A picture of war by Dennis Creevey
Preface:
My brother Colin loved photography even before he found out he was a wizard. Through his years at Hogwarts he took many pictures, the early pictures full of life and laughter, the later pictures show grief and the terrible effects of the war we suddenly found ourselves in. It has been many years since the war ended and wounds are starting to heal, but many questions have been asked of us that where there, "what really happened?" So many of us wanted to forget and not talk about it, but I am ready now to show you what happened, through the eyes of my brother. Many of these pictures I did not know about until recently when I could finally go through Colin's possessions, it hurt too much before.
This was an early picture, one of the first Colin took at Hogwarts. Professor Lockheart was a nightmare from the stories Colin told me, but he loved having his picture taken. Please notice how Harry Potter keeps trying to escape the picture. He does not really like his picture taken, but he gave me permission to put his pictures in this book. Thank you Harry, you were my brother's hero.
This picture shows so much more than it seems at first glance. At the time Colin was told not to take the picture but he snuck one when no one was looking. The picture seems silly, to see a young Ronald Weasley vomiting slugs, it is almost comical. But the reason behind it is much more serious. A student called another student a Mudblood, I hope you cringed at that word, as it is a nasty word to use. Mr. Weasley tried to hex the offending student but the spell backfired and this picture happened. At this time many people had the belief that muggle born wizards and witches were less than, this picture shows how common the thoughts were. Ron gave permission to use this picture and even laughed a little when he saw it, thank you.
The great hall, a room almost every witch and wizard in our wizarding community is familiar with. Feel the buzz in this room. Friends from different houses visiting, students receiving their mail by owl, the bounty of food across all the tables. You can almost hear the chatter in the room of friendly conversations.
When we got off the train and I saw Hogwarts in the distance for the first time, Dennis wanted to save that moment forever he got a fellow student to take a picture of us in front of the castle. This is what it looks like when a muggle born wizard come to Hogwarts, and knows it is really real. That all the strange things that happen around them happened for a reason and they will learn to control it and hopefully master it. It is excitement, it is hope, it is awe, it is impossible to explain because so much is happening in that little 11 year old body.
I am also in this picture. Fred and George Weasley were paying students to test their Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, I signed up to earn a little extra spending money. It was great fun. I was trying a nosebleed nougat, next to me is Jimmy peakes but you cannot really tell since he turned into a yellow canary after eating a canary cream. Thank you George for the permission to use this picture of you and and Fred, and thank you for the laughs we really needed them then and we still do now. Also thank you Jimmy Peakes.
This is Dobby, he is a house elf. Colin was up really late one night in our common room and Dobby came in to clean up. Colin asked if he could take Dobby's picture and he said he had never seen anyone so excited to have their picture taken. Note the many hats and socks Dobby is wearing and the proud look on his face. Colin printed two copies of the picture so Dobby could have one. Dobby died during the war, not at the battle of Hogwarts, before then helping his friends find safety. Dobby died a free elf, I could not get his permission to include this picture but I think it would have made him very happy.
The Triwizard tournament
Colin took so many pictures during this event it was almost impossible to pick which ones to include. Thank you Fleur Weasley nee Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Amos Diggory for their permission to use these pictures.
I feel it is only fair to include one picture of each of the champions with their dragon. I know other pictures of this event are out there, but I feel that the essence of battle is perfected in each of these pictures. You can feel their determination, their focus and even their fear.
The black lake challenge was almost boring to watch, we could not see any of the action happening below the water, an hour of staring at a lake. But when the champions started to appear Colin was ready. This picture shows all of the champions after they resurfaced. Fleur Delacour was so worried about her little sister, there is so much love flowing from her in this picture. In the back of the picture you can see Albus Dumbledore talking to the Mer Chieftess about the task.
I almost did not put this picture in of the third task. It is so full of pain but I hope that in seeing it we will prevent something like this ever happening again. Colin was so focused and ready to take a picture as soon as something happened that he did not even realize what he was taking a picture of. Harry Potter had just arrived with Cedric Diggory, no one understood yet. Cedric did not deserve this. For Hogwarts this was the beginning of the war, though it would not start for the rest of the wizarding community till a year later when Lord Voldermort/ Tom Riddle showed his face in the Ministry.
