Chapter 7
The Bomber and the Dementor
"How sad it is how regularly our best of intentions create the worst of situations."
General (ret.) Jigme Dorji Wengshuk
When her hearing returned, everything became a blur for Harriet. She didn't have time to process what was happening. The Leaky Cauldron was suddenly filled with Ministry employees from the department of Magical Law Enforcement, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, and healers and medi-wizards from St Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries. In spite of it all, Harriet was impressed by how quickly and how well the Ministry responded, almost as if they were expecting something to happen. Then she reminded herself with Sirius Black on the loose, they probably were.
Within twenty minutes of their arrival, Aurors were questioning everyone if they had caught sight of Black in the area. Harriet wasn't surprised by that. What she was surprised by was the reaction when she asked Mr Weasley about the man in white. Mr Weasley had looked horror struck and within five minutes Harriet found herself in a room with Mr and Mrs Weasley, Mr and Mrs McIntyre, the head of the Auror office, the Minister of Magic himself, and a short, portly woman in a hot pink cardigan who reminded Harriet forcibly of a toad.
Harriet had never seen the Head of the Auror Office before, a man named Rufus Scrimgeour, or the pink toad-woman. Harriet knew who Cornelius Fudge was, as she had been hiding in Hagrid's hut when Fudge had arrived to arrest him for the petrification attacks on students. As Hagrid was innocent, this was still a very sore spot with Harriet.
Rufus Scrimgeour was one of the more formidable looking men Harriet had ever seen. He put her in mind of an old lion. His hair was thick like a mane and streaked with grey. He also wore wire-rimmed spectacles that often flashed opaque white in the light from the crackling fireplace as he paced the floor.
The woman had been introduced as Dolores Umbridge, the Minister's Senior Undersecretary. Harriet supposed she seemed pleasant enough. She greeted everyone warmly with a girly laugh, which sounded forced to Harriet. At the moment she was sitting quietly in a corner, holding a clipboard with a piece of parchment and a quill. She was furiously writing down Harriet's account of what she had seen and Fudge and Scrimgeour's responses. Umbridge seemed so focused she did not notice the small, shiny blue beetle scurrying up her sleeve.
Compared to Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge looked even dumpier and a little feebler than Harriet remembered. She couldn't help feeling that if she hadn't known who either man was she would have guessed that Scrimgeour was the Minister instead of Fudge. Fudge was sitting in an arm-chair fiddling with his bowler hat and rubbing his shiny bald spot while Scrimgeour paced, deep in thought.
Fudge looked at Harriet. "You are certain that is the man you saw, Harriet?" he asked. By the sound of it, he was hoping that Harriet was not so certain.
"Yes, sir," Harriet replied. "He had long black hair, a round face, light skin, clean shaven, and was wearing an all-white suit with a white hat. He… he just looked at me, went 'shhh' and left. He was smiling, like he didn't have a care in the world."
Scrimgeour continued to pace the room. "It could only be Kinney, Minister. And by his actions he was clearly involved."
"Yes, I know that, Rufus, but what can we possibly do about it? The Prophet is going to be worse than ever, how could this have happened?"
"We underestimated him, Minister," Scrimgeour said. It seemed as though they had forgotten the other people were in the room. "Howe warned us about what Kinney was capable of. Never dreamed he would dare try something so bombastic, er, pardon the expression, here in Britain. Against his direct enemy in the States is one thing but to carry out an attack like this in a foreign nation that has not even given formal support of his enemy?"
"He did it to send a message, that's why he attacked the Prophet," Fudge said, shrewdly. "Diagon Alley was full of families with children today. He could have gone after them, but he chose the Daily Prophet. The Prophet is going to want to know what happened, and when they find out I could have saved all those lives by simply turning over a few children who aren't even from here," he sighed.
"They would rather you turned over innocent children and give into a madman?" Mr McIntyre asked. Fudge and Scrimgeour both jumped and turned to look at Mr McIntyre. Harriet on the other hand was surprised by the way Fudge and Scrimgeour looked at him with rapt attention.
"This…" Fudge sighed and put a hand on his face. "Of course I wouldn't, Dorian. I knew Kinney was dangerous, I had been warned. But I wasn't going to let this man walk in and take over the place, and I was certainly not going to turn over innocent children into his hands. But you know the Prophet as well as anyone. They love a scandal and now I've got blood on my hands! Their blood!"
Fudge rubbed his forehead. Harriet could almost see the wheels turning in his brain. He glanced at Harriet and his eyes widened and a look of relief came over his face, as though he had just been struck with a brilliant idea.
There was a knock on the door. Fudge nodded to Ms Umbridge, who got up and answered the door. Another Auror was there, looking grave and holding out an envelope. This Auror was very tall and black, with a bald-head and a fang earring.
