Chasing Shadows

Chasing Shadows

Chapter Six-Light

The next morning, Hermione woke up.

"Harry? W-what happened?" she asked, alarmed as she got to her feet.

I stood up as well.

"Nothing. Nothing happened. It must've went back to its grave," I suggested.

She seemed embarrassed about the almost-kiss.

"Listen, I hope you're not embarrassed," I said.

"No. Not at all," Hermione said, shaking her head, but I saw right through her.

"We need to tell Professor Dumbledore what happened," I said, earnestly.

She nodded and stood behind me. I felt her nearly clutching me. I opened the door and poked my head into the corridor. Silence. Sunlight poured in from the windows creating long triangles on the floor.

"Clear," I said.

We stepped out into the corridor. Just then, we heard footsteps running down the corridor. I pulled out my wand and held it like a sword in front of me. I saw a shadow slink up onto the wall, then red hair.

"Ginny?" I asked, incredulously.

Sure enough, it was Ginny. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"Ron's dead," she sobbed.

"I know," I said, quietly.

Hermione rushed forward and hugged Ginny. The two girls sobbed uncontrollably. I stood beside them and put a hand on their shoulders.

"Listen...we really need to go to Dumbledore," I said, feeling my own voice breaking. I was trying to be strong for them, but was having a hard time fighting it.

Ginny and Hermione pulled apart and we began walking down the corridor. We saw Colin Creevy lying face down on the floor.

"Colin!" I said as I rushed over to him and crouched down beside him.

I gently turned him over.

His face was the same as Malfoy's had been...unrecognizable. It looked like it had been in a blender. Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Colin was dead.

"God," Ginny choked out and turned away.

"Let's go," I said.

We kept walking. We also came across Pansy Parkinson...dead and a boy from Hufflepuff not to far away.

"What happened last night?" Ginny asked in a high pitched voice.

Hermione began filling her in. I had to admit, it sounded incredible, but it was the truth. Luckily, Ginny believed Hermione.

"How do we stop it?" she asked.

"That's why we're going to Dumbledore," I said. "We don't know."

"Could the book tell us how to defeat evil?" Hermione asked.

"It's possible," I said. "Where is it?"

"I think in Dumbledore's office. We left it there," Hermione replied.

We hurried up to Dumbledore's office, only to find a total shock.

There was the skeleton there, only it didn't look like a skeleton...it looked like a man. The man in the vision. He was holding Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape at bay with the large sword.

"Ah, and here comes the stars," he said in a deep voice.

We froze in the doorway.

"You two...over by the teachers," the man ordered Ginny and I.

Hermione was frozen in the spot. Ginny and I obediently went and stood in front of Professor Snape.

HERMIONE.

Harry and Ginny were standing in front of Professor Snape. Professor Snape even looked terrified. Professor McGonagall was huddled behind Professor Dumbledore.

"Now, sit," the man barked at me.

I remained standing.

"SIT!"

He held his hand out. I felt something force me into a sitting position one of the chairs.

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

"Because once midnight rolls around, I will reign again. Each kill I made made me stronger and it brought me back to life," the man said. "In case you've forgotten, I'm Lord Davis."

"Why don't you kill me and leave them alone?" I said.

Harry went to protest, but Lord Davis waved his hand and Harry was doubled over in pain.

"STOP!" I screamed.

He stopped and Harry dropped to his knees gasping for breath. Professor Snape helped him get to his feet again.

"Now, young lady," Lord Davis cooed as he came over to me.

He tilted my chin up.

"You will die soon," he smirked.

I spied the book on Dumbledore's table. When Lord Davis had his back to me, I carefully pulled out my wand and used the Sending Charm.

"Allimorto!" I whispered.

The book flew quickly and gracefully into Harry's hand.

"Find a way to defeat him!" I mouthed to him.

Harry quickly flipped through it and I saw him reading a passage. Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall peered over his shoulder also reading.

From Harry's expression, I knew it was one of two things: either there was no way to stop him...or it was something I wasn't going to like.

