Arrival at School

Patronus Charm.

One of the most powerful and oldest defensive spells in the Wizarding World, and also the most famous. Successfully casting the Patronus Charm is extremely difficult.

The abundant silver light continuously surged from the tip of Loren's staff, spreading outwards from him like invisible flames towards both ends of the train, or like some kind of spectacular wave. While dispelling the Dementor, it Hogwarts Express in a silvery-white glow.

In Remus Lupin's long-held belief, only a very few wizards could summon Patronus in its complete form. Different people have different Patronus; he'd seen James's stag, Lily's doe, and even a weasel and a tabby cat...

But Lupin had never seen Patronus this enormous before, one that was so large that its entirety was obscured from inside the carriage. Compared to Dumbledore's Phoenix, this colossal Patronus gave him a unique kind of awe.

Once he confirmed that the threat of the Dementor was gone, Loren put down his wand and stopped casting the spell. The silver light lost its source and dimmed over a few breaths until it was completely extinguished.

As Loren put away his wand, he touched a hard little stone at the tip.

Soul Stone?

Loren calmly put the Soul Stone into his pocket.

Neville and Lupin wore the same shocked expression. Although the crisis brought by their fear had been averted, they still needed some time to adjust to the shock brought by the Patronus Charm.

Lupin looked at Loren, his mind in turmoil, and couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Is this a third-year student?"

Hermione lowered her head and pursed her lips, secretly smiling.

Seeing Lupin and Neville stunned, Ron pursed his lips... He still didn't quite understand those two. As for Loren, well, it was normal for him to be absurd. His hand was getting a little tired, Ron switched to his other hand to support Harry's head, preventing him from bumping his head or twisting his neck in his delirium.

"Professor," Loren emphasized slightly, "What do we do now?"

Lupin then remembered that he was a professor, and snapped back to reality. He composed himself and looked at Harry was slumped in Ron's arms, with a complicated expression.

He recognized the lightning bolt-shaped scar— James and Lily's son, the Boy Who Lived — Harry Potter.

Recalling the adjectives Sirius Black used in his letter—calm, brave, exceptionally strong, the destined nemesis of the Dark Lord, Dumbledore's successor—and comparing them to the absurd Patronus Charm from earlier, Lupin felt that Sirius Black was somewhat influenced by the Godfather.

After a moment of silence, Lupin quickly regained his composure. He looked at the students in the compartment and said, "You stay here. I'll go find the driver and the student president, and also send a letter to Professor McGonagall to try and get the train to the station as soon as possible."

"What about Harry?" Ron asked anxiously.

"Wake him up and give him some chocolate." Lupin stepped out of the cubicle and stood in the hallway, looking at Loren. "You know what to do, right?"

"I understand, Professor." Loren nodded.

Watching Professor Lupin's departing figure, Ron realized that Harry should be alright, breathed a sigh of relief, and began to mutter complaints, "Damn it, can't we just go back to school peacefully for once?"

He pulled Harry up and put him in a seat, then turned to Loren: "How do we wake him up?"

Neville sat down next to Harry, pried open his eyelids, and examined his pupils.

"Dementor steal people's happiness and trigger negative memories, which can have a serious impact on people who are already vulnerable." Hermione also went over to check on Harry's condition, and she finally made a judgment. "The Dementor were still some distance away from us at the time, so he should be fine. Just think of him as sleeping and having a nightmare."

"I knew what was going on when you said that." Ron went straight for it, his palm hitting the cheek with a loud slap.

Neville, Loren, and Hermione, who were watching from the sidelines, fell silent. For some reason, they all felt that watching Ron slap Harry was a little strange.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!"

"W-what?" Harry opened his eyes in a daze, adjusted his glasses that had fallen off, and felt a strange pain in his face. He covered his face and stared blankly at the people in the cubicle.

He looked rather silly, and Ron asked him anxiously, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Harry took a few seconds to process what had happened before he lost consciousness, then quickly looked towards the door. "What happened? Where—where did that guy go? Who's screaming?"

"Nobody screamed." Ron looked at his head a few more times with suspicion.

Harry thought his gaze was impolite, but now was not the time to dwell on it. He looked around the brightly lit cubicle. "But I clearly heard screams."

