Harry and Ron finally caught up before the train departed.
"Phew! I don't understand why the same stupid thing always happens again before departure,"
Ron slumped across from Damon, not noticing Lupin beside him, and began to complain:
"Percy forgot his Head Boy badge and spent ages looking for it before departure, and Ginny forgot her magic postcard—I don't know why she even needed to bring that into school—"
"That's important. If you don't understand, don't judge."
Ginny stepped into the carriage. Her eyes lit up when she saw Hermione, and she sat next to her—because Hermione was the only witch Damon could talk to, and now she was a big star at school, everyone treated her with respect.
Although Hermione herself didn't like this and was even angry about it—she felt disrespected, and that all those people saw in her was Damon's importance.
"Oh, there's someone else resting here? Who is he?"
Ginny asked, her voice low, as soon as she sat down. She'd ignored him at first because she hadn't expected anyone to be able to squeeze into Damon's space. For two semesters, no one, aside from a few regulars, had managed to do that.
"It's okay. Damon cast a spell. We can talk freely without disturbing him,"
Hermione explained gently. She loved Ginny, a girl so beautiful she could silence the stars and the moon. After a semester, the boys had long been captivated by her, and her beauty had even choked the vicious Malfoy.
"Oh—but who is he?"
As Ginny spoke, Ron studied the professor beside him. Harry sat down next to Damon, feeling a little uneasy. He'd spent the last week before term started at Ron's house, and during that time, he'd overheard a piece of unsettling news.
Sirius Black, the prisoner of Azkaban and Voldemort's minion, had escaped! Before escaping, Fudge had heard him repeating the same dream words:
'He's at Hogwarts. He's at Hogwarts.'
Black was undoubtedly referring to him—as if Black believed that Voldemort could be destroyed by killing Harry.
He had overheard this during a private conversation between the Weasleys, seemingly unbeknownst to him. It seemed that Minister of Magic Fudge believed Harry shouldn't know about it.
The matter of the Soul Splitting hadn't been fully resolved, and now there was Black's issue.
Harry felt a surge of anxiety.
"He should be the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor,"
Hermione explained. Damon placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and asked with a smile,
"What's wrong? From the moment you walked into the carriage, you looked like you were about to burst into tears. What happened?"
Everyone's attention suddenly turned, their attention shifting from the unkempt new professor to Harry. "Harry, are you feeling unwell?"
Hermione asked worriedly, with Ginny beside her also looking worried.
"Dude, are you in trouble? Why didn't you tell me?"
Ron moved and squeezed next to Harry. Neville next to him kindly made room for him.
"It's... it's nothing." Harry felt a warm glow in his heart, and without hesitation, he stammered as he told the story. "I'm sorry, Ron. I overheard your parents' conversation. I didn't mean to, but I noticed it involved me, so..."
"Okay, of course I know what kind of person you are. Don't waste time on these formalities. Just tell us what happened."
Harry composed himself and told him about a vicious prisoner from Azkaban who had escaped and was coming to kill him.
"It's said that Sirius Black once killed thirteen people with a single spell," Harry said with a worried look on his face. "With him around, it seems I won't be able to go to Hogsmeade in my third year."
Hogsmeade is a purely wizarding village near Hogwarts, accessible only to students in their third year and above. Harry had been looking forward to it for a long time—he had even made an appointment with Cho Zhang to visit Honeydukes' candy store there.
Now, everything seemed to be ruined—because of that damned Voldemort's minions!
Harry blamed Voldemort for this, wishing he'd perished along with him.
"Uh—is this something so worrying?"
Ron muttered blankly after hearing this. Hermione glared at him fiercely. "Don't just sit there and watch it go on. This is clearly a very dangerous situation."
Ginny, standing by, covered her mouth and stared at Harry with a look of sympathy. Although she knew much about Harry's deeds and that he was a boy with many misfortunes, this horrific incident, so different from his status as a student, still worried her.
Thinking of this, Ginny glared at Ron, her lips pouting. She decided to write to her mother about this matter when she got to school, asking her to send Ron a screaming letter and give him a lecture!
"No, why are you all looking at me like that?" Ron was completely baffled by the unprovoked treatment. "Did I not understand?"
"A prisoner, a prisoner of Azkaban, escaped and wants to come to Hogwarts to kill Harry, right?"
Harry, unsure of what he was going to say, nodded solemnly, a warm feeling in his stomach—he had a feeling Ron would say something reassuring.
"Just a prisoner. How could he be more powerful than Voldemort?"
Everyone realized something.
Ron then said,
"I say, have you all forgotten? There's a formidable fellow in our year, sitting in the same carriage with us right now?"
Harry's face flickered with sudden realization, and everyone turned their gaze to Damon, who sat in the innermost seat.
Yes, Damon, who had once teamed up with Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort, was still here. It wasn't their fault; the incident was so shocking that, as students, they subconsciously forgot about it—their common sense couldn't connect such earth-shattering news to a classmate.
"Well, even the most vicious Death Eater in Azkaban wouldn't be my match. Don't worry, Harry, don't you have my amulet?
When you need it, just hold it tightly and call me."
Damon put down the book in his hand, smiled and promised Harry.
Everyone felt relieved.
This sense of security was so strong, like soaking in a hot spring in the cold winter, that the two girls felt a little weak.
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(End of this chapter)