Chapter 31
Dementors
"Dementors! At Hogwarts? Are they insane? What kind of stupid idea is this!?" Draco Malfoy fumed. He, like everyone, seemed to have grown taller during the summer. His hair looked perfect, a neat platinum blond that reached his ears. Harry was coming to the realization that he was going to be the shortest male in their group and hated it. Even Theo was a little taller than him, the boy sporting a nice tan from his summer in France.
They were on the Hogwarts Express, able to pack most of them together in a compartment for themselves. Harry was sitting on one side next to Draco, who was in the middle, and Blaise while on the other side, Theo sat closely next to Daphne with Pansy sitting a little bit away. It was the only clear compartment left, the one right next to theirs, which Harry saw Ron Weasley and his gang go in, had a man in what looked like shabby robes sleeping. Harry and Pansy had to drag Draco away before he could sneer at the man.
"The Minister's Draco, now please stop raving about it," Pansy sighed. "You know it's because of Black that they decided to protect us with them."
"Fat lot Dementors will do," Draco sneered. "Disgusting creatures."
Harry frowned. He looked around the compartment and said, "I'm sorry but what exactly is a Dementor?"
"They're the guards of Azkaban," Theo answered. "Horrible creatures, terrible. I think they should all be culled—killed, and so does my father but he's one of the only ones. They're basically the embodiment of fear. They feed on joy, happiness, any positive emotion imaginable. That's how they keep the prisoners in Azkaban in line, they feed on their emotions until they can't even begin to have a happy thought. It's terrible really. Most prisoners die and those who don't and serve their sentence, they're never the same again."
"That's horrible," Harry frowned. "And Sirius Black? He's been in this place for twelve years?"
"As well he should be!" Draco yelled, "He's the reason your parents are dead, Harry!"
Harry frowned at that, debating if he should tell his friends the truth of the matter. It was shocking to learn both about his existence and sudden connection, but to learn that it was a lie? Harry did not know why but he had a feeling Dumbledore was involved in it. He looked at his friends and sighed, he hated having secrets from them. So he started to talk, "Actually that isn't true," he said in a small voice. "Master—he told me something interesting the day he saw Black's wanted poster in the Daily Prophet. Master doubted that Black killed those thirteen people, but he knew that it wasn't Black who betrayed my parents, but another person."
"Who?" Blaise asked.
"A person called Wormtail, Master couldn't remember his real name," Harry explained. "Which, incidentally enough, is the same name on my map." He pulled out his map of Hogwarts and opened it up for his friends so that the four creator's names are shown. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Harry said.
"That is strange," Blaise said giving a low whistle. "What do you think it all means?"
"Who cares what it all means!" Pansy suddenly shouted. "Are we all going to ignore Daphne? I mean look at what she is wearing! And why are you and Theo sitting so close, huh?"
Harry looked at Daphne. He didn't know how he missed it, but she was wearing a very large and heavy-looking robe that was a size too big for her. Daphne's face was red, and she shuffled uncomfortably. "Aren't you rather hot in that robe?" Harry asked.
"N-No, I'm perfectly alright," Daphne said, though she did look terribly uncomfortable. Harry thought he could see some sweat beads on her forehead.
"Perfectly alright?" Pansy scoffed. "Please you're joking! Not only are those robes hideous, but they are far too big for you!"
Theo glared at Pansy and said, "If Daph says they're fine, then they're fine," he said.
"Daph? Did something happen over the summer?" Blaise asked looking between the two. Daphne and Theo's faces blushed as Pansy rolled her eyes.
"Of course something happened, Daphne lost any sense of fashion," she said. She stood up just as the train lurched and screamed as she fell back to her seat. The boys laughed and Pansy scowled, "Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, stupid smelly boys," she muttered. She got up again and made a grab for Daphne's robes, "Honestly take this off! You look like you're boiling in them and that is not good for your skin at all Daphne," she huffed.
Daphne pulled back but sighed, "Fine," she muttered. She stood up awkwardly and looked around at them before slowly turning her back and took off the heavy robe slowly. She was wearing normal clothes underneath and Harry's first thought was that she looked rather pretty. However, Daphne still looked uncomfortable as she sat back down, holding the robe in front of her. Pansy scoffed and said, "Honestly if it's because of your boobs, they'll grow eventually."
"Pansy!" Theo yelled.
"What? It's true," Pansy shrugged. "Anyway, did anyone else get attacked by that stupid book we were supposed to get for Care of Magical Creatures?"
