Chapter Nine: The Shadow Pt. I

November 4th, 1984 / Hawkins Laboratory, Hawkins, Indiana

The Magical Sciences Department within Hawkins Laboratory was in complete panic. The department Senior Director Harry Potter had collapsed to the floor, his glamours disappearing suddenly to reveal his young appearance. Dr. Maria Graves was quick, pulling off her lab coat quickly before tossing it over his face. Harry had explained the plan to her but hadn't mentioned his glamours failing suddenly. She didn't think the occupants of the room had had any time to see the glamour fail, but she couldn't be sure. Mrs. Byers, her boyfriend, and the Wheeler boys were all too focused on Will to see that Harry had collapsed. After all, the boy had begun to convulse, his eyes twitching as he muttered to himself. Maria didn't know what was happening. What she did know was simple. The plan had worked, and Harry had successfully transferred his mind into that of Will Byers. With any chance, he could drive The Shadow out and cure the boy. And with a bit more luck, Harry could end the fucker once and for all.


Will's Mind

Harry Potter slowly regained consciousness while filled with a feeling of both dread and determination. He opened his eyes, being hit with a barrage of images and colors that corrupted his entire body. But not his body. Will's body. Because he had willed himself into the boy's body, hoping to push The Shadow out. And it seemed to have worked. He wasn't sure how exactly, but he remembered the process. He had placed the shock-therapy plugs directly onto Will's temples, using them to funnel shadows into the boy's mind and body. Once the boy's body was internally covered in Harry's shadows, he willed himself to take over. To leave his body and enter Will's. Because this wasn't a matter of the mind. It was a matter of wills. And Harry's was strong.

So there he was trapped in Will's mind and body, fighting against two other occupants. But this was different from any experience he had seen before. He saw the entire room as he was still there. But everything was dark, and everyone was still. And no one held a definite form. He could make out Joyce Byers, Bob Newby, Mike, Dr. Grace, and the others. But they held no faces. No clothes. Nothing. They barely held a physical shape. But in the center of that shape were bright lights. Lights that spread out with tendrils of smaller light to every edge of their bodies. They all held tints of blue. Were these souls he was seeing? Or were they minds? Strung together from memories and thoughts within them all?

Harry looked down at himself within Will Byers' body and frowned. There were three lights all swirling around within the center, knocking each other around for control. One was a faint blue. The second was pitch-black. And the other was bright white with hints of black. Harry realized then. These were indeed souls, and he was fighting Will and The Shadow's souls for control over Will's body. He glanced to where he had been before, and saw the same human shape as the others, lying on the floor. Only this shape held no soul. Nothing but emptiness. His body was dead then, and he resided within Will. But the deepest part of him didn't want to be here. It knew that those around him didn't want him here. He wanted to leave. To go home.

But then another voice called out. It needed his help. It recognized him from the link. But that didn't make sense. The only link Harry had ever established was between the Party and Will had been in the Upside Down by then. Did that mean they had found a way to add him to the link and project Harry's memories to Will or had they just told him? Then it spoke again. I recognize you. And again Harry internally questioned. How? Had the Party mentioned me? The voice echoed back. No. I don't know-how. I just do. That made even less than before. But he was here on a mission. And Harry intended to complete it. He glanced back down at himself - No - He looked at Will and focused solely on taking over. Taking the body while holding onto Will for dear life.


On the outside, things had only gotten worse. Will was had needed to be restrained due to the wild convulsing and didn't seem to be relaxing no matter how much Diazepam they pumped into Will's body. Dr. Holman knelt down beside Harry's body, reaching below Dr. Grave's lab coat as she check his pulse. She almost cried out in shock. Her gaze fell on Graves, who was watching her with wide eyes. "He's dead," Graves wanted to react. She wanted to help him. But she knew that she needed to keep her attention on the Byer's boy. Dr. Holman and Dr. Huber could help Harry. And they did. They load him onto a stretcher and hooked him up right there beside Will's table, trying their best to restart his heart. There was no luck. As if things couldn't get any worse than their current predicament, the facility-wide alarm began to blare. That wasn't good. Not good at all.

