A Dementor's Kiss - Phan

Trolls and Tribulations

Dan had been wanting to visit crystal caves ever since he had read about them in The Lord of the Rings. He was not disappointed.

The purple light was cast by little floating lanterns, the crystals themselves were white. The further into the cave they travelled, the more colourful the lights became until they spanned the whole spectrum in gentle hues of soft light. The boys were the only people in the caves at this moment and they flew slowly, carefully avoiding the projectiles of sparkling rock that reached their long fingers across the cavern.

In one crevice the crystals looked like clouds, round and bubbling, while in another they were razor sharp shards of ice. Dan was sure there was some science behind it, but he didn't have anything to offer the wizard boys.

Even the classic stalagmites looked beautiful when illuminated this way. No one had spoken since they'd first plunged below the water's surface. It was quiet, muffled and perhaps a little eerie but not unpleasantly so. It was a similar feeling, Dan noted, to entering a church, although he had never been religious. The grotto commanded a quiet, reverent respect. It was something so secret and special and unearthly, and yet it had allowed them entrance. It was so different to the world around it. Had it not been for the sign and its reputation, Dan would never have even imagined it to be there beneath that mountain.

They alighted on a plateau of rock to get a closer view of the crystals. They still hadn't spoken, and Phil took Dan's hand. While Chris and PJ crawled on their hands and knees admiring the glass-like structures, Dan and Phil remained where they were, looking out into the cave.

"I think we should get married here." Phil broke the silence, and Dan laughed in surprise at the noise.

"We wouldn't fit many guests in." Dan hypothesised.

"Good. I really do have a lot of aunts."

"I'm quite happy not meeting them just yet." Dan chuckled.

"One of them has green hair."

"What's wrong with that?"

"She keeps snakes in it."

"I like snakes."

"They're poisonous and they bite anyone other than her. She doesn't much like people."

Dan laughed. "God. Muggle families can be scandalous enough, you really don't need to throw magic into the equation."

Phil squeezed Dan's hand. "How does this holiday compare to muggle ones?"

Dan considered for a moment. "It's so much better, but that's not really because of the magic. It's because I'm with friends and we can go wherever we want. That's the only extra thing magic helped with. Apparition is really quite useful. But the best thing about it is you guys."

"But you have fun with your parents too, right?"

"Of course, but I haven't been on holiday since I was like, nine. And we just went camping. We didn't see any incredible new country or anything. We were just spending time together." Dan smiled fondly at the memories of campfire tales and far too many marshmallows and when it had rained for two days straight and they'd had to stay inside all day playing endless games of ludo and driving each other crazy.

"I guess we are pretty lucky that it doesn't cost much to travel. If you wanted you could just apparate anywhere. Like, go as far as you can and then stop and chill for a bit and go again." Phil pondered.

"No, Phil, there's a lot of sea in the way. Even the most powerful wizards probably couldn't manage the whole Atlantic in one go."

"Alright, well you take a rubber ring with you."