The Dementor Child
Chapter 1
A young boy stood in Kings Cross Station with his trunkful of possessions. He watched the busy crowd move and listened to the noise created by so many people. A few members of the crowd glanced in his direction and a look of confusion crossed their faces.
"Come on" said the man who stood with the boy. "The crowd has parted. Let's move."
The boy pushed his trolley which was loaded with his trunk containing all his school supplies. The man led them further down the platform and they began to see other children burdened with trunks similar to his. As he watched, a girl vanished into the wall and was quickly followed by a man and a woman. The girl's parents maybe. A few more people had vanished into the wall by the time they walked over leaving just a brown haired boy and his parents in front of them.
"All together now" said the mother. The family of three went at a fast jog towards the wall and disappeared like the others.
"Our turn" said the man. He placed his hand on his young companions shoulder and they both moved quickly towards the wall between platforms nine and ten. As they got closer, the boy shut his eyes briefly and felt a gentle tug at his shoulder, letting him know to stop. He opened his eyes and saw in front of him the train that would take him to Hogwarts. He felt his excitement build as he took in the sight of the train. It was just like he imagined it! Again he felt a gentle tug at his shoulder.
"Let's get you on the train" the man said with a smile.
They walked along the train until they found a not so crowded entrance. They passed many parents seeing off their children, some of them with tears in their eyes.
"Send me an owl as soon as you arrive" they heard a woman say. The boy glanced back and saw the woman's daughter smile and rolls her eyes. "Yes mum" she replied.
Man and boy stopped in front of a train door. The man picked up the heavy trunk and loaded it into the train. After he was done he turned to the boy.
"Well Nero, this is it. Remember to send me an owl once in a while so I know you're OK. Stay out of trouble and don't give me cause to be worried." The man knelt down and gave his young charge a hug.
"I'll be fine dad" said Nero returning the hug. Neither of them was good at goodbyes so Nero offered him a fist bump after they parted from the hug. His father snorted when he saw the gesture but bumped his fist against Nero's none the less. Nero felt both nervous and excited as he boarded the train. He wheeled his trunk down the corridor and moved into the first empty compartment he found. Nero lifted up his trunk to put it in the luggage rack. He was tall for his age, but putting his trunk on such a high shelf proved to be difficult. He managed to get one corner of his trunk onto the rack and put his shoulder against the other side. When will they teach us levitation spells? He wondered. He heard a voice coming from the door.
"Let me help you with that."
Nero felt the trunk get lighter as another pair of hands grasped the trunk and helped him push it overhead. He let out a breath and turned to the person who had just entered. It was a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She appeared to be the same age as he. Surprise came over her face when she got a good look at him.
"Why is your skin like that?" she asked not unkindly.
Nero groaned internally. He was forever explaining his appearance to new people. Nero was quite tall and thin for his age. He had short black hair and dark brown almost black eyes. In poor light it was imposable to see where his irises ended and his pupils began. Most striking of all was his grey skin. It was as if a perfectly smooth and even layer of ash had been spread over the surface of his body.
"I was born this way" Nero replied. "I'm Nero by the way" he said, extending his hand.
"Jenny" she replied. She blushed as she took his hand, realising that her question was rude. "Could you help me with mine?"
"Sure."
Together they put away her trunk. They both sat down opposite each other next to the window. Nero saw his reflection in the glass and knew that he would have to put up with a lot of questions about how he looked. Jenny waved at someone who was standing on the platform just as the train started to move. She continued to wave until the train had left the station and the people on the platform were out of sight.
"It's a bit chilly in here" she said. Nero realised that was true, so he turned off his power. Emotions had been running high in the train station and there were so many people that he thought it would not hurt to take some of it in. Not too much, just a little from each person he passed. He was able to sense the same nervous excitement in many of the people around him that he felt himself.
"Are you a first year too?" he asked.
"Yes. When I got my letter I thought it was some kind of joke. I still feel like this isn't real."
Muggle born Nero thought. Hopefully that means she's open minded.
"I've read a little about Hogwarts. Do you know what house you want to be in?"
Nero shrugged. "I don't think it's up to us. But I hope to be in Ravenclaw."
"Me too! I don't think I would fit in to the other houses."
The two of them continued to talk for the rest of the journey. They talked about Hogwarts and what they might learn and about themselves and how they came to be here. Jenny confirmed that she was a muggle born and told him about her first trip to Diagon Ally and buying her school supplies. She talked excitedly about her experience there.
"It took ages to find my wand. Mr Ollivander had me try at least twenty before he found the right one."
