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Mr Nommy, was Harry’s imaginary friend. Well, that’s what his teachers told him anyways. But, Mr Nommy didn’t go with him to school, so of course they wouldn’t see him.
His aunt on the other hand, fully believed him, and thought that he was seeing demons, she even took him to the church to get exercised.
“It’s unnatural! It gets cold every time he enters a room, the windows start to frost from the inside!” She’d complained to the pastor.
“Now, it can’t be that bad. I’ll have a chat with the boy.” The pastor smiled reassuringly, waving to Harry to follow him.
Harry looked over his shoulder, and up at Mr Nommy, then back at the pastor. The pastor must have thought that he was nervous, as the man put on a wider smile.
Harry walked with the pastor, and so did Mr Nommy.
“So Harry, your aunt has been concerned about you.” Harry tilted his head, and hummed.
“She says you’ve been talking to someone who’s not there, is that true?” Harry nodded. “Yes.” The pastor smiled once again, this time letting out a little laugh.
“I think it’s safe to say you’ve made up an imaginary friend, not a demon. Perfectly normal for your age.” The man laughed again.
“Is he in the room with us?” The man joked. “No.” Harry answered, shaking his head.
“Then where is he?” The man questioned. “Outside the room.” Harry answered again. The man rose from his chair, approaching the door. He looked back at Harry with a playful smile, before opening the door.
He turned to look towards the door.
“I-“ Whatever the man was about to say, failed to make its way out. His eyes seemed to be drained of any light, or spark within them. The room became cold, and the lights flickered.
That was how Harry got banned from going to the church. He didn’t mind though, since it meant he got to play with Mr Nommy for longer than usual.
Ever since Mr Nommy had arrived in Harry’s life, it had gotten a lot better. His cousin and his friends never bothered him again. And his aunt and uncle didn’t talk to him anymore.
They just stared at him, almost soullessly. They didn’t even care where he went! So he even got to go on adventures with Mr Nommy.
And that’s how most of his life went, he’d have tea parties with Mr Nommy, he’d even found a little pink bow and put it on him.
Mr Nommy didn’t talk much, well at all. But Harry knew a lot about him, for example, Mr Nommy loved to visit the local clinic, and the graveyard. He also really liked his little bow, Harry knew that because he'd catch him looking at it in the mirror ,sometimes.
Everything was perfect until the letter came.
“Hogwarts?” Harry’s eyebrows furrowed. “Do you know what this is?” He asked Mr Nommy, who gave no response, as usual. Harry shrugged, and took the letters to the table. The kitchen was mute as always, Dudley didn’t even seem happy, that it was his birthday.
Harry placed the letters on the table. His aunt's eyes slowly wandered towards them, before she began to shuffle through them.
Then her eyes widened, Harry wasn’t used to seeing her with such… well emotion in her eyes. When she started to cry, that was when he became uncomfortable. He stepped backwards, and towards Mr Nommy.
“We can finally rid ourselves of this boy!” She cried with joy. Harry’s lips thinned, he didn’t know how to feel about his aunt crying with joy, over getting rid of him.
He held the end of Mr Nommy’s tattered sleeve.
His aunt rushed upwards to grab a pen, writing furiously on the paper. Disturbed by his aunt, he began to speak. “I’ll be leaving for the day.” His aunt froze, and nodded, averting her gaze.
He didn’t like the feeling that overwhelmed him, as he watched his relatives' eyes light up as he left. He grabbed Mr Nommy’s hand as they exited the house.
It was two days after that, when the people came.
“We were worried about the urgency in your letter.” A strange woman spoke. A man scoffed, yet didn’t add anything to the conversation.
“Would it be alright if we saw Harry?” That caught his attention, how did she know his name? Did his aunt tell her?
Harry opened the cupboard. He noticed his aunt looking at him with fear. The strangers eyes were filled with something much more difficult to place.
“What was he doing in a cupboard?” His aunt didn’t answer.
“You can take him now, can’t you? I don’t want that boy in my house again! I can’t take it!” Harry wanted to retreat back into the dark of his cupboard, and away from the emotion his aunt was displaying.
“He’s a demon, every time he comes back, it's like the life is drained from us. He’s a freak!” She yelled, crumpling to the floor, before picking herself up, and up the stairs.
The stranger at the door had little chance to process what was happening, as their eyes looked behind Harry.
The man’s already sour expression deepened. “A dementor.” He stated. Harry had no clue what that was. Harry looked behind him, Mr Nommy was there. Could they see him?
“What’s a dementor doing in a place like this?” The woman questioned. “I don’t know.” The man answered in a monotone voice.
“Boy, step away from the dementor!” The man ordered. “No.” Harry replied. The man did not like that, as he clutched a stick furiously. “Don’t be foolish boy, that is a dangerous creature that will leave you an empty shell!” The man yelled.
“No, that’s just Mr Nommy.” he answered matter of factly. The strangers both had quizzical looks on their faces. The man looked as if he’d had enough, as he raised the stick.
“Expecto Patronum!” A silver light formed, before suddenly turning into a doe. The doe rushed past Harry’s head, by the time Harry turned around, it was too late. Mr Nommy was gone.
And then suddenly he felt overwhelmed, like a weighted blanket had been ripped off of him. He felt a warm rush fill his body. He felt sick.
Just like his aunt had done previously, he crumpled to the ground, his breathing uneven and jagged. Tears rolling down his face. And then he clenched his fists, and charged at the man from the floor.
He grabbed the man by his long robes. “You killed him, You killed him! You killed him…” He hit the man until his grip weakened, and once again he fell to the floor. It felt as if there was a deep well within his chest.
Harry had never felt this strongly about anything.
The strangers argued, but all Harry heard was a high pitched whistle. He missed his friend. He had always been so close. He’d done so much for Harry. And now he was gone.
“Potter, you should stop your temper tantrum, it’s unbecoming.” The woman elbowed the man. “Harry, we'd like to discuss what’s happened today.” Harry didn’t want to speak, he didn’t have the words for it.
If he spoke, would words even come from his mouth?
He just stared at them. That’s all he felt he could do.
“I’m professor McGonagall, and this is professor Snape.” She waited for a response that wasn’t coming.
The man, Snape, scoffed. “We’d like to know why a dementor was with you, you seemed… attached to it.”
“He’s not a dementor,” whatever that was. “He was Mr Nommy… is he dead?” Harry asked with hope.
Snape rolled his eyes. “It isn’t dead, just disturbed temporarily.” Harry felt slightly Happy. “What I want to know is why you’ve named a dangerous creature, such a childish thing.” Harry did not like his tone.
“He’s been with me a long time. I named him when I was six.” Harry replied with a similar tone.
Both adults turned to each other in muted shock.
“Mr Nommy,” Snape spat out. “Is one of the foulest of the Dark creatures to inhabit the wizarding world. They feed on human happiness and generate feelings of depression and despair in any person in close proximity to them. They consume a person's soul, leaving them in a permanent vegetative state. And you're telling me that you’ve endured its presence for all that time?” He said in doubt.
However, there was little to doubt about the boy’s story. His aunt was nothing like she used to be, a muted version of her former self. The way the boy stood so close to the dementor without any signs of distress. The pink bow the dementor had attached to its head.
It was too much to deny.
“What do you know of the wizarding world?”