Tom wakes Harry up the next morning with his usual toothless grin and a cup of tea. Harry gets dressed and is just persuading a disgruntled Hedwig to get back into her cage when Ron bangs his way into the room, pulling a sweatshirt over his head and looking irritable.
"The sooner we get on the train, the better," he says. "At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now he's accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of Penelope Clearwater. You know," Ron grimaces, "his girlfriend. She's hidden her face under the frame because her nose has gone all blotchy..."
"I've got something to tell you," Harry begins, but they are interrupted by Fred, George, and Polaris who look in to congratulate Ron on infuriating Percy again.
They head down to breakfast, where Mr.Weasley is reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Mrs.Weasley is telling Hermione and Ginny about a love potion she'd made as a young girl. All three of them are rather giggly. Polaris suddenly gets up from the table and walks outside to presumably smoke a cigarette.
"What were you saying?" Ron asks Harry as they sit down. "Later," Harry mutters as Percy storms in.
Harry has no chance to speak to Ron or Hermione in the chaos of leaving; they are too busy heaving all their trunks down the Leaky Cauldron's narrow staircase and piling them up near the door, with Hedwig and Hermes, Percy's screech owl, perched on top in their cages. A small wickerwork basket stands beside the heap of trunks, spitting loudly.
"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooes through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train."
"You won't," snaps Ron. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?"
He points at his chest, where a large lump indicates that 'Scabbers' is curled up in his pocket.
Mr.Weasley, who has been outside with Polaris, sticks his head inside.
"They're here," he says. "Harry, come on."
Mr.Weasley marches Harry across the short stretch of pavement towards the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which is driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet. Polaris is sitting next to one of the windows, which is open, and Harry sees smoke come out of it.
"In you get, Harry," says Mr.Weasley, glancing up and down the crowded street. Harry gets into the back of the car opposite Polaris and is shortly joined by Hermione, Ron, and, to Ron's disgust, Percy.
The journey to King's Cross is very uneventful compared with Harry's trip on the Knight Bus. The Ministry of Magic cars seem almost ordinary. Though Harry notices that they can slide through gaps that Uncle Vernon's new company car certainly can't manage.
They reach King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers find them trolleys, unload their trunks, touch their hats in salute to Mr.Weasley and Polaris, and drive away, somehow managing to jump to the head of an unmoving line at the traffic lights.
Mr.Weasley keeps close to Harry's elbow all the way into the station. "Right then," he says, glancing around them. "Let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Harry."
Mr.Weasley strolls towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten, pushing Harry's trolley and apparently very interested in the InterCity 125 that has just arrived at platform nine. With a meaningful look at Harry, he leans casually against the barrier. Harry imitates him. In a moment, they fell sideways through the solid metal onto platform nine and three- quarters and look up to see the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet steam engine, puffing smoke over a platform packed with witches and wizards seeing their children onto the train.
Percy and Ginny suddenly appear behind Harry. They are panting and apparently took the barrier at a run.
"Ah, there's Penelope!" says Percy, smoothing his hair and going Pink again. Ginny catches Harry's eye, and they both turn away to hide their laughter as Percy strides over to a girl with long, curly hair, walking with his chest thrown out so that she can't miss his shiny badge.
Once the remaining Weasleys, Hermione and Polaris join them, Harry and Ron lead the way to the end of the train, Polaris halfway through the train opens a compartment with a girl inside, he smiles at her and turns back to the others "Go on without me, I'll be staying here." After they pass more packed compartments, they find a carriage that looks quite empty.
They load the trucks onto it, stow Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, then go back outside to say good-bye to Mr.and Mrs.Weasley.
Mrs.Weasley kisses all her children, then Hermione, Polaris and finally, Harry. He is embarrassed, but really quite pleased, when she gives him an extra hug.
"Do take care, won't you Harry?" she says as she straightens up, her eyes oddly bright. Then she opens her enormous handbag and says, "I've made you all sandwiches.... Here you are, Ron ... no, they're not corned beef.... Fred? Where's Fred? Here you are dear...."
"Harry," says Mr.Weasley quietly, "come over here for a moment."
He jerks his head towards a pillar, and Harry follows him behind it, leaving the others crowded around Mrs.Weasley.
"There's something I've got to tell you before you leave - " says Mr.Weasley, in a tense voice.
"It's all right, Mr.Weasley," says Harry. "I already know."
"You know? How could you know?"
