Chapter 40 is here... Enjoy!
"It's alright, Crookshanks, I'll let you out on the train," cooed Hermione as she walked through the crowd.
"No you won't... what about poor Scabbers?" retorted Ron trailing ever so slightly behind Hermione.
"Don't listen to Ron," she whispered to her new pet.
Hermione and Ron got onto the train just behind Harry, Fred and George.
"I hope we get a place for ourselves. I have so much to tell you," said Harry as he walked through everyone in the crowded train. And just then, Harry found one with a single occupant.
"John... Hi," said Harry as he sat down opposite him.
"Hey... it's so good to see you," greeted Hermione as she gave him a quick hug and sat beside Harry.
"Hey, guys... I had been saving the seats hoping you'd get on the same one as I did," said John with a weak smile.
"So, how were your holidays?" asked Hermione but corrected herself immediately. "Sorry, bad question. I meant, how have you been?"
"I have been... good," replied John slowly.
"Any troubles at the station?" asked Ron.
"Nothing I couldn't handle, just what I had expected. What about you all?" replied John.
"Couple of Hufflepuffs inquired about Ginny, that's all," replied Ron.
"Daisy wanted me to give you this," said Harry and handed John a piece of paper.
"What is it?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know... it's gibberish," replied Harry.
Dco apw sgbf ujjv? Tvjnm pp kegb yicu vig owndftt csg
John chuckled and replied, "She's learning!"
The conversation quickly shifted to Harry and Ron telling Hermione about Ron's time in the muggle world and in return Hermione told them all about her visit to her cousins. Ron didn't have much to update on Ginny's condition. Harry then told Hermione about Remus Lupin's visit, everything he had told Harry about his parents and then, of course, Sirius Black.
"Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry, you must be really careful," said Hermione the moment Harry finished his narration.
"Careful? What exactly do you think I should be doing?" retorted Harry.
"Not go looking for trouble," replied Hermione.
"I don't go looking for trouble... why would I do that?" retorted Harry.
"Besides, Sirius is not a threat," chimed in John which made the other 3 stare at him shell shocked.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"Sirius is not a threat... He is innocent," replied John nonchalantly.
"Have you gone mad? He killed all those muggles... He went absolutely crazy after You-Know-Who disappeared," argued Ron in response.
"There is no way he did those things..." replied John.
"He was in Azkaban for over a decade... how can you say that he was innocent?" asked Hermione, perplexed.
"He was in Azkaban for over a decade... how can you say he is guilty? By reading the papers? The same ones that are accusing my sister of opening the chamber and hurting the kids?" retorted John louder than he meant to.
His tone took the trio a bit aback, most of all, Ron. Ron had learnt the truth about John from Harry the day before he left 4, Privet Drive. And ever since then, Ron had recollected various moments that he otherwise neglected, which now perfectly explained everyone's behaviour. But hearing was one thing, seeing John in the flesh knowing what he knew about him was another.
A few seconds passed and John quickly realised what he had done and apologised for the same. "Sorry, didn't mean to be so rude. My point is... don't blindly believe everything you hear or read," said John softly.
That had silenced the group for a few minutes.
"How is your sister?" asked Hermione.
"She is doing well... Being on the run hasn't taken a toll on her..." replied John and added, "yet" with a blank expression.
"Why did she do it?" asked Ron.
"She's too intelligent for her own good. She had this big theory on how Lucius Malfoy had planned everything out, half of which, I don't believe. Regardless, she confessed to a crime she didn't commit and is now paying for it," replied John sombrely.
"She sacrificed for us... why would she do that? You know, back home, at the Burrow, every day, I heard either Mum or Dad, or even Fred and George cursing Professor Jane, saying things about her and what not... And there I was, listening to all of it but couldn't say a word in return," said Ron. "And ever since Harry told me about you, I have been wondering if I should tell everyone in my house the same. At least then, they would..." but before Ron could finish, John interrupted him.
"Don't! Please don't tell this to anyone. There are only a handful of people in the world who know about this," replied John.
"You know the whole world is against you right now, right?" asked Ron rhetorically.
"And nothing good will happen even if you tell this to everyone. It will only raise new questions, suspicions and have catastrophic consequences. Everybody who needs to know is right here, right now," replied John. Of course, at that moment, he didn't know how wrong he was.
The conversation between the group then drifted between various topics like quidditch, Hogsmeade visit amongst other things. And that's when Harry remembered something.
"Oh my God!" gasped Harry and started digging into his trunk and pulled out a beautiful white envelope.
"What is it?" asked Hermione.
Harry however handed the envelope to Ron. "You're not going to believe this," he said.
"What is this?" asked Ron as he took the envelope from Harry.
Ron opened the envelope and began reading the letter from Draco Malfoy.
Potter
I apologize for what happened to Ginny. I didn't want to believe it for a long time, but I was just fooling myself. It was my dad that gave "The Diary" to Ginny at the start of last year. Please pass on my apologies to Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. I am not writing to them directly. I am not sure how well my apologies will be received, especially at a time like this.
