Harry Potter and the Night of the Living Dead
Harry Potter leaned down, staring at the dead rabbit in front of him. It was raining outside and his feet were already getting filthy in the wet dirt but he didn't seem to notice. All he could do was stare at the dead animal. Dudley had been trying to show off to some older kids and had kicked the poor thing to death in front of him.
The white rabbit had sneaker marks on him and some blood in his eyes. He also had a broken ear. He had clearly died a painful death. Harry was no stranger to gloom, he lived in it, but this had been especially heart wrenching for him to witness. The rain got more pronounced. Harry shivered and instinctively wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered. His teeth chattered and a single tear rolled down his cheek, though no one would notice due to the rain.
He could hear the neighbors yelling at each other from across the street. Their voices were background noise. All he could hear was the ringing that had started when Dudley finished killing the creature and had shoved it in Harry's face. Harry stared into the rabbit's dead eyes. Dead were all they could ever be. Harry had never feared anything that normal boys his age would. Spiders, Demons, ghosts, none could scare Harry. But death? He imagined there was nothing more chilling than eyes that held no life in them. It wasn't the thought that they could come back to life that scared him, but rather the fact that something once living now would never breathe again.
Harry heard footsteps behind him and didn't comprehend what was happening until a firm hand grasped his hair and started dragging him away. He suddenly hit the floor. It was cold and hard.
"Look at the mess you made!" He heard. Looking up, Harry saw the beat red face of his aunt. The ringing hadn't stopped and he listened on dully as his caretaker berated him for what felt like hours. Eventually it stopped as a rag was thrown at his face. His face burned with the slap it had received from the cloth and he set to work cleaning the floor he had dirtied.
The evening went on for eternity. Throughout dinner, Dudley had a wicked grin on his face and occasionally looked at him and made comments about eating a nice cooked rabbit. Harry tuned it all out and picked at his food. Uncle Vernon berated him for being wasteful and sent him to bed early. Harry lay awake, staring at the ceiling. He never remembered being happy. He hoped the bunny had lived a happy life. He giggled when he thought of the creature eating Petunia's herbs, then remembered its death again and vomited. He shuddered. The event re-playing in his mind over and over. The ringing got louder as he relived the animal's slow death.
The trauma went on for what felt like hours, but suddenly stopped when he heard a tapping on the window. The house was deathly quiet and Harry pulled the covers over himself for protection. The tapping was robotic. It never changed and went on and on. Harry felt a wave of dread come over him. He climbed off his bed and crawled on all fours to the door. He scaled the walls, head bobbing and bones cracking. His body twitched and shuddered and he eventually came to the living room. He saw his reflection in the mirror. He was lanky and much skinnier than he used to be. His hair was long and white and his skin was pale. But worst of all was his eyes. Cold, dead, lifeless.
He writhed closer and peered into his reflection. He was sporting a wicked grin and his scar was burning red. Flames peeking out as if there was an inferno inside his head. He turned his head this way and that and the creature on the other side followed his movements. The reflection suddenly snapped its head towards the window going out to the garden and Harry woke up panting in his bed.
He was coated with sweat and felt colder than he ever had before. He laid there catching his breath for several moments. 'It was just a dream' he muttered to himself, before letting out a ragged breath. He was just about to fall back asleep when he heard the tapping again.
This time the sense of dread was overwhelming and Harry let out a whimper. He checked the clock and it was still early in the morning. 2AM to be exact. The tapping didn't let up and Harry shakily got up and gripped the doorknob. His hand was trembling and he fought to get a grip on the cold thing.
After steadying himself, Harry took hold of the door and opened it slowly. Harry peered out with squinted eyes, afraid of what he might see. He looked down at his hands gripping the knob and let out a shaky breath seeing that they were his normal skin tone.
The tapping was louder now that the door to his cupboard was open. Harry began creeping out. He moved stealthily, more afraid of what was making the noise than his caretakers.
