[Discontinued] When Shadows Collide, The Game Begins

Chapter Twenty Two

When the day ended, Harry felt strangely off, as if he had missed something big. He recounted the day in his head, finding nothing. Maybe it's just the nightmares, Harry thought to himself. Still unsure, he decided to check on Fluffy and the wards he'd placed around the corridor.

When he arrived at the corridor, hidden by his invisibility cloak, Harry cast a quick spell to check what had happened. The wards told him a few kids had tried to force open the door, and an adult had as well, though they had the body of one, but the magical signature of two.

"Goddamn wards don't even work," said Harry, sighing. He moved on to checking the simpler wards, pleased to see that the door hadn't been opened and that the dog hadn't left. Harry briefly wondered how it was fed, but given he could still hear breathing, he was sure it would be fine.

Harry stuck around for a while longer, casting more wards and changing a few that were fading. Even when he was done, he decided he should probably watch it, just in case.

Around an hour later, just as he was about to leave, Harry heard someone coming. He slipped into a shadowy corner, forgetting that he was invisible, and watched.

Dumbledore came walking down the hallway, humming a tune. As Harry watched, Dumbledore began muttering counter-spells and disabling the wards Harry had put up. Harry quickly threw on a Notice-Me-Not charm and held his breath as the old man wandered past.

Once he was sure Dumbledore was gone, Harry took off the cloak and began checking over the wards again, recasting as many as possible and layering them in defense charms and hiding them to the best of his ability. Something was making it far more difficult than usual.

Harry was so absorbed in casting and thinking up spells he didn't notice when Dumbledore came up behind him until the man could breathe on the back of his neck. Harry jumped and turned, raising his wand at the headmaster. Dumbledore chuckled and sent Harry's wand flying with a flick of his own.

"You're silly little wards and runes aren't going to stop my plan, Potter," spat Dumbledore.

"Still not my name, you old bastard," said Harry, trying to remember if wandless magic was possible. Before he managed to answer his question, Dumbledore muttered a spell and Harry felt a sharp pain burning in his head. He fell to the ground, clutching his scar and crying out until the pain became too much.

Just before he blacked out, Harry heard Dumbledore running away.

* * *

When Harry came to, he was lying in a soft, white bed, sunlight streaming into the room. He looked around, reaching around for his glasses. He felt them on a bedside table and put them on, his world coming back into focus.

What he saw made him wish he'd not woken.

Dumbledore was standing beside the bed, talking rapidly to a worried looking Madam Pomphrey.

"And you say you just found him there? On the floor? Nearly a whole day since he'd been knocked out?" she asked, looking sad.

"Yes. Some students must have thought it would be funny to set up traps around there to punish students planning on breaking the rules," said Dumbledore. Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"It's a good thing you found him, Albus." It was at that point Harry decided he's had enough.

"That's not what happened," he said, trying to calm his anger. Both the adults jumped slightly and turned to look at him. "I was attacked."

"By whom?" asked Dumbledore, a shine in his eyes that sent shivers down Harry's spine. Harry weighed his options, tell the truth and be labeled a liar, taking away what little credibility an eleven-year-old had, or lie and let Dumbledore off. I could always get back at him myself, thought Harry before saying, "I only saw that they were wearing red robes." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.