HIDDEN BLACK

✧AT LEAST 100 DEMENTORS✧

THE NEXT DAY, EVERYTHING was back to normal even though they had never found Sirius Black. Rumors were spreading throughout the whole school about how he could have gotten into the castle, the weirdest being a Hufflepuff girl saying that Black could turn himself into a flowering shrub.

Lyra continued sending letters back and forth to her parents, though whenever asking about her dad's family, they seemed to change the topic and ask about her classes.

However, she tried to put this to the back of her mind, focusing on her newest favorite class: flying.

Just after Halloween, they were allowed to do laps around the quidditch pitch, and Lyra immediately fell in love with it. She now understood that some brooms were obviously better than others, yet she would take any of the old school brooms to learn how to play Quidditch. 

Of course, first years weren't allowed to have brooms or try out for Quidditch, even though she had heard that Harry Potter, a Gryffindor two years above that was also known as the boy-who-lived, had been the youngest seeker in a century.

Nonetheless, this was the reason why she was quite excited to watch the first quidditch match of the season.

It was supposed to be Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, though the Slytherin seeker, Draco Malfoy, apparently had an injury. From what Lyra could see, it looked quite bad, even though Malfoy was also being very dramatic.

So, it was Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, though Lyra wondered why the match wasn't going to be canceled because of the weather, as it surely would have been if it was a muggle game.

It was pouring rain and absolutely freezing; other Slytherins were getting heating charms put on them from siblings and older students, yet no one would have done so to the muggleborn.

Nonetheless, she stood there, shivering, barely being able to hear the commentary of a Gryffindor fifth year, Lee Jordan. Every now and then, there would be a glimpse of yellow or red, letting her see one of the players flying past the stands. 

She could barely keep up with the game, let alone the snitch and the seekers, whom she had been hoping to see. 

Suddenly, an even colder draft was covering the stands, even though Lyra was nearly numb to it already. The rain poured even harder, nearly turning to hail and the feeling of sadness that had come on the train was back.

Looking up, she clearly saw the cause. 

At least 100 dementors, which she could see even through the fog, were covering the pitch.

Lyra was nearly freezing, and it only got worse as a swarm of the creatures started floating towards her.

She had no idea why these dementors were so attracted to her, seeing as it seemed like the other people in the stands didn't have the same problem, but it also looked like they were paying attention to something else.

She turned, trying to find a way to escape, to get out of the stands, but it felt like her eyes were frozen shut.

Being able to barely open one eye, she saw the dementor behind her, making her only run faster through the cold was catching up. She was shoving through the crowd, other Slytherins yelling at her but the effect of the dementors was too bad to care.

However, after what felt like hours of still running, trying to get to the stairs that lead out of the stands, even though it was probably only seconds, the feeling of warmth that had saved her on the train came over her again. This time, it was much larger and stronger, and she could easily see t take the shape of a phoenix. 

It was warm for a moment, the dementors gliding away and the light taking over, until the coldness returned, even stronger than ever, and everything turned black.