CHAPTER 3:
The Dementor
Just as Christina had been haranguing Remus for answers, Harry, Hermione and the majority of the Weasley family were doing the very same to her. Where have you been, who have you been living with, what do you know, have you spoken to Dumbledore (?), what's your wand made out of, what do you know about that night, is it true you have natural power- the questions were coming at Christina at such a speed and with so many names and terms she knew nothing of she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. In all honesty, she just wanted to talk to Harry, but she had to indulge the others in information and hopefully they'd do her the same kindness. Just as she was about to start her own line of questioning, Remus Lupin enters the Leaky Cauldron with a suitcase of his own.
"Christina, there you –" He notices and recognizes instantly the group she has surrounded herself with, "I see you've made some friends."
Christina introduces the group to Remus and Hermione recognizes the name first, "Remus Lupin, you're our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"
"Indeed, I am, Miss Granger. Excited to meet you later this week in class, Christina?" Remus nods for her to join him down the hall, she sighs and gives a shy smile to the rest of the group. They end up heading back to Christina's room and Remus closes the door behind them, seemingly annoyed.
"Christina, what exactly did you tell them?" She sits down on her bed.
"What do you mean, I told them my name, where I'm from –" He holds up a hand to stop her, "Christina … you have to be more careful. What if they were the dark wizards I warned you of?"
"Warned me of? You told me bad people exist, and they're from Slytherin house. Sometimes." She scoffs.
"Christina, you were sent to America for a reason. For protection."
"And now you've brought me back, what would you like me to do, speak to no one? It was Harry Potter, if I'm going to talk to anyone –"
"All I'm saying … is be careful." He says sternly. Remus turns to leave and Christina stands up abruptly, pointing a finger aggressively at him, "If you were so concerned then why did you leave?"
He too, is losing his patience, "I left you to finish your lunch and go to your room."
"And was I supposed to guess that?" She snaps. He shakes his head, laughing, "You know, you really are just like your mother. Stubborn and wildly curious." He spits out the last sentence as though it were an insult. She was proud of her stubbornness.
"Forgive me, it's not like my entire life didn't just change a day ago." She says sarcastically. Remus returns to her, placing both hands on her shoulders, pressing on them gently for her to sit back down on the bed. She does so, arms folded as she scowls at him.
"Be patient." He says gently.
"I'm not a very patient person." She sneers.
"I know. Neither was your –"
"Mother, I know." She rolls her eyes.
"Your father actually. Most impatient man I've ever met." Christina cools off instantly. Talk of her parents disarmed her immediately, she felt stupid for it being so easy to get her to relax and she puts her walls back up, "Until now, right?" She bites back.
He laughs, so stubborn. "Possibly."
Remus leaves Christina in her room and she flops back onto her bed, aggravated. She was so angry and confused and exhausted she ended up falling asleep. Christina wakes up hours later to find out it was well past six o'clock and she's missed the dinner with Harry, Hermione and the Weasley's. She throws herself back down onto the bed and as her fists come crashing down against the mattress, the fire in the fireplace shoots up through the chimney with the movement. Christina looks at her hands with a new sense of power and urges herself to calm down before the fire department was called. Did they even have a fire department here?
Christina gets up and notices her tea and crumpets tray from yesterday has been replaced with a tray of fish and chips. She eats it almost too quickly. There's a knock at the door and she nearly chokes on the sudden loud noise.
"Sorry-!" The person behind the door mutters. Great, someone heard me choking on fish and chips – Christina opens the door, assuming Remus to be on the other side and is starstruck when it's revealed to be Harry Potter is on the other side.
"Harry—"
"Hi – mind if I come in?"
"Uh, yeah of course …" Christina returns to the table, and sits down on the polished oak chairs. Harry is pacing her room, bee in his bonnet. She felt uncomfortable, why wouldn't he just say something?
"You oka-?" Before Christina can even finish the question, Harry jumps on it, "What do you know about Sirius Black?"
"Harry – I just found out who you were last night. I've never heard of the guy."
"You've heard nothing?"
"I was ready to ask you all a million questions until Remus dragged me away …"
"Oh."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"No, it's – I shouldn't have come here. I'm sorry."
