The weeks passed very quickly for Harry, between the increased workload and the ever increasingly interesting topics of the lessons themselves, not to mention Quidditch practice four times a week, and the hours that Smara and he chatted inside his mind using their connection. Time indeed seemed to sift through the students' fingers before they could realize it was passing by. That was how Harry found himself preparing for the first Hogsmeade trip of his school career the day before Halloween. Fred and George easily admitted that there was a definite dreariness on the usual excitement of the trip to the village, the presence of the dementors, as far as they were from the school, were still powerful enough to affect the general mood of the castle's inhabitants. But the excitement of a new adventure was still very palpable for the third year students and Harry was for once among their number in acting like an overexcited child as they passed Mister Filch, getting poked and prodded by the man's secrecy sensor.
Hermione and Ron were not the only ones accompanying Harry for this new experience, Daphne and Tracey had decided to come with them them as offl, with many sidelong glances from the Slytherins like pansy parkinson. When Lupin and Sirius had heard Harry had never been to the village they both decided that Harry needed extra escorts as well. Lupin especially came through, carrying a handful of large rich chocolate bars to eat while passing the dementors. Sadly, Despite the added protection of the chocolate Harry felt the effect of the dark creatures on his mind, dark memories swirled in the background of his thoughts like mud swirling through a crystal clear pool. When they passed the gates of Hogwarts and then Hogsmeade station to view the village properly, they were greeted by a sight straight from a fairytale book.
The village of Hogsmeade looked like a postcard. The old fashioned houses alight with the warm glow of candles. The grey of the sky and the dark barren tree trunks surrounding the shops made the brightly colored signs of shops like Gladrags Wizardwear, Dogweed and Deathcap, Zonko's joke shop, and in the center of the town square, the legendary, Three Broomsticks, a pub steeped in more magical history than even the leaky cauldron. pop out in front of their eyes. The magical effects surrounding the signs made the effect even more fabulous.
Still though as Harry grinned around taking in all the sights around him, entranced by the sheer magic-ness of it all, a definite stiffness in the residents' posture and a slight rush to their steps that the students lacked. Focusing his magic outward he studied the area around him; a definite pall shrouded the area in a dreary shroud, a nearly constant thrum of fear surrounded the area as well, much fresher and stronger than the depression of the dementors. His ability to sense magic around himself is too overcrowded here and he had still not mastered syphoning off the more static magic from more active sources around him so he was unable to truly differentiate the sources Nor could he sus out the reasons fornthe semsations based on such loose feelings.
"Sirius? What is up with the people? This doesn't seem like the depression caused by dementors." The two older men shared a look that they often did when Harry noted something they wish he hadn't.
"Ahh well, that's because it's not. We were asked not to spread it around in fear it might cause a panic, the, uh, Board of Governors almost canceled today's trip. It was Sirius' and my own testimony that allowed it to proceed. Pettigrew was spotted yesterday evening, he must have gotten too close to the dementors or too weak from hunger. And lost the grip on his powers for a bit. He was seen stealing food and blankets from a house near the edge of the village. They called in more dementors and surrounded the village's outer barriers to prevent him from escaping. We told them after such a slip up he'll be going careful for a while and won't pose a danger. He is after all in his deepest nature a coward. Never did anything without someone bigger and better to back him up. So in our expert opinions he won't do anything unless he has back up. And he knows we have the map so there's very little chance of him sneaking into the school." Remus explained this as Sirius was giving a small rundown of the local shops to the ithers in the group, where to go and where to avoid.
"Madam Puddifoot's tea shop is a good place to take a girly girl on a date" he said as he elbowed Ron. "But horrendous to anyone with a fully functioning prefrontal cortex; Dervish and Banges sells magical hardware like Sneakoscopes, telescopes and pocket planetariums but a lot of students avoid it because they also deal in magical antiques and don't shy away from things of more darker nature, a lot like the Hog's Head or certain stores in Knockturn Alley — nothing quite illegal but certainly morally grey. Hmm, it looks like it's closed." Sirius said, peeking down a side street to the building where the Hog's Head used to be.
