Severus Snape and Harry Potter

Chapter 44

Skullduggery felt a familiar quiver run through him as he sensed Harry slip free of his body and enter the astral. The raven, perched upon the back of Snape's recliner, came instantly alert and cried, "Sev, Harry's sleepwalking again!"

Severus, who was in the middle of writing a pithy comment on a student's homework, scrawled a jagged line across the page. He snarled a swear word and vanished the mistake then set his quill down and stood. "Call Ghost," he ordered the raven, moving across the room to Harry's bedroom, where he could hear the boy banging at the door.

The Potions Master opened the door and found his ward all blank eyed and lifting a hand to pound on the door again. Severus gently caught Harry's hand and lowered it, saying softly, "Harry, it's all right. You need to go back to bed, Harry. You need sleep. Skull, can you sense him in the astral?"

"Yes, shall I go to him?"

Before Severus could answer, there came a knock at the door.

"Severus, it's me, Ghost."

Severus turned and gestured, the door opened and Ghost strode in with Shriek flapping overhead.

The shaman took in the situation in a single glance. Then he dropped bonelessly to the couch, sending his spirit soaring effortlessly into the Place Between Worlds. The tall wizard's body slumped to one side as if passed out. Shriek vanished as well, crossing over fully as only a raven could.

Harry knew he wasn't supposed to Travel without permission from Ghost or accompaniment by one of the ravens, but his sleeping self refused to stay put. Restless and anxious, it wanted to roam, and so it did, meandering in the fields and plains of the astral, figuring the longer it wandered the less chance it would have of taking the dreaded History of Magic final. It was a ridiculous resolution to the problem, eventually he would have to take the test, he had no more chance of avoiding it than a fish did of getting wet. But right then he was not thinking logically, and his subconscious thought it a perfectly valid solution.

Vaguely, Harry realized his corporeal self was also inclined to wander, but somehow that didn't seem important right then. He was so focused on avoiding the subject he detested that he was unaware of the danger that stalked him.

Suddenly, there came a low snarl from behind him, and Harry turned to see an odd creature crouching in the grass. It was about seven feet tall with silvery blue fur and the rangy body of a large cat, muscles rippling beneath the coarse fur. It had a long snout, similar to a wolf's, filled with huge fangs and it had six claws on each foot. It gave a strange high pitched whine, similar to that of a dog when it spots its quarry, which scaled upwards into an eerie laugh, like an insane person's.

Instinctively,. Harry backed away, sensing that this creature meant him harm. He wasn't positive, but suspected this vicious looking creature was the Spirit Devourer Ghost had warned him repeatedly about. Acting on instinct, Harry conjured a Shield Charm, surrounding himself with a bubble of protective energy.

The Spirit Devourer half-snarled, half-laughed and then lunged with terrifying swiftness at the vulnerable young Traveler standing at the edge of the meadow.

Harry had never seen anything, except perhaps the revenant, move as fast. One moment it was across the grassy verge, the next on top of him, clawing and gnawing at the delicate blue shield. Harry could feel the shield quivering under the relentless assault and he poured more magic into the construct.

A loud screech resonated through the air and something white smote the clawing screaming Devourer right between the shoulder blades, knocking it off balance.

"Shriek?" Harry cried, amazed at seeing the white raven here. He looked immediately for her master, since one rarely saw Shriek without Ghost being far behind.