The next morning began with a light breakfast with the Weasleys and Harry, as there were just so many of them, and it'd be rude to ignore them and eat alone. Mr. Weasley was reading the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow, while Mrs. Weasley was talking quietly to Ginny, who was giggling, Fred and George eavesdropping with a speculative look in their eyes. Hermione contented herself with ignoring them all, stealing a section from Mr. Weasley's newspaper, opening it to the crossword, and setting it down between her and Harry as she ate. Harry seemed amused, occasionally murmuring things and pointing at things for her to fill in. He seemed perfectly content with ignoring everyone else, which Hermione didn't blame him for; Ron and Percy both seemed to be in a dark mood.
After breakfast, they all heaved their trunks down the narrow staircase to pile them up near the door. Hermione was frustrated by this limitation; now that there were magical adults actively watching her, she couldn't just magic her trunks to float behind her. She had to enlist the help of the twins to lug all of her trunks down the stairs in the end – books were very heavy.
Outside of the Leaky Cauldron on the muggle side were two old-fashioned dark green cars, each driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet. Hermione had to stifle a snicker at the sight of them, and Harry exchanged an amused glance with her, even though Mr. Weasley was ushering him along.
"In you get, Harry," he said, glancing around.
Hermione wondered if Mr. Weasley really expected Sirius Black to materialize out of nowhere and suddenly attack.
Hermione got into the car with Harry. Percy and Ron joined them, both of them still in a very bad mood. Hermione wisely opted to say nothing, instead watching the route the cars took to get to the station and wondering which department of the Ministry had wizards who knew enough about the muggle world to know the traffic laws but not know how to dress.
They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare, and the Ministry's drivers efficiently found them trolleys, unloaded the trunks, and saluted, before quickly driving away. While the Weasleys were all organizing, making sure they had everything, Hermione took her chance, going through the barrier before the rest of them.
Noise and the smell of a steam engine immediately assaulted her as she fell through, and to her relief, there were people everywhere, loading trunks and swarming around. She was lucky to find Jade near one of the entrances to the train, instructing people to get on quickly, and she carted her trolley over.
"Head Girl!" she said, beaming. "Congratulations, Jade!"
Jade looked surprised for a moment, then amused.
"'Course you know first somehow, Granger," she said. She looked at her appraisingly. "Well? Get on with it."
She waved her hand carelessly, which was enough for Hermione, who now had plausible deniability that a seventh year had magically helped her with her trunks. With a gesture and a thought, all three trunks and cat basket rose off of the trolley and floated behind her, following her into the train. The levitation drained her magic more quickly than Hermione had thought it would, to her surprise, but she supposed the trunks were very heavy, after all. Still, she found an empty space on the luggage racks and quickly stored her things away, grabbing only her cat basket to take with her as she looked for a compartment.
"Hermione!"
Hermione turned to see Luna, who was beaming at her, carrot earrings dangling.
"I found the compartment for us and Harry," she told her. "It's all the way down at the end of the train."
"That's excellent," Hermione said, smiling. "Though… I still haven't seen Harry actually get on yet."
Luna shrugged. "We can wait."
Harry, as it turned out, nearly missed the train, having to make a running leap for it after it had started pulling out, Ron helping tug him in. Hermione and Luna witnessed it, hanging in the hallway as they were; Harry was panting and looked frustrated, while Ron looked confused.
"Harry?" Hermione said mildly.
Harry looked up, gratitude in his eyes when he saw her and Luna hovering in the background.
"D'you want to go find Seamus and Dean?" Harry said to Ron. "I have something I want to take care of…"
Ron shrugged and wandered off, and it was with obvious relief Harry followed them to the back of the train.
The compartment Luna led them to had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window. He was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted, and though he was still quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray. For a moment, Hermione wondered incredulously if Dumbledore had hired a hedgewitch to teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts until she saw his wand at his hip, stored in a very worn sheath.
"Who's this?" Harry asked quietly.
"Professor R. J. Lupin," Luna said.
Harry turned to her with a grin.
"Do you just know everything, Luna?" he teased.
Luna was amused.
"Sometimes," she said. "But this time, it's on his case."
She pointed up at the luggage rack, where a small, battered case was held together with a large quantity of knotted string. Professor R. J. Lupin was stamped on one corner in peeling gold letters, and Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"How would a case possibly get that battered so quickly?" she wanted to know.
