Chapter Two: A Lesson on Dementors
The rest of the summer, Harish spent sending and receiving letters from all of his friends. Harish also received a paper and a badge with his list of school supplies that year. Harish had been made a prefect. Harish had then sent out letters to his friends and conversed with them the rest of the summer.
Some of them, like Dean Thomas, Angelina Johnson, the Weasley twins, and Hermione seemed concerned about Black's escape from Azkaban. Draco Malfoy wasn't concerned at all as he knew that Black was never a follower of Voldemort to begin with. Daphne Greengrass and Luna Lovegood weren't all that concerned either. Daphne's family was neutral and Luna was…out there. Most of her letters consisted of different made-up magical creatures that her father had written about in the Quibbler.
Harish had finally agreed with the twins, Hermione, and Draco to meet at Diagon Alley exactly a week before the next school year started. On the day they were to meet together, Harish practically shoved his father out the door so that he could see his friends that he hadn't seen all summer.
They flooed into the Leaky Cauldron and Voldemort got Harish through the archway. Then, he went with the boy to withdraw money from Gringotts. After that, he left, agreeing to pick Harish up that evening. Harish went to Flourish and Blotts to buy his school books. There, he met Hermione, Ginny, and Draco. Ginny's books had already been bought for her, so she was just following Hermione around. Draco was buying his school books and Hermione bought hers as well, but she was also browsing eagerly. Her bag full of school books was so full, Harish was sure it would burst.
"Hermione," he said, walking up behind the two of them. "I think they put the wrong books on your book list.
Hermione and Draco both turned around and smiled when they saw him.
"Harish!" Hermione exclaimed, wrapping the older boy in a tight hug.
"Don't strangle him, Hermione," Draco said. "Hey, Harish."
"Hey," Harish replied before turning back to Hermione. "Seriously, though. Why did you buy so many books?"
"Oh, well I'm taking all of the classes this year," Hermione replied. "I couldn't decide which ones to take, so I signed up for all of them."
Harish shook his head. She was ridiculous sometimes.
The manager had nearly fainted when he was told that they needed three copies of The Monster Book of Monsters, and Harish soon found out why. For some odd reason, Professor Kettleburn had decided to assign books that bite. Harish couldn't see how they were supposed to learn from it if they couldn't even get it open, though.
After they paid for their books, they ran into the twins next door at the Apothecary. Fred then proudly showed anyone who was interested his new wand. They bought the rest of the supplies they would need for the school year and then split up. The twins went to Dervish and Bangs, Harish and Draco went to Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Hermione and Ginny went to Magical Menagerie. They all agreed to meet up at Florean Fortescue's when they were done looking at the different shops. Harish and Draco both bought cleaning supplies for their brooms. The twins looked at the different joke products, wondering how they could do them better. Hermione went to spend her last bit of money on an owl, but ended up buying a giant cat instead.
Then they all met a Florean Fortescue's as they had agreed and they bought ice creams. When the day was finally over, Harish had bought everything he needed for the upcoming school year and caught up on how everyone was doing. Apparently Hermione went on vacation to France over the holidays.
Harish spent the last week of summer reading all of his school books and finishing up his homework. He was half excited, half nervous about the upcoming year as they were now fifth years and would be taking their OWL's.
Harish accidentally slept in on the morning that term started. He only woke up when Voldemort finally sent Dobby to wake him, telling him that they would be late if he didn't hurry up. He flew out of bed, got dressed in clothes to wear in the station, grabbed some food, and left the house. The two of them got to the platform with twenty minutes to spare.
Then, the fifth year had rushed to the prefects' compartment where he had to endure very boring information and instructions. The moment they were free to go, Harish hopped up and went through the train, looking for a compartment.
Finally he found a compartment at the back of the train that contained the twins, Hermione, Draco, Dean, and a shabby man, that was asleep in the corner. It was pretty full since there were six students, plus the man in the corner, but none of them minded.
"Who is he?" Harish asked down as he sat down, taking in the shabby robes. The man looked young, but he had several grey hairs already.
"Professor R. J. Lupin," Hermione replied. "It was on his trunk."
"He must be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Harish said thoughtfully.
"Just so long as he's better than Lockhart," Dean said.
Everyone in the compartment nodded in consent. Professor Lockhart hadn't known how to cast any spells. Not many people applied for the job anymore, as everyone began to think that the position was cursed. The previous year, Lockhart had literally been the only person to apply for the job.
Harish stared out the window, wondering why Sirius Black had broken out of Azkaban. The twins seemed to notice how quiet he was being.
"Are you all right?" they both asked in unison.
