3. The Hogwarts Express
Tom and Harry waved at the Weasleys as the Hogwarts Express left the station.
"I need to talk to you," Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione.
"Go away, Ginny," said Ron.
"I'm coming too," said Tom, glaring at Harry.
Harry mulled it over. "She can come."
Wow, said Ginny. Did you use imperio?
It's called confidence, said Tom, smirking. It comes with the darkness.
I'd be rolling my eyes now if I could, said Ginny.
The only available compartment was at the very end of the train. The single occupant was a shabby man sitting fast asleep next to the window.
"Professor R. J. Lupin," whispered Hermione, pointing at the case on the luggage rack. "Must be the new DADA teacher."
"Hope he's up to it," Ron said doubtfully. "Anyway, what were you going to tell us?"
"I overheard your parents talking last night," said Harry. "Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban to kill me."
Oh, Harry! Ginny cried in unison with Hermione. You have to say something, Tom.
This doesn't affect my plans, said Tom. I'll settle for a look of speechless horror.
How can you be this cold? said Ginny.
As the others reacted, a faint tinny sort of whistle was getting louder.
"It's coming from your trunk, Harry," said Ron, stepping over Tom to pull out a spinning, glowing, shrieking top. Tom bolted and pressed himself against the door.
"It's okay, it's just a cheap Sneakoscope," said Ron. "It went haywire when I was sending it to Harry."
"Stick it back in the trunk," said Harry, "or it'll it wake him up."
"Right," said Ron, burying it deeper in the clothing. "We could get it checked in Hogsmeade."
Tom sat as far as he could from Harry's trunk.
"Yeah, about that," said Harry. "The Dursley didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either."
"You're not allowed to come?" cried Ron.
"Ron," said Hermione, "I don't think Harry should be leaving school with Black on the loose…"
"I'll ask McGonagall," said Harry grimly. "If she says no, I'll just have to find some other way."
"Well, look who it is," said Malfoy, pulling open the compartment door. "I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley. Did your mother die of shock?"
Ron shot up but Tom was faster: "Impedimenta."
Malfoy froze at the door.
"Stop getting in my way," said Tom, pointing his wand. "Cru…"
No! cried Ginny.
You said you hated him, said Tom.
Doesn't mean I want him tortured! said Ginny.
If you say so, said Tom, lowering his wand.
Lupin snorted.
"Who's that?" said Malfoy as the jinx wore off.
"New teacher," said Harry.
Malfoy looked at Tom. "We'll be watching you, Weasley." He left with Crabbe and Goyle.
"Nice job, Ginny!" said Harry, smiling.
"The crucio bluff was brilliant," said Ron.
"You really shouldn't pick fights like that," said Hermione.
#
The rain thickened as the train sped north. The windows were dark when the train started to slow down.
"Great," said Ron, getting up. "I'm starving."
"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.
The train came to a stop with a jolt. All the lamps went out.
What's going on? said Ginny.
I don't know, said Tom, raising his wand. Don't distract me.
"Keep calm," said a hoarse voice in the dark. Shivering light filled the compartment, radiating from the flames on Professor Lupin's palm.
The door slid slowly open to reveal a towering cloaked figure. It drew a long, slow breath, and the temperature dropped. The cold was inside his chest, inside his very heart…
Ginny cried out in his mind. Dear Tom, I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. I can't remember what I did the night of Halloween. There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad. I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!
"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks," roared Lupin, raising his wand at the dementor. "Go!"
Silver shot forth from the wand, and the creature glided away.
"Harry!" cried Hermione, slapping him where he lay on the floor.
"What happened?" asked Harry.
Everyone jumped as Lupin snapped off pieces of chocolate.
"Here," he said, passing them around. "Eat. If you'll excuse me, I need to speak to the driver."
What was that? Ginny asked weakly.
Dementor, said Tom, taking a big bite. Chocolate helps.
It does, said Ginny, feeling the warmth return.
Am I really your worst memory? asked Tom.
Ginny paused. Yes.
Tom took another bite.
Why didn't it affect you? asked Ginny.
It feeds on happiness, said Tom.
I can't tell whether you're trying to be funny, said Ginny.
Tom kept chewing.
#
The train finally pulled into Hogsmeade station.
"Firs' years this way!" Hagrid hollered across the platform.
I wish we could take the boats again, Ginny said as they moved through the crowd. You dream of Hogwarts all your life and then it's suddenly just there, windows sparkling with the stars in the sky and the lake… You'll think it's silly.
It's silly, said Tom. And I know what you mean.
Maybe there's a little something for a dementor to gnaw on after all, said Ginny.
Very little, said Tom. The stagecoaches are this way.
Students were piling into dozens of coaches on a rough mud track.
How do they move? asked Ginny. Is it a charm?
Pulled by thestrals, said Tom. Ugly buggers.
You're pulling my leg, said Ginny. There's nothing there.
They can only be seen by those who've seen death, said Tom.
Oh, said Ginny.