"It could be an old case," Harry said. "It looks pretty worn out."
"But it says 'Professor' R. J. Lupin," Hermione emphasized. "The longest he could have possibly known he'd be a professor would be since June. And that's an awful lot of damage to take in three months."
Harry's eyes lit up.
"Well, he is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, right?" he said. "Maybe he was out fighting the Dark forces over the summer! That could explain it."
Hermione wondered what, exactly, these vague Dark forces that Harry imagined were.
After double-checking to make sure the new professor was asleep, Harry turned to Hermione and Luna, telling them all about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument, including a warning Mr. Weasley had just given him: not to go looking for Black. Hermione had already heard most of it, so she was able to modulate her expression to not look intimidated or frightened, while Luna's gaze never faltered or changed.
"Going looking for Black would be very inefficient," Luna commented, once Harry was done. "Especially because we'll be at school. That wouldn't be the way to go about that at all."
Harry stared at her. "Are you saying I will go after Black?"
"Oh, no," Luna said, shaking her head. "No. Just that if that becomes your motive at some point, I'm sure we can come up with a better way of handling that than leaving school to chase someone over the countryside. It seems like a very silly way to search for someone."
Harry seemed reassured by Luna's complete unconcern over the matter, seeming to accept it as an omen that it wasn't something to worry about. They settled into chatting about their summers, and Hermione let Crookshanks out of his cat carrier to roam around a bit and stretch his legs. Harry looked down at him, highly amused.
"Ron will flip his lid when he finds out, you know," he told her.
Hermione tossed her hair. "Bully for Ron. He's my cat, not his."
Crookshanks seemed wary of the new professor, preferring to stay away from him and lurk near the door as their furry guard. Any time Professor Lupin stirred in his sleep, Crookshanks sat up very straight, alert, only gradually settling back down each time, his eyes still on the professor.
"Better hope he doesn't claw him, too," Harry remarked. "Great first impression to make, really."
The Hogwarts Express moved steadily north and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened. Harry seemed perfectly content to not go look for Ron or any of the others, and Hermione didn't quite feel like looking for Blaise and Tracey and Millie yet either. Luna cast a knowing eye on Hermione when the topic came up, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"Suspect Blaise will know something you rather he not?" she teased.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said primly.
"Not worried he'll ask about your holiday in France?" Luna said slyly, and Hermione flushed. Harry turned back to them from the window.
"Your holiday in France?" he said. "Why? Did something happen?"
Luna's smile widened, and Hermione glared at her.
"I made a friend in France," Hermione admitted. "A witch, from Beauxbatons. Luna suspects Blaise will tease me about it."
"For making a friend?" Harry was confused. "Are friends from other schools not allowed? Is this one of those Slytherin things?"
"Partially," Luna said. "Blaise will want to tease Hermione to evaluate how much of a threat he judges Hermione's new friend to be, and store that knowledge away. Hermione will want Blaise to know none of it, as she's very private, and she certainly doesn't want Blaise to realize she got a parting gift from her new friend."
Harry blinked.
"It's not like you're going to ditch us all for a new friend in France, right?" he asked. When Hermione shook her head, he scoffed. "Sounds like Zabini's all paranoid over nothing, then," he said decisively. "Sometimes I think Slytherins get too in their own heads."
The plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door at one o'clock, Harry gladly buying them all Cauldron Cakes to munch on for lunch. He glanced at the new professor.
"Should we wake him up?" he asked awkwardly. "He might be hungry."
"Don't worry, dear," the witch assured him. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."
After the witch left, Harry shared with Hermione and Luna his progress with flying he'd made over the summer, keeping his voice low so the new professor couldn't overhear.
"I couldn't practice much after Fudge moved me to Diagon Alley," he said reluctantly. "But before that, it was great! I could really sense the air moving around me and where best to turn, and when I fell off of my broom on purpose, I fell really slowly, like I wasn't really falling at all!"
"Gliding," Hermione said, pleased. She nodded. "That was one of the first things I got the hang of, too. It's much easier than actually controlling going up, instead just helping you go down safely, floating on the breeze."
"Excellent," Harry said, satisfied. "Now if Malfoy shoves me off my broom, I can be reassured that I won't just go splat."
Hermione paused.
"…are there no safety mechanics in Quidditch?" she asked, curious. "No Feather-Falling Charm on the pitch or anything?"
