Chapter 216: The Death of the Dementor
"Hmph, who told him to have a problem with my Crookshanks?"
Hermione said indignantly,
"He even called Crookshanks a little monster. My Crookshanks is so beautiful."
"Yeah… beautiful."
George looked at Crookshanks, whose face resembled a persimmon, and nodded ambiguously.
Anyway, he felt that no normal person would think Crookshanks was beautiful—maybe a very small number of people would find it ugly-cute.
Everyone has their own aesthetic preferences, like Bull Terriers, Shar-Peis, American Bullies, or Cornish Rex cats. Even though they're ugly, many people still love them.
But although Crookshanks was ugly, it wasn't an ordinary cat. It had Kneazle blood in it and could sense malice.
That's why it kept chasing after Scabbers, the rat that Peter Pettigrew had transformed into.
"Hey, George, long time no see. Is this your little girlfriend?"
Two Ministry of Magic cars stopped in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Tonks, wearing a red jacket and jeans with colorful hair, stepped out of one of them.
Seeing George and Hermione talking together, she teased him.
"Long time no see, Tonks. I heard you've officially made it—congratulations!"
George didn't mind and greeted her with a smile.
He hadn't expected Tonks to be one of the Aurors escorting Harry to the train station this time.
"Hermione, what's up with your face? The weather isn't even hot today."
At that moment, Harry and Ron also arrived at the entrance. Seeing Hermione looking a bit flushed, Harry couldn't help but ask.
Hermione quickly grabbed her luggage and got into the car.
"I just wore a bit too much this morning, that's all."
"Oh, the cars are here. Let's go quickly."
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came to the door and, seeing the Ministry cars had arrived, immediately urged everyone to get in.
The trip to the station was uneventful.
After passing through Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they boarded the Hogwarts Express. George carried his luggage to the second-year compartment.
Because they had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron the previous night and had the Ministry's special transport, they were among the first batch of young wizards to arrive. The compartment was still empty.
Ginny naturally sat in the same room as George.
Not long after they sat down, Colin and Luna also boarded the train.
"Over here! Over here!"
Ginny waved and called them over, explaining to George:
"I wrote to Colin and Luna in advance and asked them to arrive early today so we could sit together like we did last year."
"I see."
George nodded. He had been wondering about the coincidence.
So it turns out that all coincidences are pre-written scripts by someone.
But he didn't really mind. Who he sat with on the train didn't make a difference to him.
He used to care about building a good reputation to have a better future after graduation.
But now that his strength had improved so quickly, he realized he no longer needed to worry about such things.
In the face of absolute power, all schemes and plots are less efficient than brute force.
What surprised him most was how much his strength had changed in just a year.
In fact, if he included the time experienced by his main body and his other clones, it was far more than just a year.
The Hogwarts Express rumbled northward. The scenery outside the window grew increasingly desolate, and as the clouds thickened above, the sky darkened.
By around three or four in the afternoon, it began to rain, and the rolling hills outside the window blurred from view.
The rain grew heavier. The window became a watery gray and gradually turned darker.
Eventually, the lights in the corridor and the luggage racks flickered on. The train clattered loudly, rain splattered heavily, and fierce wind howled outside the windows.
[Translator: sauron05]
George flipped through A Detailed Explanation of Alchemy, while Ginny, Luna, and Colin had all fallen asleep on the table.
At that moment, the train gradually slowed down. The sound of the wheels faded, and the wind and rain outside beat even more fiercely against the windows.
"What's going on? Are we there already?"
Ginny groggily opened her eyes. Luna and Colin also woke up.
George closed his magic book and replied,
"No, maybe there's been some kind of accident."
He knew the Ministry had arranged a surprise inspection to prevent Sirius Black from entering the school via the Hogwarts Express.
"An accident?"
Colin and Ginny stood up and opened the compartment door to look outside. Other young wizards in nearby compartments were also peeking out curiously. No one knew what was going on.
Then, with a loud clunk, the train came to a complete stop, and suddenly, all the lights went out.
"Ah!"
Screams echoed all around as George felt two figures suddenly leap into his arms.
It was Colin and Ginny, terrified.
"Lumos!"
Luna calmly cast the Wand-Lighting Charm, illuminating the room.
George lifted Colin and Ginny and placed them back on the seats, comforting them:
"It's fine. Just a little mishap. Things should be back to normal soon."
"What is that?"
Colin asked with a trembling voice, pointing at the train window, which was slowly frosting over for some reason. It was early July—there shouldn't be such cold weather.
Seeing that, Ginny jumped back into George's arms. George helplessly patted her back to comfort her.
He had always thought Ginny was rather brave. He didn't expect her to be so afraid of the dark—perhaps she was still too young.
In that sense, she couldn't compare to Luna. Luna always gave off a calm aura and didn't seem scared at all—no wonder she could see Thestrals.
As George was comforting Ginny, a tall, hooded figure suddenly appeared at the compartment door.
It extended a grayish-white hand, seemingly covered in slime and blotches, like a corpse that had rotted in water for a long time, and slowly pushed the door open.
Then, it poked in a cold, decaying head, as if searching for something.
"AHHH!!!"
Colin and Ginny screamed loudly at the sight.
Even Luna showed a rare expression of fear and squeezed next to George.
"That's a Dementor—the scariest dark creature. They say it can suck out a person's soul."
"AHHH!!!"
Hearing Luna's explanation, Colin and Ginny became even more frightened.
At that moment, George slowly extended his hand and lit up a small magic circle.
"Rain of Light!"
Dementors are dark creatures that can only be repelled by the Patronus Charm in this world, but he wanted to test if his holy light-based magic could be effective.
If not, it was fine—he also knew the Patronus Charm.
Besides, they weren't Harry and didn't have a piece of Voldemort's soul in them, so they shouldn't be targeted by Dementors.
The light arrow formed by sacred light shot directly at the Dementor. Sensing it, the creature's body trembled violently, letting out a terrified shriek.
Before it could dodge, the arrows struck it all at once, turning it into a pile of ash.
(End of Chapter)