Cassandra noticed the change outside the window.
"Fog?"
Because it was growing dark, the thick fog was barely noticeable.
Hearing Cassandra's voice, Tom peered into the dense fog, his gaze piercing as if he could see far beyond. "Something is coming."
The others looked out the window too, but even with their eyes wide open, they couldn't discern anything.
But whether it was an illusion or not, looking at the fog, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Just then, the train screeched to a halt.
"What's going on?"
"Why did the train stop?"
Even Harry and Malfoy, who weren't particularly quick-witted, realized something was wrong.
Drip, drip…
Raindrops pattered against the window.
"It's raining?"
Hermione leaned against the window, looking at the raindrops with surprise.
"Should we go check the driver's seat? Sitting here like this isn't a solution," Malfoy suggested, after glancing around and seeing nothing amiss.
"No need. Let us simply wait for them." Tom sat back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes closed, as if resting after a long journey.
"Them?"
Just as Harry and the others were wondering, the carriage lights suddenly flickered and died, plunging them into darkness and cold.
Malfoy felt the temperature plummet, whether it was his imagination or not.
"What was that…"
Harry stared wide-eyed at the dark shadow that drifted past the window.
The shadow was bizarrely shaped, covered in tattered black cloth. Its fleeting face, apart from a round hole that looked like a mouth, had no eyes or nose.
But none of that mattered most. The moment Harry saw this mysterious creature, he felt an icy chill, a cold that ran from head to toe, a fear that originated from the depths of his soul!
"They're here," Tom said calmly.
The wooden door of the carriage burst open, and the figure Harry had seen outside the window glided in.
These were Dementors, eerie creatures of dark magic. They had long inhabited Azkaban, guarding its prisoners. No one knew where they came from, nor how they were born.
The only thing known was: never approach them.
They would use their hollow mouths to suck away all your happiness, reminding you of your deepest fears.
Just as Harry and the others were about to faint from overwhelming fear…
"Hey! Look how tough you are!"
Tom calmly raised his right hand towards the approaching Dementor, and several gray, transparent chains flew out, binding the Dementor's neck, hands, and torso.
This sudden turn of events startled the Dementor. It tried to struggle, but these ethereal chains, though intangible, were incredibly strong, rendering the monster utterly powerless. And these chains were… sucking its soul.
After all, besides consuming happiness, it also fed on souls—this was the so-called "Dementor's Kiss." Usually, it was the one eating others. Today, it was the one being eaten.
Faced with this bizarre situation, the Dementor, for the first time in a long time, "panicked." It began to feel fear, terror, and… beg for mercy.
Dementors could communicate; otherwise, the Ministry of Magic wouldn't be able to give them orders.
In fact, the relationship between the Ministry of Magic and the Dementors was more like a partnership. The Ministry provided the Dementors with food—prisoners—and the Dementors were responsible for guarding these prisoners.
However, none of this mattered now, because Tom had no intention of communicating with the Dementor.
He was too lazy to waste words on such a thing. Besides, this research material wasn't worthy of talking to him.
Tom had long been interested in Dementors, those strange creatures, but had always been too lazy to catch them. Now that they'd delivered themselves to his doorstep… hehehe…
Slicing, cutting, modifying… no matter what, once a Dementor fell into Tom's hands, its fate wouldn't be good.
The Dementor seemed to realize that the person before it was uncommunicative and could only begin to struggle frantically.
But this was still futile. With those eerie chains in place, the more it struggled, the weaker its soul became.
The pervasive stench throughout the carriage finally awakened the middle-aged man who was fast asleep in the corner.
His eyes snapped open, and he instinctively pulled out his wand. He was about to cast the Stun Spell (Stupefy) to drive away the attacking Dementor when he saw the scene before him.
The Dementor was being dragged by several eerie chains toward Tom, who was grinning. As if aware of his presence, the Dementor even cast a pleading "gaze" at him.
Although the sight of the Dementor still filled him with fear—and the Dementor had no eyes—he simply had this feeling.
While he was momentarily stunned, the Dementor was pulled to a spot not far in front of Tom and began to gradually "compress and shrink," eventually becoming a black, spherical sphere of mist.
Tom pulled out a small purple bottle, containing the remnant soul of Voldemort, along with some miscellaneous soul materials.
Some special research materials were stored here by Tom. While it would be better to store them separately, Tom felt it was unnecessary and didn't bother himself with it.
After all, these materials didn't conflict; they could be squeezed together.
As for what would happen to Voldemort's remnant soul after the Dementor was stuffed inside, that was none of his concern.
Tom declared that only the strong were worthy of being his experimental subjects!
Then Tom stuffed the small black, misty sphere into the bottle and sealed it.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side...
The Dementors flying around the Hogwarts Express seemed to realize something was wrong.
Two Dementors huddled together, pointing and gesturing towards Tom's carriage.
"Blah blah blah (Second brother, why hasn't Third Brother come out yet after being inside for so long?)"
One Dementor questioned the other in a language incomprehensible to humans.
"Clatter clatter clatter (Big brother, maybe Third Brother is just too full to move.)"
Hearing this, the first Dementor nodded, agreeing with its younger brother.
"Makka Pakka? (Is it really so?)"
"Ushidishi! (It can't be wrong!)"
After confirming one last time, the two Dementors flew towards Tom's carriage.
But to their surprise, this journey led to an unexpected turn of events.
The good news was that they could reunite with their younger brother.
The bad news was that… they were being reunited with their younger brother.
Suddenly, the carriage window opened, and in an instant, two gray chains flew out, binding them and pulling them into the carriage.
"Ura ura! (Help! The train is eating Dementors!)" x2
The two Dementors screamed in "panic," trying to attract the attention of the other Dementors, and they did indeed succeed in drawing their attention.
Seeing this, the other Dementors realized the gravity of the situation and promptly abandoned their two companions, flying away on their own.
"…"
"Hey, you monster, we're all of the same kind and colleagues, it's not right to just abandon us like this!"
The two Dementors watched this scene with despair.
But in the end, they could only helplessly be pulled into the carriage by the chains and vanish without a trace.
---