Disclaimer: All aspects of Harry Potter are owned first and foremost by the beloved JK Rowling

A/N: Before I start, I'd like to say that although the powers of darkness are formidable and seemingly impossible to defeat, the powers of light will always prevail. Also, this story is meant to take place after the final battle. Harry wakes from a nightmare, this nightmare, and writes down what he has seen almost instantly. There is no magic in this, so if you came for that, hopefully you'll still like what I have to offer. On a side note, this story is written in first-person point of view. Obviously.

Fear is Overwhelmed

I recount this story so all who seek may find, inscribe my tale upon this parchment so all of those who feel as though they are trapped may see the light. No situation is inescapable. I have seen Him. He is real. In our darkest hour, in the blackest night, no darkness shall escape His marvelous Light.

I opened my eyes. I was lying in a field of some sort, facedown. All is silent. I carefully rolled over and sat up. "Am I in a dream?" I wondered aloud.

"No. But you'll wish you were by the end of it," said an invisible voice, reverberating throughout the strange world, "there will be no escape from this terror."

I stood up and examined my surroundings more clearly, fear and dread settling on my chest. I was in a field of tall grass. There was a forest surrounding me on all sides, menacing and hostile. There seems to not be a breath of wind, yet the grass and trees sway as if from an unseen force. The sky was a deep blood-red, absent of all form and shape of star. The only celestial being seemed to be a sickly yellow moon with a hellish tint.
I tentatively stepped forward, pondering which direction I should wander first. I spotted an incline in what I discerned to be north, and started to head toward it, acknowledging high ground is probably the best place to get my bearings.
Ten paces into the forest I started hearing the first sounds. There seemed to be a rustling behind me, no matter how fast I turned. The rustling was far away at first, but with every step it grew faster, louder, closer. To worsen the situation, the trees moved to block my path behind me, adding to my growing feelings of desperation. Suddenly, the rustling stopped. Relieved, I took a few steps forward, but before I got far I heard thousands of footsteps coming towards me from all directions. Terrified, I began to run, looking frantically about me so attentively I did not see the tree in front of me until it was too late. Blacking out, I heard laughter, and felt myself being carried over a shoulder roughly.

Upon waking, I found myself in a white room. There were no entrances or windows, and the room seemed to go forever in any direction I looked. I must be dead, I thought, for all of this to be happening.

"No, child. You have not perished," a voice seemingly from above me said, "You are only sleeping."

"What is it with all of these mysterious voices!" I retorted, close to a mental breakdown, "And how did you know I thought that?"

"Patience, child. You know the answers to your questions already. Search in your heart. You will find me. And remember, have faith in me always. I will appear when you call."

I found myself becoming drowsier and drowsier, the voice fading into the distance. "Wait! Who are you? Where is this? I have so many quest-" I managed to say before I drifted into a deep sleep.

When I came to, I was in a cave. Torches lined the walls, which were covered in mysterious markings. The markings covered every inch of stone wall, and were in every language I could think of. I was on a cold stone slab near the far end of the cavern. The only exit was a foreboding wooden door. The door had no bolt, only a gnarled wooden doorknob. Above the door was a stone sword. I got up from my slab and walked to the door. Cautiously, I opened it, revealing a dark, twisted labyrinth of hallways and caverns. There were deep scratch marks on the back side of the door.

Several minutes later, I had procured the sword and two torches off the walls. The torches cast a greenish glow on the stone, although the flames were a healthy yellow color. I stepped from the room, the door ominously closing behind me. I was alone. Shivering, I set out from the door. The way was pitch black in every direction. The only sounds were my elevated heartbeat and the eerie drip of condensation from the ceiling.
Abruptly, I heard a screech from behind me, echoing throughout the cavern. The screech was inhuman, yet sounded like a man in pain. Petrified, I stood in the nearest corner. My sword held out in front of me, I heard the pattering of bare feet on the floor. All of a sudden, a dark creature jumped out of the darkness at me. I felt a tug in my gut as I sliced through the monster clumsily. Unfortunately, the sword did nothing more than pass through the creature. I stumbled away, cursing. I broke into a sprint, trying to get as far from the creature as possible. I saw a door in the distance, lit by torches. With renewed hope, I ran as fast as humanely possible towards it. I burst through the door, attempting to close it behind me shakily. Closing it after what seemed like an eternity, I turned around.

