Chapter Sixteen
Skating
In Canada I could always find a smooth surface to skate on, mused Kirk Joseph sadly, pulling on an old pair of ice skates and tying the laces. Smooth. Not covered with snow like this. He was sitting in a soft mound of snow near the lake at Hogwarts, a small hockey stick and pair of hockey gloves next to him. Though goalie was his usual position, Kirk had decided to skate as a normal player. Defenseman, maybe. But never a forward. Forwards were evil.
After he finished tying the left skate, Kirk rose, grabbing his gloves and stick as he did so. He then dropped back down to his knees, hastily digging up snow with his bare hands until he came upon a small black object. Ah, nice and cold. No bounce. Kirk tossed the puck out onto the icy lake and slid his gloves on, leaving the stick on the ground for now. After putting his gloves on, he bent down and grabbed the stick.
Kirk rose and slid silently across the lake until he reached the puck. He hit it with the blade of his stick towards the opposite end of the lake, and watched as it finally stopped upon hitting a small mound of snow.
Kirk skated forward quickly, turning his right skate to stop and throwing up snow as he did so. He was now at the edge of the lake, where the puck was. He grabbed the black disk and tossed it back out onto the lake. Kneeling on the ice, he scooped several handfuls of snow into his hands until he finally had a three foot tall mound of snow built. Ah. Goal. He raced back to the other end of the ice, taking the puck with him as he glided along. He turned around a skated backwards a moment, then threw up more snow as he stopped and darted forward, dribbling the puck and talking to himself as he did so.
"Joseph takes the puck down the rink," he said in an excited-announcer-like tone. "He crosses the center line, breaks out from the others! He takes the puck across the blue line, fakes left, right, shot! Scores!" Kirk raised his stick and hand skyward, skating around in a small circle.
Kirk built the mound a little higher until he finally had a six foot tall mound. Then he skated back out a distance with the puck and stopped. He stopped the puck with his stick, then took a stance next to the puck and brought his stick up behind him. He brought the stick down at a speed so fast that the stick was hardly visible, and hit the puck. The puck zoomed across the ice, hovering a few inches from it, a black blur. Kirk didn't fully see it until it hit the mound of snow in the center.
Sudden, soft clapping filled Kirk's ears. He jerked his head around to see a small, brown-haired girl standing a few feet away on the ice in her Hogwarts robes and tennis shoes.
"Robbie," said Kirk with a sigh, "what're you doing here?"
But whatever reason she came for, she obviously was in no hurry to let it out.
"It's cold," she said. "Why are you out here?" Her voice carried a bit of a worried tone, and Kirk grinned.
"I'm used to weather harsher than this," he said quietly. "Twenty below hockey games. It's, what, ten out here? C'mon, that's pathetic."
Robbie didn't smile at him as she usually did. Her face was expressionless for the most part, but there was still that bit of worry behind her carefully built mask.
"All right," said Kirk, skating slowly over to her like a child who was in trouble with his mum, "what'd I do this time?"
Robbie gave him a mocking look.
"Then what's wrong?!" he demanded impatiently.
"Harry Potter's missing," she said quietly. "Along with his friends Ron and Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. They've been gone since late eleven days ago. No one was told at Hogwarts."
Kirk stared at Robbie hard, looking for a hint of laughter in her eyes, but there was none. Kirk's insides went cold.
"And there's a demon on the grounds," Robbie continued, gesturing for him to skate forward, "so you should be inside."
"I've got my—"
"Wand?" Robbie held up a slender piece of wood. "I found it in your four-poster."
"You were in my four-poster?" Kirk asked in an expressionless tone. Robbie grinned and nodded. "Wh-what else did you find, prey tell."
"I was only looking for you!" Robbie replied defensively. "I saw your wand sitting on your bed."
Kirk nodded, giving her a bit of a glare. She tossed him his wand, which he tossed back.
"I've still got to practice," he said. "You just watch over me and make sure there's not any demons coming. Hey," he added suddenly, "d'you have a pair of skates?"
"Yep," said Robbie, and she withdrew a pair of black, ankle-cut skates.
"Hey!" Kirk exclaimed. "Those're my goalie tacks!"
"Hmm, they look more like skates to me," said Robbie, frowning thoughtfully.
Kirk sighed loudly. "Purebloods," he muttered to himself, lifting his stick off the ice in exasperation. "Don't you know anything about hockey?"
"Erm…not really," Robbie admitted, sitting down on the ice with a thump. "I still say it's cold out here."
Kirk frowned at her, but the frown was soon replaced by a smirk as he watched her rise to her knees after she'd put the skates on.
"You'd be better off"—Robbie stood and flew back down to the ice—"starting with these," said Kirk, grinning as he offered her his hand. She glared at him for not warning her sooner, but took the goalie tacks off nevertheless. Kirk took his own skates off and handed them to her, then put on his old goalie tacks. "Ah, the wonders of no ankle support," he said quietly, rising and skating in a small circle, as if getting the feel of the skates back.
