Outside Hogwarts Castle.
The night wind whined, and the moonlight was obscured by heavy clouds.
Ron and Neville slumped to the ground.
They glanced at Snape, who was dragging Hermione away, disappearing in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
However.
Now their legs were starting to tremble uncontrollably again.
They were trembling even more severely than when facing Snape—how could they not be? Although Snape was terrifying, he was still a professor at Hogwarts.
Despite Ron's usual tendency to over-imagine, when facing Snape, he was just afraid. Now, he and Neville were both filled with terror.
A hundred percent terror!
Most wizards would react this way—damp night winds swept over dying leaves at their feet. Suddenly, a piercing screech broke the night sky as if countless tormented souls were wailing simultaneously.
A shadow shrouded in black mist floated from the tower corner, and the aura of cold and despair rushed directly towards them, the hollow sockets within the shadow swirling with fearsome emptiness.
It was a Dementor!
Covered in blistered skin, hands crusted, standing over three meters tall, hovering in the air, without discernible facial features, only a soul-sucking orifice for a "mouth."
Its appearance was terrifying enough.
Not to mention its characteristics.
In the Wizarding World, it is the creature that renders people terrified beyond measure. Dementors usually act in swarms; wherever they go, the air turns cold and damp, even Muggles can sense the intangible atmosphere of despair.
Wizards feel the same.
There's no way around it.
Most wizards in the Wizarding World don't possess the means to confront Dementors, and in truth, lack resistance when facing them.
It should be noted.
Many people might not know, the Patronus Charm is actually quite an advanced magic, not all wizards are fortunate enough to learn it, and those who have learned it cannot necessarily use it smoothly at any given time.
Casting the Patronus Charm requires happy memories, yet the presence of Dementors makes it difficult for wizards to recall happiness, thereby exponentially increasing the difficulty of performing the spell.
Dementors forcibly evoke the target's most painful memories; when Harry first encountered them, he heard his mother's screams as she was killed. Under such circumstances, casting the Patronus Charm was an immense challenge.
That's why.
Many wizards who have learned the Patronus Charm fail to successfully use the magic before a Dementor, one reason why courage is immensely important when facing them.
Of course.
Regardless of courage.
Neville and Ron lacked the means to confront Dementors.
After all, they were just first-year little wizards; not to mention themselves, even Hermione could only tell them how to deal with Dementors rather than effectively combat them. Not all little wizards are like Ian, even if Dumbledore faced Dementors in his first year, he'd be powerless. As for Riddle...he could never use the Patronus Charm, inherently disadvantaged against Dementors.
"How is this possible?!"
After Neville pointed out the direction, Ron also saw that terrifying silhouette and froze instantly, while Neville trembled uncontrollably.
"Demen...Dementor!"
Neville's teeth chattered.
His speech was wind-leaking.
The "loyal" toad at his feet had long since vanished. Can't blame the toad, after all, faced with today's events, it didn't flee until now was a testament to its loyalty to Neville.
"Merlin's beard! How could Hogwarts have Dementors?!" Ron retreated several steps, rolling and scrambling back, oblivious to his robe catching on the plants.
Poor Ron.
Already wearing his brothers' old robes, now his already tattered robes bore new holes, though at this moment, he clearly didn't care.
"Neville..."
Ron's voice trembled.
"Do you feel...suddenly very cold?"
He hugged his robe tightly.
Though very cold.
Yet Ron's back was sweating, his soaked shirt plastered to his spine. His breathing was rapid and disordered, as if each inhaled breath turned to icy shards.
"I…I thought it was just me, but it's really cold." Neville had already burst into tears, his face covered in snot and tears: "My grandmother said being caught by a Dementor means your soul will be eaten!"
"We'll die horribly!" Clearly, Neville didn't understand Dementors well, though his family might have used them to frighten him before.
Just as most families use some fictional monstrous creature to scare disobedient children, Wizarding World families try similar methods to discipline children.
The difference is.
In the Muggle World, things parents use to scare children mostly don't exist in reality, whereas in the Wizarding World, the frightening things parents use actually exist.
Of course.
Some characteristics may be fabricated, like the notion that Dementors consume souls—this stemmed from past wizards' misconceptions about Dementors.