Believe in Magic, you Muggle (On Hold)

Chapter 3 : The Dementors Of Azkaban

“We must be nearly there!” Alice said as she looked past Professor Lupin at the nearly black window. The words had nearly left her lips when the train started to slow down. 

“Brilliant,” said Ron, getting up and walking to the window, careful not to tread on Professor Lupin, trying to look outside. “I’m starving, I can’t wait to get to the feast...”

“Always the hungry one, aren’t --”

“We can’t possibly be there yet,” said Hermione, glancing at her watch. 

“So why’re we stopping?”

I was nearest to the door, so I popped my head outside and looked down the hallways. Fellow students’ heads were sticking out curiously as well. 

Suddenly the train came to a complete stop with a jolt. Loud thuds told me that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without notice, all the lamps went out and we were surrounded in pitch black. 

“Wh...wh...wha...what’s going on?” Alice stuttered.

I felt my way back to my seat safely. 

“D’you think we’ve broken down?” Ron asked curiously. 

“Dunno...” Harry replied. 

Then all of a sudden, the compartment door opened and someone fell on top of my legs. 

“OOF. Sorry! D’you know what’s going on? OUCH! Sorry --”

I giggled. I knew who this clumsy boy was.  

“Hey Neville,” I said with a grin.

“Alex? Is that you?” Neville said, feeling around. 

“NEVILLE! STOP FEELING MY LEGS!” Hermione squealed. 

“Oh GOSH... Sorry!” Neville said apologetically. 

“Sit down, Neville!”

“I’m going to go and ask the driver what’s going on,” Hermione’s voice said. I felt her robes brush against my legs, heard the door slide open again and then a thud and two loud “OWCH”’s. 

“Who’s that?”

“Who’s that?”

“Ginny?”

“Hermione?”

“What are you doing?”

“I was looking for Ron --”

“Come in and sit down --”

“Not here!” Harry said hurriedly. “I’m here!”

“Ouch!” Neville yelped.

“Quiet!” a hoarse voice suddenly said. Professor Lupin had woken up at last. There was a soft, crackling noise as a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin seemed to be holding a handful of flames. “Stay where you are,” he said in the same hoarse voice and he  slowly got up to his feet. 

But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it. 

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the small flickering flames, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. It’s face was completely hidden beneath its hood. My eyes darted downwards, and what I saw  made me want to throw up all the cauldron cakes I’d ate earlier. There was a hand (good lord, could you even call it a hand?) bulging from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water...

And then that awful dreaded thing beneath the hood, whatever the crap it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than just air from its surroundings. 

An intense cold feeling swept over me. Or maybe it was all of us. 

Dementors. That’s what they were. I remembered now... My brother had told me all about them, how they guarded Azkaban, the wizarding prison for Britain. But if they were the guards of Azkaban, why were they here?

Suddenly Harry fell to the floor and started twitching. I gasped. “Harry? HARRY?” I screamed. 

Professor Lupin carefully stepped over Harry and faced the hooded figure. “None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our hoods. Now go.” But the thing didn’t move. Lupin sighed. He said some incantation and a silvery light came out of his wand. Then the thing turned around and drifted away. 

The lights flickered back on, and I saw Ginny shaking in the corner. “Ginny, are you alright?” I asked, concerned. She somehow managed a little nod before shuddering.

I then glanced concernedly at Harry, who was still on the floor, twitching occasionally, his face looked like he was having a nightmare. Hermione kneeled down next to Harry and started shaking him. “Harry, Harry? Are you all right? Wake up Harry!” she said desperately. 

“Move Hermione. That’s not the way you do it,” Ron said, taking over. He then started slapping Harry while calling his name. “Harry? Wake up, mate!” Slap, slap, slap. Suddenly, Harry stirred, and opened his eyes. 

Neville, Alice, Professor Lupin and I hovered from above while Ron and Hermione kneeled down next to him. 

“Are you OK?” Ron asked nervously.

“Yeah,” said Harry, looking around the compartment. “What happened? Where’s that -- that thing? Who screamed?”

“No one screamed, Harry,” Alice said anxiously. 

Harry looked around the bright compartment again. Ginny and Neville looked back at him, all were very pale.

“But I heard screaming --”

A loud snap made us all jump and freeze, but it was just Professor Lupin. He was breaking an enormous slap of delicious looking chocolate into little pieces. 

“Here,” he said to Harry, handing him the largest piece. “Eat it. It’ll help.” 

Harry took the chocolate, but hesitated and looked into Lupin’s eyes.

“What was that thing?” he asked. Before the Professor could reply, however, I answered for him.

“A Dementor. You know, from Azkaban.” 

There was a crumpling noise as Professor Lupin scrunched up the empty chocolate wrapper and stuffed it into his pocket. 

“Eat,” he repeated. “It’ll help, but if you’ll excuse me... I need to speak to the driver.”

He strolled past me, and disappeared into the corridor. 

“Are you sure you’re OK, Harry?” said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously. 

“I don’t get it... what happened?” Harry asked, wiping off the sweat from his forehead. 

We explained what had happened to him, what the Professor had done, and how horrible it had felt. “It was like I’d never be cheerful again...” Ron said uncomfortably. 

When Professor Lupin came back, he gave a small smile. “I haven’t poisoned that chocolate, you know...”

I looked down at the piece of chocolate I was still holding, and took a small bite. To my great surprise, I felt warmth spreading toward the tips of my fingers and toes. 

“We’ll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes,” Professor Lupin told us. “Are you alright, Harry?”

“Fine,” Harry muttered.