"What's wrong? Who's Sirius Black?"
"Someone trying to murder me apparently."
"Oh, fun."
Harry forces a laugh, still pacing rapidly, "He apparently escaped Azkaban – wizard prison – and is now hunting me. Why? I have no idea. And why? Because no one will tell me anything—not Fudge, not Mr. Weasley, not –"
"Harry, slow down. Please, just sit down. You're making me tired just watching you."
"Why'd you come back?"
"Me? I didn't, they just told me it was time to come to Hogwarts."
"That's all they said? I thought they told me nothing …"
"Who is the Dark Lord? What does he want? How'd you kill him as a baby? What do they mean when they say his spirit is back?"
Harry proceeds to tell her everything. The Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort was once a Slytherin student at Hogwarts named Tom Riddle. He was evil and had scores of witches and wizards and other magical creatures at his beck and call to collect, torture and kill thousands of others. Harry's parents, along with Christina's parents, were some of the few that fought back. Harry hadn't killed Lord Voldemort, he had just been protected by his mother, though there's no information as to how Christina survived. No scar, nothing. During Harry's first year at Hogwarts, Voldemort's spirit lived on the back of their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's head. Harry stopped him just by touching him. "It was like my hands were made of lava…"
During Harry's second year, Ginny, led by a possessed diary, released a basilisk onto students who came from non-wizard parents, muggles as Harry called them. Harry found the source of the basilisk, a dungeon called the Chamber of Secrets, there he met Voldemort's spirit, again, and ended it all by stabbing Tom Riddle's evil diary with the sword of Godric Gryffindor, the original founder of the Gryffindor house. And now, Sirius Black was after Harry, presumably to kill him for all he's done against Lord Voldemort. It was so much new information, Christina could hardly see straight, nonetheless have a coherent thought.
"You … you're … do other students fight giant snakes and burn people with their hands?" Christina asks incredulously. Harry scratches the back of his head, bashful, "Not really…"
"Well … hopefully I can live up to the hype." Christina snorts.
Harry's pacing again, "You haven't been told anything? Anything that happened that night, or if anyone is after you?"
"Nothing. I was hoping you'd have some answers. Which of course you have, so thank you, but … I can't help but feel like there's some big puzzle piece that's missing."
"My whole life I thought it was you." Harry admits. Christina blushes wildly, "Again, sorry to disappoint."
"Maybe Dumbledore has the answers." Harry mutters to himself.
"Who?"
"He's Hogwarts headmaster. He fought off Voldemort." Harry says, matter-of-factly.
"Hey so did you, headmaster." She winks at him. She quickly shakes herself out of it, was she flirting with him? Gross –
"I better be going, it's getting late." Harry heads towards the door and Christina rises to see him off, "Yeah, yeah of course."
"See you on the train tomorrow?" He asks brightly.
"The train?" She asks, still in the dark about nearly everything it seemed. Harry smiles patiently, "Meet us downstairs, we'll take you there."
She nods, "Sure. Thanks, Harry." She waves to him as he opens the door.
"Night, Christina."
The next morning, Remus grabs Christina, her trunk and new owl, Tulip, before she has a chance to join Harry and the others. They drive to King's Cross station in the center of London, but it looks just like a regular subway station. They enter silently, proceeding to a very real train on very real tracks. She don't know what she thought Harry meant by train, but a regular non-magical one wasn't it.
"Your ticket." Remus hands her a ticket that reads their platform as 9 ¾. She looks around in between platforms nine and ten and then back up to Remus. "After me!"
Remus then runs headfirst into the brick wall between platforms nine and ten, his body and carriage of bags disappearing behind it in an instant. Christina shakes her head, all common sense telling her to run away but instead she follows Remus through the brick wall, closing her eyes upon impact. She opens them to find she's entered a train station identical to the one they were just in, except now the platform reads 9 ¾ on all the placards.