"What the hell is happening!?" Salgado explained. He was straddling Harry's waist, performing CPR on the boy's chest as several more guards flooded into the room. They were followed by Dr. Owens and Chief Jim Hopper, who both seemed on edge. That only got worse when the Chief spotted Harry. "What the fuck?!" All hell broke loose then as the guards tried their best to keep the Chief away from the wizard. Graves approached Owens, who spoke. "They're here. The monsters are here and we're on lockdown. We need to get everyone out of the building,"

"Sir. Potter has no pulse and the Byer's boy is going critical," Salgado called out from on top of Harry. Owens took a deep breath, rubbing his hand over his mouth as he thought of the current situation. It certainly wasn't good. Potter was dead, the Byer's boy was soon to join him, and if they didn't get out in time then they would all be dead as well. Quite the circumstances. He spoke after a long minute of shouting and chaos. "If we don't get out of this building soon, we'll all be Demogorgon meat. We need to evacuate this room and get both Potter and Byers to the Firebolt in the hangar. It's the only place besides this room where we can monitor both of their situations," Owens decided. Graves agreed, and it was decided. They would begin the journey to the hangar.


Within the body, he began to feel less and less like himself. Like he was melting into something completely different. Something that was new yet old. Shaped yet shapeless. Refined yet pure. But the voice called out to him. Help me, Harry! Harry Potter was his name. He had almost forgotten. But he then remembered everything. Seeing his life through someone else's eyes. He felt sad for himself, seeing all that he had once been through. Help me! Harry turned back to the task at hand, pulling even harder on the soul that he believed to belong to The Shadow. The original owner's soul was like everyone else's. A faint blue color. While his soul seemed to be white with hints of black. So he tugged on the pitch-black soul, pulling on its tendrils with his own. Attacking it while also clutching the faint blue soul beside him.

But The Shadow was stubborn and pushed back with enough force that Harry's attack did barely any damage. He moved to attack, digging his tendrils deep into the center of The Shadow, trying his best to shove it out while using his leftover shadows to stay within the limits of the body's shape. But it wasn't working. Because while Will's soul called to him for help and gave him strength, Harry didn't belong here. He wasn't needed here. He was needed somewhere else. And it was beginning to feel as if he were drifting through a river. A river that ran through a forest filled with green grass and tall trees the size of skyscrapers. It was a heavenly place. A place so peaceful that Harry reached out for it.

Harry! He sighed, turning back to The Shadow. He turned his back on the forest momentarily, kicking The Shadow as hard as he could. Only a slight budge. I don't belong here. Harry spoke. And when he tried to pull away and reach for the forest once more, he was pulled back. Pulled so fiercely that Harry became blind with anger. He pushed as hard as he could against both souls, causing all three of them to spiral out of the body in a mix of black, white, and blue. But he grabbed the shape first. He clung to it. Forced it to be his. He was tired. He needed it to end.


Jim Hopper was emotional and confused. He held onto a stolen rifle as his life depended on it, his glance occasionally falling on the deceased form of Harry Potter when he wasn't gazing down the long halls of the Lab. They had only made it down a floor before the entire facility lost power and the elevator stopped. This forced them out into the open, where there were likely hundreds of those creatures waiting to eat them. But only one question rang through Hopper's mind. 'He's alive?' Well, he had been. But now he was dead all over again, and Hopper was forced to question everything. It was clear that Harry hadn't been shot and killed that night in the forest so many months ago. But how had he ended up here? Was he kidnapped and developed some sort of Stockholm Syndrome? Or was there something bigger going on? And how had he died? Where had been when Hopper had visited this Lab a dozen times in the past?

Then he remembered. Harry was magical and had cast magic on himself several times in order to appear different. He had no doubt used one of those spells on himself when he was around. Hopper glanced at the lab coat around Harry's torso and confirmed his suspicion. The tag read 'James Longbottom', the same name used by the doctor who had taken Will from his room upstairs. So Harry had seen them at least once and had refused to speak. Was he angry with Hopper? Or Joyce? Or the kids? Had they done something that would result in his faking his own death or allowing himself to be kidnapped? Why wouldn't he come back? Or at least come visit to tell Hopper and Eleven that the boy wasn't dead. They had buried his body for god's sake. Just as they had buried Will's fake.

