The Nightmare Man

Chapter 1

It was a calm, sunny day at the beach. Muggle families milled around, having a good time. Their children ran out into the crashing waves with shrieks of laughter. Parents kept a careful watch from the beach towels. Some were sunbathing. Others were playing games. It was just such a perfect day.

No one expected danger. In general, people liked to think that they would get some sort of warning before danger came. Days perhaps, or even weeks and months. But in a pinch, minutes would do. Just something, a sign that told them to run. It was a perfectly decent thing to do.

But no warning came. People didn't even notice as the clouds moved in. Not until the sun disappeared. But they only exclaimed their disappointment to the disappearance of the sun at first. Children refused to come out of the water, because the air was still warm.

Not for long. A cold wind swept across the beach. A teenager was swimming a bit further out, when she was suddenly dragged underwater. Some rose from their towels, calling for others nearby to see where she went.

Another disappeared, and another. A child shrieked, as a creature rose from the water.

To Muggles, the creatures looked like they came straight out of a movie. Gaunt bodies, almost skeletal, greyish skins with milky eyes and striped hair. Some had teeth to the point of fangs, while others had barely any teeth at all.

Two of them were fighting over a leg, growling. Blood began to colour the ocean around them. More and more creatures rose, and everyone began to flee out of the water. Those who weren't quick enough were grabbed and pulled. Their meat was torn from their bodies, and rotten hands held them fast as the creatures chewed on them.

Panic seized the entire beach. Muggles were screaming at a sight they only thought could happen on the telly. At a sight that couldn't be real.

When the wizards and witches arrived, they saw an army of Inferi coming back into their lives once more.

-o-

Albus Dumbledore had not seen Inferi this ferocious since the open war; the times when everyday-battles were commonplace, and people hardly dared to leave their houses. A somewhat fragile truce had been in place for some years now, but the war with the Dark Lord Voldemort was hardly over. It was always there, just beneath the surface of their daily lives.

This was the surface rippling, causing waves on their tranquil days. The Inferi had moved about like in the old days. They had barely been held back by fire spells, and tried to advance further into the country. They were stronger than Albus remembered; had Voldemort truly hidden so many out at sea?

However, there was no time to question that, not when his Order members together with the Aurors tried to hoard them in and seal them away. It was a tiresome and outdrawn task, but necessary to prevent more deaths.

Albus had seen the remains of the Muggles who hadn't gotten away in time. Children torn to pieces. His heart lurched at the sight of the remains. How they had suffered, these innocent souls... he moved now to cast yet another fire spell, backed up by Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody.

It took them hours to stop the Inferi, have them all sealed away or burned into nothingness, but Albus didn't rest. Instead he went to meet the Minister in order to work up some sort of plan if this was only the start.

With him was some of the Order, including Mad-Eye Moody, Minerva McGonagall, James Potter along with his childhood friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The three had faired well today, Albus knew that. They hadn't fought Inferi often; in fact, they had probably only seen the creatures one or two times before Voldemort withdrew them.

Cornelius Fudge seemed preoccupied as they began to plan what to do, nervously moving things around on his desk.

"Inferi," he muttered at long last. "Animated corpses."