Chapter 408
Train Attack
Chapter 408 Train Attack
The Hogwarts Express moved on the rails with a clang-clang sound. The deep red steel behemoth was extremely conspicuous on the white snow field in winter.
Of course, if a Muggle saw this train, they would subconsciously ignore its existence.
The enchanted carriage was very warm. Everyone took off their thick cloaks and gathered together to talk.
A lot of people were crowded in Wade's compartment, and they gathered together to watch Harry and Neville's puppets fighting.
Harry's puppet is a lion and Neville's puppet is a monkey, both gifts given to them by Vader last year.
The professors in the school forbid students to bring puppets into the classroom or library. Usually, everyone can only play with them for a while in the dormitory or public lounge. But on the train, with everyone watching, the simple games seem to become more exciting.
The lion and the monkey were about the same size, and there was not much difference in strength. They were fighting fiercely, and there were bursts of cheers and shouts all around.
"Come on! Come on! Bite its back!"
"Throw it out! Throw this big guy out! Give him a hug and throw him to the ground!"
The lion jumped onto the pile of snacks nearby and pounced on it. The monkey quickly dodged and kicked the lion on the bridge of its nose!
The two little animals roared in childish voices and fought against each other, but in the end, the monkey was defeated because the terrain was not enough to display his full strength.
A loud cheer rang out in the box, and the Weasley twins jumped up and shouted, "Pay the money if you lose! Pay the money if you lose!"
The supporters handed over their snacks with curses, and George even stuffed a few for Harry.
"It's my turn!" Khalil came over from the side and excitedly took out a lynx: "Just wait and see, my Mon Lisa will never lose to anyone!"
Ryan smiled and placed a white leopard on the table, grinning through gritted teeth, "What a coincidence, my Oscar is also a cat."
"Then let's see who is better!" Khalil was full of fighting spirit.
A new round of competition began, and other students crowded outside the door, craning their necks to see the battle clearly.
Wade leaned against the window, waving his wand, and secretly cast an invisible extension spell on the box.
He didn't understand. It was clear that Harry had asked about the holiday plans when he passed by the box at the beginning, and then it turned into a battle between him and Michael's puppets, and then Neville came, and then Caryl who passed by also joined in...
Although this guy was a transfer student, he had a very strong appeal and soon attracted a large group of people. Wade felt that the compartment was about to be filled to bursting with them.
Now, unless he turned into a peregrine falcon and flew out of the window, it would be absolutely impossible for him to squeeze out of the door.
Wade's eyes unconsciously fell on Khalil's excited and flushed face, and he remembered what Dumbledore said before -
……
At the end of yesterday's Apparition practice, Dumbledore suddenly asked Wade a question.
"You know why I kept Khalil and Abigail in school? Even though we both knew they might have problems."
Vader hesitated and asked, "For... tolerance and love?"
It's no wonder he said that in a childish way, because one of Wade's most profound impressions of Dumbledore was that "love is the greatest magic."
Hearing this, Dumbledore laughed and shook his head.
"Don't take me for an old, old man, Vader. I know when to be tolerant and when to be cautious."
Dumbledore said: "I kept them in school because I was sure that they would not be able to do anything at Hogwarts while I was still there."
Dumbledore said this calmly and confidently.
"Abigail is a very good professor, and Khalil is also a warm and cheerful child. They are not our enemies."
"Those who push them out and hide behind them are the real enemies. Make no mistake about that, Vader."
Wade frowned: "But...if we let them go and cause any harm..."
"Don't worry too much about things that haven't happened yet, Vader."
Dumbledore said: "If you consider the worst consequences for everything, you will have endless worries."
"Don't push people who might be on our side to the enemy's side. Show respect and kindness to others. The connection between wizards is very wonderful. It often changes destiny without people noticing."
Wade looked at the white-haired headmaster, and the ending of Harry's parents suddenly flashed through his mind.
His father regarded Peter Pettigrew as a friend whom he could trust with his life. When his mother was in school, she once defended Snape in front of the four friends despite the pressure from the academy and her position. What was the result?
