Julien didn't hesitate. He bolted out of the compartment the second the Dementor fled. At the same moment, the tall man from the next carriage burst into the corridor too. Both noticed the silver light still glowing at the tip of the other's wand.
Julien knew exactly who he was—Remus Lupin. Lupin, on the other hand, looked stunned that a kid this young could cast a Patronus at all.
More screams echoed down the hallway. At least half a dozen Dementors were still drifting through the train, spreading that bone-deep cold. Students were breaking down in the compartments—crying, frozen in despair, or slipping into unconsciousness.
Lupin didn't waste time. "You good to keep going?"
"Barely," Julien panted, quickly checking his magical reserves. "I can manage a few more."
"Then we split up. If you can't hold it anymore, fall back here," Lupin said. He raised his wand and charged toward the front of the train where the Dementors were thickest.
"Got it." Julien gripped his wand tighter and started toward the rear.
"I'm coming with you!" Three voices rang out at once. Elizabeth, Liriya, and even Daphne rushed out after him. Their faces were still pale—they clearly hadn't fully shaken off the Dementors' effect.
"Daphne, stay and protect your sister," Julien ordered, his voice carrying a firmness he didn't even realize he had. "The rest of us—let's move!"
They sprinted down the corridor. What they saw made Julien suck in a sharp breath. At least three Dementors were gliding between the compartments. Students huddled in their seats—some sobbing, some staring blankly, others already slumped over in a despair-induced stupor.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Julien thrust his wand forward. Silver light poured out again. This time the raven shape was a little clearer—sharp beak, spreading wings.
One Dementor recoiled, but more were pouring in from the back of the train.
Suddenly another Dementor burst out of a nearby compartment and lunged straight at Julien. He didn't have time to pull his wand back.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A beam of silver light slammed into the creature and knocked it away. Julien whipped his head around—Elizabeth Rosier stood there, wand still raised.
"You know the Patronus Charm too?"
"I wasn't exactly sitting around doing nothing while you were training with Grindelwald over the summer," she replied, a faint smirk cutting through her exhaustion.
Working together, Julien and Elizabeth moved down the carriage—one on the left, one on the right—alternating casts. By the time they reached the middle of the car, both were drenched in sweat and breathing hard.
The physical drain was bad enough, but the lingering filth and icy despair from the Dementors were worse. Julien's mind started to fog. His magic felt sluggish, refusing to flow smoothly through his wand.
Then two hands pressed against their backs. A cool, refreshing energy poured into them, clearing the blockage and smoothing out their magical flow.
They turned—Liriya stood behind them, head bowed, softly singing an ancient Northern melody:
Who can say
where the road goes
where the day flows
~only time
Their heads cleared instantly. Breathing eased. Even their magic felt stronger.
"Watch out—up ahead!" a girl's voice shouted from a nearby compartment. It sounded like their senior, Cho Chang.
They didn't have time to look. Four Dementors were surging toward them at once, their ragged cloaks tangled together so it was hard to tell exactly how many there were.
"I've got this!" Julien stepped forward and shouted.
"Praesidium Patronum!"
The reinforced version of the Patronus Charm he'd just learned.
Behind him, Elizabeth and Liriya exchanged a quick glance and pointed their wands at the same time.
"Potentia Maxima!"
Two golden chains of light shot from their wands and connected to Julien's. He felt his magical output surge by nearly double.
The silver light from his wand stopped scattering. It condensed, reshaped, and formed a massive silver shield engraved with a clear raven emblem.
The shield didn't just block the Dementors in front of them—it expanded into a glowing hemispherical barrier, covering a wide section of the corridor.
Julien charged forward with the shield raised, forcing the Dementors back. More older students poured out of compartments behind them, firing every spell they could think of—whether it helped or not.
As he pushed ahead, Julien felt a surge of confidence he'd never experienced before. His wand vibrated in his grip. Something deeper was waking up—knowledge from Grindelwald's lessons in Nurmengard, from the bloodline sealed inside him.
He remembered the underwater city of Starfall Cove and Evan Rosier's ghostly smile. He remembered fighting side-by-side with Elizabeth and Liriya in the Chamber of Secrets. He remembered Grindelwald's final words before the rose-key pulled him back:
"Possibility… is what my generation lacked the most."
They drove the Dementors all the way to the rear exit. Strangely, Julien noticed his magic wasn't draining—it was actually growing stronger. The shield in front of him grew thicker and brighter.
Then he saw it clearly: the Dementors weren't just being pushed out. They were shrinking. At the very end, the last traces of black mist simply dissolved into nothing.
The word echoed in his mind: Conversion.
When the final wisp of darkness vanished from the carriage, the students erupted into cheers.
Julien let out a long breath. His Patronus shield dissolved back into the shape of a clear raven that circled once above his head before scattering into sparkling points of light.
"I didn't expect you to actually pull that off," a voice said behind him.
Julien turned. The tall man from earlier was leaning against a compartment doorframe, looking pale but smiling.
A group of older students stood behind him—Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw, Gemma Farley from Slytherin, Percy Weasley, and several others.
The man held two slightly softened chocolate bars, warmed by his body heat.
"Here," he said, handing one to Julien. "Dementors suck all the happiness out of you. Chocolate is the fastest way to recover. The other one's for your two friends." He smiled. "You all did well."
Julien ate the chocolate in silence. A gentle warmth spread from his stomach through his whole body—nothing like ordinary chocolate.
"Professor Lupin—sorry, you are a professor, right?" Julien asked. "I saw the name on your trunk when we boarded."
Lupin gave a small, tired smile and nodded. "Yes. I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year—Remus John Lupin."
A ripple of excited whispers spread through the students. After last year's disaster with Lockhart, the idea of a professor who could actually fight Dementors was a huge relief.
Once the noise died down a little, Julien spoke again. "Professor… why were there so many Dementors on the train? How many are still guarding Azkaban if they could send this many?"
Lupin's eyes sharpened. He raised a hand to cut Julien off. "How did a student your age even think of that question?"
"Just… thinking out loud," Julien said carefully.
"You think a lot," Lupin said quietly. "Maybe too much. That's not something a young wizard should be worrying about."
He straightened up and brushed dust from his robes. "Come on. Let's check on Harry. Then… once we reach the school, I think you and I should have a proper talk. That Patronus of yours was impressive. I've never seen one quite like it."
The Hogwarts Express continued rolling across the Scottish Highlands. The heavy clouds were finally breaking apart. Golden evening sunlight streamed through the windows once more, painting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the carriages.