Defense against the dark arts the DA club, the start of Dumbledore's Army.
There were many happy memories in this room, the following four pictures show some of our proudest moments. The first shows all the members at our Christmas meeting. We wanted one group picture, it is a good thing Dolores Umbridge never paid any attention to Colin, she would have had all the evidence she needed to get many people in trouble. This picture is very sad since quite a few of the members of the DA fell during the battle of Hogwart; they were the ones who received the information that Harry Potter had returned to Hogwarts and they came en mass to support him and these students were the ones to pass the news on to the rest of the wizarding world allowing the Order of the Phoenix and others who wanted to come fight in the battle. They were just young students, they all look so happy here. Many of the people still alive in the picture are because of what we learned in this illegal club. Thank you to all the members of the DA and families of the fallen members for giving me permission to use pictures of yourselves or your loved ones, we honor the living and the fallen alike.
Colin was as proud of this picture as Neville Longbottom was in it. Mr. Longbottom had just stunned Dean Thomas and Colin got the picture at the perfect time. Mr. Longbottom improved so much during his time in the DA, he also learned how to lead, which proved very useful during the dark year at Hogwarts under the reign of the Carrow siblings.
We were practicing disarming spells here. Harry would walk around helping each of us, giving us tips or encouragement. He looks very confident in this picture and it made all of us feel more confident in what we were doing. Harry was a great teacher.
The last meeting, the day we learned the Patronus charm. We were all full of happiness that day and all feeling very proud and then Dobby the free house elf showed up warning us Umbridge knew where we were and what we were doing. It was lucky so many of us were able to escape, but the consequences were very steep. That was when Professor Dumbledore left Hogwarts to protect us students from the wrath of Umbridge.
Life around school when fear set in
This picture shows two tearful best friends having to say goodbye. The Patil sisters were being pulled out of school for safety reasons. And Lavender Brown was crushed as they said their goodbyes. They had to be wondering if this would be the last time they would see each other again. Thank you Pavarti for permission to use this picture.
Susan Bones looked like this after her aunt had been murdered; she was in such a state of shock. She started her career in law to try and replace the hole left by her aunt Madam Amelia Bones of the Wizengamot. She stated "I will fight as she did, evil never wins as long as we stand up to it when it arises." Thank you Susan.
This young boy had a story that was becoming too common that year, bad news arrived. Everywhere you looked in Hogwarts you saw faces like his scared, confused, sad, hopeless, trapped. Students were finding out family members died, were under the imperius curse, taken hostage, bitten by werewolves. Students felt powerless.
The first battle and the fall of the greatest wizard of our time
I could have included a picture of Dumbledore's funeral but I felt this picture was more appropriate. There is a huge group of students raising their wands lighting the sky to wipe out the horrible dark mark over our beloved school. There was genuine greef flooding the group in this picture, we loved our headmaster. The fear had not yet set in of what this would mean for our futures, this moment was all about our loss. If you look close you can see some of teachers and students look a little battle worn and that was because not even an hour before they were fighting for their lives and our school.
This picture is a reminder that wizards born from muggle families were expelled from Hogwarts during the dark year, this is the letter we received. We had been learning for years before that and suddenly the ministry banned us from going to the school. We could read between the lines and see the dangers so our family - our two muggle parents and two underage wizards who were not supposed to do magic and a magic coin from the DA that allowed us to communicate, later we were able to get a wizarding wireless so we could listen to Potter Watch and wait for our chance to come to the aid of Harry Potter and the wizarding world we loved. Colin could not take pictures of the horrors that the Carrow's inflicted during the dark year because we were no longer welcome there. But we heard the stories, and we have seen the scars that were left behind.
The Battle of Hogwarts
These are the pictures you need to see most to insure this never happens again, These are the fights and lives lost. My brother and I snuck back to Hogwarts to help fight in the battle of Hogwarts, He is among the fallen and once he died I picked up the camera to finish what he started. Upon seeing these pictures Harry Potter said "only Colin would go to battle armed with a camera." My brother fought as well as captured the terrible scenes, he created a clever bit of magic to take pictures while he fought; he knew how important these pictures would be. I hope we prove him right.
I'm sorry to say the permission to print many of these pictures rest almost completely in the hands of family members not the inhabitants of the pictures as so many of them perished. I did not ask permission to include pictures of deatheaters.
