The weather was chilly and the sky overcast. Harry hurredly boarded the train seeking warmth and found a compartment to wait for Hermione and Ron. All the compartments were occupied so he placed his trunk and sat down in the one with only a sleeping man inside. He rubbed his hands together and waited for the rest of the students to board the train.

This summer had been unusually tense. Since he started going to Hogwarts he ordered the Daily Prophet to arrive at his home so he could keep track of the happenings in the wizarding world. Uncle Matt also agreed with this idea, desiring to know as a guardian what was happening while his nephew was at school. Harry never thought of it when he first came to the wizarding world, but he soon realized how well his Uncle handled raising a wizard. His first year at Hogwarts he saw several muggle-born students who were obviously shunned by their families, scared by the new realities that was introduced into their lives. He knew he was a wizard since his Uncle first talked to him about it when he was young, after his first bout with accidental magic. Before coming to Hogwarts his Uncle always talked about Lily and James. He told of what he knew of the school, and what they learned, but he mostly talked of their personalities and how much they loved each other and their son. But since his return to Hogwarts his Uncle closed up. He never talked of Lily or James, not on his own accord. If Harry asked something his Uncle would answer only briefly, then leave the room to avoid more questions. At first Harry understood it as grief. Lily was his mother but she was also Matt's sister. Grieving over a death caused by magical ways must have been confusing and frustrating, knowing that as a muggle he couldn't do anything to protect his only sibling. By going to Hogwarts Harry had made the magical world real again, reminding his Uncle of the dark threat that had ravaged the years past and threatened to make a comeback.

News of Sirius Black escaping Azkaban brought about a new threat level. Whenever Harry went outside great measures were taken to ensure that his Uncle knew where he was at every second. Somedays he refused to let him step out the door, feeling as though something dangerous lay just outside the gate. Whenever a dog barked he demanded that he and his cousins go down to the basement while he went outside to investigate. Matt refused to answer why he was so jumpy, why the convicts escape was so inimical. Looking at Uncle Matt everytime he read news on Black, Harry felt an indomitable feeling of absoluteness settle on his shoulders. Matt's jaw would set, hands clenched tightly, and his green eyes, the same green eyes that he and his mother shared, would tense and darken, attempting to scream out inhuman truths that had been held within for too long. This wasn't just grief, it was something else that Harry couldn't exactly delineate.

The train lurched forward. Harry moved toward the compartment door and opened it. Moving his hair out of his face he blinked and peered down the walkway. Most of the students were settled into their compartments, hugging friends and talking about the summer holidays. He was about to retreat back to his seat when he saw bushy brown hair and a streak of red catch his eyes. He waved is hand and caught their attention. Hermione huffed and pushed past Ron, ignoring his mumbled words and slight blush on his cheeks. When she approached Harry with her trunk he noticed her clothes were drenched and muddy.

"What happened to you 'Mione?"

Harry grabbed her trunk and placed it up top next to his. She plopped down on the seat and began casting drying and cleansing spells on her clothes and shoes.

"Ronald," she began with irritation, "knocked me down while protecting his pathetic rat from my so-called 'cat from hell'." Harry raised his brow at her. "I got a familiar while getting my school supplies, it was a gift from my parents."

She opened the door and peered out, shouting when she spotted the source of her irritation. "Ron, I told you to forget about looking for Crookshanks!"

Ron appeared in front of the compartment, red with frustration. "I wasn't looking for Crookshanks, I was looking for Scabbers. That no good cat of yours probably ate him. I'd be lucky if I'm even able to find a piece of his tail."

"Crookshanks wouldn't eat Scabbers and you know it!"

Harry sat down and waited for their fight to be over. Even though they were his friends he was greatly annoyed by how much they bickered. He was easily able to tune out their bitter remarks but he wasn't sure about the other passenger. He peered at the sleeping man, really noticing him for the first time. His hair was short and light brown, most of his face was hidden by his tattered and torn coat but he could see an aged scar across his brow. His breathing was shallow but easy. Is this the new professor? The mans trunk confirmed his thoughts: Professor R. J. Lupin. Harry frowned. He doesn't look like much. At least he isn't a Lockhart. Even if he was incompetent like Lockhart, Harry had planned on continuing his own studies in the Defense Against the Dark Arts. After last year when he killed the Basilisk he knew he needed to be more prepared.

While looking at the new professor Harry noticed the pressure in the air change. It felt heavy and unnatural. He tried peering out the window but it was fogged and frozen over. His breath appeared as he exhaled. "Somethings wrong." He stated, turning back to his fighting friends.

"You've always hated Scabbers," Ron snapped at Hermione, looking redder than he had a minute ago. "Your cat just picked up on your obvious desire to get rid of him."

"Guys, seriously, something is wrong!" Harry looked at the window again, seeing a dark figure through the fogged glass. Hermione snorted at Ron.

"If I wanted to get rid of your precious rat I would have killed him and ate him myself!"

Ron opened his mouth, preparing to release all the red hot frustration building up in his face when the train came to a sudden halt. The two teens bumped into the side of the compartment at the sudden stop in movement.

"There is something on the train." Harry told them as they sat down. He got up and locked the door before returning to the window. "I saw something move outside the window, I don't know what it is."

He jerked back when he saw a skeleton-like hand cross by.

"Maybe we should wake the professor." Hermione's voice was shaky. Neither of them moved to wake the professor.

They sat, and pulled out their wands when the lights went out throughout the train. They could hear the other students throughout the train gasp and mutter to each other nervously.A blonde haired prefect startled them when she unlocked the door with a swish of her wand and peered inside. "Don't leave your seats, the train will be moving again momentarily." She left to deliver the same message to other students.

"They must know whats going on to give such a bland message." Ron stated, annoyance jumping from his words, trying to hide the unsteadiness in his voice. "If this ends up just being one of Fred and Georges pranks I'm gonna hex them."

Suddenly, Harry's vision tunneled and the environment around him went mute. A wave of thick darkness had wrapped around his entire being. He had felt it like an after shock, spreading from the front of the train and past him. His chest constricted and his head became fogged and dizzy. The thick blanket wrapped around his mind, squirming through his head while his limbs were weighed down by the grasps of the ascended darkness. His mouth opened as he tried to scream. He became aware that he was on the floor, having fallen from his seat while thrashing around trying to get the unnatural entity off his body. He felt Ron and Hermione kneel next to him, upsetting their previous rigidness with alarmed movements. The dark entity tightened around his mind as it clawed at his thoughts and memories. His body shook and thrashed as he desperately tried to get rid of the dark presence that was painfully constricting his chest and tearing at his sanity. The entity abruptly disengaged its searching claws from his mind as it redirected its attack to the back of his forehead. His scar flamed his vision with light as it flared with splintery pain. The claws scrapped and stabbed at his scar as though it were trying to remove it from existence. Harry was no longer aware of what he was doing. He didn't know if he was still fighting or if he was screaming, all he knew was that he was filled with pain, and that nothing he could do would make it stop. The clawing intensified as something from his scar fought back. His body started to relax as the heavy presence slowly slipped away. He was faintly aware of hearing noise again, of opening his eyes and seeing blurry outlines of people, hearing there voices and words that he didn't understand. All of that meant nothing to him as the thing from his scar roamed his mind, looking for a new place to affix itself. His eyes rolled back and his body went limp as the new monster implanted itself in the center of his mind. He knew nothing more as he let out a shaky breath and blacked out.