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He had endured a long journey before boarding the train and was already exhausted both physically and mentally.

After arriving in the next carriage, Lu Ping lay down on the seat and fell asleep immediately.

On Zicomo's side, not long after Lupin left, his friends came to visit one after another.

Draco opened Zicomo's carriage and was surprised to find that it was still the same scene as when the semester was on break last year.

With his high emotional intelligence, he naturally wouldn't be a third wheel, so he said "Excuse me" and left.

He found an empty carriage and went to talk to his Hydra.

As for his two henchmen, he had long since forgotten about them.

Draco left, followed by Harry and Ron. They didn't linger when they saw the scene in the carriage. After saying hello, they went to Lupin's carriage next door.

Ron kept telling Harry about his summer trip to Edgware, which annoyed Lupin greatly.

He had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by the conversation across the street.

Didn't this little wizard see that someone was sleeping on the other side?

Lupin slightly opened his eyes and saw the two people sitting opposite him.

Ron's red hair felt very familiar to him; he knew without asking that this was definitely a member of the Weasley family.

What felt even more familiar to him was Harry beside Ron, whose face resembled James's.

The anger that had just been roused vanished instantly, and Lupin closed his eyes again, remaining silent.

He planned to listen to the conversation between the two people opposite him to see how Harry had been doing all these years.

"So, regarding Sirius Black, what are your thoughts?"

“Yes, I saw that newspaper too,” Harry replied.

He didn't tell Ron about Sirius, not because he didn't trust Ron, but because Scabbers was in the same carriage at that moment.

Harry knew it wasn't the right time yet.

“My father asked me to warn you that he escaped from prison to kill you, and he told you to be careful.”

Harry nodded, but he didn't take it seriously. He had been living with Sirius Black these days, and if Sirius Black really wanted to kill him, he would probably be dead already.

After spending so many days together, Harry had long since come to believe what Sirius had said at the Chicomo's house.

However, due to a lack of evidence, he cannot confirm it yet.

The truth of what happened back then is missing the most crucial piece of the puzzle, and that piece is now in Ron's hands.

Fortunately, Lupin had his eyes closed at the time, otherwise he would have seen the marks on Ron's hands.

If he recognizes Peter Pettigrew, he might do something that alerts the enemy.

Peter Pettigrew, at this moment, clearly recognized Lupin. He huddled silently in Ron's arms, trembling, afraid of being seen by Lupin on the other side.

The train continued its journey, and as evening approached, rain began to fall. The gloomy weather made ordinary people feel depressed.

But Zicomo's carriage was still filled with laughter and joy.

The train suddenly stopped.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

Zicomo extended his mental energy to scan the area and discovered that the train was surrounded by a group of black plastic bags.

"Looks like we have some unpleasant guests coming."

Hermione also extended her spiritual power, and then she saw a group of monsters floating in the air, their faces covered by black cloth, with only two large, bony hands showing.

"Dementors! Aren't they Azkaban's guards? What are they doing here?"

"They're probably hunting down fugitives," Zicomo remarked casually.

"You mean they're hunting Sirius?"

"uh-huh."

Zicomo confirmed Hermione's guess.

This is obviously the work of Fudge, that incompetent Minister of Magic.

As far as Zicomo knew, Aurors needed to be paid extra wages for fieldwork, and Fudge probably didn't want to pay that money, which is why he thought of hiring Dementors as free labor.

Moreover, Sirius escaped while under their watchful eyes, so Fudge had reason to order them to capture him.

P.S.: I had to go out during the day and didn't get to write anything, so the update is a bit late today. Sorry.

Chapter 128 Hermione's Patronus Has Changed, and the New Year's Opening Ceremony

But Fudge seems to have overlooked one point: whether these Dementors will still be as obedient outside as they are in Azkaban.

Dementors are obedient in Azkaban because there are enough emotions for them to absorb, and the presence of wizards adds to their power, making them willing to be driven.

