal enthusiasm said "Tea would be - er- lovely, Mrs. Godfrey- but actually we were hoping that you were up for a shopping trip. I need a uniform for secondary school. Er, that is, if you feel up to it."

If Mrs. Godfrey didn't appreciate being used as an occasional unpaid babysitter, she did manage to hide it fairly well. It wasn't as if Colin and Dennis needed much looking after, and they were well-behaved boys. But they did get a bit too much for her to handle sometimes. Once they accidentally knocked her over during a Frisbee game and ever since then she seemed a bit frightened that another park adventure might mean a broken hip or worse if she fell again. But going shopping together was different; it was something that helped everyone out. She had them to escort her across the street and help her avoid the puddles, and their sharp eyes could read all the tiny price tags and tell her if the blouse in the secondhand store had a stain she hadn't noticed. On the other hand, it was hard for Colin and Dennis to get any help from the storeclerks when they had to buy things. The only attention they would find was all the people who would ask if they were lost or the ones who watched them so closely it was obvious they suspected shoplifting. The presence of Mrs. Godfrey seemed to help everything go much smoother. Often she would even tuck in a bit of her own money to help get them nicer things, when she thought they weren't looking, which Colin always felt very guilty about. But today, Mrs. Godfrey smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, not today, love. I've got a doctor's appointment and I'd rather not wear myself out too much beforehand. But," she turned to Dennis- "here's a bit of shortbread for each of you, never mind the tea, I'm sure you'd rather be out and about than cooped up in here with me. And I imagine you'll get along fine shopping for your uniform- and you'll certainly get there faster without me holding you back," she added, winking.

They thanked her for the shortbread politely and left her flat, wandering toward downtown. Their first stop was at the corner store to get some soda. Dad always insisted that they drink milk, so soda was a treat that their meager pocket money often went toward. Since Colin had spent all his money on the poster, Dennis would pay for the sodas for both of them. He's a really good brother, really, thought Colin. They could see a group of older boys from the neighborhood clustered around the cash register, talking as they eyed the cigarette display. And there was the nervous balding storekeeper, trying to pretend he wasn't watching them closely and hovering protectively around the cigarettes. As they approached Colin could hear the boys' conversation.

"... don't know why they let Mann on the team at all. He's all puffed up ego, but look at it now, no goals, carded out of the game even after a warning, he's just pathetic." Said a tall dark haired teen.

Then a blond boy smirked and said quietly, "Oh, look it's the creepy Creeveys." None of the other boys seemed to want to disagree. A few made retching gestures or snickered. Colin winced.

"Yeah, Mann really blew it today," the blond boy continued on, more loudly.

"Hullo, Ian!" said Dennis brightly. A glance at Dennis told Colin he hadn't overheard Ian's first comment. Colin decided to play it cool.

Ian eyes them with a smirk. "And what are you two up to today?"

"Colin's starting at secondary school and.." began Dennis cheerily before Colin could step on his toe to shush him.

"Secondary school? Him? You're not serious! Going to Worcester, are you? Well, you'd better be careful, Creevey. Honestly, you're so small that I might mistake you for an ant and walk right over you." said Ian in a joking but somewhat menacing tone.

Colin was, as a matter of fact, quite small for his age. But, he was about to turn eleven next week and was indeed supposed to go to Worcester, the local secondary school. It was rumored to be a rough place, and Colin wondered if Ian would be one of the first to try beating up on him. He was sure he'd manage all right, though. After all, he'd been taking care of himself and Dennis for years, he knew how to stop a nosebleed and dose a bruise with witchhazel, and the injury was usually gone before Dad even came home to notice. The other boys weren't as good at doctoring their injuries and were usually doubly mad when Colin showed up the next day not at all worse off for the beatings he'd taken. So Colin had learned to avoid trouble, and to avoid Ian.

"Yeah, see you at school in the fall. We've got to go. C'mon Dennis." said Colin, forcing a smile. Once he and Dennis were outside he said, "Let's go home. I don't feel much like shopping after all."

"But why Colin?" asked Dennis with wide, innocent eyes. "Why can't we stay and talk with Ian and Michael and all them?"