And it seemed the body beneath Harry's grave was fake too. Hopper pinched his eye shut, trying his best not to yell. What would Eleven think when she heard about this? When she saw Harry's body for a second time during the second funeral they would eventually hold for him? She had reacted badly the first time. Locking herself in her room and cried for almost a month. Only coming out to use the bathroom. Even for meals, she ate in her room, refusing to eat at the table as they had before. It wasn't until two months after Harry's 'death' that she finally began to come out of her bedroom. While Hopper had suffered the loss of someone close to him before, Eleven had not. Sure, she had killed people before, but none of them were her friends. Harry had been her best friend. Her roommate. Possibly even a brother of some sort.

And Hopper. He had been hurt. Not as badly as he had been hurt by Sarah's death, but hurt enough to admit that he wasn't fine. He sought sanctuary with Joyce Byers, who had her own experience with losing a child, and the two connected. Connected so much that Hopper had tried to make their friendship more than just that. But it wasn't meant to be. She was with Bob. "Down this stairwell should get us right into the hangar," Dr. Graves spoke. But Hopper wasn't entirely focused on that as much as he should be. He was too focused on Harry. Hopper couldn't look at the boy's body without feeling a sense of failure wash over him. He had failed the boy, and now he was dead for the second time.

"I'm sorry," Joyce whispered, moving to his side as she tilted her head towards Harry. She obviously had questions like Hopper has dozens, but those could wait until after they were out of the Lab. Hopper sighed, nodding his head slightly as the guards around them began to clear the path. They had run into only a few of those creatures on their way here, but Hopper had the feeling they would stumble into more before they reached their destination. It was a feeling so deep in his stomach that he couldn't ignore it. That and the screams of those below could be heard. Those creatures had traveled down first. That was not good.

"Help," Everyone who wasn't guarding the group turned to Will at once, whose table was being pushed along by Dr. Owens. But it wasn't Will's voice. It was someone else. "Help," The voice spoke again.

"Harry," Hopper whispered, surprise etched over his features.

"Help,"


He had it. He had control. The body was his. The other two were nothing to him now. The blue one held onto him for dear life, but he didn't particularly care. He just wanted to rest. But he couldn't. Not while the pitch-black one hung onto him as well. He kicked it with all of his might, digging more and more tendrils into it as the black shape let out a wild scream. It retaliated, plunging its own tendril into him. Harry. Harry Potter. Not Will Byers. Why was he here? Why was he doing this? Harry examined his surroundings and frowned. There were more souls around them than before, and they were all pulsing erratically. But there were more out in the distance. Behind invisible walls. They all held black souls just like this one. The Shadow's puppets. It's playthings. It's Hive. Harry called out using his mouth. "Help," He called out again. But this wasn't his mouth, he reminded himself. This was Will's mouth. He was only using it. He was his own puppet master.

"Harry," Someone whispered. Harry recognized the voice. There were tendrils that had connected to it as soon as it drew close. He knew that person. And a few others here. Cords spring out and connect to several other souls around him. No. No. Not right. Not right. He retracted them at once. Harry Potter didn't belong here. Not in this body. It wasn't his. It wasn't his. "How do we help?" The same voice asked.

Harry didn't exactly know. All he knew was that he didn't belong here. Will did. And The Shadow was very close to being driven out. But it wasn't enough. Harry was tired and so was Will. The two were on the brink of collapsing, while The Shadow seemed to be slowing recovering. Harry needed something to help him. To give him strength. He needed more. He needed to belong. He needed this body to be his. If only for a moment. He spoke. "Need. This. Body,"

"Harry? The Stranger wants Will's body?" a younger voice.

"Why?" The voice from before asked.

"Only. Way,"

"Only way to what?" A different voice from the others asked.

"To. End. It," Harry replied through a dried throat. He couldn't see. Couldn't feel anything. Couldn't smell. He could only hear and see the souls of those around him.

"How do we give you this body?" The first voice asked.