"Oh yea." Harry interjected. " I had Gringotts repossess it and then I closed the thing. It was technically Dumbledore's and he still owes me a few hundred thousand galleons. I think Andromeda wants to fix the place up. But by the looks of the it burning it down might suit it better." Explained Harry quickly.
"I quite agree that the place looks foul. I don't think I'd go in if you paid me." Sniffed Hermione.
"I wouldn't do that Harry. These buildings are ancient, renovation is easier and gentler than demolition. You might destroy something hidden or forgotten and not know it." Lupin pointed out. "So where do you all want to check out first?"
"Dervish and Banges " echoes Harry and Daphne.
"Tomes and Scrolls" called Hermione.
"Honeydukes!" came from Tracey and Ron. "Like I said, I don't care what we do. I've been dying to come to this store for years but mom never took me before Hogwarts." Said Ron.
"Ok well, why Dervish and Banges, Harry? We just said it doesn't have a stellar reputation." Asked Lupin.
"Err, I want a few sneakoscopes? Ron got me one from Egypt. But it was a cheap one and cracked when Fred and George came near it trying to prank the Gryffindor Chasers. Something about itching powder." This explanation simply got silent nods of understanding out of the group and Sirius led the way to the wizarding equipment shop. True to what Sirius said earlier, the inside of the store was austere, and neatly organized. Instead of piles of goods for sale each product had its very own display, with no other products near it. There were several different types and sizes of things that resembled the Sneakoscope Ron had gotten him. There were a few varieties of auto diction quills, a medium sized mirror that seemed to have shadows bustling about inside of it, strange pieces of furniture, crystal balls and an entire wall of crystal phylacteries of various sizes; and in a far corner was a black curtain leading into a seperate room with a sign next to it "must be seventeen or older to enter." The proprietor of the store came and introduced himself as Mister Dervish, and was very happy to sell two mid range Sneakoscopes to Harry. One for Harry to keep in his dorm for Ron and himself and the other he immediately tried to hand over to Hermione. Daphne picked out a pair of Sneakoscopes as well. "One for me and Tracey and one for Tori. If Hermione and Ron could be targets then we could be as well." No one argued with her and Daphne and Tracey pointedly ignored him when Harry said in a teasing tone "if you put those things down in the snake pit won't they just ring off constantly?"
"Oh Harry, I don't need that. Please don't waste your mon-" Hermione tried to argue when he tried to hand her the magical device fir the third time.
"I'm not wasting anything, Hermione. Scabbers, or Pettigrew, whatever you want to call him knows we're close. If he's a coward like those two say he might not come after me straight away, but, you know, he might try to catch one of you lot, to force me into submission. I'd like you to have some protection against the unknown while he's skulking around." Said Harry with a fiery, do not argue with me attitude that for some reason wrung a smile out of both of their older escorts.
They spent the next few hours wandering from shop to shop filling the time with idle chatter and doing their best to avoid the depression caused by being surrounded by so many dementors. In response to the solemn atmosphere, Harry spoiled his friends. Never having been on a shopping trip quite like this before, Harry loaded himself and the others with new premium stationery and quills from Scribbonshafts, a full wizarding history encyclopedia for any of them to use or borrow from Tomes and Scrolls. The 170 volume encyclopedia was to be sent to Lupin's office so that Daphne could retrieve a volume if she needed it. And they all spent far, far too much money at Honeydukes; Harry never having experienced the sheer availability of candy before went nuts and bought a selection of everything they had in the store. Except of course the two products he suspected weren't meant for humans: cockroach clusters, and blood pops. Daphne and Tracey drug a squirming Hermione to a witches specialist goods store for some "quick girl time". When they came back nearly 2 hours later Hermione was still bright pink and refused point blank to explain what the shop was like or what they had purchased in that store. Much to the amusement of Sirius and Lupin, and Hermione clamped her hand over Tracey's mouth. She still got "What, Hermione don't want to tell Harry what kind of ni-" out before Hermione clamped her mouth shut.