Colin hesitated. Obviously Dennis hadn't picked up yet on the fact that they weren't wanted. It was a feeling Colin was quite used to, really. His parents' custody battle, for example, had been over who had to watch the boys- neither parent wanted them, and finally their paternal grandparents stepped in to provide a home for their son and grandsons, so dad ended up stuck with watching the boys. And then a short while later they had to leave their granddad's house, but by then mum was in America so dad had to bring them with him to the flat he rented. But Dennis, who was two years younger, was just young enough to have not followed what was going on. Dennis was still blissfully unaware of the nastier details of the custody battle or the sneers of Ian's gang- and Colin thought it best that things stay that way as long as possible.

"Nah, Ian's got no brains. I'd rather just hang out with you. Hey, Dennis- let's go play Tomb Raider on Nintendo!"

"Oh, yeah, cool!" said Dennis.

CHAPTER THREE- THE AFTERNOON POST

The fancy Nintendo and color TV had been a gift from their grandparents when they moved into this flat. It wasn't a Christmas or birthday present or even a housewarming present, really. The tag had read "to my miracle grandbabies". While it was true that it was a miracle they had grandchildren at all given their only son's lack of sensitivity to women, Colin and Dennis knew that grandma was referring to the way they had repeatedly fallen out of the high treehouse in granddad's backyard and ended up with only minor sprains. Granddad and grandma lived in what used to be a country estate in Birkenhead that was rapidly becoming assimilated into the Wallasey metropolis. Colin and Dennis just didn't think falling out of the treehouse was a big deal and had even made it something of a game to jump or fall out just as grandmother was walking by in order to frighten her. She didn't think it was funny, she would scream and rush over to find them laughing. That was when they were living there, for a brief time after the divorce.

Then one day they fell out in front of dad and granddad, giving both of them a fright; but then Dad and granddad got into a row, each accused the other of not watching or disciplining Colin and Dennis. Soon they were shouting over whose job it was to raise children and whose fault it was that the family was living there at all. About a week after that they moved into this flat with dad. And the Nintendo was probably Grandma's way of making it up to them after granddad demolished the treehouse, which miffed Dennis and Colin greatly. There was nowhere else to play at Granddad's, all the rooms in the house had delicate porcelain figurines, and the rooster would attack them whenever they weren't looking if they tried to play outside. They hardly saw their grandparents at all, anymore.

Here in Liverpool, of course, they had no yard at all and being outside at all was usually unpleasant. So Nintendo was as good a way as any to spend a day.

After they had been playing a while they heard Mrs. Godfrey getting out of her daughter's car, presumably coming home from the doctor's. "Shoo! Go on now, shoo!" Colin heard her saying. Colin was curious and took a peek out the window. There was Mrs. Godfrey, standing in front of the big metal grid of mailboxes, apparently trying to check her mail but perturbed by a large tawny owl that was perched on top of the mailboxes. It stared at Mrs. Godfrey and refused to move.

"Hey Dennis! There's a big owl on the mailboxes, come and look!" said Colin.

Mrs. Godfrey yelled at it and almost lost her balance waving her cane at it, and then she cautiously moved forward to unlock her mail slot and remove its contents, keeping her eye on the owl as if expecting it to attack. It didn't. Then she limped away rather quicker than usual with backward frowning glances at the owl as she went.

"Wow, a real owl! I've never seen one from this close before, have you, Colin? Let's go check the mail and get a closer look," said Dennis, bouncing with energy,

"I've never seen one up close either. Wow, how cool!" said Colin.

The owl stared at them as they bounced downstairs and approached the mailboxes. Do owls always stare at people? Wondered Colin. It looks almost as though it recognizes me or something; it looks friendly. He was its great amber eyes and ruffled feathers and smiled.

"Look at those talons!" gasped Dennis, edging back a bit. Long and probably very sharp, the talons looked odd splayed out flat on top of the metal mailbox with nothing to grasp.

"Awww, he won't hurt us," said Colin, putting in the key to open his mail slot. Instantly and gracefully, the owl moved, ruffling its feathers and picking up a letter in its beak- where did that come from, did he just pull that out from under his wing? Thought Colin, astonished. The owl dropped the letter into the Creevey's open mail slot and flew up onto a nearby lamppost, looking quite pleased with itself, Colin thought.

