.
The black-haired, round-faced with baby fat mini-version of Daphne Greengrass stepped forward and introduced herself.
"My name is Astoria Greengrass. Nice to meet you."
The little Greengrass raised her hand, presenting it to Quinn.
Quinn took it because of his etiquette education, kissed her knuckles, and introduced himself.
"Quinn West. Pleased to meet you, too."
Tracy, who was on the side, chimed in with a bright tone,
"My name is Tracy Davis."
Luna thought that everyone was introducing themselves and took part in joining the foray.
"I'm Luna Lovegood."
Tracy giggled and looked at Daphne. The blonde Greengrass looked back at her best friend and looked in confusion.
"You are the only one who hasn't said your name," explained Tracy with a beaming grin on her face.
Daphne rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to participate in the childishness. But then she noted that everyone in the compartment was staring at her.
"Fine," she sighed exasperatedly and returned, "My name is Daphne Greengrass. Happy?"
Everybody repeatedly nodded in unison.
After everyone was introduced to each other and their luggage was in place, they took a seat. Quinn sat near the window, Luna sat beside him. On the other side, Astoria sat across Quinn, Daphne sat beside her sister, and Tracy sat next to Daphne.
"So you are that Quinn West. I've heard about you," said Astoria as soon as everyone got settled. "I have heard a lot about you."
"You have?" Quinn inquired. "From whom?" He gave a quick glance to the side.
"From my sister, of course. And some from Tracy. But mostly from Daphne," disclosed Astoria.
"Tori!" Daphne hissed at her sister.
Quinn moved his eyes on Astoria while moving his head towards Tracy before looking at her. He commented: "This one, this one talks."
"She does. It can get quite fun," admitted Tracy. "Yeah~, really fun."
Quinn gave an excited grin as he turned back to Astoria and met Daphne's as he did.
"So, Astoria, tell me, which house do you want to join? Are you going to follow in your sister's footsteps? And what does Daphne say about me?"
Astoria hummed in thought and responded, "Well, I want to be in Slytherin, but not because Daphne is in there. I want to join Slytherin because daddy was in Slytherin. And Daphne told me that you are smart, intelligent, and funny, but she says that you joke a little too much. She also said that she felt hurt- oomph!"
Daphne clamped her sister's mouth with her hand to stop her from talking. Astoria was starting to talk about things she didn't want anyone to know, especially not Quinn.
"- mah! So, I was saying- ouch!" Astoria freed herself from Daphne's grasp and tried to continue, but she was again interrupted when Daphne pinched and twisted her waist.
"Not a single word," Daphne Greengrass glared at her sister.
Quinn pulled out an A.I.D card from his robes and presented it to Astoria. "Please, visit me when you have free time. I believe we'll get along splendidly."
Daphne tried to take the card, but Astoria got to it first and examined it with interest, "I've heard of this, too. Mum really liked the idea when Daphne told us about it."
Quinn shifted in his seat and asked, "Really, Mrs. Greengrass said that? Tell me more." He earned a glare from Daphne and a giggle from Tracy.
The Hogwarts Express moved steadily to the North, and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened. People were running backward and forward past the door of their compartment.
Time passed as the group continued to talk. Quinn was having a lot of fun talking to the younger Greengrass and her stories about the usually unflappable Daphne.
The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train rattled, the rain hammered, and the wind roared.
"We must be nearly there," said Tracy, leaning forward to look past
Daphne and Astoria at the now completely black window.
"We can't be there yet," said Daphne, checking her watch.
The words had hardly left her when the train started to slow down.
"Why are we stopping?"
The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons died away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows.
Quinn looked at the dark outside, and his pupils shrunk and his eyes narrowed. He remembered what was about to happen and knew the reason behind the train's unusual stop.
The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that some other people's luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out, which plunged the train into total darkness.
"What's going on?" asked Luna's from beside Quinn. She tugged on his clothes to ascertain his position in the dark.
Quinn turned his face towards Luna's position and assured her, "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
"Do you think we've broken down?" said Astoria as she tried to peer out what was going on from the compartment door, but there was barely any light for anything to be visible.
"I don't know," whispered Tracy, pulling her cat into her lap.
There was a squeaking sound, and Quinn saw the dim black outline of Astoria, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out.
There's something moving out there," Astoria said. "I think people are coming aboard... does this happen every year?"
"No, it doesn't. The train doesn't stop at all during the journey," answered Daphne's voice.
Quinn knew who was coming aboard and silently pulled out his fake wand. There was a soft hum before three orbs manifested on the compartment's ceiling, lighting the room in soft yet illuminating light.
All four girls looked up at the three orbs of light at the ceiling before looking at each other.
"Stay where you are," instructed Quinn as he sat in attention. He slightly cracked the window so his hand could go outside. He got up and moved towards the door.
And just as he was expecting, the door to the compartment opened up.
Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the light orbs on the ceiling, was a cloaked figure that reached up to the roof. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Quinn's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract slightly. There was a hand protruding from the cloak, and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.
