Chapter 316: Shadows Beneath the Night
Harry studied the man on the screen carefully, committing his features to memory.
Since Dudley had said this, one might truly be dangerous; it was worth taking seriously. So far, Dudley had rarely been wrong.
After dinner, Dudley used magic to help his mum clear the table, then went back up to his room to continue his research.
He had already made a list of non-combat abilities from the Beyonder system that could feasibly be recreated with magic, and he was planning to tackle them one by one.
Time slipped by unnoticed until it was late at night.
All of a sudden, Dudley sensed the temperature outside drop by several degrees. That triggered the automatic temperature-control charm he had set up.
"Why did the outside temperature suddenly fall?" he muttered, frowning.
Something was not right.
He got up and went to the window.
The street outside 4 Privet Drive was utterly still. A few street lamps cast pools of dull yellow light, breaking the pavement into alternating patches of brightness and shadow.
Dudley tilted his head back and looked at the sky.
At some point, clouds had rolled in over what had been a clear night, smothering the moonlight.
After a moment's thought, he opened his door and stepped out.
Creak.
The door to the next room opened as well, and Harry poked his head out.
"Dudley, is that your magic? I feel like the temperature in my room dropped a lot. It's much more comfortable now," Harry said with a grin.
He assumed his cousin had finally thought of him and extended the cooling charm to his room as well.
"No," Dudley said, shaking his head.
That particular spell was rather complex. It could not be arranged in a few minutes and needed constant infusions of spirituality to maintain. So far, he had only set it up in his own room. He had not yet had the time to look after any others.
"Not you?" Harry frowned. "Then why does it feel so much colder in there?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the air around him grow even chillier.
Dudley's frown deepened. Now he could clearly sense that something was wrong. A dark, evil aura was becoming more distinct by the second.
He suddenly lifted his gaze to the sky.
There was something moving quickly up there. The cold, malignant presence was pouring down from that direction. The drop in temperature inside their rooms had to be connected to those things.
"What can affect the temperature over such a wide area?" Dudley narrowed his eyes.
It was July, the hottest time of the year. Yet whatever was flying overhead had forced the ambient temperature down across an entire stretch of neighbourhood. That meant the energy they were exuding was very strong.
"Outside," Dudley said, and ran straight for the front garden.
Harry hurried after him.
They both looked up, but could see nothing. Overhead, the sky was a solid black, as if a dark curtain had been drawn across it.
"Do you feel that?" Harry asked.
He could not see anything, but a bone-deep chill and a crawling fear were creeping into his chest.
"They are up there," Dudley said grimly.
He was now certain something powerful was circling above them, sweeping back and forth as though searching for something.
"So cold..." Harry said. When he spoke, his breath steamed visibly in the air.
"Nimbus Two Thousand and One, come," Dudley said.
Pop.
A broom shot out of the cellar and hovered in front of him.
"Dudley, what are you doing?" Harry asked, startled, as Dudley grabbed the broom.
"I am going up to take a look. You stay here. If anything dangerous happens, do not hesitate. Use magic," Dudley said.
"But..." Harry began.
Before he could finish, Dudley had already kicked off and shot into the sky.
"What am I supposed to do now..." Harry muttered, watching Dudley vanish into the night. All he could do was pace helplessly.
He could not legally use magic, nor could he contact any other wizards. All he could do was stand on the ground and watch Dudley fly alone into the dark.
"Wait..."
A thought struck him. If he did use magic here, would that draw Ministry wizards to them?
It might.
But that came with a great deal of risk. Unless he was certain Dudley needed help, throwing his own neck on the line like that would be a poor trade.
High above, Dudley rode the broom straight up into the night.
His control of a broom was no worse than Harry's. He simply had less interest in Quidditch.
The bitter wind howled past his ears. After climbing only a few dozen metres, he felt a drastic shift in the air.
"Cold. Malicious. And..." He focused on his own state and suddenly realised something had gone wrong with his emotions.
"My happiness is being drained away..."
His face changed.
The shift in his mood was not trivial. It was directly disturbing his Spirit Body, shaking his sense of self, and pushing him to the edge of losing control.
Whoosh.
A huge black shadow swept over his head, racing through the sky.
In that instant, the cold pierced him to the core. It felt as if he would never be happy again. For one brief moment, the urge to give up everything washed over him. To abandon himself, abandon all he had now, and let the whispering voice in the dark swallow him whole.
Life seemed suddenly meaningless. The climb up the Sequences felt empty. Everything was sliding toward an irreversible end.
Whoosh.
The enormous black shape swooped again, diving straight at him.
At that moment, Dudley's frozen right hand twitched. A ring slipped from his finger into his palm.
"Solar Halo."
Warmth blossomed from the ring, pushing the frost out of his limbs and restoring the summer heat to his senses.
"Solar Holy Light!"
Dudley thrust up his right hand. Brilliant golden radiance erupted from the ring.
Boom.
A column of golden light crashed down from the heavens, slamming into the monstrous shadow. Its withered body burst into flames.
A shrill, alien screech tore through the night as the creature writhed. The holy light of the sun burned along its frame, and the pure, cleansing aura stripped away the evil and chill, peeling the darkness off its body and burning it to ash.
In that blazing light, Dudley finally saw it clearly.
A warped, humanoid thing.