Chapter Four: Harry at Hogsmeade
After talking to Dumbledore and going back to his dorm room to get some money, Harry headed down to the entrance of the castle to join the other students as they waited for the Knight Bus to get to Hogsmeade. The bus only came every other half hour, and it had just left with some students earlier, so Harry and Ron were in for a long wait.
While they waited, they talked about their busy classes, and what they thought about the classes they had taken so far. Their conversation ended abruptly though, when they lost track of time and became distracted. Soon the Bus arrived and Harry and Ron stopped talking so they could focus on getting on the vehicle.
They were the only First Years on the Bus and several of the other students gave them suspicious glares. The bus driver didn't seem to care about them, but one of the students, a Ravenclaw Fifth Year stood up and walked over to Harry and Ron, stumbling slightly as the bus hit a magical pothole, which is a hole formed by magical vehicles constantly driving over an area on a magical road. It can only be fixed by magic.
"What you two doing here?" the Slytherin demanded. "Only third years are allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Are you two Third Years?"
"No we're not," Harry said. "But we have special permission from Dumbledore saying that we can go to Hogsmeade."
The Slytherin stepped back and the muttering that had taken place when Harry and Ron got on the Bus stopped at Dumbledore's name.
"Oh. Sorry about that," the Slytherin said, sitting back down.
No one bothered them the rest of the way there. When the Train stopped they all got off, making sure to tip the conductor so that he wouldn't abandon them while they went to buy stuff. As soon as they had left the Train Station, Harry and Ron ran off into Hogsmeade, excited by the prospect of being in Hogsmeade.
Their first stop was in Zonko's Joke Shop. They looked at several jokes and pranks that were being sold in the shop. Ron stepped up to the display window, interested by a basket of candies that no one seemed to be watching. He reached his hand in…only to yank it back as a mousetrap had fastened itself to his fingers.
"Oh no!" Harry said, trying to help the whimpering Ron remove the object. "Who would do such a thing?!"
"There's only one person who would prank a bag of sweets," Ron grumbled, as a pair of red-headed twins came out from their hiding spot underneath the table the sweets were on. "Fred and George!"
"Hello brother of ours!" the one on the left side said.
"How nice of you to introduce us to your friend," the other one said.
"But you gave him the wrong names!"
"Yes! I am Gred!"
"And I am Forge!"
"Or perhaps I am Free!"
"And I am Georgd!"
Both laughed heartily at their witty wordplay, their cheerful attitude bringing a smile to Harry's previously unsmiling face.
"You got me good," Ron said with a pained grimace as he tossed the mousetrap to the ground.
"And we didn't even use magic!" Fred said.
"Let that be a lesson to you two, some of the best pranks…are ones that don't use magic!"
"Thank you!" Harry said enthusiastically, filing the information away for later use.
"We should get going," Ron said, pulling Harry away as the twins prepared to prank another unsuspecting person, the grins on their faces similar to the grin on the face of a lion just before it disemboweled the cubs of its new mate in order to prevent them from continuing the line of the previous lion that the grinning lion had killed in order to become king.
"Right!" Harry said. "Our mission for Dumbledore!"
Grinning at the prospect of finally completing their long and arduous task the two left the joke shop and headed towards the post office. On the way though, Ron saw a bar labeled as the Three Broomsticks and suggested they go there.
"That's a great suggestion!" Harry said, eagerly entering the bar.
Several people were dancing on tables, swinging around large mugs of some kind of amber beverage. Several other people were singing a song drunkenly and several others were sitting quietly at the bar. As Harry and Ron slipped past them, they noted that most of them were Hogwarts students.
Madam Rosmerta, a large busty woman, handed them a pair of mugs filled with amber liquid as they walked up to the counter.
"How much?" Ron asked.
Rosmerta looked at him, as if surprised he asked.
"He's poor," Harry said helpfully, to which Ron nodded. Rosmerta smiled and shook her head.
"For a pair of students on a mission for Dumbledore those are free."
"Thank you!" Ron said enthusiastically downing some of the liquid.
Harry seemed less excited about the drink and he asked Ron what it was.
"It's Butterbeer Harry!" Ron said, some foam frosting around his mouth, like the fake beard of a mall store Santa Claus as small children cluster around him, eager to have their fortunes told.
"Aren't we a little young for beer?" Harry asked, to which Ron laughed.
"It doesn't have a whole lot of alcohol in it. It's totally cool."
Harry was still unsure, but he wanted to remain cool in the eyes of his peers so he quickly downed some of it. It was quite delicious. It had the thick fruity undertones of a bottle of rum, while maintaining the warmth of coffee. He quickly drank all of it, only to find Ron had finished three and was getting ready to leave. Harry was disappointed that he didn't get any more butterbeer, but he knew that if he or Ron failed in their mission Dumbledore would be horribly angry, which would probably be a bad thing.
As the two left they decided it would probably be best for them to go to the post office and retrieve the package Dumbledore had told them about. When they mentioned it to the attendant he looked suspicious, before casting a quick spell with his wand. Satisfied with whatever the results were he pulled out a square, rectangular box-like container with about the same dimensions as a small shoebox. He gave it to them and they thanked him profusely.
"Don't thank me. I'm just glad to get rid of that thing, it gave me the creeps."
Harry pocketed the box in his thick flowing robes and the two left. They stopped by the Shrieking Shack, interested in seeing the most haunted house in the world. However, before they could approach the spooky shack, they discovered Katie Bell, a young Gryffindor Seeker, being accosted by Malfoy's vicious henchman, Crabbe.
"No Crabbe, I won't give Malfoy any of my Galleons!" Katie said, attempting to run away, before the beefy boy grabbed her.
"What's a Galleon?" Harry asked Ron as they neared.
"It's wizarding currency," Ron whispered. "They're gold coins about the size of Muggle hubcaps."
"You must donate to the Slytherin cause!" Crabbe said in a way that seemed like he was reading a script.
"Get your hands off her!" Harry said, stepping towards him.
"What do you want nerd?" Crabbe said, turning his head towards the smaller child.
"I want you to let go of her!" Harry said confidently, surprising everyone there. They were surprised because up to this point Harry had not been very confident, so to see him show such bravery here was startling and unexpected.
"And why should I do that?" Crabbe asked after recovering from the surprise he had felt from seeing Harry not be afraid.
"Because," Ron said, stepping forward as Harry began to falter. "We are on a mission from Dumbledore!"
Crabbe immediately let go of Katie Bell, and his face became a frightened mask.
"I'm really sorry! Please don't tell him!"
Before anyone could respond he ran off and quickly vanished from sight.
"Thank you!" Katie said, brushing off her robes. "You two have some real talent. You should stop by the Quidditch pitch sometime, we might have a place for two First Years capable of standing up to someone as intimidating as Crabbe."
Harry and Ron nodded, but then said they should probably get back. Katie told them that was fine and even offered to walk them back to the castle. Ten minutes later Harry and Ron were heading up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.
"Ah my two favorite students," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling as they walked in. "I trust there were no problems?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other and grinned.
"None at all Professor," Harry said.
"Good!" Dumbledore said, smiling back. "Did you get the package?"
"Yes we did," Ron answered, pulling out the envelope from his robes and handing to the elderly Headmaster.
"Excellent," Dumbledore said, opening the envelope. "Do you know what you boys found?"
Both shook their heads as Dumbledore unfurled a roll of parchment.
"You found a map…to the Dagger of Foreboding!"