"Ah, Kingsley, come in. Any new information?"
"Yes, Minister," Kingsley said. He nodded politely to Harriet and the others before turning back to Fudge. "We have found a note, Minister, and the analysis is in on the explosives used."
Fudge grimaced and Scrimgeour crossed to Kingsley. "Well done, Shacklebolt. Let me see."
"Minister, would you mind terribly if we got Harriet to bed? She's told you all she knows about what she saw and I don't think we're strictly relevant to the conversation anymore," Mr McIntyre said putting a hand on Harriet's shoulder.
"Oh, yes," Fudge said smiling kindly at Harriet. "Thank you, my dear, for this information. You have done a great service, and it's good to know that at least one person in all of this was paying proper attention."
Harriet flushed. Mr McIntyre nodded and put a hand under Harriet's arm, gently lifting her to her feet. The Weasleys rose too. Fudge and Scrimgeour began talking again as they were leaving but Harriet was too distracted to hear what they were saying.
Mrs Weasley guided Harriet towards her room. It was only three in the afternoon, so Harriet wasn't sure exactly why she was going to bed. However, as she got closer and closer to the room she felt more tired. Maybe it would be good to just lie down for a little while; get washed up, get into pyjamas and lie in bed with her eyes closed. That sounded wonderful.
She closed her window, shutting out the sounds coming from the street. She was just climbing into bed when Ronnie came in. "Ginny's gonna be okay, the healers managed to get her hearing back," Ronnie said miserably.
"How's Fred?" Harriet asked. She would never forget the sight of his stricken face, one blood-red eye and bleeding ears.
"He's okay too. His eye will be red for a while but his ears are fine."
"Good," Harriet replied, pulling her covers up to her chin. She felt the weight of the day melting off her shoulders as she lay down.
Ronnie changed too before closing the curtains. The room became almost as dark as if it were night-time. Harriet curled up on her side, grabbing one of the extra pillows and hugging it tightly to her chest.
She could hear Ronnie tossing and turning as she tried to fall asleep. After what felt like an hour, she heard Ronnie slide out of bed and pad over to her. "Harriet?"
"Yeah?"
"Can…"
"Yeah," Harriet said immediately and pulled back her covers.
Ronnie climbed in and cuddled up against Harriet. Harriet smiled remembering the times during her first year when she was having nightmares and Ronnie had comforted her. Harriet pulled the covers back over them. After another ten minutes, the door to their room opened and Ginny snuck in too. Harriet smiled making more room and finally fell asleep.
When Harriet awoke the following morning, she did not want to believe the previous day had happened. But it had. She was sure of it because there was no other reason she would find herself cuddling with not just Ronnie and Ginny, but Hermione, Dora, and Emma as well. She remembered when Hermione had come in, but not the other two.
The girls slowly got out of bed and all but Ronnie went back to their rooms to get cleaned-up and dressed. Harriet combed her hair and sat on her bed, just staring at her trunk as if willing it to fly open and give her some clothes to wear. Somehow, in light of everything that happened the day before, Harriet wanted to feel special and pretty. She pulled out her dinner party outfit and put it on. However, instead of the original hair scarf she had she put on the one she had got from Kieran instead.
Ronnie got dressed as well, but opted for a simple t-shirt, and jeans. She put on a hoodie, stuffing the miserable looking Scabbers in the pouch. They made their way downstairs to the dining room. Harriet kept running over the previous day in her head. It had all been so peaceful and fun and it all changed with an ear-splitting explosion that shook the ground and levelled half of a five story office building.
The quiet in the dining room was almost deafening after yesterday. There seemed to be no one in the pub except for the Weasleys, the McIntyres, the O'Briens, the Flamels, Jess, Hermione and Harriet (and the Aurors who were stationed at the doors, their wands in their hands).
Dora was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh that's so cute," Dora said admiring Harriet's outfit as she and Ronnie reached the landing.
"Oh, thanks, Dora," Harriet replied. "Just felt like looking… nice… today…" she mumbled.
Dora smiled and bumped Harriet's shoulder. "Oh come on, Harriet, you always look nice."
Harriet flushed. "Th-thanks," she stammered and smiled a little in spite of herself.
"Since when are you so cheery and nice?" Ronnie grumbled. She sounded half-asleep.
Dora scowled. "Well she did at least put a little effort into her appearance instead of looking like she just got done gardening," she spat.
Ronnie laughed. "That sounds like the snotty blondie we know and love."
Dora rolled her eyes and they made their way past one of the parlours. The adults were all inside, gathered around a table. They were all arguing amongst themselves.
"I can't believe Fudge thought he could get away with trying to pin this on Black when he knew perfectly well there were witnesses who saw Kinney. Harriet couldn't possibly have been the only person to see him."
