TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Part II: Chapter One

"There's been something I've been meaning to tell you." Harry looked up at Tom from his stack of papers.

"I thought I told you to go back to your dorm," Harry said with a joking smile before noticing Tom's serious demeanor, "What is it?"

Tom considered everything. The letter- what Harry might say- everything. He really didn't know if he should be doing this. But he decided it best now that he'd started to follow through. He continued, "I... I have an ability."

"A what?" Harry seemed a bit caught off guard by this seemingly random revelation, "What do you mean by that?"
"I can do... something- a power, I have... I don't know how to explain it." Tom now knew there was no turning back. The cat was out of the bag.
"Like a... spell?" Harry asked, confused.

"No..." he paused, "Truth is I've known that I've had this power for a long time but I didn't show you..." and then again, before he found the confidence to continue, "Because I didn't trust you."
"Do you trust me now?"

Tom breathed in and out carefully "Yes..."

He shut his eyes and readied himself. He steadied his breathing and collected his feelings. By this point he'd figured out mostly how to use this power of his.

He activated it.

"Try and use a spell."
Harry blinked at Tom's imperative, "Any spell?"

"Any spell," Tom nodded. Harry, looking inquisitive and skeptical, raised his wand.

"Wait..." Harry's mind was buzzing, "What?!"

"Try another spell."
Harry got up out of his chair and pointed his wand at a bookcase in the corner of his office. Nothing happened. He pointed again at another and this time spoke.

"Stupify!" Again, nothing.

"Are you beginning to see?"

Harry turned back to Tom, utterly bewildered, "What?!" he exclaimed in a mixture of excitement and confusion. Tom had never seen him react this way; he'd usually remained stoic and calm and totally composed but now... he seemed like a child, utterly in awe of something he did not understand.

"I know," Tom replied.

"What!?" Harry repeated again with the same inflection, "What did you do?"

Tom's mouth hung open, "I don't..." he shrugged hopelessly, "I dunno."

"But you did something, I saw you," Harry walked up to Tom, "How did you do that?"

"It's my ability," said Tom simply, "I have the power, temporarily, to stop magic."

"You..." Harry stopped himself and tried his best to regain some composure, "You can stop magic?" his voice was one of stunned disbelief.

Harry's mind was racing, 'Who, what, where, when-'

"And you figured this out how, exactly?"

"I just..." Tom shrugged again, "I think it, then I feel it- like a shudder goes over me and then... poof."
Harry paced around the room, still completely shocked. Finally he spoke, "I am going to be completely honest with you here Tom," Tom tensed, expecting the worst, "I have never seen anything like this before. Ever. Or heard of it, even. Ever," he turned back to Tom and gestured around him, "This is all new. You said you can totally nullify magic? This..." Harry breathed, "This could change the world."
"I can only do it once a day," Tom said, "That's my limit. And it only lasts a few minutes. Like, I can't do it for the rest of this night."
"Really? How much do you know about it?"