Harry shrugged. "Not that I know of. Best safety mechanic is just 'don't fall off your broom'."
Hermione felt reassured once more that her choice to avoid brooms entirely and learn how to fly on her own had been a very smart choice to make.
Midafternoon came with rain, blurring the rolling hills outside their window. Shortly after the rain began, Hermione heard footsteps in the corridor, and soon after that Draco Malfoy appeared, flanked by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
Draco stopped in the doorway, his mouth hanging slightly open for a moment, before it snapped shut. He finally nodded around the compartment, greeting them.
"Good to see you, Hermione," he said, nodding to her. "You as well, Luna." He paused. "Potter."
"Malfoy," Harry said shortly. He had folded his arms, and Hermione was amused that Draco didn't seem to know if he should start mouthing off at Harry or if he wanted to talk to Hermione. Draco eventually seemed to side on the nicer side, after a canny look at the new professor nearby, which was probably smart – she imagined a fight between Draco and Harry would escalate to raised voices, fast.
"I heard you got a contract proposal over the summer, Hermione," Draco said. His silvery eyes met hers. "Is that true?"
Hermione leaned back and thunked her head against the wall of the train with a groan.
"Technically, I think it's more someone tried to arrange a betrothal contract," she said, rubbing her temples.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "'Tried'?"
"My father was the one who people were sending the owls to," Hermione said. She shrugged, helpless. "I mean, I know that this is a new thing, but my father is a muggle. I can't imagine they thought he would possibly know how to respond, or even that he could respond."
Draco's brow was furrowed. "So what happened?"
"Nothing," Hermione said. "He laughed at them and threw them out, commenting that he wasn't about to sell me off to someone in a world he didn't know. He figured that the senders would eventually realize that as a muggle, he either couldn't receive owls or he didn't know how to reply to them." She paused. "He does, of course, as he's not an idiot, but he's perfectly content with me arranging my own potential contracts and the like."
"Your own?" Draco's mind seemed boggled by this. "What do you mean, 'your own'?"
"Well, Hermione's the first of her House, isn't she?" Harry said pointedly, joining the conversation. "There's not exactly anyone else to go to, right?"
Draco gave Harry a level look, evaluating, before glancing back at Hermione.
"I mean, he's right," Hermione said, biting her lip. "A muggle can't enter into a binding magical contract with a wizard."
A smirk was spreading across Draco's face.
"So you weren't just snubbing Nott?" he said. "Damn. Theo was all torn up about it, once he found out his father had owled to make an arrangement for you."
Draco looked amused, and Hermione groaned.
"What was his father thinking, petitioning a muggle?" she wanted to know. "Thoros Nott, contacting my father, a bleeding muggle…"
Draco paused.
"Careful, there," he said, his voice neutral. "There's no reason to believe that Theo's Dad wouldn't be able to interact with muggles normally."
Hermione shot Draco an incredulous look.
"Sure," she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. "Just like your father wouldn't have any issue doing the same, right?"
Draco squirmed, uncomfortable.
"I mean, my father's a well-learned man," he defended. "He knows perfectly well how to communicate with muggles…"
Hermione just looked at him, and Draco faltered.
"Anyway. Good to know that you didn't accept anything, at least," he said, turning to go. "MacMillan and Goldstein will have to get over themselves over their courting requests, then. They both thought you'd spurned them." He smirked. "Though, you should spurn them, really. But make sure you do it somewhere I can watch."
"Bye, Draco," Hermione said, annoyed, and Draco laughed as he went back down the corridor, Crabbe and Goyle following behind.
Hermione fell back against her seat and sighed.
"I didn't even know who the other two were from," she admitted. "I was so thrown by my Dad mentioning the one from Nott I didn't think to ask."
"This is one of those fancy pureblood things, isn't it?" Harry said, frowning. "Do they seriously still do betrothal contracts like medieval times?"
Hermione laughed.
"Oh, Harry," she said fondly. "You would be surprised to learn just how much of wizarding culture here is still stuck in medieval times."
The rain thickened as the train sped yet father north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered to life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train started rattling as the rain hammered, the wind roaring.
"Are we slowing?" Harry asked, confused. "It feels like we're slowing down."
"We can't be there yet," Hermione said, checking the time.
"Then why are we stopping?" Harry wanted to know.
Hermione was watching Luna's face, which had turned grim.
"What's going on, Luna?" Hermione asked, swallowing hard. "What's happening?"