"But how could Skeeter have overheard? Some of the things in that article… "This very credible eye witness described Kinney perfectly and said he looked at her and told her to 'shhh' before leaving the Leaky Cauldron." How could Skeeter have known that? Harriet didn't tell anyone else that information!"
Harriet flushed, making her way to the sitting room, not wanting the adults to know she had overheard them talking. Despite her usual thirst for any and all information, after last night, Harriet was feeling a bit less like snooping and prying into other people's affairs. At the moment, all she really felt like doing was being happy to be alive.
That was the main thought that had struck Harriet in the middle of the night sometime between when Hermione came in and Dora and Emma apparently joined them: how close she had come to dying yesterday. And it hadn't been because of some plot by Voldemort's, or even Sirius Black's. It had simply been being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It struck her in a way it never had before.
They all sat down in the soft arm chairs. Kieran, Scott, Marcus and Emma were already in the room. Emma was sitting off by herself.
Kieran smiled warmly. "Hey you lot," he said in greeting and took in Harriet's outfit. "Wow, you look great, oh, is that the scarf I got you?"
"Yeah, it is," Harriet replied, smiling.
Dora shot a cryptic look at Kieran but he did not seem to notice. Instead he glanced at Scott who smiled. Harriet shook her head. She was too rattled and had too much on her mind to worry about what was going on.
Hermione came in, her face stuck deep into a copy of the Daily Prophet. "You've got to hand it to them, their main office gets bombed and they still manage to print an edition the next day, full of, well, uncomfortably accurate information."
"Yeah, so we've heard," Scott muttered, jerking his head towards the door where the adults were still arguing.
Hermione set the paper down on the coffee table and Scott picked it up. He read it and gave a snort of disgust before passing it off to Kieran. Kieran responded the same way and handed it off to Harriet.
BLACK STRIKES AGAIN!
According to reports from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; the horrific bombing yesterday, which took the lives of thirty one members of the Daily Prophet staff as well as a family of four who were passing in front of the Daily Prophet offices at the time of the bombing, was perpetrated by none other than Sirius Black.
Harriet gasped clamping a hand over her mouth. She felt sick to her stomach. Coupled with her realization over how close she had come to dying by mere chance, she now knew just how many people had been killed without having any idea it was coming. Even a family of four had been killed. She felt a twinge of fear. What if one of the children killed was one of their schoolmates? How could she find out?
Another twinge of shock shot through Harriet's system. It had been Kinney, the man in the white suit, who had done it. He had killed all those people. And he had looked right at her, and smiled. He had been happy he had done it.
And yet, here in the article, they said it had been Sirius Black. Apparently the Ministry had told them that, but why? Cornelius Fudge knew that it had been Kinney, Harriet had told him so. Then she remembered the way Fudge had looked at her. Had that been what was going through Fudge's mind? He wanted to blame it on Black so the Prophet wouldn't report on Fudge not apprehending another mass-murderer on the loose?
But if that was the case, what had the adults been talking about? Harriet flipped to the other half of the front page.
Black not to Blame?
Contrary to contemporary reports, yesterday's vile, unmitigated attack on the Ministry of Magic offices (which nearly took the life of your dear author as well incidentally) which took the lives of many good, decent, hard-working Daily Prophet employees, was not the work of escaped mass-murderer, Sirius Black. No, instead, this heinous crime was carried out by someone entirely unknown to the wider magical population of Britain.
I, Rita Skeeter, can report exclusively that the murderous assault on innocent lives yesterday was carried out by an American by the name of Solomon Kinney. Never heard of him? Of course you haven't. The Ministry saw to that. Apparently Mister Kinney was sent as an envoy from one of the seceding states in America to 'fetch' some of the refugee students. Through a spy network, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, was informed of this and intervened.
This is where the praise for the Minister's actions ends. For you see, Fudge had been made aware of just how dangerous this individual was, and how his aim was not to reclaim misplaced children, but to kidnap them or worse in an attempt to silence their families who have been speaking out against the war. Fudge naturally refused Kinney and ordered him sent away. But in the process, Kinney clearly escaped.
Now I know, you may say 'well if Fudge refused him and saved children's lives, why stop the praise?' Well it may have done the wider wizarding population of Britain some good to have been made aware of a killer, possibly even more dangerous than Sirius Black being on the loose? Because Solomon Kinney's death toll does not begin with the bombing of The Daily Prophet.
No, it also happens to include another bombing that took place exactly one year ago today in America. Solomon Kinney was also responsible for the Merlin Stadium Bombing that killed no less than three hundred people by the time the rubble was cleared. And in that incident it was mostly Muggles who were killed. For Solomon Kinney is the devious striking arm of the lawless American Secessionist movement. And now he is running rampant in Britain, waiting to strike again.
Continued Page 2.