"Not too scary, was it?" Remus places an arm around her and escorts her to the train on their left, steaming and ready to go. She follows behind him as they enter the various train cars and compartments. They settle on one towards the back, the two facing across from one another with a view of the train platform. Remus begins writing on some parchment while Christina watches the final group students enter the train. She finally sees the Weasley's, Hermione and Harry approach the train platform. Mrs. Weasley kisses all her children goodbye, Hermione and Harry as well. The group enters the train, but Mr. Weasley holds Harry back to talk to him in private. Christina tilts her head watching the conversation, attempting to read lips while simultaneously watching the corridor of the train to see Ron or Hermione approach. The train whistles begin to sound off and Christina watches Harry in a panic – he was about to miss the train!
"Should I-?" Christina goes to ask Remus a question and finds he is fast asleep. She laughs quietly to herself, guess she wasn't the only one who hasn't had much sleep the past few days.
Harry finally enters the train just as it begins to leave the station. It's not long before the train has entered the gloomy grey that is the London countryside, and Harry, Ron and Hermione find Christina and Lupin's compartment at the back of the train. Christina waves to them and they enter at once, Remus still asleep.
"Is it alright if we—" Harry asks timidly and Christina scoots in as far as she could, "Yeah, of course."
Hermione sits down next to Christina, Ron to her right and Harry next to Remus. Hermione smiles meekly at Christina, "Sorry we didn't get much of a chance to talk yesterday—"
"Mum was bein' mental." Ron cuts in. "Who cares if I'm showered for dinner?"
"Anyone with a nose." Hermione snarls.
"Shove off." Ron retorts. Christina throws Harry a look and he smirks.
"What'd you want to tell us, Harry?" Ron asks. Christina looks over at Harry with curiosity, it must've been what he and Mr. Weasley were talking about. Harry regards Remus for a moment before leaning in and lowering his voice. He tells Ron and Hermione everything that they had discussed the night prior, with a specific emphasis on Sirius Black escaping Azkaban to kill Harry. The only new information to Christina was that Mr. Weasley begged Harry not to go looking for Sirius Black.
When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. She finally lowered them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry… you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry…"
"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."
"Nice to meet you." Christina quips. The trio chuckles.
"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily. They all seemed much more frightened of Sirius Black more than Harry was, or Christina, though considering she had only heard of him for a day, that was to be expected.
"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," said Ron uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."
"But they'll catch him, right?" said Christina earnestly.
"I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too…" Hermione adds.
"What's that noise?" said Ron suddenly. A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. They looked all around the compartment.
"It's coming from your trunk, Harry," said Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. A moment later he had pulled this small black telescope out from between Harry's robes. It was spinning very fast in the palm of Ron's hand and glowing brilliantly.
"Is that a Sneakoscope?" said Hermione interestedly, standing up for a better look.
"Yeah… mind you, it's a very cheap one," Ron said. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry."
"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" said Hermione shrewdly.
"No! Well… I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys… but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?"
"It detects untrustworthiness? Amazing." Christina says, amazed at the small telescope.
"Stick it back in the trunk," Harry advised as the Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, "or it'll wake him up." He nodded toward Remus. Ron stuffed the Sneakoscope into a particularly horrible pair of old socks, which deadened the sound, then closed the lid of the trunk on it.
"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," said Ron, sitting back down. "They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."
Hermione turns to Christina, "Do you know much about Hogsmeade? I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain —"
"Yeah, I think it is," said Ron in an offhand sort of way. "but that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"
"What's that?" said Hermione.
"It's this sweetshop," said Ron, a dreamy look coming over his face, "where they've got everything… Pepper Imps — they make you smoke at the mouth — and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next–"
"Are you serious?" Christina asks, grinning ear to ear. Hogsmeade …
"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione pressed on eagerly. "In Sites of Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain —"
"– and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them," said Ron, who was plainly not listening to a word Hermione was saying. Hermione looked around at Harry.
"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?"
"'Spect it will," said Harry heavily. "You'll have to tell me when you've found out."
"What d'you mean?" said Christina.
"I can't go. The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either." Ron looked horrified. "You're not allowed to come? But — no way — McGonagall or someone will give you permission —" Harry gave a hollow laugh.
"– or we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle —"
"Ron!" said Hermione sharply. "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of the school with Black on the loose —"
"Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask of permission," said Harry bitterly.