As Loren listened to their conversation, he rummaged through the pile of snacks on the small table; he remembered there were still a few boxes of Chocolate Frog left.

"It's the scream from your memory! Dementor trigger terrible memories, and that's what happened to me just now." Neville recalled his encounter with Dementor; if it weren't for Hannah, he probably would have lost consciousness like Harry.

Recalling the terrible memories of the illusion, Neville looked at Loren gratefully, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He stood up and clapped his hands. "You guys wait here for the professor's news, I'm going back to the front carriage, Hannah is still waiting for me."

Harry stared blankly as Neville walked away, feeling even more confused. He turned to his friends and asked, "What happened? Was that cloaked thing Dementor?"

"Yes, Dementor, the jailers guarding Azkaban." Loren pulled out a few boxes of Chocolate Frog from his snack pile and handed them to the group. "Chocolate can relieve the discomfort caused by Dementor, have some."

Ron opened a box, took a bite, and said, "The Dementor came here with Neville, Harry, you suddenly froze, fell off your seat, and started convulsing. Then Loren came out and used the Patronus Charm to drive the Dementor away."

Harry didn't see anything wrong with Loren knowing the Patronus Charm. He swallowed a piece of chocolate and felt a warm current flow through his limbs. "But I still don't understand, why am I the only one who lost consciousness?"

"I don't know, maybe I'll have to ask the professor." Hermione frowned deeply, looking at the Chocolate Frog twitching its hind legs in her hand. "To be honest, I still can't quite accept it—"

Loren seized the opportunity, grabbed the Chocolate Frog, and stuffed it into her mouth.

During the remainder of the journey, the group continued their conversation about Lestrange. Lupin and Percy returned to their compartment once to make sure Harry was alright, then gave him a few words of advice before leaving.

Finally, the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station, and the young wizards disembarked as darkness fell.

As soon as they stepped out of the carriage, a chilling cold hit them, and Loren shivered. A torrential downpour began, and the young wizards jostled and pushed each other, creating a chaotic scene.

The owl was hooting, the cat was hooting, Neville's pet toad was croaking under his hat, and the Half-Giant was hooting too.

Hagrid Half-Giant, stood at the other end of the platform, waving his small umbrella and shouting, "First-year students, this way!"

Hearing the sound, Loren and the others looked towards Hagrid, their gazes meeting across the crowd. Hagrid waved to them and called out, "You four, are you alright?"

"We're all right, Hagrid!" Harry shouted, waving his hands.

They wanted to go over and talk to him, but they didn't get a chance as the surrounding crowd pushed them toward the other side of the platform.

The scene was too chaotic. Loren and Hermione huddled together for support. He spoke loudly to Harry, "Let's go back to the Castle first. We can talk about it at the banquet."

Harry nodded emphatically.

After traversing the rough, muddy path and boarding the Thestral carriage, accompanied by the faint smells of mustiness and straw, the older young wizards, jolted and swayed, headed towards the Castle.

Hermione sat by the window, leaning against Loren and fixing her wet hair. Although her clothes were protected by Water-repelling Charm, a small section of her hair was still wet.

"Finally, I can catch my breath. My head is cleaner than Mom washed it." Ron leaned against the corner, touched his hair and face, and the rainwater that covered his hands streamed down and disappeared into the gaps in the straw.

Harry felt a little better after eating the chocolate, but he was still weak and didn't even want to wipe the water droplets off his glasses. He straightened up slightly, intending to say something, but as soon as he looked up, he saw two sinister-looking hooded Dementor standing guard by the roadside. Instantly, a chilling, bone-chilling feeling washed over him, and Harry sat back down.

Hermione handed the remaining small clump of hair to Loren, then peeked out of the small window through the wooden panel, watching the Dementor disappear from sight. "Something's wrong. How can there be so many Dementor?"

"Let's ask the professor when we see him." Loren held her hair in one hand, and with the other, he pointed his wand at her, "[Whizbangs]"

A small, subtle gust of strong wind stirred the girl's hair, carrying the moisture out of the hair and blowing it out of the carriage.

Loren pinched his hair and twirled it a bit. Hmm... it's still not smooth enough without shampoo.