Harriet turned the page.
Continued from Page 1.
The truth of Kinney's involvement was verified shortly after the bombing itself, when an eye-witness spotted Kinney in the Leaky Cauldron within minutes of the attack. This very credible eye witness described Kinney perfectly and said he looked at her and told her to 'shhh' before leaving the Leaky Cauldron.
Frankly, this is inexcusable. Fudge should have never taken these refugees, these outsiders, on in the first place. And he should send them right back where they came from. We don't need America's troubles here in Britain. Good riddance to bad rubbish! If only he had seen such sense before yesterday's senseless violence.
Harriet's stomach churned. She did not know who to be madder at; Fudge for lying or this Skeeter woman for calling her friends 'bad rubbish' and suggesting they be sent back to a warzone. She put down the paper and Dora picked it up to read.
Harriet didn't know how to feel anymore. The only thing she knew was she wanted to get on the Hogwarts Express now more than ever. She wanted to get as far away from here as possible, to the only place she truly felt at home. She wanted to see the big castle and feel safe knowing nothing could get to her in there, not with Professor Dumbledore to protect them.
There was a quiet knock on the door to the sitting room and everyone turned. Jess was looking around at them all sympathetically. "Alright loves, time tah go. The Ministry will be escorting us all to the station in cars."
No one spoke as they got to their feet and followed Jess from the room. Harriet watched Ministry wizards carrying their trunks, owl cages, and one wicker basket containing the hissing, spitting Crookshanks, down the stairs for them and out the front door of the pub. There was a line of cars waiting, all with little flags marked "MoM" on the bonnets. Harriet was surprised, and so was everyone else, when the tall black Auror named Kingsley diverted Harriet from getting into the same car as her friends and instead to a car at the front of the line.
He opened the door for her and gave her a reassuring nod. Harriet climbed inside and was surprised to find Cornelius Fudge and his senior undersecretary again. The door closed and Fudge smiled down at her.
"Well, Harriet, I hope you don't mind, but I wanted a little further word with you in private, and thought this the most discrete way for all involved to do so," Fudge said pleasantly as the driver started the car.
"O-okay," Harriet said nervously. She was suddenly worried Fudge might think she had talked to that Skeeter woman.
"Well Harriet, I wanted to talk to you about this past summer," Fudge went on. "More specifically, about the night of the unfortunate incident with your Aunt."
Harriet grimaced. She didn't want to talk about that at all.
"I must say, Harriet, in light of the dangerous climate we're in, that I'm slightly disappointed that you chose to run off with two men you barely knew, rather than staying and waiting for official members of the Ministry of Magic to arrive and straighten the situation out," Fudge said.
Harriet flushed. "I… well… I didn't have a choice, sir… I was in shock from what had happened and then when the real Ministry wizards showed up Professor Howe grabbed my hand and we all just, ran…"
Fudge looked down at Harriet, his expression a calculating one. "Hmmm… Harriet, how many times have you met with Professor Sherrod Howe?"
Harriet thought. "Only… only once before, sir. The night Justin and Nearly-Headless Nick got petrified."
"Hm. Well, you'll find this hard to believe, Harriet, as I know he has a certain level of charisma and charm, but I would advise you in the strongest possible terms not to trust Sherrod Howe."
"Sir?"
"Sherrod often has his own agenda, and rarely does anything without having some personal reason. I might add that not even Professor Dumbledore trusts Sherrod Howe completely. Dumbledore was not happy that you were removed from your Aunt and Uncle's house either, you know?"
"Yeah, I-I did know," Harriet muttered.
She was suddenly starting to feel angry. Harriet knew one thing: Professor Howe had not lied to her. In fact, he had tried to tell her so much it made other people angry. Yet here was Fudge who had lied to not just Harriet, but the entire country. Not to mention he had arrested Hagrid, knowing Hagrid was probably innocent.
"Ah, yes, well, all I wanted to say, really. Just be cautious any time you are in contact with Sherrod Howe," Fudge said.
"Says you," muttered Harriet before she could stop herself.
"What was that?" Dolores Umbridge snapped while Fudge looked taken aback. Harriet noted that the girlish simper was gone from Umbridge's voice and she went from looking like a toad to a full-on bullfrog.
Harriet crossed her arms. "At least he didn't lie to everyone about what was going on with Kinney."
Fudge looked very uncomfortable. He fiddled with his bowler hat again. "That was… unfortunate," he said. "But it was necessary. We had expected Kinney to be removed from the country and it was almost a month before we figured out the Auror who was escorting him had been confounded so as to not remember Kinney escaping. By that point we had no idea where Kinney was or what he was truly capable of. I take it you read Miss Skeeter's take on the matter? Well, she only got it part right. It is still only rumoured that Kinney was behind the Merlin Stadium Bombing, not confirmed."