"I - er - I heard you and Mrs.Weasley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing," Harry adds quickly. "Sorry - "
"That's not the way I'd have chosen for you to find out," says Mr.Weasley, looking anxious.
"No - honestly, it's okay this way, you haven't broken your word to Fudge and I know what's going on."
"Harry, you must be very scared - "
"I'm not," says Harry sincerely. "Really," he adds, because Mr.Weasley is looking disbelieving.
"I'm not trying to be a hero, but seriously, Sirius Black can't be worse than Voldemort, can he?"
Mr.Weasley flinches at the sound of the name but overlooks it.
"Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff than Fudge seems to think, and I'm obviously pleased that you're not scared, but - "
"Arthur!" Mrs.Weasley calls, who is now shepherding the rest onto the train. "Arthur, what are you doing? It's about to go!"
"He's coming Molly!" says Mr.Weasley, but he turns back to Harry and keeps talking in a lower and more hurried voice. "Listen, I want you to give me your word - "
" - that I'll be a good boy and stay in the castle?" says Harry gloomily.
"Not entirely," says Mr.Weasley, who looks more serious than Harry has even seen him. "Harry, swear to me you won't go looking for Black."
Harry stares."What?"
There is a loud whistle. Guards are talking along the train, slamming all the doors shut.
"Promise me Harry," says Mr.Weasley, talking more quickly still, "that whatever happens - "
"Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to kill me?" says Harry blankly. (Because you are an idiot, Harry)
"Swear to me that whatever you might hear - "
"Arthur, quickly!" cries Mrs.Weasley.
Steam is billowing from the train; it starts to move. Harry runs to the compartment door and Ron throws it open and stands back to let him on.
They lean out of the window and wave at Mr.and Mrs.Weasley until the train turns a corner and blocks them from view.
"I need to talk to you in private," Harry mutters to Ron and Hermione as the train picks up speed.
"Go away, Ginny," says Ron.
"Oh, that's nice," says Ginny huffily, and she stalks off.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment, but all are full except for the one at the very end of the train. It has only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window. (Moony!)
Harry, Ron, and Hermione check the threshold. The Hogwarts Express is usually reserved for students and they have never seen an adult there before, except for the witch who pushes the food cart.
The stranger is wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that is worn in several places. He looks ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair is flecked with grey.
"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hisses as they sit down and slide the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window.
"Professor R. J. Lupin," whispers Hermione at once.
"How d'you know that?"
"It's on his case," she replies, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there is a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin is stamped across one corner in peeling letters.
"Wonder what he teaches?" says Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.
"That's obvious," whispers Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there?
Defence Against the Dark Arts."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione have had two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, both of whom lasted only one year. There are rumours that the job is jinxed.
"Well, I hope he's up to it," says Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway..." He turns to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"
Harry tells them about Mr. and Mrs.Weasley's argument and the warning Mr.Weasley just gave him. When he's finished, Ron looks thunderstruck, and Hermione has her hands over her mouth.
She finally lowers them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Maybe Polaris as well? Oh, Harry... you'll have to be really, really careful.
don't go looking for trouble, Harry -"
"I Don't go looking for trouble," says Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me-"
Lupins POV
I am awakened to the sound of someone saying "that's a load of bullshit." I barely open my eyes to see a girl with brown bushy hair, a boy with flaming red hair, and two other boys that look strangely familiar to me.
The taller one has semi-curly brown hair and purple eyes, while the shorter one has messy jet black hair with a skinny frame, I can't see his face because he is looking at the taller boy.
"What do you mean, Pol?" The shorter boy asks "I mean, that most of the dangerous situations you've been in, are because of you. Take last year, for example: you purposely walked into the forbidden forest, and into an acromantula den. You would've been dead if it weren't for me." The tall one replies, rolling his eyes.
"He's got a point." The girl says, making the shorter boy look at her. I can now see that he has green eyes, and a scar on his forehead. I realise he is Harry Potter, the son of my close friend James.
The taller boy walks into the cabin, shutting the door behind him. "Look, Harry. You have to resist the urge to be an idiot. It's going to kill you someday."
Harry scoffs, "You can talk." He mutters "The only reason I get into dangerous situations is because I have to save you before you get killed." The taller boy responds. He then eyes me "Who's he?" He asks.
"Professor R.J. Lupin, why?" The girl replies, looking at the taller boy "That's why he seems so familiar, I've heard about him from my Uncle Reggie, he used to tell me about how smart he was, and how cool he seemed."
