Chapter III:

A Dementing Nightmare

In your sleep, the sounds around you become muted. Your eyes are closed and in reality can only see the blackness of the eyelids, which rest in front of them. In the mind however, the noises and visuals materialize. They create visions that more often than not appear as real as the world that waited for you when you woke up.

Harry's dreams had been slowly becoming more unsettling. They ventured into the realms where they were no longer dreams, but were slowly becoming nightmares.

He opened his eyes to the see the compartment once more. The person who had been sleeping across from him had disappeared.

The mood of the train had changed considerably. What was once a bright, sunlit train was now showered in blue and gray. He looked out the window, which had been rendered so black that he could no longer tell if the train was moving or not.

He got up and stepped out of the compartment. The train was now completely silent, with no voices and no sign of any students roaming. The atmosphere caused a cold chill to go up Harry's spine.

The right of the train car was completely drenched in black. To his left sat the entrance to the car, which he had come through only minutes earlier before falling asleep. He walked towards it to go to the other car.

"Harry" A sharp whisper echoed through the car from behind him, which startled him. He quickly turned back but was greeted by the blackness again, with no sign of anyone being there.

Suddenly, he could feel the temperature of the car dropping. It dropped at a quick rate, to where Harry was seeing his breath in front of him. He turned to leave the car once more but the wall around him was now drenched is a slick white ice.

Feeling the fear rising within him, he desperately reached for the doorknob but it had been frozen still. Its ice cold temperature felt like it had burned Harry's hand, so he quickly pulled it away.

He turned again, and he could see the windows of the train, on both sides, beginning to freeze over from the cold. It spread from where he was and went all the way into blackness.

With nowhere left to turn, he ran back to the empty compartment and slammed the door shut. The lock that had once been on it was now frozen still as well, leaving Harry helpless if it were to be open.

Harry stood as close to the back of the compartment as he could. He took out his wand and held it at the ready, preparing for anything.

When he had situated himself, he listened intently to the silence around him. Listening for anything that could be coming his way.

"Harry" The voice rang off again. At the exact same moment, the compartment door slammed open with great force. So much so, that the glass in the door shattered, falling to the ground. It's sound echoed throughout the compartment, hurting his ears.

Now shivering, not knowing if it was the cold or his fear causing it, he continued to hold his wand up. The cars hallway on the opposite side of the compartment entrance was now all black, with no way for him to see what was coming.

Suddenly, two hands clamped onto either side of the doorway. The hands were long, black, skeleton thin hands. As intimating as they were, the hands were easily recognizable to Harry. The hands belong to a being that he had more than his fair share of history with.

The being then pulled itself into the compartment. Now flying before him, with its eyeless black face and cloak, was a Dementor.

Without hesitating, Harry prepared to combat it. "Expecto Patronum," he shouted but his wand did not react. The Dementor than swooped towards him. "EXPECTO PATRONUM," he shouted once more but again nothing happened.

Terrified, he ducked under the Dementor, barely escaping its clutches. Running back into the hall, he ran back to the train car door again, frantically trying to turn the knob. As he did, he looked back to see the Dementor now back in the hall again and flying directly towards him.

He turned slightly with his wand at the ready. "EXPECTO PATRONUM," he shouted once more but this time the Dementor grabbed his wrist, forcing him to drop his wand.

Harry now stood face to face with the foul being. As it lowered its head towards his, he panicked. "NNNOOOOOO" He screamed his lungs off.

"Harry," he then heard again but this time the voice sounded much closer. "Wake up." He then felt himself waking up and his body fell back into the seat he had fallen asleep in. His body was being shaken awake.

He opened his eyes. The world around him was a blur. A person stood above him and was the one who had been shaking him. He couldn't make the person out until his vision was clear. He blinked a couple times and the image of Draco Malfoy appeared in front of him.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "Excuse me," he said before Harry could answer as he walked to the door of the compartment. "Do you kids have somewhere you need to be?" He asked sternly.

Harry sat up and saw several students standing outside the compartment, clearly getting a good sight of Harry while he slept through his nightmare. Malfoy stood at the doorway until all of the kids had walked away and closed the door and locked it. He then sat across from Harry as Harry himself was now realizing that this was the person sleeping across from him.

Malfoy had not changed much since their time at Hogwarts, with the same greasy, yet receding, white hair he always had. However, their relationship was the part that differed greatly from their childhood. While not the best of friends, they were at least on speaking terms and would occasionally see each other at the Ministry.

