Colin Creevey Versus The Apocalypse

Chapter 3

Colin screamed, holding on to a blanket of sanity for dear life. He closed his eyes; the pit seemed to never end. A few moments later he landed on the ground in a room lit by torches. There were ghosts everywhere.

"Look, Julius wants power, and he wants it here. He is an evil man and a threat to all ghosts everywhere! Does anyone remember the war?" a ghost addressed to the group. A cheer rose from the group.

Colin sneezed. He wiped his nose on his shirt and walked away from the meeting of ghosts.

"Who's there?" asked a ghost to the direction Colin was. Colin ran quickly through the dark room, trying to avoid the ghosts. He ran through a ghost before he hit an invisible wall.

"Who are you?" asked a ghost who flew over next to Colin. Colin sneezed, then coughed.

"Does it concern you?" Colin asked before sneezing once again. "I've got to stop Julius." Colin tried running, but he once more fell from the invisible wall.

"I guess it does now. Some of us remember Julius. He was an evil man, much more evil than Voldemort. We are preparing for the end of the world; he is unstoppable," the ghost told him. Colin shook his head. There was a deafening silence, followed by thunder.

"You're wrong. He wants us to challenge him. Now remove the wall," Colin said. The ghosts were looking to the ceiling. Outside, lightning struck the castle. Thunder roared once more. The ghosts gasped all at once.

"Fine then," said the ghost seriously. He closed his eyes and Colin fell through the wall. "It's up to you."

Colin took off through the dungeon. Lightning clashed and thunder roared. But nothing would illuminate the dark dungeon. There were no windows. Colin grabbed his wand and said, "Lumos," illuminating the small area around them.

The dungeon seemed to go on forever. Julius was obviously at Hogwarts, but was he really in the dungeon?

"Come here, boy," said the voice of Julius. Colin coughed while taking in the humid air around him. "You must want to rip me apart." Colin shook his head.

"I'm not evil like you. You take pleasure in killing people. I take pleasure in helping people," Colin said to the mad wizard.

"Then help them. Stop me," Julius said to Colin. Colin gritted his teeth as the dungeon was illuminated by light. Thunder roared outside. A cloaked figure flew up in the air. Lightning flew from his hands. Colin leaped in the air, barely avoiding the deadly lightning bolts. The air around him smelled of ash. Colin took a deep breath, but he could never do anything while Julius was floating in the air.

"Oooh, is the little hero useless without the power to float in the air?" Julius said, mocking Colin. "Well, guess what?"

"What?" Colin asked seriously.

"I have no honor, so I'm not coming down." Julius threw another lightning bolt, and it hit Colin hard. He flew back twenty yards into the wall. He coughed. Colin rubbed his eyes, trying to stand up on his own two feet. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes at Julius. His feet left the ground. Under him, he could see the ghost that had opened the invisible wall levitating Colin.

The ghosts under Colin roared, cheering for the would-be hero. "You see, Julius," Colin said as he flew through the air, "I have my own loyal fans." Julius roared.

"You will never stop me!" The mad wizard threw himself at Colin at an incredible speed. Colin was thrown back, hitting the wall behind him. He began to fall down to the ground, thirty feet below. The ghost had been hit by an invisible force sent to him by Julius. Julius roared with an evil laughter.

Colin hit the ground with a loud thump, but he had not broken any bones. The ghost had been able to cushion his fall!

"Thanks," Colin said as he got up, breathing as fast as he could. The ghost nodded. Colin smiled at Julius.

"What do you want?" Colin said. "Julius, you're a psycho. Why do you want to do this?" Julius laughed.

"Because I must fulfill my prophecy. The world will end when I return. Killer locusts are already out in the world, waiting for prey. I spent one hundred years preparing for this, and I will not be stopped by a little boy like yourself!" Julius said before throwing a lightning bolt at Colin and the ghost. The ghost lifted Colin up in the air; both avoiding the lightning bolts. Julius lowered himself twenty feet, but he was still higher than Colin.

"You can't win, Julius. Good always triumphs," Colin said. Julius howled with maniacal laughter.

"Then why are you trying to stop me, putting so much effort into this?" Julius said. He laughed at Colin.

"That doesn't apply here. Why don't you take off your cloak hood? Scared?" Colin teased. Julius took off his cloak hood, revealing a middle-aged man with a large scar streaking across his forehead. He had a tanned face with deadly, piercing blue eyes. His hair was noticeable, at least the lack of it. His bald head shined in the bright light of the once dark dungeon.

"No. Now, die!" Julius threw blue lightning from his balled-up hands, sending it toward Colin. Colin tried to dodge the lightning, but he couldn't dodge them all. Lightning hit him, but Colin held his ground, staying where he was. Then he flew back in the air, next to the wall. He hovered before pushing off against the wall and sent himself speeding toward Julius. Julius dodged Colin, forcing Colin to stop himself and turn around. The madman jumped from place to place in the air, trying to lure Colin to stop him.

"Sorry, Julius. You're not stopping me," Colin said while standing still, waiting for Julius to do something.

"On the contrary. You can't stop me," Julius said before sending himself full-speed at Colin. Colin didn't have time to dodge him, and he flew back against the wall. His lip bled. Colin sneezed. He wiped blood on his shirt and tried to regain his energy.