Reggie? The only person I've known by that nickname is-
"Who's that?" The red haired boy asks.
"Someone from my mothers side of my family, technically we are cousins, but he was more like an uncle to me." The tall boy replies.
"How exactly was he an uncle to you?" Harry asks
"He always cared about me, instead of just using me for power like the rest of the people I knew at the time. He died when I was only a year old, but I still remember him and his kind words." The taller boy says.
I look at him more closely, and I see the similarities between him and Regulus, they both have that sharp chin and eye shape. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought Regulus was standing in front of me.
"How did you remember him when you were only a toddler?" Says Harry, eyeing the boy suspiciously. "I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect he subtly enchanted me to remember him." The boy replies, shrugging.
Before anything else can be said, a girl's voice comes from the hall "Polaris? Where are you?"
The boy, presumably Polaris, looks at the door. "Shit. Gotta go, see you later." He quickly exits the cabin, leaving the others confused and me, in alarm.
Back to third person
Ron turns to Hermione "Anyways, how thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" Ron says shakily.
They are taking the news worse than Harry expected. Both Ron and Hermione seem to be much more frightened of Black than he is.
"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," says Ron uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."
"But they'll catch him, won't they?" says Hermione earnestly. "I Mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too-" "What's that noise?" says Ron suddenly.
A faint, tinny sort of whistle is coming from somewhere. They look around the compartment.
"It's coming from your trunk, Harry," says Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. A moment later he pulls the Pocket Sneakoscope out from between Harry's robes. It is spinning very fast in the palm of Ron's hand and glowing brilliantly.
"Is that a Sneakoscope?" says Hermione interestedly, standing up for a better look.
"Yeah... A very cheap one, mind you," Ron says. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry."
"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" says Hermione shrewdly.
"No! Well... I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys... but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?" (foreshadowing)
"You could've asked Pol, he'd gladly help you. Anyways stick it back in the trunk," Harry advises as the Sneakoscope whistles piercingly, "or it'll wake him up."
He nods towards Professor Lupin. Ron stuffs the Sneakoscope into a particularly horrible pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks, which deadens the sound, then closes the lid of the trunk on it.
"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," says Ron, sitting back down. "They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."
"Do you know much about Hogsmeade?" Hermione asks keenly. "I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain -"
"Yeah, I think it is, but I can't be sure." says Ron in an offhand sort of way. "But that's not Why I want to go. I just want to get inside HoneyDukes."
"What's that?" says Hermione.
"It's this sweetshop," says Ron, a dreamy look coming over his face,
"where they've got everything... Pepper Imps - they make you smoke at the mouth - and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next -"
"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione presses on eagerly. "In Sites of Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shades supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain -"
"- and massive sherbert balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them," says Ron, who is plainly not listening to a word Hermione is saying. (Mood)
Hermione looks at Harry.
"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?"
"I expect it will," Harry says heavily. "You'll have to tell me when You've found out."
"What d'you mean?" says Ron.
"I can't go. The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either."
Ron looks horrified. "You're not allowed to come? But - no way - McGonagall or someone will give you permission-" Harry gives a hollow laugh. Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, is very strict, there is no way he's getting her to sign it.
"- or we can ask Fred, George, and Polaris, they know every secret passage out of the castle -"
"Ron!" Hermione says sharply. "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose -"
"Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask her for permission," Harry says bitterly.
"But if we're with him," says Ron spiritedly to Hermione, "Black wouldn't dare -"
"Oh, Ron, don't talk rubbish," Hermione snaps. "Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street. Do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because we're there?" She fumbles with the straps of Crookshanks' basket as she speaks.
"Don't let that thing out!" Ron says, but too late; Crookshanks leaps lightly from the basket, stretches, yawns, and springs onto Ron's knees; the lump in Ron's pocket trembles and he shoves Crookshanks angrily away.
"Get out of here!"
"Ron, don't!" says Hermione angrily. Ron is about to answer back when Professor Lupin stirs. They watch him apprehensively, but he simply turns his head the other way, mouth slightly open, and sleeps on.
The Hogwarts Express moves steadily north and the scenery outside the window becomes wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickens.
People are chasing backward and forwards past the door of their compartment. Crookshanks has now settled in an empty seat, his squashed face turns towards Ron, his yellow eyes on Ron's top pocket.
