Harry doubled over on the floor and felt only hopelessness. He was getting colder and colder. In the distance he heard someone calling.
“Lily, it's him, he's found us. take Harry and run, I'm trying to stop him! "
Slowly the boy could see pictures. A red-haired woman who bent down to him and whispered to him.
“Harry, never forget that your daddy and I love you dearly. i wish that you will be happy. Never give up."
Was that his mother? It had to be like that, he recognized her from the photos. But why did he see her? And why did his mother cry. What was going on here Why did he see bars in front of him? was that a cot he was sitting in?
A door popped off its hinges with a loud bang. Harry started to cry when he saw the wood catch fire.
"You stupid girl, did you think you could run away from me? move aside and you will live. Even if you're a mudblood. I just want the boy. "
“No, not Harry. Kill me, but leave my son alone. You're welcome."
The creature came closer with a scornful laugh and now the boy could see it. it was some kind of man, but he looked terribly disfigured. His skin was white, not just pale. His eyes glowed red. He was also bald, had no hair and brown teeth, and his ears were sticking out. Harry started screaming louder.
"Quiet my little one, everything will be fine," the woman reassured him.
“Move aside. I don't want you, I want him. "
"Why? He didn't do anything to you. "
“Not yet, but it has strong magic in it. After all, your husband proudly proclaimed that everywhere. If the old man trains him to be a weapon, he could be dangerous to me. "
"He's my baby and I'll never let him be made a soldier."
“Do you really think Dumbledore will miss out on such an opportunity? He will snatch the boy from you by force if it serves his goals. "
Lily shook her head.
“Then I'll fight him just as I fight you. nobody gets my son. It is not a tool. Leave him in peace."
Another scornful laugh.
"I won't take that risk, if you don't move to the side I'll kill you."
The woman didn't take a step aside. she even spread her arms.
“No, Harry will be fine. I love him."
"Stupid girl. Avada Kedavra! "
A beam of green light shot from the man's wand and hit Lily. She went down screaming and lay motionless.
harry couldn't take his eyes off his dead mother and he couldn't hold back the tears. The voice was now addressed directly to him.
“What a stupid woman, now you're both going to die. I won't let you get older and stronger I am the only one who is allowed to have such powers. Avada Kedavra. "
An incredible pain spread throughout Harry's entire body. But he didn't die. the beam of light bounced off his forehead and aimed at his attacker.
"What?" The man stared at the green light in amazement. When the spell hit him the magician went in green flames on the burned skin quickly turned to ashes.
"So much power" was the last thing he said before he died.
Harry was alone in the room now. Next to him on the floor lay his dead mother and right in front of him the ashes of her murderer.
Harry was getting colder and colder, he had just seen his mother being killed in front of his eyes. The boy began to scream and his magic went on its own again.
severus ran through the train and chased his doe in front of him.
Because of the Dementors were in school. What did the ministry think of letting these things roam free?
He had just saved Longbottom and little Lovegood. They looked anything but good either. He was about to go to the two of them when he heard a scream.
"Harry," he gasped.
Immediately he ran in the direction of the desperate screams.
when he arrived in front of the compartment that he shared with the children he saw a picture of horror. A dementor had leaned into the room and already pulled his hood down to kiss a victim. Disgusting putrid lips were visible. however, the thing was jumped on by an angry book. Beast kept trying to bite the dementor, but that had no effect. Severus raised his staff and his Patronus charged at the monster. as soon as the silver light touched the creature, it retreated.
"Run through the train and make sure that none of these critters come back." He instructed the doe. She bowed and obeyed the order.
severus went into the compartment.
Ron and Hermione were huddled together and clinging to each other like drowning people. They looked at their teacher in panic.
"He is gone. Where's Harry? "
The students looked at each other in confusion. then they heard a muffled meow.
Crookshanks stood on the ground in front of them and had something in its mouth. With that he jumped into Harry's seat and dropped the bundle. Now you could see what it was.
"Harry?" Hermione asked in amazement.
severus smiled. The cat had curled up around the little kitten and Beast was also trying to warm the trembling bundle.
“That was probably a fear reaction. Occurs more often in Animagi. especially if they haven't had this skill for a long time, ”explained the teacher.
He went to his luggage and took out a large bar of chocolate. The man had stocked up on the candy in abundance. he didn't like her, but it helped against the chill of the Dementors. He handed each of the two Gryffindors large pieces. Then he turned to the little ball of fur. much to the frustration of Crookshanks and the book, he picked it up by the neck fur and put it in the crook of his arm.
“It will never be boring with you. Come on little one, they are gone, you can transform yourself back again. then you will also get a large piece of chocolate, ”the teacher tried to lure the boy.
Incredibly big eyes stared at him in panic. A low moan could be heard.
"I know. and you can be sure that I'll tell the old man a few more bars. Those things had no place here. "
Severus sat down and placed the cat on his lap.
