It's November! That means it's NaNoWriMo, which in turn means it's time to churn out 40-60% of my yearly writing progress. I've been making plans on what to focus on, but as is so often the case, those might fly out the window the moment the fancy strikes me to work on something else. This remains a favorite of mine however, so you'll probably be seeing some more of it before the month is out.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Harry did not have a pleasant morning the next day. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were not impressed with his stunt with Ripper, and even though Aunt Marge was gone by the time he came downstairs, he still had to endure a full helping of shouting and threats before he was able to eat his breakfast.
One of those threats had been no meals for a week until Harry asked them how they planned to stop him eating if he was hungry. There were defintely advantages to them not knowing of the prohibition on underage magic. The Dursleys being aware of the restriction would be functionally the same as it actually affecting him, as far as Harry being able to use magic with them present was concerned.
As it was, Harry had to wait six more days for the Weasleys to return from their seaside holiday, then another two to be "officially" invited to stay with them for the rest of the summer and accept. It was a very uncomfortable week at Number Four for everyone involved.
Finally, the Sunday afternoon arrived when he would be leaving Number Four for the rest of the year. He did not know how they planned to come get him (Ginny didn't either, or so she claimed), but he remembered all too well the fiasco that had occurred the summer before his fourth year when they had all gotten trapped in the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace and Mr Weasley had practically blown up half the living room getting them out.
Naturally, Harry had neglected to warn the Dursleys about the possibility of anyone arriving by floo powder.
Mr Weasley still had his car in this timeline however, so they might simply be coming that way. It seemed unlikely – a big waste of time, really – but knowing Arthur Weasley's love for all things muggle, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
The tension inside Number Four was thick. Much like that disastrous summer so long ago (which was actually not until next year, odd as that was to think about), Harry's aunt and uncle had put on their best clothes and were waiting anxiously for the Weasleys to arrive. Dudley had – wisely, in Harry's opinion – managed to escape by going over to a friend's house.
Three o'clock, the agreed-upon pick up time, came and went. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were very indignant, as expected. After twenty minutes or so of them grumbling disparaging things about the Weasleys's lack of respect for other people's time, there came a noise from behind the electric fireplace. Harry hid his grin.
'Hello? Harry?' called Mr Weasley's voice. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked startled out of their wits. Then came Fred's voice, and then George's. Events played out much like Harry remembered them, right up to Mr Weasley blasting his way out and covering the entire room in soot, dust, and splinters. The Dursleys were not amused.
Despite Mr Weasley's attempts at politeness, the Dursleys were incensed beyond casual conversation. At least Dudley wasn't around to have his tongue swollen to several dozen times its proper size. Though now Harry thought about it, the twins probably hadn't even invented Ton Tongue Toffees yet.
Mr Weasley eventually determined that a swift withdrawal was the best solution, so had the the twins carry Harry's trunk to the fireplace and floo back. Ron took Hedwig's cage (the owl herself having flown on ahead). There was nothing for Ginny to carry, so she simply walked into the flames ahead of Harry after giving the Dursleys a cheery wave. This did not improve their mood.
'I'll be going, then,' Harry said to them. He did not bother saying goodbye, since he knew they wouldn't care, and that was likely to make Mr Weasley uncomfortable. Their silence at his departure seemed to be enough to do that, however.
'Hold on, Harry,' he said, putting an arm across Harry's chest and preventing him from stepping into the fireplace.
'It's fine, Mr Weasley,' he said. 'Really, don't worry about it.'
Mr Weasley pretended not to hear.
'You won't be seeing your nephew for close to a year,' he said to the Dursleys. 'Surely you want to say goodbye to him?'
Now Harry was the one feeling uncomfortable, though he knew Mr Weasley was only trying to help.
'Goodbye, then,' growled Uncle Vernon, who looked as though saying even this much was causing him physical pain.
Harry offered them the smallest of waves (his first impulse was the two-finger salute) and stepped into the swirling green flames without another word save, 'The Burrow!'
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
'Did you really have to get us stuck in there?' Ginny asked him later that night out behind the pond. 'You could have told them about the floo.'
'It was funny,' said Harry, shrugging. 'It's so rare I get a chance to pull one over on the Dursleys, you know.'
'Funny for you, maybe,' Ginny grumbled. 'It was cramped in there.'
