Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 7 – Dark Arts of the Dementors

After the first ever, boring History of Magic class of the new school year, Harry stifled a yawn while making his way to the Great Hall for lunch, trying not to bump into any of the other students, especially excited First Years running down the stairs, already hungry.

"If Professor Binns says anything else about banshees and other creatures, I think I’m going to collapse…" Ron spoke sleepily beside him as both entered the Hall, to find a blast of noise greeting them as kids had already started to eat.

"Oh my…you both look like you had been ran through a wringer, is Professor Binns that bad?" a deep but high voice brought their heads around and they saw Morgan, staring at the two of them, a worried expression on her face.

"Er…" Harry didn’t know what to say and his stomach fluttered a bit in a flip-flop as Cho walked over, all smiles and threw an arm around her cousin’s shoulder.

"Hi Harry, Ron," she greeted, giving them smiles that made Harry nervous.  He had never admitted to the crush he had on Cho, but even now, he considered her very pretty…  "What are you doing, Morgan?  I heard that you mouthed off to Draco Malfoy after you Divination class today, tsk…" she looked at her cousin with stern eyes and Morgan only smiled sheepishly, a blush rising to her face.

"Ah…um…I just didn’t like the fact that he was bossing people around…I still can’t believe I did something like that," Morgan replied, her brown eyes going downcast, her face going into a bright shade of red.

"Fact, Morgan, Malfoy is like that," Cho replied, giving her cousin’s shoulder a squeeze of reassurance then turned to both Harry and Ron.  "Well, I’ll see you guys later!"

"Uh yeah…later," Harry replied just as Cho walked away and Hermione walked up to them, her arms full of books and her bag full of more books.  He rubbed the back of his neck, and felt heat rising from his neck and realized that he just could have been blushing.

"Hi guys…hi Morgan," Hermione greeted, struggling with her book load.

"You look like you need help," Ron chided slightly as he took some of her books off of her heavy load and Harry raised an eyebrow.  As far as he knew Ron, he had never seen him help Hermione with her books…

"Thanks," Hermione replied and smiled gratefully then glanced at Morgan who had a grin on her face, "heard that you gave Malfoy a mouth off…"

The grin on the petite Asian Fourth Year’s face was wiped off immediately and a worried one replaced it, "Uh…does everyone know?  Oh no…will the headmaster come and give me detention?  Oh…I don’t want to be trouble, I didn’t want to get in trouble…"

"Don’t worry Morgan," Hermione replied, "its nothing serious.  Most of the school are laughing about it."

"Oh," Morgan was quiet for a few seconds then brightened, "lunch?  I’m starving."

But before any of them could sit down or rest their hands from carrying books, Harry spotted Lupin walking over to their small group, drawing a few gasps and gazes from the various people in the Great Hall.  He saw that some of the people whisper to each other, pointing out Lupin while taking a quick peek at the Slytherin table, he saw that Malfoy was laughing with a wicked looking grin on his face.

"Oh no…it’s a werewolf!  Where are the Aurors?  Help me!  Save me!" Malfoy swooned an impression of a terrified person, which made the whole Slytherin table crack up in fits of laughter, but Harry saw that Lupin wasn’t affected by their jeering.

"Harry, Dumbledore would like a word with you," Lupin said softly, looking much healthier and better than last week when he was in his werewolf form.  "Oh, excuse me…hello Hermione, Ron, and Miss Chang."

Rapt attention was on Morgan’s face as she stared at Lupin, in a way that Harry found peculiarly odd, as if she was analyzing him.  She stared suddenly and blinked, "Oh, sorry…umm…."

"Remus Lupin," Lupin held out a hand to which Morgan shook, but looked shy, "I’m sure by now you’ve heard of all the rumors about me…"

"Oh, er, about that werewolf thing…nothing biggie.  We have tons of them in Salem," Morgan smiled lightly her expression all friendship.

"Interesting," Lupin replied then turned back to Harry, "I’m sorry to interrupt your luncheon, Harry, but this is important."

"Er-sure," Harry replied then glanced at his friends puzzled, but followed Lupin into the small room that was adjacent to the Great Hall, past the High Table and into the antechamber where he remembered three other older students stood by the roaring fireplace, almost close to a year ago, the other three Triwizard Champions, one of them whom died the school year before.  Cedric Diggory.

Harry still felt slightly uneasy being in the room, but he calmed his nerves down as he looked around, Violet winked at him from her portrait hanging in the room.  Dumbledore wasn’t there, but he promptly heard footfalls coming from the door to the antechamber.

To his surprise, he saw both Sirius and Dumbledore walk in, apparently engaged in a fierce conversation.  But that broke off as soon as the entered, Sirius looking angry and Dumbledore with a placid expression on his face.

