Since the first day of school, when his muggle friends had mentioned the Halloween witch film, Harry had felt reluctant to go. However, he'd forgotten about it until recently. Just three days ago, Ron had brought up the upcoming event.

The night of the movie had been in the back Harry's mind for the remainder of the week. Even When Harry was flying on his broom, he still the sensed the mixed feelings of excitement and unease as he thought of the night to come.

He still remembered their feelings of fear and hate expressed towards the magical beings not long after the film was mentioned. Possibly the reason he felt the film was not the best way to hang out with the muggles.

He looked up at the stars. Harry liked the way they would feel closer the higher up he flew, shimmering brighter in the darkness.

Tonight Ron hadn't joined him for his night time trips. Ron and Hermione had both left to buy the tickets, Harry having promised to meet up with them before the film started at midnight.

I'd been hard not to think about the film. Students at the school had put up posters on the walls of it in almost in every hall.

Everywhere he walked, he'd never been far from the big bold letters of 'WICCA'.

However, most of the posters were student made. The school had prohibited the Wicca posters from being plastered around the halls, given the graphic display of blood on the originals.

Even though Harry hadn't actually seen the original posters yet, he could tell by the way his friends talked about it that it wasn't exactly a 'good witch' movie.

Unlike the other harmless Halloween movies that showed on television like 'Casper', he knew this movie wasn't going to get his friends to like wizards the way Casper made muggles like ghosts.

Harry knew this movie would ridicule his kind, yet he could help but feel excited for the event to come. He'd never actually been to the movies. The Dursleys rarely ever let him out of the house when he was under their care, let alone treat him to anything fun.

Dudley on the other hand, had been to the movies several times, along with other places harry never had the chance to experience. That being something Dudley loved to rub in Harry's face when he walked out the door, leaving Harry in the confinement of his cupboard.

As exciting as his first visit to the movies sounded, he really wished they'd picked some other film to watch. He guessed it couldn't be helped, having it being so close to October.

Harry felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He pulled it out, carefully keeping his other hand on the broom. He was surprised to see a text message from Ron, not having thought he would've managed to get that far technology wise.

Ron: HaRRT, just gto the Ticker

Harry paused, rereading the message, trying to decipher Ron's new form of language. After finally understanding what Ron meant, Harry began to type.

Harry: Ok, I'll be righ-

Harry yelped, not having realized he'd been descending on his broom. Having been inches away from hitting a big pine tree, He flipped his phone off, making He made his way towards the down.

Once on the ground, harry turned his phone back on.

Harry: Ok, I'll be right there

Harry: P.S... Don't text and fly

**********************************************************

Harry Ron and Hermione stood in front of the theater hallway, eyeing the large Wicca poster just outside the movie room.

The poster showed an ordinary looking woman, unlike the usual muggle witch and wizard myths.

The woman was at the center of the poster, no warts or big nose stereotypes. She wore an all-black pointed witch hat which blended well with her short jet black hair. She was dressed in blood red robe, which Harry guessed was probably white, but had most likely been stained with the blood of the surrounding deceased muggles at her feet.

It took Harry a moment to realize that the arrangement of the bodies at her feet spelled the word 'WICCA'.

Hermione cringed as she examined the headless, armless, legless, or just plain bloody mess of people surrounding the witch.

Behind the witch, were other witches and wizards, all dressed similarly, the same cold hearted smile on their face.

"Isn't that lovely," Ron said, shaky sarcasm in his tone.

"You guys gonna stand there all day?" Mike asked, holding the door open. "Or are you scared?"

Harry shook his head and walked forward with Ron. They turned to find Hermione hesitating whether or not to enter.

Just then, footsteps approached. Harry looked back and saw Andrew heading toward the movie door.

He paused when he spotted Hermione. He smiled and waved at her before walking in.

Hermione waved back, blushing as she followed Ron and Harry inside.