'Sorry,' he said, chuckling. 'Shame Dudley wasn't there, though I expect Skiving Snackbox sweets are nearly a year off yet, yeah?'
'About that,' she said. 'I thought you got on with Dudley now, though?'
'I do where we come from,' Harry corrected her. 'Now he's just as much of a bullying git as he ever was. Besides, he likes the Ton Tongue Toffee story. He always laughs when he talks about it.'
'I didn't realize you were in touch so frequently.'
'We're not, really,' said Harry. 'We see each other maybe once or twice a year, but he always brings that story up. Says he wishes he had a few to hand out to some blokes he knows.'
Harry abruptly realized he was talking about his adult life in the present tense, despite not having lived in it for two full years now. He didn't know if this was a sign of unhealthy denial or healthy determination, but it did make him a bit sad.
The next few days went by rather as he'd come to expect at the Burrow. Percy of course wasted no time in proudly telling Harry that he'd been made Head Boy (which the twins almost seemed to have been waiting for, because they began to give him a hard time almost immediately). Harry, for his part, merely said, 'Well done,' and extricated himself from the conversation.
They played Quidditch out back most of the time, but they also managed to fit in some swimming in the pond, chess, gobstones, a trip into the village, and even planned to go on a hike before Mrs Weasley caught wind of it and told them she'd rather they stay close to the house.
'We were in the village yesterday!' Fred protested. 'It's not like we'll be going any farther than that!'
'Yes, well, I wasn't particularly thrilled about that idea either, but at least there were other people around. Though it's not as though that stopped him before...' The last was to herself and Harry did not think he was meant to overhear. He understood what she was worried about, though, and something else finally clicked into place for him as well.
Every time a trip to Diagon Alley had been brought up, Mr or Mrs Weasley would have an excuse as to why they couldn't go that day and it would have to wait. Despite how nervous their children were about not having enough time to do it before school started, there always seemed to be some reason to put it off.
'Your father wants to come with us, George; we should wait until he has a day off.'
'Sorry boys, I'm a bit behind on my work around the house on account of working so many extra hours lately. It'll have to wait until next time.'
'The weather's horrible today; we don't want to be trudging about doing our shopping in this.'
And so on and so on.
'We're going to be going back to school with last year's books at this rate!' Fred whinged.
Harry could tell they were nervous about being out with the family while Sirius was on the loose, and were hoping he'd be caught before school started. Despite Diagon Alley being considered relatively safe by most of the population – it was being patrolled by aurors and hit wizards around the clock – he could understand their apprehension.
Luna came by one afternoon and, in her usual fashion, pointed this out when Ron complained once again during lunch about putting the trip off.
'What are they worried about him for?' he griped. 'Surely he has enough sense to stay away from the most heavily watched place in the country. And what would he want with us, anyway?'
Luna shrugged. 'Daddy's worried, too,' she simply said. 'He says that when someone is crazy, there's no point trying to figure out what they may or may not do, since there's no logic to it.'
Ron's rant was stopped short by this. Apparently he hadn't considered it before. Harry, meanwhile, could practically hear older Ron's response of, 'Well, I suppose he would know.' Judging from the smile Ginny was fighting to suppress, she could too.
Eventually, it was the last day of August and they could put it off for no longer. Hermione had written to them earlier asking when was a good day to meet up (and in subsequent letters had been sounding increasingly frantic), so they were pleased to be able to at last give her an answer.
'Dunno how she's managed so long, actually,' Ron had said the night before when they'd sent Hedwig off. 'I expect she'd planned on having all her books read through already by now.' Harry nodded in agreement, inwardly impressed with Hermione's restraint. Or perhaps it was just her showing that their friendship was more important to her than reading her books in advance. High praise, that.
They took the floo to the Leaky Cauldron, where they'd be spending the night before heading out to King's Cross the next morning. Hermione and her parents arrived about ten minutes later, having had to contend with traffic. Mr Weasley engaged Mr and Mrs Granger in conversation at once while Hermione hugged Ron, Harry, and to both her and Harry's surprise, Ginny.
'I was beginning to think you might not come at all,' she told them. 'What would you have done without your school supplies?'
