(A/N: Shorter chapter than usual, but I really wanted to get the dementor scene in a chapter before I start the third year arc)
When, Thomas, Adam and Michael thanked Harry opened the door to their friends' compartment, all three of the boys froze as the only thing they could see was a dark and deserted corridor. Then, almost out of nowhere, the lights in the compartment and the hallway start flickering violently, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Before any of the kids could say or do anything, a cold chill ran down their spines as they heard a scream from somewhere nearby.
"Help! Help me!" It was Neville's voice, screaming out an in fear.
A second later, to their surprise, Neville tripped over his own feet and fell into the compartment right at Harry and Ron's feet, clutching his chest. The poor boy looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"What's wrong, Neville?" Hermione asked, trying to calm him down.
"Ouch!" But that was the only response they got from Neville.
"Quiet!" Then out of nowhere a hoarse voice suddenly said.
Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last and all of the kids could hear movements in the corner where the professor was sleeping moments ago.
There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and wary.
"Stay where you are," he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him.
But it was already too late, as Thomas, Adam and Michael were already in the hallway still in shock by the rather strange entrance Nevile had. Thankfully it didn't took more than a second for Thomas to regain his bearings only for him to quickly reach out for his dagger when he saw something in the hallway.
There in the middle of the hallway, a few meters away from them, illuminated by the shivering flames in Professor Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Before anyone could react, a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water reached forward.
But almost as suddenly as it reaches forwards, the hand stood outside only for a split second almost as if though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Tom's gaze, before the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak. Making the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings. An intense cold swept over them all, but the one who had been the most affected was Thomas, who felt his own breath catch in his chest as the cold went deeper than his skin almost as if it was reaching inside his very soul.
The feeling of dread and despair that gripped Thomas's heart only lasted for a few seconds, as he felt a warm and familiar presence in his mind.
[Thomas! You have the power to subdue this abomination. It was feeding on your happy memories. Use that weapon of your and fire a light charm right inside of it, that should get rid of it, without turning yourself into a bigger target for that useless Ministry of yours.]
Hearing Bahamut's voice, made Thomas calm himself down quickly before he gripped his dagger and rushed forward. When he reached the creature, he plunged his dagger into the still unmoving creature chest, feeling a cold and slimy resistance as the dagger got deeper into its chest. Fearing that the physical damage would not be enough, Thomas twisted the dagger before firing his charm.
"Incendio!"
A blast of fire erupted from his dagger, engulfing the floating creature in flames, making whatever this dark abomination was writhed and thrashed, trying to escape the burning inferno. Before the fire could reach him, Thomas pulled out his dagger, and stepped back, watching the creature burn.
As the creature was burning, Thomas felt himself being dragged back and before he could turn his head, he heard, Hermione's worried voice.
"Tom! Tom! Are you all right?"
Thomas nodded in response, letting Hermione check his hands just in case he burned himself when he lit the creature up. He felt her warm fingers gently touch his skin, looking for any signs of injury. By the time she was done, Thomas was relieved to find that he was unharmed, except for a slight tingling sensation in his palm where he held the dagger, but that was to be expected, after all firing an Inferno charm so close might have not been the smart of ideas.
"Thank goodness, you're okay," Hermione said, breathing a sigh of relief. "That was amazing, Tom. You just destroyed a Dementor with your dagger. How did you do that?"
Thomas shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed by her praise. Now, he trusts his friends, but Nevile and the professor… were another matter, one that he'd rather not delve into.
"I just… acted on instinct," he said, avoiding her gaze. "I knew I had to stop it from sucking out my happiness. I remembered that light is effective against dark creatures, so I used my dagger and cast a fire spell since I don't know the Patronus charm yet."
Hermione looked at him for a moment, but choose to stay silent when she saw his pleading eyes. She knew there was more to his story than he was letting on, but she decided not to press him further, for the same reason Thomas hadn't said more.
Fearing that her friend might be shaken, Hermione gave Thomas a hug, only for the same hoarse voice to interrupt them.
"Here," Lupin said as he shoved a piece of chocolate in Thomas's mouth. "Eat it. It'll help."
Breaking the hug, Thomas accepted the piece of chocolate before looking back at the professor.
"I don't want to sound rude, professor, but why in the name of God was that thing here?"
"A dementor… Thomas" Lupin said, who by now was giving chocolate to everyone else. "One of the dementors of Azkaban. All of you eat the chocolate and stay here. I need to go and speak with the driver, excuse me…"
Before any of the kids could say anything, Professor Lupin was long gone, leaving them all alone inside the compartment.
Choosing not to go back to their compartment, Thomas and his friends squeezed inside the compartment with Thomas holding Hermione while the rest of the boy were sitting in the empty seats.
"Does… does anyone have any idea what happened?" Adam asked, shaken by what he had seen.
"I have a the…" Sadly for Thomas, Ron's decided to speak out just as he was about to tell his friends why he thinks the Dementor was here.
"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again. . . ."
"It was horrible," said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in? I thought…"
They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. A new year had started and judging by what happened in the train, Thomas knew that this year would not be a peaceful one either.
< Just change "3" with "e" Patr3on Link : https://patr3on.com/meatbunkun>