Quidditch

The weather is horrendous. I am glad professor Snape had rescheduled so that Gryffindor was now playing Hufflepuff. Flint needed to get his potion grade up as it was humiliating him. Severus had said. Severus never liked Flint too much. Too much brawn not enough brain, I guess. Either way, Flint did not seem to care much. He was gloating all day that Gryffindor had surely practiced to win against us and was not prepared for Hufflepuff and that they would be stamped into the ground.

A cold wind is blowing and large raindrops fall. Pansy shivers and I lightly hold her against me. Flint was right, Gryffindor was not doing well. Potter looked absolutely lost in the sky and seemed blinded by the weather. The quidditch players look miserable in the air and the game is intense.

Ginny has come too to the game. Her hair is tousled. She is avidly talking to Astoria, Greg and Vin.

Then Wood asks for a time-out. I see Granger pulling her wand on Potter. Nothing seems to happen, but after the time-out it quickly becomes clear that she had cast something that repelled the water from Potter's glasses.

The game is really intense. Potter and Cedric spot the snitch at the same time. Potter makes to grab it. I feel my stomach clench as I see dementors in the distance close to Potter and Cedric. Cedric catches the snitch and dives down, seeming to take no notice of the dementors. He sports a broad smile and elatedly shows the golden snitch in his hands. Pansy claps to my surprise.

Potter does seem affected. Then he falls from my broom. It is horrible. I cannot do anything as he falls. Potter is going to die, I feel certain of it. Of course he didn't die, Dumbledore slowed his fall and the boy who lived could hardly die in a stupid quidditch accident. I hear a loud crash. I quickly turn and wince as I see Potter's broom being broken down into small twigs by the whomping willow.

When we walk back to the common room it is eerily silent. Potter might just be the unluckiest guy in the world, I thought. I then notice how badly Ginny is shivering and I feel very certain it is not due to the cold, for which with this weather it could be easily mistaken, it were the dementors. I feel myself more and more determined. I will find out how to kick some dementor's bum.

I excuse myself and head to the library, but could not find anything. I decide if I can't find it tomorrow morning I'll ask after DADA.

Professor lupin

The next day professor Lupin assured us that we did not have to write the unfair essay professor Snape gave us about werewolves. He looked very pale and had a large scar on his face that looked painful.

Why would professor Dumbledore let a werewolf into Hogwarts? I could not fathom how a headmaster that cared about his students could let someone in like that. And Dumbledore did care about his students, I was certain. He could have easily gotten Fudges post. Or any other job. Still, all I had ever heard about werewolves had been decidedly unpleasant. It made a sharp contrast with the wearingly-looking teacher.

I failed to pay attention to classes, my mind seemed to crowded.

I stayed behind after classes. Professor Lupin looks kindly at me, which kind of hurts. "Is it Professor Snape's essay that's bothering you, mister Malfoy?"

Well, it was, partly. It was the whole Black-thing and all those dementors. I look away from Lupin's face. "I was wondering about dementors, sir," I then say. I don't want to meet professor Lupin's eyes. It brought too many questions. Was he helping a mass murderer. Did he want Potter dead, while he still thought Lupin to be the best defence teacher we ever had?

Lupin shifts his pose and I see a surprised look on his face. The gash on his face reminds me what he is. "What a peculiar subject," Lupin slowly says.

I frown. I do not want to tell him about Ginny. Or about how it had scared me to see Potter fall from his broom. He could have died. I decide to just ask what I wanted to know. "I tried to read up upon them, just some extracurricular studies, sir," I say, "I could not find anything to defeat them. How does the ministry control them?"

Lupin looks relaxed. "I think you have been looking through the wrong books. Dementors are not defeated. They are controlled though by a charm, not jinxes nor curses, which is why your search failed."

I feel glad, at least, talking to professor Lupin got me something. "Which charm?"

"The patronus charm," Lupin answers, "It is very complicated magic. Many grown wizards and witches have been unable to produce one. May I ask you why you have grown this sudden interest, mister Malfoy?"

I back away. "I don't trust you." I stumble a bit. Lupin gives me a sad look. "I see," he answers with a curt nod. I can look into the patronus charm in the library, I don't need him. I feel so certain I do not want to get close to him. If you get close to people, you become blind to their faults.