The house was baked in moonlight. Blue light sliding off the aluminum utilities and giving the house an unearthly glow. Harry moved through the home feeling alien in it. As if he didn't belong. The tapping was just around the corner now. Harry braced himself and peered. He didn't notice anything at first. His eyes were still adjusting to the light level. Thunder rumbled in the background and Harry looked around the room. He was avoiding looking at the window going out towards the garden. He heard the tapping again and it emanated from exactly there. Harry once more felt dread, but decided to glance over. He thought he could see the creature from the dream out of the corner of his vision, but didn't let it bother him. If this was going to be his death, then at least all his suffering would end.
All of his courage left him when he saw the window and he let out a low moan. He could make out two ears, rabbit ears, on the other side of the glass. He heard the tapping again. Saw the creature twitch unnaturally. It could have been another rabbit, but Harry knew it wasn't. He stood transfixed. Ears once more ringing as the tapping continued. He stood there until the morning.
Harry jolted when a finger poked him on the forehead and he fell back, screaming. Dudley let out a laugh that went on and on. Eventually his aunt and uncle came in, looking annoyed.
"What's wrong with him?" Vernon asked his son, glaring at the whimpering freak on the floor. Harry pointed at the window going towards the garden, but nothing was there.
Vernon sneered and moved to lift the boy up by his shirt. "You smell like shite. Clean yourself up and make breakfast!"
Harry nodded resolutely. He was actually glad to see his relatives. He didn't know how long the night was, but he thought it would never end. He made breakfast in a chipper mood, passing off the night's events as nothing but a nightmare. He didn't, couldn't try to think of why he was standing in the living room. The otherworldly thought was too much for him and he brushed it off.
The day went by as usually. Chores, being berated, running from Dudley's gang, getting beat up. Then being yelled at by his aunt and being sent back to his room after fixing tea.
Harry was happy to get through the day without anything strange, just for once agreeing with Petunia's ramblings on freaks and their freakish nature. If he attracted things like this, then he wished he wasn't a freak.
Evening turned to night and Harry drifted to sleep, happy to finally be getting some sleep. It had been a long two days and he was exhausted. He was just about to drift off, only to be once more awoken by the tapping sound.
Harry shot up, eyes wide. The silhouette of the dead rabbit burned in his mind and he started to cry. It hadn't been a dream. It was real. Harry started laughing and cursed Dudley's name. He never dared to say anything to his cousin's face, but the boy had done something terrible to him. He shuddered wondering why he was being haunted. Perhaps the rabbit thought that he had killed him, by standing by and not helping. Harry would have helped if he could. Harry disassociated. The smiles Dudley and his friends had on were etched into Harry's mind. They had been so happy that the rabbit was suffering.
Harry giggled again, though there was no humor in it. The tapping continued and Harry walked out of his cupboard in a trance. Smile on, he walked until he came to the garden window. The rabbit was there. One ear bent and broken as always. Harry couldn't make out its eyes. He imagined they were dull and grey. He stood there and stared. His ears buzzed with white noise. The lanky creature was whispering in his ear, telling him not to be afraid. Telling him that the tapping was good, great even. He was safe. It looked healthier this time. It was less lanky and its hair had turned a darker shade.
This time when Dudley came in, he didn't poke Harry. Instead he just stood there watching him with an odd look on his face.
"Hey freak!" He called, but got no answer.
Harry could still hear the tapping. Everything else didn't matter. The creature lay crouched underneath Petunia's tea table. It twitched and made tapping noises underneath the table while glancing at Harry. Dudley frowned and looked under the table, but didn't see anything.
He was just about to go and check when his parents lumbered in. Letting out a petite yawn Petunia strolled in and patted her son on the head.
"What's wrong with the freak?" Dudley asked.
Petunia looked at Harry then at her husband and made a 'see what's wrong' face to him. The large man was clearly annoyed by this hindrance to his normal morning and went over to shove the boy.
Harry stumbled but didn't stop his staring contest with the window. Vernon, getting angry, went to speak again glaring at the window though he could see that there was nothing there.
"Move boy!" He shouted, but Harry didn't budge. He kept his eyes on the window, a manic smile plastered on his face.
The creature had moved from under the table and was now on the wall. It moved its fist and began knocking on the wood hard enough that the paintings had started to shake. It stared at Harry grinning with him.