Robbie watched him curiously for a moment, then finally rose, dusted snow off herself, and tried to skate in a small circle. Kirk had to dive to catch her before she fell.
Kirk was now grinning like an idiot.
"Don't you do anything but fly?" he said laughingly. She glared at him. "Where'd you put my wand?"
Robbie motioned back towards the bank of the lake. "Over there."
Kirk nodded. "Wanna try again, do you?" he said as he watched her attempt to skate around in a circle once more, only to crash to the ice a moment later. "Need help?" The brown-haired girl shook her head fervently.
"No," she said defiantly. Kirk shrugged, then skated to the edge of the lake and stopped there, hands on his hips. "What are you doing?" demanded Robbie immediately.
"I'm doing nothing at the moment, but soon I'll be watching you as you try to skate and fail miserably," said Kirk with a grin. Robbie "grrrrrr"ed at him, then proceeded to make another attempt at skating in a circle. She fell to the ice once more, causing Kirk to laugh and clap sarcastically. A moment later he got a mouthful of snow from Robbie, which erased his grin and replaced it with a very disgruntled look.
Several hours later they lay next to each other on the icy surface of the lake, watching the snow fall from the sky. In Canada, Kirk had told Robbie, the winters had lasted nearly seven months, beginning in early October and ending around April or May. Snow everywhere, he had said with a sad look about him. Perfectly green hills during the summer—well, that was in some places anyhow. The cities were much cleaner as well.
"Alaska's beautiful as well," he finished, gliding his hands across the ice. "For an American state, that is. Juneau was a nice place for fishing. Not very populated, but that makes it all the nicer and quieter. Fierce hockey games are played there."
A sudden rustling of bushes near the Forbidden Forest caught Kirk's eye. He nudged Robbie on the arm. Robbie glanced at him uncertainly, giving him a questioning glance. The rustling came again. Robbie slowly crawled to Kirk's wand and handed it to him. Kirk rose and clutched his wand tightly in his left hand. What was that? Shadows played across the edge of the forest, teasing his mind into thinking something was out there. He gulped. What if something was?
He slowly skated forward a bit, then pulled to a stop, peering around the forest edge. A shadow darted across, then was gone. Kirk's gray eyes were suddenly alert as ever, even more so than when he had been skating. Something was out there, watching his every move. Watching, waiting…waiting to strike when the time was right…and Kirk was defenseless—well, he had more defense than some, but still…he was only a first year…
The shadow darted forth once more, and this time Kirk was ready. He whispered a very ill-powered curse, and small blue sparks shot forth. But instead of just fading, they formed a ribbon. Kirk wielded the ribbon of blue sparks forward until it hit the moving shadow. A sharp cry rose in the night, a short staccato peel, then died away as quickly as it had come. Another scream followed moments later. Kirk brought forth his blue sparks again, and sent them whipping out as a whole towards the forest, hearing a few icy trees pop as he did so.
Shrieks filled the sky, and the shadow that had been creeping ever closer to the lake dissipated into a wisp of smoke with what looked like eyes and…and a large green snake coming from the mouth…a green skull…. The Dark Mark. Voldemort's sign of killing. But who this time? Kirk's mind went crazy, and he stood motionless, then was thrown to the ground with such force that he was nearly knocked unconscious. His mind went hazy as he searched his mouth for his tongue. Thank God I didn't bite it off, he thought bleakly, glancing around to see what had knocked him down.
Kirk frowned. There was nothing around him, except the Dark Mark, which was now floating to the sky and hovered eerily above the Forbidden Forest. Who though?!
Then Kirk saw it. Black as death itself, a shadow was emerging from the forest ever so quickly; the quickness was uncharacteristic for a being of its size, for it was nearly seven feet tall. A glint of medal shown in the moonlight as it stalked forward, and Kirk knew suddenly what the thing wanted: Him. Kirk Joseph. It was out for blood. Perhaps just hungry for death, Kirk mused, then shook himself. WHAT AM I THINKING?! RUN, GOD DAMN YOU!
Kirk sprang to his feet a moment later, only to find the shadow gone. He was now face to face with Harry Potter. Kirk stood there for a moment, a confused look flashing across his face. Harry's face was worn and his eyes were tired. A red-haired girl was perched on his shoulders, holding a large black cloak around them. Behind Harry and the girl stood another seven foot tall being…. Another boy with a girl on his shoulders. Kirk scratched his head.
"Inside," Harry choked out, "they're still out."
Kirk nodded, still unsure of the meaning of Harry's words. He took Harry's arm and guided them across the ice until he reached Robbie.
"Take 'em inside," he whispered. "I'm going to get the other two."
Robbie nodded and led Harry and the girl towards the school. Kirk skated swiftly back to the other two, pocketing his wand now and grabbing the boy's arm. "Just glide along," Kirk whispered soothingly. He led them like he'd led Harry and the girl, then dropped the boy's arm as they reached the snowy ground. "Follow me," Kirk said, watching as another darker shadow appeared behind them. His insides went cold. This was the real thing that Harry had warned him of.