Sincerely
Draco Malfoy
"It was his father? When did that arrogant git give the diary to Ginny?" asked Ron, infuriated.
"No idea mate," replied Harry.
"And why is Malfoy writing to you, anyway? Who's he kidding with this pathetic excuse for an apology?" retorted Ron angrily and threw away the note which later Hermione picked up.
"It doesn't matter whether he means it or not," replied Harry.
"It was all part of Lucius Malfoy's master plan, or at least that's what Jane said. First of all, Albus Dumbledore was driven out, and then came Emily Davies, who was appointed by Lucius himself. And then he tipped the media about Ginny being trapped in the Chamber. She thinks, it was all to get back at your father and position himself as the top guy, so to speak," replied John recollecting everything Jane had told him. Whatever she had told him began to make sense after seeing Draco's letter.
"Draco wrote this?" exclaimed Hermione holding the letter in her hand, a hint of surprise in her tone.
Harry shrugged in response.
"He is apologising? That's new," she added.
"It's a trick," snapped Ron. "I'm sure his father put him up to this," he added angrily.
"Possible," sighed John.
But before Ron could go off, his attention was caught by the train slowing down.
"If Malfoy has even one crack at me or my family this year, I will..." but Ron paused for a moment. "Are we there already?" he asked and looked out the window. Rain was pelting down, and it was dark and cloudy outside.
"We can't be there yet," replied Hermione.
"Why are we stopping?" exclaimed John.
And within a few seconds, the lamps went out and they were stuck in the middle of nowhere in complete darkness.
Hermione and John, who were sitting the closest to the corridor, took a peek and realised that there was commotion all over.
"Do you think we have broken down?" wondered Harry aloud.
"Dunno..." replied Ron and wiped the window clean to get a better look outside. "Look," he said pointing at something. "There's something moving out there," he added.
Harry, sitting opposite Ron also had better access to viewing the outside world. But he couldn't get a look at what Ron was pointing at.
"I missed it," sighed Harry. "Are you sure you weren't imagining it?"
"Lumos Maxima" muttered John and the 4 of them could finally see each other's faces properly. "Am I the only one feeling chilly?" he asked.
"No," whispered Hermione, her teeth chattering a little.
A moment later, they all heard a sound and they swiftly turned their necks towards the door to their compartment. The next instant, the door slid open slowly.
Harry experienced the next few seconds in slow motion. The sound of the opening door brought with it a dark creature, cloaked and taller than any human. Harry's eyes darted downward and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak. It looked greyish, slimy almost like a corpse decayed in water for a long time. The next instant, the cloaked figure seemed to open its disgusting looking mouth and draw in a long, slow rattling breath that brought an instant chill to Harry. It was a weird feeling, he felt as though the creature was sucking something from within him. And slowly, Harry started to lose his sense of the world around him.
The light from John's wand died out the moment he saw the Dementor.
"Expecto Patronum" cried out John and pointed his wand confidently at the Dementor. But nothing happened. John felt immediate shortness of breath, an instant chill developed throughout his body, yet there were traces of perspiration on his forehead. John closed his eyes and half a second later tried again.
"Expecto..." but before he could finish his incantation, he fell on the floor unconscious.
Hermione and Ron were the nearest to the incoming Dementor. The moment their eyes fell on the dark creature, they instinctively fell back. They were clearly spooked and were both sweating and feeling cold at the same time. Hermione glanced slowly at Harry and saw him slide down to the floor fall into a lump. He was also twitching. Hermione's head turned towards Ron, who seemed to be dealing with the Dementor better than everyone there. She then turned towards John who was by then unconscious. But before Hermione and Ron could do anything, they heard a voice from outside the compartment.
"... have Sirius Black here..."
"Go away..."
And a moment later, they saw a white – silvery thing and the Dementor went away.
"Harry... Harry..." exclaimed Hermione as she tried to stop Harry from seizing and twitching.
Ron on the other hand tried to get John back conscious. "John... Mate, are you okay?"
They both turned back instantly when they heard a voice. "Ron, what happened?" asked Remus.
"Professor?" wondered Ron out loud, surprised at seeing Remus on the train. There was also the surprise of how weary and dull Remus looked.
Harry had meanwhile stopped twitching and was now lying still on the floor. He was however drenched with sweat. The chill that had occupied their environment also seemed to have gone away and a few moments later, the train resumed its journey.
Remus walked inside the compartment and kneeled down to look at Harry. At that very instant, Harry opened his eyes and instinctively retreated, almost banging his head.
"Harry... it's okay, it's me, Remus," said Remus. It took a few seconds for Harry to gain his senses.
"Remus? What... are you doing here?" asked Harry faintly. "What happened to me? Where's that thing... who was that screaming?" he continued, this time a little more frantically.
Hermione and Ron glanced at each other surprised.