The knocking was rhythmic like the tapping and it didn't let up. The Dursleys shared nervous looks with each other. Petunia had begun to look scared, clearly aware that something freakish was occurring. The knocking progressively got louder and louder until it was almost deafening.
"Mom, what's going o-." Dudley had started, but couldn't finish. The knocking suddenly reached a crescendo and stopped. Harry's demon leapt into the plump boy, sinking into his body.
Harry dropped to the floor and began to cackle while Dudley's arms flailed. His bones cracked as Harry's demon got used to his new body. Vernon looked alarmed, but was fixated to the ground while Petunia paled but sprung into action running to her son.
Dudley fell to the floor and spasmed, eyes going black. Petunia tried to help, but was of no use. Dudley suddenly stopped and lay with his back arched and his mouth open.
Vernon was still rooted to the ground and his wife wasn't faring much better. Dudley jumped to his feet and ran out of the house, destroying the door as he went. Harry remained on the floor laughing. He was now crying and looked nearly out of air, but kept laughing.
Screams could be heard outside. Petunia ran to the yard and witnessed her son stabbing a pregnant woman over and over on the belly while he laughed. The woman's husband tackled the boy to the floor, but was quickly overpowered as Dudley began wringing the life out of the man. He slammed his head to the ground as he was strangling him and the man soon died. Dudley plucked his eyes out and ate them, then he continued his rampage.
Mrs. Figgs was next. Dudley took hold of a lawnmower and began running over her cats. His laughs and screams were low and baritone. Vernon had stammered out of the house on shaky legs and watched the horror. He could still hear Harry in the house, but had tuned him out.
Dudley ran into the squib's home after throwing the lawn mower into a tree. He got down on all fours and ran around the home, sniffing out his prey. He quickly found the squib hiding in a closet with some of her cats. He tore one of them from her arms as she screamed and wacked it against the doorframe hard, causing its brains to fly everywhere. He made her watch as he killed all her cats one by one, then took his time flaying the skin from her bones.
The police soon arrived and surveyed the wreckage. Two people were dead on the road. One had clearly been stabbed and the other had his eyes gouged out. On the lawn near them was a mess of fur and blood with a smoking lawn mower in a tree which had already caught fire and threatened to spread. The officer radioed for backup and began rushing to where the screams had started.
Harry of course had seen everything from his demon's eyes and was still witnessing it when his aunt made her way in. She was pale and had tear marks streaking down her face. She wore a look of pure hatred as she made her way towards Harry, grabbing a blunt object from a desk as she went. Harry cackled and shook, overjoyed by the things he was witnessing. His demon was clearly having fun, which strangely made him happy. He didn't notice his aunt until she lay over him, blunt object raised above her head.
The officer made his way into the home, gun already unholstered and his partner shared a grim look with him as they went. The home was coated in blood and dead cats. The man wrinkled his nose in disgust as he went, the screams becoming louder and louder. As they rounded a corner, the one in front ducked as something large flew past him at incredible speeds. His partner wasn't as lucky and he heard a thud as the man was flung backwards by the force and laid sprawled on the floor, neck cracked at and odd angle.
The living cop shined his flashlight at his fallen comrade and spotted a red, skinned human head on the ground next to his friend. He screamed and turned back around but it was too late. Dudley took hold of his arm and snapped it, causing the gun to fall to the floor. With his other hand he held the cop up by his neck, black eyes staring into blue ones. Dudley plunged his free hand into his stomach and began rummaging around until he found the man's heart, which he pulled out and started to eat.
Petunia lifted the heavy vase and was just about to slam it down on her nephew's head when a black blur swatted her across the face, drawing blood. She looked around wildly, swinging the vase, but didn't hit anything. She stood up and glanced shakily around the room, but didn't see anything.
She felt something drop on her head and immediately started thrashing to no use. The creature was gnawing on her head and seemed to penetrate her skin causing her to scream as she flailed. She managed to grab hold of the creature and throw it against a wall. It didn't even take a moment before getting up and facing her. It was a filthy white rabbit with dead grey eyes. She screamed again and tried to run but the rabbit tripped her and began to gnaw at her leg, biting and pulling veins as it tore through her flesh. Harry stopped laughing and sat up, tilting his head sideways as if he were admiring a painting, then started laughing anew.