Harish nodded. "Just thinking."
"What about?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Sirius Black."
"You mean the bloke that broke out of prison?" Dean asked. "He was on the Muggle news as well as in the Prophet."
"Of course he was," Hermione replied. "He was convicted for the murder of thirteen Muggles using only one curse."
"And everyone reckons that he broke out to join up with You-Know-Who," Dean said.
Harish and Draco both remained silent as they were the only ones that knew that Black wasn't ever a death eater. Then, the twins piped up.
"Our dad thinks that he—"
"Broke out of Azkaban to kill off Neville Longbottom—"
"Because it was rumoured that You-Know-Who—"
"Wanted to get rid of him before his downfall."
"Really?" Harish asked.
"Yeah," both twins replied.
"Dad says that before he escaped, he was muttering in his sleep, 'He's at Hogwarts'," Fred said.
"The Minister reasoned that Black was heading towards Hogwarts because of that," George specified.
Harish nodded. Black could very well be heading towards Hogwarts, even if not for the reasons that the Minister suspected. Conversation carried on after that. The third years were looking forward to Hogsmeade and were having arguments about where in the village they should go first. Harish and the twins continued talking about Black until the topic got a little old and they started discussing the Chamber of Secrets in undertones.
Voldemort had told Harish that if he found the Chamber before his fifth year, he would get a reward. Harish managed to find it in his fourth year, so now they were discussing what sort of prize they should receive.
He and the twins thought about it for a bit before Harish said, "Isn't the Quidditch World Cup coming to Britain next year?"
The twins thought for a second before nodding.
"We should get him to get us tickets to the World Cup!" Harish exclaimed excitedly.
"That is a perfect idea!" the twins exclaimed.
Hermione began fiddling with the straps of a wicker basket. Then, next thing he knew, the was a giant, orange, furry beast flying around the compartment. Egelbert dove down into Harish's bag.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed, leaping up and grabbing him.
"What is that thing?" Draco asked.
"It's a cat!" Hermione said indignantly.
Harish looked at it. It was too huge to be a normal cat.
"It must be part kneazle," he said. The twins nodded in agreement.
Hermione scratched the beast behind the ears and it finally settled down, taking a nap stretched across Hermione and Dean's laps.
The train chugged north. The cities and towns grew into fields. Then the fields changed to dense, wild forests. At around one the lunch trolley came around and nearly everyone bought food. Professor Lupin was still asleep and they didn't want to wake him. Then an hour later rain began to pound violently against the windows and the sky grew dark with clouds. The light gradually faded all together as it got later and the lights flickered on. The rain began pouring as hard as ever and the wind began howling, but still Professor Lupin slept on.
"We must be nearly there," Dean said, leaning forward to look past Lupin through the now completely black window.
Just as he said that, the train began to slow down.
"Great," the twins said. Dean got up to look out the window more closely. "I'm starving."
Hermione glanced at her watched. "We can't be there yet," she said worriedly.
"Then why have we stopped?" Draco asked.
The train was moving slower and slower and the sound of the pistons moving faded away, the rain seeming even louder. Harish, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, people were sticking their heads out curiously.
The train came to a halt with a sudden jolt and distant thuds and crashes told him that luggage had fallen from the racks. Then, without warning, the lamps shut off and they were plunged into darkness.
"What's going on?" came Draco's voice, higher than usual.
Harish felt his way back to his seat.
"Ouch!" Hermione squealed. "Dean, that was my foot!"
"Do you think we've broken down?" the twins asked.
"I don't know…" Harish replied. There was squeaking noise as Dean cleared off the window and peered outside.
"There's something moving out there," he said. "I think people are coming on board."
Harish could heard the compartment door open and there was a dull thud as someone tripped over his legs.
"Ouch—sorry—who's that?"
"Harish," Harish answered. "Who's that?"
"It's Daphne." Harish felt his face grow hot. Why did it have to do that? "Is there an open seat anywhere?"
"Beside me," he replied.
"I'm going to ask the conductor what's going on," came Hermione's voice and the door slid open again, followed by a smack and two groans of pain.
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?"
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was looking for the twins."
"Come in and sit down," Harish called. "Not here! I'm here!"
"Ouch!" Daphne squealed.
"Quiet!" a hoarse voice said suddenly.
Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. Harish could hear him moving in the corner. No one said anything.
There was a soft crackling noise and a dim light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired face, making every line stand out. His eyes looked alert and wary.
"Stay where you are," he said in the same hoarse voice. He got slowly to his feet, holding the flames in front of him. Before he could even reach the door, it slid open.
