Harry Potter and the Dark Mark

Chapter Four

'DARK MARK SEEN AGAIN!'

'Is this the return of He Who Must Not Be Named?'

The headlines of the Daily Prophet read. Hermione had put a copy in front of Harry and Ron solemnly, with an ashen face. Harry watched the moving image of the Dark Mark, the green sparks that formed the giant skull twinkling, and the snake hanging from the skull's mouth. The whole image was eerily still for a moving photograph. It looked as though a slight breeze was disturbing it very slightly.

Last night, the Dark Mark was visible to all within the vicinity of Beanlands Park, inside Cumbria in the North of England.

This house once belonged to Augustus Rookwood, a definite former Death Eater, whose whereabouts are now unknown. The arrival of the Mark has inspired terror in the local residents.

'I'm leaving!' declared one elderly witch, named Dorcas Clagg. 'It's obvious that he's back, whatever those Ministry Officials over there say!'

Another family, who actually saw the Mark appear in the sky, were packing their belongings as I spoke to them. They were going to stay with their relations in Cornwall, they told me.

Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, dismisses these claims as scare mongering. "Nonsense," he explained. "There is no indication that You Know Who has returned. The Ministry has received no reports of him or Dark Activities at all."

This newspaper, however, remains unconvinced. What more evidence of Dark Activity does the Minister need other than a display of the Dark Mark? The deaths of innocent witches and wizards?

It appears that Fudge is ignoring all these ominous portents. It is a well-known fact that the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has informed the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that he believes the Dark Lord to have risen once more. At the time, there was outcry at this suggestion, but fears are heightened once more as the Wizarding community asks its government 'What is going on?' It appears the Ministry either does not know, or is not prepared to tell.

"Well," was all Harry could say.

"Fudge is a stupid git!" Ron snarled. Hermione would usually have told him off for speaking about the Minister of Magic like that, but Harry could see she was inclined to agree.

"May I have your attention, please?" Dumbledore asked from the teacher's table. The entire school, buzzing with the latest news, ceased eating their breakfast as one and swivelled to listen to their headmaster.

He continued after he was certain everyone was paying attention. "As you will all know, the Dark Mark has appeared in Cumbria, not far south of the border between Scotland and England. You will have noticed there have been changes to the school system this year, which I have, as yet, not explained. Now is the time. Many of you have enquired as to the whereabouts of Hagrid. I can now divulge that Hagrid is an emissary, along with Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons, to the Giants. He is attempting to persuade the Giants to unite with us, so that we can be stronger against the impending return of the Dark Lord."

"You will also have noticed, that you are all, regardless of year, or house, timetabled one extra Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson every week. This is for your own protection, a subject not taken lightly by the staff of this school," he continued.

Harry smiled grimly. It was the first thing he had noticed when he had received his timetable. Mad Eye Moody had consented to return to teach, even after last year's experience, and had so far surpassed his impersonator. Professor Grubbly-Plank had returned as well. She was the female teacher who had taught them after Rita Skeeter wrote a defamatory article about Hagrid in the Daily Prophet. Harry missed Hagrid a lot, but he had noticed that he was learning a lot more from Care of Magical Creatures. He felt a bit guilty, but he knew that he would still rather have Hagrid any day. Professor Grubbly-Plank tended to favour the girls in the class.

"Another action we have taken is to reduce the visits of students to Hogsmeade. I would like to take this opportunity to announce that there will be a Hogsmeade Weekend in two week's time, for the entire school. This is so that you will have plenty of time in which to purchase your Christmas Presents."

An excited whisper hissed through the hall. This had never been done before. Harry saw the second and first years almost scream with excitement. Colin Creevey was telling Dennis all about the shops in Hogsmeade again.

"Also, students studying Potions under Professor Snape may wish to note that he will be absent today on urgent business. His understudy, Professor Brauen, will be taking all his classes for him today. Thank you. Now, eat up, we don't want you all to miss breakfast, do we?"