Once inside, Harry's eyes scanned the room with amazement. He'd never seen such a large screen. It took up almost the entire wall which was taller and wider than he ever pictured it to be. There were so many rows of seats.

The seats were al cushioned with a dark red fabric, and in the arm rest the each had cup holders.

The room was darkly lit, with only enough light for Harry and his friends to find their seats.

Soon after they sat down, the room began filling up. Harry spotted many students from their school, mostly the muggles though. More light went out as the screen turned on, showing trailers for upcoming movies.

Mike and Darren didn't pay much attention though; they were too busy throwing popcorn at random people at the bottom row.

"Will you guys stop that?" Linda snapped "You'll get us kicked out!"

In response, they began throwing popcorn at her head instead. She confiscated the bucket and got up to sit next to Harry instead.

Harry smiled at her, but it soon turned into a frown as he noticed Malfoy walk in, followed by Crabbe Goyel and some other kids from school. He kept his eyes on the screen, pretending he hadn't seen him enter.

Luckily, Malfoy didn't seem to notice him. He walked hand in hand with Amber. Some of the cheerleaders behind them glared at Amber in slight jealousy.

Harry figured he never would understand why any girl would ever want to date a jerk like him, let alone an entire group of them.

He guessed it was possible Malfoy was only a bully to Harry and his friends. Probably because of Harry rejecting his friendship during first year.

It wasn't one of Harry's main concerns at the moment anyway. He was more worried about Dumbledore, and why he'd sent them here. He wondered if it was part of a plan to keep the school or Harry safe from You-Know-Who, but wouldn't they be safer at Hogwarts? It was possible they weren't, not with Umbridge taking over the place. Neither she nor anyone at the school seemed to believe him about Voldemort's return.

He wished Cedric had lived through it, so he could have just one more witness.

"You okay?" Linda asked, snapping Harry out of his train of thought.

Harry nodded.

"You seem stressed." She said "If it's about Mr. Short's assignment, I can help you finish."

Harry smiled politely "It's not, but I could use the extra help" He said "Maybe we could work on it tomorrow?" Harry said, trying to change the subject.

Unlucky for him, Linda was smarter than that and could see right through him.

"Gladly, but what's bugging you?" she persisted.

Harry really wished he could tell her. She reminded him a lot of Hermione, the way she just seemed naturally trust worthy, and the fact she could sense his unease when he'd try to mask it.

"Well, I guess I'm not all that into horror films" Harry said. It wasn't a total lie, but it was far from the truth. Either way, he'd rather have Linda think of him as a coward instead of finding out the truth.

"Oh" Linda said, smiling slightly "That's okay, Darren doesn't like them much either. He's here mostly to get more information for his manga."

"I don't think a movie would give him very accurate things or history."

"Yeah, I guess. But, where else other than books and movies?" she laughed

Harry bit his tongue, holding back an amused smile, wondering how Darren would react if learned he had three wizards right in front of him. Where else indeed..

The room around him fell silent as the trailers stopped playing. The Word WICCA appeared on the screen, glowing brightly for a couple seconds, before slowly fading into blackness...

******************************************************************************

Hermione had left to wait outside at some point during the middle of the movie. Harry couldn't really blame her. The plot had been quite dark and gruesome from the start. He would've left too had it only been him and his friends, but he was sure Malfoy would've noticed along with the other students from his school which had attended. He wasn't really in the mood to be called a scaredy-cat.

Harry looked over at Ron many times during the film. His face had been almost glued to the screen in horror as he'd observed the reason why muggles feared wizards.

The movie, Harry admitted, had amazing effects. It made the events appear very realistic. The graphic of violence towards the muggles was what Harry knew would be in the back of his mind for a long time, not because it had shocked him, but because he knew it was something the death eaters were capable of.

He knew that was the main reason he had to convince the ministry of Voldemort's return. He wouldn't let him win. He knew he couldn't. If he did, it wouldn't just be his muggle born friends in danger, but his new ones as well. Throughout the film, the faces of Linda, Mike, and Darren flashed on the screen replacing those of the muggle actors.