At one o'clock, the plump witch with the food cart arrives at the compartment door.
"D'you think we should wake him up?" Ron asks awkwardly, nodding towards Professor Lupin. "He looks like he could do with some food." Hermione approaches Professor Lupin cautiously.
"Er - Professor?" she says. "Excuse me - Professor?"
He doesn't move.
"Don't worry, dear," says the witch as she hands Harry a large stack of Cauldron Cakes. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."
"I suppose he is asleep?" says Ron quietly as the witch slides the compartment door closed.
"I mean - he hasn't died, has he?"
"No, no, he's breathing," whispers Hermione, taking the Cauldron Cake Harry passes her.
He might not be very good company, but Professor Lupin's presence in their compartment has its uses.
Midafternoon, just as it starts to rain, blurring the rolling hills outside the window, they hear footsteps in the corridor again, and their three last favourite people appear at the door: Draco Malfoy, flanked by his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
Draco Malfoy and Harry have been enemies ever since they met on their very first train journey to Hogwarts.
Malfoy has a pale, pointed, sneering face, in Slytherin House; he plays Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team, the same position that Harry plays on the Gryffindor team.
Crabbe and Goyle seem to exist to do Malfoy's bidding. They are both wide and musclely; Goyle is taller, with a pudding-bowl haircut and a very thick neck; Crabbe has short, bristly hair and long, gorilla-ish arms.
"Well, look who it is," says Malfoy in his usual lazy drawl, pulling open the compartment door. "Potty and the Weasel."
Crabbe and Goyle chuckle trollishly.
"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," says Malfoy.
"Did your mother die of shock?"
Ron stands up so quickly he knocks Crookshanks's basket to the floor.
Professor Lupin gives a snort.
"Who's that?" says Malfoy, taking an automatic step backwards as he spots Lupin.
"New teacher," says Harry, who gets to his feet, too, in case he needs to hold Ron back.
"What were you saying, Malfoy?"
Malfoy's pale eyes narrow; he isn't foolish enough to pick a fight right under a teacher's nose.
"C'mon," he mutters resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle, and they disappear.
Harry and Ron sit down again, Ron massages his knuckles.
"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he says angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and -"
Ron makes a violent gesture in midair.
"Ron," Hermione hisses, pointing at Professor Lupin, "be careful..."
But Professor Lupin is still fast asleep.
The rain thickens as the train speeds farther north; the windows are now a solid, shimmering grey, which gradually darkens until lanterns flicker into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train rattles, the rain hammers, the wind roars, but still, Professor Lupin sleeps.
"We must be nearly there," says Ron, leaning forwards to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely black window.
The words hardly leave him when the train starts to slow down.
"Great," says Ron, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast...."
"We can't be there yet," says Hermione, checking her watch.
"So why are we stopping?"
The train is getting slower and slower.
As the noise of the pistons fall away, the wind and rain sounds louder than ever against the windows.
Harry, who is nearest the door, gets up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads are sticking curiously out of their compartments.
The train comes to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs tell them that luggage has fallen out of the racks.
Then, without warning, all the lamps go out and they are plunged into total darkness.
Meanwhile
Polaris hugs Luna gently "It's going to be alright." He says, stroking her almost white hair.
Luna hugs him back "What's going on?" She says in a panicking voice. "I think I know." Says Polaris, who watches the raindrops on the window freeze.
The cabin door slides open, and a cloaked figure floats there. Its face is completely hidden beneath its hood.
It glides into the cabin and draws a long, slow, rattling breath, like it is trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold sweeps over them. The cold is deeper than their skins. It is inside his chest, it is inside their hearts....
Polaris, who feels lightheaded, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring. He puts it on and feels better instantly. He gets up and looks at the thing right in its blank face "Leave." he says in a stern voice.
The thing nods and shuts the door and glides away. "Good." Polaris mutters, turning back to Luna "Are you alright?" Luna shakes her head. Polaris reaches for the box of Fizzing Whizbees next to his bag and takes a few. He hands them to Luna, who takes it, but doesn't eat it. "Here, it'll make you feel better."
Luna hesitates, and then takes a bite. Her eyes light up, making Polaris smile at her. "That's better now, isn't it?" He says, taking some candy for himself.
"How did you resist that thing?" Luna asks Polaris, who sits back beside her. "This ring, it's a family heirloom. This thing's enchanted to make the wearer both immune to the effect, and control them. Thank Merlin I took it out of Gringotts a year ago, otherwise I would've passed out." He says, showing Luna his left hand.
