Hogwarts' biggest troublemaker—the only person in the whole school who dared to openly oppose professors and wrestle with them head-on—was Eda alone. Her name, and her wind-chime-clear, pleasant voice, were like a reassurance potion fed to every student.
In the noisy, chaotic carriage, silence fell in an instant. Students quickly pulled their heads back into their compartments. A person's name carries weight, just as a tree casts a shadow—what Eda said was far more effective than anything Clark could say.
"Something's not right. Should I go ask the train driver what's going on?" Clark had also sensed the problem and made the suggestion.
"Stay where you are. First, keep an eye on the students in this carriage," Eda shook her head, rejecting Clark's proposal. The situation was unclear, and the carriage was pitch-black—wandering around recklessly would very likely lead to danger.
The carriage grew colder and colder, and the white mist of their breath became increasingly visible.
Suddenly, the sliding door of the train was opened!
By the light of the flames, a tall figure in a cloak could be seen standing at the doorway of the carriage—tall and broad, so tall he nearly brushed the ceiling. His face was completely hidden beneath the hood.
From beneath the cloak extended a hand—grayish white, eerily gleaming, seemingly covered in slime and blotches, like something that had rotted in water after death…
It was a Dementor, a guard of Azkaban, a dark creature that feeds on happiness!
The Dementor hidden beneath the cloak slowly drifted into the carriage. The thing took a long, slow breath, a rattling sound coming from its throat, as though what it inhaled was not merely the surrounding air.
An indescribable, bone-chilling cold spread through the carriage. Some people began to shiver, some felt as though they couldn't breathe, others trembled uncontrollably.
Though their reactions differed, everyone shared the same feeling—this world seemed as though it would never have joy again.
The carriage, which had just fallen silent, descended into chaos once more. Agonized sobbing and terrified screams rose together.
Fear and sorrow—these negative emotions—made the students in the compartments want to flee, yet their bodies refused to obey them. Some fell to the floor; others couldn't even manage to stand.
Eda, too, felt an unprecedented sorrow, as if she had returned once more to the final moment of her life.
A hospital ward white as an igloo, glaringly pale lights, roaring flames, and boundless darkness… a dim, lightless night, shattered streetlamps, ferocious gang members, black fog filling the sky, and violent explosions…
Memories that belonged to her, and memories that did not, all surged up together.
Eda felt as though her body and soul were being torn apart—one half still clinging to basic reason and clarity, the other clamoring, thirsting for slaughter, craving a baptism of blood.
Eda wanted so badly to simply fall asleep like this, just as she had back then—sleeping would mean release, sleeping would mean not having to think about anything. She would feel no pain, no exhaustion, no heartache, no disappointment.
But she couldn't allow herself to fall asleep like that. Given a second chance, she didn't want to stop here. Behind her were a group of little kids who could only cry out in despair; she still wanted to open a joke shop together with Fred and George—how could she stop now!
Eda leaned her body against the wall, refusing to let herself collapse from lack of strength. With great effort, she raised her right hand and murmured, "Expecto Patronum!"
A silver-white chow chow doggy suddenly appeared inside the carriage.
The chow chow, which usually looked endearingly clumsy with a perpetually "worried" expression on its face, often made people laugh with its stilt-like gait—but its well-developed muscles endowed it with tremendous power.
The Patronus that had answered Eda's call let out a thunderous roar.
The chow chow lunged straight at the Dementor. Its stilt-like steps did not make it look ridiculous at all; instead, it gave off an imposing, awe-inspiring presence.
From the very moment the Patronus manifested, the Dementor had wanted to flee—but before it could escape, the silver chow chow had already charged up in front of it and pounced directly at it.
A powerful, forceful leap!
In an instant, the chow chow knocked the Dementor to the ground. The Dementor struggled, but it could not break free from the Patronus's suppression. The Patronus opened its thick, fleshy lips wide and bit straight toward the Dementor's neck.
There was no piercing scream, nor any bloody, inappropriate-for-children scene—but the temperature inside the carriage began to rise steadily, and the joy that had been lost returned once more.
