The Speaker and His Wraiths

Different Perspectives - 2

The Parley: Again

12:00am

Malcolm landed hard on his heels, grass under his odd Muggle shoes, and tucked his marble into the small pocket on his pants. He then immediately assessed his surroundings and noticed what he could. First of all, it was dark as hell. Second, Harry hadn't been kidding when he said graveyard.

Harry stood a few feet in front of Malcolm and his other Wraiths, You-Know-Who across from them and the Death Eaters beyond that. To Harry's right stood a massive marble headstone, like a wall, and it had the name Tom Riddle inscribed in it. Did that make it You-Know-Who's father's grave? Creepy.

Malcolm watched Harry and You-Know-Who approach each other, and was slightly uncomfortable knowing he couldn't hear them. Their voices sounded like soft whispers, which he knew was good so the Death Eaters couldn't hear Harry's voice, but he was annoyed that he wasn't going to get to hear about the ritual.

He ritual to turn You-Know-Who into Tom Riddle was a big mystery to Malcolm, and he didn't want to keep it that way. He knew it was probably important to keep it a secret, but it was still annoying.

Malcolm realized he had been zoning out a little, and immediately straightened a bit. He needed to be ready if they were attacked by the Death Eaters. He also needed to be ready if Harry needed something from them. It was unlikely, but anything was possible with You-Know-Who involved.

A flash of light blew past him, and Malcolm realized something had gone terribly wrong.

-----

Heidi stifled a gasp as Harry stumbled forward, a red stunning spell slamming into his back. She trusted the Weasley twins enough, but it was still horrible to watch Harry get hit with a stunner.

Harry whipped around, his green eyes visible with anger as he raised his wand.

"Protego." He said firmly. Heidi felt his Shield pulse forward, thin yet large and covering a massive area. "Everyone, create a barrier." Heidi didn't need to be told twice, and already had her wand in hand as she turned and whispered the spell to herself.

She could almost taste the magic in the air as all ten of them created a thick Shield, only barely weaker than when they practiced the last day at Hogwarts before break. It made sense, because they were actually facing a threat, but it was still unnerving.

"Get them!" Heidi did not recognize the voice, and she bit her tongue as she maintained her Shield the best she could when dozens of spells slammed into her Shield. Breathe. Focus.

"They've created a Shield!"

"No Shield is impenetrable."

Harry was speaking angrily and rapidly behind her, but Heidi remained focused on the people appearing through the darkness from between and behind the vast number of headstones. More colors, more spells.

"They resisted the stunner." The second voice said, sounding a little awed. Heidi narrowed her eyes, realizing that the man who spoke was a previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The one that was rumored to be a werewolf.

"They must have been Shielded already." The third vocie grumbled. Another Professor, Alastair Moody. Probably the real one, instead of the fake one Dumbledore told them their teacher had been.

"No, they stumbled." A woman said, her pink hair standing out in the darkness. "It hit them, I know it did."

"Doesn't matter. Here they come." Moody warned.

Heidi felt Harry's Shield grow stronger as he stalked forward, and his magic wove into the group and connected their Shields flawlessly. He stepped in front of them, and Heidi saw from his stance that he was angry.