Fudge heaved a sigh. "And then I came up with the Black cover-story to continue to protect the refugees. I knew that revelation would breed more resentment towards them. The less people are aware of them, the safer they are. But, can't keep anything from the press, I suppose."
Harriet blinked. She had not expected Fudge to be that forthcoming, especially after Professor Howe had warned Harriet that Fudge and Dumbledore wanted to keep her in the dark. It was also not at all what Harriet had expected Fudge to say. Now she had no idea what to think of him. Fortunately, the awkward situation was diffused when the cars finally arrived at King's Cross. Harriet got out without a look back at either Fudge or Umbridge and stomped irritably back to her friends.
"What's eating you?" Ronnie asked.
"Later," Harriet muttered as an Auror brought up a trolley to put their luggage on.
They loaded up their trunks and made their way as a group into King's Cross Station. Harriet felt as though she was on auto-pilot as the Aurors smoothly funnelled the families through the hidden barrier to Platform 9 ¾. Before Harriet even realized it, she was pulling her trunk up onto one of the cars of the Hogwarts Express and putting it into a compartment with her friends.
They made their way back onto the platform to say their goodbyes. Harriet flushed but was rather pleased that she got plenty of extra hugs from all the parents. The whistle sounded, they climbed back aboard and the train pulled forward.
As the Hogwarts Express sped away, Harriet felt the weight beginning to slide off her shoulders. She was going back to Hogwarts. Back to Quidditch, and classes, and the Great Hall, the Gryffindor Common Room and her soft four poster bed.
They made their way back to their compartment. As they did, Ronnie brought up another subject that made Harriet feel even better: Hogsmeade. "It'll be so great to get out of the castle and grounds, won't it?" she asked as they reached their compartment and Marcus opened the door.
"Definitely," Harriet agreed. Hermione stepped into the compartment and they began filing in behind her. However, Hermione stopped, causing a domino effect of the others bumping into each other.
"What is it?" Ginny asked, rubbing her nose where she had bumped it into Marcus's back.
"There's someone else in here," Hermione whispered.
Harriet wondered why she was whispering but as the others moved inside, she found out. There was indeed a man sitting in a corner leaned up against the window. He looked to be sound asleep, breathing deeply.
By his face, Harriet would have guessed him to be in his thirties, but his hair had turned almost entirely grey. His robes were shabby and patched, and the soles were starting to come off his shoes.
"Where did he come from?" Scott asked. "He wasn't in here when we put our trunks in."
"Hey Ginny!" called a voice from down the corridor.
Ginny beamed and waved enthusiastically at two of her fellow second-years, Minako Minagawa and Minami Takamiya. She grabbed Emma's hand and began pulling her enthusiastically down the corridor.
"Come on, Emma! I'll introduce you to my friends!"
"But-but—!" Emma protested but to no avail as Ginny hauled her off.
Dora laughed. "And she's off… I knew school would do her a lot of good."
They sat, the four girls on one side, while the boys sat next to the sleeping man.
"Who do you think he is?" Harriet asked. Despite having no idea who the man was, she couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about him.
"Well, it says Professor R. J. Lupin on his case," Hermione said, pointing at the luggage rack over Professor Lupin's head. Harriet looked and saw the case there, which looked just as shabby as its owner.
"Think he's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Scott asked.
"Must be," Hermione said. "That's the only vacancy I can think of."
"Well, there is Muggle Studies," Scott replied. "Miss Burbage left."
"She did?" Hermione asked sounding disappointed. "I was looking forward to studying under her. I heard a lot of good things about her last spring."
"Well she runs the Department of Misplaced Youths at the Ministry. Essentially she liaises with the Muggle families of the American students and tries to protect them from people like Kinney," Scott explained.
"Well, okay that is a much loftier position then," Hermione said.
There was a hissing and spitting from the luggage rack above them and Hermione got up, opening Crookshanks basket. To everyone's surprise, Crookshanks leapt not onto any of their laps, but rather in the gap between Marcus and Professor Lupin, where he curled up and purred.
"Well, Crookshanks seems to be a fan of Professor Lupin, anyway," Scott muttered.
Crookshanks continued to purr, but Harriet couldn't help but notice that his bright, yellow eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the pocket of Ronnie's hoodie which contained the trembling Scabbers.
"You know," Dora said thoughtfully. "I was thinking about those articles this morning… we know Black didn't do it, but, for all the stories about him he has been rather quiet since his escape, hasn't he? No sightings, nothing. He just disappeared."
"That's—that's a good point," Hermione said. "There hasn't been any news about him at all, outside descriptions."
"It's like they're in a total panic over Black but they really did ignore Kinney altogether," Kieran added. "That is a little strange."
