The Dementor Part 2
"What's going on?"... "D'you think we've broken down?"
"Not likely," Remus said. "I've never heard of the Hogwart's Express breaking down."
"Dunno... "I think people are coming aboard... "
Kingsley was back to muttering about the prince's safety.
The compartment door suddenly opened... pulling Neville up by his cloak.
"What were you doing wandering about?" Augusta asked.
"I was scared and alone in my compartment," Neville whispered.
Harry frowned. He didn't like to think of how often Neville had been left alone. He really should have been a better friend to the boy.
"Harry? Is that you?... "I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice.
"You'll do nothing of the sort," Mr Granger said. "Who knows who is coming on the train. It might not be safe. You should wait for an announcement."
Harry felt her pass him... "Ginny?"
"Why are you all wandering about?" Mrs Weasley demanded. "It could have been Sirius Black for all you knew."
"Hermione?"... "Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "I'm here!"
Ginny blushed. Why was she always embarrassing herself in front of Harry?
"Ouch!"... Harry could hear movements in his corner.
"Thank goodness, they have an adult with them," Mrs Weasley said.
None of them spoke... But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it.
"Who is it?" Fred asked nervously.
"Voldemort?" Young George asked.
"Sirius Black?" Fred continued.
Several people shushed them.
Standing in the doorway... Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood.
"What is it?" young Hermione asked, her voice fearful.
"A dementor," Harry said, his voice lacking any inflection. He didn't want to even think about what came next.
Harry's eyes darted downward... like something dead that had decayed in water...
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
But it was visible only for a split second... suck something more than air from its surroundings.
"More like your soul," Sirius muttered. He was shaking slightly. Severus approached him, handing him a calming draught.
"Deep breaths," he murmured almost softly.
An intense cold swept over them all... it was inside his very heart...
"Why is there a dementor on the train?" Mrs Weasley asked shrilly.
"Searching for Sirius Black," Mr Weasley answered.
Harry's eyes rolled up into his head... the roaring growing louder...
"What's happening to him?" Mrs Weasley screamed.
And then, from far away, he heard... he tried to move his arms, but couldn't...
"Is someone hurt?" Charlie asked, his eyebrows raised in horror.
a thick white fog was swirling... "Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"
"Is it gone?" young Hermione asked in a faltering voice.
Someone was slapping his face.
"Why did you hit him?" Lucius asked, looking bewildered. "An Enervate would have done the job far better."
"I didn't think," Hermione muttered.
"W-what?"... He seemed to have slid out of his seat onto the floor.
"Did you pass out?" young Draco asked, but unlike his older self, he actually sounded concerned.
Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to him... Who screamed?"
"Good question," Mrs Weasley said with a sniff.
"No one screamed,"... Ginny and Neville looked back at him, both very pale.
"Were you all right, dear?" Augusta asked her grandson.
He nodded.
"But I heard screaming -"... breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.
"Finally a defense against the dark arts teacher who knows his remedies," young Madam Pomfrey praised.
"Here," he said to Harry... "One of the Dementors of Azkaban."
"I was wrong," Mrs Weasley said. "They should never have allowed those guards near the school."
Mr Weasley looked like he was tempted to say 'I told you so' but he held his tongue.
Everyone stared at him... I need to speak to the driver, excuse me... "
"That's it?" Sirius asked. "You didn't even introduce yourself."
Remus frowned. Why hadn't he introduced himself?
He strolled past Harry... "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching -"
"I hated that everyone was looking at me like something was wrong with me," Harry admitted.
"There's nothing wrong with you," Claudius, one of the mind healers said. "You are affected worse than your friends because you have horrors in your past that they can only imagine."
"And Professor Lupin stepped over you... and it turned around and sort of glided away..."
"A silvery thing?" young Percy asked.
"A patronus," Remus answered kindly.
"It was horrible,"... "Like I'd never be cheerful again..."
Both Ron and Neville shivered at the memory.
Ginny, who was huddled in her corner... "Ginny was shaking like mad, though..."
Sirius wrapped an arm around his godson as Mr Weasley did the same with his daughter.
Harry didn't understand... when no one else had?