Malfoy had distanced himself from the rest of his family, only corresponding with his parents and no one else. He mainly did this for the protection of his son Scorpius, who was going on his third year.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, looking legitimately worried.

"Fine, I guess," Harry responded groggily. He stretched a bit. "Thank you for waking me up."

"No problem," he replied. "I figured from how much you were shaking, you didn't want to be asleep no more."

Harry collected himself for a couple of minutes before continuing on. "Where are we?"

"About five minutes out, one the prefects came by and let everyone know just before I woke you up."

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked curiously. "I thought you were going to continue your work at the Auror office."

Malfoy nodded at this. "That was the plan, but I had gotten a letter from Professor Lungdren, asking if I had an interest in teaching History. I've always wanted to teach, so I jumped at the offer."

"I didn't know they needed a new teacher," Harry said.

"No one knew until a couple days ago," Malfoy responded. "Poor Professor Fletcher fell ill and wasn't in shape to go in for the year. They contacted several people and I was the only one who could get the year off for the job. Granger was also contacted but she didn't want to leave Ron for so long. Probably the best considering how Ron's job at the Prophet has been."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You don't know?" Malfoy asked perplexed.

"I've read the reports when they first started but haven't read any of the latest news," Harry replied.

Malfoy than pulled out a copy of the prophet out of his trunk. "This one's a doozy. I was able to get one before Lungdren and the Minister had them all pulled. The Prophet's under investigation until the reporter is found and fired."

He handed the Prophet to Harry who straightened it out, so that he could read it.

"Is Hogwarts in Danger?

As many know, Hogwarts Headmaster, Professor Rupert Lungdren has appointed Harry Potter (the one who brought down Lord Voldemort) as the new teacher for their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

While it has been many years since the downfall of Lord Voldemort and his army, there have been concerns over the reasoning behind this choice. While many are overlooking it as mere staffing changes for the legendary wizarding school, others feel that there are different motives behind it that Lungdren is neglecting to inform any of us about.

Is there a threat being placed upon Hogwarts that they need to call on Potter to eliminate? While we may be jumping to conclusions and there may be no threat, it still doesn't eliminate the fact that appointing Harry Potter as teacher is a questionable decision for Hogwarts..."

Harry threw the paper down at that point, feeling disgusted. "This is ridiculous."

"I agree," Malfoy replied. "But both you and I know that the Prophet will make up anything to sell. Having you back in the news has been giving them plenty of ammunition."

"Yeah well, there was a time when I thought I was done giving them that," Harry said, continuing to stare out the window. Although, at this point, the sun had set and night had fallen, making it nearly impossible to see out of it.

"We should be arriving soon," Malfoy said, clearly wanting to end the subject. "I'm going to check in with Scorpius before we arrive." He then grabbed his trunk and walked out of the compartment, leaving Harry alone.

Harry found himself repeatedly looking back at the Prophet that he had thrown on the floor. He felt a sense of embarrassment by it and knew that the first day of class was going to be a nightmare of its own due to all of the stories that had been spreading.

In the midst of his frustration, he continued to stare out the window when it finally appeared before his eyes. The unmistakable lighting, size and beauty of the castle came into view.

After all of these years, Harry had still never seen a more beautiful sight than Hogwarts being lit up at night. Suddenly, all of his frustration vanished and he now felt like he was back in his first year at Hogwarts. He now felt like the same eleven year-old boy he once was.

As the Hogwarts platform came closer, he grabbed his trunk and walked out into the hallway, preparing to exit out of the train. Many of the kids who were in the car, were already in the hall doing the same. Many of them were first years, who took more notice of the castle approaching then Harry, which made him feel a little better.

When the train stopped, he waited for a few minutes as all of the kids filed out of the train. After a few minutes, he walked out himself. The platform was congested with first years, who were clearly lost on their day. Most of the older, including Harry's two eldest, had taken off in the carriages. Harry looked around for Lily, but wasn't able to find her amongst the Madness.

"Step lively," a familiar voice shouted out. "I need all first years to come this way."

He looked to his left, and standing well above the crowd, with almost all of the first years not even up to his knees, was Hogwarts longtime Gamekeeper and Harry's friend Rubeus Hagrid.

Hagrid had aged greatly since Harry had left Hogwarts. His bushy and hair and beard was entirely gray and he now walked with a cane. Due to Hagrid's size, his cane was carved out of stone to support his weight.

Harry had only seen Hagrid a handful of times while away from Hogwarts. While he was well aware of his old friend's current state, it still stunned him. He always remembered Hagrid as the powerful, yet gentle giant. To see him on a cane saddened him.