"Ah good, I’m sorry Harry for bothering you from your lunch, but there’s something you must know," the headmaster took a deep breath, "as I have announced last night that there were Dementors around to guard the school was on order of the Head of the Ministry of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.  The reason being that you could not felt them was because of your guardians, the four Aurors I assigned to guard you when you were locked up in Gryffindor Tower…

"Harry, I’m going to be honest with you.  The reason I locked you up was because for your own safety.  We know that Voldemort has plans for you, for what, we do not know, but for your own safety, I cannot let you wander the grounds underneath your invisible cloak anymore, not for anything.  No visiting Hogsmeade in the cloak or going to see Hagrid in it," Dumbledore finished wearily and Harry could see the definite aging lines on the old wizard’s brow.

He didn’t know how the headmaster was able to figure out that he was visiting Hogsmeade under the cloak, but he knew that Dumbledore had ways of finding out the most obscure information.

"Some Dementors that have gone to the service of Voldemort have been given a mission to find you," Sirius spoke up, his voice weary and had an undercurrent of warning in them, "we don’t know how or why they’re doing this, but…please Harry, don’t use that cloak."

"Er…okay," he replied, not really sure what did they mean by Dementors coming after him…besides he didn’t really have any intention of using the cloak since now Dumbledore seemed to possess a magical eye, not to mention that Mad-Eye Moody was one of the Aurors prowling around the school, getting away from him would be tough.

But did that mean that some of the Dementors stationed at the school were actually part of Voldemort’s group?  Or was there another group of Dementors lurking around?

As if to answer his unspoken questions Dumbledore cleared his throat again, "Minister Fudge wants the Dementors stationed here to stay.  I don’t think he believes that Voldemort has risen again, but nonetheless, he told me that these Dementors are the ones he trusts the most."

There was an unspoken thought that Harry knew Dumbledore would not say.  The headmaster did not trust any Dementor on the ground of Hogwarts and wanted them far away as possible.  He nodded then glanced at both Sirius and Lupin who had quiet looks on their faces.  He had a funny feeling that the two of them were hiding something, even Dumbledore, but didn’t press the matter.  Eventually Sirius or Lupin would probably tell him, maybe even dissipate the mystery of Sirius’ freedom from being a wanted man.

* * * * *

After eating lunch with Ron and Hermione, they rushed up to the second floor where their next class Defense Against the Dark Arts was to take place.  In a way, Harry was excited to learn from his new teachers this year, after all, with one of them being an Auror…

"You sure she’s not a Veela?" Ron asked as they entered the classroom to find walls full of pixies locked in their cages, some of the sleeping while others were awake and fluttering around, watching curiously at the students that were piling in.

"Looks like Lockhart didn’t manage to get rid of these disgusting creatures," a drawling voice behind them spoke up and Harry resisted the urge to groan out loud in exasperation.  He couldn’t believe his luck.  Malfoy in the same double classes with him today, of all the days!

There was a tinkling sound and a few people laughed, prompting the three of them to turn around to see the two nearest pixies in their cages shaking their minute fists at Malfoy, both purple and red pixies daring Malfoy to make another comment.

Managing to ignore making a comment to Malfoy, Harry made his way towards the front where both Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were already sitting, both chatting with each other.

"Hey!  Did you hear that they were part of the contingent of Aurors that captured You-Know-Who’s Death Eaters?  They also went to Hogwarts!  Imagine that…I wonder what house were they in…" Dean trailed off thoughtfully then spotted something up front where two teacher desks were.  "Wow!  Look at that beauty!"

Following his gaze and pointed finger, Harry saw a magnificent mottled colored peregrine falcon perched on top of a stool, staring at them with its fierce looking yellow eyes.  Just then the class began to quiet down and he saw Marius walk in, his black cloak swirling around him, his hair combed back and was all smiles.

"Ah, welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts.  I’m Professor Marius Sadow, and this," he indicated the bird, "is Moirae, a companion of mine."

"She’s pretty," a Gryffindor spoke up from the other side of the room.

Marius smiled and nodded, "I’m sure Moirae would like to hear that," he stroked her white belly fur to which the falcon ruffled its feathers and blinked then stared at them with her fierce gaze.  "But," he clap his hands together, "I’m sure that you’re not here for looking at falcons or other animals, that’s for your Care of Magical Creatures class.  You’re here to learn how to protect yourself from the Dark Arts, and especially with You-Know-Who on the loose, this class by far, will be your most important.  So now I suggest you open your books and take out a few pieces of parchment because you will be taking notes right now."

"Excuse me, Professor Sadow," Dean Thomas spoke up, raising his hand.

