❝𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦
𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦
𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳
𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯?
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳
𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴?❞
- 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 , 𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵
AND MONDAY HAD COME AGAIN.
draco had been overcome with glee at gryffindor's loss, leaving vega to pinch his ear almost every hour of every day.
he had finally taken off his bandages, andcelebrated having the full use of both arms again by doing spiritedimitations of harry falling off his broom. draco spent much of theirnext potions class doing dementor imitations across the dungeon; ronfinally cracked and flung a large, slippery crocodile heart at draco,which hit him in the face and caused snape to take fifty points from gryffindor. vega had laughed out loud, losing them another ten.
everyone seemed a bit skittish as they made their way to defence against the dark arts, the nagging fear that snape would be teaching it again lingering.
it didn't help vega that her usual sickness had come around, her head pounding and stomach churning as her vision turned hazier.
thankfully, as vega peeked her head in the classroom, she noticed professor lupin was back at work. it certainly looked as though he hadbeen ill. his old robes were hanging more loosely on him and there weredark shadows beneath his eyes; nevertheless, he smiled at the class asthey took their seats, and they burst at once into an explosion ofcomplaints about snape's behavior while lupin had been ill.
he's totally a werewolf. twinsies
"it's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?"
"we don't know anything about werewolves two rolls of parchment!"
"only vega did really good! she's smart, though" someone pointed out and vega shrunk in on herself slightly.
"did you tell professor snape we haven't covered them yet?" lupin asked,frowning slightly and sending a glance vega's way. the babble broke out again."yes, but he said we were really behind he wouldn't listen --"
"-- two rolls of parchment!"
professor lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face."don't worry. i'll speak to professor snape. you don't have to do theessay."
vega silently cheered. of course, you hadn't started nor looked over it whatsoever. to be honest, you had mostly forgotten about it.
"oh no," said Hermione, looking very disappointed. "i've alreadyfinished it!"
they had a very enjoyable lesson. professor lupin had brought along aglass box containing a hinkypunk, a little one-legged creature wholooked as though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail andharmless looking.
"lures travelers into bogs," said professor lupin as they took notes."you notice the lantern dangling from his hand? hops ahead -peoplefollow the light -- then --" the hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.
when the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things and headed for thedoor, vega and harry among them, but --"wait a moment, vega, harry," lupin called. "i'd like a word." vega and harry shared a glance before doubling back and watching professor lupin covering the hinkypunk'sbox with a cloth.
"i heard about the match," said lupin, turning back to his desk andstarting to pile books into his briefcase, "and i'm sorry about yourbroomstick. is there any chance of fixing it?"
"no," said harry. "the tree smashed it to bits."
vega looked to the side,
eh, why am i here again?
lupin sighed."they planted the whomping willow the same year that I arrived at hogwarts"
vega gave lupin a knowing look and slightly smirk as he avoided her glance.
"people used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touchthe trunk. in the end, a boy called davey gudgeon nearly lost an eye,and we were forbidden to go near it. no broomstick would have a chance."
"did you hear about the dementors too?" said harry with difficulty, vega shuddered. lupin looked at him quickly."yes, i did. i don't think any of us have seen professor dumbledore thatangry. they have been growing restless for some time -- furious at hisrefusal to let them inside the grounds.... i suppose they were thereason you fell?"
"yes," said harry. he hesitated, and then the question he had to askburst from him before he could stop himself. "why? why do they affect melike that? am I just --?"
"it has nothing to do with weakness," said professor lupin sharply, asthough he had read Harry's mind.
vega looked at her feet as she shuffled them,
this is kind of awkward..
"the dementors affect you worse thanthe others because there are horrors in your past that the others don'thave." a ray of wintery sunlight fell across the classroom, illuminating lupin's gray hairs and the lines on his young face. "along with you, vega"
she perked up.
"i know you think it's just because of your resemblance to your father, but their are other.. things in your past that attract the dementors"
she purses her lips.
"dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. theyinfest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair,they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. even muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. get too near adementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked outof you. if it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduceyou to something like itself... soul-less and evil. you'll be left withnothing but the worst experiences of your life. and the worst thathappened to you, harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. you have nothing to feel ashamed of."
you nod in agreement.
"when they get near me --" harry stared at lupin's desk, his throattight. "i can hear voldemort murdering my mum."
vega froze slightly,
welp
lupin made a sudden motion with his arm as though to grip harry'sshoulder, but thought better of it. there was a moment's silence, then--"why did they have to come to the match?" said harry bitterly.
"they're getting hungry," said lupin coolly, shutting his briefcase witha snap. "dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply ofhuman prey has dried up.... i don't think they could resist the largecrowd around the quidditch field. all that excitement ... emotionsrunning high... it was their idea of a feast."
vega griamced.
"azkaban must be terrible," harry muttered. lupin nodded grimly, his eyes casting to you as looked down at your feet, now internally questioning what had happened to your father in there.
you thought about him often, actually.
why did he commit those crimes when he had a child aged only one?
did he ever care about you?
did he think about you when murdering his friend?
what was he like?
you shake your head, getting those thoughts out.
"the fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but they don'tneed walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're alltrapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheery thought. most of them go mad within weeks."
"but sirius black escaped from them," harry said slowly. "he gotaway..." lupin's briefcase slipped from the desk; he had to stoop quickly tocatch it. vega frowned deeply, giving lupin a skeptical look.
harry gave her an apologetic look.
"yes," he said, straightening up, "black must have found a way to fightthem. i wouldn't have believed it possible.... dementors are supposed todrain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long...."
"you made that dementor on the train back off," said harry suddenly, vega turned to him.
"there are -- certain defenses one can use," said lupin. "but there wasonly one dementor on the train. the more there are, the more difficultit becomes to resist."
"what defenses?" said harry at once. "can you teach us?"
vega blinked.
"i don't pretend to be an expert at fighting dementors, harry, quite thecontrary..."
"but if the dementors come to another quidditch match, i need to be ableto fight them -- and if they ever come after vega, she can save herself!" lupin looked into harry's determined face, hesitated, then said,"well... all right. i'll try and help. but it'll have to wait until next term, i'm afraid. i have a lot to do before the holidays. i chose a veryinconvenient time to fall ill."
vega smiled knowingly.
date posted ; 15/10/23