At the train's sliding door, the Dementor from before was gone. The only thing left on the ground was a tattered, ragged cloak. The silver-white Patronus held its head high, surveying its territory.
"Th-that… what was that?" Clark asked in a trembling voice. He had never seen such a terrifying creature.
Eda wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Dementors. They usually guard Azkaban. Creatures like this should never exist in such a beautiful world."
The silver Patronus padded back from the carriage door to Eda's side, its foolish, harmless demeanor forming an extremely sharp contrast with the ferocity it had shown moments earlier. The chow chow rubbed its broad head affectionately against Eda's calf, then plopped down and sat at her feet.
"Thank goodness you were here," Clark sighed. "Otherwise, I really don't know how this would've ended…"
"Let's not talk about that yet," Eda said, pulling several pieces of chocolate from her pocket and placing them into Clark's hand.
She continued, "Hand these out to them, then ask if anyone has extra chocolate—candy works too. I'm going to check the front."
"Alright, you… you be careful," Clark said as he began distributing the chocolate.
Eda didn't delay any longer and headed straight toward the carriages ahead. The silver-white chow chow stayed where it was, not following Eda along.
The Hogwarts Express had suddenly stopped; Dementors had entered the carriages and attacked the students. Eda didn't believe this was an isolated incident—there was no way there was only one Dementor on the train.
Of course, the Dementors must have had a task bringing them here, but the "delicacies" right in front of them had made them lose control.
Eda's expectations were correct. Every time she entered a new carriage, she saw terrified, panicked students and Dementors feeding on the happiness around them.
Again and again, Eda drove the Dementors away with silver-white mist, forcing these vile creatures off the train.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the train, the twins were doing the same thing—two silver-white magpies chased the Dementors, pecking at them without pause.
Though they loved pranks and were always pulling tricks on their classmates, Fred and George were warm people at heart. The brothers first drove away the Dementor in their own carriage, then chased off the Dementors in the nearby carriages as well.
Angelina, Alicia, and Lee Jordan followed behind the twins, checking to see if any students were injured and offering comfort to the younger ones.
This was the first time the Dawn members had acted together as a group, and none of them had expected their first operation to coincide with such a major incident.
Outside the train's control cabin, Eda was about to leave—she had already confirmed her suspicions. The driver had received a notice for a spot inspection, which was why he had stopped the train, but even he hadn't known that the ones inspecting it would be Dementors.
Who knew what the Ministry of Magic was thinking, actually sending Dementors to inspect a train full of students?
Did the Ministry have absolute confidence in their ability to control Dementors, or were they genuinely stupid?
Even if the Ministry truly believed that students might hide an escaped criminal under their school robes, couldn't they have dispatched Aurors instead? Were the people in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement all just freeloaders?
Now look at this—forget failing to catch the Azkaban escapee, they'd instead scared the students on the train half to death. Fudge could just wait to receive a pile of Howlers tomorrow!
Eda was cursing the Ministry's pig-headed behavior in her heart when she looked up and saw an unfamiliar man striding toward the control cabin.
The first impression this unfamiliar man gave was one of destitution—he looked sickly all over, as though he didn't have any strength at all. Though he still appeared quite young, his light brown hair was already streaked with gray.
"You must be student Twist, right? The students in those last few carriages were all thanking you just now," the stranger said. He was wearing a tattered wizard's robe, covered in patches.
The man then introduced himself. "Remus Lupin, the newly appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Hello, Professor Lupin," Eda replied politely.
The new professor standing before her was this year's unlucky one, and Eda couldn't help but feel worried for him.
With such a frail, sickly appearance, could he really make it through the term?
Remus Lupin stepped past Eda and looked toward the control cabin behind her. "So the Dementors appeared here to search for Black, then?" Lupin asked.
"Yes, Professor Lupin," Eda said. "A temporary inspection."
Lupin lowered his head and began rummaging through his pockets. He first pulled out a wad of wrapping paper before finally finding what he was looking for. He said, "Just in time—there's one last piece of chocolate left. It will help you."
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