Standing in the doorway was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden by its hood. Harish looked downwards and saw a slimy, scaly hand protruding out of the cloak. As though the creature sensed his gaze, it withdrew its hand into its sleeve. Then the thing beneath the hood drew a rattling breath as though it was trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
A strong cold swept over Harish, chilling him to the bone. He felt his breath catch in his chest; it felt like being dunked with a bucket of icy water. The cold penetrated his skin and seeped into his heart. Harish's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see and felt as if he was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder.
And then, from far away, her heard terrible screaming. Terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He had no idea who it was, or where they were. All he could see was darkness and it terrified him… A thick white fog swirled around him and then—
"Harish! Harish! Are you all right?"
Someone was slapping his face.
"Stop!" he said, getting fed up with the slapping.
He opened his eyes to see Fred and George leaning over him. There were lanterns above him and the floor was shaking. He seemed to have slid out of his seat and onto the floor. Above the twins he could see Daphne and Lupin watching worriedly. Harish felt very sick and began shaking all over. When he raised a hand to rub his eyes, he felt cold sweat on his brow.
The twins heaved him back into his seat.
"Are you okay?" Daphne asked nervously.
"Yes," he said, wiping the sweat off completely. The hooded creature had vanished. "What happened? Where's that thing? Who screamed?"
"No one screamed," Draco said uneasily.
Harish looked around the bright compartment. Everyone in there were watching him cautiously. Daphne looked frightened and Ginny was very pale.
"I must have been dreaming," Harish said. Everyone looked slightly calmer when he said that.
A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into bits.
"Here," he said, handing Harish a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."
Harish took the chocolate, but didn't eat it.
"Was that a dementor?" he asked.
Lupin nodded. "One of the dementors of Azkaban." Everyone stared at him. "Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…"
He walked past Harish and disappeared into the corridor.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"I don't get it…What happened?" he asked.
"Well that thing—the dementor—stood there and look 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," George said.
"You went all rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching—" Fred explained.
"And Professor Lupin stepped over you and walked toward the dementors and pulled out his wand," Hermione said.
"And then," Draco cut in. "He said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementors didn't move so—"
"Lupin chased it off with a giant silvery thing!" Dean interrupted.
"It was horrible how cold it got when it entered the room," Daphne said.
Ginny, who was sitting in the corner by Fred looked nearly as bad as Harish felt and let out a sob.
"But didn't any of you—fall off your seats?" Harish asked awkwardly.
"No," George replied.
"Ginny was shaking like mad, though," Fred said.
Harish narrowed his eyes as he thought. He was fifteen years old and here he was fainting at the sight of a dementors! Why hadn't anyone else fainted? He knew that Dementors affected someone compared to how horrible their memories were, but he didn't have any bad memories that he could think of. It made perfect sense why Ginny looked so bad, remembering the horrible ordeal she went through the previous year, but it made no sense why he was affected the worst.
As he was thinking this, the train pulled to a stop. Professor Lupin ushered them out onto the platform and they all went off to get a carriage. A lantern bobbed above the heads of the students and a familiar voice shouted, "Firs' years! This way firs' years!"
The three fifth years shuddered as they recognized the owner of that voice. It was the half-giant, Hagrid, who had put the three of them in many detentions for being caught in the Forbidden Forest. When they walked across the platform to the carriages, Ginny started at the fact that they weren't being pulled by anything and everyone else got in one. Harish, Fred, George, and Draco were in one while Hermione, Daphne, and Ginny were in another. Then, the rain pelted against it as it began to roll along and wind rocked the carriage ever so slightly.
They rode up the path to the castle, pausing just outside the gates. There, by the winged boars, were another set of dementors. Harish felt a new wave of cold and nausea wash over him and he leaned back, closing his eyes until they passed. When he opened them, everyone in the carriage were looking at him in concern again. He glared at them and soon the three boys looked away. Then, seconds later the carriage bumped to a stop. Harish exited first and the others followed as he started up the stone steps of the castle. The went through the huge oak door, across the cavernous entrance hall, and through the golden doubles doors into the Great Hall.
Harish had hardly managed to glimpse the stormy ceiling before, "Blake! Granger! I want to see you both!"
Harish and Hermione turned to face Professor McGonagall, who had addressed them. Harish looked at her in mild interest and Hermione looked concerned, probably thinking that she was already in trouble somehow. "There's no need to look so worried," McGonagall said. "I just want a quick word in my office. Move along there, Malfoy."
Draco stared as the stern professor ushered Harish and Hermione away from the chattering crowd. They accompanied her across the entrance hall, up the marble staircase, and along a corridor.