After their shopping spree, the two professors shrunk down everyone's bags for ease of transport. And they all went to have dinner at the Three Broomsticks where Harry and Hermione were introduced to the specialty drink of the Three Broomsticks. Hot, thick, and foamy Butterbeer. It was incredible, the taste was indescribable, and the warmth it put into Harry's body was like a hot compress onto his very soul. After their meal and the amazing drink Harry wanted nothing more than to lean back and take a nap while listening to the idle chatter of hundreds of people in the bar. Harry sat in between Daphne and Hermione for several hours, enjoying the conversations and testing out mixing his and Smara's senses, a skill that they had only recently begun developing; he had to stop after only a few tries as it was giving him a migraine. He also spent the time blushing as red as a tomato and dodging Sirius' very pointed questions and jokes about the witches on either side of him. All in all, it was an amazing Saturday and he fell asleep eagerly awaiting the Halloween feast the next day. It was of a light soothing humming tune he dreamt of. A tune that he didn't remember hearing before and yet was so familiar and comforting he hadn't even realized that sleep had claimed him.
The next day passed quickly. Harry and his friends spent most of the day in Lupin's room which was quickly becoming the standard hangout spot for his friends and himself. They spent the day working on, researching, and compiling notes on Professor Chambers' project. Daphne had gathered no less than 10 books about the magical order of the first Chinese dynasty and was organizing notes on the various things she wanted to write about. Hermione had chosen the indigenous culture of Australia and had already compiled notes and was now formulating drafts. Ron however had chosen Ancient Rome, being a culture that he was most familiar with but only had 2 reference books and had compiled no notes, choosing to read the books first instead. Harry was already compiling a litany of reference books about the Aztec, or Mexican culture and had written to several people he had met while in Mexico for first person viewpoints. Lupin and even Sirius were able to help each student with a tidbit here of there but for the most part they let the students go about their own studies while they graded papers, or in Sirius' case sat at a desk sifting through the pile of paperwork needed to manage the Black family's massive holdings.
Aside from the mountain of work his friends and he were doing, Harry was working so hard to serve another purpose, a distraction. Halloween would never mean anything good for Harry because it was the anniversary of the death of his parents. By now he was noticing the beginning of a pattern in Hogwarts. Halloween ment danger for him. The troll in first year and the beginning of the troubles with the shade of Tom Riddle last year — well shortly before Halloween — but the nerves were still there; though today seemed to be going well, they broke for lunch and everything was fine but that all changed around dinner time. A loud commotion was heard echoing through the halls and the teachers all sprinted off in different directions to find out what happened as it sounded like a part of the castle collapsed. It was clarified after dinner when Harry and his friends returned to Lupin's room to find the headmistress talking to Harry's would-be uncles. As they were opening the door the magically magnified voice of deputy headmaster Flitwick rang through the halls. "All students return to your house dormitories, all students please return to your house dormitories."
As the announcement fell silent they caught the last part of the headmistress' words.
"They're fine, thank goodness, but they wanted me to tell you "it's gone, taken." but they wouldn't elaborate-" She broke off upon noticing the four students enter the room, her face darkening further at seeing Ron. "Mister Weasley, I was just about to come and find you. I'm afraid your brothers were attacked in that commotion we heard earlier." She held up a hand to forestall Ron from interrupting her. "They are fine but they will be spending the night in the hospital wing. Lupin, Black, escort these four up to Gryffindor tower. Miss Greengrass, I shall inform Professor Snape of your location. I must be off, please inform the students of the situation and stay up in the tower while they are here." Harry didn't like how the headmistress emphasized the word "they".
It was with a duel call of "Yes headmistress" that the two professors chivied the teens up the corridor. Then Hermione spoke. "Professor Lupin, what is going on, who attacked-" but it was Sirius that answered the young girl.
"Wormtail." Sirius said through clenched teeth.
"And he stole the map from the twins" answered Lupin in a calmer voice.
"I thought you had it!" Came a response from all three Gryffindors.
Lupin shrugged and smiled ruefully. "I am a Hogwarts professor, woe unto me for being too busy to keep track of a piece of parchment throughout the day. It has never, to my knowledge left my desk. It is in the same spot when I return from my classes every day; is what I tell myself while the twins have their fun. I am after all a prankster at heart and I didn't see a danger in letting them have it. I truly thought that Pettigrew would not act as he just proved he would. So now all bets are off. He can track us all now."