Luna gave her a look, saying nothing, and abruptly all the lamps went out, plunging them into total darkness. Shrieks echoed from down the corridor, and Harry gasped.
"What's going on?" Harry's voice was worried. "D'you think we've broken down?"
"We haven't broken down." Luna's voice held a grim certainty.
Hermione swallowed. "Should we do anything?"
Before anyone had a chance to respond, there was a loud yowl from Crookshanks who had been napping by the door, and Hermione felt him dash by her directly at the new professor. He hissed, yowling, and Hermione heard the sound of his claws.
"Crookshanks! No!"
Abruptly, a hoarse voice joined them.
"Quiet!" the voice said, annoyed.
Professor Lupin appeared to have finally woken up. Hermione could hear movements in his corner. There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes were sharp and wary.
"Stay where you are," he said, his voice hoarse, and he slowly got to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him, moving toward the door.
But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it.
Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Hermione saw a hand protruding from the cloak, and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.
It was only visible for a split second. As though the creature had sensed her gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak, and then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all, and Hermione felt her breath catch in her chest; she couldn't breathe, the air was suddenly too cold, and it felt like she was suffocating. The cold sank deeply into her skin, freezing her very heart where it beat—
There was a choking noise as Harry slid out of his seat to the floor, twitching. Luna was holding herself very tightly, her eyes closed, a stark look of determination on her face.
"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks," Lupin said hoarsely. He pulled out his wand, advancing on the creature in the doorway. "Go."
The creature didn't move, raising its hood to look at Lupin. Anger streaked across Lupin's face, and he made a snappy gesture with his wand, muttering something, and something silver streaked out of his wand at the creature, which quickly turned and glided away. The oppressive cold and dread gradually receded from the compartment as it left, and Hermione found herself taking a shaky breath, though she still shivered, the memory of the cold lingering.
She'd felt like she'd never feel warm or happy again.
After it did, Lupin stayed in the doorway a long moment, watching, and it wasn't until the lanterns came back on and the Hogwarts Express started moving again that he returned to his seat, rummaging in his robes. As soon as he was out of the way, Hermione fell to her knees next to Harry, who looked very cold.
"Harry? Harry!"
Hermione shook Harry, worried. Harry didn't react, so she shook him a little harder, pinching his cheeks.
"Harry! Are you all right?"
"W—what?"
Harry's eyes opened, and Hermione relaxed a little. Harry's eyes seemed confused, and he pushed his glasses back up his nose, wiping some of the cold sweat from his face.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. He looked quickly at the door. "What happened? Where's that—that thing? Who screamed?"
"No one screamed." Luna's voice was eerily calm. Harry pushed himself back up onto the seat, wincing slightly.
"But I heard screaming—" he protested.
A loud snap made all of them jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.
"Here," he said. He handed Harry a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."
Luna immediately began eating hers, while Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it.
"What was that thing?" he asked Lupin.
"A dementor," Lupin said, passing out the rest of the chocolate to Hermione and Luna. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."
Hermione's eyes went wide, a cold feeling clutching her throat. Professor Lupin crumpled up the chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket.
"Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver. Excuse me…"
He pushed past them and disappeared into the corridor. Hermione's eyes were wide, looking from Luna to Harry to Luna once more.
"I don't get it… what happened?" Harry asked, wiping more sweat from his face.
Luna began to explain, her voice flat, detailing how the dementor had just stood in the doorway, what Lupin had said and done. Luna's tone was off, somehow disaffected and emotionless, but Hermione was distracted, her eyes large as she stared at the floor with thoughts racing through her mind.
That was a dementor?
That was so much worse than anything she had ever imagined.
Susan and Luna had said over the summer how they fed on magic and happy memories. Hermione had imagined it like a slow slide into a clinical depression, leaving people weak and apathetic, unable to want to use magic or move. She'd never imagined these horrible cloaked creatures that literally fed off of you as you were right there, sucking out any sense you could ever be happy again…
Professor Lupin came back, pausing and making a quip about how he hadn't poisoned the chocolate. Hermione and Harry both mechanically ate it, and Hermione was surprised to feel some sense of warmth return to her fingers and toes. She ignored the professor as he asked after Harry, too wrapped up in her own head to pay attention.
"That was evil," she murmured. Hermione's eyes met Luna's. "That was pure evil. I could feel it, Luna. I could feel it."
Luna didn't smile. "It was."