"Quickly!" Kirk hissed, darting off in his skates. He had become quite good at running in them, so the snow was no problem for him. The red-haired boy was tired looking though, and with every step Kirk took, the boy slowed. "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!"
The black shadow was closing in on them. Kirk told them frantically to hurry. Hogwarts was now only a mere yard away. Kirk darted forward, barged through the large oak doors, and shoved the boy and girl roughly in, closing the door tightly behind him.
"Where now?" Kirk asked the boy. He dropped the girl from his shoulders and took her hand.
"Dumbledore's office," he muttered as he darted down the corridor, the girl following after closely.
Kirk stared after them for a moment, then darted off. The corridors were void with students, mainly because holidays had just started yesterday and most everyone had left despite the Christmas Ball—everyone was concerned for their children's lives, it appeared. After trailing them a moment, Kirk finally came to a stop as they did near a gargoyle.
The brown-haired girl whispered something Kirk didn't catch, and the gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. The others darted in, Kirk following shortly after. They walked up a golden-rimmed staircase, then burst through a white door at the top, revealing a small office with several chairs, three of them occupied by Harry, the red-haired girl, and Robbie. The headmaster himself was in the chair across from his desk, leaning on the desk itself intently, watching Harry.
Dumbledore was distracted by the other's sudden entrance, and beckoned them wordlessly to sit down. As Kirk sat down next to Robbie, he noticed for the first time that there were two other men in the room, one with sandy brown hair, the other with short black hair. Both wore looks of fury and worry mixed together.
"Kirk Joseph, Robbie McKinnon," said Dumbledore, "this is Sirius Black and that is Remus Lupin." He gestured vaguely to the two men behind his desk. Robbie had gone pale as he'd said the first name. "Relax Miss McKinnon, Sirius is not guilty of murder. I see you already know that, Miss Weasley…?"
Harry looked down at his feet.
"It's all right, Harry," said Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his sparkling blue eyes. He had a hint of laughter in his voice when he added, "She would have found out now anyway, wouldn't she have?" Harry nodded mutely. "Now, before either of you"—he gestured to Sirius and Remus—"have a chance to argue with Harry over why he was outside, let's listen to Harry's story. I'd like to know what happened, if you would please, Harry."
Harry nodded, then took a deep breath. "I was outside with Ginny, talking, when Ron and Hermione came out. The sky started to go black with clouds, and a shadow appeared behind me and the others. I recognized it as the Reaper." The room went still. "I ran, and the others followed me. We ran until I tripped and fell, bringing Ginny down with me. Ron and Hermione disappeared on down the path, so I told Ginny to leave as well. She did.
"Then I saw the Reaper appear at the edge of the clearing. I used the Pyr Charm without my wand to summon some kind of magic within me. I felt the fire course through my body…something happened, something changed. Anyway, the fire surged into the Reaper after several shots, and it disappeared. Then an Urdai appeared, and ripped my shoulder apart." He gestured to a large hole in his shoulder where there was dried blood. He was about to continue when Remus stepped forward suddenly.
"Get him to the hospital wing immediately," he whispered intensely. "An Urdai's claws contain poison. At this very moment, you're being changed ever so slightly into an Urdai."
A flicker of recognition shown in Dumbledore's eyes, and an instant later Harry was dragged to the hospital wing by Sirius and Remus.
"Miss Granger, perhaps you might tell me what happened to you," said Dumbledore softly. The brown-haired girl nodded.
"After we left Harry, we stumbled a few paces more before stopping. Ginny appeared a moment later. We were utterly lost when we heard shrieks and cries from nearby. Blue fire was lighting the night sky, and I used Locatius Magicus to find Harry. He was battered and torn, so we built a small icehouse nearby and put a charm on it so it could resist fire. I started a blue fire to warm Harry, and we took turns looking for help. The blizzard was too strong to navigate through, so we had to wait eleven days before we could find our way.
"Of course, when we were near Hogwarts we met up with a pair of Urdais and a Reaper. Harry got the idea to impersonate the Reapers to leave, and we succeeded, though I'm not quite sure how."
There was a long pause after she finished her story. Dumbledore looked thoughtful.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley, is Hermione's story correct?" he asked.
"Yes," said the red-haired girl, echoed by the red-haired boy a moment later. Dumbledore nodded. "Ginny, Ron, Hermione, you can go to the hospital wing now." The three of them stood and left the room, then Dumbledore turned to Kirk and Robbie. "Mr. Joseph, Miss McKinnon. However fortunate it is you were out there, do not go out again."
Kirk and Robbie nodded.
"Go to the hospital wing just in case," said Dumbledore.
They nodded again, then rose and walked out of the door and down the staircase. Robbie turned to Kirk with fear in her eyes.
"We're involved now, aren't we?" she asked, her voice shaking noticeably.
"Yes, I suppose we are," said Kirk. She started to shake, and he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly. "But yeh know what?" he asked as he pulled off and looked at her. "We're in this together."
"Always and forever, Kirk Joseph."