And that's when Sirius laughed. "No, he can't, it just so happens I changed the password on the map last night at our two twin terrors request. They had some foresight it seemed. We'll need to ask them to be sure, but I suspect they saw a rat one too many times for it to be a coincidence."
"Well there's an unsuspected silver lining." Muttered Lupin guiding them up the sixth floor stairwell. Harry noticed and thought it weird that both Lupin And Sirius seemed to be scenting the air like bloodhounds, but the idea struck him and he mixed his vision with Smara's . A sensation he quite hated as she saw only thermal signatures. Everything was a cool cold blue except for the burning fire that was the people around him. After only a few seconds he had to cancel it because of the head ache it caused.
Hermione and Daphne were both clutching Harry's arms as they walked, which caused some problems for Harry going up the stairs as he tripped over his or their feet at least six times with only their strength keeping him from toppling down the stairs. It was with a bit more difficulty and suspicion that they arrived at the Gryffindor portrait hole that swung open without requiring a password. "Don't think I'll do this all the time, you know this is a Gryffindor space and Slytherins are not normally allowed in, but student safety outweighs house rules" chided the Fat Lady from behind her frame as the two teachers assisted the students into the hole in the wall the portrait hid, before swinging herself shut. The bang of the portrait closing was followed by two quietly rattling bangs of wood smacking wood. And an echoing chorus going down the hall.
"What was that?" Asked Ron thumbing back at the portrait.
"That, young Mister Weasley, was the castle's defenses. The frames of the portraits have just entered lockdown mode and barred any and all hidden doors as well as hiding their occupants from sight. Even the suits of armor and statues have moved. It's to confuse invaders who might be knowledgeable of Hogwarts landmarks." Lupin addressed this to the whole of Gryffindor house. And took a break in speaking to make sure everyone was paying attention.
"Listen everyone, we have been infiltrated. Earlier two of your housemates were attacked by the rogue, dark wizard, Peter Pettigrew. Your head of house is currently with her children in the hospital wing. You should know the twins are fine and expected to make a full recovery. However the school will be on lockdown for the night and access to the corridors barred for the next few hours. Sirius and myself will be guarding the door and casting patroni to keep the effects of the dementors at bay for they will be doing a castle wide search with only the dorms blocked off from their search. Also for the night we Gryffindors will have a most important job. That of a host, for Miss Greengrass of Slytherin house will be joining us for the duration of the search, if not all night." A chorus of loud boos filled the air.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, we said we are playing host not falling into our school rivalries. I expect decorum during this time." called Sirius angrily. He then turned to said Slytherin student and said "I'm sorry for that, why don't you stay close to Hermione for the night? I think the house elves should have popped in an extra four poster."
"That will be most acceptable, Professor Black, thank you." She then stiffened her back and followed Hermione up the girls staircase, pausing only to turn and stick her tongue out to the room.
"Err Sirius? What's a pa-tron-ee?" Asked Harry.
""Patroni" is the plural form used for patronus which is a, uhh, a magical guardian of a kind, formed by casting the highly advanced Patronus charm. It's the only known spell that works against dementors."
"Wicked, why don't the teachers have those going all the time?"
"Because." Said Lupin speaking to the students who had gathered around to listen to this impromptu lesson. "The Patronus charm is a highly advanced piece of magic. Most magicals can't do it as it takes a good bit of power, and it is very draining to keep going long term. Not to mention it takes a strength of mind and focus to both conjure and maintain. Most proficient wizards can only hold it for about a minute."
"Then how are you going to hold it all night?"
"Ahh well that's because Sirius and I are rather special. What you need to power the patronus is a supremely happy memory. And we are the marauders, Lords of joy and laughter, and we just so happen to be in a room full of cramped up, hyperactive and best of all bored children." Everyone stared at Sirius like he grew a third head, how was being bored going to help anyone?
As if to answer their silent question, Lupin did something highly unexpected. He whirled around and pointed his wand at Sirius and with a flick and a flash of light Sirius was dressed exactly like Marie Antoinette, complete with swan wig. Sirius in return cast his voluminous skirts out and began pirouettes across the room, dragging reluctant boys around, speaking in swooning squeaky french. Almost immediately, the entire room was filled with laughter.