With a smile, Dumbledore sank down into his seat again. Harry saw that he put his hand to his back, almost as if it pained him a little. It struck him that Dumbledore was not the youngest wizard in the world. The thought was a chilling one. He brushed it, and its implications aside, and agreed with Ron who had just yelled that everyone was going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures.

As they ran down the corridor, Hermione bumped straight into Professor Brauen, who as on her way to the Potions Dungeon.

"Sorry, Professor!" gasped Hermione.

"It's quite alright, Miss... have not I taught you?" Professor Brauen answered with a heavy accent. She let go of Hermione's shoulder, which she was using to steady herself, and smoothed down her teal robes. She had brown hair drawn back neatly into a plait, and blue eyes that always looked very serious. You could see the laughter lines around them though, that indicated she might be a little more easygoing than Snape. Harry, Ron and Hermione had certainly found her a lot fairer. She was in Ravenclaw. Ron had been surprised at this. He was convinced any teacher from Durmstrang would be sorted into Slytherin straight away. Hermione had insisted that it didn't matter, that it depended on their character, and it seemed that she had been proved right.

The reason Professor Brauen had come to teach at Hogwarts was indirectly to do with the Triwizard competition. It was all to do with strengthening the international magical cooperation, and Dumbledore had rapidly agreed to the idea of having a foreign teacher, not only for the sharing of knowledge, but also to strengthen ties in the event of the resurgence of Voldemort.

"Hermione Granger, Professor," Hermione supplied.

"Ah yes. I remember! I taught you the day after der dunkle Markierung am Stonehenge... vot vould you say it in English?"

"The Dark Mark at Stonehenge, Professor."

"Yes, that vos it! Anyway, be along! You must not be late!" Professor Brauen smiled at them cheerily, and rushed on her way.

"She's nice," Hermione remarked. Ron and Harry grunted as they ran ahead, now even later for Care of Magical Creatures.

"Sorry we're late, Professor Grubbly-Plank! We had to stop Professor Brauen from falling over," Ron put in before she could scold him.

"At least you're here, Mr Weasley. Now, today, we will be studying Horklumps," Professor Grubbly-Plank instructed. "Professor Sprout has asked I teach you this because you have Herbology today and she will need your assistance in ridding Greenhouse One of a Horklump infestation. Now, can anyone tell me anything about Horklumps?"

Quite a few hands were raised in the air, including Ron's.

"Yes, Mr Weasley? You can take this chance to redeem yourself!"

"It's a pink mushroom, Professor. It grows all over your garden, if you're not careful. My Dad's vegetable plot was covered within a day, and then he got some Gnomes to come and eat them, and now we're overrun with Gnomes!"

There was general laughter from the Slytherins, and Ron coloured.

"Correct, Mr Weasley! Five points to Gryffindor," the Professor said.

Ron smiled broadly, as did Harry and Hermione. However, Malfoy, with impeccable timing, turned his pale gaze on Ron and smiled viciously.

"So that's how your Dad feeds your oversize family, Weasley! Homegrown veg. But I wonder, why doesn't he sell it too? Then he can buy you some decent school stuff for once, instead of having you all look like you come from some rural backwater!" he sneered. "Oh, I forgot... you do come from a rural backwater!" He laughed victoriously, and turned to his friends, who were jeering and patting him on the back.

"That is enough, Mr Malfoy!" Professor Grubbly-Plank interrupted.

"Why you sodding git!" Ron roared, before advancing on Malfoy. If Harry hadn't been there to hold him back, Ron would probably have floored Malfoy on the spot.

"ENOUGH!" bawled the Professor. "I will not tolerate this behaviour in my class!" Ron subsided. Malfoy smirked. "Now, Horklumps have black bristles all over them. These can be quite sharp. As Mr Weasley mentioned, Gnomes like to eat Horklumps, but the best way to get rid of them is to use Streeler Venom. I'm going to give you a bottle each now, which you can take to Herbology with you later today. The rest of this lesson will involve you taking notes on Horklumps from the textbooks." The Professor got out her own Textbook, an action that her pupils copied. However, the quiet in the room wasn't peaceful. Ron was looking daggers at Malfoy for the rest of the lesson.