"You didn't go to pieces," Claudius said. "You had an adverse reaction to a dementor. Plenty of people do. And they don't have the history that you do. You have nothing to be ashamed about, Heir Potter."
Professor Lupin had come back... spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes.
"Chocolate really is the best cure for dementor exposure," Severus said. "That's why I infused chocolate in the potion I made for the Azkaban inmates."
He sounded so matter of fact but Harry had a sneaky suspicion he was trying to draw everyone's attention away from Harry. The young man couldn't be more grateful.
"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes,"... Harry didn't ask how Professor Lupin knew his name.
"Harry, everyone knows your name," Draco said with a laugh.
"Fine,"... rain was driving down in icy sheets.
"At least you'll be safe at the castle," Mrs Weasley said.
"Firs' years this way!"... each pulled, Harry could only assume, by an invisible horse,
"Threstrals," young Hagrid said.
"I know that now," Harry muttered.
because when they climbed inside... The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw.
"We really should replace them if they're going moldy," Minerva whispered to her colleagues.
Harry felt better since the chocolate... frightened he might collapse again.
"I was," Ron admitted.
As the carriage trundled... standing guard on either side.
Mrs Weasley tutted at the mention of more dementors.
A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf him again... "You fainted, Potter?
"Draco!" Mrs Malfoy looked very cross.
"Sorry Potter," Draco muttered.
Is Longbottorn telling the truth? You actually fainted?"
"Why did you tell Mr Malfoy?" Augusta demanded.
"I -" Neville paused. He hadn't meant to but he'd been rambling, telling everyone what had happened without paying much attention to anything. "Sorry, Harry."
"It's okay, Nev." Harry brushed the apology aside.
Malfoy elbowed past Hermione... "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"
Lucius sighed. His son's taunting of Potter and Weasley was beginning to grate. He'd always made it sound like they were the instigators.
"Is there a problem?"... led them up the steps into the castle.
"You'll show more respect to your teachers than that," young Mrs Malfoy told her own son.
"Yes mother."
Hermione prodded Ron in the back to make him hurry... "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"
"You can't be in trouble already," Sirius groaned.
Harry and Hermione turned around... making him feel he must have done something wrong.
Minerva frowned at that. Perhaps she should try and be more approachable.
"There's no need to look so worried... you were taken ill on the train, Potter."
"Why are you discussing this in front of Granger?" Sirius asked.
"Er..." Minerva hesitated.
"Surely, Harry deserves privacy when talking about something so private?" Sirius demanded.
"I didn't think," Minerva said.
"What if he'd wanted to talk to you about it?" Sirius continued. "Wanted to talk about the memories the experience brought forth. You made that impossible by not respecting his right to privacy."
"You're right," Minerva said. "I'm sorry, Mr Potter."
"It's okay." Harry blushed. He didn't want to keep talking about this.
Before Harry could reply... without everyone making all this fuss.
"It's not a fuss!" Poppy said. "I needed to check you over."
"Remember, Mr Potter, there's nothing to be ashamed of," Claudius said.
"I'm fine,"... "I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?"
"POPPY!" Albus looked shocked. He couldn't believe the mediwitch had spoken to him like that.
"What? He was always being put in danger. Even then, I knew he didn't value his own safety enough. And quite frankly headmaster, neither did you." She folded her arms, looking quite angry.
"Even so," her younger self said, "you should have been a little kinder."
"Yes. I know." The mediwitch conceded before turning to apologise to Harry too.
"It was a Dementor, Poppy,"... "He won't be the last one who collapses.
"And I was right about that," Poppy said. "I was handing out chocolate all year."
Yes, he's all clammy... "I'm not delicate!" said Harry crossly.
Young Harry actually sniggered.
Whose side are you on? Harry demanded in parseltongue but the other boy only laughed harder.
"Of course you're not,"... Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"
"AGAIN!" Sirius growled. "Why are you giving him a health exam in front of another student?"
"I'm not sure I realised Miss Granger was even there," Poppy admitted.
"I'm fine!"... He gave it to all of us."
Both Poppys smiled at Remus approvingly.
"Did he, now?"... teacher who knows his remedies?"
The two mediwitches shared a look. Although they knew they were the same person, it was weird to hear them say the exact same thing.
