Harry Potter and His Shadows

Chapter 13: An attack on Diagon Alley

Harry walked slightly behind the group, ignoring Ron, Hermione and Ginny's attempts to draw him into conversation. George and Fred were walking on either side of him, as a sort of silent support, which he appreciated. Molly, Arthur and Remus were at the front of them all, with a disillusioned Mad-Eye and Tonks following from behind. Apparently this was all for his protection, and it was rather annoying honestly. They collected their school supplies from each shop, the entire visit being rather dull. "Alright children, why don't you all go to Sugarplum's and get yourself some sweets?" Ron cheered, and the girls laughed at him, following the red head into the shop. Harry went to follow him but was distracted by someone calling his name. "Harry!" He turned to see the twins gesturing him over, to where they stood before an empty shop. "What's going on?" The twins grinned at him, grabbing his shoulders and moving him to stand directly in front of the tall building. "Imagine this- purple walls- orange windows- and a- large sign- Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!" They bowed in front of him, taking off their imaginary hats as he laughed at their antics. Grinning he nodded at them, swept up in their excitement. "It's about time you guys went professional. You make pranks into an art!" The twins looked genuinely touched at his words, faces covered in big smiles. They threw their arms around him, practically squeezing the life out of him. A traditional Weasley hug. Harry looked at the building again imagination running wild. "You know what would be awesome?" He pointed to the top of the large windows with a pensive expression. "You could extend these windows out and build a giant statue of one of you into it. An arm out the side, and you at the top, lifting up a hat!" The twins laughed, grabbing each other and jumping up and down. "Yes that's- brilliant! And we-could put- a rabbit- under the hat!" Their excitement faded quickly into small frowns. "It would have to wait though. We're not even sure if we could afford the building yet, let alone anything extravagant." George nodded, crossing his arms. "Yeah, we've been selling loads of fizzing fireworks and skiving snack-boxes, but it might not be enough." Harry frowned, upset that his friends might not be able to follow their dreams. He'd seen their faces everytime Ron or Molly told them to stop messing around, or compared them to the other Weasley brothers. It wasn't fair! They deserved this. "I'll loan you some money. In fact, keep it, it's a gift." The twins looked at him in shock. "Are you serious?" They asked simultaneously, and Harry smiled at them. "Of course. I know you guys can pull this off, and it's about time everyone saw how clever and talented you guys are! Some of the stuff you've made take real genius. Use it!" They looked at each other for a moment, as if having a silent conversation. The next thing Harry knew, he was tumbling to the ground with two gingers in a pile on top of him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He huffed out a laugh, slightly winded and sat up when they finally got off of him. "We promise you won't regret this- yeah we'll pay you back as soon as we earn it up!" Harry stood and elbowed them. "You'll do no such thing! I'll give you the thousand galleons I got from the triwizard cup. I don't really want it anyway." The twins fell solemn at that and nodded. "Very well- favourable benefactor- we insist- you become- our partner- at least." Surprised, Harry looked at the two of them, and smiled. "Very well, and what would this partnership entail, gentlemen?" They spent the next twenty minutes discussing shares and decor before everything was agreed and settled. "Perfect. Once we have the building, we'll send you a letter and draw up a proper contract." Harry nodded, still smiling and looking at the building, proud of his friends. "Wait, does this mean you're leaving Hogwarts?" The twins nodded, leaning against each other and looking at Harry. "Yeah, you know us Harry- we might not be a stupid as everyone thinks- but exams really aren't our thing." Harry nodded, it was true. The pair were genius' but they really hated anything that required them being still for more than a couple of minutes. This would be good for them. "That's too bad, I'll miss you guys. Then again, Hogwarts probably isn't a great place to be anymore." The twins nodded, frowning. They'd heard the adults talking, they had never seen their parents so worried before. They seemed to expect Death Eater attacks constantly. "Have you told your mum yet?" Instantly the twins paled, panic in their eyes, and Harry laughed slightly. "You can't say anything Harry! She'll kill us!" He nodded, pretending to be serious and placed a hand over his heart. "I swear, I won't say a word!" The two mock glared at him before laughing and looking back up at the shop. Harry smiled at his friends, glad that something good was happening. He turned around to see if the the others were done yet, only to see a blue streak of light speeding towards them. "Duck!" He grabbed his friends, pulling them to ground and jumped when the shattering of glass sounded above them. Screams rose up through the streets, people running everywhere trying to escape. He rolled over to the side to avoid getting crushed by the crowd, and ducked into the shop doorway with the twins. "What's going on?" Harry didn't answer George, peering around to see the Order and aurors fighting a large group of wizards in some very familiar masks. "Death Eaters." Fred and George looked at each other, and grabbed Harry's wrist, trying to pull him over to where Molly and Arthur had been. "Wait, what are you doing?" He pushed away from them, falling back into the doorway, and they rolled their eyes, crouching down next to him. "We're not gonna let you fight the Death Eaters Harry!" He rolled his eyes at them and looked over at Sugarplum's where he could see the group waiting to apperate them away. "Fine." He grabbed their hands and pulled them up, the three of them running into across the street, ducking under stray spells. He opened the door and pushed them in, before closing it again with a whispered "Colloportus." He turned to look back at the fight, ignoring the banging that resounded from the other side of the door. "Harry!" He ignored the twins calls, running into a nearby alley and ducking into the shadows. He watched from around the corner, seeing auror after auror, fall down. He was about to run out, to pretend to be the golden boy, when he saw an order member, Shacklebolt sneak up behind a Death Eater.Blonde hair peaked out from behind the hood, and Harry's eyes widened. They were going to catch Lucius! He focused on the shadow of Twilfitt and Tattings, moving it behind Lucius. The spell Shacklebolt sent, rebounded, the stunner hitting him and throwing him into a wall with a resounding crack. Harry took in a deep breathe and guided the shadow to completely surround the Death Eaters, transporting them back to the Manor. The shadow shrunk for a second, before expanding out with such force that any untethered object was flung out, glass shattering. A few shards cut Harry's face, and he was pushed out from the shadows, falling directly in front of Mad-eye. He looked up and smirked. "Hey. What brings you here?" The man grunted, grabbing his collar and lifting him up. "You have some explaining to do m'boy."