Petunia screamed and moaned as she felt the loss of blood set in. Vernon ran inside and stood transfixed as his wife was being murdered by a rabbit. He couldn't move. It was too much for him. Petunia let out a pathetic noise and he dropped to his knees crying. Petunia died.
Vernon sat crying when Dudley came in. His eyes had returned to normal and he looked around frightened.
"Daddy? What's going on." He asked weakly. Vernon, feeling parental instincts override his fear scrambled to shield his son from the sight of his mother. He cried into the boy, ignoring the blood soaking him from head to toe.
Harry stopped laughing once more as the creature returned to his body and he got up silently, now hovering slightly off the ground. Dudley spotted him and Harry let out a guttural scream which shook his bones. Vernon stood up in front of his son and faced off the demon in front of him with newfound courage.
"Get back in the cupboard, freak." He intoned and the boy laughed before raising his arms. Petunia spasmed before snapping her head up, staring right into Vernon's eyes with cold grey ones. The rabbit stood by Harry's side and he reached down to rub behind its ear.
Dudley screamed and started running, his father close behind him, but Harry just laughed. They ran outside, only to find that everyone outside who had been killed were now up and moving towards the Dursley residence.
Dudley screamed and fell over, horrified. Vernon lifted his son over his head and started running towards the church, which was only two blocks away. He turned around quickly, but was startled by the sight he witnessed. Harry levitated his way out of the house and stood with his hand outstretched, halting the dead from following him.
Vernon ran faster, but didn't turn around again. Afraid of what he might see. When he heard more screams, it only made him run faster. Finally, he had arrived at the church. He barged his way in and several gasps could be heard as he made his way in and slammed the doors shut, barring them with a brass flag-pole. The occupants were all teenagers from the youth group that met every Tuesday night. There were around 20 of them. He knew that their families had to be down in the basement where the kitchens were. Nobody would be upstairs in the belltower.
His mind already started making plans as he heaved and tried to catch his breath. One young man approached him looking fearful when he glanced at his son.
"Sir. Do you want me to call the police?" Vernon eventually caught his breath and peered at the teen before speaking.
"No. Take my son into the kitchens and get him cleaned up. Then gather everyone and tell them meet me here."
The teen, startled, moved to obey Vernon's orders.
Vernon removed his phone from his pockets and made to call the police, but stopped when he noticed that there was no service.
He cursed and decided to make himself useful. The occupants from the basement started ascending and made their way to the pews. Vernon paced where the priest would usually stand and waited. The screams outside had amplified and the families inside started chatting fearfully.
Vernon spotted his son with the teen. He was all cleaned up now, but still looked scared. After they were all seated, Vernon took the mic and began speaking.
"Tonight, the devil has crawled his way into the world."
Several gasps were heard, but Vernon continued.
"My wife and I had been harboring a boy whom we thought could be cured of his evil, but in the span of a few days he let the evil in and now Hell pours fourth from his mouth and taints this world."
The crowd was deathly quiet, even as the screams continued outside.
"The boy murdered my wife and possessed my son. He then raised the dead around him." Vernon paused once more as the crowd made offended protests. "He is the antithesis to everything good and soon he will be here to raze this holy space with his godless army."
The crowd were now sporting fearful expressions as they spoke amongst themselves, but Vernon silenced them. "We must stand together if we wish to fight thi-." But he was cut off when a loud thud resounded off the walls emanating from the front door. The church was deathly quiet now. After a moment another thud was heard, then another.
Pandemonium began as the occupants screamed and scrambled wherever they thought was the safest place to hide. Vernon tried and failed to regain order. Mother shoved daughter and neighbor kicked neighbor as they all tried fruitlessly to find a place where the dead couldn't find them. Some unlucky souls were stomped on as they tried to get to a safe location.
A little girl was kicked down the stairs in the haste and landed with a snap as her neck cracked on the floor. A moment later, her eyes snapped open and she got up on all fours leaving behind her pretty doll. She scrambled up the walls and resolutely tried to find an entrance for her kin to enter in from.