Harry looked up at me.

"A pure hearted person must sacrifice himself or herself," he mouthed slowly to me.

Damm. I thought.

Harry quickly slipped the book behind his back. Professor Snape took it from Harry and gently laid it down on a table beside him. Lord Davis turned around.

We looked back at him innocently.

"What about the rest of the students in the school?" I asked.

"They are asleep," he replied. "A coma if you will."

I glanced over at Ginny. She was terrified and kept close to Harry.

I knew those words meant that it was me that was going to have to sacrifice herself to save everyone in the castle. I couldn't let Lord Davis reign again.

"You see, Lord Scoris' relatives had magic...I couldn't stand magic so I had to rid the world of all magical talent. Only there was so many, I decided to wipe out Lord Scoris' ancestors because he cross me as well. Torturing them and experimenting on them didn't pull the magic from them. It was a waste of time," Lord Davis said, facing me.

"A waste of time? You tortured innocent people that deserved a chance to live!" I cried in disbelief. "Those people had feelings...real feelings. They were real people."

"You are the last I have to finish off," Lord Davis continued. "You have Lord Scoris' bloodline and the ability to stop me. I can't let that happen."

History was right...it was like a Muggle Lord Voldemort. I thought. Just like Harry has the ability to put a stop to Voldemort.

"Midnight, you die," Lord Davis said. "For now, you will be watched by my two guards."

He waved a hand again and Crabbe and Goyle appeared at the doorway. They looked like they were in a trance and were holding their wands at us like swords.

"If anyone of them so much as moves, kill them," Lord Davis replied.

Goyle and Crabbe nodded as Lord Davis walked past me and out the door.

They stood in front of us with their wands aimed directly at our chests.

"What do we do now?" Ginny croaked out.

"We'll think of something. Harry, what did the book say about defeating him?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"A pure hearted person must sacrifice himself or herself," Harry replied.

"You can't!" Ginny protested looking at me.

"If it's the only way, I have to," I said, slowly.

"There has to be another way, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said.

"I don't see how," Professor Snape said, quietly. "Anything pure will destroy evil."

I could see Harry wanted to retort back to that comment, but thought the better of it and kept silent.

"We've got to think," Professor Dumbledore said, stroking his beard.

"Holy water?" Ginny suggested weakly.

Professor Dumbledore smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not a vampire we're dealing with...something much worse,"

When Professor Dumbledore put his hand on Ginny's shoulder, I thought for sure Crabbe and Goyle would let loose with the Killing Curse, but they just stared blankly at us.

"It was just a suggestion," Ginny squeaked.

"I know...don't worry, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said kindly.

"How'd Lord Davis die in the first place?" Harry asked.

"The patients revolted and burned the place down," I replied.

"Maybe we can set him on fire?" Professor McGonagall said.

"That might work...but how? If we use our wands, he'll know it's an aggressive move and possibly kill us," Professor Snape said.

We fell silent again.

"Glass? Glass reflects the sunlight and it could be used as a heat projector," Harry suggested.

"What do you mean?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Muggles sometimes use a magnifying glass and hold it up to the sun. The light goes through the glass and hits a leaf. Then, it burns a hole in it," Harry continued.

We looked around Dumbledore's office. The closest thing he had was a Sneak-O-Scope.

"Would that work?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing to it.

"I don't think so. It has to be like the magnifying glass. The light has to be able to go through it," Harry said.

"Hmm," I said, frowning.

I didn't know what else could be used for this. The magnifying glass would've been our only option. Or else we needed to find a large pane of glass.

And Snape was right. If we used our wands, Lord Davis would know we were trying to fight back and possibly kill everyone of us with out a thought of remorse.

We really needed to think of something...and fast.

It was now 6 o'clock in the evening. Normally, everyone would be running down to the Great Hall for dinner, but they were all asleep in whatever position they had been in when the spell was cast.

Lord Davis hadn't returned yet. It was a good thing because it was giving us some time to think about how to defeat him.