"Are you sure you feel all right, Potter?"... then we can go down to the feast together."
"What so Granger gets privacy to talk about her school work but Harry doesn't get the same for his health?" Sirius demanded angrily. "I'm seriously considering Durmstrang!"
Arcturus looked furious. "If my great-grandson attends Hogwarts, this will NOT happen again."
"No. Of course not," Minerva said, looking ashamed of herself.
Harry went back into the corridor... "we've missed the Sorting!"
"I don't think I attended the sorting until..." Harry thought about it. When had he attended the sorting? "I only attended... three sortings. My own. Fourth year and fifth year."
"Why did you miss it in sixth year and seventh?" Sirius asked nervously.
"I guess you'll find out when we get there," Harry said with a shrug, grateful they were no longer discussing his fainting episode.
New students at Hogwarts were sorted into Houses... and a few of them pointed at Harry.
"That's not exactly news," Ron said. "People were always staring and pointing."
Had the story of his collapsing in front of the Dementor traveled that fast?
"I don't think so," Ron said.
"It had. It's all the Ravenclaws would talk about," Luna said softly.
He and Hermione sat down... He was often described as the greatest wizard of the age,
Riddle rolled his eyes. He might have a full soul now, but he still hated Albus Dumbledore.
but that wasn't why Harry respected him... the Dementor had entered the train compartment.
Harry wondered when that had stopped being true while Dumbledore looked down at his hands. He didn't think his older self had deserved that trust.
"Welcome!"... "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express,
"Why weren't the parents warned that the dementors would be searching the train?" Lucius asked sharply.
"We weren't aware. It would appear the minister made that decision and didn't inform us," Minerva said tersely, "or we would have warned everyone in their letters."
our school is presently playing host... nobody is to leave school without permission.
"They shouldn't be leaving without permission period," Mrs Weasley said crossly.
Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks... make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said.
"They shouldn't have been there at all," Augusta said angrily. "And really, you need more staff if you're relying on the head girl and boy for that."
Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Harry, puffed out his chest again and stared around impressively.
Percy actually groaned. Merlin, this was embarrassing.
Dumbledore paused again... Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Sirius cheered for his friend. "Way to go, Moony."
Remus blushed scarlet.
There was some scattered... it was loathing.
Severus merely shrugged. Personally, he thought he had good reason to hate Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Sure, he was strangely attracted to Black, but he'd get over that nonsense soon enough. Just as soon as the foolish Gryffindor reverted back to being the jerk he remembered.
Harry knew that expression only too well; it was the look Snape wore every time he set eyes on Harry.
"I don't hate you, Potter," Severus said softly.
"Your older self did," Harry said adamantly.
"Well, then, he was a fool," the potion master said.
"As to our second new appointment,"... in addition to his gamekeeping duties."
Several people cheered, including Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"What I don't understand is why he wasn't encouraged to finish his own education first," Lucius said. "He didn't have his OWLs, never mind his NEWTs. How could you reasonably expect him to succeed? It feels like you were setting him up to fail."
Harry wanted to argue with the man that Hagrid had been a brilliant teacher but he couldn't really disagree.
Minerva frowned. "We should have done that. Rubeus, I will be happy to tutor you so you can take your exams."
"Thank you, professor," young Hagrid said with a blush.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another, stunned... "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?"
Hagrid blushed again. "Sorry about that."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the last to stop clapping... It was a delicious feast;
"I imagine that was the first start of year feast you were actually able to enjoy," Poppy said approvingly. "The time in the alley will have prepared your stomach for it."
Harry didn't like the reminder of the abuse he'd suffered with the Dursleys.
the hall echoed with talk... "Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed as they reached the teachers' table.
"It was a dream come true," Hagrid admitted, looking a little teary eyed.
"All down ter you three,"... great man, Dumbledore...
Riddle scoffed under his breath.
came straight down to me hut... He always had trouble remembering the passwords.
Augusta smiled, rolling her eyes at her grandson. He really was just like his mother. She'd never remembered the passwords either. "Just like your mum," she murmured quietly.
Through the portrait hole... felt he was home at last.
Dumbledore frowned. If Harry thought Hogwarts was his home, what was the point of him staying at the Dursleys?