Harry
Potter and the Mark of the Beast
Chapter
3: Godric's Hollow
I have
something I want to say before I began. I want everyone to know how very sorry
I am that it has been as long as it has since I submitted chapter 2. I could
sit here and go on about it and make up excuses, but I have nothing more to say
than I'm sorry. My only excuse is laziness and lack of confidence in my story.
I'll try not to let you down. On with the story (I've kept you waiting long
enough!)
Harry
felt a tingling sensation throughout his body as he took in his surroundings.
This wasn't the Burrow, and the last time he'd made a mistake with floo powder
he had ended up down Knockturn Alley! Trying to stay calm, Harry tried to think
of some plan in his head. Perhaps if he had a look around he could either
figure out where he was or find someone to ask. The container of floo powder in
his hand forgotten, Harry began walking at a brisk pace. He was in a rather
large forest; the dark trees towering overhead let a very small amount of
sunlight through. Harry gripped his wand tightly, shivering as an eerie chill
crept through the still air. Something about these woods seemed familiar and
yet... Maybe he had seen them in a dream. He jumped in fright when a stick
cracked underneath his foot, the silence of the wood broken. As Harry walked
on, the trees started to thin; he quickened his pace. There was a clearing
ahead. As Harry came out into the clearing, he caught sight of a small village
that had obviously not been inhabited for a very long time. The tiny houses
were crumbling; various trees and plants had started to fight for the space the
buildings took up. A sign stood, covered in vines and weeds. Harry walked
towards it and began ripping the plants off to reveal the old sign. At thrill
of foreboding gripped him as he uncovered the sign:
Godric's Hollow
A hand came down on Harry's shoulder; he
spun around and came face to face with on older man. He was balding with gray
hair and a stubbly beard.
"What
are yer doin' way our 'ere, kid?"
Taken
aback, Harry opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to
produce any sounds, "I was, er, lost... and I, uh, was trying to figure
out where I was..."
"Well,
yer in Godric's 'ollow, just like the sign says, 'cept there ain't nuthin' 'ere
but some burnt out buildings now, " the man waved his hand towards the
overgrown village as he spoke.
"Do
you live here?" Harry asked hopefully. Maybe this man could help him.
"I
live nearby; I was out mindin' me garden when I saw ye' walk by. We don't get
any visitors way out 'ere, so I followed ye. My name's Rob, Rob Lowe," Rob
extended a hand toward Harry.
"I'm
Harry Potter," Harry replied, shaking the man's hand.
Ten
minutes later, Harry was sitting in a cozy little cottage Rob had built just
outside of the village. While busying himself with fixing a pot of tea, Rob
inquired about why a young boy like Harry was way out here all by himself in
the middle of the woods.
"Well,"
Harry began, "I'm not really sure…"
This
man was obviously a muggle and wouldn't no much of anything about strange
monsters or floo powder. The floo powder! Harry suddenly realized that not only
could the floo powder get him out of these woods, but also the floo powder
itself was missing.
"Somethin'
wrong?" asked Rob, as he poured the tea into a mug for Harry and himself.
"Um,
no, it's nothing." Harry answered, distracted, "How far away is the nearest
town?"
"Lesse,
it's 'bout a ten minute walk. There's a road, well, it's not really a road, but
it's a path. It goes from the village ter town."
After
about an hour of tea and putting up with Rob's less than interesting banter,
Harry decided that it was time to leave. He assured Rob that he could find his
way to the town and set off. Behind him Rob glowered and set off into the
forest, gazing into the sky. Harry actually had no intention of heading to this
so-called town; once he found his bottle of floo powder he's be out of this
place. Something still bothered him, though. Rob had been a good deal less
intelligent than most Muggles he'd met, or so it seemed. Rob had asked exactly
what Harry had been doing out here in the woods, but hadn't pushed the subject.