The connection between wizards and sorcerers is indeed wonderful...but even if good intentions are planted, evil may bloom.
Dumbledore seemed to see that Vader disagreed. He shook his head and said, "Don't trample on your principles because you are afraid of the future, Vader. Whether you can walk on the right path and stick to your heart is the most important thing."
……
On the train.
Vader took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Losing the advantage of foresight is so bad. If he knew the back-up plans and lair of those people like he did with Voldemort, he would have found a way to kill them long ago.
But now, they can only be patient and investigate.
Moreover, the appearance of those people also destroyed the safe retreat route that Wade had originally envisioned.
When he first entered school, Wade thought that if Voldemort was resurrected and controlled such a huge force as in the original book, he could flee abroad with his parents.
At least in the original book, Voldemort's power did not extend beyond Britain.
But the forces that have gathered werewolves, vampires and Muggles show that the living environment abroad seems to be even worse, perhaps even worse than in the UK!
In Britain at least, wizards rarely kill people.
Wade was thinking about all those messy things, and his classmates next to him cheered as Ryan's leopard defeated Kalil's lynx, and then two more people took over the battle.
From another compartment not far away, there was the sound of singing, which soon turned into a chorus.
They started singing Christmas carols, then the Hogwarts school song, and then a group of girls started singing a popular song in the wizarding world: "A Hot Pot of Love".
Michael, who was sitting next to Wade, also hummed along: "With a wave of the magic wand, the fire of love ignites, illuminating the secret of the ancient spell... This is a pot of hot love, stewing with the magical flame of happiness. No matter how time passes, the fire of love will never go out..."
The hot air he exhaled hit the glass, forming a layer of white water droplets. Michael reached out and drew a heart on the glass, stared at it for a while, and suddenly shivered.
"Strange..." He rubbed his arms and said, "Why did it suddenly become cold?"
Theo, who was leaning on Neville and about to fall asleep, was also woken up by the cold. He looked out the window and asked, "Is it going to snow?"
The sky outside the glass window was gloomy, showing a gradually thickening dark gray. The lights in the corridors and cubicles became colder, and fine snowflakes were falling from the sky.
Everyone complained about the weather, then stood up and looked for thick cloaks to put on.
"Something's wrong." Michael breathed, "Wade, look!"
Feather-like fine ice patterns appeared on the window glass, and the temperature dropped rapidly to a bone-chilling level. Everyone suddenly felt as if they were thrown out of the warm room. Wade felt that this scene was very familiar... as if he had seen it in his memory...
At this moment, the train, which was already slowing down, shook a little and suddenly stopped on the track. All the lights that had just been turned on went out, and the surroundings were terribly quiet.
"what happened?"
"You stepped on my foot?"
"Who? Don't push me!"
"Lumos!"
Vader pointed his wand and a bright light illuminated the entire compartment. He saw Neville had fallen and Harry was frantically trying to straighten his glasses that had been squeezed askew.
The other compartments also lit up one by one, and Wade heard Hermione's voice: "The train must be broken down, or at least the warming charm has failed - someone come with me to find the driver and ask what's going on!"
"Wait, Hermione...don't run around at a time like this!" Padma advised quickly.
"You stay here first, Padma." Hermione raised her glowing wand to open the box and said over her shoulder, "I'll be back in a moment."
"Wait, Hermione—"
"I, I'll go with you!"
Harry said quickly after finally pulling his wand out of his pocket, and Ron also ran out from another compartment.
"Everyone go back and don't move!"
Wade finally pushed aside the students who were blocking his way and walked out of the cubicle. He said in a stern tone, "Stay in the cubicle and don't move!"
Hermione was startled by his expression, then was pulled back by Padma.
Vader has sensed it...
A chill swept through my body, as if all the joy had been sucked away, my breathing froze, and my body trembled uncontrollably...
At the other end of the train, students' terrified screams were heard.
Wade gritted his teeth and swung his wand vigorously -
"Call the gods to protect you!"