Harry croaked. "Need. To. Belong," There was silence as Harry struggled to keep his hold on the body. But it was of no use. The Shadow kicked hard and pushed him off-balance, forcing him to lose his control over the body. But for a split second, he had felt them. Felt their love for Will. Their love for him. And the need in their hearts to see them both return. And they needed him. Not necessarily him. But they needed him to save Will. And that was enough for Harry. But then another voice spoke. I want you to have my body. Take it. It's yours. This body was his. He owned it. It belonged to him. With renewed courage and strength, Harry smashed into The Shadow, pushing it out of the body's shape once more as he re-established the connection. But this time, he did not reject the connections he made to the others. He encouraged them. Watching as he and Will's shapes suddenly wrapped around each other, giving each other strength as they both fought against The Shadow.

"Help my son, Harry. Please. Bring him home," A whisper echoed. Home. Home. Home. Harry grit his teeth. He didn't have a home. But he knew Will Byers did. And he would damn well die before allowing another kid to be removed from his home. With all the strength he could muster, Harry pulled back several tendrils, forming them into a large fist as he prepared. With power and accuracy, he swung at The Shadow, hitting the soul square in the center. At the same time, he retracted the tendrils holding the shadow monster still. The sudden surprise from the release and the punch sent The Shadow's spiraling away into the abyss around them. It was gone.


Whatever had happened had worked. Will's entire body had begun to bubble and stretch as black veins spread to his neck. Everyone seemed to stop in the stairwell as it happened. And then it popped. A black mist shot out of Will's mouth screaming a high-pitched scream, spiraling around them. It then took off up the stairwell, screaming as it did so. Harry had done it. He had kicked the thing right out of Will. But then nothing happened. Will was still unconscious, and no amount of shaking, calling out, or medicine could wake him up. The only thing that kept Joyce from sobbing was the fact that a pulse could be felt. Her son was alive, but he just wouldn't wake up. And Harry...they weren't sure what had happened to him.

But they didn't have the time. The remaining guards ushered them into the hangar, which held four identical-looking ships that appeared beyond futuristic. They were made of a metal they'd never seen before, and Joyce was taken back. It was definitely meant to resemble a shuttle. But this shuttle was completely different. There were mirrors all around it. The wings had been reduced to almost nothing. The back thrusters looked very small. And the cabin looked like it would only fit three people. At most. Hopper seemed to share Joyce's thoughts. "What the hell is that? And how are we supposed to fit inside?"

"These were developed by Mr. Potter and his department to allow us to travel to the Moon as well as Mars. While those trips have not been completed, these ships hold technology that far surpasses anything we've ever seen. And as for your second question, the enchantments placed on the vessel by Mr. Potter allow the interior to appear almost seven times larger than the exterior. I assure you, we will all fit inside perfectly," Dr. Owens explained. Joyce didn't know what to say to that. Harry had become a scientist and was working with the Lab to make new technology? Why? To fight in the war with the Russians? Or was there some kind of deal going on here that they didn't know about?

"We've got incoming!" One of the guards shouted, opening fire on the stairwell as over a dozen of those creatures funneled through the doors towards them. "Go! Go! Go!" Another guard exclaimed as they all began to shoot. Hopper was among them, firing his own stolen weapon at the creatures. Will and Harry were loaded onto the 'Firebolt' and were secured beside two identical monitors on either side of the ship along the wall. Dr. Owens and the other doctors soon followed before it was time for take-off. "You civilians need to get on board now!" The same guard yelled. Hopper nodded, pulling Joyce by the arm into the ship. Only a few guards made it on board before the creatures got too close. They sealed the doors and took off.

And when they did, it was spectacular. There was no feeling of takeoff. But Joyce knew they had taken off because of the way the metal of the walls peeled away to reveal windows showing outside. They were soaring away from the Lab, but they were low enough for her to spot something. "Wait! Stop!" After a moment, the ship slowed to a stop. "Look down there," She motioned down to the ground just outside of the gate leading into the Lab. There, they could see a car, with what looked like several people surrounding it. "The car. It's familiar,"

"Zooming," One of the older doctors spoke. Suddenly a part of the floor peeled away to reveal another window, forcing Joyce to fall back into Bob's arms. Then the windows zoomed in on the car. It was Johnathan's car. And she could see him there. He was with Nancy Wheeler. Steve Harrington. And Will's friends. What were they doing here? "We need to go down there and get them before they try something stupid," Joyce spoke. And it was true. If they were here, then that meant they knew Will had been there. And if they thought he was still there, then they would break in to get him out. Something that would only get them killed. She couldn't risk losing Johnathan. Not after nearly losing Will tonight.

