Shadow Magic • Harry Potter X Theodore Nott •

(3) Gifts of Shadows

Harry sighs and closes another book. He's looked in all the books in the library that seem plausible for information about shadow magic. He can't find anything. As far as Hogwarts is concerned, he doesn't exist.

He's been into the Restricted Section, but honestly, they don't have very interesting books in there. Just ones about painful magic, torture curses, Dark Arts, and the like. Harry isn't that interested in Dark magic. The absence of light makes it impossible for his shadows to go anywhere.

Like that third-floor corridor that Dumbledore announced was off-limits. Harry thought it would be interesting to explore, but there's only one torch near the entrance, and nothing else. He got a few meters into the corridor and saw a huge oaken door banded with iron. But it must be absolutely dark under or behind that door, because he can't reach any further.

Harry yawns and leaves the library. He has a fair way to go back to the dungeons, and he's tired enough that he doesn't want to just pop through the shadows. His aim is always bad when he's tired, and he's come too near to being discovered a few times.

But his tiredness fades away when he hears laughter, the same kind he used to hear from Dudley whenever he and his friends had cornered someone. Harry wraps softness around himself and crosses to the opposite side of the corridor he's in.

Malfoy and those two huge lumps that are always following him around are taunting a first-year Gryffindor. After some squinting, Harry recognizes him as Neville Longbottom. He honestly only knows that because Snape berates him so much that it catches Harry's attention even when he tries to dream through class.

"Why don't you go home, Longbottom?" Malfoy asks. He swaggers a little even though he stands in place. Harry would be more impressed if he hadn't seen Dudley do the same thing more than once. "Everyone knows you're a Squib. You don't belong here. What do you even do besides blow up Professor Snape's cauldrons?"

The lumps laugh on cue. Longbottom shivers. "I—I'm good at Herbology," he says, in a voice so soft Harry wouldn't hear it if he wasn't this close.

"That's not enough, Longbottom!" Malfoy shoves him, and Longbottom knocks his head against a wall. "What do you think you're doing here? Imitating real wizards and annoying them?"

Harry wouldn't normally intervene, but everything about this scene could come straight from his past. Malfoy as Dudley, the laughing friends, the way that the victim tries to actually answer the question and only makes things worse when he does. Harry learned better at a young age, but none of the boys here ever did.

It doesn't take Harry long to decide what to do. Stepping into sight will only make things worse. He forms the shadow along the left side of the wall and the one high on the right side of the corridor into wolves instead, and has them loom silently over Malfoy and his gang.

The lump on the right—Harry thinks it's called Crabbe—is the one who sees them first. He pokes Malfoy in the side and stutters out, "W-w-were—"

"Where what, Crabbe? Is it a prefect?" Malfoy turns around, and so he's the one who notices the wolves next. Longbottom's mouth is perfectly open and perfectly round, though, so he might have seen them earlier than Harry thought.

Malfoy laughs nervously a second later. "Those aren't werewolves, Crabbe," he says, and makes his voice echo loudly down the corridor. "They're just somebody playing shadow puppet tricks." He takes a step towards the wolf lying crouched along the floor, and raises his voice. "Come on! Show yourself! You'll get in trouble picking on the heir to the House of Malfoy!"

Harry forms a part of the tail of the wolf on the wall into an arrow and points down the corridor. Longbottom runs away at full speed.

Which is good, since Harry thinks the little boy is too timid to see what happens next.