"The happier a caster is, the more powerful the patronus! And the easier it is to hold. For instance, Expecto Patronum!" Lupin cast with a strong voice and sharp jabbing motion, and from his wand leapt a startling silver white animal, so bright it made the roaring fire next to it seem dim. It was so bright it blinded Harry, so he threw a hand over his eyes until they adjusted; at first he couldn't make out what the animal was, but when he lowered his arm a huge wolf was on full display to many oo's and awws from the surrounding students.
A bout of dizziness seemed to overtake Harry and he dropped to his knees, Hermione rushing to his side. Sirius, who collapsed a second before him, dropped Lee Jordan mid-dip, and fell to the floor, catching himself with his closed fists, a ripple of cracks from his hands. And Neville and Ginny both followed him a few seconds later.
"Damn, they're here," muttered Sirius, quickly casting a dog patronus into the room and thus almost completely negating the dementors' soporific effects.
So deeply was Harry effected that even a minute after Sirius' patronus joined Lupin's, he lay on the ground, shaking the deeply repressed memories of torture, torment, and loneliness flashing through his mind like the receding after-shocks of a strong earth quake. A quiet "evanesco" was cast on the floor where Ginny had been sick. "How- How many are there?" Harry asked in disbelief as he allowed his magical sense to flood his consciousness only to see a swirling mass of black beneath him as it began to fill the castle.
"This might be more difficult than I imagined. Will someone look outside, given the strength of the effect? I doubt they're even in the castle yet. That first wave of power was them crossing the ward boundary I believe." Asked Lupin and a few seconds later there were gasps of shock and dread. "Hundreds! If not a thousand. They are coming on a wave of fog and ice. If anyone else can cast the patronus, the professors need all the help they can get."
Several seventh years successfully cast the spell. And as the strength of the effect grew, Lupin, Sirius and the seventh years all traded long, boastful and funny stories of times past, sharing funny spells and effects. The first and second years turned to ruckus and rough housing. And still they felt the effects somewhere far away echoing through the halls and the open air, a terrible scream let out longer and longer. A scream Harry recognized, for he had heard that same scream at the end of last year as Tom riddle carved a ritual circle into the bare flesh of Luna Lovegood.
A scream he promised himself the girl would never let loose again and immediately his eyes shifted to a window where he could see Ravenclaw tower. Without knowing he was doing anything he was suddenly up in his dormitory and retrieving his firebolt and he was almost out of the window next to his bed when a brown missile collided with him.
"No Harry! No! You can't." Hermione yelled Doing her best to push him against the ground and hold him there.
"Let go, Hermione! I need to get to her, I need to help Luna!"
"You can't help her right now Harry!" His friend yelled while trying to restrain his movements. With him still on the broom it was very hard for both of them to make headway in their goals. And with the screams of the poor tortured second year still ringing through the air, Harry was getting more and more frantic to get to the girl. It took several more seconds of pushing and pulling and twisting for more students to show up and finally it was Oliver Wood who shouted "Stupefy!" and struck Harry with a red beam of light from his wand. Harry immediately fell unconscious.
It was several hours later that Harry woke up laying on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. When he opened his eyes he was looking up at the chest and Head of Hermione and he could see and feel the blond hair of Daphnes laying on his shoulder. A soft whisper of voices surrounded them and a noticeable lack of dementor influence.
"Hey Hermione, you look different from this angle too" Harry whispered. His joke got a blush from Hermione and a snort from both her and Daphne.
"Hello Harry." Hermione said in a whisper as well. "We must stop meeting like this. People are going to start saying you swoon."
"I could imagine worse people to wake up laying on. I don't imagine Krabbe or Malfoy would be nearly as comfortable."
"I'm glad to know how well I rate as furniture, Harry, Now what were you thinking you complete dunderhead."
"I was thinking I needed to save Luna." Harry said unabashedly.
"Yes she needed saving but to risk flight while there was an entire legion of dementors here? Not all of them were in the castle you know. Sirius said that, that was most likely the entire ministry horde of dementors. They've gone now, thank all the gods but if they had caught you outside, you'd be dead Harry, dead! And where would that Leave me?"
