AN: I swear, I really did try to respond to all the reviews. Forgive me? Anyway, this chapter almost didn't come out today. In fact, it wasn't going to until my schedule suddenly cleared up. Anyway, I just wanted to thank all the followers, favorites, and reviewers again. Special thanks to: both Guest reviewers, Majerus, Books are air, Penny is wise, MaeSilverpaws1, Firenze Fox, serialkeller, Fibinaci, Jmw, Magdylena Black, Keyblade, becuzitswrong (thanks for pointing out the typo!), Valentina Alexandrea Sparrow, MariusDarkwolf, magitech, Tellur, ElementKitsune, To the TARDIS, lealover1, Wonderbee31, and Lady Eleanor Boleyn. I have no clue when the next update will come, but it should be soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise.
Harry awoke to a weak slap to the face.
"No, no, no, that's not how you do it. Here, move over," A voice said. Seconds later Harry felt a much sharper slap to the face.
"Ow!" He moaned in response.
"Harry! Are you alright?"
"Of course he's not alright, you just slapped him cross the face!"
"What happened?" Harry blinked frantically. The lamps had come back on, and the sudden increase in light temporarily blinded him. It appeared as though Harry had fallen on the floor. All around him, Harry could see his friends watching him. In the corner stood Professor Lupin, gazing intently at him. Harry felt cold and clammy. He reached up to push his glasses back on.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Yeah," Harry lied through his teeth. The hooded creature was gone. "I just don't—wait, what happened? Who was screaming?"
Harry's friends exchanged concerned glances.
"Harry," Seamus said slowly. "No one screamed."
"Really? I could have sworn I heard screaming—"Harry protested.
Something in the compartment made a loud snap, startling all the children. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. He passed out chunks to everyone, giving Harry the largest piece.
"Here. Eat it. It'll help," He assured them.
Harry didn't eat it. "What was that thing?"
"That was a dementor," He replied heavily. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."
The group bunched together and stared at him as he shoved the empty wrapper in his pocket.
"You really should eat it. It will help you. If you'll excuse me, I must speak to the driver," He nodded in goodbye and strolled out of the compartment.
"Harry, honestly, are you positive that you're okay?" Hermione asked again.
"I just don't understand…what was going on while I…while I—"
"While you passed out?" Seamus filled in helpfully.
"It looked sort of like you were having a seizure or something," Dean provided.
"Yeah, mate. You were all rigid, and you just fell out of your seat, and you were twitching—"
"But Professor Lupin saved you!" Lavender gushed.
"He just walked right up to the dementor, like he wasn't scared of it or nothing," Seamus said eagerly.
"Then, he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.'" Hermione chimed in.
"And then the dementor didn't move, so next he said something, and this silvery thing came out of it, and it made the dementor go away…" Parvati trailed off.
"It was really scary," Ginny admitted, hugging herself.
"It was horrible," Neville agreed. "The dementor made everything get so cold."
"It felt weird. I felt weird," Ron added. "Almost like I'd never be cheerful again."
"But none of you—none of you fell out of your seats, right?" Harry glanced around at his friend.
"Well, no," Dean confessed.
"But you shouldn't be ashamed of yourself," Lavender rushed to make him feel better. "You just had a different reaction is all. Like…like being allergic to strawberries."
Harry still couldn't understand. He felt impossibly sick to his stomach, like the chocolate frogs from the food cart were about to make a reappearance. And why had he felt differently from the others? Why was he the only one that seemed ready to fall apart?
Professor Lupin reentered the compartment during Harry's darkest thoughts. He surveyed the area with a small smile. "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know…."
Harry munched on the chocolate slowly, and the rest of his food from earlier in the day was shoved back down.
"We should be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Professor Lupin said. "Do you feel better now, Harry?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," He said, embarrassed.
Professor Lupin had just sat down again when Oliver, the twins, and Lee burst through the door.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked frantically, looking them all in the eyes. "I was just telling Flint that no way would Slytherin ever beat Gryffindor with our team, and did you know, the Arrows asked him to come play for them in two years? The Arrows! Boy, am I glad I held out for Puddlemere! Can you imagine having to be on the same team as Marcus bloody Flint? Bet he won't be so happy once Puddlemere clobbers him! I hope he gets hit in the face with a Bludger. Course, it might end up being an improvement. I swear, he's got one of the ugliest mugs I've ever—er, hi. You must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," Oliver said meekly.
"Professor Lupin," The man stood and shook Oliver's hand with a smile. "I'm certain I didn't just hear you insulting a fellow student, did I?"
Oliver swallowed. "No sir. No, you did not. I was just defending the honor of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, s'all."
"Mmm." Lupin nodded knowingly. "Well, in any case, I believe your friends were more concerned with what happened after your conversation with Mr. Flint."
Oliver's eyes lit up. "Oh, right. So after Flint was done telling his filthy pack of lies, the dementors came in. And all of Flint's cronies got all weak, and so did Pucey—"
"Oh, oh, and then Malfoy came running in," Lee interrupted.
Harry sat up immediately.
"Yeah, little baby—"
"—just about wet himself—"
"—when he saw the dementors!" The twins volleyed back and forth.
