Chapter 195: An Emerging Force
The Patronus Charm, of course, could be 'mass-produced'!
There were a few conditions, of course. In Professor Lockhart's words when a wizard steps into a fairy-tale adventure, magic blooms naturally.
During the times when Lockhart led the young wizards on their adventures, even though he had his own reasons for finding some helpers, he also gave these young people a chance to improve themselves.
This fairy-tale-adventure-style improvement wasn't a whimsical, baseless concept.
Among the members of the Order of the Phoenix, the anti-Voldemort resistance, every single witch and wizard could easily cast a corporeal Patronus! Don't assume that every powerful wizard can do this. Sometimes magic doesn't follow rules; there's no right or wrong, only the result that comes from a confluence of opportunities and luck.
Later, when Harry Potter formed Dumbledore's Army, he was able to easily teach every member of the student army to cast a corporeal Patronus. This was something the powerful professors at the school couldn't achieve, no matter how hard they taught.
There were too many examples like this in wizarding history.
This is why Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape would often say that the members of the Duelling Club and the students in this year's N.E.W.T. enhancement class were fortunate.
Fate was sometimes that miraculous.
And the most miraculous part was that this opportunity would naturally lead to even greater results the more they experienced.
A throng of Dementors descended on the train. The young wizards who didn't have the ability to, or didn't even know they could, use the Patronus Charm to resist them would only get a single experience, while the young wizards who knew how to cast the Patronus Charm would be able to improve even further from this adventure.
"They're really Dementors!" the Weasley twins shouted in unison under the protection of their Patronuses, pushing open the door and rushing out to get a clear look at what was happening before whispering the situation back to the group.
Their mysterious manner made many of the other young wizards in the compartment even more nervous.
Percy strode out, abruptly pushing his two brothers aside, and swept his wand around with a grave expression before turning back to the group. "Students, we must go and help the others. Every student who can cast a Patronus Charm should go into a compartment. If we don't have enough people, then everyone squeeze into one compartment. Don't let these Dementors hurt our classmates!"
"Yes, Mr. Head Boy!" George stood ramrod straight and saluted in a very comical manner.
"Yes, we obey your orders!" Fred winked.
It had to be said that no matter how much they were clowning around, they were also helping to establish Percy's authority, making it clear to everyone that he was the Head Boy and had enough authority to make these arrangements.
Soon, everyone sprang into action.
The older students from Professor Lockhart's N.E.W.T. enhancement class went towards the front of the train, while the younger students from the Duelling Club went towards the back.
Those who were more skilled at combat cast the Patronus Charm and stood in the front. Those who were better at communication or had better relationships with their classmates went into the compartments to talk to people. And those like Hermione, who were more skilled at leadership, began to watch for dangers beyond just the Dementors.
They were so organized and swift in their actions, as if they had rehearsed this sudden encounter many times.
The older students Percy had called to help watched them, dumbfounded. A student from a pure-blood family who planned to follow a career path in the Ministry of Magic couldn't hide his jealousy and shock. "Merlin's curly beard, an emerging force has appeared at Hogwarts!" he exclaimed.
This student was already in his seventh year. In all his years at school, he had never seen such a collective force, and now, it had appeared!
And it was such a strange kind of force.
Unlike groups that shared a common belief or interest, in this force, the Slytherins and Gryffindors still looked like they didn't get along. The Hufflepuffs couldn't be bothered to get involved in their affairs and simply focused on getting things done. The Ravenclaws were still quick and perceptive, finding the right positions for themselves.
They all seemed to have their own interests, yet they were so cohesive as a team.
It was as if…
It was as if…
He couldn't put his finger on it. A friend next to him provided the answer. "It's like they all know what they're supposed to be doing and where they're supposed to be!"
The answer was very close. Cedric looked back at them with a smile and said, "We're an adventure party!"
It was a very interesting answer.
Professor Lockhart had said that an adventure could be a journey with a group of people, but in the end, it was still a personal journey, and everyone was the protagonist in their own adventure story.
This was a process of disenchantment, getting them to look beyond the titles of the 'Boy Who Lived' or the inherent leadership of 'Prefects' or 'Head Boys' and focus on their own adventure experiences.
Just like in that most brilliant era, the Hufflepuff alumnus Newt Scamander. He didn't need to become Dumbledore or Grindelwald. He might have seemed like a side character in someone else's adventure story, but why couldn't it be said that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were also side characters in his adventure story?
This was the most basic principle of a 'fairy-tale adventure.' Only in this way could magic so easily bloom from the heart.
Just as these older students saw, everyone seemed to know what to do.
The terrible, suffocating silence brought by the Dementors was overwhelming. Even being driven back into the corridors by the Patronuses, it still made everyone's face pale, as if their very life force was draining away.
That cold, silent sensation of being constantly drained felt as if even the surrounding sounds had vanished. Every step they took felt like a heavy drumbeat on their increasingly fragile minds.
