Chapter 78 Chapter 78
Soon the opening dinner had ended, everyone was engrossed in the news about the Dementors.
The Dementors are among the most malevolent creatures known, dwelling in the darkest and filthiest places, sucking all the joy from the air.
If you get too close to Dementors, all your happy memories will vanish. Only the worst memories of your life will remain.
These dreadful creatures have been guarding Azkaban for years, watching over the darkest and most evil wizards of the magical world.
But now they are at Hogwarts, what will happen next?
Everyone seemed to realize something, but no one wanted to dwell on it.
All returned silently to their common rooms; the atmosphere was eerily quiet, though Evan occasionally overheard small talks about Dementors, Azkaban, Sirius Black, and Harry Potter's name being mentioned repeatedly. Several people kept their distance from Harry, especially those born into magical families; they must have heard something from their parents.
The reason Sirius Black was arrested thirteen years ago was not a secret, but no one wanted to speak of it.
The mood was somber; everyone lacked knowledge about the Dementors. Evan decided to seize the opportunity; if young wizards were so intrigued by Dementors, he might as well write some introductory articles about them.
He spoke with Colin and went straight to the library in search of information.
In the library, Mrs. Pince regarded Evan suspiciously; she seemed to have an impression of him.
Last year, Evan had combed through almost everything in the library in a single year. He had delved into spells ranging from the simplest to the most taboo; the vast majority of the information was not meant for his age.
Mrs. Pince shook her head, recalling that when she was in her second year, she could only cast simple spells like making her wand light up, but this child...
She remembered the headmaster's reaction when she informed Dumbledore about it.
Dumbledore calmly told her not to worry about him and even allowed the boy to peruse books from the restricted section.
Mrs. Pince thought Dumbledore might have lost his mind.
It would not surprise her if he turned into a dark wizard in the future; look at the book he's reading, all about Dementors.
When she saw the name of those vile creatures, she shuddered; they were too ghastly. It was not something a normal second-year student should see.
Evan was oblivious to the image of a dark wizard that Mrs. Pince had of him.
When he returned to the common room with over ten books, everyone had already gone to bed, except Hermione.
"You're back!" Hermione looked at Evan, pointing to a steaming cup, and said, "Colin told me you went to the library to look for information on the Dementors, so I decided to wait for you a bit and made some hot chocolate."
"Thank you!" Evan said gratefully as he took the cup to drink, it was pleasant, after searching the library for a while and returning...
Before swallowing it, he immediately spit it out; he had a pained expression, there was no sugar in the hot chocolate at all, the taste was extremely bitter.
It seemed like Hermione anticipated that reaction, she smiled and said, "When I need a bit of a boost, this helps me perk up!"
She had the same in her cup, which was already half empty.
Evan forced himself to take a sip and swallow it, but he couldn't, he saw Hermione organizing her schedule, so he curiously asked, "Hermione, what are you doing?"
"I'm redoing my schedule, you know, I have many classes this semester, I'm worried..."
By the firelight, Evan saw Hermione's packed schedule.
If he didn't know she had a Time-Turner, he would have thought she had made some mistakes.
"You have almost everything marked, don't demand so much of yourself, Hermione," Evan said. "Even if you have the help of a Time-Turner, you shouldn't take so many classes simultaneously. With that workload, your body won't be able to endure it."
"Oh, I suppose you should know, after all, you used one last year." Hermione pulled out a pocket watch from her dress. "Don't worry, Evan, I've had an exhaustive conversation with Professor McGonagall!"
"Don't think I don't know what you're going to do, ignore your physical condition," Evan said hastily. "Hermione, you are not like a ghost, you can't do without sleep. In my opinion, there are some courses that you really don't need at all. For instance, Divination, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies will be entirely useless for you."
"But it would be fascinating to study it from the perspective of the magical world," said Hermione, looking at Evan with a sincere expression.
"Listen to me, you need to give up some of..."
"No, I want to at least try," Hermione insisted. "You know we are wizards born of Muggles; I want to prove that I am not lesser than anyone else."
"You don't have to prove anything, you are already the best!"
"It's not enough, Percy scored the highest in twelve OWLs, and compared to you, I am..." Hermione's voice trailed off.
The atmosphere became silent, the two individuals not speaking.
Crookshanks groomed himself in front of the fireplace.
"Well, if you insist," Evan sighed. "But you have to promise me that you will take care of yourself, okay?"
Hermione nodded with a flushed face, feeling a bad vibe, Evan was a bit like...
She hurried to tell Evan, "Well, have you found any books on Dementors?"
"Every book on Dementors is here in this stack; I need to write an essay on Dementors, are you ready to help?"
"Of course!" Hermione nodded.
The silvery moonlight slowly seeped in, illuminating the common room as the fire burned silently.
The Gryffindor common room was serene as the Dementors roamed the school grounds.
Evan and Hermione studied everything about Dementors, their habits, their attack methods, their histories, and ways to defeat them.
"The Patronus Charm is cast by thinking of the happiest thing one can think of."
With her finger on the book's contents, Hermione softly said, "When the spell is at its strongest, it can summon the guardian, and everyone's guardian is unique, usually taking the form of the animal they share the deepest bond with."
Reading, "usually taking the form of the animal they share the deepest bond with," Hermione continued to look at those words and said, "Evan, I remember the guardian you conjured on the train..."
"Don't dwell on that, Hermione," Evan's eyes couldn't help but glance at the fireplace where Crookshanks was sleeping, he looked at her for a moment, then explained slowly, "It must have been just a coincidence, just that!"
"Agreed?" Hermione said.
The compartment was dark, and Evan's Patronus was shining, so Hermione wasn't sure if she had seen it correctly; perhaps it was merely a coincidence.