The two students now looked curiously at their friend.
"It was clear that Harry was going to be something small and cute. But that's almost too cute, "said Ron.
His girlfriend was smiling shyly again.
"Right, what is it?"
Severus scratched the little one's head.
"A sand cat."
"Looks a bit like a cross between a fox and a cat," said Ron.
It took a few more minutes until Harry had calmed down enough to be able to transform himself back into his human form. severus immediately gave him the promised chocolate.
"What kind of things were they?" He asked, still trembling.
"Dementors, they eat souls and take away the will to live." This explanation came surprisingly from Ron. the others looked at him in amazement.
"What? We have tons of books on all kinds of magical beings. They are the only ones where my siblings and I wouldn't mind if they were exterminated. "
“It's just not possible,” Severus growled, “they were created magically. Out of fear and hopelessness. When they are around, all life withers. Plants, for example. It's getting cold and you see your worst memories. "
"Like murdering your own parents," Harry whispered.
Frightened faces looked at him. Severus immediately hugged the boy closer to him.
"I'm sorry little one, that should never have happened."
Harry nodded.
a knock made everyone look at the door in alarm.
Outside, the lady from the candy cart stood next to her, the silver doe.
"Professor, is that your Patronus?"
Severus nodded.
"Yes, he should make sure it's safe here."
“Thank you, he saved my life. Can I help you? The children are completely disturbed. "
Severus gently pulled away from Harry and walked over to the woman. The doe broke up again.
"Yes you can. please hand out hot chocolate to each student. And distribute all the candy you have on the train. Send the invoice to the ministry. And to the minister himself. he is ultimately responsible for this crap. "
The lady gave him a big look.
"Do you think he'll pay that too?"
“If he doesn't want to lose his job. Feel free to write the reason for it. it will probably be in the prophet tomorrow anyway. "
"Good. You should check out some of the kids by the way. Some got it just as hard as the boy behind you.
Severus turned to Harry. the little one held his book in his hand and at the same time stroked Crookshanks.
“All right, I'll take a quick look around the train. Can you do it alone? "
The three students nodded, albeit unhappily. under normal circumstances it would have made Severus grin that three lions of all people wouldn't let him go. But right now he understood all too well.
Contrary to his habit, he stroked each of the three heads. almost getting caught in Harry and Granger's hair. No wonder with the mess of curls. Then he left.
"So those were Dementors," Harry stated. The others nodded.
Wormtail climbed out of Ron's sleeve and nibbled at the piece of chocolate the boy was holding.
Harry admired his friend for his self-control. through the letters they'd sent each other, he knew how difficult it was for Ron lately. He really had a terrible job, he had to be nice to a mass murderer.
“I wonder why such creatures were created? and then you scold about the black magic. ”With that, Hermione pulled Harry out of his thoughts. Ron shrugged.
"Some researcher thought it was a good idea to make them 700 years ago and since he was a white mage it wasn't a bad thing."
"Pah, not bad!" It came from Hermione and Harry.
The door opened again and her teacher came in. He wasn't alone, though.
"Neville?" Asked Harry.
"Hey, I saw my parents and the death of my grandfather," her classmate explained.
Harry took Crookshanks on his lap so the plump boy could sit on his left side. then he turned his gaze back to his teacher, who was holding a girl in his arms.
"Is she hurt?"
Severus shook his head.
"No, but she saw a memory similar to yours.with that he put the blonde student on Harry's right side. But that's not all. Severus took off his cloak and spread it over the three students. They looked at him puzzled.
“You are all still trembling and my cloak is made of heavy material. he will warm you. I have to go back to see the others. ”And he was gone.
Harry now turned to the strange girl.
“Hello, I'm Harry, that's Ron, his rat Scabies, Hermione, your Crookshanks cat, my owl Hedwig and my monster book Beast. I think you already know Neville. "
The girl smiled timidly.
“Hey, my name is Luna Lovegood. yes, I know Neville. "
"What class are you in?" Hermione wanted to know.
"In the second, I'm in Ravenclaw."
Harry, Neville, and Luna were trembling in competition. Hedwig had managed to be let out of the cage by Hermione. and now she was trying to warm the children with Crookshanks and Beast. Even Trevor hadn't run away once, but he didn't look happy either.
The door opened and the lady with the candy came in. she gave each of them a mug of hot chocolate, and they all got some sweets.
"Here my friends, that's the best thing against these monsters."
"Not as good as a Patronus," Harry said.
"That's right, but it's very difficult to create," she left with that.
"Then I already know what I want to learn from Remus next," said the boy.
Ron laughed.
"I'll be there, I don't want to experience something like that again.the others agreed.
They drank their chocolate in silence. Then Harry turned back to Luna and Neville.
"And are you here often, under Professor Snape's robes?"
at first there were only perplexed faces, but then everyone burst out laughing. That did really well after that attack earlier.
Luna giggled.