"McGonagall-?" Christina starts, "—Head of Gryffindor House." Hermione finishes for her.
"Very strict." Harry adds.
"But if we're with him," said Ron spiritedly to Hermione. "Black wouldn't dare —"
"Oh, Ron, don't talk rubbish," snapped Hermione. "Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street, do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because we're there?" She was fumbling with the straps of her cat's basket as she spoke.
"Don't let that thing out!" Ron said, but too late; the large ginger cat leapt lightly from the basket, stretched, yawned, and sprang onto Ron's knees; a lump in Ron's pocket trembled and he shoved the cat angrily away. "Get out of it!"
"Ron, don't!" said Hermione angrily.
Ron was about to answer back when Remus stirred. They watched him apprehensively, but he simply turned his head the other way, mouth slightly open, and slept on.
The Hogwarts Express moved steadily north and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened overhead. People were chasing backwards and forwards past the door of their compartment. Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, had now settled in an empty seat, his squashed face turned towards Ron, his yellow eyes on Ron's top pocket. At one o'clock the plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door.
"D'you think we should wake him up?" Ron asked awkwardly, nodding towards Remus. "He looks like he could do with some food." They all stare at Christina to make the move and she tapped his knee gently, "Remus. Remus—"
He didn't move.
"Don't worry, dear," said the witch, as she handed a large stack of cauldron cakes. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."
"I suppose he is asleep?" said Ron quietly, as the witch slid the compartment door closed. "I mean — he hasn't died, has he?"
"Are you kidding me?" Christina scoffs and Harry laughs as he helps himself to a cauldron cake. Remus continued to sleep for the next few hours of the journey. Mid-afternoon, just as it had started to rain, blurring the rolling hills outside the window, they heard footsteps outside in the corridor again, and three students in robes adorned with green accents strolled by. Christina watched her trio in the compartment scowl at the trio outside it. Harry later explained them to be Draco Malfoy, flanked by his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Draco Malfoy and Harry had been enemies ever since they had met on their very first journey to Hogwarts. Malfoy, who had a pale, pointed, sneering face, was in Slytherin house; he played Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team, the same position that Harry played on the Gryffindor team. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to exist to do Malfoy's bidding. They were both wide and muscley; Crabbe was taller, with a pudding-bowl haircut and a very thick neck; Goyle had short, bristly hair and long, gorilla arms.
"Well, look who it is," said Malfoy in his usual lazy drawl, pulling open the compartment door. "Potty and the Weasel. Looks like we have a new addition to Potty's crowd of losers." Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly.
"Is he sincerely talking about me?" Christina jeers.
"Oh good, she's not deaf. Was worried I'd have to write my insults down for you." Malfoy eggs on. Christina laughs loudly, and stands to meet his greasy face, "I don't even know you, but by the hair color I'm assuming the bleach sept into your brain to make you stupid enough to say shit to me."
"Quite a mouth on this one!" Malfoy snorts. Harry places a hand on Christina's shoulder, beckoning her to sit down. "He's not worth it—"
But Malfoy has moved targets to Ron, "I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," said Malfoy. "Did your mother die of shock?" Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks's basket to the floor. Remus gave a snort.
"Who's that?" said Malfoy, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Remus.
"New teacher," said Harry, "What were you saying, Malfoy?" Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed; he wasn't fool enough to pick a fight right under a teacher's nose.
"C'mon," he muttered resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle, and they disappeared. Christina, Harry and Ron sat down again, Ron massaging his knuckles.
"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he said angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and —" Ron made a violent gesture in midair.
"Ron," hissed Hermione, pointing at Remus, "be careful…" But Remus was still fast asleep.
"What an asshole, is everyone from Slytherin like that?" Christina asks.
"Pretty much." Harry shrugs.
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, the wind roared, but still, Remus slept.
"We must be nearly there," said Ron, leaning forward to look past Remus at the now completely black window. The words had hardly left him when the train started to slow down.
"Great," said Ron, getting up and walking carefully past Remus to try and see outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast…"
"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.
"So why're we stopping?" Christina asks.
The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows. Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments. The train came to a stop 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.
"What's going on?" said Ron's voice from behind Harry.
