Chapter 18 – Dementors
Remus Lupin quietly walked through the corridors of Hogwarts towards the headmaster's office.
Every step he took felt like a step into the memories of the past. How long had it been since he had walked through these halls and experienced the best years of his life. How long had it been since he had felt such pain and regret of loosing the only good friends he ever had.
Sighing heavily he shook his head in an effort to get rid of those sad thoughts and wondered why the headmaster would want to speak to him after all these years. The last time he had contacted him was when he wanted help to catch a group of rampaging werewolf's.
"Bumblebee," he said, reaching the entrance to the headmaster's office. He walked up the circular stairs thinking that the last time he had walked up these stairs was with James, Sirius and Peter for switching the entire Slytherin houses clothes to a tutu and Snape's to a thong in the great hall!
Before he knew it he was in front of the headmasters office and raised his hand to knock. Before his hand could touch the door he heard a 'come in Remus' from inside effectively stopping his knocking sequence.
He smiled and wondered for the millionth time, how was it that the headmaster knew who was outside his door. Maybe the Gargoyle at the entrance informed him or he had some sort of enchantment near the door alerting him about the identity of the person outside.
"Good evening headmaster," he said pleasantly.
"Good evening Remus, I gather you got my message?"
"Yes, sir," he said taking a seat. "May I ask why you wanted to see me?"
"Ah yes, you see I had a proposal for you," he said getting straight to the point.
"A proposal?"
"Yes…. You see I am unable to find a defense against the dark arts teacher and I am desperately in the need for a competent one," said Albus, his eyes twinkling.
"So do you want me to look for a teacher?"
"No, no, you misunderstand Remus. I want you to teach at Hogwarts this year. If you remember correctly you had received an outstanding on your defense OWL and it was and still remains one of your strongest subjects."
"Absolutely not headmaster, you know what I am and you know how the parents would react if they found out what kind of a creature is teaching their students!"
"Remus…. I wouldn't have asked you to take the job if I didn't think it was safe for you to teach here and I need you here this year for reasons I think you know without me having to bring them up!"
Remus looked up, his face darkening. "Teaching here would hamper my efforts to capture him."
"Teaching here would ensure that you capture him," replied Dumbledore gravely.
"Explain," said Remus shortly.
"Before Black escaped, the guards told the minister that he would keep uttering one sentence over and over during his sleep."
"And that is…?"
"He's at Hogwarts."
Remus paled.
"That's right Remus, he's coming after the last Potter and the best way for you to capture Black would be by staying close to Harry Potter."
"Regarding Harry, have you found him yet?"
Dumbledore sighed, "No, I haven't. But I am pretty sure he is staying in a muggle house, safe from wizards and you know who."
"You're sure that he's not in Blacks custody already?" asked Remus worriedly.
"Positive."
Remus sighed, "Where on earth could he be! It's not safe for him to be all alone out there without any protection with a mass murderer on the loose."
"I have the same concerns my friend but I am sure Harry is safe."
"What makes you so confident?"
"Mundungus Fletcher spotted him in Diagon Alley. He had changed his hair and eye color but you know what kind of gadgets Fletcher carries. He saw right through Harry's disguise and contacted me immediately."
"Why didn't you confront him and send him back his home!" cried Remus.
"That was my intention, but by the time I got there he was already gone."
"Without leaving a trace that even you couldn't follow? I find that hard to believe!"
"I could have found him if I really wanted to but from what I know of Harry, he wouldn't appreciate me barging into his privacy and if I did that, it would destroy whatever trust he has in me."
"But it's for his own safety and he is only thirteen! How can you expect him to survive without any help from an adult?"
"I am confident Harry can take care of himself and will show up on September 1st and as for his safety, let's just say I have ways to make sure he doesn't come to any harm."
Remus sighed, "Okay professor, I have faith in you to keep the boy safe. But I cannot accept your offer. It is just too risky and I don't want to hurt any student by accident."
"During your stay here, Professor Snape will supply you with wolfsbane potion regularly ensuring your sanity during full moon nights and I will put up some wards around your office making sure you do not by any chance leave the safety of your office and all the professors will not, under any circumstances reveal the nature of your illness to any student," said Dumbledore firmly.