“Not me, but you apparently do. I saw a photo in the Prophet. "
Harry snorted.
“I just wanted to hide from the crowd, and the next day the picture on the cover grins at me. Professor Snape has been teasing me all day. "
Neville grinned.
“I never thought that the man could be nice. but i'm really glad he's here. And his cloak is really very warm, he didn't promise too much. "
"It's even warmer when he's on," Harry muttered. Laughter followed again.
after some time, when the drinks warmed the students, they became tired. Neville and Luna fell asleep, each leaning on Harry's shoulder.
"I guess I'll have to sit there now," Harry said to his friends. but they were gone too.
"Great."
Harry was relieved when Severus came back inside.
"How does it look?"
The man shrugged.
“As expected after such an attack. most of the younger ones cry and the older ones either curse or say they don't mind. Those are the worst, they'll run to the toilet very often tonight. "
Harry just looked at the man and nodded.
"And you, why aren't you sleeping?"
“I can't, I have to tell you something. You and Remus. Maybe we can go for a walk with Blacky tomorrow then I'll tell you. "
Severus raised an eyebrow. he knew that the boy didn't want the rat to notice. She was looking at him the whole time. So it had to be something important.
“Well, after class we can visit the flea catcher. I'm sure he's already taking Hagrid's hut apart. "
Harry smiled.
"Do you think Remus will teach us the Patronus?"
"You know that it is heavy?"
“Of course, that kind of magic is mostly. but I want to learn it and so do my friends. Especially Luna here. "
“I have no doubt that you can learn it either. I'm not so sure about the others, they don't have enough magic yet. "
“Then I'll always be with them, or they'll stay with a teacher. I can't imagine that this will be the only attack. "
Severus snorted.
“Neither do I. The director doesn't seem to be reliable.
"That shouldn't be anything new," said the boy dryly.
Severus sighed.
"You should get changed slowly, we'll be there soon."
Harry didn't bother to wake up his friends. he picked up his spell and mumbled a few words. The next moment they were all sitting there in their uniforms. Even Luna and Neville. And their suitcases weren't even here.
"Of course it works like that too."
Severus smirked. Harry had really learned a lot in the last few days.
The way to the castle was very calm this time. The students were still shaken. Only Harry saw something new.
"Since when have winged horses been pulling carriages?"
"They always do," his teacher told him.
"You can see her?" The man wanted to know.
"Shouldn't I?"
The Potions Master sighed.
"These are thestrals, you can only see them when you've seen someone die."
"My mother." Harry stopped talking. But he went up to one of the animals. Carefully he touched the narrow muzzle.
"Feel softer than they look," he stated. Severus' eyes almost fell out of his head. anyone who learned of the specificity of these beings usually avoided them. Harry seemed to be the exception there too. But not only he, Lovegood and Longbottem also went to the animals and petted them.
"Great, what have I put on myself?"
Hermione and Ron laughed. The redhead even went one better.
"Be happy if he doesn't want to take one of them into the castle as a cuddly toy."
“Don't you give him any foolish ideas. And now in with you guys, I want to go into this box today. "
"Liar," Harry commented.
His teacher gave him a gentle headbutt.
"Impossible child."
"But you like me," grinned the boy.
"Who worked that?"
"I'm still alive after a month in the same room with you."
"Great, my reputation is gone," Severus groaned in annoyance.
"Only with me, and I'm glad." Unfortunately, the teacher couldn't say anything against it. the boy was beaming with his white streak. The others just watched the banter with wide eyes.
“Um, Ron, Hermione. What did Harry do to Professor Snape? And is that permanent? ”Neville wanted to know.
the two just shrugged their shoulders. They would like to know that too. Luna leaned against Neville.
"Like father and son," she said softly. Severus and Harry heard it anyway.
The teacher looked startled and Harry blushed.
"I don't think I would ever talk to my father like that," Harry said quietly.
Then they finally arrived at the castle gate. An angry Professor McGonagall stood in front of the entrance. Severus raised his eyebrows.
"Why the thunderstorm?"
"Are you still asking? You were on the train. I will kill Albus with his drops. How could he agree to the whole thing? "
“I want to know that too. You can look forward to disturbed first graders. "
"Great. How are you? they've been in the papers more often than the minister over the past few weeks. "
“Just don't remind me of it. Not a day has passed that the boy was not besieged. "
The teacher smiles.
“That's why he's now besieging you. they seem to make a good protector. "
Severus looked beside him. Harry was still standing with him. He made no move to walk away from him. The others had already gone in.
"Now run."
"Don't want to, they'll just ask me stupid questions again."
Severus sighed.
"I don't think what I'm about to do."
Without saying goodbye to his colleague, who was grinning behind him, he pushed the boy into the great hall in front of him. He led him to his table where everyone really started to stare. severus waited until Harry was seated, then turned to the whole table.
"The first one who asks stupid questions gets detention with me." With that he went to the staff table. Leaving behind a stunned student body