'Muddle through borrowing from you, most like,' said Ron. 'It wasn't for lack of trying, mind. Even Fred and George were getting anxious, but Mum and Dad kept putting us off. Luna reckons they're worried about that Sirius Black bloke.'
'Ooh, I read about him in the newspaper,' said Hermione, shuddering. 'He sounds awful. Do you know, I reckon Luna might be right, and I can't blame your parents if that's the case. They probably have a lot of terrible memories about him from before.'
It took some convincing, but by pointing out how many different places they had to visit, and the multiple levels of security the Ministry had placed in and around Diagon Alley, Mrs Weasley finally relented and agreed that splitting up to do their shopping was the best idea.
'But stay together,' she told them all firmly, 'and absolutely do not leave the alley, whether it be to Muggle London or anywhere else. Understand?' Everyone present understood "anywhere else" to mean "Knockturn Alley".
The Grangers had arranged for Hermione to stay the night at the Leaky Cauldron as well and ride with Harry and the Weasleys to Kings Cross the next morning, but Mr Weasley wouldn't let them leave without first having a drink. The rest of them crossed the courtyard out behind the pub and passed through the stone archway into Diagon Alley.
Everyone present needed new robes, so they all went to Madam Malkin's first. Afterward, Fred and George quickly ran off before their mother could pin them down. Ron still needed a new wand, so Harry, Hermione, and Ginny went to the apothecary to top off their potion supplies, promising to get Ron's for him too and then meet up later at the bookstore. Percy alone was allowed to go off by himself.
'I hate the smell of this place,' Ginny said as they entered the shop with all its ingredients on display.
'True, it's not pleasant, is it?' said Hermione. 'But they really do have some fascinating things in here. I can't wait until we're older and we get to use some of it.'
'Speak for yourself,' said Harry. 'Gloves or no gloves, I don't fancy having to touch a lot of this stuff.' Some advanced potion ingredients truly were revolting. Though in truth even most of the more basic ingredients were only less so by comparison.
They were quick topping off their potions kits and decided to stop by Quality Quidditch Supplies before they were due to meet Ron and Flourish and Blotts. Hermione had to be dragged along, but as she wasn't about to disobey Mrs Weasley's directive about staying together, she didn't really have a choice.
There was a huge crowd at the shop, all of them gawking at the Firebolt on display. Harry felt a sense of deep longing. He'd ridden a Firebolt for ten years. The Nimbus Two-Thousand, excellent broom though it was, just didn't compare. However he knew he couldn't justify the expense. At least not until he came into his full inheritence at seventeen. His trust fund definitely hadn't been set up with things like international standard racing brooms in mind.
He idly wondered if Sirius would buy it for him again this time around. He thought it would probably be very childish to purposefully get his Nimbus destroyed so as to prompt his godfather into replacing it. No, much as he might want it, getting a better broom wasn't and could't be at the top of his list of priorities at the moment.
Once they'd had their fill of staring at the Firebolt (or rather, once Hermione pointed out that Ron was probably waiting for them by this time), Harry and Ginny finally allowed themselves to be led away toward the bookshop.
'Honestly, you lot and your Quidditch,' Hermione tutted as they made their way along the alley.
'Don't pretend you don't get just as excited about books, Hermione,' Ginny retorted at once.
'Yes, and you all tease me mercilessly about it, don't you?' Hermione fired back.
'All right, fair,' said Ginny, looking impressed.
They found the bookshop to be in its usual state of subdued chaos, exacerbated by the cage full of The Monster Book of Monsters that were all trying their best to rip each other to shreds. The shop assistant was visibly relieved to hear that Harry already had a copy and that Ginny didn't need one, but quickly shifted to crestfallen when they asked him to get a second one for Ron while he was at it.
Ron himself arrived with his mother shortly thereafter, proudly brandishing his new wand and attempting without success to return the leftover three galleons to Harry.
'I told you; keep the rest,' Harry said firmly. 'It's my fault your wand got snapped. That money's yours; I'm not taking it.'
Mrs Weasley didn't seem comfortable with the idea either, but in the end she persuaded Ron to simply accept the gesture gratefully.
