Dementor Showdown
Around four or five in the afternoon, a quarrel suddenly broke out outside the carriage. Hearing several familiar voices and recalling the events of the day, Skylar immediately understood what was going on. He got up and went outside the carriage, and Daphne and Meredith followed immediately. Luna followed the three of them without hesitation to investigate.
Just as Skylar had predicted, it was his own reckless Draco. He had promised their father he would stay away from Harry this term, but before he even arrived at school, he had already forgotten all about it. Skylar could only shake his head in exasperation at his brother's personality.
Draco, along with Goyle and Crabbe, stood arrogantly in the aisle. Opposite them were Harry's trio standing at the carriage door. After a round of verbal sparring, they had drawn their wands and were facing each other, the scene seemingly on the verge of exploding.
In the original story, Draco should have backed down when he saw Professor Remus Professor Lupin, but because of Skylar's intervention, Draco did not leave. Instead, he stood there arrogantly, as if waiting to see a good show.
During the summer vacation, Draco spent a lot of time practicing evil curses diligently. He could now cast curses like "Rictusempra Densaugeo," "Curse of the Bogies," and "Bat-Bogey Hex" with precision and instantaneity. With his greatly improved strength, he spent the entire summer looking forward to the next opportunity to torment Harry, and he had long forgotten Lucius's instructions.
Skylar looked out the train window; it was already getting dark. Just then, the train jolted, its speed noticeably slowing until it came to a complete stop with a thud. In the distance, the sound of a ping-pong ball could be heard—the luggage must have fallen from the rack.
Then, without any apparent reason, all the lights in the carriage suddenly went out, plunging them into complete darkness.
"Damn it, what happened?" Draco screamed, colliding with Goyle and Crabbe as he stumbled backward, all three falling. Amidst Draco screams, the faint sound of a train side door opening could be heard, as if someone was boarding.
Skylar sighed and put his hand to his forehead. Although Draco had indeed grown a lot this summer, he still couldn't change the fact that he was essentially a cowardly and childish brat.
Skylar stood quietly in place, motionless, as if waiting for something to happen.
Daphne and Meredith were initially also somewhat frightened, but seeing Skylar's towering figure and awe-inspiring presence standing before them, they immediately felt a sense of security. They didn't even let out a scream.
A sly glint flashed in Daphne's eyes. Feigning fear, she seized the opportunity to grab Skylar's left arm—the clever girl dared not touch his right arm, which he habitually used to hold his wand. Skylar Meredith, seeing that she had missed her chance, could only snort in displeasure. Luna, also behind Skylar, blinked her large eyes, which showed no fear, but rather a hint of curiosity.
Meanwhile, chaos reigned over Harry, Meghan, and Harry's group. Ron tried to peer through the window but accidentally stepped on Hermione's foot, causing Hermione to scream in pain.
As Harry, Hermione, and Ginny scrambled to get to the carriage, their friend Neville came over to ask what was happening, but tripped over by Harry in the darkness. Just then, Ginny arrived, trying to approach the carriage, but collided head-on with Hermione, resulting in two more painful screams.
Skylar shouted, "Quiet down, everyone!" Suddenly, a bright, moonlit, and gentle starlight burst forth from the tip of his wand, illuminating the entire aisle of the train with perfect clarity, yet without being blinding to anyone present.
Daphne and Meredith were already used to Skylar's abilities, but Hermione and Luna looked on with curiosity.
Luna asked the two girls the question in her dreamlike voice, "Is this Lumos? Why is your Lumos different from the one I know?"
Skylar turned to Luna, a smile playing on his lips. "You can think of it as my personal improvement on the spell. Would you like to learn? I can teach you."
Luna stared intently into Skylar's pupils, and after a long while, she gave a sweet smile and nodded in agreement. Hermione, hearing Skylar and Luna's exchange, felt a pang of unease. She pursed her lips tightly, swallowing back all the words she had intended to say to Skylar.
Skylar had the three girls stand behind him and slowly walked towards the middle of Harry and Draco's confrontation.
A strange sound came from outside the carriage, and something seemed to be approaching in the darkness. It was definitely not human footsteps. Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe quickly moved closer to the inside of the carriage.
In the corridor illuminated by Skylar's wand, a cloaked monster, towering to the ceiling, appeared before them. It seemed to have no feet, gliding through the air. Its face was completely hidden beneath the hood, and a hand emerged from the cloak. This hand was dimly lit, gray, thin, and scabbed, like something that had rotted in water after death.
The monster beneath the cloak seemed to sense everyone's gaze, and its hand suddenly retreated into the black cloak. Then it took a long, slow, and trembling breath, as if trying to inhale something other than air from its surroundings. Everyone immediately felt a chill run through their bodies, a chill that penetrated their skin, reaching their chests and their hearts.
"Finally, you've arrived," Skylar muttered to himself, "Dementor." It sounded complicated, but in those few mere seconds, everyone was surprised to see that Skylar had actually taken another step forward.
