Harry looked down at the ocean below him. The two dementors had been carrying him over the water for a while now, with not even the slightest hint of land in every direction Harry looked.
‘How long until we reach your island?’ Harry asked.
‘Quick!’ 235 replied and then did not continue.
‘But how long specifically?’ Harry asked, ‘I thought we were flying fast when we were over the ground, this island must be very far away.’
‘Grrrr,’ 104 said, ‘The island is protected, only one path in. We have to fly all the way around to avoid the wards. They are very annoying to creatures like us. 235 hasn’t learned human time measurements yet. It should be ten minutes before we get there, the Harry Potter.’
‘Thank you, 104, I was just curious,’ Harry said before opening his jaws wide again. He was still enjoying the feeling of the salty sea air running through his gums and layers of sharp teeth. It was odd, now that he had triggered the change manually, his soul was showing no indication of turning back to its human form. Harry had briefly reviewed his memories and was sure he could manage it given some practice. The manipulations of the strings wouldn’t be exactly the same but Harry had vastly improved his control so he should be able to master it in no time.
Eventually they came into view of land. There poking just above the waves was a cluster of pitch black rocks looking like spears striking from below. The ocean was seething with large waves crashing onto the rocks and blasting water into the air as if the area was constantly under the effects of a massive storm. The area was foggy there was little light, so the whole area was dark. The air was frigid, and Harry saw ice had formed in the places where the sea water had splashed onto the rocks by the sea.
At the center of this cluster of black rock was a massive castle that shot into the sky. Harry saw cloaked figures floating lazily around the exterior of the castle, but there was a light in a few of the windows. The beam of light smeared through the mist until the whole area was lit with a diffuse glow. 104 started to lower, but 235 kept going forward. 235 lost its grip and Harry started to fall as 104 struggled to carry him by itself. Harry thrashed slightly as he felt weightless for a moment. He opened his jaws wide.
‘Ahhhh, I’m falling!’ Harry shouted.
235 turned and dived back down and grabbed Harry again, and after a moment of adjusting their grips, Harry was secure between the two of the dementors again.
‘We are taking him to the secret place, don’t you remember, 235? Not up to the humans.’ 104 stated.
‘Sorry! I forgot about the humans at the castle,’ 235 said sheepishly, ‘I remember now.’
‘Grrrrrr. Focus, 235. Don’t want to drop our guest…’ 104 said.
‘I won’t…again.’ 235 replied reluctantly.
They flew just above the waves into a gap between the rocks by the sea. They continued inside for a few seconds in total darkness until Harry felt the tingle of magic wash over him. Then he felt himself pulled upwards and he was in a massive cavern lit up by hundreds of floating magical lanterns.
The place was absolutely filled with dementors. As Harry watched, a few drifted out of the dark tunnels lining the walls around him. As Harry entered the light, all the floating Dementors heads snapped towards Harry.
235 and 104 kept flying through the cavern, seeming to have a destination in mind. More and more Dementors drifted to crowd them as they flew. Despite only being able to hear the drips of water on stone in the cavern, Harry was being overwhelmed by the absolute wall of speech from the curious Dementors around him. Most seemed to be targeting 104 with their curious questions, but the dementor just grumbled and kept flying.
The Dementors pressed closer and closer until there was a wall of them all around, furiously asking questions.
‘Quiet, all of you. Give them some space,’ A powerful voice washed over the crowd and the chatter cut off. The dementors backed up and Harry saw a massive example five meters tall, over double Harry’s own improved height in his new form.
‘104, 235,’ it continued, ‘Why do you bring this creature to our home? You know how hard we have to work to keep this place safe from the humans…’
104 and 235 flew downwards and slowly lowered Harry to the ground until his feet were touching the cold stone below. Harry could feel the chill, but it didn’t seem to be bothering him at all. He stumbled slightly as he adjusted to standing after so long spent limp in the air.
‘It talks! And it's a soul eater too!’ 235 said excitedly after the two of them flew upwards after releasing Harry on the ground. ‘The humans wanted to kill it, but look at its gray skin and thin form! If it had a cloak and could fly then it could be one of us!’
The large dementor turned to 104, ‘104? Is this true? It can talk and is a soul eater?’
104 dipped up and down in the air and spoke, ‘Yes, One. I fed it a tiny snack and it ate its soul. It calls itself a Harry Potter.’
Harry twisted his head around and saw the other dementors were floating around, pressing inwards and pulling back alternatively as they seemed to want to observe Harry closely but maintain a distance out of respect for the orders of their apparent leader, One.