"You mean that Monster Book of Monsters? Yeah," Blaise said. "It nearly bit my ass off when I got it, I had to tie it up in a leather sack."
"I tied mine up with rope," Draco said, "I swear who in their right mind would think that a book like this is a good idea? They ought to be locked away forever."
"The book is afraid of Master," Harry smiled, "It almost bit me multiple times but when it saw Master, it just stopped completely. He even taught me a spell that works for it and everything in general, like a more powerful, darker version of the Stunning Spell called Paralyticus. It's still dazed in my trunk right now, but I've tied it with a belt just in case."
"Of course you would be spending your summer learning magic," Pansy sighed. "When are you going to teach us?"
"When we're back in the common room," Harry shrugged. "Oh! That reminds me, where are Crabbe and Goyle? I have some things I need to give them as well."
"What is it?" Draco asked.
"They wanted muggle weights, why I don't know," Harry shrugged. "Thank god for levitating spells or else my trunk would be too heavy."
"How is he?" Daphne asked in a small voice. "You know… him?"
"Master is fine," Harry smiled brilliantly. "He's going to graduate from Durmstrang this year and we even have a home now! He's converting this small manor into a home for him and me."
"Really? Where is it?" Daphne asked.
"Just outside of Little Hangleton, it's a small village," Harry said. "I can't wait to explore the village."
"Would he like housewarming presents?" Daphne asked, "Or would he—"
"I'm sure he'll love them," Harry smiled, "and it'll be a nice way, you know, to show your loyalty. But that won't be until he's ready to show himself."
"And when will that be?" Draco asked a little hesitantly.
"I don't know, we just finished working on our disguise," Harry shrugged. "He looks very scary, hideous really, but I love my mask."
"Can we see!?" Pansy asked excitedly.
Harry smiled and nodded. He took off his glasses and showed his friends the snakes on the side of them before putting his glasses back on, took out his wand, and pressed the tip of his wand against the side as he hissed in parseltongue. He felt the glasses vibrate slightly as they expanded into his emerald mask.
"Beautiful!" Pansy gasped. "Come here, come here!" She stood up and motioned for Harry to do the same. Blaise leaned forward to close the blinds on the compartment door and windows, locking it just in case. Pansy examined the mask carefully, moving Harry's head this way and that, giving comments like "If you have your hair just a little higher" and "maybe if you grow it out instead it can frame your face so nicely." Harry blushed as she did this, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
"What are you going to wear with this?" Pansy asked. "Certainly not just black, I hope."
"I haven't really thought of it," Harry said, "but Master just has a simple black robe for his disguise."
"You're not going to do the same! Honestly, Daphne lost her sense of style, and I will not even think of allowing you to do the same!" Pansy huffed.
"Don't insult Daph," Theo muttered but Pansy ignored him.
"I'm thinking a short robe, nothing billowy, or maybe a small shoulder cape with a button-down shirt, something sophisticated," Pansy hummed. "The pants will be black obviously, any other color would look ridiculous I feel, and it depends if you only want your enemies to see only your mask at night."
"Hang on," Draco said, looking at Harry cautiously, "Harry? What—what are you called? The Dark Lord is the Dark Lord but…"
"Oh, simple," Harry smiled, "I'm the Dark Prince." Draco's face paled dramatically. He clutched tightly onto Blaise as he stared at Harry. Harry looked back, confused before realization hit. "Oh! Oh! I'm so sorry," he frowned.
"You broke into my home! You scared my father!" Draco shouted.
"I didn't mean to—Master told me to do it!" Harry said, sounding worried. "It was just to give the diary back not to hurt any of you!"
"My father almost had a heart attack—what did you even do?" Draco demanded.
"The Diary was very important to Master, it was how Ginny Weasley was even able to get into the Chamber of Secrets. Master just wanted your father to remember his loyalties and to not do anything stupid like that again," Harry said. "I'm sorry Draco. Are you, are you mad at me?"
"No, just shock," Draco muttered. He stood up and looked down at Harry. "Sorry for making you worry, it's just—it's really happening, isn't it?"
"This is just the beginning," Harry muttered. "In fact, I'm not sure if it really just begun properly yet."
"It's not," Pansy said, "Not until I figure out your clothes! Now Draco, sit down and shut up, Harry and I are working here! So about the cape?"
Pansy prattled on for the next half hour, talking out various outfits for Harry to wear until eventually sitting down and pulling out a piece of parchment to write everything down. Harry sat down as well and tapped his mask. It returned back to a normal pair of glasses.
