Wander - a Mudblood's story

Chapter 6

After an indefinite time, the carriage stopped, a sign that they had reached their destination. When it was time to disembark, they exchanged a quick glance at each other, as if to say goodbye, even though they knew neither of them would ever do so.
As they entered the Great Hall, each sat down at his or her own table. The Gryffindor table was already bustling, teeming with students from the various years. At the far end of the room were already seated Harry, Ron and Hermione, the Weasley Twins, Oliver and Lee Jordan. Lenore took a seat in the middle of the table, next to Lavender Brown: she had never really liked her but at that moment she had other thoughts. She sat down and immediately her attention was caught by a Hufflepuff boy of her acquaintance.
«Psst! 'Nore!» She heard herself calling from behind. «Hello Cedric! How are you doing?» she turned around, recognizing the voice.
«I'm good... have you heard the latest news from the Daily Prophet?» the brown haired boy asked. Lenore hesitated for a second before answering. «No, I couldn't read it on the train... you look worried, has something serious happened?» she then asked.
«Sirius Black... has escaped from Azkaban» replied Diggory, with a rather worried expression.
Lenore could not believe her ears. «But that's impossible! Azkaban is a maximum security magical prison! How is it possible that he escaped the Dementors' kiss?» she asked, alarmed. «It is not known, but he is currently wanted all over the peninsula. Aurors are at work and at the same time, the Ministry of Magic has sent dementors everywhere. It's risky now to even go out for a walk.»
The girl remained silent for a long time, trying to process the information she had received from the Hufflepuff student. Was she perhaps in danger? What she was most concerned about was not the fact that a potential Death Eater was roaming the streets undisturbed, but more that the Minister of Magic had allowed the Dementors to stray so far from Azkaban. They were dark, very dangerous creatures, capable of sending anyone out of their minds, even to the point of driving their victims to their deaths. She thought this was crazy, going against all logic and safety considerations of individual wizards and Muggles. After all, ordinary mortals without magical powers would never have a chance if they encountered one of those beings in their path. «This is crazy! The ministry cannot do such a thing. They are putting us all in danger!» countered to the boy.
After the sorting ceremony, it came time for Dumbledore's annual speech. He explained that the school would be hosting dementors because of the ministry's stipulations regarding Sirius' escape from Azkaban, saying not to bother them in any way given their inability to distinguish prisoners from ordinary people. Lenore, sitting at her table, whitened: she knew that if the new professor of defense against the dark arts did not teach her how to defend herself, she would have to learn it herself.