The Quidditch season had finally started at Hogwarts. Roger Davies was now made the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and he was explaining the strategy for today's game. The weather was horrible and people could barely see what was going on. Heavy rain was pelting against the ground and Harry wondered, not for the first time, why they were playing in such conditions. International Quidditch matches were all weather controlled and had covered stadiums.
"Look, I know the conditions aren't ideal," said Roger. "But we won the Quidditch Cup last year and we have to win this year too! We have the best team in the school, so let's show them what we eagles can do."
Casting charms on themselves to repel rain so as to see better, they kicked off from the ground. Because of the weather, Harry did not bother playing an interfering seeker but instead kept looking for the snitch. The Hufflepuff team captain and seeker Cedric Diggory was somewhere nearby as well.
When the score was 80-60, Harry suddenly spotted a glint of gold in the air. Apparently, Cedric had spotted it too because he went after it. Higher and higher they went and the rain pelted against their faces, lightning flashing. Harry zoomed ahead of Cedric, his natural instincts as an eagle guiding him and he smirked in triumph as his left fist closed around the snitch.
Precisely at that moment, the temperature dropped drastically. The Nimbus Thousand and One which he was riding was rapidly being covered in ice. The already dark stadium was plunged into darkness and Harry realised what was happening when bad memories assaulted him. He was in complete shock at what he was seeing.
Fudge had lied.
There were not a hundred dementors placed at Hogwarts. There were about three hundred of those foul demons circling the Quidditch pitch. Knowing that he was only seconds away from being kissed, Harry flicked his wand to his hand, remembered his conversation with Daphne when they confessed their love to each other and shouted -
" EXPECTO PATRONUM !"
An enormous creature burst from the tip of Harry's wand. If he had to guess, Harry would have thought the creature was probably sixteen feet in height. It was a Thunderbird.
Below, in the stands, people began panicking as the Dementors descended towards them. Daphne had also practised the Patronus Charm, but she had never succeeded in conjuring a corporeal patronus before. But she knew the theory, so she tried it again. Summoning all her happy memories and emotions and thinking of the time Harry told her that he loved her, she pointed her wand at the incoming Dementors and shouted -
" EXPECTO PATRONUM !"
A large tigress burst from the tip of her wand and charged at the incoming Dementors. Daphne looked stunned for a moment at seeing the patronus as she saw an enormous silver bird in the sky as well. Harry must have created a patronus too.
The staff of Hogwarts also realised that unless they helped, the students would all be kissed. Several of them got up and pointed their wands in the air and yelled -
" Expecto Patronum! "
Numerous, the Dementors may be, but they were no match against the combined assault of so many powerful patroni. The massive Thunderbird patronus stood proud and regal amongst them all, towering over the rest as it chased away the last of the soul-sucking demons. Even though the rest of the patroni faded away, the thunderbird still remained as Harry slowly descended to the ground, shaking badly. The patronus approached him, bathing him in warmth. He couldn't help but swell with emotion as he touched it.
"Thank you, my friend," whispered Harry as the enormous thunderbird patronus disappeared.
Mayhem gripped Hogwarts as several students had fainted due to the Dementor exposure. Albus Dumbledore looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him and one look at the Headmaster's face let him know that the Dementors would be gone from the school the next day; the aura around the aged Headmaster was something Harry had never felt before. It was a testament to how furious Dumbledore truly was.
He was right. After the disastrous incident, Dumbledore had wasted no time to head to the Ministry to talk to Fudge. The next morning's newspaper article about the attack of the Dementors on hundreds of young witches and wizards made Fudge want to weep. He was still licking his wounds from seeing Albus Dumbledore the previous day. Nobody had seen the Chief Warlock that angry before and Fudge understood then and there why the man was considered one of the most powerful wizards in the world.
The Dementors were ordered back to Azkaban the next day. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade breathed a sigh of relief, but there was a war going on in London. Not a physical one, but a political one. Fudge had essentially committed political suicide. He would not last even a month in office anymore after the disaster with Azkaban and the Dementors at Hogwarts. The war was about who the next Minister of Magic was going to be.
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