The Hogwarts Express moved steadily north and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened. People were chasing backward and forward past the door of their compartment. Blaise's cat, Salem, settled on Draco's lap as Salazar just huffed annoyed, taking to wrapping around Harry's shoulder and hissing at the ungrateful black cat that was stealing Draco's attention. At some point in the early afternoon, the plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door.
At some point, Draco left to "stretch his legs" and came back looking smug. "The little Golden Trio's so desperate for friends they're actually sitting with that drabby-looking man," he said when he returned.
Harry just hummed, not really interested in talking about Ron, Hermione, or Neville.
The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train rattled, the rain hammered, and the wind roared.
"We should be there soon," Blaise said, looking at the now completely black window. The words barely left his mouth when the train started to slow down. "Told you," Blaise grinned.
"No, it's too early," Theo frowned, looking at his watch.
"Then why are we stopping?" Harry asked.
The train was getting slower and slower. It stopped with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
Daphne and Theo screamed.
"Quiet!" Draco yelled.
"Sorry," Daphne muttered.
"What is going on?" Pansy demanded.
"Can the train break down?" Blaise asked.
"Quiet!" Draco repeated.
They all quieted down immediately, and in the distance, they heard a slow squeaking like the train door opening. "Someone's coming on," Harry whispered.
"Some light would be nice Harry," Pansy whispered.
"You have a wand."
"You have fire."
"Shut up both of you," Daphne whispered. She pulled out her wand and muttered "Lumos." Faint wandlight lit the room and a second later, the door slowly opened.
Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering light from Daphne's wand was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak, and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.
But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak.
And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest; it was inside his very heart. …
Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder.
And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but he couldn't … a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him—
"Harry! Harry wake up! Wake up!" Someone was slapping him.
"W-What?"
Harry opened his eyes, there were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking—the Hogwarts Express was moving again, and the lights came back on. He seemed to have slid out of his seat onto the floor. Pansy and Draco were kneeling next to him, and above them, he could see the others watching him along with what Harry assumed was the man in the other compartment. Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he felt cold sweat on his face.
Draco and Pansy heaved him back onto his seat.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked nervously.
"Yeah," Harry said, looking quickly towards the door. The creature had vanished. "What happened? What was that thing? Who screamed?"
"No one screamed, Harry," Blaise said.
Harry looked around the bright compartment. "But I heard screaming."
A loud snap made them all jump. The man was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. "Here," he said to Harry; handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."
Harry took the chocolate. "What was that thing?"
"A dementor," the man said. "One of the dementors of Azkaban. Eat the chocolate, it'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…" He left the compartment.
Harry took a bite of the chocolate and warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes. "I never want to meet another dementor," Harry muttered. "Did Master use them, in the last war? What even happened even?"
"Well, when the Dementor saw you, you just sort of went rigid before falling out of your seat and started twitching," Draco said, still looking scared. "Then that man—he called himself Professor Lupin—stepped in and stopped the thing. He pulled out his wand and produced this silvery thing that shot out at it, and it turned around and glided away."
"It was a Patronus," Theo said from his seat, "Professor Lupin produced a Patronus."
"Well, I for one am happy to see that we finally have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows what he's doing," Blaise said. "Now Harry come here." He dragged Harry towards him and sandwiched the boy between himself and Draco, each boy taking a hand, Blaise taking the rest of the chocolate. Draco and Blaise took turns feeding Harry (which the boy didn't mind at all) as the train sped on.
They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets. Harry and Draco ran ahead to secure a carriage for them, the others catching up. Harry saw Crabbe and Goyle behind with Millicent Bulstrode and felt sorry that they all couldn't pile into one carriage.
The carriages pulled by the leathery black horses sped on down the trail towards Hogwarts. All Harry wanted was his bed in the Slytherin dungeons and maybe a nice long hug from his Master. Preferably in Harry's bed.
The carriages soon came to a stop and the group joined the mob of students as they walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, and through two great oak doors that led to the Great Hall. The now third-years took their places in the Slytherin Table and waited.
The sorting was boring to Harry, his mind was still preoccupied with the Dementor attack. Any coldness was long gone, but still, he could see the creature in his mind and hear the long-off scream. Then, quite suddenly, Dumbledore stood up and Harry realized that he spaced out through the entire sorting.
"Welcome!" Dumbledore said, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast."
He cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." He paused and Harry thought that Dumbledore did not look happy at all about the dementors being at the school.