At that moment, a very faint whistling noise could be heard. They looked around when Ronnie pointed above Harriet's head. "It's coming from your trunk."
Harriet got up and opened her trunk. It was her Pocket Sneakoscope that she had placed inside a pair of Aunt Petunia's old pantyhose for safe-keeping.
"Oo, is that a Sneakoscope?" Hermione asked. "Where did you get it?"
"I gave it to her for her birthday," Ronnie said. "It's a really cheap one, mind. It kept lighting up and spinning at random times. Like when I was trying to tie it to Errol's leg to send to Harriet. Destroyed the first box I had it in, had to repackage it."
"Hmmm," Hermione hummed shrewdly. "Errol's a really old owl, yes?"
"Well, yeah," Ronnie said bemused.
"Were you supposed to be using him to send a package to Harriet?"
"Well, no," Ronnie admitted. "But how else was I supposed to get Harriet her present?!"
Marcus laughed. "Either way, sounds like we identified the culprit!"
Ronnie rolled her eyes and kicked his foot.
"Though, if it does work, who's being untrustworthy?" Kieran asked.
Everyone looked around. Scott got up and flung the door to the compartment open. "No one there," he said sitting back down.
All eyes turned back to Professor Lupin, but if Lupin was still only pretending to sleep, he was very good at it. He barely moved except for the steady, slow rise and fall of his chest as he slept. Marcus even poked him very gently on the shoulder but he did not show any sign of noticing.
"Well, maybe it is a little faulty then," Hermione admitted.
Dora shrugged. "Who knows, anyway, it is weird isn't it? I mean, they're in such an uproar over Black that they've stationed Dementors around the Hogwarts grounds," Dora added.
"Dementors?" Harriet asked. She felt a chill run down her spine at the word. She had only ever heard rumours about the nature of Dementors, and she did not like them one bit.
"Yeah, I remember Dad complaining about it this summer. He didn't want them there anymore than Dumbledore did," Dora explained.
"Heh, sounds like he and Dumbledore have a good bit of sense about them then," Marcus muttered, idly scratching Crookshanks behind the ears. The cat's gaze did not waiver from the hidden Scabbers.
"Well, at least Dad and Dumbledore convinced the Ministry not to let the Dementors into the grounds, could you imagine trying to get through lessons or just living with those things sucking all the happiness out of you all the time?" Dora asked scoffing. "I mean it's bad enough I'm in Slytherin but come on!"
"Bad enough you're in Slytherin?" Ronnie asked raising an eyebrow.
Dora rolled her eyes. "I just mean they're not the cheeriest lot."
"Suuuuuure," Ronnie teased.
They passed more time talking about their new elective classes and trips into Hogsmeade. Harriet was excited to see the inside of Dusk to Dawn, the large Muggle clothing store where they had bought Ronnie her first football gear. The chance to buy her own brand new clothes that would fit her from the start was too good to pass up.
Hermione rattled on about the historical sites in Hogsmeade she wanted to see, while Ronnie fantasized over how much she wanted to get into Honeydukes, the wizarding sweets shop. The talk of Honeydukes made Harriet so hungry she almost jumped to her feet when the witch with the food trolley knocked on their door.
They attempted to arouse Professor Lupin but he still did not move. The witch told them she would be up front with the driver should Professor Lupin awake and want food. The group sat with their purchases and studied the sleeping man again.
"He didn't… like… die, did he?" Ronnie asked.
"No… he's still breathing," Marcus muttered looking closer at Professor Lupin.
A couple hours later it began to rain. The door to the compartment slid open and three people stepped in. Harriet had expected it to be Draco Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, but she was surprised (and not pleasantly) to see that it was instead her other three least favourite Slytherins; Pansy Parkinson, Pixie Fanfarró, and Wendy Aarons.
"Good afternoon, ladies," Pansy said. She looked as much like a pug as ever as she smirked around at them all.
"Well 'ladies' isn't quite the word I would use," Pixie said taking in Ronnie's hoodie and jeans. Behind them, Wendy laughed sycophantically. "And Potter what on earth are you wearing?"
"Better than what you're wearing," Dora snapped. "Didn't the whole big pearl necklace and bangles thing go out of style two years ago?"
Pixie glowered but Pansy ignored her, still focusing on Harriet. "You go to a school that requires you to wear them but you willingly chose to wear knee-highs? How are you not sick of them?" Pansy taunted.
Harriet flushed but Pixie started back in. "And that scarf, you seriously think that's gonna fool people that you don't have that stupid scar?"
Ronnie, Dora and Scott all made to get to their feet but to Harriet's surprise it was Kieran who got up first, using his shillelagh to pull himself up rapidly.