Harry suppressed a wince when Ron picked up his copy of Unfogging the Future. He was happy to not be dealing with Divination himself this time, but had been unable to convince Ron, who claimed it seemed like the least difficult option available, to avoid it.Hermione, of course, was more heavily encumbered than the rest of them despite all of their insistence there was no need for her to take Muggle Studies, and Ginny of course only needed the standard textbooks, which this year thankfully did not include over half a dozen best-sellers. They then left the bookstore swiftly and without incident. Harry suspected the previous year's debacle with the Malfoys was weighing on Mrs Weasley's mind.
Harry offered to treat everyone to ice cream on their way out, and this time Mrs Weasley resisted almost as much as Ron until Harry pointed out that they'd been housing and feeding him for weeks at a time at their own expense for the last two years and the least he could do was pay for some ice cream. She gave him a fond look and relented (reluctantly) but kept her order small.
When they finished eating, Hermione mentioned that she had some extra spending money and wanted to buy an owl. This reminded Ron that he wanted to look into some kind of treatment for Scabbers, who had been looking peaky for weeks. Harry gritted his teeth, knowing full well what the problem with Ron's pet was and furious that he still couldn't do anything about it, despite wanting to wring the little shit's neck every time he looked at it. He could tell from Ginny's averted gaze that she was thinking along the same lines.
Mrs Weasley had to be persuaded to let them visit the Magical Menagerie by themselves, and only upon extracting a promise that they would return to the Leaky Cauldron immediately afterwards.
The acquisition of Crookshanks proceeded largely as Harry remembered it (with the addition of Ginny's presence), complete with the bowlegged ginger cat dropping from the highest cage in the place right onto Ron's head. Ginny was in a fit of hysterics and had to be led from the shop, where moments later Ron dashed past them shouting for Scabbers. They helped him find his pet, and judging by the way Ginny was flexing her fingers it was lucky she hadn't been the one to locate the rat. Though he couldn't honestly say he himself would have been any better. Hermione joined them another minute or so later, lovingly holding her new cat and handing Ron his forgotten bottle of rat tonic.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Dinner at the Leaky Cauldron was an enjoyable affair. Five courses, everyone together laughing and looking forward to another school year. Mr Weasley revealed that they Ministry would be providing them with a pair of cars for the journey to King's Cross, and when Percy asked him why, he explained that it was a favor he'd asked of them that they were inclined to grant on account of all the extra work he'd been putting in lately. A rather flimsy excuse, Harry thought, given that in this timeline he still had his own perfectly functioning car. Sure enough, his ears went noticably red a few moments later.
After pudding, Hermione went upstairs to her room to pack, as did the twins (to everyone's surprise), while Harry, Ron, and Ginny stayed downstairs for a bit playing pub games. They grew bored of this around forty minutes later and began the trek upward themselves, only to be waylaid halfway by a very suspicious looking Fred and George.
'Word to the wise, Percy's on the warpath,' Fred warned in whispered tones.
'Can't find his Head Boy badge,' George explained.
'And why can't he?' asked Ginny, raising her eyebrow.
'We might've taken it upon ourselves to improve it a bit,' said Fred, producing the badge with a flourish. It now read "Bighead Boy".
'He'll murder you,' said Ron, a glint of mirth in his eye.
'Ah, but that would be conduct unbecoming of someone in his position,' said George. 'Besides, he has no proof it was us.'
'Aside from fifteen years experience living with you, you mean,' said Ginny.
'Yes, aside from that,' Fred agreed. 'Hardly enough to satisfy the Wizengamot in any case.'
'We'll make sure to avoid him,' said Harry, trying his best not to laugh. It was in everyone's best interest, he knew, not to alienate Percy too much, but sometimes the older Weasley boy just made it so easy.
'Oh, bollocks, I've forgotten Scabbers's rat tonic,' said Ron, feeling in his pockets. 'Harry, you have to come back with me; I'm not risking running into Percy alone.'
'You two do what you want; I'm escaping into my room right now,' said Ginny, and she crept upstairs ahead of the twins, who were still snickering and debating what further improvements they could make to Percy's badge.
'Fine, let's be quick, though,' said Harry. 'I want to get to bed so I can get up in the morning.'
They headed back downstairs, and were halfway along the now dark passage to the bar, when they heard Mr and Mrs Weasley in the middle of – if not a row, then at least a very heated discussion.
Harry's face went hot. He suddenly remembered exactly what they were talking about, having overheard it before, and it wasn't exactly something he'd have chosen for Ron to hear. It was too late, though, judging by the growing look of horror on his friend's face.