The Hogshead, if it were not for this dirty little bar we never would have stood a chance. Through it fighters arrived to help fight in the battle and minors left to safety. The pictures shows Aberforth Dumbledore annoyed but showing new arrivals how to get into Hogwarts. The entire wizarding world owes Aberforth their thanks. And I owe him my thanks for allowing me to use his pictures and his business to join the battle.
This is a controversial picture to include but here it is. Pansy Parkinson said what many in the room were thinking but refused to say out loud. She stood and said to give Voldemort Harry Potter. This was not a show of support for Voldemort but a plea to save more lives, the lives of her friends. I spoke to her about it, she is ashamed of her action but at the time it seemed the best way to save the most people. She now understands that while many died in Hogwarts that day even more would have died over the years if they handed Harry over and Voldemort won. In this picture you see a very scared young woman doing what she at the time thought would be best.
Before the battle started we met in the great hall to plan, this shows the somber mood knowing not everyone in the room would make it to the end of the battle. But there is a resolve in the room they all had to do what was right and were willing to give everything for a better future.
Rubeus Hagrid the half giant and his half brother Grawp fought on the side of Hogwarts. Because they fought with us many lives were saved.
Our future Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt. It makes me proud to know the man leading the ministry today jumped into the fray and fought with everything in him on that day. Actions will always speak louder than words and his spoke volumes.
The House elves of Hogwarts defended the castle not because they were ordered to, but because they wanted to. The elf in the front is Kreetcher and he rallied the elves and led them into the battle. Many of the elves died protecting what they loved, Hogwarts castle and its many students. Never think lowly of these fiercely loyal elves. Thank you Kreecher for your permission to include this picture.
Belatrix Lestrange fought many opponents but none so fierce as Molly Weasley. Molly went into battle to defend her children and would stop at nothing to ensure their safety. Notice the fear on Mrs. Lestrange's face and the determination on Mrs. Weasley's. This picture proves even the boogyman can be afraid.
Nymphodora Tonks died at the hand of her aunt but I prefer this picture of her fighting with passion against a masked Deatheater. She was clever using spells and hexes in a way that only she could see as attacks, and it worked. She fought so her newborn son could live in a better world.
Acromantula were forced into the fight by the Deatheaters. I know they might be "seriously misunderstood" but they gave us one more foe that we really did not need.
The centaurs came from the forbidden forest to support Hogwarts. These majestic beings rained arrows upon the Deatheaters at the second half of the battle, after Hagrid reminded them of what we all stood to lose if Hogwarts fell. We were and are grateful they came and fought alongside us.
We had thought it might be the end for us, we were so very outnumbered. But in that moment we received more help than we ever could have hoped for. Family of students still at the school, family of those that had been sent home arrived, we had back up. As the Americans say "the cavalry has arrived." And the battle raged again.
Harry Potter gave so much for our community, so much we will never be able to fully understand it. This was the one fight most wizards know about. One on one he fought Tom Riddle and Riddle lost.
After the battle – the cost
The Malfoy family may not have always been on the right side of the battle but when it was most important they helped in ways that made our ending possible. The three of them are huddled together unsure if they belonged there among the victors. I believe it was the first time any of them questioned their place, but they were in the right spot. Their faces show so much - remorse, fear, relief, love. War is so complicated. I did receive permission to use this picture from Draco Malfoy, thank you.
This picture of the great hall covered with the wounded and dead is the most heart wrenching picture in the collection, the price of battle, the price of war. I will not name names in this picture. It is the numbers I want you to see, there were so many who paid the price for our victory with their blood, bodies and lives shown in this picture.
Molly Weasley sitting with her Daughter Ginny. Exhausted, relieved to be alive, mourning the loss of their son and brother. Ginny was also underaged being in the same year as Colin, but she could not stay home when her entire family was fighting: both parents, all six brothers and her sister in law. Look how innocent she is resting her head on her mother.
Tom Riddle more commonly known as Lord Voldermort. He was moved to a room away from the mourners, the wounded and dead. Here he is, nothing more than a man who did terrible things and died by his own arrogance. Beware who you curse, curses can backfire. The world is free of the man and now we need to free the world of his toxic thinking.