And so, most of the wizarding world spent their entire summer in a state of unease. Yet, by the time the holiday ended, nothing had actually happened. The wizarding world remained as still and silent as a frozen lake in the depths of winter.
On July 31st, Harry celebrated his thirteenth birthday with Sirius and Lupin. He also received a gift and a letter from Hermione, delivered by Hedwig all the way from France (which explained why she had been missing for the past few days). Along with these, he received his Hogwarts booklist, a permission slip for Hogsmeade, and a rather disoriented Errol, who, with the support of two other owls, had somehow managed to deliver a large package to Harry's house.
After staying at Harry's for a few days, Sirius and Lupin left Godric's Hollow. As for Harry, he promptly buried himself in the library hidden within the icy cavern behind his wardrobe.
Ever since mid-June, when he had stumbled upon information about wands, their composition, and the process of crafting them, Harry had been utterly fascinated. He had always found using a standard wand somewhat awkward, and this discovery only deepened his curiosity. After more than a month of relentless study, he had gained a solid understanding of topics such as magical circuit amplification. Now, all that remained was putting theory into practice.
"First, the magic absorption unit and the storage unit... The former requires materials with high magical affinity, engraved with runes that attract magic. The latter needs a container capable of storing magic, inscribed with stabilizing runes..."
Cross-referencing his rune chart, Harry carefully selected symbols representing "attraction" and "stability." He then gathered the materials Dobby had bought for him in Diagon Alley—unicorn hair, dragon scales, obsidian, silver thread, magical crystals, unicorn horn, and dragon's blood ink (which had cost him a whopping fifteen Galleons). Taking up a carving knife, he meticulously began his work.
First came the magic absorption unit...
He carefully wove the unicorn hair and dragon scales together, ensuring that each strand and scale was arranged precisely to maximize their ability to absorb ambient magic.
Next, the magic rectifier...
He shaped the obsidian into specific forms and connected them with silver thread. Given the stabilizing properties of obsidian and the conductive nature of silver, every connection had to be perfectly secure. This step alone took a significant amount of time.
After that, he embedded the magical crystal into a hand-forged metal frame, working with extreme caution to ensure it was properly set and could safely store magic.
Finally, using dragon's blood ink, Harry carefully inscribed a series of intricate magical arrays onto specially prepared parchment.
Once all the components were complete, he assembled them according to his blueprints.
Since this was his first attempt at crafting such a device, Harry kept his ambitions modest. He aimed to create a simple magical storage unit equipped with an absorption unit, a storage unit, a rectifier, and a control core. Thankfully, with detailed records left by predecessors, simply replicating their work wasn't too difficult. He only failed three times before successfully crafting a small magic storage device.
It could hold roughly the total magic reserves of a second-year student. For someone with no formal magical crafting heritage and attempting this for the first time, the tiny contraption—set upon a wooden base—was already an impressive achievement.
But for Harry, mere magic storage wasn't enough. He still needed to incorporate conversion circuits and amplification pathways.
His hair a mess from minor explosions and his face covered in soot, Harry stashed the rudimentary storage device in his cabinet before diving back into his work.
Finally, September 1st arrived. Harry, running behind as usual, rushed into the station at the last moment with two enormous trunks, barely making it onto the train before it departed.
"Thank goodness! For a moment, I thought you were going to get locked out again, just like last year." After helping Harry hoist his trunks onto the luggage rack, Hermione, clad in a light beige sweater, gave him a once-over. "You look paler than before."
"Well, you and Ron look a lot tanner," Harry commented, settling into his seat next to Ron. "How was Egypt? Did you have fun?"
"Harry, you have no idea how amazing Egypt is!" Ron exclaimed dramatically. "Bill took us to every single pyramid. You wouldn't believe how many enchantments the ancient Egyptian wizards placed on them! It's a shame, though—Mum wouldn't let Bill take us into the last pyramid. Apparently, the place was littered with bizarre skeletons—remains of Muggles who forced their way in. Some of them even grew extra heads! And then there was the Sphinx..."
Ron pulled out a stack of photographs, rattling on for over ten minutes before stopping, his throat too dry to continue.
"What about you, Hermione? How was France?" Harry turned to her.
"France has plenty of fascinating magical history as well." Hermione puffed up proudly. "I even rewrote my History of Magic essay to include some of my discoveries! Oh, and you wouldn't believe how exquisite French food is compared to British cuisine. For example, there was this one seafood restaurant my parents and I went to..."
The three of them had plenty to catch up on after months apart. As time passed, rain began to fall outside, steadily growing heavier. Students who had been watching the scenery with open windows soon shut them. The lights in the corridors and luggage racks flickered on as darkness settled in.
"I think we must be getting close," Ron remarked, glancing at the night sky before standing up.
But just as he said that, the train screeched to a halt with an ear-splitting sound of grinding metal.
"Perfect timing—I'm starving! Let's get off," Ron said, reaching for the door.
"No, something's wrong. We're still at least an hour away from the station. There's no way we've arrived already." Hermione frowned, checking her watch. "If we're not at the station yet, then why have we stopped?"
The train gave a final shudder before going completely still. And then, without warning, every light went out, plunging the carriage into total darkness.