Remus could not find a way to contradict the headmaster.
"So do I have a new defense professor Remus?"
"It seems there's no way for me to decline is there?" said Remus with a wry smile.
"Sadly no…"
"Well then, I accept Professor Dumbledore."
"Excellent! I'll have Dinky show you your new room," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling brightly.
"Err… I know where the staff quarters are headmaster," said Remus with a guilty smile.
"Of course… of course… there wasn't a single place in Hogwarts that you and your friends didn't know about was there?"
"As far as we know…. knew…. There isn't."
Dumbledore chuckled "It's a shame the way things worked out isn't it…"
"Indeed it is," said Remus with a heavy sigh. "Sometimes I wish I was fifteen again, without any worries and enjoying life like there was no tomorrow."
"Happiness sometimes is just an illusion Remus," said Dumbledore gently. "It can only be achieved when man has no regrets in his life and appreciates himself for what he is and craves for nothing more."
"And some are never meant to be happy," said Remus bitterly.
"Remus… I've lived for a long time… and if there is one thing I've learnt, it is to never give on peace and happiness."
"I better get going professor," he said abruptly, not wanting to dwell more on the past and rather focus on more pressing matters, like capturing Sirius Black. "I have quite a few things to bring to the castle and it will take me quite some time."
"Of course Remus. Have a good day," said the headmaster quietly.
On his way out, Remus stopped near the door and turned around.
"What is it Remus?"
"Professor…. Do you mind me asking…? Err… how's Harry?"
"What do you mean?"
"As in… is he on the Gryffindor Quidditch team like his dad or is he a prankster or what?"
"Oh, he is in the Quidditch team and as for his personality, you'll have to see for yourself!" said Dumbledore with a chuckle.
"I really don't like the sound of that headmaster."
"You'll see what I mean when you met him."
Remus sighed again, "I really hope he's alright."
"Me too Remus, me too…"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Checkmate!"
"That's impossible!" cried Harry.
"That's what James used to say when he'd lose!" said Sirius in a sing song voice.
Harry frowned and stared at the chess board intently trying to prove his godfather wrong but it was useless.
"Damn" said Harry, slamming his hand on the chess board.
"That's trait you've picked up from Lily! Inability to accept defeat!"
"Shut it," muttered Harry angrily.
Sirius leaned back on the chair and popped a chocolate into his mouth. "You have lost again prongs junior," he said with a smirk.
"Don't call me that."
"Why not? You are Prongs son aren't you?"
"Doesn't mean I'm a prongs junior," said Harry, the irritation showing in his voice.
"Whatever you say Harry…. But it doesn't change the fact that you lost again!"
"Might I remind you that I have a wand and you don't!"
Sirius paled. "I still don't understand how can you do magic without the ministry detecting it."
"And I told you not to bother about it."
"How can I not!"
"Do I look like I care? No matter how much you ask you're not getting any answers out of me."
Sirius sighed and then frowned. "You know… you've been here for more than a week and I still don't know what you like, what are your hobbies, what kind of food you like and so on!"
"That's because you do all the talking and I just ignore you."
"You ignore me!"
"Of course… anybody would get bored of listening to your voice all day long," he said with a smirk.
"You are too Slytherin like, you know that?"
"Duh…."
"No, I mean like a total hard core Slytherin. There's not even an ounce of Gryffindor in you!"
"Thank god!"
"Don't you ever smile or flirt with some hot chicks or do anything fun?"
"I do smile or laugh if the occasion calls for it and I'm not really a fun person."
"Yeah… you're a broody person. You bury yourself in books, enjoy cursing people and have a permanent frown stuck to your head."
"Anything else?"
"And you're too secretive."
Harry sighed. "So?"
"Why don't you talk to me?"
"I'm not a very talkative person, Sirius."
"I figured that out," muttered Sirius sulkily.
"Okay Sirius, let's talk…. What do you want to talk about?" said Harry, sounding resigned.
Sirius immediately brightened up. "Let's start with your childhood."
Harry's face darkened, "I don't want to talk about that."