"Wow! Amazing! Did you see that?" asked Dennis "That owl- it- with the letter-"

"Amazing!" agreed Colin. "Yeah, I saw it too!". They looked at each other and smiled, then Colin looked back up at the owl. "But I bet nobody would believe us again. Another secret, mate?"

"All right then, Colin," said Dennis, sighing. "But it's so amazing!"

The Creevey brothers had seen a number of unusual things over the years, like giant purple buses or disappearing buildings. Once they even found a photograph in the gutter of someone who was moving inside the picture! Their dad took them and the picture to a doctor who told them they were imagining things and it was all a manifestation of the deep emotional trauma of an unstable childhood, and that eventually they would get over this phase. And when they got home their dad chucked the photo into the fire and told them never to talk nonsense again. Of course, he and Dennis knew very well that these things were real, but if nobody else could see them, they had to agree that sharing their adventures was probably not the best idea, particularly if it would lead to more visits to the condescending doctor.

But the owl was real, thought Colin. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen Mrs. Godfrey shooing it away. And what about the letter? He wondered. He glanced up at the owl, and felt a thrill of excitement as he darted forward and grabbed the mail from the slot. The letter felt real, all right. It was yellow parchment with a purple wax seal on the back with a letter H. Then he turned it over and read the bright green ink on the face of the envelope.

Mr. Colin Creevey

The bedroom by the kitchen

62 Grafton Street #8B

Liverpool Lancashire

"Wow, Dennis... this letter is for me," he whispered. He started walking upstairs to the flat as if in a trance, dropping the rest of the mail on the floor just inside the door and walking to the window where he could see the owl watching him.

"Colin, aren't you going to open it? Who's it from? Is the owl still there? This is so amazing," said Dennis, who was pawing through the remainder of the mail as if hoping there was a similar letter for him in there somewhere.

Without pausing to think about who the letter was from, still enjoying the concept that that he had just received a letter delivered by an owl, he ripped open the envelope. Inside was a letter written on the same yellow parchment in the same green ink. Colin read,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugawump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Creevey,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

A second page listed his required school supplies, which included things like a cauldron, a black pointed hat, and several magic books. A third page was more confusing than anything else.

To Students from Non-Magical Families,

Hogwarts recognizes that those of you who come from non-magical (muggle) families may find your acceptance letter comes as something of a shock, and that you have special concerns as you begin your magical education. We can assure you that talented students do not find that their late inclusion in the magical community is any hindrance to their success at Hogwarts or later in life. According to the International Confederation of Wizards, Hogwarts is one of the finest magical schools in Europe, with over 1000 years of tradition in educating witches and wizards.

We must ask you, however, to share the news of your magical talent with as few members of the non-magical community as practically possible beyond your immediate family. The magical community is looked on with a great deal of skepticism, mistrust, and suspicion by non-magical peoples. Furthermore, any magic that attracts the attention of the non-magical community is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, and is punishable by the Ministry of Magic.

Students are responsible for purchasing their school supplies prior to the start of term. Three central locations exist where such supplies can be found readily- Diagon Alley in London, Chez Batons in Paris, and Hogsmeade Village in Scotland. Most students find it most convenient to visit Diagon Alley with their families sometime before taking the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross Station on September 1. A map with directions to Diagon Alley will be sent to students who send their intent to register by return owl.

We will be happy to entertain further inquiries on your behalf.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Colin and Dennis laid out the letter on the kitchen table next to a half-melted grape popsicle and silently stared at the pages with mounting excitement for several minutes. A wizard- how cool is that? He wouldn't have to go to Worcester or see Ian at all next year. And if he was a wizard... that meant he could do magical things... He could use magic to get a bunch more Nintendo games to play! He smiled. But why stop there? With a burst of excitement he thought about what he would do with magical power. He could magic his dad a small fortune, magic his parents back together, magic a big beautiful house for them all to live in, with a big treehouse in the yard. He could magic away all the things he didn't like...

So all those things he and Dennis could see that nobody else could, that probably had something to do with this. Then he had a sudden panic- what if dad couldn't see the letter?

