Ron and Hermione were still arguing. Neville was fully healed but had a huge craving for rabbit stew. It was time for the first Quidditch match of the year. Hufflepuff against Gryffindor.
Everyone took the field and Gryffindor was beating Hufflepuff as it's well known that Hufflepuffs are fond of the hobbit pipe weed and live close to the kitchens. And then a swarm of dementors took the field. Madam Hooch whistled and gave them a red card for interference but dementors don't understand the rules of Quidditch so they continued to swarm. Harry felt everything going cold and dark and he heard screaming and then... "YOOOOOOOUUUU AAAAAAREEEE MYYYYY SOOOOMETTTHINGG!" and all was black.
He came to in the infirmary. "What happened," he said groggily, "I saw dementors...and that singing.. that awful singing..."
"Just rest Harry," Ron said looking worried.
"The dementors swarmed the field, everything went to hell and then you fell. The professors conjured some silver stuff and Dumbledore used a spell to keep you from becoming a living demonstration of the rules of gravity," Angelina Johnson said.
"What about the match? And my broom?" Harry said, suddenly worried about his prized Nimbus 2000.
"Cedric Diggory was sparkling for some reason, the dementors looked really creeped out by that so they left him alone and he caught the snitch. Oliver Wood was so devastated that he offered himself willingly to Bitey. He lost an arm and a leg but Madam Pomfrey said she can fix them... as for your broom," Angelina trailed off.
"Tell me," Harry said, looking worried.
"It nearly fell into the Whomping Willow but was intercepted by a cat, and the cat declared it to be 'MINE' and you don't argue with a cat once it declares something to be 'MINE." Angelina said in a worried voice.
It was true, one of the rules of the wizarding world, and the world in general is that once a cat declares something to be theirs, you don't mess with that. Ever. Still the thought of a cat flying around on his broom and him having to use the school ones saddened Harry.
Once he recovered, he went to see Professor Lupin again to learn the Patronus charm. He wasn't about to start sparkling and he needed a way to deal with the dementors.
"Just think of your happiest memory," Lupin told him.
That was no easy feat. Due to years of abuse at the hands of his aunt and uncle as well as the constant attempts to have him killed and/or expelled from Hogwarts, Harry did not have a lot of happy memories. He thought of the time he flew on a broom the first time.
"Expecto Patronum!" A small silver whisp flew from his wand.
"Not bad for your first time, but you need a happier memory."
Harry thought about the first time he found out he was a wizard and was told he was going to Hogwarts. This time a faint silver rabbit appeared.
"Wow, a rabbit patronus, those are rare, and quite effective. Keep practising and you'll have a genuine killer rabbit patronus."
Harry was pleased, although he felt bad. Ron was already having enough trouble dealing with Bitey, he didn't want him knowing that his patronus was a killer rabbit. However, when he got to Gryffindor Tower there were bigger problems. The portrait of the Fat Lady was being removed as it was covered in paint.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Someone tried to repaint the Fat Lady," Dean Thomas answered.
McGonagall ran up to the scene looking worried.
"Who did this?" She asked the portrait who was looking very upset about the whole thing. Then again who wouldn't be if they were covered in green paint.
"It... it was Sirius Black! He came with paint and a paintbrush muttering about how he was sick of me hanging over Gryffindor Tower and how he was going to make... improvements." She sobbed.
The portrait was removed for restoration and instead they got Edvard Munch's "The Scream" which was quite annoying because it would scream and run away every time you tried to use the password so it took ages to get inside.
A few days later, Harry was doing his Divination homework, which was predicting he would die a horrible death by being thrown into a muggle blender with fruit and milk and made into a giant high-protein smoothie when Ron came in looking happier than he had been since Scabbers disappeared.
"Look Harry! Scabbers is back! And he looks happier than ever, poor thing lost his book but I'm just glad to have him back."
Suddenly Harry felt a terrible pain in his scar, as though his head would burst open and a high pitched laugh.
"Thank you Peter, incompetent as you are. It's a good thing I wrote that book for idiots. Ahh so nice to have a body again... if I only had a nose," The man sighed, "Oh well, time to kill Harry Potter and I know just the way."
Harry came to, realising whose voice that was.
"Ron! Ron! Shut up about that rat already!"
"What's with you?"
"My Voldie-sensor just went off... he's back Ron. Voldemort is back."