"You don't want to talk about that! Come on Harry, just say anything! I just want to get to know my godson!"
"Ask anything else," said Harry firmly. "Going by the condition you found me in, you should have a pretty good idea what kind of a childhood I must have had."
"No," answered Sirius equally firmly. "I want to hear it from you. I want you to talk to me and let go of your past by talking to me about it."
"Then the talks over."
"No its not, Look I know it mustn't have been a pretty childhood if you were living with a bitch like Petunia and her pig of a husband. But you have to talk about it, It will do you good, trust me."
"Yeah, you're right!" snapped Harry suddenly, getting irritated by Sirius's pestering. "I didn't have a nice childhood, I got beaten up almost everyday, I was made to work like a slave and to get a plate of food was like eating a Halloween feast in Hogwarts, so yes, my childhood sucked and you're not making it easier to forget by making me recall it again!"
Harry took a deep breath.
"Now if you don't mind I'd like to get some sleep!" he hissed and stomped out of the sitting room leaving a satisfied godfather behind.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The following morning when Harry came down for breakfast, he found Sirius snoring away to glory with a plate in front of him.
Rolling his eyes in amusement he conjured a bucket of cold water and dumped it over his godfathers head.
Gasping and spluttering, Sirius jumped up in shock and looked around wildly, his eyes wide open.
"Morning," said Harry.
"You! Don't you know any other way to wake a sleeping man!" he shouted, spitting water out of his mouth.
"For you, unfortunately no," he said with a smirk.
Sirius muttered some well chosen swear words under his breath.
"Sometimes I think I am the godfather and you're the kid," said Harry.
"Well unfortunately I am the godfather and you're the brat so you have to listen to me!"
"Which will never happen unless I have a death wish," said Harry, cutting him off.
"Just you wait until I get a wand…" muttered Sirius darkly, "You'll be wishing you'd have never messed with Sirius Black…"
"Big words," said Harry, smirking.
"You're one to talk, you're just thirteen and I'm thirty four… I have twice the experience you have and when it comes to pranking, there's no way you can beat me… so just you wait until I get a wand!" said Sirius sounding triumphant.
Harry just shook is head in amusement, "I'll be looking forward to that day Mr. Black…."
"I should have stolen a wand from Ollivander during our trip to the alley," said Sirius, "then we'd see who is right and who is wrong."
"And Ollivander would let a dirty dog just stroll out of shop with one of his wands?" asked Harry sarcastically.
Sirius scoffed, "I'd be out of there before he'd even know what happened."
"You think you're invincible don't you," muttered Harry.
"I don't think, I know!" said Sirius.
"Moron," said Harry under his breath.
"What'd you say!"
"I asked where breakfast is."
"Oh, I thought you called me a moron."
"Now why would I call you that?" said Harry innocently.
"Because that's what you call me all the time!"
"I do?" asked Harry, sounding puzzled.
Sirius snorted, "At least 50 times a day… and yesterday when we went to the alley, you kept muttering moron of a dog under your breath…!"
"Must learn to abuse you without you hearing," muttered Harry.
"And I heard that too!"
"Whatever, now call Kreacher, I'm really hungry."
Fifteen minutes later Harry was enjoying hot bread and eggs while Sirius was snoring in his cereal again.
Suddenly Harry heard a fluttering sound and saw Hedwig soaring towards him, a letter in her beak.
She landed smoothly on the table and dropped the letter in front of Harry. It was from Blaise. She nipped Harry's fingers affectionately and began eating from Sirius's cereal.
Harry opened the letter and began to read. As he read his eyes went wider and wider and then he cursed.
The letter read,
Harry,
I asked my dad about those initials we found in that parchment. He said they were of a famous squib who made his name in the muggle world and known as a genius for his skill in painting and architecture. His name was Leonardo Da Vinci, and he was a Potter before he was disowned for being a squib. He changed his surname from Potter to Da Vinci a few years after he was disowned.
