The New Trio and the Madness Within

Chapter 3: Dementors and the Doom of Disbelieving Souls

Notes: Okay, to be honest, I have no idea how long this fic is going to be, but I think it's going to be closer to twelve than the twenty-two of the original PoA. This is because there isn't actually very much I have planned for the trio's third year other than a tiny little bit of Dementor drama and some progress against old Voldie, and I've only written two chapters ahead. Fourth year, though, is going to be different. Better challenges, more champions, and some more ships coming to fruition.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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The last few weeks of the summer holidays passed quickly, bringing with it an abundance of joy, pranks, and laughter, and before Harry really registered the time lapse, he found himself standing on Platform 9 ¾ and greeting his friends as though he hadn't just seen them a few days ago for a Sunday dinner at The Burrow followed by a pick-up Quidditch match. At that time, he and Draco had decided that if one of them got a Firebolt for Christmas, they'd donate their Two Thousand and Ones to the twins, and then he and Draco would switch off playing with the Firebolt and Harry's old Two Thousand.

A week before term started, Remus came back from a Hogwarts staff meeting in a fury. Sirius barely got him to calm down by the time an hour had passed, and when Remus told him what had happened to get him into such a state, Sirius understood perfectly. "That-that bastard, Fudge has demanded that we put Dementors on the border of Hogwarts' grounds to 'protect the poor students from those horrid escaped criminals', and Dumbledore just rolled over and let him! What was Dumbledore thinking?"

The week leading up to school was spent teaching Harry, and any of his group who wanted to learn, the Patronus Charm. The most any of them could get was a bit of pathetic white wispy stuff, which wouldn't protect them at all against a Dementor attack, but they'd all vowed to work on it with Remus throughout the year.

The platform was crowded, and there was no sign of the Weasleys yet, but since there was an hour left before the Express left for Hogwarts, that was normal. They seemed to never get anywhere except to the platform on time, and even then, they still cut it extremely close. He knew for a fact part of it was just a result of having so many Hogwarts-age children to get ready, but another part was the twins' fault, since they thrived on chaos, and one of the most potent forms of chaos was the Weasley family on September first if they wanted to get to the platform before the Express left.

At a quarter to eleven, Harry said goodbye to his guardians, waited patiently for Draco to bid farewell to his mother (Severus was already at Hogwarts, and Narcissa would be joining him, because she didn't have a job, after she'd seen Draco off), and for Neville to be hugged by his now overprotective Gran, then dragged them both to the compartment they'd chosen earlier. Shortly after they'd settled down, Luna entered, humming a waltz, and Hermione was close behind, carrying Pants in her arms rather than put him in a carrier and make him complain all the way to Hogwarts.

The five minute whistle came, and shortly afterwards the red-headed clan hurried through the barrier. The children gave quick hugs and kisses to their mother and hurried onto the train, where Fred, George, and Ginny found them, while Ron went off in search of Dean and Seamus. However, these compartments only seated six people, so with five already inside, someone was going to miss out. Then Harry had a cheeky idea; he grabbed Draco and dragged him onto his lap, squawking in surprise and indignity, which let Fred take the window seat opposite Hermione, and George sat next to him. Ginny looked around, slightly hurt she wouldn't get to sit with her primary friends for the eight-hour ride, but then she was grabbed around the waist and pulled back into Luna's lap. She squeaked and tried to stand up, but Luna simply bopped her on the nose and said, "Stay still, you're sitting where you're supposed to. We're not letting you sit alone somewhere else."