Discovery

04.

Standing in the doorway was a cloaked figure that towered towards the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. I felt a sinking feeling in my chest, and I saw a hand protruding from the cloak. It suddenly felt very cold in the compartment. I felt frozen, as if I couldn't move at all. I felt like all the happiness was sucked out of me...

Harry seemed to have fallen off his seat, which pulled me out of my daze. Professor Lupin stepped over Harry and pointed his wand toward the cloaked figure.

"None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." the hooded creature didn't move. Lupin muttered something and suddenly a silver light shot out of his wand, and the figure turned around and glided away.

"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?" Ron and Hermione kneeled next to Harry. He finally opened his eyes, and he seemed very shaken up.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously as he lifted him onto his seat.

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

"No one screamed," said Ron.

"But I heard screaming—" A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.

"Here," he said to Harry. "Eat it. It'll help." Lupin passed out the chocolate to everyone else. I held my chocolate in my hand, but didn't eat it.

"What was that thing?"

"A dementor," Lupin said. "One of the dementors of Azkaban. Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..." He walked towards the door and disappeared down the corridor.

After Professor Lupin left, I realized I still felt quite rotten. Though the dementor was gone, the lump in my throat was still present, and my stomach felt uneasy.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I stood up and left the compartment, wandering down the train. I threw the piece of chocolate on the floor.

"Oi, Ella! That you?" I heard a voice and spun around. Fred was sticking his head out of a compartment.

"Yeah, it's me." I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"What are you doing?"

"Just going for a walk,"

"On the train?" he questioned, stepping out of the compartment and shutting the door behind him.

"Yeah, guess so." I muttered.

"Did you guys see those dementors?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

"Awful things, aren't they? Made me feel like I could never be cheerful again." he remarked. I just nodded. He gave me a look. "Is that why your hair is silver?"

"Oh— I hadn't noticed." He laughed.

"Come to our compartment, we've got some candy." before I could object, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a seat. I looked around and saw George, as well as Lee Jordan. They were all already in their school robes.

"Here, take it." Fred handed me a chocolate frog. I opened it up, but didn't eat it. I doubted my stomach could handle anything at the moment, and I was not about to have my breakfast make a reappearance in front of the three boys. But they all stared at me, as if they were waiting for me to eat.

"Come on, Hart. Eat." Fred said. He seemed more serious than before. I shook my head, taking the Chocolate Frog card out of the box. "Don't make me get your sister." he threatened, but flashed me a smile so I knew he was kidding.