The ring is silver like a lot of jewellery Polaris owns, with carvings that resemble snake skin around the middle. Luna takes Polaris's hand and squeezes it.
Polaris looks up at Luna and hugs her, blushing. Luna hugs back and starts crying a little. Polaris immediately pulls away and looks at her with concern "Did I squeeze too hard?"
"No, it's just that ... thing made me remember my mother." Luna replies, looking out of the window mournfully.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Says Polaris, still clearly worried.
"Yes, I'd like that. My mother was a kind woman, and very adventurous. She liked making spells and potions, and one day, she was making another experimental potion, and it exploded and killed her. I saw her die, I was nine when it happened. Now it's just me and Daddy." Says Luna, who looks back at Polaris with tears in her eyes. Polaris wipes away her tears and hugs her again "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Can you tell me a good memory of her?"
Before Luna can speak, a bright light goes past their cabin, startling her.
"What was that?"
Polaris keeps hugging Luna, who is now stroking his semi-curly brown hair. The lights flicker back on and the train starts moving again. (Thought I'd add more Luna scenes since I barely put her in chamber of secrets)
Back to Harry
Harry opens his eyes; there are lanterns above him, and the floor is shaking - the Hogwarts Express is moving again and the lights have come back on.
He seems to have slid out of his seat onto the floor. Ron and Hermione are kneeling next to him, and above them he can see Neville and Professor Lupin watching.
Harry feels very sick; when he puts up his hand to push his glasses back on, he feels cold sweat on his face.
Ron and Hermione heave him back onto his seat. "Are you okay?" Ron asks nervously.
"Yeah," says Harry, looking quickly towards the door. The hooded creature has vanished.
"What happened? Where's that - that thing? Who screamed?"
"No one screamed," says Ron, more nervously still.
Harry looks around the bright compartment. Ginny and Neville look back at him, both very pale.
"But I heard screaming -"
A loud snap makes them all jump. Professor Lupin is breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.
"Here," he says to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."
Harry takes the chocolate but doesn't eat it. "What was that thing?" he asks Lupin.
"A dementor," says Lupin, who is now giving chocolate to everyone else. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."
Everyone stares at him. Professor Lupin crumples up the empty chocolate wrapper and puts it in his pocket.
"Eat," he repeats. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..."
He strolls past Harry and disappears into the corridor.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" says Hermione, watching Harry anxiously.
"I Don't get it.... What happened?" says Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.
"Well - 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," says Ron, who still looks 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," says Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks.
Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away...."
"It was horrible." says Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did YOU feel how cold it got when it came in?"
"I felt weird," says Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again...."
Ginny, who is huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry feels, gives a small sob; Hermione goes over and puts a comforting arm around her.
"But didn't any of you - fall off your seats?" Harry says awkwardly.
"No," says Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though...."
Harry doesn't understand. He feels weak and shivery, like he is recovering from a bad bout of flu; he also feels the beginnings of shame. Why did he go to pieces like that, when no one else did?
Professor Lupin comes back with Polaris behind him. Lupin pauses as he enters, looks around, and says, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know...." Polaris nods "Seriously, it helps with that feeling of dread."
Harry takes a bite and to his great surprise feels warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes.
"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," says Professor Lupin.
"Are all of you all right?" Polaris asks, looking around the cabin. "I don't know." Harry says quietly, making Polaris look at him with concern. "Did you pass out by any chance?" Harry nods, and looks away.
"Don't be ashamed about it, Harry. You aren't the only one with that problem, remember when I told you about those visits to my mother?" Says Polaris, who crouches down to Harry's level.
"Here, if you pass out again, take these." Polaris reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bag of Fizzing Whizbees. He gives them to Harry and stands up.
"I wish I could stay but I gotta get back to my friend, she's pretty messed up by the Dementors." Polaris says, exiting the cabin and closing the door behind him.
Timeskip
At long last, the train stops at Hogsmeade station, and there is a great scramble to get outside; owls hoot, cats meow, and Neville's pet toad croaks loudly from under his hat. It is freezing on the tiny platform; rain is driving down in icy sheets.
"Firs' years this way!" calls a familiar voice. Harry, Ron, and Hermione turn and see the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forwards for their traditional journey across the lake.
