Chapter 75 Chapter 75

Evan hurried back to his room at full speed, making sure to be cautious with his Animagus form from now on; he couldn't allow Hermione to discover it was him, as all that awaited him would be death.

A noise could be heard coming from the next room, Percy was searching for his prefect badge. He suspected Ron had hidden it. When Evan had gone up the stairs earlier, he had seen Fred and George had taken Percy's badge and changed it from prefect to conceited prefect.

He turned around and gazed at the dimly lit ceiling, his thoughts soon drifting further and further away.

The next morning, Evan woke up and went down to have breakfast; everyone else was already up. Mr. Weasley was there reading the Daily Prophet with a frown, while Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were chatting.

Evan approached his seat and listened to Hermione talking to old Tom about the cat; he turned his head and pretended not to know anything.

To his left, Ron was angrily discussing Percy with Harry.

"The sooner we get on the train, the better! At least at Hogwarts, I don't have to be around Percy all the time," said Ron. "He accused me of spilling tea on a picture of his girlfriend, Penelope."

Harry tried to persuade Ron to calm down while Fred and George, who were in front of them, were delighted; they laughed and congratulated Ron on managing to anger Percy.

Their laughter only further infuriated Percy; he glared at them, then quickly finished his breakfast and gathered his things from the bar.

Then chaos ensued, everyone rushed to the Ministry car. Evan saw Mr. Weasley beckoning Harry to a corner and after a minute, Harry emerged with a pale face.

Hermione was still looking for the black cat from the previous night; Evan hurried to help her with her luggage; Crookshanks was in a small wicker basket meowing loudly.

Upon hearing Crookshanks cry, Ron unconsciously held Scabbers tightly.

The trip to King's Cross was safe, they arrived at the station twenty minutes early. The Ministry driver helped them find a cart to push their luggage.

They walked through the wall of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters; it was Evan's first time there, and he was eager to see what it was like. The platform was crowded with children, and there was a scarlet steam engine from yesteryear emitting smoke on the track.

They headed towards the train, Mr. Weasley helped them load their luggage.

They bid farewell to the Weasley couple, and Mrs. Weasley kissed each child goodbye, while Mr. Weasley continued whispering to Harry.

Harry's face looked confused and unsettled as the train started moving; he whispered to Ron and Hermione, "I need to talk to you alone."

"Go on, Ginny!" Ron said, shooing her away with his hand.

"Alright," Ginny said proudly as she left; Evan was frozen for a moment and then followed her.

"Evan, there's no need for you to do this."

"You both talk first, I have some things to attend to, I will be back soon."

Evan didn't hesitate for a second; he knew what Harry was going to say, but he had his own plans. If resolving the series of events of this year was going to be easy, Peter Pettigrew is much easier to handle than Tom.

He followed Ginny to a compartment near the end. Colin and Neville were sitting there, both entered and greeted them.

Colin excitedly told them about his summer vacation in the countryside; the Hogwarts Express was steadily advancing, and the landscape outside the window became more rustic but also darker.

Knowing Evan was sitting there, people constantly passed by and greeted him.

Most of them were readers of Hogwarts' magical newspaper. It wasn't long before Lun

Even though Evan had repeatedly told Luna that he was not interested in Snorlax or anything of the sort, Luna continued to give him every issue of The Quibbler.

The sky outside was darkening, rain started to fall, and the windows were fogging up.

Soon the door opened, three unwelcome guests entered, Malfoy followed by his two henchmen, Goyle and Crabbe.

As if they had just visited Harry's compartment, Malfoy said in a long, drawn-out tone, "Mudblood, why aren't you sitting with Potter?"

"It's none of your business!" Evan said softly, as Neville, Colin, and Ginny nervously raised their heads.

"Potter has abandoned you, he must be sick of you and your stupid newspaper," Malfoy finished, and Crabbe and Goyle chuckled.

"Get out, you're not welcome here!" Ginny yelled.

"Did you hear Ginny?" Evan drew his wand, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Or do you want to experience a few new spells?"

"Watch your tone, Mudblood, or you..."

He was interrupted as Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived.

"Get lost, Malfoy!" Ron shouted as he entered, "We don't have time for your nonsense."

Malfoy hesitated, now outnumbered, he involuntarily stepped back.

Just then the train came to a sudden stop.

All the lights went out, plunging them into total darkness.

"What the hell happened?"

Evan heard Malfoy shout, and there was a constant movement of people outside.

"Lumos!" Evan whispered, a light appeared at the tip of his wand.

The compartment's temperature kept dropping, until it felt like the Arctic.

There was a strange noise outside, something was approaching. Malfoy, Goyle, and Crabbe quickly returned to the compartment.

The door slowly opened, Evan felt Hermione, who was standing beside him, grab his arm tightly, her body trembling slightly.

He gave Hermione a reassuring tap on the shoulder, trying to bring her some peace.

The door swung fully open, standing in the threshold, illuminated by Evan's lighting charm, was a figure shrouded in black and as tall as the ceiling.

Its face was completely hidden beneath the hood, a hand extended from the cloak, the hand was gray, thin, and crusty, as if something dead had rotted in water.

The creature beneath the cloak seemed to sense the gazes of the various people. What was beneath the hood took in a deep, slow breath, as if trying to absorb something from it.

Several children in the compartment screamed, their voices sounded mournful.

Evan gripped his wand tightly, "Dementors!"