"Colin, this is so awesome. Totally amazing," said Dennis breathlessly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," said Colin, shaking his head and unable to get a goofy grin off his face. "I hope dad gets home soon."

CHAPTER FOUR- OWL POST

Dad considered the letter real, all right. He could see it; he could pick it up. The trouble was, he seemed to think it was some sort of practical joke and that Hogwarts couldn't possibly exist.

"What kind of nutter would send you something like this?" Then he looked at the envelope. "See? Now, look there. It's got no stamp on it! This couldn't have arrived in the mail. You two really had me going for a minute here, it must have taken you all day to think that one up. Where did you get that fancy paper from?"

Colin and Dennis looked at each other uncomfortably but eventually decided they would have to tell dad about the owl (they left out the part about it pulling the letter from under its wing). The fact that the owl was still there on the lamppost outside seemed to bolster their case. Eventually Colin pointed out that there was no way that his or Dennis' penmanship would ever be good enough to have written the letter, something dad had to agree was true. Finally Dad muttered something about maybe that was why they bounced right back from any physical injury and told them he had some serious concerns about sending Colin to a magic school.

Colin, for his part, was so delighted that Dad was allowing the possibility that the school was real, that he hardly heard his dad talk about wanting to know where the school was and how the devil they had found him at all.

"But you know, mate, we never had the money to send you to any fancy school. I expect even a magical school- and I'm not convinced it exists, mind you- I expect it would cost a fortune, and we just can't afford it, Colin. You know that," he heard his Dad saying, and Colin's thoughts came crashing back into reality.

"No, dad, it's a magic school, right? I bet they can just magic themselves as much money as they want and they won't need any from us!" he protested.

"Well, you go ahead and look into it then, I'm not going to stop you, Colin, but I'm not going to help you much either. I'm not going into some store and asking for a cauldron, they'd think we were nutters for sure," said dad, dismissing the issue as the opened a beer and turned on the telly.

That was good enough for Colin. Dad was never much help anyway, after all. He glanced outside to make sure the owl was still there- it was staring at his bedroom window- and decided to write a letter for the return owl right away. He looked around for some proper stationary but didn't find anything. Normally he would use a paper towel, but that didn't seem the best way to impress them. Finally, he settled on using the bottom half of a sheet of paper from one of his reports last year on the history of the Aintree racetrack.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I intend to enroll in Hogwarts School. My brother wants to know how to apply to start two years from now. My dad would like to know how you knew where to find me and how you knew I had magical talent at all. My dad also wants to know where Hogwarts is located. Also, my dad is worried that it will cost money to attend- Hogwarts is free, isn't it?

Thank you,

Colin Creevey

He couldn't, however, find an envelope for it, so he just folded it into quarters. He wandered outside, feeling his heart pounding and wondered how hard it would be to summon the owl. He raised his arm and pointed at the owl and back to himself and felt amazed and powerful when the owl flew down and perched on his arm.

"Wow...." breathed Dennis softly from somewhere on his right. Colin admired the beautiful bird even more from so close. He pulled out his letter and held it out to the owl, expecting it to grab it in its beak or grab it with its wing, somehow. To his disgust, the owl held one leg out.

"Oh, gross, it's going to poop on your arm, Colin," warned Dennis.

Colin jumped back and flailed his arm until the bird flew away, looking at him with an expression he thought seemed somewhat offended. Colin went to the mailbox, unlocked it, and dropped the letter in, looking around hopefully. But the owl didn't come back. Colin and Dennis waited there for a long time, until they were shivering in the cold and dad called them to come in. Colin decided to leave the mailbox hanging open and they went to bed.

The next day there was no sign of the owl. And the next. Finally it was July 28, Colin's eleventh birthday, and he was starting to get really nervous. Leaving the mailbox open with the letter in it not only showed no sign of working as a pickup, but they had to deal with neighbors trying to be helpful who kept shutting it, and they had to remove it before the postman took it away, since it didn't have a proper address on it.

"Dennis," he said, "Let's spend today trying to find an owl, shall we?"

Dennis grinned. "You are so lucky, Colin," he replied.

Colin privately thought he'd be lucky to find an owl, but he squelched that thought immediately and tried to stay optimistic. After all, his optimism seemed to be his greatest asset, much of the time.

