Chapter 3: Dementors

Second Year

I knew I was going to be seeing a lot of Dasha and Eowyn this year considering our beds were just a few feet apart from one another. I continued walking down the aisle while trying to keep balance. I passed a compartment that was nearly empty where I spotted Harry, Ron, Hermione, and a strange man. How strange. I opened the door and stepped in to see what they were up to. "Who's that?" I asked curiously.

"Professor Lupin," Hermione answered. "At least that's what it says on his briefcase." I nodded. Taking a seat next to Ron, I probably should have gone and found Jake again but I unfortunately got motion sickness while walking on a train, best if I sat down for a bit.

We talked for a bit longer than I planned, but still had a while to go. The compartment door slid open once more and Draco was standing there with his two goons. When he noticed me there his eyes filled with anger but then he looked away. "I heard you parents got some money this summer Weasel," Draco drawled on. His icy eyes snapped to the sleeping man in the corner. "Who's that?"

"New teacher," Harry said standing up annoyed. "Did you want something Malfoy?" I doubt Draco would do anything too drastic due to the teacher sleeping in the corner.

"C'mon," Draco said to Crabbe and Goyle as he backed out of the compartment, he glared at me once before leaving, I guess he wasn't going to be nicer than he was last year.

The train began coming to a stop right as I stood up to go find Jake. "Wait," I said completely confused. "We can't be there yet...it's only been an hour." I looked out the window, we were still somewhere in the mountains. Then all the lights went out and it became so dark that you could barely see anything. "Did we break down? Is that even possible?" It was a magic train...I didn't think 'breaking down' was possible.

"Dunno," Harry replied.

"There's something moving out there..." Ron said in a nervous voice. After hearing that I decided not to start looking for Jake and I sat back down in my seat. The compartment door opened and two people came in and tripped over my legs. 

"Ouch!" I yelled.

"Sorry!" came the voice of a girl and boy. 

"Ginny? Neville?" Harry whispered.

"I came to see what was going on," Neville said. "Do you know?"

"I came to find Ron," Ginny said. "Is he here?" 

"I'm right over here Ginny, " Ron said from one of the corners.

"I'm going to go ask the driver what's happening" Hermione said. I heard her open the compartment door and walk away. It was so dark I could barely see anything.

"Ouch Neville!" Ginny yelled. "That's my arm!"

"Quiet!" A hoarse voice yelled. Professor Lupin must have finally awakened. He muttered a spell and a silvery wisp appeared out of his wand. He started heading for the door but it slid open, a cloaked figure was standing in the door way. It glanced in my direction, it was floating. And then...I felt like ice. Like I would never be happy again. I heard someone drop to the floor next to me. I began feeling really tired, like I was about to fall asleep. Have to stay awake, have to stay awake... Then a bright light passed by us all and everything went back to normal. I looked over and saw Harry on the ground next to on the floor.  

"Harry? HARRY?" Ginny was asking, then she slapped him.

"W-What?" Harry said fluttering his eyes, Ginny muttered an apology.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked him nervously.

"Yeah," Harry said looking around. "What happened? Who screamed? I heard a girl screaming." We all exchanged looks.

"Nobody screamed Harry..." Hermione said cautiously. Lupin walked over to him and handed him a piece of Chocolate.

"Eat it," Lupin said, "It will help." Harry took it out of his hand.

"What was that thing?"

"A dementor," Lupin said. "One of the guards from Azkaban. Eat the chocolate, it will help. I need to go speak with the driver." Lupin left the compartment. Hermione explained to Harry what happened when he passed out.

"But did any of you fall out of your seats?" Harry asked concerned.

"No..." Ron said. "It was just you...Ginny was shaking like mad. Carlie and Neville looked like they were both about to fall asleep, and I felt really cold...like I'd never be cheerful again." Lupin walked back into the compartment.

"Are you sure you're alright Harry?" Lupin asked him. Harry nodded, how did Lupin know his name? But then again, everyone knew his name. "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes." 

We all took our seats and stayed quiet for the remainder of the ride. I wanted to go see if Jake and everyone else were okay, but I decided to just stay where I was. When we arrived at Hogwarts, Hagrid called over to Harry to see if he was okay. We kept moving and arrived at the gates of the school. "You fainted Potter? You actually fainted?" Draco asked in a delighted voice. I glared at him, he looked at me for a second but he's been looking at me angrily since he found me in their compartment. 

"Shove off Malfoy!" Ron said to him angrily.

"Oh, did you faint to Weasel?" Draco said loudly, drawing a crowd. "Scary old dementors frighten you?" Then Draco's smirk fell off his face as his head turned to look at someone behind us.

"Is there a problem?" Lupin said approaching us. Ah, no wonder Draco's expression faded.

"Er...no sir," Draco said while giving me one last look and then heading up the steps. What was with these annoying looks? At this point I would take his snide comments. At least then I would know what he was thinking.