La Gioconda is the name of a painting he made for the Potter's at their request. Even if they had disowned him he never had any grudges against them. The painting is of Patricia Potter, his mother. After Da Vinci made the painting the Potter's never took it from him and told him to keep it safe in the muggle world. The painting is said to have many secrets but the wizards who have examined it over the years have never found anything so they left it in the muggle world, in Paris to be exact.
But about twenty years ago, a fire broke out in the museum it was kept in and the painting was destroyed and there are no copies of it left in both the wizarding and the muggle world.
The only weird thing is that he was an Italian and most of the Potter's before him were Italians too. It was few decades later that a Potter married an English pureblood woman by the name of Adelina whose surname is not mentioned and the entire family migrated to England. So you have some Italian blood in you.
That's all I was able to find out. I was really sorry to hear that painting was destroyed and you really should do some more research on your family. It seems to have a long and eventful history. God only knows how come you're the only one left.
Yours truly,
Blaise…
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry got off the knight bus and made his way casually to the entrance to platform 9 and 3 quarters. Behind him a huge golden brown haired dog followed grumpily.
"Stop acting so immature Padfoot!" hissed Harry, as the dog went running and poked his head up a ladies skirt making her scream.
The dog barked joyfully and began to chase his own tail drawing laughter from the crowd. Delighted at the attention he was receiving, the dog stood on its hind legs and pretended to dance making the crowd gasp and clap loudly.
Groaning Harry grabbed the dog by its collar and dragged him away from the crowd. "Stupid, stinking dog! Can you not draw attention to yourself when we have to pass through the barrier!"
Sirius whined pitifully and rubbed his nose against Harry's leg. Harry sighed and stood up and made his way to the magical barrier. On his way he was stopped by an old man.
"That's no way to treat a dog young man," said the man sternly.
"The way I treat my dog is none of your business sir. Now will you please excuse me, I have a train to catch."
Glaring at Harry, the man turned and headed in the opposite direction.
"See! Now it will be even more difficult to cross the barrier with all those idiots giving me dirty looks!" said Harry with a huff.
Harry waited for a few minutes with Sirius sitting quietly next to him and when the people finally stopped taking notice of him, he crossed the barrier and entered the heavily crowded magical platform.
"Finally we're here," said Harry with a sigh. He was about to get on the train when Padfoot grabbed his pants with his teeth.
Harry stopped and bent down and whispered into the dog's ear, "Don't worry Sirius, I'll make sure I catch that rat and make him suffer. Meanwhile I want you to lay low at Grimmauld place and keep in touch through Hedwig."
The dog barked and licked Harry's face before turning and bounding back towards the exit. Grinning, Harry turned back towards the train and got on.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry, Blaise, Draco, Daphne and Tracey were sitting in a single compartment while Crabbe and Goyle were out looking for first years to bully.
"How was the vacation Harry?" asked Daphne.
"Eventful," replied Harry in a bored tone.
"Care to elaborate."
"No."
"Why not?" asked Tracey.
"Don't bother Daphne," said Blaise. "When he gets all silent and gloomy, there's no use talking to him. All you'll get are smart ass comments or you'll be completely ignored."
The four occupants turned towards Harry to see if he would react but to their disappointment he didn't.
"What did I tell you!" said Blaise, sounding triumphant.
"He looks kinda hot when he's all serious," said Daphne resulting in both girls going into silent fits of laughter.
Draco and Blaise looked sour.
"Yeah, with his hair falling all over the place and with his amazing eyes, any girl would fall for him," said Daphne, hoping to get him to react.
"I'm telling you he won't react! I'm pretty sure he can't even hear you right now. When he gets like this it means he's in deep thought and planning something which usually results in me getting into trouble."
"You getting into trouble?" asked Draco.
"You really don't want to know the shit Harry does in school," said Blaise.
"We want to know!" said Daphne and Tracey together.
"You say anything Blaise and you'll find your tongue glued to your arse," came Harry's voice suddenly, making everybody jump.
"Harry!" said Blaise weakly. "You heard."
"Yeah," grunted Harry. "You look pretty nice too Daphne, you let your hair down more often," he said, making her blush.
"Why the blush? I was just returning the compliment!"
Tracey sniggered.