"No one was screaming mate," replied Ron. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"But... I heard... there was this woman, she was screaming," replied Harry, every word he said fainter than the previous. By the end of the statement, Harry was barely audible. The surprise in the faces of people around him had made him doubt himself. "Did I imagine that? I can still remember how she sounded, the fear in her voice..." he wondered.
Remus handed the 3 conscious children a big piece of chocolate each.
"Eat... it'll help," he said.
"What was that thing?" asked Harry.
"A Dementor... from Azkaban," replied Remus. Harry looked at Ron the moment he heard Dementor. He remembered Ron telling him about the dark creature.
"Why were they here?" asked Ron.
"Looking for Sirius Black," replied Remus. He had meanwhile turned his attention towards John.
Remus pointed his wand at John, a jet of water splashed out of it, onto John's face and the next moment, John woke up.
"John?" exclaimed Remus as the other 3 looked at John anxiously.
John opened his eyes and looked at Remus strangely. "We should call the Aurors," were his first words.
"What?" exclaimed Ron.
"The Aurors?" questioned Remus, surprised.
"She just broke into our house," replied John.
They all looked at each other confused.
"John... you are in the Hogwarts Express... there was a Dementor looking for Black," said Remus. Slowly John's expression seemed to change.
"Remus? Hi, what are you doing here?" asked John.
"Welcome back, Mr Smith," replied Remus.
In a rush of memories, John instantly remembered the events of the past few minutes. Instinctively he looked for his wand and found it lying on the floor. He picked it up and stared at it intensely for a few seconds.
"I'll be back... I need to speak with the driver, excuse me," said Remus and left the compartment leaving the 4 of them alone.
A few seconds later, Ron spoke up. "That is the worst feeling I have ever felt," he said.
"What happened to me?" asked Harry.
"You fell down and were twitching... The twitching stopped only a few seconds after the Dementor left," replied Hermione.
"But, nothing happened to you?" he asked looking at Hermione and Ron.
They remained silent.
Harry was low-key embarrassed at what had happened. It seemed like the Dementor had affected him the most. Sure, John fell unconscious, but it seemed like Harry's reaction was the worst out of all. He felt weak and shivery.
They all spent the rest of the journey in silence. Occasionally, there were a few words spoken between Hermione and Ron, but even those conversations withered away without substance.
At long last, the train came to a final halt and the 4 of them got down. Soon, they were riding inside a carriage. En route to the castle, they all saw a couple more of the Dementors, standing guard at the gate. The sight of which brought a shudder to Harry.
It took a few minutes, but the carriage came to a still and the 4 of them got down. To Harry and Ron's dismay, they heard a familiar voice the moment they got down.
"Heard you fainted, Potter. Did you actually faint?" came the voice of a chuckling Draco Malfoy.
"Go away, Malfoy," snapped Ron.
On the contrary, Draco walked towards the group and he was particularly looking at Ron.
"Weasley... I'm sorry about your sister," he said the moment he came to an audible distance. There was a strange sincerity in his tone.
"I said, go away," replied Ron strongly, raging inside.
To their surprise, there was no comeback, no snarky remark.
"Take care," he whispered looking at Harry and left.
Ron, Hermione and Harry looked at each other confused. However, none of them was in any state to comment on it. They all made their way into the castle and were walking through the Great Hall when they heard another familiar voice. The commanding voice of their House Headmistress, Professor McGonagall.
"Potter! I want to see you in my office, NOW!" she said.
Harry looked worriedly at the group and a few seconds later, he made his way towards Professor McGonagall.
Ron, Hermione and John went ahead and took their seats at the table.
There was the official announcement of Remus Lupin being their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and there was the announcement of Hagrid, both of which had lightened the mood of the group considerably. There was an incredible amount of gossip and whispering going around all the tables. The news of Harry fainting in the train had spread like wildfire. There were also murmurs about Ginny and John, who also happened to receive constant looks from students around him.
Once the grand feast was over, all the students made their way back to their dormitories. Harry and the group however stayed back to congratulate Hagrid. After a few minutes of chatting, they walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. They said their Goodnight to Hermione as she left for the girl's dormitory leaving the boys alone.
However, the boys were in for a nasty surprise, John in particular. The moment Harry, Ron and John made their way up to the boys' dormitory, their eyes fell on the scattered contents of John's trunk.
"What the..." exclaimed John.
"What happened here?" asked Harry as he looked around. There was complete silence from everyone around him.
John pointed his wand at the floor and a few moments later, all his stuff went back into his trunk one by one.
Ron got a glance of his brothers, Fred and George smirking. Though there was something different about this. This didn't look like a friendly prank, more like a nasty one.
John's eyes fell on something on the floor that made his heart skip a beat, his mirror, or more accurately, his shattered mirror. He bent down and picked up the pieces carefully.
"Who did this?" asked Harry but he got no response.
"Harry, leave it... This is just the beginning of things to come," whispered John and with that, he left for his bed.
PS - Chapter 41 will be published early next week... Ciao!