"All right, you three?" Hagrid yells over the heads of the crowd. They wave at him, but they have no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them is shunting them away along the platform.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione follow the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches await for the remaining students, each pulled, Harry can only assume, by an 'invisible' horse, because when they climb inside and shut the door, the coach sets off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.
The coach smells faintly of mould and straw. Harry feels better since the chocolate, but still weak. Ron and Hermione keep looking at him sideways, frightened he might collapse again.
As the carriage trundles towards a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Harry sees two more towering, hooded dementors, standing guard on either side.
A wave of cold sickness threatens to engulf him again; he leans back into the lumpy seat and closes his eyes until they pass the gates.
The carriage picks up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione is leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage sways to a halt, and Hermione and Ron get out.
As Harry steps down, a drawling, delighted voice sounds in his ear. "You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottorn telling the truth? You actually fainted?"
Malfoy elbows past Hermione to block Harry's way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously. "Shove off, Malfoy," says Ron, whose jaw is clenched. "Did you faint as well, Weasley?" Malfoy says loudly. "Did the scary old dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"
"Is there a problem?" says a mild voice. Professor Lupin has just gotten out of the next carriage.
Malfoy gives Professor Lupin an insolent stare, which takes in the patches on his robes and the dilapidated suitcase. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he says, "Oh, no - er - Professor," then he smirks at Crabbe and Goyle and leads them up the steps into the castle.
Hermione prods Ron in the back to make him hurry, and the three of them join the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous entrance hall, which is lit with flaming torches, and houses a magnificent marble staircase that leads to the upper floors.
The door into the Great Hall stands open at the right; Harry follows the crowd towards it, but barely glimpses the enchanted ceiling, which is black and cloudy tonight, when a voice calls, "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"
Harry and Hermione turn around, surprised. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor House, is calling over the heads of the crowd.
She is a stern looking witch who wears her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes are framed with square spectacles. Harry fights his way over to her with a feeling of foreboding: Professor McGonagall has a way of making him feel he did something wrong.
"There's no need to look so worried - I just want a word in my office," she tells them. "Move along there, Weasley."
Ron stares as Professor McGonagall ushers Harry and Hermione away from the chattering crowd; they accompany her across the entrance hall, up the marble staircase, and along a corridor.
Once they are in her office, they are greeted by Polaris and a small room with a large, welcoming fire. Professor McGonagall motions Harry and Hermione to sit down next to him.
She settles herself behind her desk and says abruptly, "Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Potter, same thing for you, Lestrange."
Before they can reply, there is a soft knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, comes bustling in.
Harry feels himself going red in the face. It is bad enough that he passed out, or whatever he did, without everyone making all this fuss.
"I'm fine," he says, "I don't need anything"
"Oh, it's you, is it?" says Madam Pomfrey, ignoring this and bending down to stare closely at him. "I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?"
"No, Madame Pomfrey, he just had a bad reaction to the Dementors. I was affected as well, but it's not as severe." says Polaris, who puts his hand on Harry's shoulder.
Her and McGonagall exchange a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey clucks disapprovingly.
"Setting dementors around a school," she mutters, pushing back Harry's hair and feeling his forehead. "They won't be the last ones who collapse. Yes, he's all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate,"
"I'm not delicate!" says Harry crossly.
"Of course you're not," says Madam Pomfrey absentmindedly, now taking Polaris's pulse. "What do they need?" says Professor McGonagall crisply.
"Bed rest? Should they perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"
"I'm fine!" says Harry, jumping up. The thought of what Draco Malfoy would say if he has to go to the hospital wing is torture.
"Harry, relax. They're just concerned for you, that's all." Says Polaris, looking annoyed.
"You don't know that." Harry argues
"Yes I do, Harry. It's their job to care about you. You had a bad reaction to those things, and understandably, they want to care for you."
"Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very least," says Madam Pomfrey, who is now trying to peer into Harry's eyes.
"I've already had some," says Harry. "Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us."
"Did he, now?" says Madam Pomfrey approvingly. "So we've finally got a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies?"
"I hope so, because I don't want to go another year dealing with a worthless teacher." Polaris mutters to himself.
"Are you sure you feel alright, Potter?" Professor McGonagall asks sharply.
"Yes," says Harry.
"And how about you, Lestrange?" McGonagall asks, turning to Polaris.
"Yep, I brought something to help with those things's effects." Says Polaris, subtly fidgeting his scaly ring.
"Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, then we can go down to the feast together."