It was only then that everyone truly understood why so many people said the prison of Azkaban could drive people mad. Even with the Dementors far away, melting into the darkness at the end of the train corridor, the trail they left and the distant influence they radiated were still so terrifying.
Harry felt a burning pain in his scar, and a series of eerie screams echoed in his mind as countless bizarre and fragmented images flickered in his head.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ron asked, a little worried.
Before, Harry had already shown a particularly poor reaction to the negative effects of Dementors, and those were just Boggarts that Professor Lockhart had turned into Dementors. They were clearly quite different from the real thing.
"I'm fine!" Harry gritted his teeth, holding his wand and slowly moving his Patronus forward. Behind them, Hermione and the others were calling students out of their compartments, getting everyone to stay in the same compartment as much as possible, and then assigning one person to guard it.
Luna, Ginny, Neville, Goyle, Crabbe...
As they moved further towards the back of the train, the number of people who could help decreased, and they found it increasingly difficult to resist the Dementors lurking in the darkness.
Harry finally felt himself falter, his arm trembling as he reached into his pocket and took a hard bite of a chocolate, hoping it would help.
But it didn't seem to work.
"Merlin's beard!" Just then, Ron suddenly gasped, causing his friends to all look in the direction he was pointing.
Outside the window by the train corridor, in a grey and murky gloom, countless enormous Dementor-like figures with tattered cloaks were floating in the air, beginning to surround the train.
Everyone strained to look, feeling as if the Dementors were endless, their dense figures making the train feel like an isolated island in a sea of death.
"Quick, they're coming. Get into a compartment and guard the door!" Hermione shrieked in terror, calling for everyone to run towards the nearest compartment door.
At this point, it wasn't about whether they should help the students in the remaining compartments. They were, after all, only lower-year students, and even with the Patronus Charm, they didn't have enough magic to sustain such a high-intensity casting. Danger could swallow them whole at any moment.
Hermione was decisive.
Everyone hurriedly pushed open the compartment door and ran inside, only to find a single student curled up in the corner, trembling.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look, guarding the door and trying their best to use the power of their Patronuses to block the Dementors drifting from the depths of the corridor. Hermione also cast a spell, aiming at the window, attempting to block that opening.
Just then, Draco aimed his wand at the student in the compartment and quickly cast, "Petrificus Totalus!"
"Malfoy! What are you doing!" Hermione screamed, causing everyone to look towards Draco.
"You're attacking a fellow student at a time like this, you…"
She hadn't finished speaking when a unique ripple of energy passed over the student's body, seemingly a powerful defensive charm.
"There really is something wrong with this person!" Draco shouted.
The student suddenly expanded, rapidly transforming into a middle-aged witch with a pair of deeply sunken, cold, small eyes under a messy mop of long hair.
Although stereotypes were wrong, everyone immediately concluded that she must be a dark witch.
The witch glared angrily at Draco, but then saw the tattered cloaks floating outside the window. She shrieked in alarm and cast a spell so quickly that everyone felt as if she was rapidly creating distance between them.
A very strange sense of spatial distortion, as if the distance between them and the witch was rapidly expanding.
"The Undetectable Extension Charm?" Hermione gasped, recognizing the spell. She never thought it could be used this way.
"Not a bad observation!" the middle-aged witch stared at them with a cold look and raised her wand again. "Stop those wretched jailers, or I won't mind letting you find out what the Cruciatus Curse feels like!"
Harry immediately realized. "Those Dementors are here to get you, aren't they! You dogs of the Dark Lord!"
Screeeeeeeech~~~~
A fierce and piercing screech instantly swept through everyone in the compartment, like the sound of sharp nails scraping on a blackboard, making everyone's skin crawl.
The young wizards almost fainted in unison.
"You dare to call him the Dark Lord again, and I'll kill you on the spot!" the middle-aged witch threatened.
Hermione's gaze darted between the dark witch and the Dementors at the compartment door. She quietly moved closer to Ron and the others, using her eyes to signal Harry and Ron while yelling at the middle-aged witch, "There were a lot of you, right?"
The middle-aged witch laughed coldly, cackling like an owl. She stared at the scar on Harry's forehead and licked her black, cracked lips. "Yes, but it seems I'm the only one who's caught the so-called Boy Who Lived!"
"Now!"
Hermione suddenly screamed, lunging towards the area behind the door. Ron grabbed Draco, and Harry forcefully pulled the compartment door open, shielding them all behind it.
In an instant, the terrible, bone-chilling silence intensified as if it were piercing into everyone's hearts. Patches of white frost began to appear in every corner of the compartment, and a tall, terrifying figure slowly floated in.
"Aaaahhhh~~~" the dark witch shrieked in terror. "Don't take me to Azkaban, don't take me to Azkaban! I was so close…"
......
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