Hagrid noticed Harry right away. "Harry, over here," he shouted.

While Harry was very happy to be walking towards Hagrid to see him but when he shouted towards him, it caused every first year head to turn towards him. He felt a slight hush come over the crowd; while momentary, it was still pronounced.

"Hey Hagrid," he said happily when he reached him. Any uncomfortable feelings he had only moments prior were abolished as Hagrid pulled him in for a hug.

Hagrid then relinquished the hug. "I'm sorry; I guess I should be a little more professional. I should have said Professor Potter."

"It's okay," Harry replied with a laugh.

"Unfortunately, all of the carriages are gone," Hagrid said. "How about taking the boat with me and a couple of the first years…for old time sake?"

Harry smiled up at Hagrid. "I would love to."

When they reached the dock, Hagrid let Harry into the boat first. Before Harry could sit, kids began running to the boat that he was in. One boy actually shoved another down to reach the boat first.

Once the boats were filled and were on their way, Harry and Hagrid sitting across the boy and three little girls. All of whom stared at Harry intently.

"So…" Hagrid said, clearly wanting to take Harry's mind and eyes off of them. "How's everything Harry?"

"Fine," Harry said quickly. "How about you?"

"Can't complain really," Hagrid replied. "Still here, nowhere else to go quite frankly."

"I thought you might have retired by now," Harry said.

"I thought about it," Hagrid said honestly. "But the truth is, I love being here. This has been my home for so long and if I were to retire, I would just live the rest of my life in the hut on the school grounds, so why not just keep my old job."

Harry nodded with a smile and looked up towards the school, which slowly became closer. It's pure size becoming more noticeable as it still looks as daunting as it did the first day that Harry saw it years ago.

"I missed you Hagrid," Harry said as he looked on. "And I missed this school."

"We all missed you Harry," Hagrid said. "You're a part of this place and you're one of the reasons it still stands to this day."

Once the boats reached the dock, Hagrid let Harry go first, while keeping all of the children in the boats. This gave Harry much needed distance from the crowd and he could hear the whimpers of those who could not walk with him.

The docks lead to a path in the forest, which led to the main entrance of the school. Harry enjoyed the silence of the forest and the cool air of the night. He could occasionally hear an owl in the distance and other animals wondering the trees.

In the distance, the main entrance to Hogwarts approached. Harry could see many older students entering as he continued to walk forward.

"Hey, Mr. Potter," a voice rang off from the side of Harry, which caused him to jump slightly. Standing, in a door just beyond the trees and bushes, and far left of the main entrance, appeared a man. "Sorry, I didn't mean startle you. I'm Professor Tuttle, and I'm Potions teacher here at Hogwarts. I've been sent to get you."

Harry walked closer to the teacher. He was a short portly man with a big mustache and short, combed back white hard. He was dressed in his teacher's robes. If it weren't for the Hogwarts robe, he would have sworn that he saw his Uncle Vernon, who had long passed away.

"Hagrid sent us the message that you were here," he continued. "We figured that you didn't want all of the students to crowd around you."

"Thank you," Harry said graciously. He walked up the steps and through the door, which closed with a loud bang.

"Very nice to meet you Mr. Potter," Tuttle said, holding out his hand for Harry to shake, which he did.

"Nice to meet you as well," Harry replied. "I don't remember this entrance to the school."

"And you wouldn't remember it," Tuttle said. "Especially if you were a student the last time you came here."

Harry gave a look of confusion.

"This entrance was originally designed for teachers to keep an eye on first years," Tuttle explained. "Only to make sure that no one gets lost."

"Well, in that case, shouldn't someone be watching?" Harry asked.

"No one's used that entrance for that purpose in years," Tuttle replied. "Ever since Hagrid was named Gamekeeper so many years ago, there has been no need. Hagrid is phenomenal at his job."

They walked through a tight, yellow bricked hall, which looked nothing like any hallway that he had ever seen from Hogwarts. There were portraits on both side of the wall but unlike other photos within the castle, these did not move.

Tuttle saw Harry's curiosity. "This Hallway is the oldest part of the castle. Despite what people may believe, photos in the wizarding world didn't always move. This hallway was originally apart of the history class, meant to show students how like non-wizards we were at one time."

"How come it no longer plays that role?" Harry asked perplexed, thinking that this couldn't have come in handy years ago.

