Dementor And The Trap

"Bones, Susan!" Professor Sprout called, crossing out Susan's name as the girl joined the Hufflepuff queue forming in front of her.

The other three teachers – Professor Moody, Professor Flitwick and Professor Flamel were similarly crossing the names of students who had gathered in front of The Three Broomstick, each taking charge of the list for a different house.

"Professors! Is everyone here?" Moody barked.  The other three teachers quickly completed their checks and gathered around Moody.

"Hufflepuffs all present," said Professor Sprout.

"Ravenclaws all assembled," said Professor Flitwick.

"Good.  Slytherins are here, except Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.  What about the Gryffindors, Professor Flamel?" Moody asked.

"I'm missing four students," April replied, worry evident in her face.

"What? Who are they?" Moody asked again.

"Potter, Granger, Weasley and Longbottom.  If you have no objections, Professor, I would like to go look for them."

Moody was silent for a few moments. His magical eye was rolling around so quickly that April almost felt nauseous looking at it.  Then he growled, addressing Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick, "Professors, please see the students back to the school safely.  I'll go with Professor Flamel."

*

Harry urged his legs to go faster, as he ran past Dervish and Banges.  Ron and Hermione were close on his heels. 

They were nearing the edge of Hogsmeade when there was a sudden but unmistaken chill in the air.  Harry abruptly stopped running and stayed rooted to the ground.  He recognised the familiar icy cold that was penetrating his bones.  

Then Harry saw them. Hundreds of dark hooded creatures were emerging from all directions and coming their way, slowly surrounding them.  

He slipped out his wand and quickly instructed his friends to do the same.  "Think of something happy…a single event that has made you extremely happy.  At my count to three, focus on the happy thought and say the incarnation Expecto patronum!" Harry forced himself to speak even though his month was dry and his hands were clammy.

"Oh no…" Hermione was closed to tears.  She had attempted the Patronus Charm in her third year, and it did not work then.

Ron was holding on to his wand with both trembling hands.

"One…two…three! Expecto Patronum!" Harry cried.  A thin silvery mist shot out of his wand.  It had little effect on the dementors and they were closing in.

"Ron! Hermione! I need help! Now! One…two…THREE!"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" they chanted together.  This time, there was a slightly thicker silver mist that made the dementors pause.  However, before long, they began gliding closer to the teenagers once again.

"Harry! Do something!" Hermione was frantic with fear.

Harry closed his eyes, forcing himself into concentration.  He tried to think of Sirius…of the moment Sirius offered him a home…of the first true smile he saw on his godfather's face when he accepted…

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry shouted.  This time, the familiar stag erupted from the end of his wand and charged at the dementors.

"Wicked…brilliant…" Ron mumbled under his breath.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" A voice sounded loudly.

Harry's concentration broke and the stag vanished into the air.  "Sirius!" Harry cried, horrified.

The dementors had noticed the newcomer.  In a split second, they all turned towards Sirius Black and glided hungrily towards him.

"No!" Harry screamed, trying to get to Sirius before the dementors.

Sirius was rooted to the spot.  His face was full of fear and horror.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry tried again, but this time it did not work.  He was no longer able to focus on anything but the terrible scene before him.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"  There was another voice. A familiar female voice.

Harry turned around and saw a silvery unicorn charge past him, aiming straight for the dementors.  

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Another familiar voice, this time belonging to a man, was heard as another silvery mist shot towards the hooded creatures. 

The dementors turned.  They were leaving.  The air was warm again.

"Sirius!" Harry shouted, as he ran towards his godfather. Hermione and Ron followed closely behind.

"Is everyone alright?" April asking with concern as she hurried to the group, pulling Neville behind her.

"That was one hell of a patronus, Harry.  Prongs would have been so proud." Sirius managed to say.

"Padfoot, what exactly do you think you're doing?  Do you have any idea what would have happened if we arrived a second later? Do you have any idea what will happen now that the dementors have seen you?" Remus asked gravely.

Everyone in the group paled.  Blood was fast draining away from Sirius' face.  None of them were able to speak for a long time.

