A Raven and a Lion

Welcome Back

"Get up already!" she heard her aunt banging on the door from outside. So, cursing under her breath, she threw the blanket aside. Otherwise Brigitte would probably kick in the door. Y/n had spent the summer with her aunt again, like every year since she became a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. Since that, the relationship with her parents has been... difficult. Aside from her Aunt Brigitte, who had been in Hufflepuff during her own time as a Hogwarts student, y/n didn't have a particularly close relationship with her family anymore.

Every now and then it got to her a little. But she didn't really notice it much. At Hogwarts she was with her friends Maggy and Olivia, and Brigitte was there for her during the summer. Even though she would have liked to throw a few insults at her aunt now. Y/n was damn tired. While staying at school she was always disciplined enough to get up in the morning, but during the holidays that was just not possible. In general, y/n would have described herself as more of an owl than an early bird.

But that didn't matter today. They had to leave soon so y/n was at the station on time. Today it was that time of the year again. The new school year began and that meant going back to Hogwarts.

So she got ready and together they left Brigitte's apartment. All they had to do was hop on the tube and then they arrived at Kingscross station. But before they use the portal to platform nine three-quarters, they bought a quick breakfast at a Muggle bakery.

When they then reached the track, all hell had already broken loose. Students screamed goodbyes to their parents, the waiting train made a hell of a noise. Somehow, with Brigitte's help, she managed to find Maggy and Olivia and their parents. Of course they had written letters to each other over the holidays, but the friends still fell into each other's arms. Then they said goodbye to the adults and got on the train.

After some searching, they found an empty compartment and immediately settled in. Quickly they fell into happy chatter. Meanwhile, their cats, yes they all had a cat as a pet, curled up in a fluffy ball under their seats.

"Tell me, did you read that in the Daily Prophet?" Maggy suddenly lost her smile. Olivia looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"That thing about Sirius Black, that he escaped from Askaban," Maggy shuddered as she said that. But y/n shook her head as she shoved a chocolate frog into her mouth. "Aunt Brigitte said there's nothing to worry about."

"How does she know?", Maggy asked doubtfully. Olivia seemed to have an idea. "Did your aunt go to Hogwarts with him? Age-wise, that could work, right?"

But y/n shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, it could be, yeah. She just told me not to worry and I... Shit! What was that?"

A violent jolt from the train had interrupted them. The vehicle had stopped in the middle of the tracks.

"What's going on now?" Maggy whimpered as the train lights flickered out. Olivia now pressed her face to the compartment window to see something outside. But there was nothing but a rainy Scottish night. So y/n wanted to get up to look out into the hallway in front of the compartment. But another jolt from the train forced her to sit pack down.

"It's getting really weird," y/n had to admit. She grabbed Maggy with one hand and pulled her friend towards her. With her other hand she clutched the wand in her pocket. Olivia was the only one of them who still spoke relatively calmly. But when they saw the creature, she also jumped to her friends. They clung to each other,  huddled together just like their cats.

The air around them had gotten colder, y/n was able to see her breath in steamy little clouds. And she felt this unnatural feeling of fear, that grew stronger and stronger. What was going on here?

"What is that?", Maggy breathed tonelessly. But she got no answer. With wide-open eyes they stared at the creature that was standing in front of the glass door of their compartment. Although the thing wasn't actually standing, it was more like floating. Y/n knew what that was. But she didn't dare to say anything. She was afraid that otherwise the creature would actually notice them.

But even though all three of them didn't move, the black figure now turned towards them with an unnatural movement. That wasn't human, that was pure evil. A faceless violence. A Dementor. The guards of the wizard prison Azkaban. But what was he doing here on the Hogwarts Express?

As the black floating robe started to tamper with the door, Maggy began to whimper. Without thinking about it, y/n pressed her hand over her friends mouth.

"Don't let your fear show!," Olivia hissed just before the compartment door opened. "Then it maybe will go away."

That was easier said than done. Y/n's heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. But Olivia turned out to be right. After opening the door, the Dementor stood in the entrance to her compartment for a few unbearable seconds. But then he simply turned and floated away.

"Close the door! Close the door!", Maggy then gasped as the terrible creature was out of sight and y/n jumped up to close the door.

"That was a Dementor!", Maggy then squeaked. Olivia nodded. "It must have something to do with Sirius Black."

"You said we didn't have to worry," Maggy snapped at y/n, at the same moment the lights on the train went back on. Y/n looked at her friend indignantly. "What do I have to do with it?"

"Nothing at all!" Olivia intervened, tucking her brown hair back behind her ears, as if she wanted to calm herself down. "Everything is fine. Look, the train is moving again."

"True," Maggy admitted, looking at y/n apologetically. "I'm sorry. It was scared."

Y/n nodded. "I know, me too."

But then they got frightened another time. When the door to their compartment was thrown open again, all three girls screamed at the top of their lungs.

But this time it wasn't a Dementor in a black robe. However, this visit brought y/n similarly little joy.

"Fred and George", Maggy, on the other hand, seemed happy to see the two of them. Or maybe she was just relieved that the twins weren't Dementors. Olivia gave them a smile too. "Hello you two."

"Everything okay?", George now wanted to know. "Were the Dementors here too?"

"Why do you care?" y/n asked now. George squeezed himself onto the bench between y/n and Maggy, Fred sat down next to Olivia.

"Always nice to talk to you y/n," Fred hummed. When their eyes met, y/n felt a brief flicker in her chest, so she quickly looked away again. George laughed around. "Forgot? We've all became great friends since last year."

Olivia chuckled in amusement as y/n took a breath. "Friends? I just started to tolerate you."

"A true ray of sunshine, as always", grinned George. Then they fell into a very funny conversation in which they told each other about their summer breaks. So the memory of the gruesome encounter with the Dementors soon disappeared. When they were about to reach Hogwarts, the twins went back to their compartment to get their luggage.

"Actually, they're quite funny", Maggys cheeks were colored completely red because she had laughed so hard. Olivia nodded. "That's right. Still, they're both idiots."

"Mhm, and they didn't cut their hair over the summer either," y/n judged. Maggie nodded while laughing. "I noticed that as well."