In Harry's head he admitted to himself that it would leave her with the entirety of the potter estate, but he had long decided not to tell her, nor anyone else that tidbit of information. So he said " probably ahead in your studies without me dragging you down." This got A snort from Daphne proving she too was still awake.
"If anything Harry, Ide say she's so far ahead now because you push her to do better. Now If you ever do something as stupid as trying to willingly fly Into a horde of dementors I'll Cruciate you, myself and then feed you to your own snake from the toes up. She's quite cross with you as well I can tell, she came bounding up through the pipes in the shower not two minutes after Wood knocked you out. Now go eat as much chocolate as you can. The headmistress cleared out honeydukes, the kitchens, and every muggle confectioner within 100 miles." She gestured towards a table where a toga wearing house elf placed a fresh chocolate cake and popped away.
"What's going on now?" Asked Harry.
"Well we're still stuck here for the night. The professor's, prefects, and ghosts are doing a full search of the castle to make sure the dementors didn't get a hold of anything they shouldn't have or miss anything; they're not exactly convinced that him being an animagus doesn't change at least have some effect on him." Said Ron who looked very pale indeed which jogged his memory about Genny and her reaction to the dementors.
"How is Genny?" Harry asked, sitting up slowly.
"She's fine now,asleep, she had about as bad a reaction to them as you did at first."
"Her Worst memories are more recent Than mine. I didn't think it would have been easy for her." Harry let out a long sigh. "Did anyone else get bad?"
"Just longbottom." Said Daphne. "He was shaking like mad." This statement drew a nod from Hermione and Harry looked around to find him.
"He went to bed already, can't blame him." said Ron Yawning.
"Speaking of beds, where are you sleeping Daphne?" Asked Harry.
the young blonde snorts in amused derision. "Well the house elves don't do anything by halves. Instead of popping in a temporary bed for me they brought up not only my trunk but my entire bed from my room in the slytherin dorms. Honestly the whole room is so much warmer I might just stay up here."
They all stayed up abit later chatting before first Ron, then the twins and next Hermione and Daphne followed the rest of the fourth year girls up to bed, In fact a great deal of girls disappeared around the same time around the 1 o'clock Mark. Harry stayed up long after the last gryffindor Student went to bed only moving to throw more logs on the dwindling fire. So deep in his inner contemplation that he didn't feel the slightly familiar weight slide onto the couch and around his shoulders. Nor did he feel or register the sight of another person sitting next to him. Harry was startled slightly as he suddenly realized that Sirius Black was sitting next to him staring into the fire. Harry did not move or give any other sign that he knew the man was there, still he must have given his realization away somehow as it was only once Harry had realized he was there that Sirius began to speak in a deep melancholic voice.
"I worry sometimes. I worry that I'm still there on that God's forsaken island. They, my healers, say that no matter what, no how long it's been or how much time passes I will forever have much worse reactions to the dementors. A scar on my very soul. A more permanent mark than the tattoo they gave me of my prisoner number." he said deep and Slow, completely forgoing his usual boisterous speech pattern and clutching a spot on his forearm.
"I hear them. When those things are close. I hear Voldemort murdering my mother. Did you know that?"
Black nods without taking his eyes off the dancing flame "Lupin told me."
" this time I remembered more. My mum could do wandless summoning. She was fighting side By side with my dad but he told her to grab me and run once she lost her wand hand." Sirius sucked in a breath then and nodded shakily.
"Your mother was the most fierce witch I've ever met. She and your dad were a terror on the battlefield and the only two other people aside from Dumbledore who could stand Toe to toe against Voldemort. They had successfully fought him off three times before they went into hiding.
All those years in Azkaban I replayed the same three days over and over in my head. Walking into your house. Seeing my brother in all but blood de- and then finding Your mother and that dark lunatic. then you sitting in your crib playing with your bear so unconcerned by that cut on your head. The two days I spent tracking Peter, and then That final confrontation. One minute I was on top of the world. I was an auror, I had a family, and friends. and despite everything we had lost already during the war, I had everything I ever wanted growing up, and then." And he interrupts his story by snapping. "Gone. Nothing but darkness and cold and fear for the next decade. I failed you Harry. I failed you in ways I can't even begin to explain. But I'm here now. And I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." Harry nodded and the two spent a long while staring into the fire as it slowly turned to cinder and when it did Harry went to bed, leaving the gaunt haunted face of his godfather behind his eyes relecting the red glowmofnthe embers in the pitch black of the room.
