A Dementor's Kiss - Phan

Nerds Take Norway

Chris looked ahead uncertainly. There certainly wasn't any sort of path, and he'd already nearly tripped over an old, gnarled tree root that protruded suddenly from the dirt.

"What should we do? We can't transfigure them, there's too much stuff inside. I doubt even McGonagall would be able to get it all back when she reversed it."

"We'll know we're about to hit company about five minutes in advance." PJ considered. "We could just hide them and sit down like we're having a break and wait for the muggles to pass."

Dan nodded. "That works for out here, but not when we get closer. We're going to look pretty funny if we just come striding out of the woods with pink and purple plastic suitcases."

"We can aim for the road instead and walk down it till we hit the campsite from that direction?" Phil suggested.

"They'll have a car park, surely. Where would we have put our car?" Dan held back a sigh. He was starting to regret not getting involved in the planning. They hadn't got off to a very good start. Not to mention the fact that Chris was currently wearing his Arsenal shirt backwards.

"We hitchhiked?" Phil suggested.

Dan raised his palms in a shrug. "Why not? The Norwegian people seem pretty happy to let us do our thing."

Chris nodded. "They're very relaxed. My friend, the one we're staying with on Friday, says they just don't really care. As long as you're not annoying them, you can pretty much just do your own thing. They're very straight up, too. All the Scandinavians are. They say what they think. That's why they're all so successful and rich, they get stuff done. None of our British awkwardness faffing about and being desperately afraid of offending all the time. They're chilled. He's really funny, too. He's got that completely deadpan-"

"Christopher," PJ interrupted him. "If you fancy him this much why didn't you visit earlier?"

Chris grinned, a little embarrassed. "I'm just saying. It's cool seeing different cultures."

"Yes, very nice dear."

They hit the road sooner than they'd expected and felt pretty stupid as they wheeled their suitcases in single file down the side of the tarmac. After a few minutes, Chris suggested dipping back into the trees and following the road out of sight.

"I see what you mean about the suitcases. I hit one rock and tipped the whole thing over." Chris called to Dan, concerned.

"It's fine," Dan said back. "We're eccentric, British idiots. I'm sure they've seen worse."

All around them was green. They were following a thin strip of forest now and could see the glistening lake through the trees, and a tiny slither of yellow beach. Every few minutes a car would set off PJ's detection spell and they had to stop, as there was no way of knowing it was a car and not a party of walkers heading towards them. They ground was rough and the going slow, but the air felt impossibly clean and the scenery was undeniably beautiful.

Under foot was a springy layer of yellow-green moss and the occasional patch of peat which usually meant there was a boulder near, the stone warmed under the sun and the lichen that covered the surface thick enough that it was soft and pleasant to the touch.

They quickly learnt that the patches of bracken were to be walked around and not waded through. The stems were thick and unforgiving. While there were cars, many of them were hybrid or electric or just very expensive and so made little noise to disturb the tranquillity. A few birds sang lazily at the blue sky and, when it was really quiet, Dan could just about hear the water lapping gently on the shore.