Harry and Polaris go back into the corridor with Madam Pomfrey, who leaves for the hospital wing, muttering to herself. Only a few minutes later; Hermione emerges looking very happy about something, followed by Professor McGonagall, and the four of them make their way back down the marble staircase to the Great Hall.
It is a sea of pointed black hats; each of the long House tables are lined with students, their faces glimmering by the light of thousands of candles, which are floating over the tables in midair.
Professor Flitwick, who is a tiny little wizard with a shock of white hair, is carrying an ancient hat and a three-legged stool out of the hall.
"Oh," says Hermione softly, "We've missed the Sorting!"
New students at Hogwarts are sorted into Houses by trying on the sorting Hat, which shouts out the House they are best suited to (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin).
Professor McGonagall strides off towards her empty seat at the staff table, Polaris then walks towards the Slytherin table and sits next to Draco, and Harry and Hermione set off in the other direction, as quietly as possible, towards the Gryffindor table. People look around at them as they pass along the back of the hall, and a few of them point at Harry.
He and Hermione sit down on either side of Ron, who has saved them seats.
"What was all that about?" he mutters to Harry.
Harry starts to explain in a whisper, but at that moment the headmaster stands up to speak, and he breaks off.
Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gives an impression of great energy. He has a little more than two metres of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. He is often described as the greatest wizard of the age, but that isn't why Harry respects him. You can't help but trust Albus Dumbledore, and as Harry watches him beaming around at the students, he feels really calm for the first time since the dementor entered the train compartment.
"Welcome!" says Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast...."
Dumbledore clears his throat and continues, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."
He pauses, and Harry remembers what Mr.Weasley said about Dumbledore not being happy with the dementors guarding the school.
"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continues, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks," he adds blandly, and Harry and Ron glance at each other.
"It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors," he says.
Percy, who is sitting a few seats down from Harry, puffs out his chest again and stares around impressively.
Dumbledore pauses again; he looks very seriously around the hall, and nobody moves or makes a sound.
"On a happier note," he continues, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year."
"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There is some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Only those who were in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clap hard, Harry is among them. Professor Lupin looks particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.
"Look at Snape!" Ron hisses in Harry's ear.
Professor Snape, the Potions master, is staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin. It is common knowledge that Snape wants the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but even Harry, who hates Snape, is startled at the expression on his thin, sallow face. It is beyond anger: it is loathing.
Harry knows that expression too well; it is the look Snape wears every time he sets his eyes on Harry.
"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continues as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin dies away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stare at one another, stunned. Then they join in with the applause, which is tumultuous at the Gryffindor table in particular. Harry leans forward to see Hagrid, who is ruby-red in the face and staring down at his enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of his black beard.
"We should've known!" Ron roars, pounding the table. "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione are the last to stop clapping, and as Professor Dumbledore starts speaking again, they see that Hagrid is wiping his eyes on the tablecloth.
"Well, I think that's everything of importance," says Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"
The golden plates and goblets before them fill suddenly with food and drink. Harry, suddenly ravenous, helps himself to everything he can reach and begins to eat.
It is a delicious feast; the hall echoes with talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, are eager for it to finish so that they can talk to Hagrid.
They know how much being made a teacher means to him.
Hagrid isn't a fully qualified wizard; he was expelled from Hogwarts in his third year for a crime he didn't commit. Harry, Ron, and Hermione cleared his name last year.
At long last, when the last morsels of pumpkin tart melt from the golden platters, Dumbledore gives the word that it is time for all of them to go to bed, and they get their chance.
"Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squeals as they reach the teachers' table.
"All down ter you three," says Hagrid, wiping his shining face on his napkin as he looks up at them. "Can' believe it... great man, Dumbledore... came straight down to me hut after Professor Kettleburn said he'd had enough.... It's what I always wanted-"
Overcome with emotion, he buries his face in his napkin, and Professor McGonagall shooes them away.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione join the Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, to the hidden entrance to Gryffindor Tower's large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress asks them, "Password?"
"Coming through, coming through!" Percy calls from behind the crowd. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major'!"
"Oh no," says Neville Longbottom sadly. He always has trouble remembering the passwords.
Through the portrait hole and across the common room, the girls and boys divide towards their separate staircases. Harry climbs the spiral stair with no thought in his head except how glad he is to be back. They reach their familiar, circular dormitory with its five four-poster beds, and Harry, looking around, feels he is home at last.