Chapter One

Cold Darkness

Author's Note: Courtney Glass and the Face of Evil is the sequel to Courtney Glass and the Castle of Life, found here: s/10866430/1/Courtney-Glass-and-the-Castle-of-Life. If you have not yet read Castle, do so before you begin Face. That said, for those who have read Castle, welcome back, and thank you for returning to another year in Courtney's life. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Courtney Glass opened the window to allow the two owls to fly inside. Her little owl, Athena, carried a fresh letter - not the same one that Courtney had sent out. The other owl, Courtney recognized as one of Hogwarts's own, the same one that had carried her acceptance to Hogwarts a year ago.

After wishing the large owl off, Courtney took both of the letters that they carried. The Hogwarts owl had brought with him another message from the school, letting her know the supplies that she would need for the upcoming school year. The letter Athena brought back was from Courtney's close friend Lynne Ibrams.

Over the summer, Courtney and Lynne had kept in touch, as well as maintaining contact with their other best friend, Albus Potter. At various times, Athena had stayed over at the others' homes while their owls, Wan Shi Tong and Hedwidgeon, had been at Courtney's.

Second-year students will require:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) by Miranda Goshawk…

Courtney finished the list and saw nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Like last year, the books were standard enough that Mum's older copies from her school days could suffice for most of them. She took a look at the letter Lynne sent.

Hey, Courtney!

Did you get the list of school supplies for this year yet? I just got it yesterday, and my parents and I are going to Diagon Alley on Saturday for the supply run.

By the way, have you seen the Daily Prophet lately? The LMM has been all over it the past week, making headlines and everything. Minister Shacklebolt is against them, but they've started a petition to get him to change his mind.

One last thing: Don't send Wan Shi Tong or Athena to the Potters for at least another week. Albus couldn't give me anything specific, but there's something going on that's making them all uneasy. Bad idea to get involved until we see him and find out what's happening.

Love,

Lynne

Courtney frowned. The last letter she'd gotten from Albus didn't seem troubling at all. She wondered what could have caused it - normally, the only thing that happens at their home is that one of Albus's many uncles would visit and occasionally stir something up. But it had never been severe enough that she and Lynne had to be warned not to write to Albus for a while.

As for the Light Magic Movement - LMM, for short - Courtney hadn't read about them in the Daily Prophet, but she had heard plenty on the Wizarding Wireless Network. The Light Magic Movement was a political group that wanted to repeal the Statute of Secrecy and let the Muggle population know that wizards have been secretly inhabiting their world for centuries. Lynne was against them, but Courtney's friend Elijah was a member. Courtney herself had not yet decided where she stood.

Courtney placed Lynne's letter on top of the small pile of letters Lynne had sent, right next to the pile of letters from Albus. Sure, she never threw these things away, but at least she kept them neat.

Then she picked up the letter from Hogwarts and left her room to show it to her parents. She was not five steps out the door when a sudden chill washed over her whole body. It felt as though the entire room had suddenly dropped at least ten degrees. Freezing.

She went back into her room for a moment to grab her wand. It took a moment for her to mentally go through the spells she had learned in Professor Torrindale's class last year and realize that, no, she didn't know any charms to raise the temperature. She would have to ask about that at some point.

Courtney decided to keep the wand with her anyway, placing it in her right sleeve. Not that it mattered. What difference did it make, whether she had a wand or not? In the grand scheme of things, nothing Courtney ever did would make any difference…

Wait, what? Courtney thought. Since when do I think like that?

A mist rolled in front of her, and she saw before her a dark, floating figure wearing a tattered robe. The figure slowly approached, the air around her growing colder and colder as it got closer to Courtney.

There was a Dementor in her house.

Courtney started running in the opposite direction and shouted "Mum! Mum!" The Dementor sped up in its pursuit. By this point it was less floating and more gliding.

Her parents emerged from another room. Mum gasped when she saw the Dementor and reached for her wand. Da did not react; Muggles couldn't see Dementors, only feel the chill and loss of happiness in their presence.

"Expecto Patronum!" Mum recited while rotating her wand. A silver vapor emerged from the tip of her wand, forming a barrier. She stepped closer to the Dementor. When the vapor touched it, it was pushed back, held at bay by the Patronus Charm. Once the Dementor recovered from the initial shock, it started gliding through the Patronus, far more slowly than before.

"One of those… Dementors is here, isn't it?" Da asked. "The former Azkaban guards?"

"Courtney," Mum said calmly, which was very unusual for her. "This is an incorporeal Patronus. It's not fully effective and it won't last forever. Go contact the Ministry and let them know a Dementor has gone loose. Use the Floo."

Courtney nodded without saying anything, then hurried to the stone fireplace and tossed a small handful of the powder beside it into the flame. "Ministry of Magic!" she called out. A massive, emerald fire shot from the once-ordinary flames and engulfed Courtney's face. It was still room temperature - Floo powder was enchanted to be harmless, for obvious reasons. After doing so, her face was now in a Ministry fireplace, looking at an official. Around her, several other fireplaces were lighting up with images of people's faces.

"Let me guess," the Ministry official said. "A Dementor is loose and attacking your home?"

Courtney nodded, before remembering that he wouldn't be able to see her neck. "Yes. I live at 42 Dalmont Street, in Loughton."

"Thank you for letting us know," the official said. "We will have an Auror at your home shortly. If you or your family has been in extended proximity to the Dementor, make sure to use chocolate to alleviate the effects."

Courtney left the fireplace, and the flames returned to their normal size and color. At once, a wizard in a dark brown robe Apparated into the room, wand in hand. "Expecto Patronum!" he called.

A silver turtle leaped forth from his wand and swam into the Dementor. The Dementor retreated, while the turtle continued chasing it outside.

"Thank you," Mum said.

"The person at the Ministry knew about the Dementor," Courtney said. She looked at the Auror. "Is this happening a lot lately?"

"Yes," the Auror said. "Way more than it has in the last twenty years. Don't know why, but don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of it."