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Darkness enveloped the small cottage like a cloak of soft black velvet. A golden cascade of light poured from the French doors on the ground floor into the garden. Neither shutters, nor curtains obstructed the view inside, yet the house was set back from the street far enough that you couldn't make out any details.
A shadow stood motionless at the low gate that marked the entrance to the wide front yard. From there, a well-lit narrow gravel path led to a porch at the side of the house, decorated with a stack of carved pumpkins. Flickering candles stuck inside of each pumpkin made them look alive, a macabre trophy-show of beheaded monsters.
The inhabitants of the house didn’t know there was a real monster at their doorstep tonight—
The shadow backed away from the gate, a few yards further down the road, until it melted into the darkness of the tall hedgerow circling the Potter estate.
An owl hooted in the distance, a gust of wind shook the shrubs, the candles on the porch flared up and almost gave out.
Silence once again settled on the quaint cottage and the garden surrounding it. It was a thrumming silence, the kind of silence that pressed on the eardrums and made you want to scream against it, yet you knew nobody would hear you. It was the silence before the storm of destruction. The shadow shivered in anticipation.
With creeping steps, it moved alongside the border marked by the hedgerow, carefully keeping itself out of the light from the windows as it crossed the distance to the cottage. Halfway, it stopped and took another look at the cottage.
From here, the French doors revealed an open-plan ground floor. The kitchen and eating space were in the background, while the living area, brightly lit by a fire in the fireplace and a chandelier suspended over the coffee table, was right in front of the tall French doors that overlooked the front yard. A huge sofa with lots of cushions marked the border between the eating place and the living area.
A young man with a mop of untamable black hair and glasses sat reclined in a corner of the sofa, his stockinged feet propped up on a pouf in front of it. With her back leaned against his chest rested a young woman, her legs drawn up onto the sofa. She had her eyes closed, and her long hair that cascaded down her back and pooled in the lap of the young man gleamed red and gold in the light of the fireplace. The young man had one arm wrapped around her waist, and his hand rested protectively on the small bump of her tummy.
Thin lips parted in a grin and showed a row of pointed teeth that gleamed faintly in the light of the waning moon. They thought themselves safe and secure within the cocoon of wards and enchantments they had put around their home. Once again, a shiver of anticipation ran down the shadow’s spine. They’d never see it coming.
The young woman said something, her eyes still closed. The young man laughed and bent down to kiss the crown of her head.
The shadow shook itself. That was disgusting. It was about time to make a move and wipe the smiles and laughter off their faces—Once again, the shadow became one with the shadows of the night.
The backyard lay still and dark. No lamp from inside alleviated the black of the night.
A paw, covered in shaggy fur, pressed down the door handle of the backdoor. It opened without a sound. The shadow slipped through the creak and pressed itself flat against the wall.
From here, only the back of the head and the shoulders of the young man were visible. The young woman was hidden by the backrest of the couch.
“What do you think of flower names for a girl, Harry?” a female voice asked.
The shoulders above the backrest shrugged. “As long as it isn’t Petunia or Pansy, I’m game. What do you think of Euphemia, honey? It’s—ouch, what was that for? You know you have pointy elbows, woman?”
“There’s no way I’m naming my innocent daughter Euphemia,” the female voice hissed.
“But it’s the name of my grandmother,” Harry said with a whine that didn’t hide his chuckles.
That got him an indignant huff in response.
“Alright, I get it.” There was a pause. Then: “What about Carl?” This time, Harry’s voice was void of any emotion. Suspiciously so.
There was another pause, full of tension.
“Carl?” The female voice ended in a high-pitched squeak. “Why in the world would we name a girl Carl?”
“It’s unusual,” Harry said. “Go for the unexpected, you know.”
“Harry James Potter, of all moronic suggestions—”
The shadow blended out the bantering couple. They still didn’t know of the looming doom in their back and were distracted. It was time to deliver the final blow. The shadow crouched down and crossed the remaining few yards towards the sofa. Right behind the backrest, the creature jumped up with the roar that had instilled fear and panic in generations.
“ME WANT COOKIES!”
Harry sprung to his feet with an unmanly shriek of terror and turned around in one swift motion. Two strong arms grabbed for the gloating monster behind the backrest and pulled.
“Whoaa!” In vain, the creature struggled to keep its footing. Harry’s hands, with a firm grip on its blue fur, pulled it over the backrest, its flailing legs not withstanding. It landed, face first, in the cushions of the sofa, right between Harry and his laughing wife.
“Ummmph!”
Adding insult to injury, two pairs of hands tickled its body in all the sensitive spots.
“Ha-ha-ha—quitt that—ha-ha-ha—that tickles—please, auntie—”
“Do you surrender?” Uncle Harry chuckled.
“Yes—ha-ha-ha—I surrender!”
The tickling stopped as sudden as it had started. The monster lay still, panting. Under the thick, shaggy fur, it was unbearably hot. The monster closed his eyes and willed the fur to recede and morph its body back to its original state.
Five year old Teddy Lupin, clad in his birthday suit, and sporting a thick black mane like his godfather and bright blue eyes like his favourite aunt, sat up between the two people in the world he loved as much as his granny. “You knew it was me!” His lower lip stuck out in a pout. “What gave me away?”
Aunt Daphne put an arm around him in a comforting hug. “Don’t be sad, Teddy. The wards alerted us that you entered the property, and when you didn’t turn up at the front door, we knew you were going to play a Halloween prank on us and decided to turn the tables on you.”
With a sigh of defeat, Teddy looked from Daphne to Harry. “Will I ever get the better of you?”
“I’m sure, one day you will.” Uncle Harry laughed and ruffled his hair. “But you still have some growing up to do until then.” He slipped his wand out of the holster on his forearm and flicked it once. “I think I saw Cookie Monster in the house not long ago. We’d better feed it before it turns on the cushions and furniture.” A plate with freshly baked cookies and a glass of milk zoomed towards them and settled down on the coffee table in a graceful arch.
The heavenly smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies reached Teddy’s nostrils, and his tummy gave a low rumble.
Uncle Harry motioned towards the treat. “Go, get ‘em, Cookie Monster.”
Teddy didn’t have to be told twice.
The End