After getting off the car, we walked up the stone steps into the spacious, dimly lit Entrance Hall. The enchanted torches were burning brightly, and soon dried the moisture off the young wizards' bodies and dispelled the chill.

To the right, the Great Hall door was open, revealing the Enchanted Ceiling inside. Tonight, the sky was dark and overcast.

Professor McGonagall stood at the entrance of the Great Hall. Several months had passed, but she looked exactly the same, her hair tied up in a tight bun, and her sharp eyes framed by square glasses.

"Attention! Quiet down!" she shouted at the young wizards. "Stay in the Entrance Hall for a while, lest you catch a cold. The banquet won't start for a while, so you can go back to your dorms to shower and change. Be mindful of the time..."

Listening to the professor's words, it seemed that all the weariness and panic were blocked outside Hogwarts Castle by the firelight. The young wizards relaxed and began to chat and laugh.

George and Fred were to Loren's left, and he could hear them whispering.

"If we include those guys who only want the answers and don't pay us, we can save up enough to open a shop in another ten years."

"Huh? Wasn't it supposed to be eight years? How come there are two more years?"

"Hehe, we went to Egypt to buy those alchemy equipment, but we accidentally overspent and even blew up some of our savings..."

Just then, Hermione tugged at his sleeve, and Loren turned around to see Professor McGonagall walking towards them.

"Morgan! Granger! Potter! You three come with me!" Professor McGonagall said to them. "Don't be nervous, we're just going to my office to talk. Weasley, you can go back and change your clothes first."

George and Fred, who were standing nearby, turned around and answered in unison, beaming with excitement, "Yes, Professor!"

Ron stared wide-eyed as Professor McGonagall led her three friends away from the laughing and chatting crowd.

Professor McGonagall followed, and apart from Loren, the other two were a little nervous and didn't say much... They passed through the Entrance Hall, went up the Marble Staircase to the Second Floor, and walked a few steps down the corridor to Professor McGonagall's office.

The professor of Transfiguration had a small office with a warm, blazing fire burning brightly.

As Loren entered, he saw Headmaster Dumbledore sitting in front of the fireplace, adding firewood. The old headmaster, dressed in his formal gold-red robes for the opening banquet, sat on a small stool, his eyes sparkling as he watched the fire, seemingly enjoying the task. Madam Pomfrey was also sitting on the sofa, waiting for guests.

Professor McGonagall: "..."

Her smile vanished instantly. She then gestured for Hermione to sit down and said to the other two, "Harry, go and have Madam Pomfrey check on you. Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead of time to say you weren't feeling well on the train."

Pomfrey chimed in at the opportune moment, "It's infuriating! Those people from the Ministry of Magic, sending Dementor around the school, do they think Hogwarts is Azkaban?"

She pulled Harry to sit on the sofa and began a series of examinations.

"Loren, Headmaster Dumbledore has something to say to you." She glanced at the person beside the fireplace, who was still intently adding firewood, completely absorbed in his work, and raised her voice slightly annoyed, "Headmaster Dumbledore!"

"Oh, Minerva." Dumbledore shook his head, slowly stood up and walked over. "Have some consideration for the old lady. You'll understand when you get to my age."

Standing beside Loren, he said nothing, but raised his hand to the height of Loren's head, then moved it horizontally to confirm that Loren's height had reached his chin. Dumbledore remarked, "You've grown so fast! You must have grown several inches in just one summer. Hmm, Hermione is a little taller than you, she's grown even faster."

Hermione stood to the side, watching the old headmaster's actions with bright eyes.

Loren had a strange feeling; rather than those schemes to win people over, Loren was more inclined to believe that this was Dumbledore's genuine action.

"Headmaster, what brings you here?" Loren asked.

Dumbledore stroked his beard, straightened his top hat, and said with a smile, "Leave the office to Hermione and Minerva, and come with this old man for a walk. We'll talk on the way."

Loren nodded and followed Dumbledore out of the office.

Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey had finished examining Harry and said approvingly, "It's nothing serious. Professor Lupin handled it very well. We finally have a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows how to address the problem effectively."

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry and asked sternly, "Are you really alright?"

"Yes."

"Great, you all wait outside for a bit. I'll talk to Hermione about her schedule, and then we'll go downstairs together for the banquet."