'Ron,' Harry whispered, subtly trying to suggest that they should leave and come back, but Ron snapped a finger to his lips to shush him, and insisted on staying. Harry almost resigned himself, but thought he'd try one more time to distract Ron, but before he had the chance he was interrupted by a bang. It sounded as though Mr Weasley had slammed his hand down on the bar.
'Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report in in the press because Fudge wants it kept quiet, but the Azkaban guards told the aurors that Black had been talking in his sleep for days before his escape. Always the same words: "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."'
Well, thought Harry. At least that little bit of deception worked. Thanks for taking the bait, Padfoot.
'Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right,' Mrs Weasley was saying. 'But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore.'
Harry gave a hard tug on Ron's arm and mouthed 'Come on!' Ron looked like he wanted to stay and hear more, but even he had to concede that most everything worth hearing had already been said, and allowed Harry to pull him away.
'Bloody hell,' Ron whispered once they were back on the stairs. The rat tonic would have to wait. 'Did you know about this?'
'No,' Harry lied. 'How would I? Not really anything new though, is it? An infamous dark wizard wants me dead? Must be Tuesday.'
'Harry…' Ron said, a dark look on his face.
'No, don't start,' Harry cut him off quickly. 'Your parents worrying about it is bad enough. And don't go blabbing to Hermione, either; you know how she'll react and she's got enough stress at the moment what with school starting and everything. We can always tell her later.'
'You're really not scared?' Ron asked, sounding dubious.
'I'm really not,' Harry assured him, though not, of course, for reasons he could divulge. 'Your mum was right about one thing; there's probably nowhere safer in Britain than wherever Dumbledore is.'
'Okay, that is a good point,' said Ron, calming slightly. 'I just thought you'd be a bit more...shocked, at least.'
'Maybe I should have been,' said Harry, though faking shock was something he was certain anyone even casually paying attention would see through. 'But it's like I said: mad as it is, I've come to almost sort of expect this type of thing.'
'Just because You-Know-Who tried to do you in a handful of times?' said Ron, who seemed to realize the absurd dark humor in what he was saying halfway through saying it.
'It starts to desensitise a bloke.'
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
The Ministry drivers were punctual and efficient. (It didn't hurt that they could skip to the front of the queue at every traffic light). Before they knew it, the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione were wheeling their belongings through Kings Cross to the divider between platforms 9 and 10.
'Let's do this in pairs as there are so many of us,' said Mr Weasley, surreptitiously looking around. 'I'll go through first with Harry.'
Harry took hold of his trolley and pushed it through. Ginny and Percy came barreling through mere moments later; they barely had time to get out of the way. Percy was already strutting off to meet his girlfriend Penelope by the time the twins came through. It was still odd to see Percy with anyone but his wife of three years. Unlike his brothers, Percy had always been "older" from Harry's perspective, so it was harder to differentiate this younger version of him from the one Harry knew from his old life.
Once the whole group of them was on the platform, they climbed onto the train to stow their luggage, then came back out to the platform to say goodbye. Mrs Weasley began passing out sandwiches to her children, and Mr Weasley pulled Harry behind a pillar.
'There's something I've got to tell you before you leave, Harry,' he said quietly.
'It's all right, Mr Weasley,' he said. 'I already know.'
Harry was sure this was much the same conversation the two of them must have had before, because one thing Mr Weasley said to him stuck out, pricking a memory he hadn't known he had.
'Harry, swear to me that you won't go looking for Black.'
Originally, Harry had been very puzzled by this. Now, of course, he understood completely Mr Weasley's thinking. He, like the rest of wizarding Britain, thought Sirius a deranged murderer and Death Eater, and as a Ministry employee and friend of Dumbledore, he probably also knew about Sirius's supposed betrayal of Harry's parents and was worried that Harry would try to seek revenge or something if he found out. Harry caught himself almost smirking. It did sound like the sort of thing he might have wanted to do. The adults in his life certainly knew him well. The ones that weren't related to him, anyway.
After assuring Mr Weasley that he wouldn't do anything so foolish (I won't need to, he thought to himself), he scrambled onto the train just as it was getting ready to pull away.
