Author's notes: It's a good start! Don't be shy to review all, that's what will keep the chapter going on! Special thanks to all my loyal followers!

Hugh: Glad to see you back, but if you logged in, I could answer your review personally! This won't be published in one dump of chapter as I want as many people reading it as possible. I'll probably publish a few quick chapters and then settle to once a week.

Disclaimer: "What do we want?" "Harry Potter's rights!" "When do we want it?" "Now!"

JKRowling: "Open the cage, release the hounds." Fifty lawyers with lawsuits were released on the unsuspecting writers. Suits…so much…suits…

Chapter 2 – The Spread

It was Halloween of the year nineteen eighty-one. On that date, the night changed. The magical world had been stuck in a racial war opposing the pure of blood and the rest of the world. A few dozen individuals kept Britain in a state of constant fear, led by one of the most powerful wizards in history.

Lord Voldemort was said to fear no one, except maybe Albus Dumbledore, the only wizard he kept clear of. Still, the old man was also the Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and couldn't possibly go 'evil wizard hunting' like he did in his youth. Lord Voldemort had his sights on the school and leaving it unprotected was out of question.

Also, there was a prophecy about the birth of a boy and Albus knew it wouldn't be him who'd vanquish that Dark Lord. Unfortunately, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named learned of it, ran down the possibilities and on that Halloween night, visited the Potter household...

"He's teething, James! It's normal he's crying!" Lily Potter told her husband, who looked at their wailing son in her arms. "There is not much we can do!"

"Can't we at least give him a bit of dreamless sleep potion so he can sleep through it? You know I can't stand to see him hurting..." James pled, his face a mask of worry.

Lily sighed but agreed that a bit of potion with some warm milk might ease this painful period. Harry was deeply sleeping not ten minutes later.

"You realize that we can't do this every time he starts crying, do you?!" teased the redheaded woman, putting the toddler in his crib.

"You know I wouldn't do that, but you hated hearing him cry as much as I did!"

The playful banter was cut short as an explosion rocked the house, coming from below.

James' face turned became a mask of fear and realization.

"Protect Harry," was all he said before sprinting down the stairs.

From outside, anyone who could see the house and those were a limited few, would have stared in horror at the blown door, at the bright flashes followed by explosions and screams downstairs, the eerie silence and the evil laughter.

A woman scream could be heard all the way down the street.

"Not Harry!"

Only to be silenced with a deep green ray of deathlight.

Lord Voldemort stood over the corpse of a woman, hunched over the crib of her sleeping child.

"Small... impure creature. You will be the last steppingstone toward my goal, my dream! Immortality! Avada Kedavra!"

The jet of light sped toward the orphan and struck right in the middle of the forehead. The result was most unexpected. The magic of death faced the sacrifice of love the mother made, her link to her child still strong and even more present made by Fidelius charm that hid the family by blood. It bounced but then tangled in another form of magic: the effect of a potion on the sleeping boy. It ripped that magical effect from the child, coated the deadly magic and struck the caster back who barely had the time to take a sharp, surprised breath before exploding in tick shadows, spreading all around the world. Pieces of a different nature scattered but were contained on the island and hid, unsuspected.

The small boy woke up in a burning house from the battle downstairs, alone. He hurt from his teething, and from the wound he now had on the forehead, a lightning bolt inside a full circle.

The next day, on November First, the world witnessed the changes. All around Britain were strange sightings of fireworks, flying howls and people celebrating Halloween in robes one day late. That was strange but when night came, it became downright freaky. It was a full moon, a week early. Astronomers didn't understand it one bit. They couldn't even start to explain this and what was worse, how could it be a full moon all around the world!?

People started to worry, to fear and then, the Shades came. Strange shadows started acting strange in children's bedrooms all around the world. Parents tried to comfort them and sometimes, succeeded. Other times, they couldn't but when it was at its worst, the parent looked at the shadows and saw the shapes. They shared their kid's bed, held onto them tight and cried out of fear through the night.

The next morning, three people stood in front of a house, in a street made of two rows of identical homes. One was a tall, old man in a purple robe. His white beard was long and his eyes betrayed more age and worry that his wrinkled face should. To his left, standing rigidly, was a stern old woman whom frowned at the old man. The third person present was massive and would have fitted the image of the Vikings of old times, if he wasn't crying hot tears with a baby in his arms.

"Are you sure, Albus?! Those are the worst kind of muggles you'll ever find, even if you were to search all your life!"

"Minerva... This is the last of his family and the only place the blood protection his mother put on him would work for an extended period of time. It's the reasonable solution. His godfather betrayed his parents."

Hearing this, the big man wailed even louder.