"Well I can't bear all this mushy talk, so if you'll excuse me, I have two idiots to find," announced Draco and left the compartment without a word.
"What's with him?" asked Daphne.
"Must be his time of the month," said Harry.
Daphne and Tracey looked at him incredulously while Blaise began sniggering.
"You guys have dirty minds," muttered Daphne.
"Its part of being a guy," said Blaise. "Harry was telling me that on an average every guy in the world thinks about sex every 4 seconds!"
"Really!" said Tracey curiously.
"That's what he said."
"Is it true?" asked Daphne with a smirk.
Harry just ignored her, lost in his thoughts again.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Half an hour later Draco came back into the compartment looking peeved.
"Why the pissed off face?" asked Blaise.
"I met two mudbloods and a weasel along with the new defense professor," he grumbled.
"New defense professor?" asked Harry interestedly.
"Yeah, some guy named R. J Lupin."
"Lupin! You sure?"
"Yeah, was written on his briefcase. Anyway I was about to curse the hell out of those three when they hid behind the professor and threatened to awake him if I didn't leave."
"Really?" asked Harry skeptically.
"Yeah," said Draco, failing to notice the sarcasm and continued to boast. "So I told Crabbe and Goyle to go bully some Puff's and I came back here."
"Pansy came in while you were gone," said Daphne.
Malfoy grimaced, "I hope you didn't tell her where I was!"
"We didn't know ourselves so how in Merlin's name would we tell her!"
"Good," he said with relief, "I don't want her hanging all over me before the start of the year itself."
"She'll be back soon though," said Harry.
"What! Why?" cried Draco.
"I told her you'd be back in half an hour or so."
"Why'd you tell her that!"
"You never told me or anyone else to say otherwise did you?"
"Oh, man! I got to get out of here before she turns up," he muttered and hurried out of the compartment.
"She really is a pain in the butt," said Tracey.
"Yeah," said Daphne with a laugh, "She scares the shit out of….."
She was cut off in mid sentence as the train jerked and started to slow down.
"What's going on? We can't have reached Hogwarts yet, could we?" said Tracey.
"No idea. Wonder what's going on," muttered Blaise, peering out of the window.
"Why is it so cold?" said Daphne as she began to shiver and drew her knees up to her chin.
"I- I don't know," said Tracey "But I'm feeling so horrible right now…."
"H-Harry…. What's going on!" asked Blaise, shivering himself.
Harry didn't respond. He was staring outside intently watching a number of black cloaked figures hover outside.
"Harry! What's going on!"
"Quiet," said Harry harshly, "There's something out there."
Suddenly tears began to fall from Tracey's eyes… Harry was surprised. He looked at Daphne and found tears streaming down her eyes too and she was shaking violently. He looked at Blaise who was visibly shivering and looking scared.
But Harry didn't feel anything, he had absolutely no idea what was going on and had no idea what was happening to the others. He heard the train entrance open and heard something come in.
Suddenly his head began to hurt and he could hear a woman screaming distantly.
"Do you hear that?" he whispered but nobody replied. All of them were lost in their own worlds. The black cloaked figure passed their compartment and his head began pounding furiously and he could hear the woman scream louder.
All of a sudden a silver light streaked through the train and all the black cloaked figures glided out of the train avoiding contact with silver light.
As soon as the figures were out of sight Harry's head stopped hurting and the woman's screams stopped too.
He looked around and saw everybody else returning to normal as well.
"What was that?" asked Daphne shakily.
"I think they were Dementors," said Blaise who was trembling.
"Dementors!"
"Yeah, from Azkaban... I think they were looking for Sirius Black."
Harry looked up sharply, but nobody noticed.
"Sirius Black! That escaped murderer!"
"Yeah. Before we left kings cross my dad told me that the Dementors would be guarding Hogwarts this year."
"Why in Merlin's name would Black come to Hogwarts!" asked Tracey.
"He wouldn't say. But he did tell me to stay away from those creatures."
"I felt so cold," said Daphne with a shudder. "I felt like I was never going to be happy again. It was horrible."
"Me too," said Tracey, a shiver running down her spine.
"Did any of you hear a woman screaming?" asked Harry suddenly.
