Looking at the pitch-black cloak floating silently in mid-air without any visible support, Harry felt his eyelids twitch uncontrollably.
"Thud—"
Suddenly, Harry heard a dull sound... What was that noise?
"Thud, thud—"
Harry's body froze in place. He wanted to step back, but he couldn't even lift his arms. "Harry, come back!" Then, a distant voice seemed to drift into Harry's ears from afar, forcing his stalled brain to start working again—
That voice sounded like Hermione?
But, wasn't she supposed to be in the compartment right behind me?
Why did the voice sound as if it was far away from him?
Harry wanted to turn around, but unsurprisingly, he couldn't even do that. Then, under the boy's gaze, the cloak began to move. From beneath the cloak, a hand stretched out, grayish-white, eerily gleaming, covered in slime and spots, like something that had rotted in water after dying.
"Thud, thud, thud—"
Finally, Harry understood what the sound by his ear was…
It was—his heartbeat.
The hand disappeared immediately, as the cloaked figure seemed to realize Harry's gaze, quickly withdrawing the hand into the folds of the black cloak. Then, that thing—whatever it was, Harry felt as if it opened its mouth, slowly inhaling a breath—
A chill that pierced to the bone instantly swept over the boy. Harry felt as if he couldn't breathe, the chill seeping into his skin, invading his chest, reaching his heart, and even seemed to be carving patterns on his bones…
I… I might die!
A surge of inexplicable despair suddenly welled up from Harry's heart, and the moment this thought arose, a voice suddenly rang in his mind, "Kill... kill them!"
Wait… kill who?
Although his thoughts were swirling rapidly, the boy's body moved even quicker—in fact, he found he could move.
Without knowing when, he had already drawn out his magic wand, and immediately, a blinding purple light burst from the tip of the wand—"Expulso!"
The boy's voice sounded hoarse and dry.
The charm symbolic of destruction rapidly sliced through the air, crashing with thunderous force into the "abdomen" of the cloaked figure. Upon contact, the ink-black cloaked figure merely swayed gently, seemingly unaffected—
No, it did have an effect—
The purple charm passed through the cloak, leaving a green flame on it.
Just like the one blazing above Harry's head now—
"Haha..."
A scream—but perhaps it could be considered a scream, as the cloak was instantly engulfed by the green fire. The dim light almost immediately illuminated the compartment, and Harry, at this moment, saw the surrounding situation clearly—
Like a vegetable patch, one small head after another sprouted in the surrounding compartments, and at this moment, all eyes were simultaneously drawn towards the center of the compartment where Harry stood... and towards the cloaked figure that had been completely consumed by the green fire—
"Puff—"
With a soft sound, the flames extinguished, disappearing along with the black cloak.
But even in just that brief glimpse, Harry had clearly seen Malfoy, who was now separated from him by three compartment doors, gaping in bewilderment at the scene, platinum blonde hair plastered tightly to his scalp.
For some reason, Harry suddenly felt a mysterious sensation rising within him…
"Who's launching a sneak attack?"
In the dark, a light questioning sounded at the end of the train car, then the purple spell that would have crashed into the back of the train, forgotten by all, disappeared into the air.
A slight explosion sounded, a flame igniting in the darkness, seemingly lifted by someone. The flickering white flame danced onto the top of the carriage, then rapidly spread across the roof, the faint light once again illuminating the entire compartment, though still dim, but barely enough for people to see.
"...Gone?"
Lupin's voice was somewhat surprised; he had already quickly approached Harry's direction, but as if in response to him, the next moment, an inhuman cough suddenly sounded, followed by a chill even more intense than before abruptly engulfing Harry… no, everyone.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."
The wind, seemingly coming out of nowhere, rushed into the compartment, accompanied by a humidity, the nauseating smell spreading instantly—
"Puff—"
Just like when it disappeared moments ago, its reappearance was equally inconspicuous, but this time, its form had undergone a massive change. The cloak, previously thin and swaying, seemed to have gained some sort of enhancement, and strips of black cloth flared up behind it, the massive shadow almost filling the entire compartment.
How could this be...
Harry's mind suddenly buzzed, confusion instantly engulfing him, then in the boy's sight, those grayish-white, filthy arms once again reached out from beneath the black robe, and in everyone's terrified gaze, the shadow lowered its head, its glowing green hands gently caressing Harry's cheeks.
Then, it opened its mouth—
"Expecto Patronum!"
A charm light several times brighter than those flames on the ceiling flared up suddenly, the vaguely formed silvery-white mist fiercely striking against the black robe. A sizzling sound, like hot oil meeting ice water, echoed, the shadow instinctively releasing its hold on Harry's cheeks, turning to collide with the mist—
"..."
Feeling the unnatural feedback from the charm, even suppressing his incomplete Guardian God, Lupin's face unconsciously turned pale. He instinctively closed his eyes, memories of joy rapidly flickering through his mind…
No, he couldn't think of any.
Yes, Lupin is not skilled at this charm—because the source of the Patronus Charm comes entirely from a wizard's happy thoughts, directly influencing the strength of the charm, but Lupin simply doesn't have these memories in his heart... Perhaps they existed once, but after being forced apart from his friends, recalling those happy memories only brings him more pain—
And this Dementor, seemingly amplified for unknown reasons after being burned by the green fire, already formed a body beneath the previously incorporeal cloak.
This far exceeds what Lupin's incomplete Patronus Charm can resist.
The overwhelming despair and sadness almost instantly engulfed the man, tears of pain streaming down his cheeks, Lupin even felt himself beginning to lose grip of his wand…
But, just as the world fell into complete darkness, a blazing white light suddenly lit up at the end of the compartment. Then, an indistinct massive white beast burst through the entire carriage, its dazzling light completely obscuring everyone's vision, the glaring white light no less than eating a whole white bun from A's Dim Sum in a pitch-dark room…
The entire world seemed to fall into a pure white void.