Lupin nodded at us once more before taking off on his own. He seemed like he would be a nice man. It was obvious he was here to replace Lockhart and for that I was extremely grateful. Lupin looked really tired though, I wonder why. I followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione over to the carriages since I couldn't take the boats this year. I missed the boats, they gave you a wonderful image of the castle. The carriages were new to me though so I still found them intrigiung. I squished in to one with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and a few students I wasn't too familar with.

Harry was quiet on the ride to the castle. He still looked a little freaked out over the whole thing so we all kept quiet as well. Even I still felt shaken up over the whole thing. I looked around to see if Jake was in a nearby carriage but I couldn't spot him. The forest freaked me out more than the ocean. You could barely see past the thick and dark trees. I don't know how Harry and Ron willing ventured into them last year when they followed the spiders. Finally we arrived at the castle. My heart beat with happiness, it felt so good to be back. Even though last year I went through some pretty tough times I loved being at Hogwarts. It was all worth it.

Together we walked up the stone steps and into the castle. It was just as I remembered it. Professor McGonagall was standing at the entrance. She was waiting for Harry and Hermione for some unknown reason. Those two followed her down a separate hall while the rest of us made our way into the Great Hall. The floating candles and long tables prepared for the feast were set up just as they were last year. I said my goodbyes to Ron, Ginny, and Neville before I headed towards the Slytherin table. "Wait Carlie come here for a second," I heard Jake call. I turned on my heel and made my way over to him. The girls near him looked over at me unpleasantly. 

"Hey. I looked for you at the carriages but didn't see you," I told him. Luckily people were still filing into the Great Hall so we didn't need to take our seats just yet.

"Yeah same, but I was just wondering if you were okay after the dementors?" He hesitated for a moment. "I heard that Harry, well, passed out. I assumed you might have been with them."

"I was, but I'm fine now. It was just terrifying," I answered. Never again did I ever want to encounter a dementor. "Made me feel a little drained, but it could have been worse." I could have passed out like Harry did.

"Yeah those things are horrible. We saw it go by our compartment. Okay well glad you're okay, I'll see you later then." He flashed a smile once more before turning back in his seat.

I said goodbye and turned to walk back towards the Slytherin table. People were too busy catching up with friends so no one over their really noticed me talking to Jake or walking in with Gryffindors. Otherwise I probably would have gotten a different reaction from them. I rushed past Draco and took a seat next to Dasha. I noticed their boyfriends were with them as well. "Oh Carlie," Dasha said concerned as I sat in my seat."Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I kind of felt drained of all energy, but other than that I was fine. What about you guys?" The dementors had a weird effect on me. I started feeling tired and freezing, but I was fully awake.  

"Merlin!" Eowyn replied dramatically. "We saw them go by, it was so scary. I hate dementors, they creep me out!" 

"I can see why." I laughed in agreement. Is there anyone out there who actually likes dementors? 

The sorting was rather boring. Maybe that was just because I wasn't involved this year. I didn't know anyone either. Slytherin got a few new members but not as many as last year. Once they were all seated, Dumbledore began his back to school speech. He warned us that there will be Dementor's monitoring the outskirts of the school, but he didn't seem too happy about that. Hell, I wasn't happy about that. I hoped they actually stayed on the outskirts of the school and didn't come anywhere near us. Lupin was also introduced as our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher just as I guessed. I noticed Snape was staring at him hatefully. It wasn't the look he gave Harry and I, it was a loathing look. Dumbledore also introduced Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. I was happy for Hagrid, a gleeful smile appeared on his face as Dumbledore announced it to the school.  

The feast began and I filled my plate with all of my favorites from last year. After we ate, we headed back to the common room. My friends and their boyfriends all took seats on the couch. Awkward situation again... "I'm just going to go up to the dorm," I told them. "I have to unpack a bit, see you guys." The nodded and I walked away from them. 

Our dorm was much bigger this year and we got a new view of the black lake. Once again I grabbed dibs on the bed up against the wall. I was only up there for about ten minutes before Dasha walked up. "Hey Carlie, we're going to go for a walk before curfew, would you like to come with us?" she asked in her Australian accent. 

"Thanks, but you guys go ahead. I have a lot to unpack and I'm still feeling a bit tired," I responded with a smile. 

"Alright," she answered. "See you in a bit."

Christina and her friends walked up to the dorm after a few minutes. We mutually ignored one another, but they were being rather loud talking about their summer adventures. So I walked down into the common room and took a seat by the window to get a break from them. It felt so great to be back. I looked out at the lake and watched the fish swim by. "Can you bloody believe it?" I heard Draco say. "That oaf will be teaching us?" I sharply turned around towards Draco, I knew that he was talking about Hagrid. They took a seat near me. 

"So did Harry Potter really faint?" Pansy Parkinson asked in her squeaky little voice.

"Why don't you ask Nyx?" Draco said in a cold voice. I turned around to find him glaring in my direction. They all looked at me. "You were sitting with him on the train? Weren't you?

"What does it matter to you?" I replied. Standing up from the seat, I decided I would rather listen to Christina go on about her summer than listen to Pansy and Draco rip everyone apart. Draco just glared in my direction as I left before he went back to talking with his friends.