Nero thought back to getting his wand and how drawn out that process had been. Only someone as dedicated to his work as Ollivander could have done it. Nero was purposely vague when talking about himself. He did not lie to her, but did not reveal the whole truth. There were some things he wanted to keep secret. At some point the woman with the trolley came round, so Nero bought a few things and persuaded Jenny to try some wizard sweets. She was reluctant to eat a chocolate frog, saying that it was too real and would feel like eating a live animal. Nero laughed this off and bit the head off his chocolate frog, making enthusiastic humming noises as he ate to show how delicious it was.
Finally the train arrived and they got off, having already changed into their school attire, and joined the sea of black robes outside. They heard a booming voice over the din of the crowd.
"FIRST YEARS! FIRST YEARS OVER HEAR!"
They made their way to the source of the voice to find a giant man holding a lantern. They joined the gaggle of other first year students and looked up at the enormous hairy man in front of them.
"Is he a teacher?" Jenny whispered to Nero "he's scary looking!"
Nero opened his extra sense and felt the emotions around him. He could sense the nervousness of the kids around him, but when he reached out to the giant he felt a great kindness radiating from him.
"It's OK. He's a good guy" Nero said confidently. Being able to touch other people's minds and feel what they felt made him a good judge of character. Jenny looked sceptical, not having Nero's insight, but relaxed a little.
"Right, let's go. We have boats to catch" said the giant, turning around and gesturing them to follow.
Chapter 2
They stood in front of Professor McGonagall who was calling out their names one at a time. They were being sorted into their houses and Nero could feel the nervousness of his fellow first years, intensified when they were called forward and then their relief when the sorting hat shouted its verdict.
"Nero Hamilton."
Nero walked forward and sat down on the stool. The sorting hat was placed on his head and it fell over his eyes so he could not see the watching assembly.
Very interesting. I never would have guessed that someone such as you would grace the inside of this old hat. Now were to put you?
What Nero felt from the hat was very strange. It was like a human mind but not as strong, or 'bright' and sort of…intangible. The hat seemed to chuckle.
I have no soul, but no simple being am I. I was created by four of the greatest sorcerers who ever lived, so I have a good deal more sentience than your average hat. But to business! Let's see what is in this head of yours.
The hat mused over its decision for about a minute.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Professor McGonagall removed the sorting hat from his head and Nero was met with cheers from the Gryffindor table. He walked over and smiled as he sat down, shaking hands with some of the older students as he did. The other first years continued to be sorted and Nero felt the burst of emotion from each table as a new student was added to their ranks. It's going to be easy for me to feed here Nero thought to himself. There were so many people with such strong emotions. It is no wonder that dementors decided to flood the quidditch pitch that one time sixteen years ago.
"Jenny Phoenix"
Jenny bravely walked up and allowed the sorting hat to be placed on her head. It did not take long for the hat to reach a decision
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Nero cheered with the rest and high-fived her as she sat down.
"What happened to going into Ravenclaw?" he asked
"I don't know. The hat must think I'm very brave. It's cool that were in the same house. I could use a friend at this school."
Nero smiled in response and turned his attention to the teachers table which professor McGonagall was now standing behind.
"Now that you have been sorted into your houses, let the feast begin."
Food appeared in front of them, occupying the previously empty plates, bowls and jugs. Jenny was awestruck and looked in amazement at the feast that was now in front of her. Nero smiled in amusement. His father had told him much of what to expect at Hogwarts and he took some satisfaction knowing more than some of the other first year students. He tucked in to the feast eagerly with everyone else, filling his plate high with the food that was in his reach. The conversation started buzzing in the great hall and Nero could feel the cheer radiating from everyone present and an idea took hold of him. Should I? He thought. He could not have hoped for a better opportunity and, well, it is a feast he thought to himself. Nero put down his fork and closed his eyes in concentration as he expanded his mental net so that it covered a wide radius, gently touching the minds of dozens of people and he felt a great influx of emotion as he took it all in. He was hungry. Nero inhaled slowly and pulled at the minds in his reach. A trickle leaked out of each person, combining to form a river and Nero felt a rush of elation when it hit him, their positive thoughts and feelings flowing into him. He felt himself being filled up as he drank their happiness, satisfying a deep hunger within him.
Nero opened his eyes and let out his breath. He let go of the connection, his hunger sated. He looked around and no one seemed to notice what he had been doing. Good, he thought, the worst thing that happened is that their good mood was brought down a bit. I need to be careful though, it's easy to overindulge.
"You had enough?" said Jenny from across the table. Nero shook his head and picked up his knife and fork.