But now that they're outside, exposed to wind, sun, and rain every day, and not even fed properly, how could such Dementors possibly work willingly for the Ministry of Magic?

Now that the Dementors are out of control, they've caught a whiff of the positive emotions emanating from the young wizards on the train and are starting to stir.

Perhaps sensing the cheerful mood in Zicomo's carriage, or perhaps hearing Hermione mention Sirius's name, a Dementor slowly drifted towards them.

With the arrival of the Dementors, the interior temperature of the carriage began to drop sharply, and the windows began to fog up due to the sudden temperature drop.

However, the five people in the carriage remained completely calm.

Zicomo and Lani were fearless, while Hermione believed her cousin could handle it.

As for Penelope and Luna, although Luna is a bit airheaded, her intuition is incredibly strong. Her intuition tells her there is no danger, so there is no need to panic.

Penelope, having witnessed Lani's fighting style firsthand, believed that with this powerful figure involved, nothing unexpected would happen.

Seeing the Dementor open the carriage door, Zicomo looked at Hermione and asked, "Hermione, would you like to try that spell?"

Although Zicomo didn't say it explicitly, Hermione knew which spell he was referring to: "Palmtopsus," which was effective against Dementors.

"Of course!"

Since she hadn't practiced with a specific target, Patronus Charm was a spell that Hermione wasn't very good at. Now that such a good opportunity was in front of her, she naturally couldn't miss it.

Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the Dementor that was about to walk in.

"Call the gods to protect you!"

A white light appeared at the tip of the wand, and the Dementor, sensing what it loathed, quickly covered it with its hand.

But the white light emanating from the wand didn't last long and quickly went out. This was because Hermione wasn't yet proficient enough with the spell.

The Dementors noticed this and sped up to pounce on Hermione.

Hermione didn't panic. Instead, she waved her wand again, this time focusing her mind and recalling the happy times she had spent with Zicomo.

The next instant, the wand shone brightly.

The white light turned silver, eventually forming a small silver kitten.

The cat leaped forward and knocked the Dementor away with a single swipe of its paw.

The Dementor, in pain, quickly fled the scene.

"Yay! Cousin, look, I did it!" Hermione maneuvered the silver cat to land in front of Zicomo.

Zicomo was somewhat surprised, as he remembered that Hermione's Patronus in the original story should have been an otter.

How did it turn into a cat?

What he didn't know was that Hermione's Patronus turning into a cat was largely because of him.

When Hermione was in first grade, after Zicomo had her transform into a cat using the Mimicry Veil, she opened the door to a whole new world.

The experience of being held in Zicomo's arms and petted like a cat was a novel and comfortable one for Hermione.

In addition, Hermione herself is a sensitive, slightly arrogant, cat-like girl.

It's not surprising that her guardian spirit would turn into a cat.

If Hermione learns Animagus, then her Animagus will most likely be a cat.

Zicomo reached out to try and touch Hermione's Patronus. He didn't feel anything real, but he could sense a warm and pleasant emotion emanating from it.

He then moved his hand to Hermione's head, rubbing it as he said, "I saw it all. Our Hermione is amazing."

Hermione's pretty face flushed slightly as she squinted her eyes, enjoying Zicomo's caresses.

Lani was already used to this scene. If she were jealous of even this, she wouldn't need to eat; she'd be full of vinegar all the time.

Penelope and Luna were somewhat envious. Penelope had a crush on Zicomo, and she also wished that Zicomo would pat her head like that.

But out of respect for her senior, she felt ashamed if such a thing happened to her.

Luna, on the other hand, envied the bond between Zicomo and Hermione. She remembered how her mother used to pat her head and praise her when she was little.

But what she didn't know was that the bond between Zicomo and Hermione was gradually changing as Hermione entered puberty.

For example, recently, even Hermione herself didn't realize that she was increasingly fond of sticking close to Zicomo.

At this moment, the situation in the next carriage was not as pleasant as that in Chicomo's.

The Dementor, kicked out of the carriage by Hermione, decided to change its target and chose Harry next door.