CHAPTER FIVE- OWLS IN THE BELFRY

So the question was, where to find an owl in Liverpool, in the daytime? They visited a handful of pet stores and found parakeets and budgies, but no owl. They did, however, purchase a bunch of dead mice to use as bait. They thought about trying to kidnap one from the zoo, but they didn't have enough money for zoo admission and it would have been difficult smuggling the owl out in a backpack. After all, I managed to offend the first one without stuffing it in a backpack. I may do just as badly, he thought. So they went to a park, one that had some tall dense trees around one side of the green lawns, and spent hours putting dead mice around the tree trunks and squinting up into the upper branches hopefully.

The one thing they succeeded in doing, however, was horrifying some lady whose toddler picked up two of the dead mice and brought them to her mum. The woman was causing enough of a fuss that Dennis and Colin decided they did not want to be found in the area with a backpack full of dead mice, so they snuck off quietly to a church nearby. Only they sort of wanted to keep an eye on their trap, so they climbed up into the steeple, which overlooked the park to keep watch.

"Hey Colin," said Dennis quietly, "Look!"

There is was, up in the church belfry, a beautiful snowy white owl. Colin laid out several more dead mice on the floor and beckoned to the owl as he had the last one and was delighted when the owl came and landed on the floor in front of where they were sitting. She seemed to be paying almost as much attention to the mice as she was to Colin. He noticed that she had a rolled up letter written in purple ink tied to her right leg, though he couldn't make out the address. He reached for it to get a better look and for a minute there thought he'd had it, as the owl protectively squawked, nipped at his finger, and backed off.

"Careful now," Colin said, more to himself than anyone else. "I reckon she'll only give the letter to the addressee, and that's not us. But maybe she'll take this one too." He laid out a few more dead mice and coaxed the bird back to him by talking to it- not that he had a clue if it understood him. "I need to get this letter to Hogwarts," he said. "But I don't know where to find an owl. Actually, I've never used owl post before. Won't you please help?" The owl seemed to understand and hooted reassuringly as it moved closer. He rolled up his letter and tried to think fast, what can I tie this with? He settled on hi s shoelace, and was careful not to make any sudden moves to frighten the bird.

"I sure hope this works," he said, as he tied the letter to her left leg when she held it out. He realized this was what the other owl had intended and was feeling awfully daft. The owl feasted on the dead mice and then flew up into the belfry to finish her nap.

CHAPTER SIX- GETTING TO LONDON

Two days later, he knew his experiment had worked. A barn owl rapped on his window one morning- he supposed the mailbox dance of the first owl was only necessary as an introduction to owl post. He flung open the window, waking up Dennis, whose breath seemed to catch as he watched the owl soar in the window and land on his brother's arm, with a letter tied to one leg. Colin stroked the owl and then untied the letter from her leg. To his great disappointment, the owl headed back out the window immediately and away out of sight.

"Wow, Colin! This is all so amazing," said Dennis, staring out the window, and then back to the space above the bed, where the poster of Mann had been replaced by the Hogwarts letter.

"Yeah, amazing," murmured Colin, feeling about to explode from excitement.

He turned his attention to the letter, which was once again addressed in bright green ink. He ripped it open to find a new letter from Professor McGonagall, a map, and what looked like a ticket. He began to read.

Dear Mr. Creevey,

We have received your intent to enroll in Hogwarts and are delighted that you will be joining us. In answer to your questions, you may tell your brother that no application to Hogwarts is necessary, and that all young people with sufficient magical talent will be accepted. Our magical quill knows where to find each of them, wherever they may be. The location of Hogwarts cannot be disclosed for security reasons, but it is located within Britain and I can assure your family that you will be quite safe here.

Enclosed is a map to Diagon Alley, where you may wish to purchase your school supplies. The map leads to The Leaky Cauldron, a pub in London that is a short walk from the London underground. The innkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, will be pleased to give you further directions to Diagon Alley upon your arrival there.