'Finally!' said Hermione when he joined them in the train corridor. 'We're going to have a job finding a compartment now. They're nearly all full, surely.' Ron, meanwhile, was eyeing Harry suspiciously, as though he knew exaclty what he and Mr Weasley had just been talking about. He gave Ron the tiniest of nods, though he didn't know if that would make him feel better or worse about it.
'We'll find one,' he said to Hermione. 'Come on.'
The four of them traipsed off down the corridor, but they did not find a single empty compartment until they reached the end of the train. Harry had expected this, of course. This train ride was another memory that stood out strongly. The compartment wasn't entirely empty, of course. Professor Lupin was sleeping in it just as he remembered. He experienced the now-familiar wave of emotion upon seeing his old professor, just as he had with Fred and Dobby. He hoped only Ginny noticed; Ron and Hermione were busy talking about who this strange new professor was and what he might be like.
The first part of the train ride was a quiet one. They considered playing exploding snap, but thought it might wake Professor Lupin and so decided against it. They mostly talked about what they hoped to get out of the new school year, a conversation which naturally evolved out of speculation over Lupin's qualifications for teaching Defense (Harry and Ginny expressed confidence, Ron was doubful but insisted they couldn't do any worse than the year before, and Hermione said she hoped he was at least as good as Professor Overdeck).
It was mostly Hermione talking about how excited she was to start all her new classes, but somehow or another the topic eventually came around to Hogsmeade.
'Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore the village?' Hermione asked.
'You'll have to tell me when you find out,' said Harry. 'The Dursleys didn't sign my form.' He hadn't even bothered to ask them to, but that was beside the point.
'You're not allowed to come?' Ron said, horrified. He shot an apologetic glance at Lupin then lowered his voice back down. 'But – no way – McGonagall or someone else will give you permission –'
'Right, because McGonagall's famous for bending the rules and giving people special treatment,' said Harry.
'You should've asked Mum and Dad,' said Ron. 'I bet they'd have signed it for you, and Dumbledore probably would have accepted that.'
Which was precisely the reason he hadn't brought it up during his stay at the Burrow. He didn't share Ron's confidence that Dumbledore would accept a form signed by the Weasleys, but there was always the chance he would. He needed Fred and George to take pity on him and give him the map; he didn't feel right stealing it from them.
'I don't think they would have,' said Harry, giving Ron a knowing look, which of course made Hermione curious. 'You know why.'
'You can't mean...surely they've got all kinds of security in the village, just like Diagon Alley.'
'What are you talking about?' Hermione asked.
'Oh...it's nothing important,' said Ron, his ears going pink. 'We'll tell you later.' He glanced at Ginny, as if to pretend her presence was the reason he wasn't being forthcoming. He continued to look uncomfortable for much of the ride, however.
Accepting Ron's explanation for the time being, Hermione bent to loosen the straps on Crookshanks's basket.
'Don't let that thing out!' Ron exclaimed, but too late. Crookshanks emerged from his basket and jumped right onto Ron's knees. The lump in his pocket that was Scabbes began quivering. Ron looked ready to shove the cat off his lap, but Ginny hopped up to defuse the situation.
'Oh, you big baby,' she said to her brother. 'Here, Crookshanks, come sit with me.' She picked up the ginger cat, who did not protest but also did not take his eyes from Ron's pocket. She sat back down with the cat on her own lap and began to pet him. He soon relaxed and lay down, but kept his eyes on Scabbers's hidden quaking form the entire time.
About an hour into the journey, Luna wandered in. Ginny got up at once to hug her and insisted she stay. The flighty Ravenclaw looked pleased.
'I wondered where you were, you know,' she said, sitting down. 'I reasoned the most foolproof way to find you was to start at one end of the train and go to the other.'
'Our bad luck you started at the other end,' said Ginny. 'See anything interesting?'
'There are a lot of new first years this year,' said Luna. 'Far more than we had in our class last year. And I think a Hufflepuff boy around the middle of the train may be trying to smuggle in a blibbering humdinger, though I suppose it's also possible he just doesn't wash his socks.'
Harry and Ginny, who were quite versed in Luna's bizarre creatures, took this in stride, but Ron and Hermione looked rather flummoxed. Hermione in particular didn't seem to know what to make of the statement.
They didn't receive many more visitors. The witch with the trolley came by, and Harry bought them all snacks as usual. They debated over waking Professor Lupin but opted to let him sleep.