Harry was pale and trembling violently, his expression one of utter terror, as if he had witnessed something horrific. Before anyone could react, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Ron quickly helped him to a chair nearby, and the others also leaned back on it.
Harry's fainting seemed to be a fuse, instantly spreading an atmosphere of panic and fear. Draco was so frightened that his face turned ashen and he couldn't even speak; Ron, Hermione, and the others were not much better off, while Neville was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
"Don't panic, everyone. With me here, no one will get hurt!" Skylar bravely stepped in front of the crowd, his voice filled with unwavering confidence.
His courage and composure seemed to instill a sense of courage in everyone present. Although the effect was not significant, at least everyone saw a glimmer of hope in him. Even Ron, who had always been at odds with Skylar, unconsciously placed his hopes on this junior student in front of him.
"Expecto Patronum!" Skylar calmly uttered the clear incantation, his wand emitting a hazy white light that firmly kept the Dementor at bay. Not wanting to reveal his full power too quickly, Skylar didn't summon a fully formed Corporeal Patronus. He planned to use this half-finished Patronus Charm to buy time until the Werewolf professor Remus Lupin arrived on the train to save the day.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Before Professor Lupin arrived, the unusual activity in the carriage attracted another Dementor, which whistled over, and the cold atmosphere grew increasingly heavy. White mist formed a semi-circular barrier, and Skylar took half a step back, the area of the light circle constantly being compressed.
Seeing that Professor Lupin hadn't arrived yet, Skylar sighed inwardly, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. His grip on his wand tightened, and the light emanating from the tip of the wand intensified dramatically, the halo expanding until it gradually formed a complete, Corporeal Patronus. The Patronus's head was just beginning to take shape, resembling a one -Horned Lizard...
The next second, he saw a silver wolf fly out of one of the carriages, knocking the Dementor backward and sending it flying before it vanished without a trace. The lights in the carriage came back on, and a strange middle-aged man walked in. He wore an extremely tattered wizard's robe, patched in several places. He looked sickly and exhausted, with light brown hair mixed with white.
"He's Professor Lupin. He was in the same carriage as us, and he was sleeping with his head down the whole time," Hermione whispered to the people around her.
"A fine Patronus!" Skylar said softly with approval when he heard Lupin. He took out a large piece of chocolate from his pocket, broke it into small pieces, and distributed them to everyone.
When the chocolate was offered to Skylar smiled and shook his head in refusal, then casually cast a Cheering Charm on the three girls behind him, restoring the sparkle to their eyes.
Then Skylar led them back to his carriage amidst the envious gazes of the crowd. Before closing the carriage door, Hermione and Ginny could be faintly heard whispering, seemingly discussing the spell Skylar had used to ward off the Dementor.
Outside the carriage, Draco watched his brother's dashing departure with a complex expression. Although he had been mentally prepared, personally experiencing the gap between himself and his brother still made him feel disappointed. He immediately lost interest in mocking Harry, snorted coldly, and left with the two idiots.
The others were frantically trying to wake Harry. Harry slowly opened his eyes, looking around in confusion, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ron asked anxiously.
"I'm alright!" Harry looked towards the door and, seeing that the Dementor were gone, breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Where did that monster go? And who was screaming just now?"
"Those monsters were chased away by Malfoy and Professor Lupin, but no one screamed," Ron recounted what happened after Harry fainted.
"I heard screams and a green light..." Harry stubbornly shook his head.
"Harry, you should rest!" Lupin looked worried and handed Harry a particularly large piece of chocolate. "Here, eat this; it'll do you good."
"Professor, what was that just now?" Harry hadn't eaten the chocolate; he looked at Lupin, wondering why the other knew his name.
"Dementor from Azkaban!" Professor Lupin crumpled the empty chocolate wrapper into a ball and put it in his pocket. "Actually, that Malfoy family kid did a great job before I arrived. You need to eat these chocolates now. I need to speak to the driver. Excuse me!" With that, Professor Lupin walked out and disappeared down the corridor.
"Dementor, Azkaban!" Harry muttered, then looked up somewhat awkwardly and asked, "Besides me, has anyone else fainted?"
"No!" Ron looked at Harry anxiously, repeating the reactions of the others.
Although everyone was terrified, no one fainted, which made Harry even paler. He didn't understand; he had felt weak and trembling, as if he had just recovered from a severe bout of the flu, so why didn't the others react the same way?
The train arrived at the station soon.
At the gates of Hogwarts, Skylar and Luna said their goodbyes— Skylar, Daphne, and Meredith were to enter the Great Hall from the left side of the Entrance Hall. Luna, however, followed Ravenclaw's group to the center of the Entrance Hall.
Before parting, the two agreed to meet privately sometime to talk about "The Quibbler," or Luna could take Skylar to see the famous Bronze Eagle Knocker in the Ravenclaw Common Room. The Ravenclaw Common Room has a unique way of entering; as long as you can correctly answer the logic riddle given by the Bronze Eagle Knocker, the door to the common room will be opened to anyone, regardless of which house they come from.