I'm afraid I must inform you that it is not considered polite to burden an owl that does not belong to you with a message that you have written. However, I am given to understand that the school owl which was supposed to await your reply interpreted your actions to mean you did not intend to come and abandoned you before you could send your reply. Hogwarts has paid the white owl's owner and apologized on your behalf. In the future, school owls are available for sending messages from Hogwarts, and you can hire owls in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade or purchase one of your own for your future correspondence.

Most unfortunately Hogwarts is not free. The annual cost is 1000 Galleons, a sum approximately equal to £3300, which covers room, board, transportation to and from King's Cross in London, and tuition. Several scholarships are available for students of limited financial means, upon inquiry. I have interpreted your last letter as a scholarship application and am pleased to inform you that your stay at Hogwarts this year will be covered by a generous trust set up by the Malfoy family. In order to purchase your school supplies, funds have been placed into a vault for you at Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley, London. The key for your vault is enclosed.

Also enclosed is your train ticket for Hogwarts Express, which leaves from Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station at precisely eleven o'clock. Non-magical family members will not be allowed to accompany you onto the platform. Simply walk into the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 to reach the platform. We look forward to your arrival.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Colin dug deeply into the envelope to find the key under the ticket and smiled. Dad would have to let him go, now! He wondered who the Malfoy family were and pictured someone like Mrs. Godfrey. He would have to thank them, once he had hired an owl properly.

Colin was so excited; he wanted to head to Diagon Alley immediately. But obviously that was impossible, it takes some time to travel from Liverpool to London- and more troubling, it look money. Convincing his dad to drive him all the way to London was out of the question; Dad never got a day off work. There was always the train, but then how would he pay for the rail ticket? Even with the child discount, it would be a good sixty pounds for a round trip ticket. He decided he'd better stick with one way, and hope he could get his school supplies on the cheap and save enough scholarship money to get back at the end of the year. He already had ten pounds from dad for the school uniform (since dad forgot to ask for it back) which meant he only had twenty pounds to go. He could get more than that in s few days of washing cars, he was sure of it.

The next day, as he gathered together a bucket, a few sponges and a big poster (Carwash! only £2!) he called out to Dennis, "Eh, are you coming along?"

"In a while," said Dennis. Colin sighed. Dennis seemed to always share his excitement for everything. He hadn't noticed until just now how subdued he'd been lately. He supposed it must be very hard on poor Dennis, to be left out. But he didn't want anything to come between them- surely Dennis understood he had to get to Hogwarts- but he couldn't think of the right thing to say.

"All right, see you in a while then," he called on his way out the door, heading for the petrol station on the corner.

The petrol station owner, Bert, was a friendly enough guy. He was a beefy man with a bristly mustache who seemed sympathetic- but was always looking for another way to make money. He and the Creeveys had a deal, that for every £2 carwash, Bert would get £1 for providing the space and water. Business was always a bit slow, he spent loads of time standing by his sign and leaping around to attract the attention of passing cars, but Colin knew he'd get there eventually. Ironically, the older he got, the more difficult it was to get the cars to stop- even though he knew, as a matter of fact, that he was getting better at washing cars every year. By the start of lunchtime Colin and Bert were each ten pounds richer, and Dennis came along to help with the lunchtime crowd. It was a crowd indeed, by the end of the lunch hour a very wet and tired Colin had washed ten more cars. He was starting to catch a chill from his wet T-shirt, so he asked Bert if he could come back tomorrow to earn the rest of his cash, paid Bert his share, and he and Dennis headed home.

On their way into the complex they saw Mrs. Godfrey walking toward them. "Well!" she began, "I haven't seen much of you two lately. Did you get your uniform, Colin? Did I see you washing cars at the corner again? What for this time?"

Colin wondered how to answer. He couldn't tell her all about Hogwarts, because she was non-magical. He decided to be as truthful as he could, and gave Dennis a look that indicated he would be doing all the talking.

"A wonderful thing has happened, Mrs. Godfrey!" he smiled. "I've been accepted on scholarship at a really good school, so I won't be going to Worcester at all anyway! Only, I've got to scrape together the money for my train ticket to London."

"Oh how wonderful! Your father must be so proud!" she beamed. Well, I imagine your list of school things is much longer now than it was before. And you'll have to look extra smart at a school like that. What's it called?"

