Chapter 318: A Trip to Hogsmeade
"I did not hand out signed photographs,"
he protested hotly,
"and if Lockhart is still spreading that rumour—"
But then he caught the broad grin on Hagrid's face.
"I was only pullin' yer leg," Hagrid said warmly, giving Harry such an enthusiastic pat on the back that Harry's face smacked down onto the tabletop with a dull thud.
"I know yeh didn't. I told Lockhart yeh don't need ter do anythin' like that. Yeh're already more famous than 'im without even tryin'."
After finishing with Harry, Hagrid turned—rather casually, though not quite casually enough—to the boy sitting beside him.
"Sean, I… I…"
Whenever it came to moments like this, Hagrid simply couldn't keep his emotions in check.
The young wizard had helped him far too many times. Sometimes Hagrid privately thought that the nickname "Little Dumbledore" suited him rather well.
Outside, the clouds parted. Golden sunlight poured through.
Decades of accumulated snow inside the hut had melted into little trickling streams not long after Sean arrived.
…
That day.
Hogwarts was alive with excitement. Students from third year and above were free to come and go from the village of Hogsmeade.
The first- and second-years were consumed with envy.
"If you're going to Hogsmeade, you'll have to figure out a way, Sean."
Inside the castle, Justin was cradling several bound collections of Green's Notes—the brand-new edition that would soon be released, covering essentially the entire second-year curriculum.
Right now Sean had to sign them. They were to be sold as limited collector's editions.
"Mm."
Sean nodded.
Behind a painting of a cornfield, the Weasley twins had already poked their heads out.
"The great Green!"
Fred looked as though he had sprinted all the way back; there were still biscuit crumbs on his jumper.
"Please produce it quickly, sir."
George was practically bouncing with impatience.
Under Justin's puzzled gaze, Sean drew out the Marauder's Map.
He took out his wand and tapped the parchment lightly.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The scene was so absurd that both the twins and Justin clearly didn't believe a word of it.
"To Hogsmeade," Fred said, covering his mouth to keep from laughing while he traced a route with his finger.
"There are seven passages in total. Filch knows four of them—"
He pointed them out one by one.
"—we're pretty sure these three are known only to us. Don't even think about the one behind the mirror on the fifth floor. We used it last winter, but it's completely caved in now—totally blocked.
This one here we reckon no one's used, because the Whomping Willow is planted right over the entrance.
And this last one goes straight into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. You've probably noticed—the entrance is just outside this classroom, through the humpbacked old witch."
Having finished their explanation, the twins promptly dashed off again. They looked extremely busy.
One of the more interesting features of the Marauder's Map was that, when in use, it could subtly guide the person holding it.
Right now, for example.
Justin stared in astonishment as a new black dot appeared on the parchment, labelled Sean Green.
The dot stood exactly where Sean was standing—halfway along the fourth-floor corridor. Justin looked closer. The tiny dot-Sean appeared to be tapping the little witch statue with an even tinier wand.
Justin glanced from the dot to the real Sean's impassive face.
Biting back a laugh, he quickly drew his own wand and tapped the statue.
Nothing happened.
He looked back at the map. A very small speech bubble had appeared beside Sean's dot. Inside it were the words: Left and right separate.
"Brilliant. Dissendium!" Justin whispered, tapping the stone witch again.
At once the hump on her back slid open, revealing an opening large enough for a rather thin person to crawl through.
"This is proper magic—" Justin breathed in wonder.
"Shall we get going?"
Sean nodded.
Justin promptly dived head-first into the hole and began crawling forward.
"Lumos."
Sean's wand lit up like a lantern, illuminating the way ahead.
They slid down a long stone chute, then landed with a soft thump on cold, damp earth.
After that came a narrow, low tunnel of packed dirt—twisting and turning like the burrow of some gigantic rabbit.
Ten minutes later they reached the bottom of a dilapidated stone staircase that climbed upward into darkness.
Just as Justin prepared to start climbing, Sean flicked his wand.
On the far side, a flight of stairs simply grew out of the stone and carried them smoothly upward.
"Mind your head."
Sean had barely finished speaking before Justin ducked—narrowly avoiding a collision with the trapdoor above.
The moment the trapdoor opened, a wave of lively voices and hawking cries rushed in:
"Another box of Jelly Slugs, dear—they're buying us out—"
A woman's voice.
Both boys peeked cautiously. The woman glanced straight in their direction.
"Not good—"
Justin gave a small yelp, quickly cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, then pointed his wand at Sean.
But there was no longer a young wizard on the stairs.
Only a black cat gazed back at him in perfect stillness.
"I've heard cats have seven times the reaction speed of humans," Justin remarked absently.
…
Honeydukes was packed with Hogwarts students.
Sean and Justin threaded their way sideways through the crowd, looking around.
Row upon row of shelves groaned under the weight of juicy-looking sweets: great slabs of buttery toffee, glistening pink coconut ice, honey-coloured toffees, hundreds of perfectly arranged chocolates, a huge barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and another enormous tub of Fizzing Whizzbees…
Along the opposite wall stood the "special effects" section:
Blow-Your-Own-Super-Bubblegum, the strange, crunchy, brittle Imploding Peppermints, tiny black Pepper Imps, Ice Mice, peppermint ice-cream shaped like toads, spun-sugar feather-light crisps, and Exploding Bonbons.
"We're heading to Green's Bookshop—it's about to open," Justin said, pulling out something that looked like a map of Hogsmeade with various buildings marked.
"I've got to say, Sean, I'm worried we still don't have enough hands.
Before we had a proper shop we could just delay opening, but now that we've got premises, we really ought to settle on a proper schedule…"
They walked on through Hogsmeade.
Justin was beaming. He watched the snow resting softly on every eave. As he spoke, Sean answered quietly beside him.
At this moment Hogsmeade looked exactly like a Christmas card: thatched cottages and little shops blanketed in fresh snow, holly wreaths hanging on every door, magical candles twinkling in the branches of the trees.
It was always snowing here, and always noisy.
They fell quiet for a while, saying nothing, only the soft crunch of snow beneath their feet.
But as they passed the Three Broomsticks, Sean caught sight of an unexpected figure.
A person whose face was hidden inside a hooded cloak.
It took Sean almost no effort to recognise him.
Remus John Lupin.
(End of Chapter)
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