"The food is too good for me to stop" he said. He continued eating got talking with some of the other first years.
"Hello, I'm Michael" said the tall, brown haired boy sitting next to him.
"Nero" he replied, offering his hand. Michael took it and gave it one exaggerated shake.
"Did you expect to be in Gryffindor?" asked Michael
"I didn't know what to expect" Nero said with a shrug.
"Gryffindor is cool" said Michael. "I'm just glad I'm not in Slytherin of Hufflepuff." That's hardly fair thought Nero. Slytherin has a bad reputation, but plenty of great wizards were in Hufflepuff but Nero did not comment on this.
"And I'm Mary" said a voice on the other side of the table. A dark haired girl leaned over and extended her hand to Nero. Nero took it and then she did the same for Michael, who gave her the same exaggerated handshake. Mary gave him a perplexed smile when they released each other's hands. "I wish I hadn't eaten so much on the train. This food is class!" Nero thought she spoke with an accent, but could not be sure with all the background noise in the hall.
"I'm Jenny by the way." She said with a smile and a small wave.
Suddenly the food that they were eating disappeared and was replaced by a huge assortment of desserts. They saw cakes, trifles, gateaux and other delicious things. Everyone redoubled their efforts and filled their plates again.
Chapter 3
Nero and Jenny walked up the dungeon steps into the open space above. They held their books and equipment in their arms and made their way towards yet more stairs that would take them back to the Gryffindor common room.
"That's kind of what I thought science class would be like. But I think mixing potions is a lot more fun!"
Nero looked at her with mild confusion, but did not comment.
"Look out grey skin!" said a Slytherin boy from their potions class, bumping into Nero and knocking his books to the floor. "Aww I'm so sorry" he said sarcastically "you should look where you're going."
The temperature dropped rapidly and the light seemed to get dimmer. The sneer fell from the Slytherin boys face as an icy chill set into his bones. All warmth and arrogance left him and it got even colder when Nero took a step closer to him. The boy dropped his own books which fell to the stone floor with a dull thud.
"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again" said Nero, looking the terrified boy in the eye as he spoke.
The boy nodded his face now pale and clammy. The boy was rooted to the spot despite how much he clearly wanted to run away.
"Good" said Nero, breaking eye contact and warmth flooded the area again. He gathered up his books and turned away, pulling a very shocked looking Jenny along with him. Nero led her up the stairs, looking over his shoulder as he went. Nobody seemed to notice what had happened. Some colour returned to Jenny's face and she managed to force some words from her mouth.
"What just happened? How did you do that?"
They continued walking and Nero pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket. "Eat this" he said. "You'll feel better." Jenny took the chocolate with a trembling hand but did not open it.
"That was horrible. Where did you learn to do that?" Jenny asked him.
"It's something I was born able to do." he explained "No one else can do it". Nero glanced down at the uneaten chocolate. "Eat it. It will help." Jenny opened the wrapper and took a small bite from it. Even more colour returned to her cheeks and Nero could sense the improvement. He felt guilty that he had made her feel this way.
"What do you mean no one else can do it?"
Nero sighed. He hated explaining himself to people, but Jenny deserved to know. "I'm a half-breed. I was born with some abilities that other people don't have.
"Half-breed? You mean you're not completely human?"
"There are lots of half-breeds in the world" Nero said defensively "there's a famous singer who's a half vampire."
"What?" Jenny looked even more confused and Nero realised that he was not explaining this well. Jenny took another bite of the chocolate, giving Nero time to gather his thoughts.
"In the wizarding world sometimes magical beings breed with humans." he began "Goblins, veela, vampires and even giants have bred with humans. Professor Flitwick and Professor Hagrid are half-breeds.
"Professor Hagrid is the one who took us to the boats when we first arrived?"
"Yes."
"OK…is he a half giant? That explains why he's so huge. And Professor Flitwick is half goblin?
"Yes and yes" he confirmed.
"So…what kind of half-breed are you?"
"I'm half dementor" he said nervously, looking down at the ground.
"What's a dementor?" she asked
"Dementors are…they were used to guard Azkaban prison. They are dark creatures that feed off positive emotions, leaving the victim with nothing but all the bad stuff from their life. The Ministry stopped using them as guards because they could no longer be trusted and it was too cruel for the prisoners."
"They can't all be bad if one of your parents is a dementor."
Nero shook his head. "No. Dementors are all bad. Hope that you never meet one."
"Then…how are you…?"
"I don't want to talk about it" Nero said, looking straight ahead. "Can we just get back to the common room?"
