Chasing Shadows

Chasing Shadows

Chapter Three-Neville's Found

We hurried back down to the Great Hall and rushed right up to the head table. We told Dumbledore what we found. He, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall followed us back up to the fourth floor so we could show them.

I looked at Hermione. She was pale and nauseous.

We reached the fourth floor. Hermione's fingers were digging into my arm. I gently pried her fingers off of me.

Her eyes were wide and puffy. I hadn't seen her cry. Maybe she had been doing it discreetly.

We led the teachers down the corridor and took the first one to the left that branched off from the main one. We hit the end of the corridor.

Neville's body was gone.

HERMIONE.

Neville's body was gone. Ron, Harry and I exchanged looks of total surprise.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Professor Snape spat.

"N-no! We really saw him!" Ron stammered.

"We aren't lying!" Harry said.

Professor Dumbledore held his hand up.

"Where exactly did you see Neville?" he asked, calmly.

"Up there! It looked like someone had hung him up like a picture!" I said, gesturing to the wall.

"There's nothing there now," Professor Snape said.

"I don't understand it! We saw him with our own eyes!" Harry protested.

"Maybe it's a joke?" Professor Snape hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"Professor Snape," Professor Dumbledore said, in the same calm voice. "I don't think they would play this sort of joke. They look terrified. You can't fake fear like that...no matter how good of an actor a person could be."

He winked at us.

Feeling slightly calmer, I began feeling less sick to my stomach.

Professor Snape didn't seem convinced.

"What exactly happened when you saw him?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"It was like he was a part of the wall," I said, swallowing.

"A part of the wall?" Professor McGonagall asked, tilting her head.

Ron, Harry and I nodded.

"What do you mean?" Professor Dumbledore asked soothingly.

"Like his body and the wall just immersed themselves," Harry said.

I shivered again at just the thought.

"All right. I want you three to go back downstairs. I'm sure we'll find Neville," Professor Dumbledore said, gently.

Nodding, and glad to get away from this area, we turned and headed back downstairs.

"Blimey, what could've happened?" Ron mused.

"I don't know," Harry said, shaking my head.

"Still think it's the stress making me see things?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope," Ron said.

I knew Harry believed me. I didn't know if Ron did.

"The question is...what happened to Nev?" Harry mused.

"It was like he was scared to death. Now, if it was Peeves, wouldn't Neville be accustomed to ghosts popping in and out of everything?" I pointed out. "Everyone in the school would be used to seeing that sort of thing. What is more scarier than a ghost that totally terrified Neville?"

"You're right, Hermione," Harry said.

"I hope Nearly Headless Nick found out about what's going on," Ron said, swallowing.

We headed to the Gryffindor common room and sat down in front of the fireplace.

"I know I've got to voice this," Harry said, slowly. "Suppose it isn't Peeves or any of the ghosts doing this?"

Ron and I gazed at Harry.

"What? You mean like maybe Voldemort found some new way to terrorize us?" I asked.

Ron cringed when I said "Voldemort".

"Grow up," I scoffed at him.

Harry nodded gravely.

"Suppose that is a possibility. How would Voldemort only target me and how could he make himself into a shadow? I don't think there's a spell out there to do that kind of magic," I said.

"Yeah, you're right. That would take some kind of magic and I doubt even dark magic has that capability," Harry said, quietly.

"I seriously think that it's something inside this castle," I said.

"Let's go find Nearly Headless Nick," Ron suggested.

I knew he was starting to get creeped out by all this talk. I didn't blame him one bit. It was scaring me too.

So, we left the common room and searched for Nick.

We found him floating near a painting of an old wizard in white robes and a goatee.

"Nick?" I asked.

"Ah, Hermione...Ron and Harry. How are you three doing? I heard you found Neville?" Nick said.

"Not exactly. When we went back to the spot, his body was gone," Harry said.

"Hmm...definitely weird," Nick said.

"Have you had the chance to talk to Peeves yet?" Ron asked.

"Yes, actually I have," Nick said, frowning. "He has no idea what's going on either. He wasn't anywhere near the classrooms where Hermione said she saw the shadow, nor in the corridor. He was on the third floor the whole time."

Harry and I looked at each other.

"Do you have any idea? A thought as to what maybe is going on?" I asked.

"Nope. None the slightest. This is the first time I'm hearing about something like this. This has never happened here before," Nick said, shaking his head.

"Thanks for your help, Nick," Harry said.

"No problem," Nick said.

So, we turned and left, heading down to Transfiguration.

"Okay...so Peeves isn't behind this," Harry said.

"Then what is going on?" I asked.

Ron and Harry just shrugged.

"I think if it happens again, we go to Dumbledore and talk to him," Harry said.

"Good idea," I said.

We entered the classroom. The Slytherins were on the left, Gryffindors on the right. We took our usual seats and waited for Professor McGonagall to arrive.

She arrived shortly after we did.

"Professor? Any luck finding Neville?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "It's like he just disappeared into thin air,"

A sinking feeling began rolling over me.

"Today we're transfiguring a little bigger animal. We're going to change a hedgehog into a rabbit," Professor McGonagall said.

There were hedgehogs on each student's table.

"Gently press the tip of your wand against the hedgehog and then say, "Ryerdev!"

There were murmurs of "Ryerdev!" floating around. My hedgehog transformed perfectly into a white rabbit.

Ron and Harry's did as well.

Just then, the shadow appeared again. I nudged Harry.

"The shadow's here again!" I whispered.

"Really? Where?" Harry whispered back.

"In the corner!"

Harry's fingers dug into my arm.

