104 Chocolate

"Why is Harry on the floor looking as if his soul has been sucked out by a demon?" Asked Arth in a very confused manner.

"Dunno, he saw that... thing and went sort of rigid and fell out of his seat and started twitching." Said Ron giving Harry a quick glance. "It was terrible."

Arth frowned.

Hooded figures meant dementors, but why would Dementors cause Harry to collapse.

Arth bent down and checked Harry's pulse.

"He is still alive-," Arth opened Harry's eye. "- and he is having a light non-REM sleep."

"Can you fix it?" Asked Ginny from the corner.

Arth pulled up his sleeves and gave a charming grin.

"Sure I can, I dabbled a bit in muggle health care."

Arth rearranged Harry so that he was in a sitting position before cracking his knuckles.

Arth stared at Harry for a good five seconds before proceeding on to straight out smacking Harry's face.

There was a yelp of pain and surprise.

Ron winced.

"Was that necessary?"

"No, however it's very effective." Replied Arth.

Harry opened his eyes and glanced around in a dazed matter.

"W-what?"

"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.

"Yeah," said Harry, looking quickly toward the door.

"What happened? Where's that — that thing? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed," said Ron, more nervously still.

"But I heard screaming-"

A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.

"Here," he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."

Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it.

"What was that thing?" he asked Lupin.

"A dementor," answered Arth before Lupin could reply. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."

Everyone stared at him. Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow before starting to hand out the rest of the chocolate to everyone else. He then crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket.

"Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me . . ."

He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor.

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously.

"I don't get it. . . . What happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.

"Well- that thing- the dementor- stood there and looked around- and he spoke and then- and you- you-" Said Neville while stuttering, clearly disturbed.

"I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching-"

"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' And then the dementor just moved away..."

"It was horrible," said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"

"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again. . . ."

Arthur, at this moment, gave a quick glance at Scarlett who was staring at him with a smug look that said 'I-told-you-So'.

Arth sighed.

It seemed he could no longer ignore his different reaction to the dementors when compared to normal people.

Arth added the subject to his mental to-do list before turning around to face Ron.

"You said that the dementor spoke, how did its voice sound like?"

Ron gave an involuntary shiver before answering.

"It was monotone, like a dead corpse trying to speak. It was as if he had no human emotions."

Arth clicked his tongue.

That's Sebastian probably. Albert did say that Sebastian and William would be here. Sebastian was a quite child who couldn't really explain his own emotions. He was like a caring older brother of the four. Basically a Kuudere.

"But didn't any of you — faint?" said Harry awkwardly.

"No," said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though..."

Professor Lupin had come back. He paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know..."

After seeing Harry eat the chocolate, Professor Lupin smiled.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," said Professor Lupin. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Yes..." Harry muttered.

They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.

"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. Arth, Scarlett, Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.