Author's Note: I'm not J.K Rowling but that would be so cool if I was. Think of the possibilities…
Chapter 6 Thank You Mr. Dementor!
And as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Alex gently raised her head and looked around. The first thing she saw was Harry lying on the ground, twitching wildly. Carefully, because she was still queasy, Alex bent down next to Harry.
"Harry, wake up!" she said weakly, hating how she sounded, "Stop this Harry, you're scaring us." She patted his cheek and his eyes fluttered open, everyone giving a sigh of relief.
"Wha-What happened?" he asked, even weaker than Alex, "I heard someone scream."
"No one screamed Harry," Ron said, sounding normal.
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked, looking at Ron, "I heard it too, a very faint scream and high pitched laughter."
"I'm just saying, no one here screamed," Ron said, looking at Harry and Alex with concern.
CRACK! Alex spun around quickly, instantly regretting it as she felt sick to her stomach, and saw Professor Lupin breaking a rather large bar of chocolate. In his other hand was Malfoy's owl. Alex stood up shakily, using the seat to help her up, and took the owl back.
"Here, eat this and you'll feel better," he said, handing Alex a large piece. Alex took it and nodded thanks, not trusting herself to open her mouth. She watched as the professor gave everyone a piece and smiled at them all, "I'm going to go talk with the conductor, excuse me."
Once he was gone, Alex broke her piece and gave Harry the larger chunk. He took it with a small smile and bit into it. His face turned from light green to a pale pink. Alex ate her piece and felt warmer all over and not as nauseous.
"What happened?" she asked the others, "I felt sick so I put my head between my knees and didn't see anything."
"Well, that…that thing came in and started looking at you and Harry," said Hermione, her voice much higher than usual, "Or at least, I guess it was looking, I couldn't see its eyes. But anyway, like you said, you put her head down and the owl scurried out from underneath you so Professor Lupin grabbed it. Harry, your eyes rolled back and you fell over and started twitching." She paused and took a deep breath. "We all thought you were having a seizure or something. Then Professor Lupin stepped over you and told the thing that Sirius Black wasn't here but it didn't leave. He muttered something and a silver light shot out of his wand, making the thing leave."
"After that," Neville said shaking all over, "It felt warmer in here, almost happier. I felt like I'd never be happy again while it was here."
"But you didn't hear anything? Nothing at all?" Alex asked worriedly.
The others shook their heads and Alex sighed, finishing off her chocolate. She looked at Harry who was staring at his hands. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a half smile. A sniffle caught Alex's hear and she looked to see Ginny in the corner, crying. Alex stood up and, with the help of others to lean on, went over to Ginny and put an arm around her.
The compartment door opening made everyone jump, mostly Alex because she was right next to it. Professor Lupin walked in and looked around, his eyes resting on Alex and Ginny. Something flickered in his eyes, but Alex didn't get a chance to look further because it disappeared quickly.
"Professor, what were those things?" she asked, her voice stronger than before, more like its usual self.
"Dementors looking for Sirius Black," he said, addressing the entire compartment, "They seemed to believe he was trying to sneak on here in one of our trunks."
"Must be a midget then," muttered Alex and Ginny gave a choked laugh.
The rest of the ride was quick and silent. Once Alex was sure Ginny was going to be all right, she went back to her seat and finished putting her sketchbook away. She jumped when she felt someone tap her shoulder.
"Are you all right, Alex?" It was Professor Lupin looking at her with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks," she said awkwardly. How he knew her name was a mystery because she was sure that her name had not been spoken while he was in the room.
Before he could respond, however, the train slowed to a stop. Everyone around the compartment started getting their things together. Alex put the owl into the cage with Monty, whispering quietly that it was only temporary. Alex and the others fought through traffic and finally made their way to the carriages. She smiled at the Thestral pulling the carriage and waved. The skeletal creature gave a small whinny and nodded back. Alex climbed into the carriage with Ron, Hermione, and a still weak Harry.
As they rode to the castle, Alex felt the gut-wrenching cold and put a hand to her mouth while Harry went lower in his seat. When they reached the gates, Alex saw two dementors on either side of the gate. Once they had passed out of sight, Alex took a few deep breathes to prevent herself from vomiting. As soon as the carriage stopped, Alex got out quickly and walked up to the castle.
"Hey Potter!" came Malfoy's cold voice, "Is it true? Did you actually faint?"
"I have an idea Malfoy," Alex said as she struggled to hold both Harry and Ron back, "Why don't you shut your mouth and learn the difference between a male and a female?"
"What are you going on about, Ratcliff?" Malfoy sneered.
"Is there a problem here?" said Professor Lupin as he stepped out from a carriage.
"Oh…no, Professor," Malfoy said with just a trace of sarcasm. With one last look around, he went into the castle flanked by his cronies Crabbe and Goyle. Alex smiled at the professor and continued into the castle. She had only taken a few steps when she heard her name being called.
"Miss Ratcliff! Mr. Potter! Miss Granger!" said a stern voice that made Alex's stomach drop even when she knew she wasn't in trouble.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" Alex said, making her way through the crowd toward a strict looking teacher with square glasses.
"Come with me," she said.
"Save us a seat, Ron!" called Hermione, waving.