"Hogwarts School," said Colin, who imagined it didn't matter if he used the name of a place nobody had heard of.

"Hogwarts, did you say? I've never heard of that one. Where is it?"

"Er- well, I don't know- I mean, I don't remember," stammered Colin. Mrs. Godfrey looked at him curiously.

"Ah," she said, after a pause. "Anywhere but here, is it?"

Colin squirmed. He decided blind enthusiasm was the best answer.

"Well, it's just such a great opportunity," he said, "I think it will open a lot of doors later in life."

He kicked himself inwardly for sounding like one of his teachers. Truthfully, he wanted to go because it was cool, and had never given a thought to what he wanted to do later in life. But, she was right, that he didn't want to stay here, whatever the case.

Mrs. Godfrey seemed to accept his answer and praised him for being "so grown up about it" and seemed almost as delighted about this news as Colin felt. She offered to help him with shopping if he'd like and without waiting for an answer started limping away. She seemed to be limping somewhat worse than usual, he thought.

He turned to Dennis. "Do you think she believed all that?" he asked.

Dennis grinned. "Doesn't really matter, does it? But yeah, I think she soaked up every bit."

CHAPTER SEVEN- MUGGLES IN LONDON

Two days later, Colin had the money he needed and then some, and he bought an advance one-way ticket for the railway for August 30 and carefully stowed it in his Hogwarts envelope with his vault key and Hogwarts Express ticket. After all, he didn't want to leave cash in the envelope or dad might find it and take it for the rent. He planned to buy his things at Diagon Alley on August 31. He wasn't sure where he'd be spending the night in London, but he imagined that the extra money he'd earned would do for one night, and he'd use some scholarship money for the second night. Doing this by himself, he had to admit, was somewhat frightening- but then, how else could he possibly do this?

Dad seemed to have accepted that he'd found a way to get there without costing him any money, and didn't bother asking questions after that.

Colin had never gotten around to trying to talk to Dennis. Dennis was one moment just as excited as he was, and the next minute sort of distant. It reminded Colin of the time Dennis knew what his Christmas present would be and was trying not to let the cat out of the bag.

He found out why about a week before he was scheduled to leave, when Dennis got a package from mum. The package contained a poster of a very frightening looking rock star in a black cape, a cheque for a hundred and fifty pounds, and a letter.

Dear Dennis,

How lovely that Colin is going to be a wizard! I don't see any reason why you can't also dress up as a wizard for Halloween too. I have friends here in America who are also interested in wicca (which is what they call witchcraft sometimes) and one who has a pentagram. Enclosed is a poster of Count Death, the mega-star who I'm sure you've heard of that some people say has supernatural powers. I know you boys love to have posters up in your room, so I thought you might like it.

I am so proud of Colin for getting a scholarship to one of those elite schools. I'm sure you're right that Colin will manage to find a way to the train in London even without your father's help, but I think it's wonderful that you want to go with him to London and see him off. So here's a check that ought to be enough to get both of you to London and back again.

While you're there you can probably stay with a friend of mine- his name is John Ellsworth, but everyone knows him as Bubba. He lives in Finsbury and if you're lucky he may even take you to whatever club he's playing in while you're visiting. Have a great time in London, and send me a photo.

Lots of Love,

Mum

P.S. Happy Birthday Colin, a bit belated!

"Please don't be angry with me, Colin," pleaded Dennis, as Colin finished reading the letter. "I tried to tell her what had happened- she's immediate family, after all, and she didn't really understand what I was saying anyway so it doesn't really matter. I just kept thinking about Diagon Alley and wanting to go with you, and I knew we didn't have enough money for that, and neither did granddad, so I asked mum. I know I probably can't get on the platform. Please just let me come with you."

Colin was torn between different emotions. He felt anger at his mum- for forgetting his birthday until Dennis wrote. He was relieved that she didn't really understand what Dennis really meant- he'd have to send her a photo of himself in his school robes and hat after Halloween and pretend that was his costume. He was ashamed that Dennis had asked mum for money. On the other hand, it was the first really useful thing she'd ever given them, and he had to admit that they needed the money and that he would really like to have Dennis' company for as much of this adventure as possible. He looked at Dennis and grinned. "Of course you can come, mate! She wrote the cheque out to you, after all, so it's your money to spend! This is going to be so cool, we get to see London! And Diagon Alley! And, oh, Dennis I'm going to miss you, mate, but I'm sure you'll be admitted once you're old enough! I just know it!"