"Protest from purebloods, shortly before Dumbledore's reign as Headmaster. Purebloods didn't want to be reminded of this time, thinking that they were above that time period. The protest became so harsh that the ministry banned this portion of the class and forbid Dumbledore from ever reintroducing it.

"After so many years, a lot of people have forgotten this portion of the class's existence, which is one of the reasons why no one has fought for its reintroduction."

"Interesting," Harry said, legitimately intrigued by the hallway.

They walked to the other end of the hallway, reaching a small, closet-like door. Tuttle opened the door slowly, indicating to Harry to stand back.

"Okay, it looks like the coast is clear," he stated and both he and Harry walked through the door, which led to the staircase that sat between the Great Hall, Hogwarts main entrance, and the Grand Staircase. Harry remembered this part of the castle all too well.

It was so nice to him to the castle back in its original form as this part of the castle was nearly ripped to shreds in the final battle with Voldemort.

"Everyone must be in the Great Hall by now," Tuttle said. "Hopefully, they'll be too distracted by the feast to notice us walking in."

They walked down the steps and towards the entrance to the Great Hall. Harry suddenly felt his nerves rising steadily as they inched closer to the door. When they stopped in front of the door, Harry could actually feel his heart beating and his breathing was slightly heavier than it had been.

"Ready?" Tuttle asked as he clutched onto the handle of the door.

Harry took a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Tuttle pushed open the door, which opened with a loud clank. This loud clank ended any sort of subtlety they were trying to arrive with, as the entire Great Hall, filled with students, stared up at them.

The Great Hall had not changed at all since Harry had last seen it. Four long tables, which represented each house of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. About the tables were their respective flags. Also about the tables were thousands of candles, which floated on their own. The sight impressed as a kid and continued to impress him as an adult.

At the opposite end of the ice rink lengthen hall was the head table for the teachers; a table that Harry now had a reserved seat at. He could see two empty chairs next to each other. Obviously one was for Tuttle and the one next to it was for him.

While impressed with this, he was not impressed by the hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes staring at him from around the room. This included the eyes staring at him from the front table. He didn't which part of the hall made him more nervous.

Headmaster Professor Lundgren stood up as Harry approached, with a smile on his face. Lungdren could not have looked any more opposite of Dumbledore. He possessed no beard, had short hair, and was roughly half of Dumbledore's age upon admittance to the position of Headmaster.

He was a tall thin man, who wore an all red robe, with no hat. The red robe was made even redder with his Irish red hair, which made Ron's hair color look mild.

As Harry reached the table and stepped up on its platform, Lungdren spoke. "I know introductions are usually held until after the feast, but I would like you all to meet your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mr. Harry Potter."

A large applause broke out for Harry, from all four tables; the most vocal being the Gryffindor table. Harry was sure that Lungdren did this to calm his nerves but it actually embarrassed Harry slight to where he hastily went to his seat. He gave a smile and bowed respectfully and sat down, hoping that him sitting down would silence the applause.

"Now that we have that introduction out of the way," Lungdren continued. "Let the feast begin."

With that said, miles of food appeared across all four of the student's tables, much like Harry remembered it. Plated of food also appeared on the head table, but in obvious smaller portions due to it being a smaller table. Harry stared at platters of roasted chicken, baked red potatoes, several different kinds of cheeses and more. Yet, he found himself not hungry as the feast commenced.

He more took in his surroundings. He had literally never seen the Great Hall from this perspective before. He stared up and down the head table, none of the teachers from his tenure at Hogwarts were there anymore.

The only ones that he knew were Professor Lungdren, Malfoy, and Neville Both Neville and Malfoy arrived shortly after his arrival after he and Malfoy walked Malfoy's son into the hall. Once a little more used to his surroundings, he ate a bite or two but nothing beyond that. He did it for no other reason than putting something in his stomach.

After the feast had ended, Lungdren stood up and walked to the familiar podium that Harry had always identified with Dumbledore. Harry couldn't help but be a little surprised to see someone else standing behind it.

"Welcome my dear children to another year at Hogwarts," Lungdren began as the entire hall went silent. "Now, I know all of you by now must be very tired from not only the food but the long trip to arrive here tonight, so I will try to keep tonight's words of wisdom short.

"Now as you all know, we have two changes in staff this year. We were pleased to meet Professor Potter earlier this evening," he said, lead to another small applause from the students. "We are now joined by Hogwarts new History teacher. We are pleased to welcome back another former student of Hogwarts. I want you all to give a warm welcome to Professor Draco Malfoy."