A dazzling silver eagle flew out, spread its wide wings, and suddenly swooped through the middle of the passage, flying straight past, and heavily crashed into a monster as tall as the ceiling at the end of the corridor.
It was a Dementor.
It stood outside a cubicle, pretending to be trying to breathe, its entire body shrouded in a black cloak, with only a scabbed and rotten palm exposed.
It seemed to want to grab something... or someone, but before it succeeded, it was hit directly in the chest by the silver eagle.
The Dementor was knocked away, as light as if it had no weight. But the Silver Eagle did not give up, it chased the Dementor until it drove the Dementor out of the train.
At this time, the Silver Eagle also flew out, flying back and forth around the train. Its moonlight-like wings left a bright light behind it, completely illuminating the outside of the train.
It was then that the students discovered that there were many Dementors surrounding the train. They were densely floating in the air, hovering around the train, but they could not get close because they could not break through the protection of the Silver Eagle.
Vader heard the sound of his teeth being ground.
He suddenly remembered Rita Skeeter's intelligence - "The Ministry of Magic has sent a special force to capture Obscurus..."
Yes, they are indeed a special force... Dementors can discern people's emotions, they suck out happiness and hope, and create corruption and despair... And the Obscurus is born from despair and pain...
The Ministry of Magic tried to use the mutual attraction between dark creatures to find the hidden Obscurus, but they did not consider whether this thing would really obey their control!
Vader tried hard to maintain the Silver Eagle, but whether it was because his magic was not strong enough or because the students' happiness was too tempting, although the Dementors were expelled for a distance, they still lingered and refused to leave.
It's impossible for Silver Eagle to chase out and drive away these guys because the train is too long... If it chases in one direction, the Dementors in the other direction will take the opportunity to get closer.
If there were two Patronuses, even if they were a little weaker, Vader could let the Patronuses attack the Dementors!
But the Patronus Charm was not a spell that a student had to master. On this train, the only ones who had learned this spell were probably Wade and Harry... Oh, and Harry...
"Harry, what are you doing!" Wade gritted his teeth and said, "Patronus Charm!"
Harry staggered to his feet, his face terribly pale, but he still managed to draw his wand.
“Call God…Call God to protect! Call…Call God…Call God…”
A few wisps of silver mist spurted out from the tip of the wand, just like the level when he first started learning the Patronus Charm. The swaying mist emitted a faint light, as weak as a candle flame that could go out at any time.
"Calling God for Guard! Calling God for Guard!"
Harry gasped, relying on Neville's support to barely keep from falling. He tried to recall happy things, but heard a woman's terrible, desperate scream in his ears -
"Leave Harry alone! Leave Harry alone... just kill me... have mercy... have mercy..."
His head hurt so much that it felt like it was being torn apart. Suddenly, everything went dark before Harry's eyes and he passed out.
The wand fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Harry!"
Neville cried out in fear and tried to grab his unconscious friend.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Wade's forehead.
The first time facing the Dementors was on this scale, no wonder Harry couldn't bear it... But what should he do next? Should he just keep on being in a stalemate? Until other wizards come?
A drop of sweat fell to the floor.
"Hold on, Wade!" Michael shouted, "I've sent messages to my dad and professors at school!"
"Me too! My mom said she'll be there as soon as possible!"
"My aunt works for the Ministry! They'll definitely find a way!"
The students around them, who were originally frightened to the point of being frozen, all spoke out loudly and desperately flipped through their friend books, looking for any power that could help.
But the train was now parked in the middle of nowhere, and none of the students could tell exactly where they were. Even if their parents wanted to Apparate to provide support, they could only estimate a range and then look for it.
"Call the gods to protect you!"
Vader's eyes suddenly lit up objectively, and a silver Doberman ran towards him through the air, getting brighter and brighter... and then rushed straight towards the Dementor at the rear of the car...
Wade turned his head suddenly and saw Professor Abigail standing outside the train with a wand in her hand. The tip of the wand was shining silver.
(End of this chapter)