Any ordinary parent might have been concerned to put two boys on a train to London with no supervision and no clear plan on where to stay. They weren't sure they wanted to try staying with Bubba and in any case thought it best if they didn't mention mum's letter or cheque at all. Dad evidently figured the kids train tickets must have been nearly free anyway so he never wondered how they managed to buy them. He was proud of Colin, especially about the scholarship, and was seemingly relieved that it was one less kid to keep track of for the next few months. Granddad and grandma, however, nearly had a fit when they heard about Colin's plan, but by then it was too late to change anything and they couldn't afford to join the boys on the train. So they contented themselves with giving the boys some very clear maps on how to get from the London train station to a very safe, inexpensive hotel they knew of near Paddington Station, and then back across town to King's Cross. They also bought each boy a pouch to wear under their shirt to keep most of their money hidden inside of, and instructed them to call when they got there and every four hours until they got onto their trains to leave London. Colin had to admit; it felt nice to have someone worried about them. But he wasn't at all worried.

The first part of the plan went flawlessly. The got to the inn, where the innkeeper had apparently been asked to keep an eye out for the boys and possibly promised a good tip for entertaining them. So they spent the afternoon on a cheap walking tour of London, getting a good look at the Palace, the Tower of London, and the like, with plenty of calls to Grandma.

Then came the next day, which they planned for their trip to Diagon Alley. Of course, they hadn't mentioned exactly where they were going to grandma, who probably would not have approved at her grandsons entering a tavern like the Leaky Cauldron. So the innkeeper at the Paddington hotel, who by this time was really growing to like these boys, was surprised when they didn't even want his company as they went shopping for Colin's school things. They knew they would hear an earful from grandma later on, but they headed out and stared at the underground map and the map Hogwarts had provided and eventually got on a train. It turned out to be the wrong one, and after several transfers made their way to the right station in London. They walked down the street looking for the right address, and eventually saw a very small sign over a very old pub that seemed poorly maintained. They wandered in and stared around.

It wasn't that they'd never been in a pub before. It was that the people in the pub were- well, not quite the sort of people you'd see everyday. Most of them were wearing robes and cloaks and several had tall, pointed hats. People were huddled over their drinks in the dark corners, too engrossed in their conversations to look up. Except for the bartender, an old, bald, and exceptionally wrinkled man.

"Yes, if you please sir, I'm looking for Tom the innkeeper," said Colin, sounding braver than he felt,

"Well, you've found him then," said Tom. "New students at Hogwarts, I expect?"

"Just Colin is," said Dennis. "We're looking for Diagon Alley."

"Yes, of course," said Tom, with a toothless grin. "Right this way. Now, you don't have a wand yet, do you?"

"No, sir," said Colin.

"Then pay attention, right, you'll need to be able to do this on your own next time you come back." He had led them out the back door, where they were facing a solid brick wall with trashcans in front of it. Colin wondered if Tom had lost his marbles, as this seemed an unlikely place to find school supplies. "Is there - er- anyone else with you boys today? A parent maybe?"

"No, sir," Colin replied quickly.

"All right then, here we go. Watch carefully." Tom pulled out a wooden wand and counted over to a particular brick, then he tapped it three times. The brick quivered, then pushed itself almost out of the wall, which started a similar response from all the other bricks. Colin stared in astonishment. When they were finished, there was a big archway in front of them, leading into what could only be described as a marketplace bazaar.

"Wow, cool!" said Dennis and Colin together.

"Right, now, listen up. The first place you want to go is Gringott's Bank; it's the big white one down the street aways, to get your wizard gold. The best place for wands is Ollivander's, and for robes head for Madam Malkin's. Textbooks at Flourish and Botts. I'm sure you'll find everything else just fine, and if you're stuck, go visit Florean Fortescue- he makes terrific ice cream sundaes and he'll point you in the right direction, " said Tom.

"Thank you, sir! Oh wow!" said Colin as they wandered forward into Diagon Alley.