Once they were in her office, Professor McGonagall motioned to the two Slytherins to sit down. She settled herself behind her desk and said abruptly, "Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Blake."
Harish's mouth dropped open in indignation and anger. How dare that shabby man do such a thing! He was completely fine! A dozen retorts shot to the teen's tongue, but before he could utter any of them, the office door burst open and Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.
"Honestly!" he exclaimed, his face turning pink. "I'm fine!"
Pomfrey ignored him.
"You're all clammy," she said, peering closely at him. "What have you done this time?"
"It was a dementor," McGonagall replied.
They exchanged a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly.
"Setting dementors around a school," she muttered, pushing Harish's hair back and feeling his forehead. Harish leaned away from the touch and forced all sorts of ugly looks from his face. He hated being touched. "He won't be the last one who collapses. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are very delicate—"
"I'm not delicate!" Harish protested.
Hermione hid a laugh behind her hand and he angled a glare at her.
"Of course you're not," Pomfrey replied absentmindedly, now taking his pulse.
"What does he need?" McGonagall asked sharply. "Bed rest? Should he spend the night in the Hospital Wing?"
Harish looked at her in disbelief. "For the last time, I'm fine!"
"Well, he should have some chocolate, at least," the nurse said, who was now trying to peer into Harish's eyes.
"I've already had some," the fifth year replied shortly. "Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us."
"Did he now?" Madam Pomfrey asked approvingly. "So we finally have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies?"
"Are you sure you're all right, Blake?"
"Yes," Harish said.
"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."
Harish went out into the corridor with Madam Pomfrey, who left for the Hospital Wing. The impatient and slightly cranky teen only had to wait a few minutes before Hermione emerged looking rather happy. She was followed by Professor McGonagall and the three of them made their way back down the marble staircase and into the Great Hall.
At the front of the hall, Professor Flitwick was carrying an ancient hat and a three legged stool out of the Great Hall.
"Oh," Hermione said softly from behind Harish. "We've missed the sorting!"
Harish shrugged and slipped into his usual seat that was located at the center of the table. Another one had been saved for Hermione by Ginny.
"What was—"
"All that about?" the twins muttered to Harry.
Halfway through Harish's explanation, Dumbledore stood up to make his announcements. Harish was forced to lower his voice slightly as he finished his tale. Then, when he was done, food had appeared on the plates.
When Harish dug his fork into his pork chops, his eyes swept across the staff table. Then, he noticed one of his professors was missing.
"Where's Professor Kettleburn?" he asked.
"Don't you listen?" Hermione asked imperiously. Harish almost smiled. She was one of the few people that were bold enough to boss him around. "Professor Kettleburn retired. Hagrid is taking his place."
Harish's heart sank. He had liked Kettleburn. Harish looked down at a slimy green head that was poking over his shoulder. Egelbert, the trio's Clabbert, had become his pet because of one of Kettleburn's classes. Though this definitely explained why their book was a monster. Harish wondered if the half-giant would be fond of slightly more vicious monsters.
One of the girls sitting nearby leaned forward and addressed Hermione.
"So how do you feel about your father escaping Azkaban?" they asked.
Hermione nervously looked at Harish. He had informed her earlier that summer exactly why the entire house thought she was the last Black heir. Harish smiled and did a thumbs up.
"Oh, I think it's…" she trailed off her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. Harish's smiled looked more forced and he thrust the thumb up and down slightly. "A good thing?" Harish nodded, looking at her as if she was an idiot. Then Hermione understood she needed to act happy about her supposed father escaping from a high security prison. "Yes, I think it's wonderful that we might be reunited again. Did you know that he's heading here so that he can be with me again?"
All of the girls gasped dramatically. "No!"
"You don't say!"
"I do say," Hermione replied, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air. "It's rumored that the last thing he was heard saying was, 'She's at Hogwarts.' That just confirms that we will be together again."
Harish smirked and the twins looked at her with surprise. The pale boy had always known that she had had the cunning in her. She just simply needed to refine it slightly. Conversation carried on after that in between bites. Harish enjoyed the cooked chicken very much, though it did not compare to what Wrinkle had fixed in the past. Then, desserts appeared and everyone ate their fill.
Once the feast ended, Harish stood up to lead the first years out of the Hall. After a fleeting goodnight to Dean from the fifth year, they all went down to the dungeons. Harish's friends followed them. Once they got down in the dormitory, he wrote a letter out to his father, requesting tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, and then he went to bed. The teen, feeling like he had just fought off a bought of the flu, went to sleep very easily that night.