Harry stood outside the church; a sneer etched on his face. 'Finally, they'll all get what they deserve.' The demon laughed at Harry's inner dialogue. He was controlling Harry's body, but Harry had not been fighting its actions, instead going along with it all. The pure hatred of his family and everyone in the neighborhood who had ignored him all those years had overridden his morals and he took mirth in what was going to happen next. The demon's aspirations were at one with Harry's as they fueled each other and the magic that Harry had been tampering down all these years finally roared its triumph at being released. The Peverell heir was coming into his power and nothing would stop him.
Harry peered around and saw hundreds of undead around them. Fires were burning around them as homes burnt down. Screams were still heard as the neighboring homes were pillaged and their residents murdered in horrid ways. Harry got to see it all through their eyes. The hivemind was conscious of everything around it and it grew as the numbers increased.
Albus Dumbledore awoke with a start when his phoenix started to caw urgently. As reality set in, Dumbledore noticed some of his whirring devices had begun to go haywire. He immediately jumped to his feet, almost slipping when his reindeer socks slid on the wood floor.
The devices that were whirring were tracking devices on Harry and the Dursleys. Albus, now alarmed, called Fawkes and in a burst of fire arrived at Privet Drive. Immediately upon his arrival, an undead child rushed at him and pulled at his long beard tearing it and causing Albus to roar as he punched the inferius off him. With unbridled fury, he whipped the Elder Wand into his hand and cast fiendfyre.
Harry's eyes shot open when several of his inferius had been immediately cut off from the network. He scowled and shot a command to the child inferi inside the church to bust open the trapdoor on the belltower. Immediately Harry sent another command for all of his forces to horde into the church.
Vernon let out a horrified moan when a large zombie dropped from the ceiling and started to bash an old lady's head against the floor. More and more undead flooded into the church and began to viciously slaughter the inhabitants. Vernon rushed to find his son.
Scrambling, he pushed aside a woman who fell into a crowd of undead who immediately started to bash her face in. Not caring about anyone in his way, he made to find his kin. Eventually he found Dudley, but dropped to his knees when he saw that it was Petunia herself who was currently gnawing at her son's neck.
Vernon died inside and didn't even notice or care when a horde of zombie children climbed on top of him and began to stab him with scissors. The last thing he saw before dying was his wife and son's dead grey eyes.
Harry let out a victory cackle and flew upwards to survey the damage. He was happy with what he saw, but was again reminded of the problem when he witnessed a fiery basilisk in the distance which destroyed some of his inferi. Harry roared in anger and began to soar towards the disturbance.
Albus Dumbledore had never seen anything as horrid as what he was seeing at this moment. He hadn't seen this level of hell on earth since Voldemort had walked the mortal plane. He steeled himself and tried to ignore the feeling of pleasure that racked his body at the use of such powerful dark magic, combined with the Elder Wand. He reminded himself that to protect the world from evil, he should bear the burden of the Death Stick.
What Albus was not expecting and could not bear was the sight of the emerald eyed boy who now stood 10 yards away from him, high in the air and sporting a grin of such malice which could easily rival Tom himself.
"Harry?" He choked.
The boy did not reply, instead lifting his arms and throwing them forward. He could feel the magic churning around him and the undead all briefly stopped their chorus, only to create an even louder cacophony of wails that seeped into his very soul.
The inferi charged at him from all angles, coming from all around the desecrated neighborhood. He called Fawkes and the creature of Light sang a war-song which motivated Albus and helped him fight with all the Gryffindor strength he used to defeat Grindelwald.
Fire spouted and spread all around him as the dark magic shot up his veins and powered him. Albus roared again, his hatred of the beings becoming pronounced in the magic that flooded the air and burned it. He became fire as he danced and lead the orchestra of purification.
Harry stumbled back at the raw power that was emanating from the old man beneath him. His demon was shouting at him to retreat and Harry became scared. He tried to flee, but the Phoenix that accompanied the old man flew right in front of him and screeched. The sound burned his ears. He felt like his brain was melting from inside his skull and the demon protested and raged against it all. The last thing he saw before it all went black was the fire warrior killing the last of his ranks and then the sky as he fell.