There was a silence as Julius pulled out his concealed wand. Julius had been using it all along to throw the lightning bolts, and all Colin would have to do was to take the wand.

"Mister Creevey, prepare to die with the rest of the world," Julius said before unleashing a mighty roar. He walked through the air towards Colin. Julius kicked Colin in the face. "I may not have any honor, but I will make sure that you never have any honor." Colin hit the wall, knocking him senseless. He heard the sound of footsteps from under him and Julius. It was Professor Lupin and Professor Dumbledore!

"Don't move, or the boy dies!" Julius screamed down toward the ground as Professor Lupin flew up in the air. He armed his wand and aimed it at Julius. Julius grabbed Colin's robes and punched Colin, giving Colin a headache.

"Oh," Colin groaned. He was quickly losing his sense of reality.

"Albus, let's go!" Lupin screamed as he came eye to eye with Julius. Dumbledore rose up into the air, ready to fight Julius to the death.

"Ah, I have heard about you, Albus Dumbledore. But I am afraid you are not powerful enough to stop me from destroying the world!" Julius yelled with maniacal laughter. Dumbledore rose quickly to come eye to eye with Julius as well.

"Why do you want to destroy the world? You will kill yourself in the process of achieving your ultimate, but yet futile dream. Why, Julius? Why?" Dumbledore demanded. Julius lifted Colin in the air with his hand.

"Revenge, Dumbledore. Revenge," he said before throwing Colin to the wall. Colin looked down toward the ground. The ghost was still holding Colin in the air, but he was only barely. It was taking all of the ghost's power to keep Colin in the air.

"Remus, take Colin down, away from here," Professor Dumbledore said as Colin's vision began to fade.

"Yes, sir!" Professor Lupin said as he flew straight to Colin, who was falling down to the ground. Then Colin completely lost his sense of reality, and all became black.

* * * * *

He awoke in a bed. Madame Pompfrey stood over him, watching. She hummed a little tune as she held up one of Colin's arms.

"It's broken, Albus. I'll mend it. Shouldn't take long, but his mental recovery will. He's lucky to be alive," she said to Professor Dumbledore behind her.

"What happened to Julius?" Colin asked. He tried to get up, but Madame Pompfrey pushed him down lightly.

"He killed himself. He had lost so much concentration that he could not keep the floating charm working, so he fell to the ground. He was a maniac who could never accomplish his dreams because he expected people to help him now," Dumbledore responded.

"What about the locusts he was talking about?" Colin asked.

"Utter nonsense. He tried to start the Apocalypse, but he failed. Just like Voldemort did," Professor Dumbledore said. Colin shuddered at the name.

"Sir, does anyone at the school besides the teachers and I know what happened?" Colin lied.

"No, they don't. Cornelius Fudge is glad to have gotten rid of this threat; he still has Sirius Black to worry about," Dumbledore replied. There was a pause before Colin said anything.

"What are you going to tell people about my injury?" Colin asked.

"People think you fell off a broomstick you went riding on. You really look like you did," Madame Pompfrey said to Colin. Colin sneezed.

"Is there a way I can get rid of my allergies?" he asked.

"Colin, I'm afraid you can't. Believe me, we've tried to get rid of allergies; but there's no stopping them," Madame Pompfrey said, laughing.

"Can I have something to eat?" Colin asked, hoping to fill his empty stomach. His stomach growled.

"I think your stomach would agree to it. I'll contact the kitchens," Madame Pompfrey said as she walked out the room, heading for the kitchens.

"Sir, what happened to Professor Lupin? Did Julius try to stop him?" Colin asked.

"Julius had knocked me aside and followed you and Professor Lupin. Once you two had landed, he knocked Lupin unconscious for about three minutes. Remus is fine though," Dumbledore responded with a smile.

"Professor Dumbledore, I must ask you to leave now. Colin, your food will be here in a few minutes. Why don't you get some rest?" Madame Pompfrey asked, sticking her head through the curtain.

"Yes, ma'am," Professor Dumbledore said, walking out of the room. "Bye, Colin."

"Well, Colin, are you feeling better?" asked Madame Pompfrey, holding a plate of food. She handed the food to Colin and gave him a large glass of milk.

"I think I am. What exactly did I break?" Colin asked.

"You broke your left arm, a few fingers, an ankle, and cracked your skull. Almost as bad as what Harry Potter's been through," she said with a chuckle. Colin coughed.

"Take some cough syrup after you finish eating. Here, have some milk," she told Colin. She pushed the milk in Colin's mouth. Colin began to feel bad.

"Madame Pompfrey," he said.

"Yes?"

"I'm lactose intolerant." Madame Pompfrey removed the glass from Colin's mouth almost immediately and gave him some water.

"Okay, Colin. Just tell me if you need anything," she said, leaving the room. Colin ate quickly and went to bed.

A few days later Colin was cleared to go back to the common room. He spent the day resting, but no one could even figure out the truth. Colin was happy. He may have saved the world, but he was sure no one could save an over-inflated ego driven by fame and power. And he fell asleep, dreaming of things much better than any nightmare.