"Yes…" Marius quickly checked his roll list, "Dean is it?"

"Yes sir," the black boy replied, "I was wondering where was your sister…"

"Ah, her…" Marius smiled mysteriously and Harry stared at him curiously.  That smile seemed to hold many secrets and he too wondered where was Marion.  "Um…Marion is currently occupied…"

The falcon suddenly gave a loud squawk to which everyone’s heads swung towards it.  Harry’s eyes widened with surprise as he saw the Falcon, no longer perched on the chair, hover in the air, slowly changing…no, slowly growing bigger by the minute.

Its feathers were now of a black color, mixed in with a bit of dark purple.  Slowly, a tall woman emerged from the feathers of what once used to be a falcon and with a sudden shake; the feather disappeared altogether, leaving behind the stunning beauty of Marion Sadow.

"She is a Veela," Ron whispered loudly, bringing Marion’s icy blue gaze on the redhead boy who looked awestruck.

Harry glanced around and saw that most of the class was also stunned by her appearance, whether from transforming from an Animagus to a human or either by her beauty, he couldn’t decide.  But looking at Hermione, he saw that she didn’t look stunned; in fact, she looked impressed.

"I’m not one of those ungrateful and wicked creatures Ronald Weasley," Marion spoke, her clear crystal voice now hardened and her soft Scottish accent barely visible.

"Uh…" Ron turned a bright red, "sorry…"

Snickering erupted from the left of the classroom and Harry glanced over to see Malfoy and his little gang laughing their heads off.

"You were probably thinking of the same thing, weren’t you Draco Malfoy?  And you too, Pansy Parkinson.  Please don’t laugh at anyone in this classroom if they made a mistake.  Its not polite and I’ll have to take points away from your houses if you put down anyone in any form," Marion shot looks at everyone in the room who immediately shut up into silence.

Harry realized that she meant business and it wasn’t fun and games anymore.  With Voldemort out on the loose, getting an Auror, maybe two of them, for their Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, Dumbledore took the Dark Lord’s return very seriously.  So did the teachers, Marius and Marion.

"Okay," Marius interrupted brightly easing the tension in the air, "where were we?  Oh yes, please turn your books to page 276.  We’ll be doing a quick review on Boggarts before we let you loose on a Boggart to assess you."

Harry flipped to the page, then glanced at Ron who was still a bit red, embarrassed, and just looking down at his blank parchment.  "Hey," he poked his best friend, "I don’t think she meant to embarrass you…"

"I still can’t believe I did that…I just…came out of my mouth," Ron whispered a bit mournfully.

"Mr. Potter," Marius’ voice came cracking down and Harry snapped his head up, "since you were so paying attention, can you tell us one of the spells to use on a Boggart?  Besides the riddikulus spell?"

"Er…"

"I see.  Not paying attention, a point from Gryffindor.  And since you weren’t paying attention, you are allowed to face the Boggart first.  Miss Granger, no helping Mr. Potter, you too Mr. Weasley," Marius’ voice had a warning tone and Harry’s hopes fell.  His first class with new teachers in a class that he really excelled at and liked a lot and he was already failing it by not paying attention.

More snickering was heard in the back but silenced with a glare from Marion and Harry felt his hopes sink lower and lower.  Quickly he glanced at the pages in his book and saw that there was no mention of any other spells for Boggarts, was Professor Sadow just kidding when he said that there was another spell?

"Ready, Mr. Potter?" Marius asked.

No, Harry thought sarcastically but didn’t reply as he drew his wand out, still sitting down, and held it out.  He watched as Marius opened up a small cabinet drawer in the middle of the room and a hissing noise escaped from it.

Suddenly a cold feeling started to prickle on Harry’s skin and he knew what was going to come out.  He hated Dementors, even feared them, but not so much to fear their coldness, it was to fear that they brought on horrifying memories of his parents’ death with their coldness.  Just as he thought of that, a soft scream erupted in his mind, an all-too-familiar scream that Harry knew, his mother’s scream when Voldemort killed her; pleading with all her life to spare him.

Instinctively his wand came up and he concentrated automatically on the happiest thought he could think of.  When Gryffindor first won its House Championship in over six years, back when he was a first year.  Rising from his seat, he kept running the happy thought through his mind, trying to ignore the screaming, which had gone up in volume level within his head.  "Expecto patronus!"

From his wand, the full body image of a stag burst out, charging towards the advancing Dementor, stopping in front of it, holding its position with its head and crown of antlers held up proudly.  The Dementor halted but did not shrink back, as was expected of a Boggart-Dementor.  Harry felt an eerie sense of déjà vu run over him, as this was one of the things he had to face during the last Triwizard Tournament obstacle.