"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises—or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, glancing at the Gryffindor table. Harry knew that he was speaking about Weasley and Longbottom. "It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I, therefore, warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors.
"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Harry looked down at the staff table and saw Professor Snape, who stared at Professor Lupin with absolute loathing.
"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you all that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on the teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."
"You're kidding!" Draco sneered. "That giant oaf?"
The Gryffindor table applauded tumultuously. Hagrid was ruby-red in the face and staring down at his enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of his black beard.
"Disgusting," Draco continued.
"We should have guessed, only he would be insane enough to give us a killer book," Blaise said, the Slytherins all nodded, looking extremely disappointed.
"Does he even know anything?" Harry asked, "he looked like he can barely string a sentence together." The group continued to look at Hagrid for a little longer until Dumbledore called for the feast to start. They were distracted immediately by platter after platter of delicious food that appeared in front of them.
The group talked and ate, Harry listening intently to Crabbe and Goyle about how they both wandered into a muggle gym one day and instantly fell in love with it. They were still quite heavy, but their fat looked to be turning into muscles, and Harry figured that if it was something that they loved, well it's good for them. He was however soon pulled into a fierce argument between Draco and Pansy, the two having differing opinions on what colors best looked on Harry. "I will die before I see my best friend in pink, Parkinson!" Draco yelled.
"Then I'll dress your corpse up in pink and have Harry wear pink to your funeral, Malfoy! Honestly, all I said is that both you and Harry have the figure for it," Pansy shot back.
"Guys—"
"Ha! A proper Malfoy heir would never wear pink, you are being ludicrous," Draco said. "There is no reason on earth that would make me wear pink."
"Not even if I have Blaise ask?" Pansy asked, giving Draco a knowing look.
"W-What? Shut up you're being stupid," Draco sneered. "Harry! Tell the woman she's being stupid!"
"I uhh actually would like to try pink," Harry said, giving Draco a shit-eating grin. "Who knows, I might even wear it with my mask! Master might have a heart attack if he sees me."
"Well that's one way to stop what's coming," Pansy muttered, "but no, you will never wear pink with that mask. Outside of it, however… we can work with. Not to be rude but you look more girly at times than Daphne! Even if both of you are flat-chested."
"You are lucky I am too busy eating to hit you, Parkinson," Daphne said, glaring at Pansy who shrugged.
"You have a nice body! I don't get why you insisted on wearing that stupid robe today," Pansy yelled.
"If you must know it's because I feel a little cold!" Daphne snapped, "In fact, I still do so please shut up and let me wear whatever the hell I want!" She slammed a fist on the table.
The table was quiet for a second. Pansy's cheeks turned red and she looked down to fiddle with her hands. "Sorry," she muttered.
Daphne sighed, "I shouldn't have snapped. Just… just please, don't tease me about this. Please."
"I'm sorry," Pansy muttered again and nodded. The two girls shared a smile and harmony was restored in the group once more. Pansy immediately turned to Harry and Draco and dragged them into a conversation about clothing and colors that lasted the rest of the night.
The feast ended and the Slytherins moved as a unit, Harry smiling at first years who stared up at him as he walked by. They made the familiar path down to the dungeons and Terrance Higgs, now a burly seventh year, patted Harry's shoulder as he brushed past all of them, "Move over all of you, the password's 'Wolfsbane.'" He said.
Inside, Harry made his rounds, greeting his friends in the older years and teammates on the Slytherin Quidditch Team before setting up Salazar's heating rock on the mantel place and pulled out the half-Runespoor from his pocket. Salazar was getting big now, almost three feet long, it was getting difficult to carry the snake in his pocket. "I'm going to bed. Do not play tricks on the first years," he warned the snake.
Salazar just blinked at him. "What if they have a nice juicy rat? Or even a pretty snake I can mate?"
"You know the only person with a rat is Weasley, and if you think of mating with another snake—whatever that means—I'll find your mother and bring her here to yell at you," Harry warned. Salazar huffed and Harry turned around to see some first years staring at him. "I talk to snakes," he said shortly before turning to give Salazar a heated look. The snake just blinked lazily and rested on his rock.
Second years took the first years and started to whisper about Harry, but he didn't care. He just yawned and said goodnight to everyone before marching up to his dormitory and falling onto his bed.
A/N: Meant to upload this yesterday. Oop
WeisseHex: Thank you SO MUCH for all your reviews! They were a joy to read I hope you continue to enjoy! Voldemort believes in leaving his boy properly prepared. Something that Dumbledore does the opposite of.
JjLoves PJO: Here's the next!