HP:[" the Illithid Inquisition"]

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"He didn't drive it off, he killed it." Nevil noted. "And I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. That thing was awful. It made me feel like I was back in- well it was about as terrible as I think anything could be."

Harry had to agree. The Illithids were bad but not even the Elder Brain had made him feel like that.

It could have. Esharry noted. Projecting fear and despair isn't that difficult. Sorry I had to take control of our body for a second there. That thing had a much worse effect on you than I would have thought. It triggered some nasty memories in your head and made you relive them, which closed you off to the world and crippled your ability to resist them. It is quite an effective way to hunt I have to admit. Nothing compared to what we can do with our powers though.

So Esharry had fought the thing off. Harry was grateful for that. He told the others that he must've lashed out with some kind of accidental magic when the thing affected him so badly. The others accepted that.

Before long Professor Lupin returned and confirmed the train was once again on its way to Hogwarts and they should be arriving soon. He picked up the dementor's cloak with a levitation spell and locked it away in his suitcase. He questioned everyone to make sure they were doing all right and encouraged them to eat more chocolate.

"What was that dementor doing here professor?" Hermione asked.

"It was part of a group that came to check out this train." Lupin said. "Normally the dementors stay at Azkaban where they can feed on those who have done evil and broken the law. But ever since Sirius Black broke free they've been furious and demanding a chance to go after him. Seems the ministry finally gave into their demands and now they are scouring the countryside looking for Black."

"But what good would that do?" Harry wondered. "Black already escaped from them once, so he must have some way to get around them. What chance do they have to actually catch him?"

"Very little, I think, Harry." Lupin confirmed. "But don't worry about it too much. Soon we'll reach Hogwarts and there is no way that Professor Dumbledore is going to let those things enter school grounds."

When the Hogwarts Express arrived at the village of Hogsmead the students disembarked and divided into two groups. One group composed of all the new students went off with Harry's good friend Hagrid to sail towards the castle of Hogwarts across the great lake that surrounded it. The rest of the students made their way to the castle in carriages. Last year the carriages had been pulled by nothing visible, perhaps only by magic itself. This year the carriages were hooked up to skeletal looking horses that had no fur, only black leathery skin and bat-like wings folded at their side. Harry thought they were rather creepy looking but there was a kind of nobility to them. No one else seemed creeped out by their presence though so perhaps these spectral horses were more common in wizard society than Harry thought.

The carriages got them all to the school without incident. Before Harry could get to the great hall for the sorting of the first years into their different houses and the welcome feast that followed, Harry and Hermione were called out by their transfiguration teacher and head of house: Professor McGonagall. She took them back to her office for a quick conversation.

Apparently Professor Lupin had told her about their dementor encounter and she wanted to make sure Harry was alright. Harry appreciated her concern but he found the whole episode rather embarrassing and so insisted he was fine and didn't need any help. After Madam Pomfrey, the school's healer, had had a look at Harry he was allowed to wait outside while Hermione and McGonagall had a chat about all the classes she wanted to take this year.

Luckily the two of them made it back for the feast, though they missed the sorting ceremony, when the first year students would get sorted into one of four houses based on certain inherent traits that a magical talking hat could detect within them. The bravest joined Gryffindor, as Harry had, the smartest went to Ravenclaw, the most loyal and hardworking went to Hufflepuff, and the most ambitious and clever went to Slytherin. Harry had missed the last sorting as well so he was a bit disappointed not to get to see it this year either. Still there was the feast to look forward to, so they took seats by Ron and Nevil and dug into the meal. Harry always loved the welcome feast at Hogwarts. More than anything else it made him feel like he had made it home.

After everyone was done eating Professor Dumbledore spoke. He reminded them that custodian Filch had a list of forbidden items that people weren't allowed to use, likely because they would be too much fun. That casting spells in the hallways or out of a teacher's guidance was discouraged. That the Forbidden Forest was as the name suggested forbidden to enter as it was quite dangerous to those not prepared to brave its depths. He also announced they had two new professors starting this year.

"Professor Remus Lupin will be taking the post of teaching defense against the dark arts this year." Dumbledore said to a smattering of applause mostly from Harry and the others who had seen him destroy a dementor already. "And he has promised me he will actually teach his students to cast spells that have proven to be effective at defense. So he already seems quite the improvement over last year's professor."

"Additionally," Dumbledore continued. "It seems Professor Kettleburn has decided to retire inorder to enjoy the rest of his life with as many of his fingers still intact as he has managed to save. Our own Rubeus Hagrid has agreed to take up the post in addition to his other responsibilities as our faithful Groundskeeper."

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