‘So, the Harry Potter? Is this true?’ the powerful voice said from behind him. Harry turned and One had drifted closer and its head shifted as it seemed to inspect Harry closely.
‘Yes,’ Harry replied, ‘I can speak to you. And I eat souls, although I only realized it recently. 104 and 235 saved me from the Ministry,’ Harry turned to the two dementors floating above him, ‘Thank you again, you two, for not turning me in to them.’
One snapped its head to 104 and 235, ‘You were ordered to deliver the creature to the human leaders? This is more complicated now, but I see why you brought it here. An interesting creature indeed. It does appear similar to us…’
One floated closer until it was towering over Harry, but he felt no threat from it as it brought its head with its flat expanse of skin and circular mouth closer to inspect Harry. Its skeletal arms reached out from its cloak and gently tugged Harry’s arm upwards and moved it carefully to test the joint.
Harry wasn’t sure what was happening, but when One brought his hands to Harry’s mouth and applied some pressure, Harry opened his jaws wide obediently. One spent a little while longer inspecting the interior of Harry’s mouth before floating backward again and floating slightly higher into the air,
‘Hmmm. Teeth made for flesh… How strange,’ it mumbled as it continued inspecting Harry from above. Harry closed his jaws with a snap as it seems that One was finished with that part.
‘So, the Harry Potter,’ One asked, ‘What do you plan to do now? You could live with us, but without the ability to fly it will be very inconvenient for you. Also I don’t sense your aura, and humans don’t often allow us to consume a whole soul if that’s how you have to feed. We can feed bit by bit with our aura, so it is much more sustainable for us to live here rather than to constantly be bothered by the humans in the outside world always running away or attacking us.’
Harry opened and closed his wide jaws a few times as he thought of what he should say. One seemed powerful, he didn’t want to upset it. Harry debated internally if he should lie about things. But 104 and 235 had been nice to him. And he probably needed help getting back to somewhere where he would be safe. He didn’t want to live in this cave forever…
‘Well, I was planning to go back to Britain and live there. Harry Potter isn’t my species, I don’t know what I am to be honest. Harry Potter is my name, and I can turn into a… human… if I want to.’
All the dementors drew back and seemed to collectively gasp and gossip. One’s voice cut through the chatter. ‘A disguise? So you can sneak up on your prey? How useful. Show us, show us.’
Harry hesitated, ‘Can you promise not to eat me?’ Harry asked, not clarifying that he was not trying to eat people, thank you very much. ‘I do have a soul and I like it where it is…’ he said.
‘You have a soul?’ One asked, ‘Interesting. I give my word we won’t consume you while you are disguised. But turn back quickly, many of us stay down here because we broke one of the humans restricting rules on us. Best to not tempt any of us too much.’
Harry performed the reverse soul manipulations and he began to shrink slightly and his skin started becoming healthier. But Harry failed halfway through and he snapped back into his undead form. He tried again and almost made it to the end, but failed and turned back again.
‘Sorry, I’ve actually never done it on purpose before,’ Harry apologized. He tried again and finally succeeded and turned back into a human boy. A naked boy in a freezing cavern with a rocky floor that was very wet and slippery. The comforting cold in the air from before became biting as Harry transitioned and suddenly he felt horrible like he was sick.
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One floated down as Harry repressed the urge to vomit at the wave of unpleasant sensations running through him at the moment.
‘Remarkable,’ One said, ‘I would not believe it if I had not seen you transform, that disguise is perfect…’
One came closer and there was a rush of air as it breathed inwards. Harry felt his soul twitch in his chest, but it didn’t move more than a few centimeters before stopping its movement and snapping back to its proper place.
‘Even your soul is protected from our drain. Now, turn back before I grow too hungry. That soul is one of the most appetizing I have ever seen…’
Harry had already begun the process even before One even started speaking. This place was absolutely miserable when he was in his normal form.
One stared at Harry silently for a few seconds as Harry finished the sequence. Harry’s body twisted and shifted and grew as he returned to his taller undead form. He opened his jaws wide until they creaked and shivered as he suddenly grew much more comfortable with his surroundings.
‘Oh, why are you using numbers to refer to each other by the way?’ Harry asked One after stretching briefly, ‘Is 104 older than 235?’
‘Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?’ 235 protested and flew a little closer to Harry.
‘Hr, hr, Grrrrrr,’ 104 made a sound that could be considered a laugh, ‘Even the newcomer knows who was made first! I am much wiser, youngling. Hr, Hr.’
