Chapter 47: Some Scary Bullshit

The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north. The windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train rattled, the rain hammered, the wind roared, but still, Professor Lupin slept.

"We must be nearly there." I said, leaning forward to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely black window.

The words had hardly left me when the train started to slow down.

"Great." I said, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast."

"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.

"So why're we stopping?" said Harry, cautiously.

The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows.

Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments.

The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.

"What's going on?" I said, backing up some.

"Ouch!" gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"

"Sorry."

"Do you think we've broken down?" asked Harry.

"Dunno..."

There was a squeaking sound. I wiped a patch clean on the window and peered out. It looked like figures were walking about, but I couldn't make out who they were

"There's something moving out there." I said. "I think people are coming aboard."

The compartment door suddenly opened and I heard a painful yelp.

"Sorry! Do you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry." said a familiar voice.

"Hullo, Neville." said Harry.

"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"

"No idea! Sit down. "

There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks.

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on." came Hermione's voice. I heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain.

"Who's that?"

"Who's that?"

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron."

"I'm here, Gin, come in and sit down."

"Not here!" said Harry. "I'm here!"

"Ouch!" said Neville.

"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly.

Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. I could hear movements in his corner.

None of us spoke.

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 looked alert and wary.

"Stay where you are." he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him.

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. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.

I suddenly felt as if I had stepped into an icebox. The room felt suffocating, as if the creature was sucking the breath out of my body. I suddenly felt as if nothing, not Mum's cooking, not laughing and hanging out with Hermione and Harry, not spending time talking to Bill, nothing, would make me happy again.

I turned to Ginny, who was shaking like mad, holding her legs and whimpering in the corner of the compartment. Hermione looked as if she couldn't move. I looked over at Harry , who had fallen onto the floor, eyes closed, shaking as if he were having some sort of episode. Professor Lupin stepped over him, walked toward the Dementor, and pulled out his wand.

"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." he said. But the Dementor didn't move. Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, causing it to glide off.

Hermione and I went down to the floor beside Harry. I shook him harder than he was shaking himself, trying to get him up.

"Harry? Oh Harry, please!" squeaked Hermione. Ginny and Neville looked horrified.

"Harry! Harry! Are you alright?" I said, starting to slap his face.

"W-what?" mumbled Harry, coming to. Both Hermione and I sighed, relieved.

The train was moving again and the lights had come back on. Harry pushed his glasses up over his nose, drawing back his sweaty hand.

Hermione and I heaved him back onto his seat.

"Are you okay?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah." said Harry, looking quickly toward the door. "What happened? Where's that - that thing? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed." I said, confused as to what he was talking about.

Harry looked around as if he had lost something important.

"But I heard screaming -" he said.

A loud snap made us all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.

"Here." he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."

Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it.

"What was that thing?" he asked Lupin.

"A Dementor." said Lupin, who was now giving chocolate to the rest of us. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban."

We looked at him, terrified. How the bloody hell did dementors get here?

"Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me."

He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor.

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously.

"I don't get it ... what happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.

"Well," began Hermione. "that thing... the Dementor, stood there and looked around...I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face, and you - you -"

"I thought you were having a fit or something," I said fearfully. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching."

"It was horrible." said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"

"I felt weird," I said, an uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine, causing me to shift my shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again."

Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob. Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her.

"But didn't any of you fall off your seats?" said Harry awkwardly.

"No." I said. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though."

Harry looked puzzled and frustrated. Professor Lupin had came back and paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know."

I took a bite of the chocolate and felt instant warmth and good vibes run all the way throughout my entire body. I looked around and noticed everyone else looked a bit brighter too.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes." said Professor Lupin. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Fine." he muttered.

Ginny came and sat beside me, putting her head on my shoulder as I put my arm around her.

"Alright there, Gin?" I whispered so no one else would hear.

"No." she whispered back, voice trembling. "It was first year all over again, Ron."

"He's gone now, Gin." I said, trying to reassure her. "It's going to be okay. He can't harm you anymore, you understand?"

Ginny nodded and buried her face into my shirt as I rubbed her back. Hermione gave me a concerned look.

We didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. There wasn't anything that anybody could say to bring some real comfort. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.

"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. We turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.

"Alright, you three?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. We waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them was shunting them away along the platform. We followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled by some invisible horse, or they just moved themselves.