He knew they weren't there, but the images wouldn't leave his mind.

Harry was relieved when the film ended, but now felt as though have to become an actor himself, pretending to be another muggle who'd enjoyed it as nothing more than fiction.

Linda stood up and stretched next to him.

"It wasn't so bad was it?" She said, then laughed "Okay, it was pretty gruesome."

Harry nodded, remembering that girl who was lifted in the air by the black haired witch .He'd imagined Linda when that happened. He stopped himself before he remembered the rest.

"Harry, you look pale." Linda said worriedly.

Harry was about to reassure her that he was fine before Mike snuck up behind them with the popcorn bucket over his head, tickling Linda, nearly giving her a heat attack.

Linda's shriek awoke Ron from his trance, the sudden noise making him jump, as Mike and Darren howled in laughter.

Mike removed the bucket from his head, gasping for air as he tried to hold back more laughter.

"Man." Mike said. "I wish I could've seen your face"

Linda rolled her eyes, but laughed slightly at the remains of popcorn now stuck to Mike's hair. "I'm going to go check on Hermione." She said, walking ahead of them.

Harry and Ron walked a little further behind the group.

"That was...bloody" Ron said

"Yeah, let's just go grab some pizza or something nearby." Harry sighed, opening the door to welcome the night air and shimmering stars.

The stars seemed somewhat duller than before. Harry couldn't exactly understand how, but the sky just seemed darker, as if a shadow had drifted over the stars. The air around him felt thicker, as if he were suddenly unable to breathe right.

The feeling was familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.

Harry tried to get his mind of the feeling by joining into the conversation about Darren's new ideas for his manga. The sensation , however, only seemed to increase.

"There's a fast food place around the corner" Linda said, as she pointed her thumb over her shoulder. Her voice sounded different, sad almost.

They turned the corner, arriving at an alley. It was dark there, and the deeper they went, the colder it got.

Harry remembered feeling this way before, his eyes widening in realization.

"Guys" He said urgently. "Let's head the other way."

Harry looked up at the sky, watching them ascend in horror. Their dark aspects and black cloak covering their soulless being.

Hermione and Ron looked up too, eyes widening in understanding.

Linda, Mike, and Darren looked up. Their expressions remained one of confusion.

Linda was one of the first to feel the effects. Harry watched as her face drained of color, eyes filling with tears.

"Linda?!" Darren said, slightly alarmed "Why are you crying?"

Linda rubbed "I don't know..." she said, as more tears streamed down. "I don't feel so good."

Mike shivered, putting an arm around her. "It's so cold here, almost like winter."

The Dementors descended lower, one making its way toward Darren. Had the muggles not been here, Harry would've used his Patronus charm ages ago.

"Move!" Hermione ordered, grabbing Mike and Linda's arms, dragging them out of there.

Harry watched as the Dementor closed in on Darren, the close proximity affecting him. While muggles might not be able to see Dementors, they could feel their presence. The soul sucking fiends causing all feelings of depression, despair, and sorrow ever witnessed to return all at once, like a dark shadow of the past.

Darren swooned and collapsed to the ground with a loud thud, eyes fluttering shut.

Harry quickly checked the surrounding. Not spotting Linda and Mike anywhere in sight, he ran over to the Dementor, pulling out his wand he kept safely tucked inside his left sock.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand fiercely at the soul sucker.

The silver stag burst out of Harry's wand. The Dementors vanished, leaving Harry panting for breath, as he ran over to Darren.

Darren was sprawled the ground, eyes closed, color slowly returning to his cheeks.

Harry sighed in relief as he tried not to think about how close his friend had been to receiving a Dementor's kiss. He tucked the wand back in his sock. Harry had purposely worn his socks knee length, knowing the dangers of leaving school would have. He and his friends were never safe anymore, not since last school year after the Triwizard Tournment.