Malfoy of course made an appearance as he always did, but left quickly when he realized the fifth occupant of their compartment was a teacher.
'Doesn't he have anything better to do?' Ginny asked after he was gone.
'No,' Ron answered matter of factly without even looking up from his fudge.
The rain outside the train, which had been falling for most of the trip, had grown into a thick downpour now. The windows became a solid grey, then black as natural light faded behind thick dark clouds and lanterns sparked to life all along the Hogwarts Express, reflecting their flickering light in the glass.
'We must be nearly there,' said Ron, staring out into the blackness. Only their own reflections were visible besides the rain that still lashed the outside of the train. No sooner had he said it than the train began to slow down.
'Brilliant,' said Ron. 'I'm starving; I can't wait to get to the feast.'
A cold shiver ran down Harry's spine. He remembered this part of the train journey perhaps best of all, and it was not something he was looking forward to. Ginny was looking a bit clammy as well, for all she was still putting on a brave face. Luna was asking her if she'd swallowed a glumbumble, and wondering how one would have gotten into their compartment.
'We can't be there yet,' said Hermione, checking her watch.
'Then why are we stopping?' asked Ron.
No one had an answer. More for something to do and to quell his churning stomach than anything, Harry got up and went to the door, peering out into the compartment, half expecting a dementor to already be gliding its way toward them. The anticipation somehow seemed almost as bad as the thing itself.
All along the carriage, other heads were sticking out, looking confused or curious. Then with a lurch and the thuds of baggage falling off racks all along its length, the train came to a full stop. Moments later the lights all winked out, leaving them in pitch blackness. Cries of alarm rang up and down the corridor.
'What's going on?' said Ron, whom Harry could sense had stood up behind him.
'No idea,' lied Harry, trying to keep a lid on his rising dread. The knowledge that he would not be able to conjure a patronus in front of so many witnesses, and would thus be essentially defenseless, was adding a great deal to his distress. 'Let's sit back down.'
'Ouch!' cried Hermione's voice. 'Ron, that was my foot!'
They felt their way back to their seats. There was a squeaking sound, and Harry could just make out Ron's silhouette wiping away the fog on the window and peering out into the night.
'There's something moving out there,' he reported. 'I think people are coming aboard...'
Their compartment door slid open again, and Harry felt a jolt of panic, spinning around. His hand was halfway to his wand before he even realized it before he felt someone tripping over his legs.
'Sorry! Do you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry...'
'Neville!' said Harry, his relief palpable. 'You startled me.' He knew he probably sounded less calm than the situation warranted, so was trying to play it off as best he could.
'Harry! Is that you? What's happening?'
'No idea,' Harry repeated. 'Come sit down.' He hefted Neville up and guided him to the place he'd just been sitting, using the opportunity to move over to the opposite side of the compartment where Ginny and Luna were. He wedged himself down next to Ginny, and she took his hand and squeezed it. No one could see them, and the comfort she provided was almost worth it even if they could.
'I think we should go and ask the driver what's going on,' said Hermione. Harry heard her get up and step carefully toward the door. Neville cried out again when she tripped over his foot.
'I wonder if we're all experiencing a shared dream,' mused Luna out of nowhere.
'We'd have to have gone to sleep for that,' said Ron.
'Of course,' Luna agreed. 'But if a drompiper somehow got in...'
'We're not asleep,' Hermione said impatiently. 'We've just stopped for some reason.'
'Then why are the lights all out?' asked Neville.
'How should I know? That's why I want to talk to the driver.'
'Quiet,' came a new voice. Professor Lupin was awake. Any other time, hearing his voice probably would have sent Harry through the full gamut of grief, nostalgia, and relief all over again, but in these present circumstanes it served to steady and calm him. Lupin always had a way of making him feel safe and at ease, even in the worst circumstances.
Light filled the compartment as Lupin conjured a handfull of flames. Harry wondered why he didn't simply use lumos, but realized quickly that its targeted beam of light would probably be less useful in a situation like this.
'Everyone stay where you are,' said Lupin hoarsely, getting to his feet. He truly did look a bit worse for wear. Harry hadn't been paying attention to the lunar cycle, but he suspected the last full moon must have been very recent.