Voldemort stood, surprised when his Death Eaters materialised out of the shadows, many falling to the floor immediately and vomiting. Lucius, staggered over to him, almost falling over several times in his dizziness."My L-lord!" Voldemort walked down the stairs into the entrance hall, shocked. "Lucius, what happened?" Narcissa walked in, and gasped in shock, running over to the hurling death eaters, to treat any that needed medical attention. "We must have been betrayed my Lord. The aurors and the Order seemed to be prepared for us. We were surrounded when those shadows brough us here. Potter brought us back." Voldemort frowned, who could have betrayed them? Only the inner circle were informed. Rabastan walked over, bowing. "My Lord, Harry Potter saved Lucius. Shacklebolt was ready to stun him, but the shadow reflected it to hit Shacklebolt instead." Lucius looked shocked and looked around the hall, specifically at the still writhing shadows. "If he'd caught me, I'd be in Azkaban by now." His voice was permeated with disbelief, and Voldemort quickly dismissed them both. He returned to his room, already planning on how to flush out the traitor. But that wasn't the most important thing now. He needed to know that Harry was okay. If Dumbledore found out what he could do, he'd slaughter him. He sat down and focused on the link, reaching out through it and pushing feelings of worry down. He waited and waited but recieved no reply. Quickly his worry turned to panic, thoughts of finding Harry and killing Dumbledore consuming him. Suddenly his shadow solidified, walking towards him. "Cherie?" The shadow nodded, and sat next to him. "Master cannot reply, he is speaking to the mad man. He is safe, they do not know his power." Voldemort sighed, relieved that Harry was safe. "Good. Cherié, could you give him a message for me?"

The door to Grimmauld Place swung open, Moody hobbling in and throwing Harry down into a chair in the kitchen. Immediately he was swarmed by Molly, Hermione and Ginny, all lecturing him for leaving and trying to get a closer look at his injuries. Annoyed, he leant back and swatted them away. "What were you thinking boy!" Moody's voice boomed, everyone else immediately turning to look at him. Harry scowled and crossed his arms. "I wanted to see if I could help!"  The man grumbled, sitting down and swinging his leg up and onto the table. "You can't fight a shadow mage lad. You could have died, it was a dumb move." Molly gasped, grabbing Ron and Ginny and holding them close to her. "A shadow mage?" Mad-eye nodded, his face becoming even more grim than usual, if that was possible. He grumbled, and Arthur wrapped his arm around Molly. "A large shadow rescued the Death Eaters we'd trapped.... It killed Shacklebolt." Harry was shocked, he hadn't meant to kill the guy! It was just a stunner! Tonks and Diggle looked down, placing their hands over their hearts, at the thought of their fallen friend. "What's a shadow mage?" Hermione looked over at Ginny, surprised. "You haven't heard of shadow mages?" Ginny and Ron shook their heads, and Molly turned away as her face paled. The twins moved to sit next to Harry and healed his face whilst looking at their father, interested. Arthur sat down next to the children, leaning forward. "The shadow mages are wizards with the power to control shadows. They can use it send messages, to enter warded areas, to take people through them. They are incredibly dark and dangerous sorcerer's, and as a result were all executed years ago." The children all looked worried at Arthur's words, and Moody huffed out a gruff laugh. "Or so we thought. Apparently one is still around, and they work for You-know-who." Suddenly, something seemed to occur to the grizzly ex auror, and he turned to look around the room. "How come Snape didn't  tell us about the Shadow Mage? Where is he?" The group nodded, and unsurprisingly Moody looked suspicious. "I have not heard from Severus in quite some time. I worry that something has happened to him." Harry looked over to see Dumbledore standing in the doorway, and struggled against the wave of rage he felt at seeing the man, echoed by Cherié. "If I could, I would like a moment alone with young Harry?" The Order all nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Harry alone with the old coot. "Harry my boy, I understand you have been through a lot of pain recently. I am so very sorry about Sirius." Harry's heart lurched, guilt rising yet again. "Thank you, headmaster." Dumbledore nodded sagely, and took a seat opposite him. "I understand how you must be feeling. How tempting it must be to get revenge against the Death Eaters. But Shadow Mages are not to be underestimated. There is a reason they were killed; Shadow Mages are blood-thirsty killers, they thrive on destruction." Harry felt a little insulted, but tried not to show it, instead just nodding. "I'll be careful from now on sir. I promise."