‘Bah, always gloating 104! I’m just as mature as you are!’ 235 said with an obvious pout in its voice.
‘Hr, Hr,’ One laughed as the bickering between the two continued, ‘Yes, it is as you guessed, Harry Potter. I was the first of the Dementors. Any that came after or came to this island received their number. We are at three hundred and twenty five at the moment.’
Three hundred and twenty five… 235 really was fairly young compared to 104 then.
‘So, Harry Potter,’ One asked after a moment, ‘It was interesting to meet you. I’ll introduce you to the others. They all are very curious about you, I can see.’
Harry nodded, and given One’s permission the swarm of curious Dementors descended onto Harry and began poking and prodding at his gray skin. They all seemed especially fascinated by Harry’s sharp teeth whenever he opened his mouth wide. Many even stuck their hands inside his mouth to feel some of his teeth and poke his black gums with their fingers. He pulled back when they did that, and after One told them to leave it alone they stopped. Eventually, they drew back a bit as the most curious got a good look and floated off again.
Seeing that they had mostly dispersed, One spoke again.
‘Do you require anything else or do you wish to be brought back to the mainland now?’
‘Thank you for the help,’ Harry said, ‘I would like to go back to the mainland now, please.’
‘Very well,’ One said, ‘104, 235, take it there. Try to think of an excuse to give to the humans regarding your actions as you fly over.’
‘Yes, One!’ They both said eagerly from where they had been hovering nearby and swooped down to pick up Harry. They rapidly flew towards one of the tunnels. Harry twisted his head to look behind him and made an awkward wave as he plunged into the darkness.
‘Bye! Nice meeting you all!’ he called behind him. Several dementors raised their arms to match Harry’s gesture, but then stared at their arms in confusion as if they didn’t understand what they had just done. Then they were gone and Harry was flying through the darkness again.
‘Hey, Harry Potter!’ 235 asked after they were out over the open ocean again, ‘What’s it like pretending to be a snack? It must be so strange!’
Harry had long given up any hope of asking the Dementors about the ethics of eating souls. They didn’t seem to have any hesitation about it all from what Harry had heard, only the practical concerns stopping them from consuming every creature they could get their hands on.
‘Well, I only realized I had this second form a few months ago,’ Harry answered, ‘So I suppose I always felt like a human. It’s the second form that I’m in right now that is so unfamiliar to me.’
‘But how did you survive if you didn’t eat souls?’ 235 asked curiously, ‘I thought humans couldn’t do that.’
‘I suppose I just ate normal human food. I’ve always eaten a lot, but I ate my first soul only after I first transformed into this.’ Harry gestured to his body with his arm as they continued flying over the ocean.
‘Wooooow. Imagine being able to live off of flesh, 104.’ 235 said, ‘All of those animals with the tiny souls might be more tasty if we could eat their flesh too like Harry Potter!’
‘Grrrr. High numbers are so spoiled with the availability of souls these days. Before the island became a prison, I would go months or years without even getting the slightest scrap of energy from my Aura. Souls are the best food anyway. Don’t need anything new,’ 104 grumbled.
‘Booooo. Spoilsport,’ 235 replied.
— — —
They finally had reached land again, and the sun was up now. Harry must have spent longer than he thought in the Dementors' big cave.
‘Where should we drop you off?’ 104 asked Harry.
‘Can you find an empty field first?’ Harry asked, ‘I want to change into my human form before getting near people.’
‘Look, there’s one!’ 235 pointed excitedly downwards with one arm and Harry lurched as 235 lost its grip on him slightly.
‘Grrrrr, 235, focus on carrying the Harry Potter! But that is a good spot,’ 104 said while reprimanding 235.
‘It is a good spot!’ 235 agreed, pointing again while making sure to properly keep its grip on Harry this time. They descended and landed in an empty field with short cut grass. Harry took a few steps away from the dementors and turned.
‘Please don’t attack me, okay? 235? 104?’ he said.
‘Grrrr. Fine. Even if you have a very tasty looking soul,’ 104 grumbled.
‘Of course! You are far too interesting to attack even if your soul does look delicious,’ 235 said reassuringly.
‘Okay, here I go,’ Harry said as he began manipulating his soul to begin the transformation. After a few seconds he began to shrink and was back in the form of a human boy.
Harry shivered. How odd it was so cold here even while the sun was shining down on him.
‘Can you bring me to the muggle police station closest to where you found me? I can make my way from there,’ Harry asked the Dementors while moving his mouth silently.