But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Quinn's gaze, it suddenly withdrew the hand into the folds of its black shroud. And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all, causing all to shiver. Quinn also felt the cold. He found it as equally bone-chilling as in the Icy vault. The current cold had a soul-numbing chill.
Quinn opened his mouth and spoke up in a clear voice, "Back off at once. Leave, or you will regret it."
The hooded figure looked down at the room's occupants and sensed deep fear and the promise of positive feelings that it could feed off of. The hooded figure gave into temptation and moved forward.
"Bad move," whispered Quinn in the cold.
A blinding silver light blasted the hooded figure at a point-blank range.
There was no noise, no shrieking from the hooded figure of darkness. The figure just suddenly retreated from the light and crashed into the opposing compartment's door, before flying away in what seemed fear and loathing.
The blinding silver light didn't stop and immediately darted across the train.
Quinn, too, didn't stop and immediately turned back and cracked the window of his compartment open, letting in a chilly breeze. He looked around the train's roof and saw more of those hooded figures floating above the train. Quinn pointed out his fake wand holding hand and shot out another burst of silver light that had the shape of an avian animal.
The silvery avian zoomed forward, letting out waves of silver energy. The swarm of hooded figures felt the silver energy hit them and immediately scattered away from the train as the silvery guardian cruised around the train, dutifully providing protection against the creatures of darkness.
An avian guardian stood above the train, emitting massive waves of positive silver energy, and repelling every foul creature in the vicinity.
And as the hooded figures escaped and moved away from the train, a spot opened up between the clouds in the dark sky, allowing light to fall over the silver guardian.
It was as if the vast sky itself was supporting the spirit guardian.
The caster of the silver entity ducked his head back inside the train. From his robes, he took out chocolate spheres, magically unwrapping the silver wrapping, and made them hover in front of his companions, who were all shivering and shaking.
"Eat the chocolates," he spoke in a calming voice, smiling as they looked at him. "It will help."
The girls grabbed the floating chocolates that were in front of them and popped them into their mouths, and actually felt the shivering decrease as the chocolate's taste covered their palates.
"Good. Do you guys feel better?" asked Quinn, shooting diagnostic looks at each of the four girls and getting affirmative nods in return.
"Excellent, sit tight. I'll be back," answered Quinn and, as he was turning back, he felt a tug on his clothes. When he looked back, Tracy was holding his robe.
"Where are you going?" questioned Tracy, her voice filled with worry.
Quinn grinned in reply.
"I've always wondered, what is the reason for my birth? And today, after this happened, I finally know it."
The girls watched as Quinn took his hands out of his pockets. Between all his fingers, Quinn held the same type of chocolate spheres they had just eaten.
"I'm going on a chocolate route. I was born for this," Quinn was grinning so hard that his face was almost split in half. "I'll see you four in a while."
He exited the compartment and moved towards the front of the train. He then opened every single door with magic and shot out chocolate spheres inside the compartments, and made them hover in front of the passengers while shouting.
"Eat chocolate! It will make you feel better. I'm raining chocolate today."
Pumping his fists into the air, Quinn declared.
"Chocolate West is back!"
Quinn's cavalier attitude didn't match the dark vibe in the train. But something about his shouting and shooting chocolate while making pew-pew noises brought people out of dark thoughts. The floating chocolate — and Quinn, who celebrated his return, almost made people forget the dread-inducing hooded figures of grim and bleakness.
Some Chocolate West skidded in front of another compartment, and this one's door was already open.
"Indulge in the sweet-," but Quinn stopped talking after he found that the compartment he was standing in was occupied by the golden squad.
Inside the compartment, Harry Potter, the golden boy, or better known as the boy-who-lived, was unconscious in his seat while the other three of the group were around him.
Ivy Potter, the Potter twin, was shaking her brother, trying to get him to wake up.
Quinn sighed and entered the compartment and spoke, "Get away from him. You are overwhelming him. Let the bloke breathe."
The second Quinn stepped inside the compartment, the lanterns came back to life, and the Hogwarts Express resumed its way with a jolt.
Ivy, who was worried about her brother, followed the instructions on instinct, but when she looked at the person who gave the instructions, her eyes contracted.
"You, what are you doing here?"
Quinn internally groaned but decided to ignore Ivy and Hermione's suspicious looks and asked, "Did he come into contact with a Dementor?"
"Dementor? Do you mean that foul, hooded creature?" asked Ron. He didn't notice the suspicious and cautious looks his two friends were giving the black-haired boy.
"Oh, so you guys had a chance to get acquainted with the Dementors," Quinn conversed as he checked on Harry Potter. "Bad luck, I guess."
'Alright, he is breathing, so a Dementor's kiss is out of the question,' diagnosed Quinn. He moved Harry's face around to check him out and silently funneled some magic to check the status of the boy-who-lived. 'He doesn't seem that pale, and I'm not getting any serious hits.'
