Harry Potter: The Rise Of Malfoy

Chapter 45.

Around four or five in the afternoon, a sudden commotion erupted outside the train compartment. Hearing several familiar voices and recalling the day's anticipated events, Soren immediately understood what was happening. He stood up and stepped out of the compartment, followed closely by Daphne and Meredith, while Luna, without any hesitation, trailed behind the three to see what was going on.

Just as Soren had predicted, it was his reckless brother Draco. Despite promising their father to stay away from Harry this semester, he had already forgotten that promise before even arriving at school. Soren could only shake his head in silent disapproval at his brother's character.

Draco, along with Goyle and Crabbe, stood proudly in the aisle, facing off against Harry and his friends at the compartment door. After a round of verbal sparring, both sides had drawn their wands, and the atmosphere was tense, ready to explode.

In the original storyline, Draco would have backed down upon seeing Professor Remus Lupin, but due to Soren's intervention, Draco remained there, looking haughty as if waiting for a show.

During the summer vacation, Draco had spent considerable time practicing dark curses, mastering spells like "Slugs-throwing," "Bat-Bogey Hex," and the Snot Curse, all of which he could now cast with precision. His strength had significantly increased, and all summer he had been looking forward to the next opportunity to torment Harry, completely disregarding Lucius's advice.

Soren looked out the train window; the sky had darkened. Just then, the train jolted suddenly, its speed noticeably slowing until it came to a complete stop with a clunk. In the distance, sounds of luggage falling from the racks could be heard.

Then, without warning, all the lights in the compartment went out, plunging them into complete darkness.

"Damn it, what's going on?" Draco screamed, stumbling backward and colliding with Goyle and Crabbe, causing all three to fall. Amid their cries, a faint sound of the train's side door opening could be heard, as if someone was boarding.

Soren helplessly rubbed his forehead; although Draco had indeed matured over the summer, it didn't change the fact that he was still a cowardly and immature little brat at heart.

Soren stood quietly in place, motionless, as if waiting for something to happen.

Daphne and Meredith also felt a bit scared, but upon seeing Soren's imposing figure, they suddenly felt a sense of security. They didn't even let out a single scream.

A glint of cunning flashed in Daphne's eyes as she pretended to be afraid and took the opportunity to cling to Soren's left arm—smartly avoiding his wand-holding right arm. Meredith, realizing she had missed her chance, could only huff in dissatisfaction. Luna, standing behind Soren, blinked her large eyes, showing no signs of fear, only a hint of curiosity.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned among Harry's group. Ron tried to peer out the window but accidentally stepped on Hermione's foot, causing her to cry out in pain.

As Harry's group pushed around, their friend Neville approached to ask what was happening, but in the dark, he tripped over Harry's feet. Just then, Ginny arrived, trying to get closer to the compartment, only to collide head-on with Hermione, resulting in two more cries of pain.

Soren shouted, "Everyone, be quiet and don't move!" The tip of his wand suddenly erupted with a bright, moonlight-like, soft white glow that illuminated the entire aisle without being blinding to anyone present.

Daphne and Meredith were already accustomed to Soren's abilities, but Hermione and Luna looked on with curiosity.

Luna asked in a dreamy voice, voicing the question in the girls' minds, "Is this a Lumos spell? Why is your Lumos different from what I know?"

Soren turned to Luna, smiling, "You can consider it my personal improvement on the spell. Would you like to learn? I can teach you."

Luna stared intently into Soren's eyes, and after a moment, she broke into a sweet smile and nodded in agreement. Hearing their exchange, Hermione felt a twinge of discomfort, tightly pursing her lips and swallowing back the words she had intended to say to Soren.

Soren had the three girls stand behind him as he slowly approached the middle ground between Harry and Draco, who were still in a standoff.

A strange sound came from outside the carriage, and it seemed that something was approaching in the darkness. It was certain that this was definitely not the sound of human footsteps. Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe hurriedly moved closer inside the carriage.

In the illuminated aisle by the wand in Soren's hand, a cloaked monster, tall enough to reach the ceiling, approached. It seemed to have no feet and was gliding in midair. Its face was completely hidden under the hood, and a hand emerged from the cloak, glowing faintly, gray, thin, and crusted, resembling something that had rotted in water after death.

The monster under the cloak seemed to sense the gaze of the crowd, and that hand suddenly retreated back into the black cloak. Then it took a long, slow, shaky breath, as if trying to draw in something other than air from the surroundings. Everyone immediately felt a chill sweep over them, penetrating their skin and chilling them to their chests and hearts.

"Finally, we meet," Soren murmured softly, "Dementor." It was complicated, yet in just a few fleeting seconds, everyone was surprised to find that Soren had taken a step forward.

