[Discontinued] When Shadows Collide, The Game Begins

Chapter Twenty

The rest of the winter break passed quite fast. Crime seemed to take a break over Christmas, so there were no new cases. The few days remaining in the holidays were spent roaming around London, not really doing anything aside from the occasional snowball fight. The five students couldn't wait to get back to school, though Harry was going to miss Sherlock and John.

On the final day, New Year's Eve, Sherlock and John took the kids out to see a firework display in Hyde Park. It was spectacular, though Harry couldn't quite shake a feeling of unease. It grew all through the night, until it was the only thing he could think of, but each and every time he looked around the park, he detected nothing.

When the seven of them arrived home, long after one in the morning, Harry still felt it, though he was so tired he couldn't really concentrate. He fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow and began to dream.

Harry stood alone in a hallway, stone and cold. A single torch was on the wall, flickering with a green flame. He shivered, and moved closer to the torch, but the flame was cold. Something moved behind him and the shadows drew closer. He backed up against the wall, keeping his eyes on the shadows.

Without warning, the torch went out and Harry was in complete darkness. A cold, harsh laugh began, quiet at first until it was all Harry could hear, echoing through the hallway. He put his hands to his ears in an attempt to block it out, but it did nothing. Harry fell to the floor, screaming in pain as the laughter tore through him. He felt something warm and wet on his hands and quickly tore them away from his bleeding ears.

"Stop!" he cried, but he couldn't even hear his own voice. Then the laughter stopped, replaced by a loud ringing in his ears. He shook his head, trying to dispel the sound, but was instead met with nausea.

Then he was somewhere else, standing in front of a golden mirror. In his reflection there was a purple turban on his head. The laughter was back, this time coming from within the turban. Harry tried to tear it off, but it grew tighter until he felt as if his head would explode. In the mirror, Harry's eyes flashed red and his skin turned an ashy grey. He took a step back in terror and fell back on something, falling far through space until he landed on something familiar and soft.

Harry opened his eyes, his head throbbing and ears aching. His room was bright, the sun having risen hours before. He sat up immediately and rushed to the mirror. His eyes had returned to their usual emerald green and his skin had regained its colour. He checked his ears, glad to see there was no blood, but there was still a slight ringing. He sighed and rubbed his eyes before going to the bathroom to wash the tears off his face.

"All right Harry?" someone asked. Harry turned quickly and saw Fred leaning on the doorframe.

"Just a bad dream," said Harry, leaving the bathroom to finish packing his trunk. Too lazy to bother folding anything, he whispered a spell and let the magic do it for him. Just as the last sock floated into his trunk, Draco returned.

"You know that's illegal, right? The Ministry can track your magic." He didn't sound worried, as if he knew Harry wouldn't get into trouble.

"The runes also cover my tracks," said Harry.

"I see why they don't teach that in school," said Draco, fascinated.

"We're gonna be late!" someone yelled from downstairs, probably John. Draco and Harry quickly grabbed their trunks, Harry casting a featherlight charm on each of them, and rushed down the stairs. Just as they reached the bottom and were out the door, Harry realized he'd forgotten Hedwig. He sprinted back to the room and grabbed the cage containing his sleeping owl before slowly walking back down.