"Ooooo tough guy," Pansy smirked not backing down. She glanced from Kieran to the scarf and back. "Awwww, I get it. You bought that for pwetty widdle Potter, didn't you? Dat's sho shweet… Made shuwe it matched her pwetty gween eyes?" she said, speaking in a sing-songy, baby-ish voice. Kieran scowled but his face went white and he gripped his shillelagh tighter.
"Did you send her one of those wovy-dovy poems wast Vawentine's Day too?" Pixie smirked, adopting the same voice. Wendy laughed even harder.
Professor Lupin snorted. Pansy, Pixie and Wendy froze.
"Who's that?" Pansy asked.
"New teacher," Ronnie growled, now on her feet too. "Shove off."
Pansy and Pixie glared before turning their noses up in the air and strutting from the compartment in a huff, Wendy following in their wake.
"What cows," Hermione spat.
Kieran sat, determinedly not meeting anyone's eyes, staring at his feet.
"So sick of those two," Dora growled. "How insecure do you have to be to go looking for someone to make feel bad?"
Harriet didn't say anything. She was looking down at her lap, strongly contemplating taking out some plainer clothes and changing in one of the rest rooms on the train. Dora bumped her shoulder.
"Oh stop it, you look fabulous and you know it," Dora said. "Just watch, give it a year or two and everyone'll be wearing them."
Harriet managed a little smile.
A few hours later, Harriet was sure they must be nearing Hogwarts. The storm outside had grown worse howling and rattling the window. Despite sleeping right against the window, Professor Lupin still showed no sign of waking.
The lights were lit in the corridor, and students had stopped running past. It was starting to feel unnaturally cold. Harriet shivered and hugged her light cardigan tighter around her. The three boys all looked at each other and rose getting into their trunks. Marcus and Scott both pulled out jumpers while Kieran took out a hoodie of his own. The boys all turned and handed them over to Dora, Hermione, and Harriet respectively.
Harriet flushed and put on the hoodie. It didn't exactly match, but it was warm. Harriet stuck her hands in the pouch but at that very moment, the train began to slow down.
"That's strange," Scott said looking out the window. "We can't be there yet."
"Then why are we stopping?" Dora asked. "Think we've broken down?"
"Maybe?" Kieran muttered. He got up and looked out the compartment door. At that moment, all the lights inside the car went out, plunging them into total darkness.
"What the—" Marcus muttered then yelped in pain. "That was my foot!"
"Sorry," Scott said.
The door to the compartment opened.
"Does anyone know what's going on?" came the voice of Neville Longbottom.
"Hey, Neville," Harriet said. "No clue. Here sit—OW!"
Neville tripped over her legs.
"Sorry," Neville muttered trying to get up to his feet. There was a hiss and Neville now shouted in pain. Apparently he had tried to sit on Crookshanks. There was a snort of a much deeper voice. Apparently Professor Lupin had woken up.
"What's going on?" Harriet heard him ask. His voice was hoarse and gruff, yet there was gentleness to his tone.
"Uh, the train stopped and the lights went out," Ronnie said.'
"No, you think?" Dora muttered.
"I'm going to speak to the driver," Professor Lupin said.
There was a crackling sound and Harriet blinked as a bright blue light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin was holding the same blue flames that Hermione knew how to conjure in his bare hand. Marcus, who was fond of flame spells, watched in awe.
Harriet however was looking at Professor Lupin's face. Again she could not help the feeling that there was something very familiar about him. His face looked even more lined and prematurely aged in the light from the flames, but his eyes were bright and alert.
Professor Lupin got to his feet and made his way to the door. He opened the door but grunted and took a step backwards. There were two squeals of surprise followed by two thump noises. In the light from Professor Lupin's flames, Harriet could see Ginny and Emma past him, sitting on the floor. Apparently they had run into him.
"Uh h-hello," Ginny said looking up at Professor Lupin with wide eyes. Professor Lupin smiled and held out a hand. Emma and Ginny both took hold of his hand and he pulled them up to their feet.
"Get into the compartment girls, there's something going on and I need you to get into the compartment and close the door," Professor Lupin said. The students nodded as Emma and Ginny sat in Professor Lupin's vacated seat.
He gave them all a reassuring smile and turned to leave the compartment. However, his path was blocked yet again. This time, it was by a towering, hooded and cloaked figure. Its robes were jet black, so black it seemed to suck all light into it. Harriet looked down and felt her insides clench.
There was a hand sticking out of its sleeve. The most horrible hand Harriet had ever seen. It looked rotted, covered in scabs and open, puss-seeping sores. The skin that wasn't covered in sores and scabs was grey and shiny, as if covered in slime. The hand vanished up into the sleeve and Harriet heard the newcomer take a deep, slow, rattling breath. It sounded the way Harriet imagined a dying person would sound, taking his last breaths.