Quinn stood straight and announced, "He is alright. This sudden close contact with the Dementor knocked him out."
"How do you know that?" questioned Ivy, she was still giving a cautious look, but Quinn could see her gaze shifting to Harry, worry flashing in her eyes every time she did so.
Quinn sighed, turned to the unconscious Harry Potter, and gave him a tight slap.
*Ppah!*
The sound of slap reverberated in the compartment as Harry Potter woke up with an abrupt and deep inhale of breath and looked around wildly.
"W-what?!"
Harry opened his eyes to see West, or whatever was his name, standing over him. The lanterns above him were back on, the floor was shaking — the Hogwarts Express was moving again. Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he felt cold sweat on his face.
And his left cheek was stinging.
"Dip or pour?" asked West. He still couldn't recall the guy's first name.
"P-Pour," he answered on instinct. Harry could feel his heart racing.
Quinn clicked his tongue, looked at Ivy, and shrugged with his arms up. "I take it back. There is something definitely wrong with him. I mean, who pours instead of dipping."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Quinn's eccentricity. Even Ivy wasn't sure what to do, so she just stared at Quinn.
Quinn, on the other hand, was unwrapping a chocolate sphere. He leaned down towards Harry. "Here, eat the chocolate. It will make you feel better."
"What was that thing?" asked Hermione.
"A Dementor," answered Quinn, who was now giving chocolate to the other three. "One of the Dementors from Azkaban, I presume."
"What is a Dementor?" Hermione asked, bewildered. The hooded creature was something out of a horror story.
"Dementors are one nasty piece of work. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair; they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the surrounding air. Get too near a Dementor, and every good feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and corrupt. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
Quinn looked at the golden squad, who didn't look too well. He also noticed that none of them had eaten the chocolate.
"Eat the damn chocolates. It'll help."
He turned to Hermione and offered her something that would satisfy her. "Chocolate is one of the remedies to Dementor exposure. You can read it in one of the Dark Against Dark Arts remedy books. Just go to the Dark creatures section of the library and pick the book on Dementors."
Hermoine looked back and forth between the chocolate and Quinn before taking the risk and popping the chocolate into her mouth. Immediately, to her great surprise, she felt a warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes.
Quinn caught the look on Hermione's face and knew that his work was done here, so he just turned and walked out of their compartment.
"I need to cover more area, so I'll excuse myself."
With that, he was gone, leaving the golden squad alone.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Ivy, looking at Harry anxiously.
"I don't understand... What happened?" groaned Harry. He was sweating, and his left cheek was still hurting.
"Well, that thing - the Dementor, stood there and looked around," said Ivy. She then mumbled, "I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face," she shook her head and said clearly this time, "and you, you -"
"I thought you went into shock or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You became sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching -"
"Then suddenly a bright silver light appeared and slammed into the Dementor," continued Hermione. She could recall the feeling of relief she felt when the Dementor ran away from the silver light. "I couldn't see it clearly, but it was some sort of bird. I definitely saw wings."
"It was horrible," said Ron, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"
"I felt weird," commented Hermione, shifting her shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I would never be happy again..."
.
- (Scene Break) -
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They were already near Hogwarts when Quinn returned, and the girls had already changed into their uniforms. They stepped out to give Quinn room to change.
They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. And Quinn didn't force them to speak up and talk. The Dementor was a dreadful creature; even Quinn felt some despair when it came near. He had been reminded of the days when he had lost his magic and didn't know what to do.
It was after Quinn conjured his Patronus that the effects disappeared. He actively concentrated on his happy thoughts. Quinn dispelled his Patronus when they were within sight of Hogsmeade.
At long last the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; some owls hooted, some other cats meowed. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was falling down as an icy sheet.
"I swear it rains every time," grumbled Quinn as he walked on the slippery platform. However, the ice beneath his steps melted away, leaving not a single trace of unsafe ice or water.
Quinn got on the moldy carriages with Luna, Tracy, and Daphne after wishing good luck and saying goodbye to Astoria, who went to the boats with her would-be classmates.
After entering the castle, Quinn and Luna got separated from Tracy and Daphne and joined the crowd that was swarming up the steps. They then went through the giant oak front doors and set their feet into the cavernous entrance hall that was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.
The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Quinn followed the crowd toward it and had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Mr. West, I want to see you in my office!"
Quinn turned his head to see Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress, calling out to him. She was a stern-looking witch who wore her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes were framed with square spectacles.
Quinn sighed and shouted back, "Professor, can't we do this after the feast? I don't want to miss dinner."
"It won't take much time. I just want a brief word in my office," assured the Scottish witch. "You shall have plenty of time to eat at the feast."
Quinn sighed once more before following his professor to her office.
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-*-*-*-*-*-
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Quinn West - MC - Chocolate West... At your service.
Astoria Greengrass - Talkative Greengrass sister - Has heard of Quinn.
Harry Potter - Boy-who-fainted - Damn it! My cheek still hurts!
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-*-*-*-*-*-
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