Lupin cleared his throat with a twinkle in his eye.
"So then we thought we'd come check on you," Oliver finished with a smile.
"You guys are blocking the corridor!" A girl's voice called out.
"Angie!" George cheered. "You're back! Wait, where did you go?"
"If you must know, I went to go find Katie, Cormac, and Leann. You do care about their wellbeing, don't you?" She huffed.
"Of course I do!" Oliver replied jovially. "Gotta start training my replacement, don't I?"
"Replacement?" Ron echoed.
"Well, yeah. I can't let the Gryffindor team fail just because they have one member that's not in top form. I've gotta start Cormac early, so that come next year, he's all ready to be a star Keeper."
"Why Cormac?" Dean wondered.
"He's the only one who's shown any interest in becoming a Keeper. Which is a shame, really, since it is the best position." Oliver shrugged.
Harry noticed a peculiar look on Ron's face, and tried to remember to ask him about it later.
Angelina snorted. "Please. Everyone knows that chaser is the best."
"Angie, dear, at the risk of angering both my captain and my girlfriend, I must respectfully disagree," George intervened smoothly.
"Beater is clearly the only position in which the goal is to hit the enemy, which proves it is far superior to all other positions," Fred bragged snootily.
"I think you guys are all forgetting that the Seeker is the one who finishes the game. The Seeker must be the best," Harry argued cheekily.
"Excuse me!" A nasal, feminine voice rang out from the corridor. "You're all blocking the way!"
"Well, sorry, Princess McLaggen," Oliver retorted.
"Oh, hi Oliver," Olivia giggled flirtatiously.
"Is there something wrong with your voice?" Oliver asked obliviously.
"No. Why on earth would you think something so silly?" She batted her eyelashes.
"Wait. I got this. There's something in your eye that's bothering you, and it's causing you pain. You're moving your eyelashes like that to get it out, and your voice got higher because it hurts. It's okay, you can just fish around in there, no one's going to think badly of you," Oliver told her.
"Ugh! No, that is not it. You know what, Oliver Wood, just forget it. Now move!" She ordered.
The five teens stepped aside as Olivia stormed away.
"I swear, at the end of this year, I'm just gonna expand the compartment so that we can all sit together." Oliver shook his head.
"Isn't that against the rules?" Hermione said reprovingly.
"Yeah, but by then, I'll be a graduate, and it's not like they can give me detention." Oliver grinned.
Lupin shifted and made a small noise.
Oliver froze. "You didn't see anything," He denied quickly. "Well, see you guys later. C'mon, let's go."
"You mean before you say another stupid thing that's likely to get you in trouble?" Lee laughed.
After they were gone, Harry slumped back in his seat, giving up the pretense of staying strong. "Um, listen, you guys, I was hoping that maybe none of you would…well, I just don't want anyone to know about what happened with the dementor."
Harry peeked up at their expressions, only to find them all nodding like this was to be expected.
"Of course," Dean agreed.
"Harry, we'd never tell anyone," Hermione said earnestly.
"You can trust us," Neville spoke up bravely.
"That means you too, Ginny," Ron told the younger girl.
"I'm not going to tell, Ron!" She snapped.
"Anyone includes your club," He sneered.
"I'm not stupid. I understand that. The only one without a brain here is you!" She retorted.
"Oh yeah? Well, you're just—hey, where're you guys goin'?"
"The train stopped already," Lavender sighed dramatically.
"Oh." Ginny's ears turned red, as did Ron's.
Harry immediately felt at home as he entered the castle. Hogwarts was still as warm and welcoming as ever. He could almost hear Professor McGonagall's voice now…
"Mr. Potter! Miss Granger!"
"Hello, Professor," Hermione greeted automatically, spinning around to face her.
"Er, hello," Harry bobbed his head.
"Please come to my office. I have a few urgent matters to discuss with you. Not to worry, you aren't in trouble," She added hastily, catching their looks of fear. "Run along, Weasley. You too, Brown."
Harry and Hermione had to jog to follow after McGonagall's brisk pace. She refused to look at them, or even to hint at what she wished to speak about.
"Modification!" She barked at the gargoyles, which sprung aside to reveal a winding staircase.
Upon entering her office, Harry was greeted by the sight of the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Sinistra, and the Gryffindor Head of House, Professor Burbage, as well as Madam Pomfrey.
"Professor Lupin was kind enough to send an owl ahead to say that you weren't feeling well, Harry," Professor Burbage said kindly, examining him closely.
Harry turned red. Really, he was much better now. It didn't matter anymore. Whatever that thing had done to him, he was sure it wasn't going to happen again. "I'm fine. I really don't need anything."
"Potter, let Madam Pomfrey take care of you for a moment. Miss Granger, Professor Sinistra will give you what you need. I need to get back in time for the Sorting. Excuse me," Professor McGonagall stood abruptly and left again.
Madam Pomfrey leaned in closely. "I hope you haven't been doing something dangerous…again!"
"It was a dementor, Poppy," Professor Burbage said softly.
Madam Pomfrey clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "I cannot believe it. Setting dementors around a school is an awful idea. It's only going to get worse from here. I don't know what Fudge was thinking. Honestly, the damage they can do to people who are already delicate—"
"I'm not delicate!" Harry spoke up crossly.