"I see it!" he hissed.

"You see it?" I asked, relieved and shocked.

"Yes! I'm not fooling with you!" he replied.

Just then, I felt a warm liquid dripping onto my hands, which were on my lap. I looked down.

I felt a scream building in my throat.

Neville's body had appeared on top of my desk but there were a few limbs missing. Harry jumped to his feet and scooted away from the desk. I stood up and screamed.

"Here. Give her this," Madam Pomfrey said as she handed Harry a goblet. "It's a Edwel Potion."

Edwel potions helped people forget horrible images...traumatic images.

Harry held the goblet for me because my hands were shaking so much. He held it to my lips and gently tipped it. I took a sip of the potion. It tasted like cherry soda.

"That was horrid," I said, in a hoarse voice.

"I know," Harry said, quietly.

Ron had seen Neville, but not the shadow. Apparently now it just showed itself to Harry and I.

Most of the students had come in for a Edwel potion. The girls from Gryffindor were sobbing.

"What happened?" I asked, looking into Harry's eyes.

"I don't know. It was like Neville was..." Harry swallowed. "Butchered."

I closed my eyes. The Edwel potion wasn't working. I could still see Neville's body lying across the desk.

I felt sick. A wave of nausea rolled over me. I leaned over and ended up vomiting on Harry's shoes.

"Oh dear...it's alright," Madam Pomfrey said as she handed me a tissue and another goblet.

"This is a Ender Potion for your stomach,"

I took a sip and shortly felt the nausea disappear.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to toss my cookies all over you," I apologized, feeling guilty.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it," Harry said.

Ron looked like he was on the verge of barfing himself. I handed him the Ender potion. He took a sip as well.

"You two are free to go," Madam Pomfrey said. "If you still feel sick, come back for a second dose."

Nodding, we got up and walked out of the hospital wing. Harry hurried up to the boys dorm to change his shoes. Ron and I were standing outside the Charms classroom when Malfoy walked up to us with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Aw man," Ron moaned. "Just what we need now...Twiddly Dee, Twiddly Dumb and a Yeti."

I smothered a snort.

"Weasel and the Mudblood," Malfoy drawled.

"Shove off," Ron said.

"So, I hear you found Neville," Malfoy said, turning to me. "I never thought he was...all together."

He paused to let the effect of those last words sink in.

I felt tears forming in my eyes. Ron pulled out his wand.

"I'd shut up if I were you," Ron growled.

"What are you going to do? Curse me?" Malfoy snickered.

Crabbe and Goyle guffawed.

Just then, the shadow appeared again. I grabbed Ron's arm.

"The shadow's back," I whispered.

"I see it," Ron whispered back.

Now, it showed itself to Ron. Did that mean that Harry, Ron and I could see it at the same time? Or did it only show itself at certain times?

"What are you two looking at?" Malfoy asked, turning around.

At that point, the shadow flew at him. I grabbed Ron's arm. The shadow entered Malfoy's body. Malfoy was shouting. Blood began streaming from Malfoy's nose, ears and eyes. I turned my face away. Malfoy let out one last yell before there was silence and I heard a thud.

I slowly and cautiously turned back around. Malfoy was lying on his stomach, face down on the floor. Crabbe and Goyle looked at us terrified before they turned and fled down the corridor.

I felt sick again. Harry had come back down and glanced down at Malfoy.

"Ack. What happened?" he asked.

"T-the shadow," I choked out.

Realization formed on Harry's face. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I buried my face into his shoulder and shut my eyes.

I shut my eyes against the gentle blackness of his robe. I tightened my grip around him. He tightened his grip as well.

"Listen...we'll figure this out...alright? Don't you worry," Harry whispered in my ear.

I pulled back from the embrace. Harry kept his hands on my shoulders and his face was close to mine.

I nodded. I hadn't realized I had begun to sob softly. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands.

"I say it's time to go to Dumbledore," Ron said, swallowing.

"I agree," Harry said, still keeping his eyes on me.

We hurried to Professor Dumbledore's office and told him what happened.

He, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape had urgently rushed to the corridor to get Malfoy's body.

They told us that Malfoy's body was in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey was checking him over.

We sat in the Gryffindor common room that night.

"It was like that shadow was making Malfoy explode from the inside out," I said, swallowing.

"I know. That's how I'd describe it," Ron said, nodding.

"I think it's time to do some more research," Harry said.

"But where do we begin? We looked in every book in the library," I said.

"Not every," Harry said, coyly. "There's still the restricted section we haven't looking in yet."

Ron and I nodded.

We got up and left the common room and headed to the library.

We got a note from Dumbledore, giving us permission to use the Restricted Section. We scanned the books until Harry nudged me. I followed his gaze to a leather spine book with the words HOGWARTS: BEFORE THE SCHOOL in gold letters. I reached up and pulled it off the shelf.

The cover had the same lettering.

"This might be it!" I said, eagerly.

Harry and I headed over to a table where Ron was sitting. He looked up when we began approaching him.

"Find something?" he asked.

"I think so," I said.

Harry and I sat down across from him and I laid the book down flat on the table.

I opened the cover. Surprisingly, it wasn't that dusty and from the print, it was stamped that it was written in 1334.

"Medieval times," I whispered. "That's when this was written."

"That was before Hogwarts was established...isn't it?" Harry asked.

I nodded. "Yes. 30 years before Hogwarts was built and founded,"

I flipped through the book until I found something.

"What'd you find?" Ron asked, leaning forward.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

I raised my eyes to his.

"Hogwarts was built on grounds where there used to be a mental institution,"