Percy Jackson and the Hound of Hogwarts [Book 3]

11) Dementor

Draco was my boyfriend since first year. He was also Harry's enemy.

None of us liked Crabbe or Goyle. Well, Draco was fine with them.

"Well, look who it is," Draco drawled, pulling through door open. "Potty and the Weasel."

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled deeply.

"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," Draco said. "Did your mother die of shock?"

Ron stood up very suddenly, knocking Crookshanks' basket to the floor. Lupin gave a snort.

"Who's that?" Draco stepped back cautiously. After our quest, we knew better than anyone how well monsters can disguise themselves.

"New teacher," Harry stood, prepared to hold Ron back. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes narrowed. He knew better than to start a fight in front of a teacher.

"C'mon," he muttered to Crabbe and Goyle, and they left the compartment.

The boys sat down, and Ron rubbed his knuckles.

"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he hissed. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and—"

Ron made a very violent gesture, and I thought, you can try.

"Ron," Hermione whispered, motioning towards Lupin, "be careful..."

Lupin was still fast asleep.

***

The rain poured as we made our way to Hogwarts. The windows continued to darken, and the lights in the hallway and over the luggage racks eventually flickered to life. The train shook, the rain thundered, the wind roared, yet Lupin still slept.

"We must be nearly there," Ron said, leaning past Lupin to look through the window. The train slowed right after he said that.

I furrowed my brows.

"Great," Ron cautiously peered outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast..."

"It's not time," I whispered, looking around.

Hermione nodded and looked at her watch, "We can't be there yet."

"So why're we stopping?"

The train got slower and slower, the sound of the machine quieting and the sound of the roaring wind strengthening.

I stuck my head out of the compartment door, and saw other curious faces in the hallway.

The train stopped, and I could hear the banging of luggage falling. I almost smiled, but then the lights all flickered out.

"What's going on?" I heard Ron ask.

"I'll go talk to the conductor," I said, stepping out of the compartment. I pulled out my wand, and illuminated the hallway.

I walked towards the front of the train, and saw it. A strange cloaked figure, its head nearly touching the ceiling. I saw its decayed hand reaching towards one of the compartment doors.

"Excuse me, but I would prefer you didn't do that," I called in Greek. It turned towards me, and I was filled with a very sudden, unforgiving cold. It wasn't just surrounding me, but it was in my heart.

I could hear the wailing of the souls in the River Styx, I listened to the screams of the damned, and I heard the voice of Kronos, rising from the depths of Tartarus, wanting to drag me in. For a moment, I thought I saw golden eyes looking at me from its horrid face. Then I realized it was covered by a hood.

It stared at me, and I shook.

I knew what it was. The body of one of the ones in pain. A husk. It begged for a soul to take, but couldn't disobey orders from its masters.

I stood there for a moment, the thing staring back at me. It came closer, and somehow I knew it wasn't a threat.

"I'm sorry for your fate," I whispered. The thing seemed to nod, then looked up sharply. I saw gray, decaying skin under its hood.

I nodded hurriedly, watching as it came closer. It hit me suddenly, and I whispered, "I'm a bit too small for Black to be hiding under my cloak. Goodbye!"

I ran back to the compartment, and stopped in my tracks. Neville and Ginny had gotten in there at some point, Harry was lying on the floor, and Lupin was standing in the doorway, looking weary.

"Damned spooky things, they are," I said, sitting heavily. "Why is Harry on the floor?"

"I dunno. He just collapsed. You saw one of them?" Ron leaned close, eyes wide and shaking a bit.

"Yeah. We had a very nice conversation, though it was a bit one-sided," I shrugged, then looked up. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Lupin. Hope you're better than the last two."

Lupin looked at me warily, and said, "You... talked to it?"

"Yes. It wasn't threatening me, but the screams were very loud, and it definitely wanted my soul, so I left."

Lupin nodded slowly.

Then Hermione slapped Harry, "Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"

"W-what?" Harry opened his eyes

"Jeez, Hermione, you don't need to be so rough," I whispered in Greek.

Harry pushed his glasses back into his face, and Ron and Hermione pulled him back into his seat.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Harry said, glancing towards the door. "What happened? Where's that — that thing? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed," Ron said, even more worried.

"I heard screaming," I supplied. "Mostly from the damned. Like, the ones in the Styx and the Fields of Punishment. There were a few others, and then Kronos was yelling at me again. Quite spooky."

There was suddenly a loud snap. We looked to see Lupin breaking off large pieces of chocolate.

"Here," Lupin said, passing an extra large piece to me and Harry. "Eat it. It'll help."

I took a bite, and was surprised to find that I really did feel better.

Harry didn't eat his, "What was that thing?"

"A dementor," Lupin said, passing chocolate to everyone else. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."

Lupin put the crumpled wrapper in his pocket, "Eat. It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..."

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" Hermione asked after Lupin left.

Harry wiped sweat from his face, "I don't get it... what happened?"

Percy just doing the stupidest stuff and confusing everyone is the best thing ever. Like everyone's so baffled. Also, I've got good news. We're moving! All right, ya'll knew that, but we've got a house now. It's fully furnished, really nice looking, and has some decent land. It's got chickens and goats, and we're keeping the old owners dogs to watch the chickens and goats, so that's awesome. We've started packing, and have to be out by October fifteenth. I just hope nothing falls through, that would suck. But new dogs!!! They're adorable and super sweet, and sometimes they have b a b i e s. Anyway, I'm super excited. So excited.

I hope you guys have an awesome Monday, and happy Labor Day! I'll see you on Wednesday, and I love you!