*

They were making their way back to the High Street.  Remus was telling them he had immediately guessed that Sirius was planning to meet Harry when he noticed his friend's absence earlier that day. Remus had been trying to comb Hogsmeade for Sirius without drawing attention to himself, when he spotted April and Neville who were in an obvious hurry and decided to follow them.

When they reached the end of the street, Remus turned to the rest and said, "This is where we leave you.  You should be safe now."

Sirius, who had been silent for several minutes, suddenly asked sharply, "Where's April?"

They looked around and noticed for the first time that April was indeed not with them.

"But she was here a while ago! She was walking right behind me!" Ron exclaimed.

"Er…Professor Lupin?"

"Yes, Neville?" Remus replied in the calmest voice he could master.

"I was at the Hog's Head just now…"

"You were at Hog's Head?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"Yes…it's my first time…thought there's slimmer chance of meeting anyone there…" Neville licked his lips and resumed his explanation. "You see, I was there and I heard two men talking about…about attacking St Mungo's…"

Harry gasped.  He knew that Neville's parents were both at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

"Please continue, Neville," urged Lupin gently.

"Professor Flamel found me there and I told her what I heard.  She said that she'll take care of it once she is sure the three of you are alright," Neville looked pointedly at Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Can you describe what the two men looked like?" Lupin asked, urgency creeping into his voice.

Neville shook his head miserably.  "They wore hoods and the place was dark."

"St Mungo's?" Sirius frowned. There was something wrong, but he could not pinpoint this worry.

"April is in danger!" Harry said suddenly, causing all his companions to turn sharply towards him in surprise.  He held out his hand.  "The stone's red," he said hoarsely.

"Professor Flamel and Harry both have this ring. The stones are emeralds. When it turns blood red, it means either one of them is in danger.  Of course, Professor Dumbledore has a ring too, but he can't be the one in danger right now," Hermione explained helpfully to the two older men.

"This is a trap," Sirius spat, remembering his conversation with April at the Shrieking Shack. "They are not after Harry.  Their real targets are April and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Remus reached out an arm to stop Sirius.  "Where are going, Padfoot?"

"St Mungo's, of course! We have to get that Flamel girl out of there!"

Remus thought quickly.  "No, we have to head back.  Now that the dementors have seen you, I'm sure the Ministry will be here soon."

"We can't leave her to die there!"

"We'll try to get hold of Albus.  Or McGonagall…anyone who can help." Remus said grimly.  With that, he got a firm hold of Sirius' arm and almost dragged his reluctant friend for some distance before both of them disapparated.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were at a lost of what to say or do.  Just then, they heard Moody's growl.  Moody, obviously in a fowl mood, was making his way towards them, with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

That was when Harry caught sight of the horrible snarl on Malfoy's face.

***

A/N:  I like this chapter (okay, I'm shameless to praise my own work), and hope that my fellow Sirius-lovers will like it too.

Hee hee…I know I was mean to end that way in the last chapter.  But of course all of you know that I love Sirius too much to kill him off! 

As always, please review.  Reviews do really motivate me to carry on writing, so that I can update sooner! LOL.

Lil Lupin / Katie Black / SiriusLvr / Ms Padfoot / Tiger Lily / Fire'N'Ice / padfoot1979:  THANKS :)  I'm on Cloud 9

Member USS SAD DENIAL: Your "Sirius' Awful Death Didn't End Neatly! It's A Lie!" acronym and ship motto are so cool! :)

Destructor-of-peace: I really don't have a list of ways to write cliffhangers! LOL. But this one has a cliffhanger too, and I suspect the next chapter will be the same… (I'm evil huh? Hee hee. Not as evil as Voldie though)

Audrey: I'm soooooo happy that you're in love with this story! Siriusly!…oops, I mean Seriously! :)

Angelic: I feel like pummeling JKR to death with a troll's club too.  She's an amazing author, but I'm not ready to forgive her for the death just yet.  She's lucky that I'm not the Minister of Magic. If I have the authority, she'll be the first I'll send to Azkaban. But of course, I'll allow her to have lots of parchment and quills in her cell since we still need her to write Books 6 & 7!

***************************

10 July 2003, 3am (Singapore time)

The chapter and comments above were written yesterday. Otherwise the chapter would have been a lot darker, and I would not have sounded so chirpy.