The moment it began breathing, all heat was sucked from the room. Harriet instantly felt chilled to the bone despite wearing the hoodie. The cold started sapping her of energy and she felt light-headed. Her eyes lost focus and she lost her sense of balance. She felt like she was sinking in a deep pool.
In the distance, Harriet could hear something. It was high-pitched and growing louder. Harriet suddenly became aware that it was a scream. Someone, a woman by the sound of it, was screaming and pleading at the top of her lungs. Harriet wanted to help, but she felt so helpless herself, lost, doomed to be unhappy forever.
"Harriet!"
Harriet started. She opened her eyes and saw little spots of yellow light floating above her as well as black shapes. They looked hooded. It was more of the cloaked figure in the doorway. Harriet struggled trying to get away but she felt soft hands holding her. They were definitely not the scaly, scabbed hands of the cloaked figure.
"Harriet, wake up!"
Harriet gave her head a shake and finally came to her senses. She was lying on her back on one of the seats. Everyone was leaning down over her. The lights were back on and she felt like she was moving, which meant the train had started once more. Harriet looked around.
Scott was sitting with an arm around Hermione who was shivering. Ronnie was holding Ginny who looked as though she had been drained by Riddle's diary again. Dora was holding Emma while Marcus was sitting huddled up in the corner that Professor Lupin had been sleeping in. His eyes were wide and staring straight ahead. He looked almost dead. Neville and Professor Lupin were watching her and Harriet realized that by the angle, Kieran was directly above her. More than that, the pillow under her head could only be his lap.
Harriet tried to sit up quickly but her head swam once more and, embarrassing or not, she realized it was much, much easier to just lie down.
"Are you alright?" Kieran asked.
"Y-yeah," Harriet muttered. "I think so… what happened… wh-where was the screaming coming from…?"
"Uh, what screaming?" Ronnie asked.
Harriet started when she heard a loud snapping sound. Professor Lupin had gotten into his trunk and had taken out a large chocolate bar and was breaking it into pieces. He began handing the broken pieces out to everyone.
"Here, eat this chocolate, all of you," he said. "It's the best thing to fight off the aftereffects."
"Aftereffects of what?" Dora asked, shivering. "What was that thing?"
"That was a Dementor," Professor Lupin said. "Chocolate adds sugar to your system and builds endorphins in your brain, fighting off the effect the Dementors have. All of you eat the pieces I gave you while I go and speak to the driver."
Without another word, Professor Lupin strode out of the compartment and turned down the corridor. Everyone looked at Harriet again, except for Marcus who still seemed to be vacant. Feeling awkward, Harriet slowly tried to sit up again. Kieran helped lift her up and she took a bite of the chocolate. Professor Lupin had been right. Harriet felt warmth moving through her whole body.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked.
"I… what happened?" Harriet asked. "I just remember the Dementor coming in and then… nothing."
"Well, yeah, it-it came in and… first it just looked around, and then it started breathing these horrible breaths and you just, fell over on the seat," Dora explained, rocking Emma a little. Had Harriet been in better spirits, she probably would have found the image of little Dora cuddling her five inch taller younger sister slightly comical.
"I thought you were having a seizure or something," Ronnie said.
"And then Professor Lupin drew his wand and pointed it at the Dementor. He said 'You can sense Sirius Black is not here, now go!' But the Dementor didn't leave, so he shot a Patronus at it and the Dementor left."
"He shot a what at it?" Harriet asked.
"A Patronus," Scott said. "It's a special charm to ward off Dementors."
"It was bright, blinding silver light and I saw something move, it looked like an animal or something but I was too blinded to tell, and the Dementor left," Hermione explained.
Harriet shivered and clutched Kieran's hoodie tighter around herself. The chocolate had not got rid of all the after effects yet it seemed.
"Didn't… didn't anyone else pass out?" Harriet asked. She was starting to feel a little ashamed.
"N-no…" Ronnie said. "Ginny's shaking like mad though and… I don't know what's up with Marcus."
She let go of Ginny and moved over to the other seat. She put a hand on Marcus shoulder and he seemed to relax a little.
"Are you alright?" She asked holding up the piece of chocolate that Professor Lupin had set on the seat next to him.
Marcus slowly turned his head and looked at her. It was almost eerie, as if he were possessed. He took the chocolate and stuck it in his mouth, turning and looking out the window without saying a word. Ronnie bit her lip nervously but still rested a hand on his shoulder.
Professor Lupin came back in. He smiled to see them all eating their chocolate. "Good, is it working?"
"Yes, sir," everyone replied. Marcus only nodded.
"Good. We'll be there in ten minutes. Are you okay, Harriet?"
"Yes, sir," Harriet repeated.
Professor Lupin smiled and left the compartment once more. No one spoke as the train continued on, rattling and swaying, to its final destination of Hogsmeade Station.