While not as loud as Harry's response, Malfoy was greeted very warmly. He stood up and took a bow for the students and sat back down. He actually looked as embarrassed as Harry.

"With introductions out of the way, I would like to go over a few of the rules with our first years that they might not have been told by their peers. First, for those you who are a little bit more mischievous, the Dark Forrest is a strictly forbidden area. The only way to access that part of the grounds is either with a teacher, or our Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. The latter of whom you met upon your arrival.

"Secondly, no one is to be wondering in the castle halls after hours. You may remain in your common room after hours but unless otherwise instructed by a teacher, you are not to be in the halls.

"Lastly, I want you all to have fun this year. Work hard in your classes and enjoy your time with your classmates. Remember, school might be work but work can always be made fun. Have a goodnight."

All of the staff waited as the students filed out of the Great Hall with the first years leaving last, following behind their Prefects.

"Professor Potter and Malfoy please follow me," Harry then heard from Tuttle, who was now standing at the end of the table waiting for the both of them. "I will show the two of you to your rooms."

Both Malfoy and Harry followed Tuttle out of Great Hall. They went up the Grand Staircase and they were steadily going further and further up the steps, further than Harry had ever gone in Hogwarts.

"Never been up here before," Malfoy said with a laugh.

"This part of the castle is strictly for the staff," Tuttle explained.

Many of the pictures within the Grand Staircase were staring at both Harry and Malfoy. Whispering was clearly going on amongst most of them but none of it could be heard.

They got off near the top left of the castle. Tuttle led them down a darkly lit domed hallway, which resembled the hall that led to the Gryffindor house. On both sides of the hall, there was a line of doors, each door with a teachers name and class placed onto it. Harry was actually curious on the size of the rooms, as the space between each door gave the indication that the room would be no bigger than a closet.

They arrived at Harry's first. Harry turned red slightly when he saw his door, labeled with "Harry Potter- Defense Against the Dark Arts".

"Okay, Mr. Potter," Tuttle said.

"Please call me Harry," Harry said kindly.

"And you can call me Draco," Malfoy added.

"Okay," Tuttle said happily. "This is where we leave you Harry, your first class starts at eight thirty tomorrow morning. I trust you know where it's at?"

Harry nodded. "Goodnight," he said to the both of them.

"Goodnight," they both replied and walked off towards Malfoy's room. Harry opened the door and was greeted by an obviously enchanted room. The closet-sized door from the outside led to a studio apartment-like room.

Harry's new, queen-sized bed was located up a small set up steps that was opposite of the entrance, sitting in front of a large, white curtain covered window. His trunk already sat at the foot of the bed.

To his left was a small kitchen setting. There was small stove, cooler and one seat table in this area. To his right was the sitting area, which consisted of a couch and chair. All of this was complimented by a small chandelier, which was not connected to ceiling and floating just below it.

Sitting in the center of the room was a brick fireplace, which seemed to also double as a pillar.

While this was much smaller in terms of scale, he found this nearly as impressive as the Great Hall. He never knew the teacher's slept in such nice settings.

Before Harry could move further into the room there was already a knock on his door. He opened to reveal Headmaster Lungdren standing before him.

"Good evening Harry," he said. "I know you're still getting settled but I was hoping I could have a word with you."

"Absolutely, come in," Harry replied with a smile. Lungdren walked in and he sat on the couch, while Harry sat in the chair.

"I was hoping to catch you after the feast, but Tuttle wanted to get you situated as soon as possible," Lungdren said. "Longbottom told me that you were apprehensive over taking the job here at Hogwarts and I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay."

Harry initially had all intentions on lying to Lungdren but thought against it. "Well, I was curious on why I was chosen."

"Well, I wish I could say that I thought of it first," Lungdren said. "But it was really Dumbledore and Snape that thought of you first."

"I would really like to know why," Harry said in a whisper.

"Well, they both had a hunch that this year would be a year where we would need to step up the Defense Against the Dark Arts class," Lungdren said.

"Did they say why?" Harry asked.

"No, unfortunately," Lungdren replied disappointingly. "But you know them, they have their reasons."

Harry knew this all too well. In fact, he might have known it better than Lungdren himself. Dumbledore and Snape were two of the best wizards, not only in skill, but in keeping secrets. This little fact alone raised so many questions in Harry's head.

"Well Harry, I'll let you get some sleep, goodnight." Lungdren said. Harry wished him a goodnight and watched him leave. This conversation did nothing to add comfort to Harry's current situation. In fact, it made him feel worse.