Jenny nodded. They were already half way to the common room and walked the rest of the journey in silence. After navigating the twists and turns of the castle they arrived in front of the portrait of The Fat Lady.
"Mandrake" said Nero. The Fat Lady nodded and her portrait swung open. They entered the common room and Nero collapsed into one of the armchairs. Jenny sat down on one end of the sofa near him. Nero could see by the expression on her face that she wanted to know more. He let out a sigh and leaned closer to her. "Could you not tell anyone about me? Some people are prejudiced against half breeds and if anyone finds out I'm part dementor they may freak out." Jenny nodded and leaned in as well and whispered to him.
"What kind of powers do you have? What exactly did you do earlier?"
"I can sense other people's emotions and feed on them. That's what you felt me doing." Jenny shivered as she remembered.
"Is that why it suddenly got so cold?"
"Yep."
"Can you do anything else?"
"Maybe" Nero shrugged.
"Who else knows? Do the teachers know?"
"You ask a lot of questions."
"Sorry, this is all new to me.
"Professor McGonagall knows, nobody else. I'm going to put my stuff away. I'll be back in a minute."
"OK."
Nero extracted himself from the comfy armchair and ascended the steps to the boys' dormitory. He dropped his books on the bed and was about to leave when he noticed that he had two copies of the same book. He picked up one of them and opened the cover to find an unfamiliar name written inside and a doodle of the Slytherin coat of arms. I must have picked this up when he bumped into me thought Nero. I'll give 'Marcus Forde' his book tomorrow.
Chapter 4
Winter was coming to Hogwarts. The days were getting colder and shorter and the ground was littered with fallen leafs. Nero and Michael walked along the edge of the lake, their eyes wide and alert. "Are you sure this is where we'll find these dragon-firefly things?" Michael asked.
Nero sighed. "They are called torchflies and for the third time yes!"
"Alright, don't get your knickers in a twist."
"There's one!" Nero pulled a jar from his pocket and knelt down at the edge of the lake, holding the empty jar in front of him. A luminous insect that resembled a dragonfly flew in an erratic pattern above the surface of the water and passed quite close to Nero. It gave off a bright orange light like a flame. Its flight became less erratic and it slowly flew toward the empty jar. Nero kept very still and the dragonfly landed on the rim of the jar and crawled inside. Nero felt the glass jar become a little warmer and he carefully sealed the jar and smiled with satisfaction. "Told you so" he said smugly. "The enchantments on the jars work fine."
"Cool. Next one's mine."
They walked a little further and Michael pulled his coat tighter and put his hands in his pockets. "Are you not cold?" he asked. Nero wore a coat on top of his normal clothes, but had not buttoned it up.
"No, the cold does not bother me. Let's split up and do this faster, you go this way and I'll go the other. We'll meet when we have collected enough torchflies." Michael nodded and continued walking, eager to finish and get out of the cold. Nero turned back and walked the other way along the lake. Torchflies could stand up to the cold a lot better than their non-magical cousins, but there were not many of them in the open during the colder months and Nero was alert for any sign of them. The girls better appreciate this he thought, they had the easy job of looking up the potion recipe they needed for their class project. Nero looked at the torchbug he had captured. A half-breed like me he thought. They are a magical fusion of dragonfly, firefly and dragon blood, created by some eccentric Irish wizard, who apparently lacked imagination for naming things. The heat that these magical insects generate is intense and Nero was glad that they remembered to enchant the jars so that they would not get burnt while handling them. Nero put the occupied jar away and focused on the task at hand, looking out across the lake he spotted another one about ten metres from the water's edge. He held out his second jar, and waited for a minute, but he was too far away for the enchantment to work. Damn it; I only need one more he thought.
Nero stood up, closed his eyes and focused. Nero felt the air get colder although it did not bother him. He opened his eyes and saw that ice was beginning to form on the lake, spreading slowly from the lakes edge just before his feet. Nero took a deep breath and concentrated harder and the ice spread faster, making cracking sounds as the water was consumed by the sudden freeze. Nero tentatively placed his foot down on the ice and it held, the ice even became tougher under his foot. Slowly Nero walked toward where the torchfly still flew, the ice spreading even further as he walked. He spread his weight and took care not to slip. When he felt he was close enough he planted his feet and held the jar in his hand, extending his arm, and did his best to remain still. The torchfly flew in erratic circles and then darted toward the jar, catching Nero by surprise. Nero stumbled backward and lost his balance, almost falling but he managed to put his free hand on the ice and catch himself. Nero quickly sealed the jar and smiled in satisfaction. Piece of cake. Nero retreated to land and looked around for Michael. Hopefully we have collected enough he thought.