"Ouch!" gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"
Harry felt his way back to his seat. "D'you think we've broken down?"
"Dunno…" There was a squeaking sound, and Harry saw the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out. Christina never had a hard time seeing in the dark and she looks down the corridor and can sense something moving. Something large, flying … no, levitating …
"There's something moving down there, something's coming aboard." Christina mumbles, still feeling for what it is.
"How can you tell?" Hermione asks.
"Can't you feel it? Something floating …"
The compartment door suddenly opened and someone fell painfully over Harry's legs.
"Sorry! D'you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry —" A boy was scrambling to his feet from Harry's.
"Hullo, Neville," said Harry, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak.
"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"
"No idea! Sit down —" There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks.
"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. Christina felt her pass, heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain.
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?"
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was looking for Ron —"
"Come in and sit down —"
"Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "I'm here!"
"Ouch!" said Neville.
"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly. Remus appeared to have woken up at last. Christina could sense movements in her corner. None of them spoke. There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Remus appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and wary.
"Stay where you are." he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him.
"It's right outside."
"What?"
But the door slid slowly open before Remus could reach it. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Remus' hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Christina's eyes darted downward, and what she saw made her 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 Christina's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak. Christina could feel the intense fear and dread in every fragment of her body, pulsing like a heart sending the hairs on her arms and neck to stand upright. Christina felt all eyes on her as 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. Christina could feel her hair rise, levitating around her as though underwater. The thing turns on a dime to Harry across from her, it sucks in again and Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He collapses against the compartment seat and slinks to the floor, twitching as Remus takes out his wand and approach the creature. He says, loudly and clearly, "None of us are hiding Sirius Black, go." But it doesn't move, instead it goes to move further into the car but Remus points his wand at the creature and a white light reverberates around the car, sending the creature soaring out of the compartment and off the train.
The moment the creature is gone, the carriage lights flicker back on as though nothing had even happened. Though the evidence was clear from Harry curled on the floor at their feet. Hermione at once drops down to Harry and begins slapping his face.
"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"
"W-what?" Harry opened his eyes and just as quickly as the lights came back on, the train too whirred into life once more. Ron kneels down to assist in getting him back into his seat, Hermione helping as well. Christina remained watching in a terrified silence with Ginny and Neville.
Harry looked terrible, he was covered in sweat and was as white as a ghost – speaking of, what was that thing?
"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.
"Yeah," said Harry, looking quickly toward the door. "What happened? Where's that — that thing? Who screamed? And why is Christina glowing?"
"What?" And indeed, Christina looked down at herself to see her entire body covered in a golden light. She looked at her hands which were incased in a warm glow. "Is this not a normal witch thing?"
"No…" Hermione says.
A loud snap made them all jump. Remus 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 but didn't eat it.
"What was that thing?" he asked Remus.
"A Dementor," said Remus, who was now giving chocolate to everyone else. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban." Everyone stared at him and then back to Christina who as she ate the chocolate, the yellow glow faded, her hair returning to her shoulders once more.
Remus crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket. "Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…" He strolled past Christina and disappeared into the corridor.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously.
"I don't get it… what happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.
"Well — that thing — the Dementor — stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face) — and you — you —"
"I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching —"
"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the Dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the Dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…"
"It was horrible," said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"
"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again…"
Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob; Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her.
"But didn't any of you — fall off your seats?" said Harry awkwardly.
"No," said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though…"
"No one has ever glowed before?" Christina asks, feeling stupid. She'd seen herself do this before but…wasn't that the whole part of being 'different'? How different was she? Christina looks to the rest of the students in the cart, not a single one spoke up. She sighed and slunk down in her seat, feeling ostracized.
The cart is silent and weepy until Remus comes back to the car. He notices Harry hasn't eaten any of the chocolate and smirks, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know…" Harry takes a bite to appease Remus who is now looking at Christina with extreme concern. He snaps out of whatever reverie and regards the compartment of students, "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes, are you all right, Harry?"
"Fine," he muttered, embarrassed.
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; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.
