Harry Potter and the Dark Mark

Chapter Nine

The snow was crisp on the ground, and there were icicles in the air, stabbing into Harry's face as he walked outside with Ron and Hermione. Well, he was actually walking just behind them, and they were holding hands. Harry was very happy for them, but he remembered a phrase Aunt Petunia used to say to Harry when he was smaller and wanted to go on excursions with Dudley and Piers, 'Two's company, three's a crowd,' it went. He had thought he could at least spend the day with Neville, but Neville was talking animatedly to Hannah Abbott, and he didn't want to interrupt. No one even remembered him when McGonagall told them they had to get into pairs to ride in enchanted sleighs down to Hogsmeade. He stood waiting, humiliated and ashamed, because no one wanted to ride with him.

"What's the matter, Scarhead? Got no friends?" Malfoy scoffed as his sleigh swished past, spraying Harry with powdery snow.

"Hiya Harry!" A cheerful voice greeted him. Harry wheeled round to face Colin Creevey.

"Hullo, Colin," he replied with forced happiness.

"Do you not have anyone to ride to Hogsmeade with?" Colin asked, looking a little nervous.

"No," Harry admitted reluctantly.

"Me... me neither. Do you think that perhaps, we might, er, go together?" Colin asked tentatively. Harry looked at Colin, his eyes wide in earnest, and his half smile, and he felt guilty.

"That would be great, Colin," Harry said with true warmth. Colin grinned as if Christmas had come early.

"Cool!" he exclaimed with lots of vim. As Harry listened to Colin chatter on the way down to town, he was amazed at how much Colin seemed to enjoy life. He told Harry how to take a really good photograph, and he talked about his classes and what he did and didn't like, and how much it meant to him to belong to a school like Hogwarts.

"Of course, it was best when Dennis came," he divulged. "I have someone to share it with during the holidays too!"

"I don't know Dennis that well. Is he much like you?" Harry asked curiously.

"Dennis really likes Care of Magical Creatures. He misses Hagrid. Ever since that first day when he fell in the lake, Hagrid's been kind to him. He used to go down to Hagrid's Hut for tea quite often last year. But this year... is what Dumbledore said true, Harry? About Hagrid talking to the giants, like," Colin enquired anxiously.

"Yes, it's true. He's off in the mountains of Europe somewhere..." Harry confirmed. Colin seemed quite put out.

"So I suppose he really has come back then. I mean, I don't know much about, being a Muggle and being born after you... well, after he last went, but..." Colin was practically begging for Harry to tell him what had happened during Voldemort's reign of terror. Harry sighed, because he would never lie and say it wasn't painful to have to explain things to people, but he thought Colin had a right to know.
"Voldemort," he started, waiting for Colin to flinch. Colin didn't take his eyes of Harry's face. His mouth was slightly open in awe. Harry shrugged inside and carried on. "Voldemort killed my parents. My mother was Muggle-born." He paused, hearing her screams inside his head. Colin spoke in the silence.

"I'd always thought you were from a pureblood family," he said almost inaudibly.

"No. Anyway, he killed my father, and my mother, and he tried to kill me. But it didn't work. My mother had died trying to save me for love, and the love made the curse rebound onto him. Everyone thought him dead, but he was just weak. He managed to come back, last year. He's out there somewhere now, just biding his time."

"You don't think he's coming for you, do you? The Marks have been appearing as if he's coming north... first Stonehenge, then Cumbria, next... Hogwarts?" Colin suggested, his voice returning to its squeak.

"Not while Dumbledore's here," Harry said firmly, a lot more confidently than he felt. After all, hadn't Dumbledore failed to spot Quirrel and Moody for what they really were? He changed the subject abruptly. Today was meant to be a trip, for fun, with friends. Harry wasn't going to let Voldemort spoil his fun day out. It turned out they didn't need to talk, because their sleigh was drawing up to Hogsmeade. Cheerfully Colin leapt out into the snow, and Harry followed him. Their sleigh turned and returned to Hogwarts, presumably to fetch the last remaining students.

"Where first?" cried Colin. Harry blinked. He hadn't expected Colin to spend the entire day with him. Harry gave a passing thought to if he could put up with Colin for an entire day, but Ron and Hermione hadn't given him much say in the matter. Besides, when he really paid Colin attention, he wasn't half as bad as he seemed.