Harry's face turned pale, and his body shook violently. His expression was one of extreme terror, as if he had seen something horrifying. Before anyone could react, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Ron hurriedly propped him up on a nearby seat, and the others slumped down on it as well.

Harry's fainting seemed to act as a trigger, instantly spreading an atmosphere of panic and fear. Draco's face turned ashen, unable to speak; Ron, Hermione, and the others were not much better off, while Neville had already collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

"Everyone, don't panic! Just stay calm, no one will get hurt!" Soren bravely stood in front of everyone, his tone filled with unwavering confidence.

His composure and calmness seemed to inject a bit of courage into those present. Although the effect was minimal, at least everyone saw a glimmer of hope in him, even Ron, who usually had a poor relationship with Soren, unconsciously placed his hope on this younger student.

"Expecto Patronum!" Soren calmly pronounced the spell, and his wand emitted a pale white light that firmly blocked the Dementor outside. Soren did not want to reveal his strength too quickly, so he did not summon a fully formed Patronus. He intended to buy some time with this half-formed Patronus until the werewolf professor Remus Lupin on the train could come to the rescue.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Before Professor Lupin could arrive, the disturbance in the carriage attracted another Dementor, which swooped in with a chilling atmosphere that grew heavier. A white mist formed a semicircular barrier, and Soren took a step back as the range of the aura was constantly compressed.

Seeing that Professor Lupin had not arrived, Soren sighed inwardly, a flash of determination appearing in his eyes. He tightened his grip on the wand, and the light at the tip of the wand suddenly intensified, expanding the range of the aura, gradually constructing a complete corporeal Patronus. The head of the Patronus had just taken shape, looking somewhat like a horned lizard...

In the next second, he saw a silver wolf leap out from another carriage. The Dementor was knocked back by it and vanished without a trace. The lights inside the carriage returned, and a stranger, a middle-aged man wearing an extremely worn-out wizard's robe with several patches, walked in. He looked pale and exhausted, with light brown hair mixed with white.

"He's Professor Lupin. He was in the same compartment with us." Hermione whispered to those around her.

"A good Patronus!" Soren heard Lupin's appreciative whisper. He took out a large piece of chocolate from his pocket and broke it into small pieces to share with everyone.

When the chocolate was handed to Soren, he smiled and shook his head in refusal, casually casting a Cheerful Charm on the three girls behind him, restoring the sparkle in their eyes.

Then Soren led them back to their compartment under the envious gazes of the others. Just before closing the carriage door, they could faintly hear Hermione and Ginny whispering, seemingly discussing the spell Soren used to fend off the Dementor.

Outside the carriage, Draco watched his brother leave with an air of nonchalance, his expression quite complex. Although he had been mentally prepared, experiencing the gap between himself and his brother firsthand still left him feeling dejected. He immediately lost interest in mocking Harry, snorted coldly, and left with the two idiots.

Others were frantically trying to wake Harry up. Harry slowly opened his eyes, looking around in confusion, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.

"I'm fine!" Harry glanced towards the door and, seeing that the Dementor had disappeared, let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Where did that monster go just now? Also, who was screaming?"

"Those monsters were chased away by Malfoy and Professor Lupin, but no one screamed," Ron recounted what had happened after Harry fainted.

"I heard a scream and saw a green light..." Harry stubbornly shook his head.

"Harry, you should rest a bit!" Lupin looked somewhat worried. He handed Harry a particularly large piece of chocolate. "Here, eat this; it will do you good."

"Professor, what was that thing just now?" Harry did not eat the chocolate; he looked at Lupin, puzzled as to why he knew his name.

"A Dementor from Azkaban!" Professor Lupin crumpled the empty chocolate wrapper into a ball and put it in his pocket. "In fact, before I arrived, that little Malfoy had already done quite well. You all need to eat this chocolate; I need to speak with the driver. Excuse me!" With that, Professor Lupin walked out, disappearing down the corridor.

"Dementor, Azkaban!" Harry muttered, then awkwardly asked, "Did anyone else faint besides me?"

"No!" Ron anxiously looked at Harry and repeated the others' reactions.

Although everyone was scared, no one else had fainted, which made Harry's face even paler. He didn't understand; he had felt weak and trembling just now, as if recovering from a severe flu, but why did no one else have that reaction?

The train soon arrived at the station.

In front of Hogwarts' main gate, Soren and Luna said their goodbyes—Soren, Daphne, and Meredith were to enter the Great Hall from the left side of the entrance hall. Luna followed the Ravenclaw group towards the centre of the entrance hall.

Before parting, the two agreed to meet privately when they had the chance to discuss "the Quibbler," or Luna could take Soren to see the famous eagle-shaped bronze knocker of the Ravenclaw common room—access to the Ravenclaw common room was unique; as long as one could correctly answer the logical riddle posed by the eagle-shaped knocker, the door would open for anyone, regardless of which house they came from.

*****

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