A Dementor's Kiss - Phan

Nerds Take Norway

Dan's first holiday outside of the UK is something a little special

It perhaps was the most beautiful country Dan had ever seen. Mountains dropped away into dazzlingly blue lakes and thick, green forests carpeted anything that wasn't rock or water. There were very few houses, and those that there were often had grass rooves and were built from timber and stone so that they seemed to be a part of the country and did not look unseemly. The only interruption to the breath-taking earth that spanned below were the roads: smooth and inky black and winding through the fjords. Dan had never driven a car in his life, but he imagined those roads would glide like ice beneath the rubber wheels.

PJ was casting a reflection charm that allowed them to fly just below the clouds without being seen. He led the way with Chris, Dan and Phil following just behind them. It had taken a while to convince Phil that, with enough practice, he could take Norway by broom, and Dan was glad. Sure they could have apparated to each location, but even from the tallest mountain the view would be nothing on this.

In the morning they had met at Dan's house to pick him up and offer his parents once last hug of reassurance. They had taken a portkey to Kristiansand and from there had apparated to a quaint little wizarding settlement buried deep within one of the sprawling forests. The main tavern was in a cave, from the outside a black gash in the side of the mountain but inside a warm, bubbling and surprisingly open space full of travellers and locals alike.

They'd wandered the village and surrounding forests and stayed a night in the inn, then strapped their cases to their brooms and set off. Now, as they were passing a particularly impressive glacial river, PJ led them down the sheer side of a mountain.

"You know," he shouted over the rushing wind. "The lakes are as deep as the mountains are tall. A drop like this just carries on straight down."

They were travelling fast and close to the rocky wall to reduce the chances of being seen, and Dan could only imagine how white Phil's knuckles were as he gripped his broom handle. Even PJ was looking a bit peaky as they pulled up from their dive and skimmed the trees looking for a gap to land in. They touched down on the mossy floor and collected themselves.

"You alright?" Dan murmured to Phil as they shouldered their brooms and gathered their cases.

Phil nodded, pale. "My legs are jelly. Why brooms? Why not, like, armchairs? I feel like they'd have a much steadier pace. My butt wouldn't be so numb, either."

Dan grinned. In front of them, Chris had bewitched the cases to float behind them and was waiting patiently.

"We've got a bit of a walk," he said as they set off. "The muggles hike in the woods a lot, it wasn't safe to get any closer."

"You don't think they'll notice the cases?" Dan raised an eyebrow.

"PJ's sending out a detection spell so we'll know if anyone's ahead." Chris clarified. "It's fine when we're walking but the brooms are too fast for it to be accurate. And obviously it can't work for apparition. We can put the cases down if someone comes."

"And they won't think it's weird that we're dragging wheeled cases through a forest?" Dan queried. "It's not like there are any roads over here, we clearly haven't just come from our car."

Chris frowned. "I didn't realise there was muggle etiquette for suitcases."

"It's not etiquette, it's practicality. But you'll find that out pretty quickly when you try wheel one of these over this." Dan smirked.

"Well what should I have bought?" Chris said, annoyed. "The wheels seemed like a pretty good idea to me."

"For flat ground, sure," Dan tried to keep the laughter out of his voice. "For terrain like this I reckon rucksacks would have been a better idea. We're literally hiking right now. I wouldn't be surprised if we had to use our hands at some point, there are some pretty big boulders and ditches."