Chapter 185
Chapter 185
“Hungry… eat… ah…”
The train continued north. The scenery outside grew steadily more desolate, and the sky gradually darkened.
Suer sat with his back against the seat, his head nodding as sleep threatened to take him.
A voice, faint as a mosquito and too indistinct to make out, reached his ears.
“Who is it?” Suer jolted awake and looked around, but there was no one besides the sleeping Neville and Hermione and Hannah, who were reading opposite him.
“What is it?” Hermione looked over curiously.
“Did you hear a voice?” Suer asked.
“I did.” Hermione nodded and pointed beneath the seat. “The clackety-clack of the train. Oh, and the annoying rain outside.”
Hermione made Suer laugh, but the scene outside the window made him frown a moment later.
There was something wrong with this gloomy weather. At some point, rain had begun to patter down, striking the windows at an angle.
Suer pressed himself against the glass and tried to see outside, but the curtain of rain blocked his view. Beyond the window, the world had become a watery grey.
He was certain that faint whisper had not been his imagination.
Damn it, how could I forget? There are Dementors on this train!
“What exactly is wrong?” Hermione grew even more curious when Suer’s expression turned increasingly grave and he drew his wand.
“Huh? Why is the train slowing down? Or am I imagining it?”
“I’m afraid you aren’t.” Suer tightened his grip on his wand and rose from his seat. A clatter sounded in the distance, and Neville woke as the bubble beneath his nose burst.
“What’s happening? Are we there?” he asked groggily.
“We can’t be there yet.” Hermione glanced at her watch.
The train slowed further, and the sound of its wheels grinding against the rails vanished, making the wind and rain outside seem louder than before.
For no apparent reason, every lamp that had been lit against the dark sky went out, plunging everyone into utter darkness.
“What’s going on?” Neville asked in alarm.
“Don’t panic, Neville. I’ll go and have a look.” Suer raised his wand and cast Lumos, then patted Neville on the shoulder to ask him to make room.
Suer squeezed sideways through the narrow gap, but he had taken only a few steps when–
The sliding door rattled open. A head appeared in the doorway, and Suer’s hand jerked. He almost fired a spell.
“Ginny?” Hermione asked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for Ron,” Ginny said. “Do you know where he is?”
“Probably farther up the train. I was just about to see what’s happening. Why don’t you come inside first? It sounds chaotic out there,” Suer said.
Ginny entered. The sliding door rattled shut with a bang, and with the help of the light from Lumos, she managed to squeeze in beside Hermione and Hannah.
“Mrrrow!” Crookshanks suddenly arched its back. Its ginger fur stood on end and its claws shot out as the cat gave a low, threatening growl towards the door.
“What is it? Is there something outside, Crookshanks?”
As Hermione spoke, the sliding door opened again.
In the weak light from Suer’s wand, a cloaked figure could be seen standing in the doorway. It was so tall that it nearly brushed the ceiling, and an invisible, ominous presence surrounded it.
“Who is it?” Hermione asked, her voice trembling as she stared outside.
Alarm bells rang in Suer’s mind–a Dementor!
Acting on instinct, he fired a Blasting Curse.
“Bang! Crack!” The curse struck its target. The Dementor drifted several steps backwards, revealing the grey-white, mottled face beneath its hood. There was nothing on that face but a black hole where its mouth should have been.
“Ah!” Hannah screamed. The sudden spell seemed to anger the Dementor. It glided slowly closer. “Hiss…”
A bone-chilling cold swept over them, and the air seemed to congeal in an instant.
A sense of powerlessness spread from within his body to every limb.
“Damn it! How could I forget? Ordinary spells don’t work on Dementors.” Suer struggled to keep his weakening body upright.
“Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!” He recited the incantation again and again, but his wand gave no response.
The Dementor no longer seemed content to feed from the doorway. It wanted to come inside and consume even more…
“Hungry… eat…” Suer heard the voice again as the Dementor drifted into the compartment inch by inch.
Wave after wave of dense, crushing despair swept over them.
“Thud…” Neville fainted, the back of his head striking the table hard.
“Mrrrow!” Crookshanks let out an even more piercing shriek.
It seemed that the Dementor’s feeding had drained every trace of happiness from him. He could not feel the slightest warmth; there was only cold inside his mind.
“Expecto Patronum! Damn it, come out!” Suer gritted his teeth and stood between the Dementor and Hermione and the others.
The Dementor drew closer. It extended a grey-white hand from beneath its cloak, covered in slime and blotches.
It was a rotting hand, like something that had soaked in water for far too long.
It appeared to want to push Suer aside, as though the sweetness behind him attracted it more. Or perhaps it meant to dispose of Suer first before slowly savouring the delectable treats beyond him.
Despair rose like waves upon a sea battered by a violent storm. Suer was a fragile reef, silently and stubbornly enduring their assault.
Suer felt his soul beginning to leave his body. He swayed, yet remained in front of everyone. He could not retreat. Behind him were the people he needed to protect.
Professor Flitwick’s teaching echoed in his ears.
“The Patronus Charm. Why do you think it is called the Patronus Charm rather than something else?”
“Protection is a broad concept, but every defensive spell has one thing in common: its purpose is to protect, to guard everything precious behind you.”
“As a spell born purely from emotion, the Patronus Charm is far more sensitive to feelings than other defensive magic. You might say that it magnifies a wizard’s positive emotions.”
“Perhaps you cannot understand that idea yet. That doesn’t matter. Begin with the incantation and the wand movement. Familiarise yourself with it, with this spell…”
“A spell, put simply, magnifies a wizard’s emotions. If you possess an intense resolve while casting, the spell becomes much easier to release. At that point, the exact wand movement matters less. But that is not something you should attempt yet. It is a deeper application of magic. For now, watch my movement carefully and pronounce the incantation clearly…”
Professor Flitwick’s voice came in fragments, distant and drifting, yet also like the deep toll of a great bell.
Of course. It was about protection–the determination to protect the person behind him.
Who did he want to protect? Hermione, and every companion behind him.
“Expecto Patronum!” Suer swept his wand again. Though the Dementor’s approach had weakened his body, his voice rang with power.
This time, he succeeded. Fine strands of hazy light danced from the tip of Suer’s wand, just as they had when he first saw the Patronus Charm in the Hogsmeade pub.
No creature was truly invincible. Dementors, for all their power, had almost no resistance to the Patronus Charm.
The moment the wisps of silver-white light emerged from Suer’s wand, the Dementor uttered an inhuman shriek and floated backwards.
The compartment grew brighter and brighter, illuminating Suer’s pale face. The despair on it was gone, replaced by a smile.
Suer finally understood the most important part of the Patronus Charm. Happiness was only a catalyst, an ingredient that set the reaction in motion. The key to forming a corporeal Patronus was the determination to protect.
“Come on,” Suer whispered.
He stepped forwards, and the Dementor retreated. After only a few steps, the creature that had tried to break in and consume their souls had nowhere left to go.
“Pop…” With a sound so faint it was almost inaudible, a silver-white paw emerged from the mass of light gathering at the tip of his wand. Like a newborn creature breaking through its shell, it crawled out little by little.
The light of the Patronus illuminated that entire section of the train–a newborn guardian announcing its arrival to the world.
The Dementor silently curled into a ball in the corner, searching for some patch of shadow in which it could hide. But beneath that blazing light, it could only crack apart and melt away, piece by piece.