The next day an owl brought Hermione her copy of the daily prophet.
"Ministry bungles security and safety.
After a sighting and reported attack inside Hogwarts school, minister of magic Cornelius Fudge cleared the island of Azkaban of its dementor guard for the first time in 300 years. What resulted was a 1000 member legion of dementors swarming The town of Hogsmeade and the school which went Into total lockdown procedures. Several businesses were broken into by the monsters 30 members of the public were attacked and over 70 were sent to saint mungos. And when they stormed the school they completely disregarded instructions and invaded the common rooms of slytherin and hufflepuff House leading all members to be taken in as well for examination on top of several other students from ravenclaw and gryffindor That collapsed and remained at Hogwarts. Notable Harry potter who's tragic story we have covered previously makes him a prime candidate For dementor sensitivity. Andromeda tonks, Lord Potter's steward had this to say.
"Twice now have the dementors acted out and targeted Lord Potter. I am here today to warn the ministry that if it happens a third time Lord Potter will pursue recompense from those responsible."
Harry found himself very much in agreement with his Aunt. He was already fully intending to seek retribution for luna. 'Speaking of.' Harry thought to himself and Scanned the room for luna. He actually hadn't seen her at all this year. It took him three full scans of the Ravenclaw table to finally realize that the miniscule airy thing sitting completely alone at the end of the table was Luna. He stood up wordlessly and approached the younger girl without noticing anything of his surroundings. Luna was Different, where she once had platinum blonde hair she now has hair the same color as sun bleached bone, cold and lusterless. Her skin was so pale it was translucent. And her eyes were vacant dull pits of silvery Amethyst purple surrounded by dark bags. She bore no expression on her face and if not for the steady rise and fall of her chest marking her breathing, Harry would have assumed she was dead.
"Luna." Harry said at a total loss for what else to say.
"Don't bother Potter" called A Ravenclaw boy from his year whose name escaped him. "She's totally catatonic, hasn't spoken a word to anyone since She tried to revive vold-"
"She didn't try to do anything! She was possessed!" Came Hermione's voice from beside him. "I'd like to see you try to fight away anything related to he-who-must-not-be-named and see how you handle it!
You all have been bullying her again haven't you! she's not even wearing shoes and it's almost winter! Hidden them from her I suppose. hasn't she been through enough?"
"It's her own fault for coming back where she's not wanted! How are you of all people going to tryouts to deffend-" Harry punched the boy so hard and fast he slumped to the table unconscious.
Luna. Luna." Hermione said repeatedly Harry bent down in front of her as they continued to try and grab her attention from wherever she was in her mindscape. Finally it was Harry grabbing her hand and saying her name that got her attention to focus slightly and her amethyst eyes to shift slightly over to scan Harry.
"Hello, Harry potter. Hermione Granger. How can I assist you?" The poor girl whispered in a bleak tone voice broken from not speaking for so long.
"I was going to ask you that, Luna. How are you? We heard you scream yesterday from Gryffindor tower." Harry said quietly.
It took her a minute to answer, whether she was fighting falling back into her stupor or taking stock of herself for the first time in a long time, Harry had no idea. "Ooh I'm fine. Dementors you know. They can be very uncomfortable to be around." She said, sounding more and more like the girl Harry had talked to the previous year But her voice was still in tatters. And her eyes seemed to go vacant again, as she wandered Back into the pit of her own mind, staring blankly at the still full plate in front of her.
"Right. Errr please Luna if you need to Talk come and find me OK?" And Harry and Hermione watched as she nodded her acknowledgement and then left young girl alone.
"Harry, we need to watch her." Hermione said, looking back at him in concern.
"We need to do more than that I think." Harry said as they left the great hall leaving that scene behind and went off towards the library so they could work on their various homework until the feast later that evening.
A note of concern from lord potter found its way to Professor Flitwick. Harry could hear the diminutive professor berating his house all the way from Gryffindor tower that night.