With his wand out of sight, he called for help.

***************************************************************************

Mike had been the first to arrive at the scene, soon followed by Linda, Hermione, and Ron.

Mike looked wildly from Darren to Harry, running over to Darren's side.

"Darren!" He called, shaking him slightly. "What's wrong, what happened?!"

"He fainted" Harry stated, keeping his voice calm.

"B-but what about that light, and h-how..?" Mike stuttered, looking at Harry.

"Let's get him off the ground first and back to school" Harry said, putting a hand on Mikes back.

Mike seemed to calm down a little after hearing words of reason. He nodded, lifting Darren from the ground.

Linda walked side by side with Mike, trying to reassure him that Darren would be fine. Other than that, not much was said during the walk to school, no questions were asked and no fingers were pointed. However, Harry could already sense the pending questions to come.

Why did he faint?

What was that light?

Why had Hermione dragged them out of the alley?

He just hoped that when those questions were asked, he would be able to answer with a believable lie.

Arriving at the infirmary at two in the morning hadn't been in their plans for their first week at this school. They laid Darren down on the infirmary bed, letting the nurse attend to him. According to her, Darren was fine besides having obtained a couple scrapes from the fall.

Even though he was bound to wake up soon, the nurse still insisted that he stay overnight. She handed them a hospital gown which Mike and Harry helped him into.

They left the infirmary not long after, heading back to their dorms. The questions Harry had been expecting didn't come. He figured they were all too tired from the recent events. He kept his guard up, knowing tomorrow he would be bombarded with them.

Ron and Harry said goodbye to Mike, shutting their dorm door. Not bothering to change out of his clothes, Ron slipped into bed, falling asleep within seconds. Harry locked the window and shut the blinds, feeling the Dementor's cold breath fresh within his memory.

He changed into his nighttime sleep robe he'd brought back from Hogwarts. Harry wished he was there now instead of here, knowing his muggle friends would be safer if he wasn't around.

He crawled in bed and closed his eyes, knowing his dreams about Voldemort would return once more.

**************************************************

Harry had woke up screaming several times during the night, this time his dreams not including only Voldemort, but his muggle friends as well.

Each time he had woken, his scar felt as if it were on fire. He'd remembered this feeling before, from the Triwizard Tournament. Even though the pain wasn't as strong as it had been then, it was enough to keep him awake for a good five minutes before it passed.

At some point during the night, Ron had put a silencing charm around his bed. Harry felt guilty for having woke him, but blamed Dumbledore. If the headmaster had just kept them at Hogwarts, he would feel safer, and his muggle friends wouldn't be in now constant danger.

Having not obtained much sleep that night, Harry hadn't had the time or energy to come up with good excuses for yesterday's incident.

He guessed their main worry was the Patronus. He was hoping Hermione had come up with something better than the whole 'trick of the light' answer. Harry knew the light did strange things, but you'd have to be really gullible to believe it could make you see a giant silver stag.

Heading to breakfast, Harry and Ron spotted Hermione, looking pretty tired herself.

"Hermione!" Ron called.

She turned around, waiting for them to catch up. She pulled them to the side of the hallway, away from earshot.

"They didn't see." she whispered.

"You mean the Patro-"

"Shhhh!" Hermione hissed, clamping a hand over his mouth. She looked round cautiously. "No, they didn't see it."

"How did they not?" Harry said, taken aback by her strange behavior.

"They were out of the alley" She explained "All they really saw was a lot of light."

"Then what's the problem?" Ron asked

"I joined the newspaper club" She said worriedly.

"Oh, well that is a problem" Ron said, slight sarcasm in his tone.

Hermione rolled her eyes, pulling out an article. "They handed these out to the students this morning"

She handed Harry the paper, hands shaking slightly.

He read the front page, eyes widening in horror.

Right next to the description was a picture showing a blurry looking figure flying through the trees.