A/n: Quick note here before we get going: canonically, Katie is not in Oliver's year, but I wrote her as such seeing as how I didn't love the idea of surrounding Oliver with a bunch of OC's in all his classes.
Chapter 2 - The Train Ride
Oliver was engrossed in reading Quidditch Through the Ages when Katie and her friend Denise from Ravenclaw came practically barrelling into the compartment, startling him so much he nearly dropped his book.
"Sorry Oliver," Katie winced. "Lee brought his tarantula again this year and brought it out in the middle of the bloody hallway."
He chuckled. "I understand."
She eyed the green book in his hand then raised her eyebrow. "Haven't you already read that like a hundred times by now?"
Oliver nodded and then shrugged sheepishly. "Well, it's good. I've taken it out so many times that finally last year Madame Pince just let me keep it and she said she'd get a new copy for the library."
"And you don't have your own copy because…?"
"I do now!"
Katie shook her head with a smile and then turned to talk to Denise, as Oliver continued reading his book. It was true, he likely had read it a hundred times by now, enough that he could probably recite passages on command, but he still enjoyed reading it. He didn't know what it was, exactly. There were other Quidditch books, longer ones, ones that focused on the theory behind the sport, biographies of famous players, in depth how-to's and tip books – he'd reckon he'd probably read most in existence by now at least once, if not more. Perhaps it was that this book was one of the first he could remember reading and somehow it just never seemed to get old.
The clouds outside the train became darker and darker and it began to rain harder. Angelina came to join Oliver and the other two girls, and shortly after that, the lanterns in the train came on. It was an unusual occurrence but a welcome one since Oliver had been using his wand as a book-light for quite some time. There seemed to be a competition of sound going on between the train rattling, the rain smacking against the windows and the wind roaring around the train. The girls had to raise their voices accordingly to hear one another and Oliver briefly tuned into their conversation.
"They said that a hotline has been set up and that any sighting of Black is supposed to be reported immediately." Denise was saying.
"Wow, so they even told the Muggles about him?" Angelina's eyes were wide.
"What's this?" asked Oliver, interested.
"Sirius Black," said Katie. "You know, that messed up bloke who blew away a bunch of people with one curse a while ago?"
He nodded.
It had happened a long time ago; Oliver himself had only been about 4 or 5 years old at the time and naturally hadn't been aware of any of it. He had in recent months, however, heard and read much about Black's escape from Azkaban and how he was dangerous and on the loose. It gave him the creeps thinking about it and how exactly this scary, evil wizard had managed to escape from the famous wizard prison, which was said to be guarded by hideous creatures called Dementors.
"Denise was just telling us that they're even warning Muggles about him," said Angelina.
Oliver was about to reply when he realized the train was beginning to slow down. In confusion, he glanced out the window, where it was so dark it looked like night time.
"Are we there already?" Angelina stood and tried to peer out the window, but couldn't see much of anything.
Katie opened the compartment door and leaned out to see what was going and Oliver could hear unsure chatter as many others did the same. The train then suddenly slammed to a halt, sending luggage flying off the racks in the various compartments. Oliver lurched forward with the train and his own heavy suitcase came down on top of him. Before he could stand and extricate himself, the lanterns winked out, plunging everything in darkness.
The three girls and Oliver all tried to return to their seats, all talking and shouting at once, trying to be careful how they moved but not succeeding.
"What's going on?"
"Ow!"
"Sorry!"
"Did we break down?"
"What's happening?"
"I don't know – "
"Is that you, Katie?"
"OW!"
"Sorry!"
As Oliver managed to be seated again, he could faintly make out Denise as she wiped her sleeve on the foggy window.
"S-something's out there…" she whispered, silencing the other two girls who'd been snapping at each about stepping on one other's feet.
The compartment had been cold before, but not to the level that it quickly became in that moment. It was like being plunged under ice water, shocking and instantly frigid. The cold seemed to crawl inside Oliver, touching his very soul, penetrating and overtaking…
His teeth were chattering uncontrollably and he'd never felt anything like this before. He was outwardly and inwardly cold, and he could only think about horrible things, bad emotions, terrible deeds and selfish thoughts. Death, shame, regret, anger, greed…
A tall, unfamiliar figure slowly glided into view outside their open compartment, slowed to a stop, leaned in…
Slytherin was holding the Cup… Flint was smug, pointing, hurling insults and wallowing in his glory…
There was a deep, cold, shuddering noise…
Death, shame, regret, anger…
He was shouting at his parents… he was cheating on a test because he hadn't studied and he couldn't fail… he was talking badly about friends, about family… he called Maria his sister and she cried…
He closed his eyes, trying to shut out what he was thinking, what he was seeing. Cold, icy sweat formed on his forehead and he feared he was frozen solid to the seat, he imagined he was blue… why is it so cold?
