Chapter 13- Dementor Trouble
Harry received word from Kingsley that Bellatrix and her comrades were safely locked up in Azkaban, even without the presence of a Dementor guard, as the Dementors had abandoned the Ministry to join Voldemort, and never returned.
Months passed, April came, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville began revising for their NEWT exams coming towards the end of May. Hermione, of course, had created revision timetables for all of them; she and Ginny and Luna were using their timetables effectively, and Hermione still had time to help Neville with his revision. However, Ron and Harry, as usual, were both finding distractions everywhere that they could.
One day, whilst they were all revising in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall came running up to them.
"Mr Potter!"
"What is it, Professor?"
"Dementors, Potter. Hundreds of them".
"Can't Professor Dawn handle them?"
"She's tried, Harry. But her patronus isn't powerful enough to stop all of them. And there's another thing. The Dementors… they're asking for you".
"Dementors can't talk".
"That's what we thought, Mr Weasley. Apparently, for decades, we have been wrong".
"Harry, what are you going to do?"
"I'll go see what they want".
Harry gets up from his chair and walks out of the Great Hall. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna look at each other, then follow him, Professor McGonagall with them. Harry walks down the castle driveway as the daylight fades. He feels the chill in the air, despite it being a spring afternoon. He hears a mass of footsteps behind him, and sees his friends, and McGonagall, following him.
"What the hell are you all doing?"
"Like we'd ever let you do this alone, mate". Ron claps him on the shoulder. Harry smiles at Ginny, before leading his friends to the end of the driveway.
McGonagall waves her wand and the gates open. One Dementor out of the hundreds that the team are facing glides down and stands on the other side of the boundary. It tilts its head as it looks at Harry.
Suddenly, a scraping sound erupts in all 7 of their minds, and then a chilling, monstrous, rasping voice sounds in all their brains.
"Harry Potter. Surrender, or you will all be left soulless".
Harry struggles through the mental torture, and looks back up at the Dementor.
"Why…are you…doing this?"
"With you gone, we will consume this world. Make it our own".
"Never…gonna…happen".
As he finishes that sentence, the Dementors' power over him and his friends increase. They all drop to the ground in pain, and see their greatest fears.
Harry watches as Lord Voldemort walks through his parents' house, into his bedroom, where Lily Potter is cowering, holding infant Harry close to her.
"Leave us alone".
"The boy must die. Hand him over!"
"No!" Lily places baby Harry back into his cot before standing up to Voldemort, who raises his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Green light flashes, but Harry opens his tear-filled eyes, echoes of his mother's screams in his ears. He takes out his wand, his hand shaking, and raises it towards the approaching Dementors. Before they can begin to suck out his friends' souls, he remembers. He remembers going to Slughorn's Christmas party with Luna in his sixth year; he remembers his fifth year, when Neville mastered the disarming spell in the Room of Requirement; he remembers the recent month; Hermione's joy at creating revision timetables for all of them, and messing around with Ron despite the pressure of their NEWTs. Finally, Harry remembers his 18th birthday, when Ginny came into his new room at the Burrow. The memory of her soft lips on his, and the feel of her in his arms all night. These memories fuel him, and they empower the magic within him.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A wave of white light cascades from his wand, and pushes the Dementors away from his friends and beyond the castle boundary. The Dementors regroup, and face Harry, but he stands walks over the boundary. He glances behind him, as his friends begin to recover.
"Come on, then!"
The Dementors approach slowly, then gather speed. Harry raises his wand in front of him, and without speaking a word, another white light mist comes from the tip of his wand, and solidifies into the silver stag. The stag faces the Dementors, who back off slightly. Harry raises his wand above him fully. The stag lowers its head, then raises it again, dispersing into a massive shockwave of patronus energy. The energy hits all the Dementors, and they begin to burn. One by one, the Dementors glow orange and then burst into ash. Eventually, inevitably, they are all destroyed.
Harry turns back, and runs over to Ginny, who is struggling to recover. He looks around at his other friends, who are all sat on the ground. Ron hugs Hermione close to him, and Neville and Luna try to comfort McGonagall. Harry looks back at Ginny, her face doused in tears and pale with shock. He holds her in his arms.
"I've got you. Don't worry. I've got you".