As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, I looked over and saw two Dementors, standing guard on either side. I seized up as I felt another wave of coldness. Thankfully, it wasn't as intense as it had been on the train. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and Hermione and I got out.

As Harry stepped down, an annoyingly delighted voice came harping out of nowhere.

"You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually fainted?"

Malfoy elbowed past Hermione to block Harry's way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously.

"Sod off, Malfoy," I said, jaw clenched.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" said Malfoy loudly. "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"

"Is there a problem?" said a mild voice. Professor Lupin had just gotten out of the next carriage.

Malfoy stared at Professor Lupin, as if he were assessing him. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he said, "Oh, no - er - Professor." then he smirked at Crabbe and Goyle and led them up the steps into the castle.

Hermione prodded me in the back to make me hurry, and the three of us joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.

The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right. We followed the crowd toward it, but had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"

Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. Professor McGonagall was calling over the heads of the crowd. She was a stern looking witch who wore her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes were framed with square spectacles.

"There's no need to look so worried. I just want a word in my office," she told them. "Move along there, Weasley."

I stared as Professor McGonagall ushered Harry and Hermione away from the chattering crowd I shrugged, thinking nothing bad of it. Hermione had never done anything to get in trouble(well she never got caught doing anything that would get her in trouble), and Harry hadn't done anything yet to be in trouble.

I went in and sat on the long bench in front of Gryffindor table. I stretched out my leg on the bench, so that Hermione and Harry would have a place to sit.

"Wotcher, Ron." said Dean, walking over to me and sitting down on my other side. "Nasty business with those dementors, wasn't it? I never felt so horrible in my entire life."

"Yeah, barmy wasn't it?" I said, not really wanting to speak on it, as I didn't want Harry's name to come up and someone else tease him about fainting.

Neville sat down across from me. I glared at him, and he gulped. He didn't have to go and tell everyone what had happened. Ginny sat down next to her friend Colin, who was sitting on Neville's right.

Soon, everyone was seats and the sorting had begun. We got a nice group of Gryffindors, and by the time it was done, Harry and Hermione had returned.

I moved my leg and scooted over. Harry sat on one side of me, while Hermione sat down on the other.

"What was all that about?" I muttered to Harry.

Harry was about to explain, but at that moment the headmaster stood up to speak.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks." he added blandly, and Harry and I glanced at one another.

"It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said.

Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Harry, puffed out his chest again and stared around impressively. I groaned.

"On a happier note," he continued, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Harry, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and I clapped a bit harder for him. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.

"Look at Snape!" I hissed in Harry's ear.

Professor Snape, the Potions master, was staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but it was startling to see the expression on his thin, sallow face. It was beyond anger: it was loathing. Like Lupin had personally pissed him off.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

Harry, Hermione, and I stared at one another, stunned. Then, we joined in with the applause, which was loudest of all at the Gryffindor table in particular. Hagrid was ruby red in the face and staring down at his enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of his black beard.

"We should've known!" I roared, pounding the table. "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?"

Us three were the last to stop clapping, and as Professor Dumbledore started speaking again, as Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance." said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. My stomach rumbled with excitement. I didn't realize how hungry I was until the food had appeared.

It was a delicious feast; the hall echoed with talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks. However, Harry, Hermione, and I were eager for it to finish so that we could talk to Hagrid. We knew how much being made a teacher would mean to him. Hagrid wasn't a fully qualified wizard; he had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year for a crime he had not committed. It had been us who had cleared Hagrid's name last year.

At long last, when the last morsels of pumpkin tart had melted from the golden platters, Dumbledore gave the word that it was time for them all to go to bed, and we got our chance.

"Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed as we reached the teacher's' table.

"All down ter you three," said Hagrid, wiping his shining face on his napkin as he looked up at us. "Can' believe it...great man, Dumbledore...came straight down to me but after Professor Kettleburn said he'd had enough...It's what I always wanted..."

Overcome with emotion, he buried his face in his napkin, and Professor McGonagall shooed us away.

We joined the Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, to the hidden entrance to Gryffindor Tower, where the portrait of the Fat Lady asked us, "Password?"

"Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind is. "The new password is Fortuna Major!"

"Oh no." said Neville, sadly. He always had trouble remembering the passwords.

Through the portrait hole and across the common room, the girls and boys divided toward our separate staircases. I climbed the spiral stair with no thought in my head except how glad I was to be back. I sighed as I looked at my welcoming four poster bed. Everyone hurried into showers and pajamas, and I was sleep before my head even hit the pillow.