Shadows and Magic

Chapter 5

Harry

The five of them listened in fascinated silence. Loud clattering sounds came from the dining room, along with a roar of a spell and the sound of crashing against the wall. Harry winced. Whoever got catapulted into a wall, he felt sorry for the person. There was a brief pause of silence. 

"Who are you?" hissed the stranger again, hostility and anger in his voice. He had an American accent, with a hint of Italian as well. It didn't sound like this gruff, older voices from Death Eaters.. more like the voice of a male teenager- a very, very angry teenager. 

"You." The stranger spoke once again. "You're a werewolf." Harry gasped. How did the stranger find out? There was only one way. This person wasn't a muggle that had wandered in at the wrong place at the wrong time. This was someone who knew of the Wizarding World, and had either heard about it from Hogwarts, or a follower of a certain noseless person. Beside him, Ron widened his eyes in shock, and Hermione's was gaping. Behind them, Ginny shot them a curious glance, but wisely kept quiet for now. Harry realized he had missed what Lupin had replied. He concentrated. 

"Now, calm down." echoed the nervous voice of Mr Weasley. "What's your name, boy?"

"DON'T call me a boy," snarled the mysterious male, "and as for my name, why would you want to know."

"Just answer the question!" shouted Moody.

"No." 

"Well, don't blame me if we have to resort to using something much more forceful. Get some Veritaserum. Torpere! " But from what it sounded like, the spell never hit its target. Instead, a large thump was heard, and the sound of Moody grunting in surprise and pain. 

"He's getting away!" Tonks shrieked. Chaos had erupted all around the dining room, and spells were being screamed. Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione. They had to help. If the stranger was a Death Eater, it probably won't be long till he breaks out the Killing Curse. They burst inside. 

The adults had formed a defensive ring, everyone facing one direction and shooting spells, while a dark shape was darting around, dodging everything. Harry looked closer and gasped. It was a 14 year old boy, dressed in dark clothing and a jacket. One look at him and you could tell he had been through something. His face was gaunt and pale, with sunken eyebags and a haunted look. His dark feathery hair whipped around his face as he jumped from wall to wall, chair to chair, ducking the bright lights. 

"Stop!" Harry yelled, brandishing his wand at him. Mrs Weasley gasped at Harry being here, and Sirius grumbled something about teenagers never listening, but Harry ignored them.

"Get out of my way, I don't wanna hurt children." The stranger said hoarsely. Harry seethed quietly. Children? He was older than the emo kid, and had definitely been through more than he ever had. Harry readied his wand, but the short distraction was just what Moody had needed. 

"Stupefy!" Moody attempted one last time. It hit the strange kid right on his shoulder. Right on his bloody wound. The new kid howled in pain, as the spell fizzed around his blistering injury, and he lay on the floor, twitching in agony. 

"Moody!" Mrs Weasley rushed forward. "What did you do?"

"It was the only way to contain him, the spells don't work on him if we fire anywhere else. I didn't know it would do that to him." Next to Harry, Hermione made a choking sound. How could the spells not work? 

Sirius rushed to Harry's side, shooting him a "you ok?" look. Harry nodded absentmindedly. Then Sirius looked down on the shuddering boy. 

"I say we should keep him in a room for now, while we try to decide how big of a threat he is. We can't just let him wander off, since he knows about this place, and I don't want to resort to killing a child."

"I'm s-s-still conscious, y'know. I'm not a c-child." The boy on the floor muttered through his spasms and shudders of anguish. 

"What's your name?" Sirius asked lightly, and earned himself a glare from the boy. 

"Tell us," Moody rumbled, "or keep hurting." Sirius, Molly and Tonks frowned at him, but if Moody was aware, he didn't oblige. 

The boy gave a weak laugh. "Try me, I've been through worse." 

Can't be worse than me, Harry thought, and I would've given in. He couldn't see how this scrawny person could last. 

"Well, if you don't tell us your name, we'll keep calling you boy." Lupin warned. The boy looked like he wanted to get up and punch Lupin, but as he pushed himself upwards, there was a faint 'crack', and the boy collapsed, his body going limp. 

"Nico." He managed to force out, then his head lolled and all the creepy vibes he was giving faded. Without him glaring at everyone and creeping them out, Harry could carefully observe Nico and realized how frail he was, like a delicate twin about to snap. They could tell he was still awake, but with his eyes closed and his breathing getting more shallow by the second. 

"If we want to question him later, we've got to help him, quick. He's about to die if there's no treatment. Sirius, is there a spare guest room?" There was no arguing with Mrs Weasley. Nodding, Harry's godfather picked Nico up like one may pick up a bomb- slowly and carefully, handling it with care and caution at the same time. Nico made a guttural sound of protest as Sirius's hand made contact with him, but he looked too weak, too vulnerable, to even resist. 

"I'll stay with him too, in case there's a turn for the worse." 

"And I'll enchant the room with spells." Moody shouldered past Harry, still limping from his fall. As Sirius made his way up, Harry dimly wondered why Sirius was taking such care of a complete stranger, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, with a glance between his trio, they made their way back to Ron's room before anyone could chew them out for jumping into the fight. 

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That's it for today, any suggestions?

If you're offended that Nico was too underpowered (if that word exists), don't worry. 

He's gonna be a lot more OP later.