"Of course I know they don't give out two Merlin's, but they could do with a more advanced one, couldn't they?" Ron pursed his lips, annoyed at Hermione's attempt to undermine him.
As Ron turned to look at Ivan, intending to say something, the train shuddered.
The train then slowed to a crawl, as if it were about to stop.
"Are we there yet? So soon this time?" Ron rubbed his stomach, unable to wait to enjoy his dinner in the Great Hall.
"Not yet." Hermione shook her head and looked out the window.
It had been sunny and sunny when they got into the car, but now it was dark and misty outside. Black clouds covered the sky, and bean-sized raindrops slid down, affecting their vision.
"So why did it stop, did the train break down and need repairs?" Harry guessed.
"I've never heard George and the others mention anything like this. Don't tell me we've been left here?" Ron complained.
After a period of slow progress, the train came to a dead stop with a thud.
Outside the carriage, there was a commotion, and the other young wizards realised that something was wrong.
Harry and Ron both wondered what was going on.
Hermione turned around to ask Ivan for his opinion, but he was too preoccupied with his book to care about the train.
All of a sudden, the interior lights flickered and went out, plunging the compartment into darkness except for a little light coming through the windows.
Harry stuck his head out of the compartment and looked around. The corridor was equally dark, and something seemed to be floating in the darkness. It was eerily quiet, except for the sound of the sliding doors.
"Something's out there!" Harry whispered, swallowing hard and shrinking back into the cubicle.
"What was that? Did you see it?" he asked, sounding even more frightened.
Ivan stopped flipping the pages of his book. The darkness had affected his reading, and on second thought, he guessed that Dementors were out there.
Ivan ignored this, however, as Sirius was under orders to be searched, and he could not summon his Patronus at the moment. Lupin would have to do it anyway.
Ivan tapped his wand upward, and the switched-off lamp came back on. He then turned back to his book, activated Occlumency, and sank back into his world.
As the light returned, Harry and Ron did not feel safe at all, as the whole carriage seemed to grow colder and colder, with a biting chill spreading from the soles of their feet and Hermione fidgeting.
The next moment, the three of them could not help but hold their breaths. A black shadow was imprinted on the window of the cubicle. It was so hazy that they could not see what it was through the window.
A deep chill seeped through the gap in the door, and something else was pulled out.
Ron and Hermione were only slightly ill, but Harry was much worse, his head spinning and his thoughts disturbed,
Crack crack…
The sliding door was pulled open a little, and a withered, scabby hand was placed on it, letting in a bitter cold wind.
Crack …
The sliding door swung fully open with an unpleasant sound, and Ron stared in horror at the tall, grotesque figure in the ruined cloak.
It seemed to float in the air, its face completely hidden under the hood, its exposed body rotten beyond recognition,
This reminded Ron of a mummy he had seen in Egypt, and perhaps this was what it looked like when the bandages were removed.
Hermione couldn't help but lean towards Ivan.
Harry also tried to move away from the ghost, but his body seemed to be frozen, and he could not move at all, and Harry's heart felt like it was being squeezed, and someone was screaming in his head… he could hear panic and pleading in that voice, and he tried to do something, but he could not.
The Dementors sucked in air and gurgled as they tried to push their way through the outer door.
Lupin had opened his eyes and reached into his wizarding robes.
At that moment, a voice spoke.
"Get out. You're interrupting my thoughts…"
Ivan's tone was curt as he turned to look at the rotting, ruined figure, his train of thought interrupted by the appearance of the Dementor.
Despite his use of Occlumency, Ivan was surprised to learn that Occlumency did not completely negate the effects of Dementors.
The memory of Isia's death from two months ago resurfaced in Ivan's mind, and his anger rose to such an extent that his eyes seemed to turn orange and vertical.
The Dementor paused, and the face beneath the brim of the hat turned to face Ivan.
Dementors did not have eyes, so they were naturally immune to the effects of direct death. Instead, they were able to taste Ivan's suppressed emotions and moved closer to him.
The ragged, oversized cloak hangs over the tiny compartment, the lights go out under the strain, and the darkness presses in…
Hermione felt all her happiness drain away, leaving her empty.
Ivan remembered everything he had tried to forget for a while. His anger had reached its peak, and a system prompt sounded in his head.
Ivan then extended his wand, and a blinding light filled the cubicle, melting the darkness…
Like a tidal wave, the white mist continued to batter the Dementor's broken body, sending it crashing into the aisle.
The Dementor's black hood was ripped off, revealing its long, disgusting face, its empty, gaping mouth crying out soundlessly in the white light, and its body being torn apart as if it had been corroded…
"What the hell was that? You… you killed it?" Ron stammered.
"It's just a Dementor! It tried to enter the carriage and attack me. No one will care if I kill it…" Ivan closed the book in his hand, his expression ugly.
Under the influence of the Dementors, Ivan's mind conjured countless images of himself using the Time-Turner to return to the past and try to save Alicia, only to fail miserably.
This was also the reason why he did not control the power of the Psalter…
Not to mention that the wizarding community has always been one of wizarding supremacy, and the statues in the hall of the Ministry of Magic make no secret of this belief.
There is no penalty for a minor wizard who strikes back and kills a Dementor, a hated creature, with good reason.
"No, I mean, what should we do now? There seems to be more of them coming…" Ron pointed to the dark shapes floating past the window and said in alarm.