The Shadow of Slytherin

Flight to Hogwarts

Only moments ago your eyes had looked at the light on a small locket in Professor Fig's hands, the next the skin on your hands turned white from their tight grip to the seat of the carriage. Within seconds the carriage that flew you and Professor Fig in direction of Hogwarts burst and you fell through the skies, caught by clouds that released you onto the world below.

Fire shot around you and through the heat you felt a sting in your back and something warm run along your spine, then it all turned dark and your face landed on something soft.

Whispers rung in your ears, not those of people nearby, but deeper, darker, telling you things you'd never want to know, and then the stinging pain returned, resonating throughout your body.

You had heard a click and in the next moment the collar on the dragon's neck had cracked, shards shooting in your direction and although you covered your face whilst twirling through the air, falling, the dragon managed to get a hold of you, the sharp claws piercing through your skin, leaving behind marks you wished to forget.

A whisper rung in your ears once more and as the dragon let go of you, silver shards scratched your skin, slithering into your arms and legs and through the scratches and gashes on your back, resting deep under your skin, their dark shimmer flashing the dragon as it attacked once more.

***

"You think they'll be alright?" the voice of Professor Fig reaches your ears and the softness under your face causes you to relax and feel save enough to open your eyes. All round you spot beds, some with students on them, sitting, reading, others sleeping or turning, groaning. "Take care of them, I will come by later to have a look"

A deep sigh escapes your mouth as you close your eyes once more and drift off to sleep, but it rips you out of bed and tosses you into the air, so high, the houses beneath you look like grains of sand, reflecting the early morning sun, and whilst Professor Fig tries to get to you, you turn on your back, the wand pulled from your cloak.

The terrible gaping hole of a mouth wide open, the dragon shoots forward, the wings on either side as it spits fire at you, however none of it touches you as a protective layer of magic surrounds you and dark red light shoots from your wand. One after another, you strike the dragon until it roars, and takes off, far away from you, then turns and flies in your direction, but as you raise your wand once more, a hand grabs yours and you feel the cold metal of the small locket.

Not a moment later, you lay on warm grass, the wet blades brushing against your back as you stare into the warm sun above. Wind blows through the grass that moves like high waves on the ocean, swallowing you until you notice Professor Fig running in your direction.

***

The blanket pulled up to your nose, the smell of flowers fills the air around you, but the whispers return soon after, this time however, calmer, friendlier, younger than the ones that tore on your mind before.

"You think they're gonna make it?"

"Hush" an older voice comes closer, "They need rest and quiet, you nosey children should be in class" A hand brushes over your head and an earthy smell reaches your nose, familiar, just like the highlands where you had landed after the attack, save, far, the soft waves of grass brushing against your skin, healing you from within.

The eyes still closed, you relax and drift back to the field you lay upon. The voice of Professor Fig in your ear, then the terrible taste of a potion he had handed you, but it only helped so much, and no matter how many of them you took, your legs gave in just before you reached the doors at Hogwarts.

Still, the memory stirred within you. The darkness at Gringott's surrounding you in the vault. Left alone, without Professor Fig at your side, then the protectors of stone fighting, you armed with but a wand and not a notion of where to go.