"... And an orphanage is out of question. It's the only way and you know it is. We all know it. Voldemort isn't gone. You heard about the disturbance too. It must be his doing."

Albus took the bundled child carefully from Hagrid's arms and walked to the front door. He put the baby on the steps and took a letter from his pocket. He was about to put it on the sleeping child but hesitated.

"No... This isn't right. He's not some kind of stray..."

Dumbledore ripped the letter and vanished the pieces. He took Harry back in his arms and knocked on the door. Steps being pounded hard were heard before the door opened.

"Mr. Dursley, I bring terrible news and have a request to make that might change a life and possibly, the world."

years later

Petunia Dursley walked in her son's bedroom, closing her gown with haste around herself. Light from the perpetual full moon filtered from the crack in the curtains, lost in the glow of the four nightlights plugged around the room. A wailing child sat in the bed, his blanket lift right under his eyes, trying to hide.

"Dudleykin, honey! What's the matter?" asked Petunia to her only child, her pride and joy. "Hush, hush, it's okay now! It was only a bad dream. Just a bad dream..."

"No... Mommy! No! Look! There! Look over there! It's over there I tell you! Against the wall! The shadows... It's the shadows!"

Petunia froze. No... It couldn't be. Not them! Reluctantly, she turned to follow the accusing finger of her son. Against the wall, but not really touching it, was a Shade. How to describe it? It's as if the reason we fear the dark materialized and moved around, from shadow to shadow. It would creep all the way to the bed and back under that outlet, mocking the fairies and other colorful shapes and figures of the children's nightlight. It crept on it, turning innocent smile into evil smirk, fairies in bloodthirsty pixies and, generally, wakening the oldest fear of humanity.

Petunia crawled in bed with her boy, holding him close, a small source of comfort has she was not alone to be afraid. She knew what was to come. She would stay like this, afraid and unable to sleep or relax, until the morning came. She wondered if she could bare it. Could she really endure the long hours of the night, feeling only different level of fear?

"Aunty? Why did Duddy screamed?"

Petunia turned toward the door, her nephew rubbing his eyes with a small fist, standing in the frame. Her mouth couldn't form the words, the warning she wanted so badly to yell. She could only look at the Shade, twisting and twirling against the wall.

Harry turned and looked at it without so much as a wince, in fact more like a yawn. He walked to the window and pulled the long curtains open one at the time. Moonlight fell in the room, diminishing the size of the Shade by a good half. Harry went to stand straight before it.

"There. Ain't so bad now?"

At these words, the Shade dispersed completely, no hint it was ever there. Petunia slowly unraveled from her position and took a step out of the bed. Harry turned to her and his face changed in a bit of a pained one.

"Auntie... I... wanna go potty."

A few years more…

"Did you brush your teeth well? It's bed time!" chided Petunia Dursley from downstairs.

"Yes, mom!" yelled Dudley Dursley.

"Yes, aunt Petunia!" replied Harry Potter in turn.

They put on their pj's before climbing in their bunker bed, Harry taking the bottom and Dudley the top. The two smaller bedrooms were fused into one big room, the middle wall removed. One medium sized TV with multiple game consoles around it was against the wall while two big desk drawers were against the other. It left a lot of room in the middle that Petunia always insisted to keep free. Vernon was even in the middle of renovation to turn a part of the useless hallway into a walk-in closet in order to remove the desk and the toy chest.

As Dudley tucked in, he patted his belly, comfortably full.

"Your birthday cake was the best, Harry!" he said, content.

"I can't believe you managed to convince Aunty to have it for dessert one day early!" laughed Harry, the taste of toothpaste barely overtaking the one of rich chocolate cake.

"You shouldn't complain! That only mean you'll have another one tomorrow!"

Harry shook his head at his cousin: he had his parents in the palm of his hand. Harry got up and opened the window, feeling the warm weather of July firmly setting in. Then, he unplugged the last nightlight.

"No, don't!" hiccuped Dudley from his top bunk.

"You trust me, do you?" asked Harry, the nightlight in hand. "Those things... They make them stronger, not weaker."

"You sure?" asked Dudley unconvinced despite the years of debate.

"Yeah. Tonight, I feel none of them around. In the whole street, in fact. It's going to be a calm night."

Dudley relaxed.

"Really? Okay then... Okay. Just this once. Just tonight."

"Sure," shrugged Harry, putting the unpowered light in plain sight on Dudley's desk.

They finally tucked in and, as usual, Harry waited for Dudley to fall asleep before letting go of his own consciousness.

The morning came, calm and quiet as Harry promised. Dudley was happy and proud to tell his mom he slept the whole night without his nightlight! He said it must have been her delightful chocolate cake that helped him sleep and she promised to make Harry another birthday cake for dinner.