Harry, Alex, and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall into her office and saw Madame Pomfrey breaking a boulder-size piece of chocolate. When they entered she walked briskly to Harry and Alex and dragged them into chairs.
"Just look at them! I'm telling you, first with the three-headed dog, then the Basilisk, and now this!" she tutted as she used a large hammer to break off pieces.
"What do you think Poppy, should they spend the night in the Hospital Wing?" asked McGonagall worriedly.
"NO!" Harry and Alex said together. Both women looked at them with raised eyebrows.
"We're fine, Professor," Harry said, "Professor Lupin gave us some chocolate and we feel better."
"Oh he did, did he?" Madame Pomfrey said, relaxing a bit, "Well, I'm glad we've finally got a teacher who knows his stuff."
"So," Alex said clapping her hands together and putting on her most charming smile, "Now that that's all settled, may we go to the feast?"
"If Madame Pomfrey thinks you are able to, then I see no problem," McGonagall said, twisting her face to hide a smile.
"Well…I think they're fine. But if you feel sick at all, come and find me. Eat all of this before you leave," Madame Pomfrey said, giving Harry and Alex generous pieces.
They ate their chocolate quietly and quickly. As they were leaving, Alex turned to Hermione.
"Come on Hermione, the Sorting will be almost over," Alex said with a grin.
"Miss Granger will be out in a moment," McGonagall said, "I wish to speak with her about her classes."
Alex nodded and left, waiting just outside the door, telling Harry to go and help Ron save seats. After a few moments, Hermione came out with a large grin on her face.
"What was that all about?" Alex asked.
"Nothing, just talking about my schedule," Hermione said. Alex nodded and did not press the matter.
When they entered the Great Hall, the students were clapping and Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was putting the Sorting Hat and the three-legged stool away. Alex looked around and saw Ron and Harry waving wildly at them. Rolling her eyes and smiling, she and Hermione walked over to them and sat in the seats across from them.
"Did we miss much?" Hermione said quietly.
"Nope, just the munchkins getting Sorted, same old stuff," Ron said with a grin.
Alex was just about to ask Harry if he was all right when Dumbledore stood up and the entire Hall fell silent. The Headmaster was an old man with long white hair and a beard. His blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon glasses as he scanned the mass of silent students.
"Good evening everyone and welcome back!" he said happily, "I have a few start of term notices before we begin. First off, I would like to introduce two new teachers to our school."
"Two?" Ron whispered and received a stern look from Hermione.
"As some of you may know, our previous Care of Magical Creatures teacher retired to spend some time with his remaining limbs. Therefore, I would like to introduce you to your new teacher, Professor Rubeus Hagrid."
The Hall exploded into applause, mostly on the Gryffindor side. Alex let out a series of ear-splitting whistles and almost lost her voice from shouting. After everyone settled down, Professor Dumbledore continued.
"It is my pleasure to introduce you all to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin," Dumbledore said.
"Good luck," Alex heard Fred say to his twin and she agreed. No one lasted more than a year with that job. So far, Alex's class had two teachers in the last two years. She applauded for the new professor and looked to see Snape's reaction. Snape loved the Dark Arts and had been after the job since he joined. But what Alex saw was not just annoyance, it was pure hatred. It was the look he gave Harry and her when he was very angry.
"And now, for the usual warnings," Dumbledore continued, "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me once again to remind you of the rather long list of banned items and that magic is forbidden in the corridors. Another thing that is forbidden is the Forbidden Forest. There is a reason why it has that name, although I implore you not to go and find out.
"For many of those who are familiar with the guards of Azkaban and those who are not, I ask you all to give me your fullest attention." He paused and waited for absolute silence before continuing.
"Dementors are one of the foulest creatures to walk our world. They have no sympathy and will show no mercy. Therefore, I must ask you to give them no reason to harm you. Do not try to sneak past them after curfew or try to leave the grounds. Do not think that you can make yourself invisible because they have the ability so see through charms or cloaks," Dumbledore said seriously, his eyes glancing at Harry and the others. "Now, let the feast begin!"
Instantly the Hall was filled with talk and laughter. Alex was surprised to find that after everything that happened, she was still starving. Once she had piled her plate with food, she looked at Harry, who hadn't touched anything.
"Come on Harry," Hermione encouraged, "You've got to eat something."
"Don' fush im Erfione," Ron said with his mouth full of turkey.
"Well I'm glad the dementor had no affect on your stomach, Ron," Alex said as she wiped bits of food off her face, "Think of all the fun we'd miss."
"Did you see Snape?" Harry asked as he put a spoonful of potatoes on his plate, "He looked livid."
"I guess the fact that he never gets the job is eating away at him," Alex said with mock sympathy as she put a hand over her heart, "Poor lad, maybe the pain'll be so bad he'll quit."
"We can only hope," Ron said, swallowing his large mouthful of turkey.
The rest of the meal was spent talking about their new classes. Hermione was talking animatedly about Arithmancy to Alex when the plates cleared and it was time to head upstairs. After taking numerous shortcuts they had found over the last two years, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex went to the Gryffindor common room and up the stairs to their dormitories. The girls quickly called their usual beds and got ready. Alex was sound asleep before the rest of the girls came in.
Author's Note: Okay, so basically this is a continuation of last chapter and more of a filler than anything. I'm posting the next chapter with this because I'm in a giving mood. Don't forget to review though!