The ship steered around, the windows disappearing in a split second as they descended to the ground. Joyce had to wonder just what Harry had done to this ship. The monitors on the sides were almost flat, and everything else on the ship seemed right out of the future. Had Harry's past timeline been set in the future? Or had he merely evolved the current computers to get these? Joyce didn't know and didn't particularly care as the ship landed. The doors opened, and she saw them all. The kids were all watching the ship with shocked expressions, clearly having never seen something like this before. "Johnathan!"

Joyce sprinted forward, pulling her oldest son into a bear hug as he worriedly returned it. She buried her head deep into the crook of his neck, holding him close. She smiled to herself. Thank you, Harry Potter. You've helped me save both of my sons. "Mom? Where's Will?"

"He's fine. Harry saved him," Joyce replied, pulling away.

Nancy Wheeler was the first to speak. "Harry Potter?"

"The Stranger?" Lucas asked.

"The Giant?" Steve clarified. Joyce frowned. Giant? She had never heard anything about Harry being a giant. But she would ask Johnathan about it later. She needed to make sure these kids got onto the ship. "We can talk about it later. Right now we need to get away from here. The creatures are in there," She motioned to the lab.

"The Demodogs," Dustin whispered.

"Right. Them. Come on!" Joyce shouted as she jogged back towards the ship. They all whispered among themselves as they did so before they fell silent within the ship. Some were shocked at the technology within, but they were more shocked by the two motionless kids lying in beds on either wall of the ship. The kids all ran off towards Will's prone form, and the older kids - seeing that it was crowded on that side of the ship - joined Hopper at Harry Potter's bedside. Steve was a bit cautious, holding onto his nailed-bat rather tightly. But Johnathan and Nancy weren't worried about their safety. They were concerned for Harry, whose heart monitor didn't seem to be working. As if seeing their eyes trained on it, Hopper spoke. "It works,"

But...that meant he was..."I'm sorry," Nancy spoke, placing her hand on Hopper's shoulder as she looked down at Harry's body. His skin was starting to peel and fall, and some of his hair was beginning to fall onto the pillow. It looked like he was about to disintegrate. "I...thought he had passed. Before," Nancy remembered the funeral. It had been a private one. Held between Hopper, the Byers, Wheelers, Lucas, Dustin, and Steve. They had buried the body found in the forest in the local cemetery. She remembered that day.

"It was a fake. He faked it," Hopper spoke.

"Why?" Johnathan asked.

"Mr. Potter is a very selfless young man," Dr. Owens said. "He's been to other universes, and in each one, his presence has caused some sort of shift. A shift so devastating that he was either forced to leave, or many died. He understood that he could return to his original universe without first finding a safe way to do so. And so he decided to remove himself. Refrain from personal attachment with anyone. Only living to work on improving the world. Or at least that's what he told me. And so the only people he sees are his own department leaders within this room and myself. He's been working to improve the world. And he did a fantastic job while he was with us,"

"He..." Hopper seemed at a loss for words. Everyone had turned to listen to him, and everyone seemed to take it differently. The kids had called him The Stranger. Steve had called him The Giant. This was why the boy seemed so lost. He didn't feel like he belonged anywhere. He was an outcast. Never belonging to anyone or anything that he truly cared about. Except for Eleven and Hopper. And yet the boy had separated himself from them to save them from whatever the universe threw at them, and place himself into a strict environment. One he could control and care about. Science and magic. Two things he seemed skilled enough in beyond degree. Nancy smiled, taking Harry's hand in hers as she smiled down at him. Her other hand remained on Hopper's shoulder, offering him support. This was going to be hard for him. But even worse when Eleven found out.