The Harry Potter Conundrum

Chapter 8: The Jump Scare Called Death

Marvolo's reaction was instantaneous. He jumped up, took a battle stance and sent several nasty hexes towards the older-looking man in a black suit and a cane in hand, sitting at their table as if nothing was wrong with it. The hexes hit him square in the chest, but nothing happened. Said man even dared to smile at him.

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion and getting angry, Marvolo sent another volley of darker and more dangerous curses toward him, but again nothing happened. The spells merely faded out of existence upon hitting their target.

That made Marvolo cautious. How could that man block all his spells? Due to their nature, some couldn't be blocked by the same shield as the others. Not to mention that some of them would leave an average person heavily injured and desperate for a healer.

Then there was his pose and that knowing smirk the man sported. It was as if he knew that Marvolo wouldn't be able to do anything to him. He didn't even attempt to protect himself or draw his own wand. How curious. Who was that man?

"I swear you spent too much time with Lucifer seeing how much you enjoy scaring the living daylight out of everyone. Sitting in that nightclub of his and plotting how to give people heart attacks by appearing out of nowhere," Harry amusedly told the man. "Tom, you should be thankful that he stopped time, or you would have a massive problem now."

Marvolo looked at him, confused, not knowing what Harry meant by stopped time. However, when he looked around the room, he realised that none of the other patrons was moving. There was even a cat hanging in the air, mid-jump.

Also, all the noises had stopped, and the silence was oppressing. It was surprising just how much background noise was in the world, and you only realise that when it suddenly stops. It was as if he was standing in the three-dimensional version of a photo or a memory on pause.

He looked at the man in shock before looking over to Harry, who obviously knew who that was. Not for one moment did he let his guard down, though. If this man could influence time on such a scale, what could he do to him?

Harry sighed deeply, hoping that Marvolo wouldn't flip his lid. Harry knew very well how much Marvolo feared Death. So, meeting him in person might not be the best idea, especially this early in their working relationship.

"Tom, may I introduce you to an old friend of mine, the entity known as Death," he tentatively introduced them. "Death...I think you already know Tom."

It was evident that Marvolo didn't like being so close to the entity. He took several steps back while raising his wand and pointing it at the other man again. However, he didn't send any spell, knowing that if Harry was right and this was really Death, he wouldn't stand a chance.

Why was the entity here? Did he want to take him with him? And what did Harry mean by an old friend?

With determination, Marvolo slammed his Occlumency shields in place to subdue his rising fear.

Harry sighed again, stood up, and stepped between the two other men while stroking Tera's head as the snake had come out, registering that they weren't alone anymore. She was hissing menacingly at Death for scaring Marvolo. Still, She didn't attempt attacking him, knowing it would be futile.

"Please calm down, Tom," he said in a soothing tone. "Death isn't here because of you. As I said, he is an old friend of mine and the reason why I'm here, to begin with. And well, he has a penchant for scaring the living shit out of people. I personally blame Lucifer."

Death only smiled slightly at the accusing glare Harry sent him, while Marvolo seemed to be confused. What was Harry talking about? Lucifer? The fallen angel? No, he decided that wasn't important right now.