"Firs' years this way!" Christina, Harry, Ron and Hermione look down the platform to see a gigantic man beckoning terrified eleven-year-olds towards boats. His beard was down to his chest and hair the same length. The giant notices the four of them and smiles widely, "You alrigh, you all?" They waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them was shunting them away along the platform. Hermione explains the giant is Hagrid, the games keeper of Hogwarts.
Christina, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled, Christina could only assume, by an invisible horse, because when they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession. The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw.
Christina kept watching Harry, worried he might faint again.
As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Christina saw two more towering, hooded Dementors, standing guard on either side. A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf her; she quickly looks down at her hands and yet this time they weren't glowing. She leaned back into the lumpy seat and closed her eyes until they had passed the gates. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, Christina, Hermione and Ron got out. As Harry stepped down, a drawling, delighted voice sounded in his ear.
"You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottorn telling the truth? You actually fainted?" Malfoy elbowed past Hermione to block Harry's way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously.
"Shove off, Malfoy," said Ron, whose jaw was clenched.
"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" said Malfoy loudly. "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"
"Is there a problem?" said a mild voice. Remus had just gotten out of the next carriage. Malfoy gave Professor Lupin an insolent stare, which took in the patches on his robes and the dilapidated suitcase. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he said, "Oh, no — er — Professor," then he smirked at Crabbe and Goyle and led them up the steps into the castle.
Hermione prodded Ron in the back to make him hurry, and the four of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors. The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Christina followed the crowd toward it, but had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling she had heard of, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"
Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor House, was calling over the heads of the crowd. She was a stern looking witch who wore her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes were framed with square spectacles. Harry gave a lasting look to Christina and before making his way with Hermione through the crowd, gave her a final, "Good luck."
Christina and Ron were left to their devices and followed the rest of the students to the Great Hall.
"What do you suppose that was about?" Ron asks.
"Can't imagine they'd get in trouble for anything this quickly…" Christina mutters, though her mind was preoccupied elsewhere.
"Oy, with Harry you never know." Ron grimaces and Christina laughs. Finally, they reach the Great Hall and work their way inside. Christina had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor Lupin smiling down at Christina. He quickly notices the group of first years lining up to Hagrid and then jumps up from the table. Christina and Ron sit down at the table, Ginny, Neville across them and Fred and George a few students away.
"Nervous Christina?" Fred leans down and asks. She frowns, "For what?" Remus appears behind her and takes her by the upper arm, "Follow me." He says. Christina looks back in a panic to the twins who are both throwing her a thumbs-up.
She follows Remus past the group of first years' and introduces her to Rubeus Hagrid, "Nice to meet you." She said quietly.
"Yeh ready ter get sorted, Christin'er?"
"How come she gets to go first?" The kid behind her quipped.
"It'll only take a minute." Remus promises.
"What do I have to do?" Christina asks and before she receives an answer she is hoisted by her waist by Hagrid and onto a stool in front of the teachers' table, which was seated at the front of the entire hall. Fred and George start cheering, "Go, Christina!"
"Oh my god." She mutters to herself, fully embarrassed. She could feel her face breaking out into hives. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Hagrid places an old, tattered hat on her head. She felt like it was a dunce cap –
"Hey!" The hat scolds and she involuntarily shrieks at the sudden movement. The first five rows of students all laugh at her and she buries her head further into her now hive-covered chest.
"What's there to be embarrassed about, Christina Bataskill?" The Sorting Hat asks. She couldn't believe she was about to respond to a hat.
"Oh, you know … the usual …" She mumbles.
"Oh, but you're anything but usual … a witch amongst muggles, and someone who possesses natural power amongst witches and wizards." Natural power?
"Ah, you don't know … well, you have a lot to learn, don't you? Not Ravenclaw then …" Just not Slytherin, please, not with them … "Ah, that house gets a lot of prejudice, but it could lead you to greatness! Take that wry wit and curate a fine witch!" No, please, no … not like Voldemort …
"Not like him, eh? Alright … better be … Gryffindor!"
Ron, Ginny, Fred and George all hoop and holler from the Gryffindor table and Christina looks up to Hagrid meekly, "Am I done?"
"You're done." He grins. He removes the Sorting Hat and she launches herself from the stool, quickly rejoining the Weasley's and Neville.
