Cursed: The New Order of Merlin Book 2

3. Dementors

Merlin fell to the floor and cursed his uncoordinated legs. He couldn't even walk without embarrassing himself. Maybe he shouldn't bother to get up, what was the point? He deserved to be trampled to repent for all of his faults. Goddess knew, no human on earth had more time than him to make mistakes, some that had cost people their lives. Maybe eternal life was his punishment for allowing his loved ones to pay for his failures.

Cat's hiss broke his train of thought. Where did these thoughts come from? He turned around on the floor to face the source of the cold he was feeling and cursed out loud. What was a dementor doing on Hogwarts Express?

There was a wand spell to get rid of this creature, but Merlin's wand was safely locked away in his trunk. While the creature hovered, trying to choose its victim, and the children in the compartment froze in fear, Merlin shielded his mind to resist the dementor's influence before it incapacitated him. He could make up a spell to protect them.

The creature descended, choosing to devour Harry's soul. Of course, it went after Harry—poor kid. Merlin pictured a happy memory: making Prince Arthur bray like a donkey, oh, it was a precious moment of sweet revenge from a very innocent time in his life. With that happy memory in mind, he was about to start an improvised incantation but was interrupted.

The adult that was sleeping just a moment ago stood with his wand raised.

"Expecto Patronum," he said, prompting a silvery, bright wisp to come out of his wand and hit the dementor.

Merlin watched carefully if the noncorporeal charm was going to be strong enough or if he would have to step in, but thankfully, the wizard was able to maintain it and pushed the creature out. Merlin closed the compartment door by magic, afraid anything else would come in, and scrambled onto his knees to check on Harry.

The boy passed out in his seat, badly affected by the Dementor, and his skin was cool and clammy to the touch. Merlin deliberated if he should use a healing spell to wake him. If it was just these kids in here, he wouldn't hesitate, they'd seen him perform more impressive spells, but who was this wizard?

So far only Dumbledore, Snape, and Madam Pomfrey knew the truth of who he was. McGonagall was suspecting something but probably not his real identity. His friends were noticing too that he was more than just odd, and he expected that he would have to come clean soon. Honestly, he wouldn't mind dropping the pretense for them, but inviting strangers to the secret was not wise. He was more valuable when underestimated, overlooked as one of the hundreds of wizarding youths.

The lights flickered on in the train and it slowly started moving again. Merlin let go of Harry and sat back in his previous seat. Jack was still squeezed into the corner of his seat, hugging Hermione's cat, a look of terror on his face. Ron and Hermione were on the verge of tears.

"It's gone now. You can relax," Merlin said.

"What was that?" Jack whispered, not ready to leave his corner just yet.

"A dementor. We're lucky Professor Lupin was here."

The wizard's face lightened with a little smile, accentuating deep scars running across it. "Yes, it was lucky indeed."

Lupin rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a block of chocolate, which he split among them. While the chocolatey goodness melting on his tongue warmed him from the inside, Merlin scrutinized the frost left behind by the dementor. What if the kids had been alone in this compartment? Did dementors attack anyone else on the train? The lights of the castle twinkled in the distance. They couldn't get there fast enough.

"What was a dementor doing so close to the school?" Merlin said to himself. Wards around the school provided a strong repellent against creatures of Dark Magic. Did he have to expand their reach?