Puppet Strings (Hogwarts x Reader)

Chapter 1

"No one screamed," said Ron, more nervously still.

Harry looked around the bright compartment. Ginny and Neville looked back at him, both very pale. "But I heard screaming—"

A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.

"Here," he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."

Harry took the chocolate. "What was that thing?" he asked Lupin.

"A dementor," said Lupin, who was now giving chocolate to everyone else. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."

Everyone stared at him.

Professor Lupin crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket. "Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..."

He strolled past and disappeared into the corridor.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked as I nibbled at my chocolate. A gentle warmth began to flow through me, scaring away any memory of the coldness the dementor had brought.

"I don't get it... What happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.

"Well," Hermione started, "that thing—the dementor—stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face)—and you—you—"

"I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching—"

"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he chased it off."

"It was horrible," said Neville, a round-faced boy, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"

"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again..."

Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry, gave a small sob; Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her.

"But didn't any of you—fall off your seats?" said Harry awkwardly.

"No," said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though..."

Professor Lupin had come back. He paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know..."

The others began to eat their chocolate after a few moments.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," said Professor Lupin. "Are you all right, Harry?"

Y/n's head snapped up to look at the professor as Harry muttered an embarrassed, "Fine."

He knew Harry's name. Why?

They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.

"Firs' years this way!" called a loud voice. It belonged to an absolute giant of a man holding a lantern with a hand the size of a large trash can lid. This must be Hagrid—Y/n doubted that the kind, giant groundskeeper Harry described in his letters could be anyone but.

He stood at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.

"I'm supposed to go with the first years," Y/n said, looking over at Harry. "I'll see you at the Sorting, okay? Get some Pumpkin Juice or something—you need to keep hydrated."

Harry was still rather pale, but he rolled his eyes with a grin. "Yeah okay, Mom. I'll be waiting for you at the Gryffindor table."

Y/n smiled nervously as Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved away. She turned and headed towards the first year groups. Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Y/n thought there must be thick trees there.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

I climbed into one with three other girls, who looked quite nervous. It was a bit strange being much older than everyone else, but I supposed this was the only way to go about it.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid looked around at all the first years—and Y/n—and then raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.