The door slid open before Lupin had a chance to move toward it. And there it was. The first dementor Harry had ever encountered. Already he felt his stomach contract, his lungs lose what air they contained, his legs go numb. It took a great, rattling breath, and he was overcome with cold. It was a disturbingly familiar feeling, but it hit him just as strongly as it ever had.
In his first encounter with this creature, he had lost all sense of time and reality, lost in the painful memories it conjured in his mind, even eventually passing out. Now, thanks to years of training and experience, he was able to hold onto his awareness, if only just. Every part of him itched to go for his wand, to call forth Prongs to drive this horrid thing away. It took all of his self control to restrain himself. If it weren't for Ginny's hand, still clutched in his despite the illumination of Professor Lupin's flames, he might not have had the strength.
The edges of his vision grew clouded. As ever, he could hear the dying screams of his mother as if through a thick curtain. But there were other memories, too. Walking into the forest, surrounded by jeering Death Eaters. Tied to a gravestone as Wormtail forcibly took his blood. Cedric dying before his eyes. Fred, dead in the Great Hall. Ron howling desperately as the sounds of Hermione being tortured carried down to them in the cellar at Malfoy Manor.
It felt like hours, reliving the absolute worst experiences of his life over and over, but what focus he managed to cling to told him it was only seconds. Lupin had crossed the compartment and was standing in front of the door.
'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks,' he said, his voice steady and determined. 'Go.' The dementor, of course, did not oblige. Lupin pulled out his wand and muttered the spell Harry had been longing to cast. A burst of silver shot toward the dementor and it turned and glided away. Harry absently noted that Lupin's patronus did not take a corporeal form. Perhaps he thought it might alarm the rest of them further.
'What happened?' Neville mumbled weakly. No one answered him. No one was ready to speak yet.
There was a loud snapping noise; Lupin was breaking apart a massive slab of chocolate. He handed the first (rather large) piece to Harry.
'Here,' he said. 'Eat it. It'll help.'
Harry didn't need to be told twice. He took a bite almost at once, and relished in the feeling of warmth flooding back into his limbs.
'What was that thing?' asked Ron, accepting his own piece of chocolate.
'A dementor. One of the dementors of Azkaban.' Hermione, Ron, and Neville gaped. Luna was daintily nibbling at her piece of chocolate. Ginny was wolfing hers down as fast as Harry was.
'Make sure you eat all of that,' Lupin told them, rather unnecessarily, Harry thought. 'I need to speak to the driver; excuse me...'
'Ugh, that was horrible,' said Neville through a mouthful of chocolate. 'Did everyone else get really cold?'
There were nods all around.
'I felt weird,' said Ron, shifting uncomfortably. 'Like I'd never be cheerful again.'
'But that's what dementors do, isn't it?' asked Luna serenely. She alone had yet to get halfway through her chocolate, but she looked the most composed of all of them. 'They drain all the happiness out of you, leaving you with only your worst memories and darkest thoughts. I've always thought they sounded terrible, but it was worse than I ever imagined. I wouldn't mind never having to go through that again.'
Harry was impressed but not surprised that Luna knew this. He wondered if it was common knowledge amongst people raised in the magical community, but both Neville and Ron were acting as though this was new information to them. Hermione he couldn't get a read on, but he would not be shocked at all to learn she had read of dementors at some point.
Professor Lupin returned in short order, and informed them that they'd be arriving at Hogwarts in ten minutes' time.
'Is everyone all right?' he asked. There were subdued nods and a few muttered responses, but he didn't appear to be expecting much more than that.
Conversation was minimal for the remainder of the trip. When they finally arrived at Hogsmeade station, the sound of the steam engine coming to a halt was like a collective sigh of relief from all its passengers. As they disembarked, the familiar cry of 'Firs'-years this way!' gave Harry renewed heart. It was going to be a long year, assuming they remained trapped for its entirity, but at the end of it he'd have his godfather back at long last.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
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Ah! Feels good to finish something. This is one of those "move the plot from point A to point B" chapters that I'm not typically a fan of, but that are necessary to advance the story. I tried to keep it as engaging as I could while still glossing over as much unnecessary rehash as possible. I hope I struck a balance.
Thanks to everyone who's been reading along this whole time, and to people who've just started. Leave a review and let me know your thoughts; I love reading them! Happy November