I was on a cliff-side. There was no clear way down, and the bottom was not in view, as there was a heavy fog about a hundred yards down. All of my hopes dashed, I fell to my knees, defeated. However, an unseen force began to push me towards the edge of the cliff. Every bit of strength leaving me, I was silently pushed off the edge, falling into the deep abyss.

I awoke in the same white room as before, but for one major difference. There was a man in the room, dressed in white robes. I walked up and, tapping him on the shoulder, asked, "Excuse me, sir? Do you happen to know where we are?" The man turned around, and smiling warmly, placed his hand on my chest, palm down. I felt a rush of warmth flood into my body.

I was back in my nightmare world. Unscathed from my fall, I stood up, although there was a large pool of blood where I had landed. I was in some sort of bog, surrounded by opaque white fog. The fog was in stark contrast with the rest of the world, it seemed, being white on black. The silence was deafening. I set off in a random direction, wanting only to get out of the strange and terrible world. Before I got far, however, a tendril grazed my leg. Another tendril found my other leg. Both tendrils wrapped around my legs, pulling me down and away from my position. Facedown, I wondered what I could have done to get myself into this. My journey through the bog came to a sudden stop.
Shakily standing up, I examined my surroundings. The fog parted ahead of me, revealing a dark gray sea. The only way was forward, as the fog had formed an inescapable wall behind me. Walking to the edge of the sea, I looked out upon it. The sea floor was not visible, and it seemed to be covered in seaweed. Sighing, I stepped into the murky water and began to swim. Upon closer investigation, what I assumed to be seaweed was in fact a writhing mass of tentacles. Fear coursing through me, I tried to calm myself. I closed my eyes and thought of happiness. It did not work.

Soon, exhaustion began to pull at me, bringing me ever closer to the tentacles on the sea floor. As I reached the tips of the first tentacles, they wrapped around me, grasping at whatever skin they could find. Scared to death, my sanity left me. Panicking, I tried to breathe, but instead got a mouth full of water. I was sure I was about to die. Curiously though, there was a flash of light as I was passing into oblivion. I found I could suddenly breathe, and taking gulps of air into my lungs, found the darkness of sleep. Silence consumed me.

Waking up, I found myself in the same field as before. I was hauled to my feet by what seemed to be a shape-shifting demon. The demon held me by the throat, and with one simple statement destroyed me. "Welcome to Hell." It seethed and whispered into my ear. The demon dropped me and I fell to the ground. Knowing now the full scale of my predicament, I stood up. I was surrounded by my worst fears, monsters from my darkest nightmares. Knowing I was going to die, I had no resolve in me but to pray. I prayed that I could be saved. I prayed for forgiveness. I prayed for other things, too many to remember.

As the monsters closed in on me, a man appeared at my side. He was the same man that was in the room with me on my second visit. He waved away the terrors at hand, and turned to me then, saying, "Return to your world. Never forget what you have seen. You have been saved." I woke up in my room.
And so here I am. My waking hours, spent recounting this story. When I am asked what I could have learned from this experience, my answer will always be, "Never fall into temptation, or you will find yourself in a greater predicament. I was one of the lucky, the few, the saved. Believe, have faith, lest you fall into a deeper, greater Hell than I."

A/N: Well, what do you think? For a first and tentative story, I think I've done well. I'm finding I quite like writing horror. Although these are my personal fears and I wrote this story from my perspective, most people are afraid of the same things and I adapted this story to fit Harry.

Thanks,
-Principal N