‘Sure! What does it look like?’ 235 asked eagerly.
‘Hr, Hr, Hr,’ 104 laughed, ‘235 you do not know what they look like? Truly you are a youngling. It is the building with all the human stress emotions and the humans in power there wear blue.’
‘104! Meh, I remember now. Just because you remembered right away doesn’t make me a youngling.’
The two kept bickering as they picked up Harry and flew him back into the air. Harry shivered and curled into a ball as the cold wind bit into his naked body as the Dementors flew him forward. The hands that were lifting him by the armpits were clammy and ice cold. 104 lifted its arm and pointed downwards where Harry could see dozens of police cars parked.
The two Dementors swooped down and dropped Harry in the alley between two buildings near the police building. The place was empty. Harry was shivering and his skin was red from exposure to the cold as they flew. 104 and 235 placed him on the ground gently after they got close to the ground.
Harry stood and tried to suppress his shivering body. He worked his mouth silently again to speak to the two Dementors,
‘Thank you, 104, 235. It was nice meeting you and the rest of the Dementors.’
‘You are welcome!’ 235 said happily, ‘I hope I get to see you again soon.’
‘Grrrrr, we must report to the ministry now. Explain why we were gone,’ 104 said, ‘But it was… good to meet you as well, the Harry Potter. Let’s go, 235. I’m sure the Harry Potter has human business to attend to.’
‘Bye, Harry Potter!’ 235 said as the two floated away. Harry waved and 235 mimicked him, flying backwards up into the clouds until the two of them disappeared.
Suddenly everything felt a little warmer and Harry let out a little sigh of relief. No wonder, it had been the Dementors creating that unnatural chill just by being nearby. Harry covered his privates with his hand and made his way to the police station. It was early morning so the place looked practically abandoned. Harry pushed open the door awkwardly with his free hand and went inside. The main lobby was empty. The fat man manning the desk was looking down at his desk and writing something. After a few seconds when he still hadn’t looked up, Harry cleared his throat.
“Hello? Do you have any clothes I can borrow? I have just escaped a kidnapping…”
The man looked up and his eyes widened as he saw Harry standing there awkwardly, “J-Jeeez, kid! Here, I’ll… Come right through. We’ll find you something.”
— — —
Harry relaxed as he was given oversized stretchy shorts and a massive T-shirt that one of the police officers had found in the last few minutes. They had asked all sorts of questions, but Harry knew he had to make a call first.
“I’ll answer everything," He told the officers, "but please. I just have to use your phone first to call someone, it is very important I do it.”
The three concerned officers shared looks, “Alright kid,” one of them answered, “We are just concerned for your safety. You’re not in trouble, we just want to know what happened. Come with me, I’ll show you where it is.”
He looked at the other two men, “Barnes, Smith. Get someone from social services and find some real clothes for the kid. Social services can bring someone that knows how to deal with children better than us.”
He walked off and Harry followed him until they reached the phone. It was sitting on a table and wired to the wall. Harry picked up the phone off of the receiver and pressed the four digit code. The ministry had set it up so wizards in the muggle world could call this number and be connected to the ministry in an emergency.
The phone clicked and a woman’s voice sounded from the other side. “Hello, this is the Ministry, what is your emergency?”
“Hello, this is Harry Potter,” he replied, “I was kidnapped roughly a month ago. I recently escaped my captors and am currently at a muggle police station. Can you send someone to help me?”
The officer stared at Harry in confusion as the woman on the other end went silent for over ten seconds. The phone clicked and there were faint voices and rustling of parchment on the other side of the line now. The woman’s voice was more strained than before.
“Sorry for the delay. A lot of people have been looking for you. What is your current location?”
Harry put the phone to his chest and turned to the confused officer behind him. “Excuse me, what is the address for this station?”
The man blinked, “Well, it is…”
Harry repeated it to the woman from the ministry and she thanked him.
“Alright, Harry. You just sit tight,” she said, “A team of Aurors will be there in less than a minute to help you. They will sort everything out with the muggle police department as well.”
“Thank you,” Harry said before putting the phone back on the receiver and ending the call.
The officer looked curious, but didn’t ask Harry about what the man had heard. Harry thought that he was a nice man, he seemed genuinely concerned for Harry. But the nice officer wouldn’t stand a chance if one of the wizards that kidnapped Harry showed up to take him back to the Dursleys again. Harry smiled slightly as he saw the group in blue Auror robes step inside and quickly sweep past the front desk without even stopping.
Harry had finally made it away from the Dursleys.