Harry was happy for him and smiled all breakfast long, but kept quiet. After Dudley left to play with his friends, Harry went to see his aunt about what troubled him.

"Aunt Petunia... Did you leave this on me while I was asleep?" he asked, showing a letter addressed to him, down to the 'extended bedroom at four, Private Drive'.

The purple ink and flourished lettering left no doubt to Petunia, as well as the Hogwarts crest. She sighed loudly and sat down.

"You had the windows open last night, didn't you?" she stated more than asked.

"Yes?" asked more than answered Harry in turn.

"An owl delivered it to you."

Silence.

"An owl?" repeated Harry, who wasn't used to this kind of talk from his aunt.

"Yes, an owl," she confirmed, as if he should understand by now and avoid her to say it out loud.

"I... see... Does uncle Vernon know of this?"

"Don't even mention it to him!" she scolded her nephew. "He's doing his best! We never told you about your parents for a good reason. They were wizards, and so are you. Wizards have strange ways, like using owls as a mailing system..."

"Wait, wait, wait,..." interrupted Harry, putting his hands up. "You said... wizards?"

"You think I would joke about this?" flared Petunia. Not only did she had to say it out loud but he wouldn't believe her?!

Harry stayed silent a while, thinking about himself and how he could fight the Shades when no one else in the household could. Maybe... There was more to it.

"Okay... I'm a wizard. What does it mean? What about my parents?" he asked, figuring it was as well to hear it all at once.

"Your parents went to Hogwarts, the Wizards school with a man named Albus Dumbledore at its head. Then, your mother settled down and had you. Your people were at war with blood purity as a pretext and the leader of the other side killed your father and mother on Halloween, ten years ago. Your father was James Potter and your mother, Lily Potter, born Evans."

"Halloween, ten years ago. The Day of the Darkness? The Spread? When the moon got fixed at full?!"

"Exactly. What I know is that he tried to kill you too, but failed. Some say this is his revenge, his death curse on the world. I don't know a thing about that," she said, shaking her head.

"So... I will go to Hogwarts to learn magic? I will meet this man, Albus Dumbledore, who taught my parents?" Harry asked, excited.

"No, you won't," deadpanned Petunia, freezing his hopes solid.

"Why?"

"The world... The Shades aren't the worst that The Spread brought. There are... The Nightmares," said Petunia, almost in a whisper, afraid to speak of them.

"What are..."

"I don't know and won't speak of it and neither will you!" she almost shouted in an outburst. "Just know, for now, that there is worse and Hogwarts became their nest! After it happened, Albus Dumbledore came here, delivering you. He got back to a school in chaos. Most people still there managed to flee. Some... Were not so lucky. The Headmaster stayed behind. No one knows what happened to him as he never left the school. No one dared to break in and it's locked from the inside anyway."

Harry was speechless. Petunia let him digest all this before sighing again, as strongly as when Harry showed her his envelope.

"This letter is your acceptance to your schooling, I guess, with your schedule and supply list."

"But... The school..." Harry protested weakly.

"The teachers organized a way. They can travel to fixed location using fireplaces. You will have two classes a day, one in the morning and one at the afternoon. The locations are equally spread among the students' home with a room large enough..."

Harry's eyes widened.

"Here?"

Petunia pursed her lips.

"Yes. Once in a while. This is why we made your room as big as possible."

Harry was speechless. They had a working fireplace, with a high mantel. His room was getting as big as the house could hold.

"You hate wizards," stated Harry. "That much is obvious. Why are you doing all this?"

Petunia looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Because of Dudley. You helped him and you always did. You protected him. You could do it because of your wizard blood, I'm certain of it. I met people who were commonly visited by Shades. Insomnia, paranoia, weakness of hearts and sick children. The rate of those sicknesses has skyrocketed these past ten years. Dudley would have been one of them, but he escaped that fate, thanks to you."

Harry's throat was tight with emotions. They would go against their very belief for him? Harry wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve and looked at his home, eyes blazing.

"I will find a way to get rid of the Shades and the rest. I will make the nights right again! I will learn to be a wizard and do this!"

Petunia would have smiled a mirthless smile, faced with such candor. He was like a child stating it would become a rockstar, would cure cancer or bring world peace, but she saw one thing that made her take his promise seriously. The scar on his forehead, the lightning part, got a bright pink as if it was freshly made and the circle around it flashed with the pale silver light, rending the lightning inert again.

"Do your best Harry, I'm sure Dudley will root for you," she said, nodding.

Harry smiled broadly and opened the envelope that would change his life.

I hoped you liked it and that the explanation were clear! See ya soon, R&R!