"Zonko's!" Harry said enthusiastically. Colin seemed to agree, because he started half running, half walking, rapidly down the street. It was a sight to see. Hogsmeade was a pretty town as it was, but with sugar frosted windowpanes and snow-covered roofs, the houses resembled the one from the story Hansel and Gretl. Harry suggested this to Colin, who laughed and nodded.

"Except the houses and shops aren't made from gingerbread, and there's no witch!" Colin said. Harry laughed as Colin heaved at the door to Zonko's Joke Shop and a huge lump of snow fell off the doorframe and onto his head with uncanny accuracy. Colin bought part of Dennis' Christmas present, a book that had various trick pages; some would stick to your fingers, others would burst into flames or melt at your touch, some would play music and others would shout out phrases. Harry bought Ron one of those books, but decided that Hermione might not take kindly to a water squirt Prefect Badge.

They visited Honeyduke's next, where Harry spent quite a lot of money. He saw Ginny redeeming her Honeyduke's One Galleon Gift Voucher. Unsurprisingly, she seemed to be buying people sugary Christmas presents this year. On a whim, Harry bought her a Gift Packet of Sugar Mice. He would write a little letter of apology in it, and hope for the best. He hoped she wasn't scared of mice, as Ron was scared of spiders. The mice were by the same company that made Chocolate Frogs - there was a spell on them so that they behaved like mice before you ate them. They didn't look like real mice though; they were too pink and sugary for that. As Harry was paying, he saw that there were various promotional racks on the counter, and one of the things on offer were Gingerbread Men that really ran away, like the one in the Muggle Fairy Tale. He bought two of those, one for himself, and one for Colin. He was getting a little peckish.

"Here," he said as he offered one of the Gingerbread Men to Colin.

"Oh, WICKED, Harry! Thanks!" cried Colin. His eyes danced with pleasure. He stuffed his bags of Jelly Slugs and Peppermint Toads into his pockets and tore the wrapper off the Gingerbread Man. It wasted no time. Before he could even raise it to his mouth for a bite, the Gingerbread man had pulled itself out of his grip, dropped to the ground, and was running and hopping down the road. Harry and Colin glanced at each other with identical grins, and then Harry let his Gingerbread Man free. It followed Colin's, and Harry and Colin were soon in hot pursuit.

As they ran down the road, they passed the Three Broomsticks. Dennis Creevey and his friends Natalie and Owen were just going inside. It sounded as though there were a few students inside from the high laughter Harry heard as the door was tugged open.

"Hi Dennis!" Colin yelled.

"Last one back to Hogwarts smells of Filches' underpants!" Dennis yelled back at him.

"You're on!" Colin cried with a grin, before turning and running after his Gingerbread Man. Harry, who had been a little way behind, saw Dennis disappear inside. He didn't change his pace, but concentrated on catching his Gingerbread Man as the door slammed shut, cutting out the sound. As a result, he didn't see the vaguely familiar man who was hovering outside awkwardly, and he bumped straight into him. He was tall and strapping with a thin black moustache, and he was wearing long black robes that were trailing in the snow. He clutched onto his wand as Harry dashed off an apology and hauled him to his feet, before racing after the vanishing figure of Colin and the two Gingerbread Men.

They caught them just before they reached the Hogsmeade Train Station. Colin caught his first, because it began to run out of magic and slow down, and then Harry pounced on his trying to creep into some undergrowth behind a bench. They sat down, exhausted but glowing, and ate the biscuits with relish. The snow began to tumble from the sky once more, and the wind dropped so that it began to settle properly.

"Shall we build a snowman?" Colin asked suddenly. He seemed slightly sheepish, as if he were too old to do such a thing.

"Yeah!" Harry cried enthusiastically. He flung himself into the snow and began rolling a snowball until it grew and grew. They positioned it opposite the bench, so that anyone sitting there would see it. Colin rolled the head, while Harry selected twigs and stones to adorn it with. As he struggled to drag a large branch over to Colin, to act as a broomstick, there was a deafening wave of silence. Harry turned in dread, Colin fell flat to the ground, and then after the sickening silence there was a huge explosion that sent a tower of smoke and flame spiralling into the sky.

The birds streaked past, screaming, and small animals like rats, cats and dogs ran past Harry, whimpering. He stood still as Colin pushed himself up, and stood still as the screams of horror and confusion began. He stood still even as the terrified tumult of people surged towards him; his eyes were fixed on those of the smoky snake hanging languidly out of the mouth of the green, sparkling skull in the sky as the sun began to set.