Ginny was terrified out of her wits. This probably brought back memories of her first year, our second when Voldemort was using her through a diary. Suddenly, Harry gasped. He had been reading more of the book.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It says that Lord Davis doesn't like silver,"

"Sounds like a werewolf," Professor Snape said.

"Silver is the symbol of good. That's why werewolves don't like silver bullets," I said, as an idea began forming in my mind. "What if one of us uses the Levitation Spell on that sword and pierce him?"

"Is the blade silver?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yeah. Pure silver," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"It's worth a shot," Harry said. "I'll levitate it."

Harry discreetly pulled out his wand and I heard him mutter, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The sword floated several feet in the air behind Crabbe and Goyle.

Around 10 o'clock, Lord Davis returned back.

"In two hours you won't be alive anymore," Lord Davis replied, smirking at me.

"We'll see about that," I replied, also smirking at him.

I waved my hand at my side, gesturing to Harry to let the sword go. The next thing I knew, the sword flew at Lord Davis and punctured him right in the shoulder.

"Stupid girl!" he hissed and waved his hand at me.

I felt myself rising into the air and I flew. I crashed into the wall and hit the back of my head on it. Blackness swallowed me up.

HARRY.

Hermione crashed into the wall and she hit her head pretty hard. She then dropped to the floor and didn't move.

"Hermione!" I cried as I went to take a step forward, but Ginny and Professor Dumbledore held their arms out in front of me, stopping me.

"At last she's dead," Lord Davis said, gleefully.

I wanted so badly to go over to her and make sure she was alright. But in my heart, I knew she wasn't. Ginny began sobbing hysterically beside me.

Suddenly, the whole castle began rumbling. Ginny clung to me. Even Lord Davis was confused and surprised. Hogwarts seemed to be changing before our eyes. Then, it got ice cold in the room. Our breaths were coming out in puffs of steam and floating to the ceiling.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, clinging to my arm.

"I don't know," I whispered, just as shocked and stunned as everyone else.

It totally changed before our eyes. We were no longer standing in Hogwarts, but the Sevijion Mental Institution.

"Where are we?" Professor McGonagall whispered.

"I think the question is...when are we?" Professor Dumbledore said.

Lord Davis looked around.

I heard him growling.

There was yelling outside the door. Lord Davis rushed over to the door and opened it up. There were two men that looked like they had been tortured. They had strange spikes embedded in their legs. They were walking funny too. They had their arms stretched out like they wanted to grab the neck of a nurse. The nurse was dressed in a white dress and her hair was pulled back.

"Get them back to the room!" Lord Davis hissed.

"I'm trying!" the nurse choked out.

They ended up gaining on the nurse. We heard her screaming. Ginny clamped her hands over her ears. Hermione still wasn't moving.

I heard Professor McGonagall even gasp. The men were scratching and mauling at the nurse. Her screaming was getting more and more bloodcurdling.

"Please! Shut the door!" Ginny wailed.

Lord Davis slammed the door shut and spun around to face us.

"What's going on here?" he demanded glaring at us.

"We don't know!" I replied.

"You're doing this somehow!" Lord Davis growled.

"I assure you...we have nothing to do with this!" Professor Snape snapped.

That sounded more like him. I wasn't used to hearing him speak in normal tones.

Lord Davis was actually looking terrified.

"I demand to know what's going on here!" he cried, looking around.

Just then, the place got quiet and the coldness intensified. I felt Ginny shivering beside me. Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall tightened their robes around their bodies more to keep warm.

There was a bright blue flash of light outside the window. Then, little blue orbs began floating into the room. They looked more like little comets.

I backed up against Professor Snape and kept my eyes on the orb-comets as they zoomed around the room.

Lord Davis began backing up against the wall.

The orbs began taking form of people. There were about 12 of them.

"What's going on?" Ginny whispered.

I didn't reply.

The orb people turned out to be ghosts. They began advancing on Lord Davis.

"No! Get away from me!" he cried, throwing his hands up over his face, shielding his face.

They kept advancing.