Those who have yet to finish reading Book Five, and those who are sick and tired of my endless rambling about you-know-what, please stop reading the next few paragraphs and click on the "Submit Review" button instead :)

I've just finished reading Book Five.  Finally, you'll say, since I'm probably one of the last few HP fans to do so.  Actually, I stopped reading for about a week when I reached Chapter 30, 'cos I was inching too close to the death scene which I absolutely dreaded reading.

Now I can actually say I'm really glad that I read the many spoilers on fanfiction.net on 23 June.  It made me really upset, and it did prepare me for what I will read in Chapters 34 & 35. Those of you who dutifully read through the entire book without first flipping through the pages to find out who's the special fan of Potter's who will die, must have found it shocking and a lot harder to accept than I did. 

To be fair to Rowling, she's still a great author.  I'm still VERY sore about the death but she could have written it in ways that would have made it a lot harder for fans of Sirius Black. If the death scene was longer, then we would have to read about him suffer…if our hero did not die fighting in his bid to protect Harry or showed a tinge of arrogance before he...hmmm...left, it would have been so unlike Sirius.  I kept telling myself that maybe this is part of Rowling's big plan for Harry - that he should be alone and face Voldemort alone at the end of the entire series...no Sirius or Dumbledore or anyone else to help him...

Knowing about the death before I read the book, I found that I do not like the book at all (save for the bits about Sirius & young Marauders).  It was too dark & gloomy, don't you think?  For the first time, we find out that Dumbledore can make wrong decisions too.  And I don't like Lupin's reaction (or should I say lack of reaction) after Sirius' death.  I mean, why can't she allow this guy to show more emotions after his last best friend died Yes, he found it painful to speak, but that was all.  He even had the presence of mind to heal Neville's leg. (*roll eyes*) I'm quite disappointed with Lupin.  I love this character still, but if only Rowling let him lose his self-control once in a while. Perhaps in the later books, she will dwell more on what Lupin really felt...

But Dumbledore and Moody were so sweet and nice to Harry that I love them for it.  Snape too.  I like Snape a lot more than I ever did.  The last 2-3 pages of the book were great (you're right, Ms Padfoot).  At least Harry is still not alone and there are people who genuinely care about him.

I'm looking to Snape & Lupin now to take over the role of Harry's father/big brother-figure - the void left by James & Sirius. Just hope that Rowling doesn't kill them off as well. Otherwise, I'll really HATE her and then write a fanfic about how James, Sirius and Snape/Lupin gang up to kill her.  Rowling said interviews that her favourite characters include Lupin and Snape (no mention of Sirius...she could bear to kill him...no, I don't care if she cried in her stupid kitchen), so hopefully she'll spare their lives.  

Hmm...aren't we supposed to find out more about Lily in Book Five?  Maybe I misread the interviews with Rowling.  But I still don't know very much about Lily, and there were more revelations about James. And the "person who could do magic late in life" is Neville, right?

It'll be really sick if Neville turns out to be Voldemort's real nemesis.  That may just happen…anything is possible in Rowling's sometimes-twisted mind. Then Harry would have suffered for nothing and Sirius would have died for nothing.  I'll write to Rowling this weekend and threaten to hex her if she pulls this stunt. :) But she'll not care anyway, and she knows more spells than I do.

Hee...sorry about rambling about Book Five again.  Now that I'm finally with the book, you can be assured that I'll not post a long rambling like this in pages of this fic again.  Will probably complete this fic before Rowling can publish another book and kill off someone else anyway.

I'm feeling murderous now, and my sadistic side may soon show.  I may add some disgusting original characters and include some of the much-hated characters in Book Five, so that I can quench my thirst for some revenge and make some awful characters hurt (they are the ones who really deserve it). But this will not happen in the next 2-4 chapters though, 'cos they're more or less written.

Okay, now I'm done with airing my grouses.  Thanks for bearing with me.  Oh yes, pls review...er, I mean the chapter and not these last few paragraphs of complaints.  Excuse me...I must go and ask my imaginary Sirius to give me a hug.  I really need one right now.