Chapter 94 — Inside the Walls

McGonagall met us near the entrance to the hall. Lupin caught up as we came inside and spoke to her quietly, making her look at Harry before turning towards me. She asked whether I had been in the same compartment.

I gave her the short account with the others close enough to correct anything I missed. There was the cold, the creature entering and Harry unable to move; my fire failed, and Lupin drove it away. I also mentioned the mark left by the talisman on the floor.

‘The conductor has been told,’ Lupin said. ‘There was no continuing fire.’ McGonagall’s mouth tightened, although I did not think the floor was her principal concern. She told us to report anything further of the kind immediately, then said Pomfrey would examine Harry before dinner.

He began explaining that he felt better, looked at her and stopped. Pomfrey asked her questions, checked him and approved the chocolate. She also wanted to know whether the effects had eased for the rest of us, waiting for our answers rather than taking Harry’s recovery as sufficient.

I said they had, and Luna agreed beside me. Pomfrey told us to come to her if that changed and eat something properly. Ron looked relieved to receive an instruction he could follow with enthusiasm, and we reached our tables before the Sorting began.

Luna waved after finding a place at Ravenclaw. I sat where I could see her without craning round every few minutes, beside Neville, who shifted to make room. He had heard about the train and wanted to know whether we were all right.

I told him we felt better and nodded towards Harry when he asked about him. Harry was speaking to Ron, with more colour in his face than he had had in the compartment. Neville looked satisfied enough to turn back towards the waiting first-years.

They seemed very young. I remembered sitting beneath the Hat and wondering how much of my head it could see, an experience only two years away. Yet the children approaching the stool already appeared to belong to a part of school I was beginning to forget.

After the Sorting, Flitwick led a group of Ravenclaws in a song. Several large toads contributed noises I would not have expected anyone to persuade into time with a choir. Across the hall, Luna watched with interest, and I decided that this difference in our tastes was unlikely to threaten the relationship.

Dumbledore rose before the applause had quite faded. He thanked the singers, welcomed the new students and introduced Remus Lupin as our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. I began clapping before he finished, with Harry joining immediately beside me.

Further along the table, students who had heard about the train examined Lupin with more interest than patched clothes usually attracted. He acknowledged the welcome and sat while Ron said he was looking forward to the lessons. I agreed, watching Snape bring his hands together a few times without changing expression.

Ron nudged me and observed that not everybody shared the anticipation. I reminded him that we did not know why, and he asked whether I had ever seen Snape look pleased about a new Defence teacher. That was harder to answer, but I turned back to Dumbledore instead of constructing a history from the way somebody applauded.

Kettleburn was retiring. Dumbledore spoke warmly about his service and the time he would now have for himself, adding a remark about keeping his remaining limbs intact. Uncertain laughter gave way to applause while Hermione quietly told Ron he had discussed retirement before the holidays. I had not taken his course and knew little of the details.

‘His successor will be someone many of you already know very well,’ Dumbledore continued. ‘Rubeus Hagrid has agreed to teach Care of Magical Creatures.’ I was standing before I thought about it, calling Hagrid’s name.

Harry rose beside me, and Ron and Hermione joined the applause spreading along the table. Hagrid looked towards us with a broad, astonished smile until McGonagall touched his arm. He stood quickly enough to catch the edge of the table with him, then stopped it while Flitwick rescued a glass.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Harry laughed as we sat down. That explained the book, he said, and I agreed, although it did nothing to make the teeth convenient. I wanted to congratulate Hagrid and tell him about the instructions we had attached to the shop’s copies. There would be time for both when the announcements ended.

Dumbledore let the welcome settle. Then he told us that the Ministry had stationed dementors around Hogwarts, and the remaining conversations died away. They would watch the entrances and boundary during the search for Sirius Black.

He made it clear that this was a Ministry decision. Their presence outside gave them no permission to enter the castle or interfere with lessons, and he had received an account of what happened on the train. Harry shifted beside me while I kept my eyes on the front.

‘That incident is being taken up with the Ministry,’ Dumbledore said. ‘In the meantime, do not approach these creatures. If one enters somewhere it has no right to be, leave and find a member of staff. Do not attempt to challenge it yourselves.’

He explained supervised movement near the grounds’ entrances and where prefects should bring concerns. Percy had already begun taking notes. I glanced towards the hall doors, remembering how easily the one on the train had opened.

Dumbledore asked us to tell the staff when something was wrong and promised we would be heard. I wanted that to be true. Lupin’s account reaching McGonagall and the Headmaster before dinner gave me a beginning I could point to, although the creatures remained outside.

Food appeared, and the room gradually filled with plates and conversation again. I ate because I was hungry, while part of my attention stayed with the knowledge of what waited beyond the castle. Hagrid caught our eyes from the staff table and lifted a hand, making us wave back over the dishes.

I was pleased for him and still afraid of what Dumbledore had announced. Neither feeling removed the other, so I let them remain while listening to Neville describe his journey and passing him the potatoes.

On the way upstairs, Ron complained about the Ministry until Hermione asked whether a watch on the entrances might still make it harder for Black to enter. I thought it might, but he had escaped the place the dementors already guarded. We could not treat them as a guarantee.

Harry said he did not like them. Hermione assured him she wanted them kept away from us too, and the argument became quieter as we reached a crowd outside the portrait hole. The Fat Lady held a glass before her face, preparing to demonstrate something to her audience.

Percy had given us the new password downstairs. I said ‘Fortuna Major,’ but she lifted a finger for silence and began to sing. The note climbed while the glass remained intact, and a boy behind me covered his ears.

Then her wrist moved. The glass struck the frame and painted fragments fell out of sight, leaving her looking triumphant. I glanced at the frame before telling her the performance had been impressive and repeating the password.

She inspected my expression suspiciously, but swung open before anyone offered a more detailed review. Inside, warmth reached me before I had time to notice the familiar chairs. It came from outside my body, ordinary heat from an ordinary fire, and I was glad to feel it.

We put away our belongings and returned downstairs for a while. Harry did not seem ready for bed, and Ron remembered the wrapped cake. I brought it to a table near the fire, where Neville joined us before Dean and Seamus noticed the spare space.

Dean contributed sweets which he said would alter our voices. Harry tried one and produced a railway whistle, looking surprised enough for us to laugh before he made a second attempt. That was worse, with a faint wisp of steam near his ear which left Ron helpless in his chair.

Mine gave me a deep, uneven roar. I tried to ask Dean how long it would last and sounded as though I intended to eat him. Seamus suggested walking to match the voice, and three poor attempts made Neville spill a little of his drink.

We cleaned it before Percy could conclude that the whole gathering needed a lecture. There was cake, bread and the last of our drinks, enough for people who had spent the day travelling and being frightened. Nobody kept asking whether Harry was all right, which seemed to help him enjoy being there.

His voice returned before he finished eating. He began describing a game we had played at home, and Ron argued about the rules despite never having tried it. I sat back and listened, grateful that the noise now came from people comfortable enough to disagree over something small.

A hot dish would have suited the evening better than our remaining cold food. I made a note to ask about arranging something from the kitchens another time, instead of trying to keep a pot warm with a talisman beside the furniture. Tonight, the cake disappeared before I needed a better plan.

Dean folded the empty packet, Neville yawned and we cleared the table before going upstairs. Beside my bed I checked the pouch and wrote down the two pieces used on the train: one light which worked and one fire which failed to help.

Under the account I wrote Patronus. The word looked small beside the difference it had made, but it gave me a place to begin the next questions. I closed the notebook and left it within reach for the morning.