"Gryffindor! I knew it!" George launches a hand over the table to high-five Christina, knocking into two young girls in the process.
"You two, are the worst." Christina shakes her head and grabs an empty goblet.
"We're the best friends you'll ever have." Fred continues. Christina places the gold goblet against her hive-stricken face, attempting to relieve some of the redness.
"How do I somehow doubt that?" She sneers.
"Ah, you'll come to love us." Fred winks at her, she laughs.
"We grow on people." George adds.
"So do tumors." She quips back. The two laugh heartily and she does too, giving in. Maybe they do grow on people … 'wry wit' …
They begin sorting the rest of the first years, a large amount in Hufflepuff, smaller in Ravenclaw, even small in Slytherin and the least in Gryffindor. "Is there usually this little amount of Gryffindors?"
"Must be a great year for exceptionally ordinary people." Ginny jokes.
Eventually, Harry and Hermione find their way to join them at the table.
"Gryffindor?" Hermione asks excitedly at her blank robes.
"Gryffindor!" Christina replies.
"That's great!" She sits down with them, Harry across the way.
"What was all that about?" Ron mutters to Harry. Harry started to explain in a whisper, but at that moment the headmaster stood up to speak, and he broke off.
Professor Dumbledore, though very old, gave an impression of great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. Christina heard him described as the greatest wizard of the age, by Remus.
"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, 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…"
Dumbledore 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, "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, and Harry and Ron glanced at each other.
"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," he said. Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Christina, puffed out his chest again and stared around impressively. Dumbledore paused again; he looked very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or made a sound.
"On a happier note," he continued, "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. Only those who had been in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clapped hard, Christina among them. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.
"Look at Snape!" Ron hissed in Harry's ear. Christina didn't know which one was Snape, but guessed it might be the black, greasy haired man whose expression was twisting his thin, sallow face. It was beyond anger: it was 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 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 this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties." Christina, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another, stunned. Then they joined in with the applause, which was tumultuous at the Gryffindor table in particular. Christina leaned forward to see Hagrid, who was ruby red in the face and staring down at his enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of his black beard.
"We should've known!" Ron roared, pounding the table. "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the last to stop clapping, and as Professor Dumbledore started speaking again, they saw that Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth.
"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"
The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Christina, suddenly ravenous, helped herself to everything she could reach and began to eat. It was a delicious feast; the hall echoed with talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks. When the last morsels of pumpkin tart had melted from the golden platters, Dumbledore gave the word that it was time for them all to go to bed, and when Christina stood up to leave with Harry, Ron and Hermione to wherever their dormitories were – they were on a beeline to Hagrid. Christina watched them congratulate the giant while he wiped away some more happy tears. Just as Christina was about to join the moment, Fred and George arrive at her sides, startling her with a jump.
"Gryffindor new blood." George whispers in her ear.
"You know we get to haze you, right?" Fred says in a mock-menacing voice. She'd had friends like Fred and George before. Jokesters. The only way around the constant sarcasm and trickery – send it right back at them.
"Harry already told me what to do." She plays along.
"He – what?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, it'll be done by tomorrow. Though I don't know why you'd want me to do that to you, but … whatever." Christina walks away from the twins, smirking to herself at the speechless comedians behind her.
Christina approaches Harry, Ron and Hermione just as Professor McGonagall is shooing them away from the teachers table. The four of them join the Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, to the hidden entrance to Gryffindor Tower, where a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress asked them, "Password?"
"Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind the crowd. "The new password's Fortuna Major!"
"Oh no," said Neville Longbottom sadly. Once the password had been said, the Fat Lady's portrait swings open and through the portrait hole they emerge into a cozy room, a large fireplace roaring already and several couches and chairs filled the circular room. Christina looks up at all the portraits of witches and wizards through the years and her heart nearly leaps out of her chest when she sees one move and wink at her.
She continues walking behind Percy as he directs the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. Christina waves Harry and Ron goodnight and enters the girls' dormitory with Hermione. At last, they have found their beds: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Christina collapses into one of the beds with a sigh of relief, a belly full of delicious food, and a house that wouldn't lead her the same path as Lord Voldemort.