"No, why?" asked Blaise with a frown.
"No reason," muttered Harry, "Just wanted to know."
"You wanted to know if we heard a woman screaming for no reason?" asked Daphne skeptically.
"Yes," answered Harry shortly, effectively shutting her up. But Blaise looked at Harry oddly. He knew Harry generally never asked a question without a reason.
Harry meanwhile was lost in his own thoughts. If none of them had heard someone scream that was it just his imagination? Or was it them who couldn't hear it.
He remembered reading about Dementors and if he remembered correctly Dementors brought out a persons worst memory and sucked out all the happiness from them. If that were true then how come he didn't feel anything but just felt his head hurt and a woman screams.
Was the woman's screams his worst memory! That's absurd, he thought.
His train of thought was broken when the compartment door was opened and a tall man with graying hair entered.
He scanned the compartment and his eyes rest for a little while on Harry. "Is everyone alright in here?" he asked.
Nobody answered.
"It's alright, I'm the new defense professor," he said kindly.
"Everybody's fine professor," said Harry.
"Good. Those creatures which came aboard were Dementors; they were looking for Sirius Black."
"We know," said Harry shortly.
"Oh, not many people can recognize a dementor…..Anyway if any of you have any chocolate on you be sure to have some…. you'll feel much better in an instant…. Now if you'll excuse me I have to check on the rest of the students," he said and went out.
"That's the new defense professor?" said Daphne.
"What about him?" asked Tracey.
"He looks sick," she said.
"And he was dressed on rags," added Tracey.
"But he seems to know what he's doing," said Harry quietly.
"Yeah, whatever…. Let's just hope he doesn't favor the Gryffindor's… coz he sure looks like one," said Daphne causing Tracey and her to erupt into giggles, the experience they just had with the dementors gone from their minds except for one in the compartment.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The train reached hogsmeade station without incident and within fifteen minutes the entire school was sitting in the great hall ready for the sorting ceremony to begin.
The doors to the great hall opened and in came Professor McGonagall followed by a number of tiny new first years.
Professor McGonagall opened the scroll of parchment containing the names of the students and began to call out their names until each and every one of them was sorted.
This year the Slytherin house gained four new members.
As soon as the sorting was over Professor Dumbledore stood up. He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry! Now before we begin the feast I have a few important announcements to make. First of all, all of you must know that Hogwarts will be surrounded by the guards of Azkaban this year. Now I feel this is unnecessary but the minister for magic seems to think they are needed here. I must warn you that these creatures are vicious and heartless beasts and will not hesitate to attack you if you stumble across them. So I implore you not to leave the castle grounds without a teacher."
"Secondly I must introduce our new defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor Remus John Lupin!"
There a loud round of applause particularly from the Gryffindor table and least from the Slytherin. Apparently most of them didn't approve of his clothes.
"Now that all that needs to be said is said, Let the feast begin!"
As soon as the headmaster sat down, all four house tables were filled with a variety of dishes and juices. Every student began to eat with vigor and the entire hall was filled with the sound of students talking and laughing.
Harry looked around and spotted Daphne and Tracey talking to the youngest Weasley animatedly. All three spotted him looking at them and waved towards him cheerily. Harry just rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere.
Those airheads were becoming good friends with the Weasley girl, he thought to himself.
He looked towards the Gryffindor table and saw Granger and Austin busy chatting with the Weasley twins and the Gryffindor ghost. His eyes rested on Austin for a bit and he wondered if she had made any progress in handling her element.
Suddenly there was a flash of lightening in the enchanted ceiling followed by the sound of thunder signaling the end of the feast. Harry quickly gobbled up whatever dessert was left on his plate before it vanished from his plate.
Soon all the students were heading back to their common rooms for a good nights sleep. On his way to the common room, Harry was stopped by his head of house.
"Potter"
"Yes, professor?"
"The headmaster wishes to see you," said Snape.
"Now?"
"Yes, now Potter."
Frowning Harry left the crowd heading towards the common room and followed his head of house to the headmaster's office. There was only one reason for the headmaster wanting to see him and Harry was determined not to tell him anything.