As strange as Harry found his current situation, he found it even stranger that
Rob had not seemed to notice anything odd about Harry's appearance. He had told
Harry that they didn't get any visitor way out here yet seeing Harry didn't
seem to surprise him.
Godric's
Hollow. The sign sat, leaning slightly, the vines growing over it knocked askew
by Harry's examination of it earlier. The name sounded familiar, but he
honestly couldn't remember exactly where he had heard it before. Soft footsteps
nearby brought him back to reality; a small white dog, probably Rob's, sat
watching him. Grasped in its mouth was Harry's bottle of floo powder.
"Come
on, boy," Harry coaxed the dog towards him, "Come on."
He
slowly moved towards the dog, hands outstretched. It bolted, running into the
village with Harry in hot pursuit. Veering off course, the dog ran into one of
the houses. Harry stopped in the font lawn. Unlike the other houses, this one
wasn't just falling apart. There were scorch marks all over the crumbling
structure; Harry was amazed that is still stood. Part of the structure appeared
to have been blown completely away. It would take more than a fire to do
damage like this, Harry thought as he peered in the doorway. Stepping
inside, Harry suddenly got the feeling that he did not want to see the inside
of this house, but what else could he do? The house looked even worse on the
inside; here and there he could see objects that were vaguely recognizable as
furniture. Shattered glass strewn across the floor cracked under his feet as he
moved deeper into the house. Harry found the dog sitting in a room in the back
of the house, possibly what used to be a living room. Cornering the animal, he
snatched it up and claimed his floo powder before shooing the dog away. A light
caught his eye. Somethin was glinting from a pile of rubbish in the corner of
the room. Walking over, he sifted through the debris and pulled out a silver
locket on a chain. The locket had an angel carved on the front riding some sort
of animal. There were also some initials carved on the locket, but he was
unable to make out what they were due to the buildup of dirt on it. He tried to
pry it open, but it was rusted shut. He pocketed it. There was something about
this house; he felt strangely drawn to it. Why do I feel like I've been here
before? Harry pondered, examining the room around him. He racked his brain,
trying to imagine why this house and Godric's Hollow seemed so familiar to him.
As far as he knew, this was a place he had never set foot in before. But
then why do I feel like I should know this place so well? He looked around
again and wondered if the monster in his bedroom was gone. Suddenly, he
wondered if it had gotten to his Aunt and Uncle. And suddenly he wondered if he
cared. Only one way to know. Opening the container of floo powder once more,
Harry threw a pinch into the air and shouted, "Pivet Drive!"
One
roller coaster ride later, Harry found himself standing at a very welcoming
Pivet Drive.
"Never
thought I'd see the day when I'd be happy to see this place," Harry mused to
himself as he headed towards his house.
A
thought struck him. It was still dark here, but it had been light where Godric's
Hollow was located It couldn't have been that far away, could it? H approached
his house quietly; not signs of any struggle appeared anywhere so Harry assumed
everything was all right. Creeping around to the edge of the house, Harry
quietly began to pull himself up the trellis on which the vines that Aunt
Petunia was so proud of grew. Reaching his window, he pushed it up and slid
inside. Everything in his room was just as he had left it; it seemed so odd
that everything was intact and untouched. Heaving a sigh, Harry collapsed onto
his bed. Looking back on the events of what had turned out to be a very long
night, Harry realized how very odd everything that had happened was. Although
it was rather odd that he had been attacked by a monster in his bedroom and
ended up in some uninhabited village out in the middle of the woods, it was
even stranger that he had gotten through the events of the night so easily. And
what had that monster wanted with him anyway? Did it have anything to do with
the mutilations that had been all over the news? It had to go back to
Voldemort, but that would mean that he had found Harry at last…
Harry
vaguely thought of writing to Sirius as he felt himself slipping into darkness.
I'll write him in the morning, he thought as sleep took over.
Well,
that's it for this chapter. Hopefully, I'll have the next one out bye tomorrow
or the next day. I hope you enjoyed. Please review for me!