In the pitch-black corridor, students stumbled over one another, tripping and stepping on hands and feet alike. Ron, judging by the sharp yowl and his own pained yell, had apparently sat on Crookshanks by accident.
Harry reached out, pressing his hand against the table before casting a Lumos spell. Bright light flooded the compartment, allowing Ron to finally escape Crookshanks' wrath with Hermione's help.
"Maybe there's a problem with the train?" Harry leaned out of the compartment, spotting a few scattered students holding their wands aloft for light, just as curious about the situation.
Harry decided to check out the front of the train. He pulled out his wand. "Lumos."
A faint glow emerged from the tip of Harry's wand, and he raised it high as he walked toward the front of the train.
However, when he reached the locomotive, a tightly shut glass door blocked his path. With no other choice, Harry turned back and returned to his compartment.
Then—
To his surprise, at some point, Neville and Ginny had also arrived. As they shut the compartment door behind them, the group sat around the table, which was now their only source of stable light. They huddled together, casting nervous yet curious glances at the darkness outside the window.
"Wait a minute… don't you think it's getting colder?"
A faint chill crept in from outside, sending a shiver down Harry's spine.
"Now that you mention it… yeah, it does feel a bit cold," Ron and Neville muttered, glancing down at the goosebumps on their arms. "Is the temperature dropping that quickly this year?"
"I think—"
Hermione furrowed her brows, about to speak, when the compartment door slowly creaked open from the outside.
The four young wizards inside froze in terror as the door swung fully open, revealing a towering, cloaked creature standing motionless at the entrance.
The creature's tattered robes billowed slightly, and from within its dark folds emerged a thin, gray, scabbed hand—emitting a faint, eerie glow. A terrible sensation washed over Harry; the hand looked lifeless, like something long dead and left to rot in water. As if sensing Harry's gaze, the hand suddenly jerked back into the black robes.
Then, the thing beneath the hood—whatever it was—drew in a long, slow breath. The sound was hoarse and ragged, as though it were not inhaling air, but something else, something unseen.
A bone-chilling cold swept through the compartment, piercing their skin and sinking deep into their hearts, making them feel as though warmth, as though hope itself, was being drained away.
Harry felt it—something terrible, something wrong. Under the weight of that creeping cold, an awful thought settled in his mind:
Perhaps… I will never feel happy again.
The cloaked figure loomed closer. Harry, sitting nearest to the door, only had to reach out, and he would touch it.
Neville collapsed onto his seat. Then Ron. Then Ginny. Even Hermione curled into herself, clutching her arms as if trying to hold in whatever warmth she had left.
And the cloaked creature… it drew nearer still. Then—it raised its decayed hands and lowered its hood.
Where its eyes should have been, there was only thin, gray, scabbed skin stretched over empty sockets.
Strangely, it had a mouth—a shapeless hole that sucked at the air with a rattling, deathly wheeze.
Harry wanted to move. He wanted to scream. But he could do neither.
Closer… closer…
That gaping mouth drifted toward them, pausing, hesitating, as if choosing its victim. Then, it turned toward Hermione—still curled up in her seat, trembling.
A brilliant burst of silver light split through the darkness, slicing through the overwhelming despair.
The black-robed creature—if that was what it truly was—let out a ghastly wail as it dissolved in the radiant light. And as it melted away, so too did the suffocating cold, the fear that had nearly crushed them, and the boundless darkness beyond the train windows.
But outside—
Dozens of Dementors swarmed toward the motionless train.
And atop the roof of the train, standing amidst the swirling silver mist, was a lone young wizard. Facing the oncoming horde, he raised his hand—
--
"So, that's your excuse for killing dozens of Ministry employees?"
Inside the Headmaster's office, the toad-faced woman Harry had encountered before fixed him with a piercing glare, her small, beady eyes full of suspicion.
Harry, however, met her gaze head-on, refusing to back down.
"What, so I'm just supposed to let those things attack me and not fight back?!"
"You're lying!" Umbridge shrieked, her voice sharp with fury. "Dementors do not attack wizards without the Ministry's permission! You filthy, deceitful little—"
"Mind your words, Madam Undersecretary!" Professor McGonagall snapped, her voice like a whip. "Regardless of whether the Dementors were officially ordered to attack or not, they attempted to approach my students at close range. And one of them—at least one—removed its hood! As Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, I will not tolerate such a grave and imminent threat to my students' lives!"
"Alright, alright, let's all calm down, shall we?" Cornelius Fudge wrung his hands, his expression troubled.
"Dumbledore, I understand that Dementors can have… quite an effect on young wizards. But they remain our best defense against escaped Death Eaters. The Ministry would send Aurors if we could, but… we simply don't have enough. If we divert all our Aurors to Hogwarts, the rest of the wizarding world would be left unprotected. I trust you understand our position, Dumbledore?"
"Dementors will not be allowed inside Hogwarts. That is my final decision, Fudge."
Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes fixed on the sweating Minister.
Fudge hesitated, dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief. "Yes… yes, I understand, Dumbledore. I understand…"
He turned on his heel and left the office without another word. Umbridge shot Harry one last venomous glare before hurrying after him.
The door slammed shut behind them.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my patreon:
pat reon .com/yuuwand