"Riddikulus!" he waved his wand, expecting the Boggart-Dementor to pop and fade away.

What he didn’t expect was that the Boggart-Dementor just stood there, staring at him as his Patronus faded away.  Immediately the screaming, held back in the corner of his mind with his Patronus, came back full force, and Harry winced in pain.

"No, please, spare him…please!"

"It’s him Lily!  Go and take Harry, I’ll hold him off!"

Dimly, Harry heard a distant voice say, "Fiere!" and suddenly the screaming stopped.  Glancing around he found that he was crouched down near his seat his hand clutching his scar, his breath coming in ragged.  He quickly scrambled to his seat, his scar still twinging in pain, but it was subsiding as he felt heat rise up to his face.  He had just been totally embarrassed in front of his whole class not to mention the Slytherins.  Malfoy would have a field day with what happened…

"I’m sorry for that Harry," Marius’ voice wasn’t hard at all this time around and he sounded sincere, "I didn’t know it would be this bad."

Harry glanced up and saw that sincere apology was written all over the teacher’s face and he nodded wearily; desperately ignoring the snickering that was erupting from the Slytherin side.  He didn’t feel like doing anything else in the class and luckily, for the rest of the class, Marius didn’t even pick on him, and left him alone.

He was glad when the class ended, signaling the end of the double class and the end of classes for the whole day.  Quickly packing his things up-

"You okay, Harry?" Ron asked, and he glanced up to see concern written all over his face, "you look kind of pale…"

"Yeah, I’m fine, just…the side effects of Dementors," he waved his concerns away and gathered up his parchments and quill.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, can I talk to all of you for a minute before you go to your dorm rooms?" Marion asked, as she put away her things from teaching the second half of the double class.  She had given them some notes and demonstrations on the various Boggarts that they might face and even awarded points to those who answered her questions with intelligent answers.

"Sure…" Harry answered, looking at Ron and Hermione for a second, seeing their puzzled expressions then turning back to Marion who sat down on top of one of the desks in the classroom, her hands folded and resting on her knees.

"I like to apologize if I’ve made any of you feel uncomfortable in class, especially you Ron," she smiled at him, "I know that you didn’t mean any harm by that comment, but…"

"Its okay, Professor Marion," Ron blushed slightly, making his freckles stand out even further, "um…just wanted to know why you hate them so much?"

The smile disappeared from her lips and she sighed, sounding remorseful and a bit bitter, "Many people say Veelas are beautiful creatures…yes they are beautiful, but they are very dangerous and cunning.  They know that their beauty will get the best of people, and cloud judgment.  A friend of mine was an Auror like me-"

"You are an Auror?!" both Ron and Hermione looked stunned.  Harry realized that no one knew that Marion was an Auror except for probably him and the other adults at the school.  "Animagus and Auror…wow…" Ron looked breathless while Hermione looked impressed yet again.

Marion gave a small smile then cleared her throat to continue her story, "As I was saying…yes I am an Auror, Second Class Order of Merlin.  But my friend, he died facing death in the hands of group of Veelas."

"What?!" Ron gaped like a fish out of water and Harry elbowed him to stop interrupting.

"The ministry of magic never made this public for the fear of those of Veela blood being shunned and frowned down upon.  I’m only telling you because I sense that I can trust you so with my secret.  A group of Veelas that we had never heard about apparently turned to the Dark Lord’s service when he was in power in the late seventies.  My friend and I were dispatched to stop them, but he fell under their control, and died at their hands," she hesitated and Harry could see that she was trying to keep her emotions from welling up.  He had figured that she had an almost double personality, one that was the cold and professional Auror, the other a kind person who was hidden deep within her.

"We eventually killed them, but I’ve hated Veelas from then on…" she finished her gaze far above their heads as if she was remembering something…

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door and it opened to reveal someone whom Harry had not seen for a long time.

"Mrs. Figg?!"

"Heh, heh, Harry, never expected me to be here did you?" Arabella Figg cackled, her old slightly hunched body was shaking in fits of silent laughter.

"But…all those times?"

"I figured that you never liked my cats, and never liked my chocolate cakes…oh I knew the Dursleys were happy to be rid of you…now run along to dinner children.  Miss Sadow and I need a bit of a chat," she waved her old bony hand in their direction.

"Go on…I’m glad to have all of you in my class today," Marion added and they left reluctantly.

"You know Arabella Figg?  The Arabella Figg?  How come you never told us?!" Hermione asked as they made their way to Gryffindor Common Room to drop off their books.

"I…never knew she was an Auror," Harry replied, his mind a bit numb at the prospect of what he thought was an old crabby lady that took care of him every year Dudley’s birthday fell, with a house that smelled of cabbages and pictures of cats.

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