The rain fell harder and harder, turning the view outside the train window into a sea of watery gray. Before anyone realized it, darkness had completely settled in.
The compartment door opened again; Fred and George took advantage of the dim lighting to sneak in quietly.
"Percy hasn't come, has he..." George asked.
"Nope." Cedric looked at the two of them, curiosity in his voice, "It's been so long—he's still not letting you off? It was just changing a badge, no reason to hold such a big grudge."
"Well, let's just say he's never actually caught us." George shut the door and turned around. "We've been watching him; he's been making rounds through the train for ages."
"You must be kidding." Cedric's first reaction was disbelief, thinking they just didn't want to admit it for the sake of pride.
The train isn't that big—one corridor runs from front to rear, not even a bend in the middle, and all the compartment doors have glass, so you can see inside.
As long as Percy was patient, he should definitely be able to find them.
Kael thought so too.
"Did you learn the Disillusionment Charm?" he asked. "Or did you borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak?"
"Neither," George said proudly, sitting by Cedric. "We hid in the snack trolley. It's hollow underneath with a hidden panel—just enough room for two people."
"Percy walked past us three times, and never spotted us."
"One time he even stopped to buy something—a Licorice Wand and a Cauldron Cake."
"We recognized his shoes..."
"So, you two just hid in the trolley the whole time?" Cho glanced at the time in disbelief. "My god, it's been five hours."
The snack trolley wasn't very big—about the size of the table in the compartment.
Two people squatting under the table for five hours... honestly, if it were her, she'd rather let Percy give her a beating.
"Of course not," Fred said. "Once the trolley finishes its round, it stops at the front near the driver's cabin, so we just stayed there."
As they spoke, the corridor and luggage racks lights suddenly flicked on.
The warm yellow light illuminated the carriage, making the darkness outside the window seem even deeper.
"We should be arriving soon, right?" Ginny asked.
"Almost," said Cho, "another hour to go."
"I really wish we'd get there faster." Fred rubbed his belly. "I'm starving—can't wait for the feast..."
Before he finished, the train suddenly began to slow down.
"Did my wish just come true?" Fred exclaimed, jumping up and pressing his face to the window to see what was happening outside.
"That can't be!" Cho checked the time again. "We're still an hour from arrival."
"Maybe the driver wanted us to get to the feast quicker and sped up the train," George joked.
"No, George, I don't think the train sped up."
Pressed against the window, Fred lifted his head. "Outside isn't the Hogsmeade Platform we know—it's somewhere completely unfamiliar."
The train kept slowing; soon the clanking of the wheels was gone, replaced by the louder pounding of wind and rain against the glass.
With a sudden "clunk", the train jerked as if someone had stomped the brakes—the ride came to an abrupt halt.
A big trunk tumbled off the rack, nearly hitting Luna on the head.
"I'm Head Boy—everyone, return to your compartments! Don't panic!" Percy's voice called from outside.
But at this moment, being Head Boy didn't seem to carry much weight.
Especially when, without warning, all the lights went out and the train plunged into chaos, screams rising and falling everywhere.
"Do you guys feel like... the temperature just dropped?"
Fred rubbed his arms and pointed at the window. "Look over here."
Somehow, a thin layer of frost had formed on the glass.
"But it's September!" Cedric frowned.
If it's icing over in September, how are they going to survive winter?
"It must be Dementors..." Kael said, eyeing the vague shapes outside. "They're probably here to check for Black on the train."
"No—no way..." Ginny curled up in the corner, quivering. "Those monsters from Azkaban? How could they be on the train? Headmaster Dumbledore would never allow it..."
"I think Kael's right."
Cho, who had been craning to see outside, suddenly went pale. She'd seen it: at the far end of the pitch-black corridor, a cloaked, tattered figure floated in midair, ghostlike.
"One on each side..." Cho backed away quickly. "They're checking the compartments!"
The compartment instantly fell into dead silence.
Kids raised in Wizard Families had all heard stories about Dementors.
But never had they expected to meet such creatures on their way to Hogwarts.
Nobody could honestly say they weren't nervous.
Kael instinctively stepped to the front.
He gave his wand a subtle flick; the tip glowed with a soft silver light.
This light was much dimmer than a Lighting Spell, but softer and illuminating a broader area.
But the rest were too nervous to notice; only Conna cocked her head curiously.
She realized the space seemed warmer all of a sudden.
But with everything happening, now wasn't the time for questions, so she stayed quiet.
Soon enough, one of the Dementors reached their compartment.
They could clearly hear the rattling coming from its throat.
To others, it was just a meaningless noise—but to Kael it carried something else.
[Brian... Bla—kay... No, Blak—ay...]
It kept repeating the same name, though getting it wrong every time.
Clearly, brains weren't its strong suit.
Which made sense—they barely had brains at all.
It paused by the door, extending a gray-white, corpse-like hand to beckon...
The compartment door creaked open.
But the light in the room spread out as well, lighting up its body.
The Dementor let go instantly, recoiling, pressing itself against the carriage wall.
"There's no one here you're looking for," Kael said. "We don't have Black hidden under our robes. Move along."
The hooded figure turned its 'head' towards Kael, rattling again.
[I must... check... orders...]
"No. I'll say it again: Black is not here!"
Kael gave his wand another flick, making the white light grow brighter.
The Dementor twitched, like someone just dumped a Dungbomb on it—uncomfortable and a bit helpless...
But stubbornly, it didn't leave the compartment.
[Check... orders...]
"Go on!"
[No... go...]
"Go!"
[Not going...]
Kael's mouth twitched.
For some reason, he suddenly felt guilty for bullying the weak… though here, 'weak' meant not its power, but its intelligence.
"This is just ridiculous," Kael muttered under his breath.
The white glow slowly contracted, settling into a mist that hovered around Conna and the others.
"Only check," Kael told the Dementor, wand pointed at it. "If you try anything else, or suck up even a little emotion, I'll drive you out."
[Orders... check... no eating... food...]
With the white light gone, the Dementor floated in and took a slow breath inside the compartment.
Everyone immediately felt a wave of cold—but just cold, nothing else.
[No... Brian... flavor...]
The next second, the Dementor left in a hurry, turned, and drifted away down the corridor.
"It's Black," Kael reminded as he closed the door, unable to resist correcting it.
[Black... Bla-ka...]
"..."
Yep, not much brainpower—less than a second and it messed up the name again. Who could say if all Dementors were like this, or if he'd just bumped into a particularly dim one.
Just then, chaos suddenly erupted from the previously silent corridor.
Kael could faintly hear shouting…
"Harry!"
"Professor, Harry just fainted!"
"Help, help..."
That was Ron, then Hermione, and the last might've been Neville…
Soon after, a silver light shone again in the corridor.
The Dementor that had just left instinctively tried to return to the compartment, but by then Kael had already closed the door.
With the compartment door firmly shut on one side and the approaching silver glow on the other, Kael could've sworn he saw a hint of helplessness on that Dementor's face.