"Of course you're not," said Madam Pomfrey absentmindedly, now taking his pulse.
"Is he going to be alright?" Burbage asked worriedly. "Maybe bed rest in the hospital wing?"
"I'm fine!" Harry repeated angrily, jumping up.
Burbage's eyes grew wide. "I just want to make sure you're alright."
Harry instantly felt guilty and began to stare at the floor.
"He should at least have some chocolate," Madam Pomfrey interrupted.
"Professor Lupin already gave us all some," Hermione told her. "He made sure Harry was okay."
Madam Pomfrey leaned back. "Really? It would appear that we finally have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies."
"Are you really sure you feel all right, Harry?" Burbage asked, meeting his eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure," He said more gently.
"Alright. Harry, Professor McGonagall and I need to have a conversation with you about something important. It would take too long to do it tonight, but if you could maybe come by after classes tomorrow, is that okay?"
"Yeah," Harry agreed, almost positive that he knew what the talk would be about.
"Great. Now, Professor Sinistra and I are going to talk to Hermione about her schedule, and I was just hoping that you could wait outside so that we can all walk down to the feast together."
Harry walked down the stairs. He didn't have to wait too long for Hermione, who came out with Sinistra and Burbage, looking very pleased with herself.
The pair seemed to have missed the sorting, but they were just in time for McGonagall's opening speech.
"Welcome to another excellent year at Hogwarts," She began regally. "I would first like to begin by speaking about an incident that occurred on the Hogwarts Express. The dementors of Azkaban are now going to surround Hogwarts at any and all possible entrances. No one is to leave the school without express permission. Dementors cannot be fooled by tricks, disguises, distractions, or even invisibility."
Harry felt a small chill run up his spine at the thought.
"Dementors are not known as particularly forgiving. It is imperative that you stay away from them, and do not give them any reason to harm you. It is especially important that our prefects and our new Head Boy and Girl make sure that students are kept safe."
Percy straightened happily, glancing around the Great Hall with a feeling of superiority.
"Now that you all understand the," She paused, "severity of this situation, I would like to move on. We have two new teachers this year. For Defense Against the Dark Arts, we have Professor Remus Lupin."
Harry and his friends burst into raucous applause, though they seemed to be the only enthusiastic ones in the Great Hall. Professor Lupin and his shabby robes didn't seem to impress most of the other students. Professor Snape glared at Lupin. There was more hate pouring from Snape than Harry had seen in a long time, and it seemed suspicious that kind, mild-mannered Lupin should be the one to provoke such a reaction.
Professor McGonagall's expression soured slightly, and she seemed the slightest bit reluctant to share this next piece of news. "Unfortunately, our dear Professor Kettleburn, our former Care of Magical Creatures teacher, chose to retire at the end of last year in order to protect his remaining limbs. Fortunately, Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts' very own gameskeeper, has volunteered to fill this role."
The Gryffindor table paused in disbelief before bursting into applause. Hagrid was beaming from happiness.
Harry's friends kept up wild conversations all throughout dinner, as Harry zoned out to focus on stuffing his face.
"What about you, Harry?" Percy turned to him hopefully.
Harry grinned. "Sorry, Percy. I'm too smart to fall for that one again."
Percy appeared crestfallen. "Well, I tried. You think Ron might fall for it?"
Harry considered this for a moment. "Probably."
Percy smiled again. "Great!"
When McGonagall dismissed them from their tables, a surge of Gryffindors descended on the teachers' table to congratulate Hagrid.
"We're so happy for you!" Parvati squealed.
"Yeah, it's really great you got it!" Dean added happily.
"Thank yer. I just couldn't believe it when 'fessor McGonagall come down to me hut and tell me I was hired. I always wanted ter teach…" Hagrid began to sob from happiness and used the tablecloth as a tissue.
Burbage quickly and quietly asked them to leave before he began to wail.
The rest of the Gryffindors began to follow Percy and the tiny first years due to a lack of anything else to do. Just as they always had, the first years threw out exclamations of awe over the marble staircases and the suits of armor. As usual, the portrait of the Fat Lady was there to greet them.
"Password?"
"Excuse me. I need to get through. Excuse me. Do you want to know the password or not? EXCUSE ME!" Percy shouted finally, pushing his way through the crowd. "The new password is 'Fortuna Major'!" He huffed, irritated.
"Oh no," Neville murmured sadly.
"Don't worry, Neville," Dean told him reassuringly. "You can always ask one of us."
The boys and girls went their separate ways to their dorms, ready to get some sleep. Harry was so tired, all thoughts of Sirius Black and dementors had been driven from his mind.
Replies to anonymous reviews:
Jmw: Let's not get too hasty there, though I do appreciate the compliment. I'm just a total sucker for good, gigantic friendships, and I'm really not into the whole 'being betrayed makes you a stronger person' plotline. Thanks for reviewing!
Keyblade: This is not going to be a Harry/Ginny fic, but that doesn't mean there can't be some more Ginny development, so I'll try and see what I come up with. Thanks for reviewing!