Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 246 The Lost Dementor

At 10:00 AM, the Hogwarts Express departs.

The special train, which had been away for two months, had been cleaned, and its bright red paint was as clean as new. Harry and the others had too much luggage to carry, and Hermione and Ron had been arguing about their pets, which had caused them to be delayed on the journey and board the train a little late.

Mrs. Weasley kissed each child goodbye, then watched them go with teary eyes.

"We've wasted too much time on the road, and now it's hard to even find a spot," Harry complained to himself.

They walked along the aisle toward the back carriages, which were all full. Occasionally, familiar faces waved and greeted them, and some even invited them to squeeze in. Harry forced a smile and responded to the greetings from his classmates.

They then walked to the last carriage and, in the last compartment, saw a strange adult wizard.

The unfamiliar wizard was wearing an extremely tattered wizard's robe, patched in several places. His face was pale and thin, and he looked exhausted. Although he looked relatively young, his light brown hair was already mixed with white hair.

“Professor RJ Lupin.” Hermione was slightly surprised.

"You know him?"

“It’s written on the suitcase.” Hermione pointed to a small suitcase on the luggage rack. A few words were printed on the corner, the letters of which had peeled off. “The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Hopefully, he can break the curse and stay.”

The three of them quietly sat down in the empty seats, placing the luggage rack and pet cage in order. Ron deliberately stayed away from the wicker basket where Crookshan was sleeping, observing Professor Lupin in his seat while exchanging whispers.

The time spent together at the Leaky Cauldron was too short, and with parents around, it was inconvenient to talk about certain things. All three of them had a lot to say, and some were even impatient to finish.

Ron's trip to Egypt is spectacular, where ancient Egyptian sorcerers once created magnificent magic. Hermione's trip to Paris is equally thrilling, with the Purifiers and New Salem cultists, and her adopted sister actually being the Obscurus.

Harry, who spent the summer in London, also had some experiences to share: praising the Dursleys' relatives, touring London on the Knightsbus, and finally staying at the Leaky Cauldron. He even overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's conversation last night.

Ron's eyes widened in shock: "You mean, all those patrons at the Leaky Cauldron last night were Aurors sent by the Magic in disguise, and my dad was also on a mission, which is why he was able to mobilize the Ministry of Magic's special vehicles?"

"Do you remember the book 'Signs of Death' that we saw at Flourish and Blotts?"

Harry touched the train seat, feeling a sense of security as he sat on the Hogwarts Express. "They say black dogs are an omen of death. I've seen black dogs several times these past few days, and it gives me the creeps."

Hermione saw that he was still a little scared and shrugged: "I heard the shop assistant mention that book. It's like a medical textbook. After reading it, you think death is everywhere. But it's all psychological. You're just scaring yourself."

"Is that right?"

Harry scratched his head and sighed.

The witch pushing her food cart began hawking her wares along the aisle. They bought some snacks and hot pumpkin juice, and the three of them ate snacks and drank pumpkin juice while chatting about things that were less exciting but equally interesting.

The Hogwarts Express steadily headed north, the scenery outside the window becoming increasingly lush and green, the sky growing darker and darker. It had been sunny when we left London, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet, but the sky outside was already shrouded in thick clouds.

In the afternoon, a light rain began to fall, blurring the outlines of the hills on both sides of the railway tracks. The windowpanes appeared as a thick, sticky gray, and the thick clouds and fog swallowed up all the daylight. The small lights in the corridor and on the luggage racks gradually lit up.

The train swayed and rocked, the mountain scenery rushing past the window seemed to slow down, and the brakes screeched against the rails.

"Are we here yet?" Ron asked tentatively.

Hermione glanced at her watch: "Impossible, it's not even four o'clock yet."

"Then why did you stop?" "I went out to check..."

Harry sat near the door and got up to look down into the corridor. People from every carriage were peering out and chattering amongst themselves, making the train a chaotic mess.

"Why is it so noisy up ahead? Why is there a girl screaming? I think I heard Ginny's voice?"

With a deafening bang, the entire train shook, the windows rattled, luggage fell from the racks, and all the lights flickered and went out, plunging the train into darkness.

"Did the train hit something?" Harry grabbed the compartment doorknob. "Ron, Hermione, are you alright?"

"Quiet." A steady voice came from the cubicle.

A soft crackling sound rang out, and a flickering flame lit up, illuminating an area of ​​several feet around Harry. He turned his head and saw Professor Lupin, who had woken up at some point, sitting inside, holding his wand, the flame illuminating his tired face.

The professor took a breath: "Stay where you are and don't move."

Harry followed his gaze to the corridor outside the cubicle, his pupils suddenly dilating. The moment he saw that figure, a chill ran through his entire body.

It was a cloaked monster, almost touching the top of the carriage, its face hidden inside the hood, a hand protruding from the cloak, emitting a faint, cold light, like a specimen soaking in Snape's office, gray and thin, the dead body wrinkled in the water, yet still moving.

The monster took a deep breath, like an old man struggling before death, slow, long, and trembling.

Harry felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, his breath caught in his chest, and a bone-chilling cold engulfed him. His pupils rapidly dilated, and the suction force dragged his consciousness into darkness.

In the instant he lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, his gaze caught a glimpse of a corner outside the window; the fleeting image became his last memory.

No longer a dark curtain of rain, Pegasus soared through the air, its withered wings covered in dark, shimmering scales, and its eyes were indifferent.

On the saddle on his back, the young professor quietly held the reins.

The clouds were a deep, inky black, and the raindrops that poured down avoided the air above where the professor was, as if they dared not defile the robes of a god, sliding along some kind of transparent, spherical outline.

……

The express train stopped at the tunnel entrance, with a deep, dark cave in front of it. The headlights and windows were dim, with only a faint flicker of light from the last carriage.

A flash of silver light disappeared in an instant, and the wolf-shaped guardian slammed into the Dementor, sending it flying out of the carriage.

"Guardian Angel Spell".

Melvin murmured, guessing who had cast the spell.

The express train was stopped at the Inverness border, not yet in the Scottish Highlands. This area was not originally on the Dementors' patrol route, but the rainy weather exacerbated the spread of the cold fog, enhancing the Dementors' senses. The cheerful mood emanating from the young wizards chatting filled the fog, attracting the Dementors from the patrol team.

The thick fog obscured visibility, and the rain washed away any traces of the monster. Even though the lone Dementor had mysteriously disappeared, the Ministry of Magic couldn't find any clues.

Melvin tugged on the reins and made a gesture to the Thestral beneath him.

The Thestral understood its meaning, flapped its wings, and chased after the fleeing Dementor.

(End of this chapter)