Shadows of Samhain

Several weeks passed by, and Harry Potter and I continued to work together. We hadn't gotten closer, as the black-haired youth was still wary of me, but he didn't seem to be as afraid as before.

He was cautious and kept his distance, but he didn't refuse me when I began providing him with breakfast and lunch every day. Well, he tried to say no, but I didn't listen and forced Harry to take the food whenever we met before class.

It was currently Halloween, one of my favorite times of the year. At least it had been, before reincarnating. The British didn't have the largest celebration of the day like Americans did, though the costumes and candy was still a thing to a limited extent.

The problem for me was that Halloween was very different for the magical world. It was All Hallow's Day, or Samhain if you were a pretentious pureblood like my father.

For the magical world, the day was a time to honor one's ancestors (and appease them if they happened to show up as ghosts), and to also take advantage of the abundance of magic. For reasons I was unsure of, magic ebbed and flowed. There were days when it was greater, and times it was weaker. Never truly weak enough to be noticed in day to day living for the average wizard or witch, but these changes existed, and were closely monitored and recorded. Samhain fell onto one of these waxings of magic. Certain spells became stronger, specific rituals could be done safely, and a whole lot more.

And in more recent years, Halloween for mages meant celebrating the defeat of Voldemort at the hands of baby Harry Potter. The mood was a mixture of somber and celebratory, as people lamented the losses taken in the war while cheering for the defeat of one of Britain's Dark Lords.

One way or another, this meant there were going to be a lot of intoxicated magicals wandering around London, and an equal increase in Aurors making sure the drunkards don't cause any magical problems.

I didn't want to be recognized by anyone from the magical side today, for a variety of reasons, so I was waiting eagerly to leave school and go home to do some special potion brewing. I wanted to test if it was possible to use the increase in latent magical energy to brew certain things without relying on any overtly magical ingredients.

"You look excited," Sam said to me as the bell rang and school was let out for the day.

"Yeah, I've got a few projects to work on," I replied.

"Ah, so you're not all aflutter at the thought of dressing up for Halloween," Sam said with a roll of his eyes, as if he'd been expecting it.

"I don't like scary things," I replied. "Also, not really a fan of costumes. I do like the candy, though."

"You sure do," Sam said, giving me a sideways glance. "I have no idea how you can eat so much and stay skinny."

"I don't eat that much!" I protested. "Plus, half of the stuff is for Harry anyways. Boy needs to get some meat on those bones."

"Mmm, that's true," Sam agreed. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting you to be so good at teaching someone. Or to get along with the kid. You're very… I wouldn't say stand-offish, but definitely reluctant to open up to people."

"Guilty as charged," I said with a nod. "But still, I guess I just… feel bad for it."

"Because his situation reminds you of your own?" Sam guessed.

"Because his situation is worse than mine," I replied grimly.

"You think he's being abused?" Sam asked seriously as we left the school building.

"Absolutely," I grunted. "And even if he isn't being hit or starved – which I am fairly certain he is, in fact – he's being neglected. Plus, have you seen his cousin?"

"The little land whale? Of course I have. Brat's utterly obnoxious, it's hard not to notice him," Sam said, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "And he has an ugly name, too. Seriously, Dudley?"

"Yeah. So, you can see why I'd feel a bit protective around Harry," I said.

"I can see that," Sam nodded. "Are you going to go trick-or-treating this year?"

"No, like I said…" I began, but trailed off as I heard a commotion going on up the street.

"…than me, you freak?!"

Up ahead, the two people we'd just been talking about were visible. Harry was surrounded by Dudley and his gang of fellow bullies, who were, for the moment, only throwing taunts, and not getting physical.

"Why won't you leave me alone, Dudley?" Harry asked sourly, keeping his eyes down.

"Because of you, mom and dad took away my new bike!"

"All I did was get a better grade than you in math!" Harry protested.

"Freaks like you aren't supposed to get good grades!" Dudley snarled. "Freaks like you shouldn't even be going to school!"

He then shoved Harry roughly, which forced him back, but one of Dudley's goons – Piers if I wasn't mistaken – caught him and shoved Harry right back, preventing him from leaving the circle.

"Okay, now I see where you're coming from with your protective streak," Sam muttered as he watched the scene with an expression of shock and horror creeping across his face. He then looked around, bewildered. "We're not even that far from school, either. Why isn't someone stopping this?"

....

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