His mother lay on a hospital bed, dying from a car accident… his parents fought and argued… the Bludger smashed him in the face and the pain, oh Merlin the pain…
Maria, the girl down the street, missing… missing… still missing…
The figure moved on, ever so slowly.
Though he hardly felt able, a few minutes later, he managed to open his eyes and he started breathing again. It was as if the air had frozen in his chest and he'd only just become unfrozen enough to breathe. He thought he could see puffs of breath before him, or perhaps he was just imagining it. The cold in the compartment refused to leave and it was still completely dark.
He realized someone was crying but he couldn't talk yet – he was still so cold. The floor began to shake and the train began to move a moment or two later. The lanterns came back and finally Oliver thought there was a little warmth in the room, though he couldn't be sure. Katie, Angelina and Denise all had tear-streaked faces to varying degrees and looked as awful as he felt. Katie was hugging herself tightly, teeth chattering and Denise was shivering. None of them, it seemed, could shake what they'd just experienced nor did they have the words to ask each other what exactly had just happened.
A man in what looked like hand-me-down robes knocked on and leaned into their compartment. "You kids alright?"
Denise hiccoughed.
The man was holding several chocolate bars and he broke off a piece for each of them. "Here," he said as he handed them each a piece. "This will help you feel better – takes the edge off."
As soon as Oliver had bitten into his piece, warmth flooded his body. This time it felt like he'd been submerged in a perfect bubble bath.
"Wow," Katie remarked upon eating hers, as color rushed back to her previously deathly pale face.
The man gave them a smile and moved to hand out chocolate to the next compartment but Oliver stopped him.
"Wait, sir!"
"Yes?"
"Thank you very much. Who are you?"
"Professor Lupin. I'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
Oliver gladly shook the professor's hand. "Thank you again, Professor."
"You're quite welcome. We'll be arriving at Hogwarts quite soon, so I would suggest you ready yourselves. If you'll excuse me, I need to distribute the rest of this." The professor smiled kindly and left them.
"Does anyone else find it funny that he has literally a stack of chocolate bars?" Angelina smiled.
"Guilty pleasure?" Katie shrugged. She glanced at Denise who was still shaking a bit. "Finish your chocolate, Denise, you'll feel loads better."
The girl nodded numbly and slowly finished her piece, immediately looking much better.
"What was that thing? What happened to us?" Angelina asked uncomfortably a moment later as the four of them gathered and sorted out the fallen luggage splayed across the compartment floor.
"I think… that was a Dementor." Oliver answered.
"You mean the things that guard Azkaban?"
He nodded sombrely. "I've only ever read about them, but I've read that they suck the happiness out of you – that's definitely what happened to me. That's why Azkaban is such a horrible place. I've no idea what it was doing here of all places, though."
The girls stared at him, frightened and worried.
"I could be wrong." He added hastily a moment later.
An uneasy silence followed until the train pulled into the station and they were able to distract themselves with getting their things and clambering off the train with everyone else. Once out on the platform, Oliver immediately wished to be back on the train, which was saying something considering what they'd just been through. Besides being warmer, it certainly would've been dryer. The rain was pelting down hard, drenching everything in a matter of seconds as the winds swirled it around in icy sheets.
Oliver joined the throng of students pushing quickly to get away from the station and into the horseless carriages that would carry them up to the castle. Over the heads of the other students, he caught a glimpse of Hagrid the groundskeeper calling for and gathering up first years for their traditional ride across the lake. He did not envy the ride they were going to take in such miserable weather as he climbed into a carriage with Angelina, followed by Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff.
"Lovely weather we're having," Cedric smirked.
"Smashing." Oliver chuckled.
The carriage pulled them steadily towards the tall wrought iron gate and Oliver uncomfortably noted two hooded figures like the one from the train standing guard. He was fairly certain this time that they were in fact Dementors, and he wondered why in the world they were not at Azkaban where they belonged. He swallowed and stiffened as that horrible inner cold began to seep into the carriage as they passed by.
Once they were past it and his breathing had returned to normal, he asked Cedric, "Did it come to your compartment too?"
Cedric nodded.
The carriage began to move a bit faster as it made its way down a long, sloping path to the castle. Oliver relaxed a little upon seeing the bright welcoming glow emanating from its tall windows. As soon as their carriage came to a stop, Oliver, Angelina and Cedric disembarked quickly and made for the stairs leading up to the Entrance Hall. They hurried through the gigantic oak doors with many, many other students all scrambling to get out of the freezing cold rain.
A/n: Thanks for reading! Reviews are the bubbles in champagne - they make it so much better. ;)