HP: For a better world

"Winster! Watch your back!!!"

Harry yelled, sitting up suddenly in bed.

Then he found himself in a cold sweat and was no longer in the same place. He threw back the quilt and ran under the bed.

Hermione hurried over and held him down.

"You finally woke up, Harry!" Hermione said in surprise, "How do you feel now, are you okay?" Then without waiting for Harry to answer, she turned her head and shouted:

"Professor! Headmaster! Harry is awake!"

Harry saw Dumbledore and Snape hurrying in from the ward door.

"Don't move, Harry." Dumbledore rushed over and pushed him back onto the bed. "You need some more tests." He tried to speak calmly. "How do you feel now?"

"Are we saved?" Harry pressed his chest and looked around, then he realized that he had arrived at the medical wing.

I felt myself breaking out in a cold sweat, but only when I saw the familiar scene did I slowly relax.

But he was startled again when he saw Hermione, and he grabbed Dumbledore's sleeve and spoke hurriedly.

"Where's Winster! Is he okay? Where is he!?"

"This is what I want to ask you." Dumbledore said seriously.

"When this happened, your Professor Snape had just returned from sending Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley back, and was reporting to me what had happened.

Suddenly, we saw a layer of cold light gathering in the sky above the Forbidden Forest - a group of Dementors... We rushed over immediately... Then we found you and Black fainted beside the lake in the Forbidden Forest. There was a pool of blood on the ground.

Harry, do you remember what happened before you fainted?"

"I……"

Harry said in a trembling voice, recalling their great joy after catching Peter, but unfortunately encountered Dementors and then attracted Professor Lupin's transformation into a werewolf...

As he was about to pass out, Harry saw Winston summon a stag that flew through the Dementors, and then...

"Winster was bitten by a werewolf!!!"

Harry said hastily.

Hermione's hands shook and she dropped the cup she was about to hand over.

"What did you say?!" Snape suddenly came from behind Dumbledore, grabbed Harry's shoulders tightly with his iron hands, and asked regardless of the fact that Harry had just woken up from a coma.

Dumbledore frowned but did not stop him.

"What nonsense are you talking about Potter!" Snape snapped, "White just separated from you!"

"I'm not talking nonsense!" Harry said anxiously, "We encountered Dementors while chasing Peter. And when we were escaping from Dementors, we ran into werewolves!

"But before I fainted, I saw Winston summon a deer-shaped Patronus and repel the Dementors!" Harry looked at Snape's twisted and furious expression in fear.

"Professor! Professor Dumbledore! Please go and save Winston - he is still in the Forbidden Forest - Professor Lupin, who has turned into a werewolf, is still behind him -" Harry pleaded in a low voice, tears flashing in his eyes with fear.

"He doesn't want us to be torn apart by werewolves without resistance—" Harry eagerly climbed up Dumbledore's sleeves with both hands, "The Headmaster—"

Snape's face turned pale. "I'll go find him right away." He looked at Dumbledore.

"You have been given the authority." Dumbledore sighed, "Go, Severus, bring that student back."

Snape drew his wand and turned away.

Harry heard a loud explosion outside the Hospital Wing.

Snape left.

Harry immediately said, "Professor Dumbledore, will Winston...?"

Dumbledore shook his head slowly and said heavily: "Harry, this is not something I can guarantee."

"For what has happened, we can only pray."

Dumbledore sighed, "Rest well, Harry. You have just escaped from the Dementors. Whatever happens... Harry, there is always a solution."

He hurried out again.

Harry sat for a while, feeling that the blank time was a little difficult to bear. He couldn't help but think about how Winston was doing... Why wasn't Sirius here after being rescued...

At this moment, he heard the sound of Dumbledore arguing with someone outside.

"...I thought you asked me to take Black away!" Fudge said loudly, then looked around nervously and found that the Aurors he brought were guarding Black. He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his voice fiercely.

"... and you tell me... after more than ten years, the real traitor is not Sirius? How do you want me to explain this to the others? Dumbledore... I tell you... there is no evidence, this is impossible!"

Dumbledore lowered his voice and argued with him: "I didn't think of it either... But Fudge, this is true... Harry and the others are the evidence."

Fudge shook his head like a rattle. "No, no, no... Do you take me for an idiot, Dumbledore? The testimony of an underage wizard cannot be counted. Children will lie, even if he is the savior!"

"... although I will listen to you, Dumbledore, it is impossible..."

Dumbledore's voice continued: "And Severus, doesn't his testimony convince you? I just asked you to cancel the Dementor patrol order now - there is a student missing in the Forbidden Forest -"

The conversation suddenly paused for a moment.

Madam Pomfrey from the hospital wing came in with a cart filled with various bottles and jars of potions. She brought him some chocolate, which was the most useful for dealing with the aftereffects of Dementors... maybe with some euphoria or something added in, and gave some to Ron.

But Harry really didn't want to eat them.

"What's going on?" he asked in a low voice.

Hermione absentmindedly looked at the potions on the cart pushed by Madam Pomfrey and answered, "Fudge arrived shortly after you were rescued. As soon as he arrived, he detained Black, and Professor Dumbledore has been arguing with him since you came back."

"——Madam, are you preparing something?" After Hermione finished explaining, she immediately asked Madam Pomfrey, who was walking to the private ward in the hospital wing, "For Winster?"

Madam Pomfrey was busy. "Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore just informed me that a student is in danger of his life. I need to prepare some first aid immediately, and he also needs to be isolated." She placed some blood-replenishing potions on the bedside, and took out distilled water and some first aid potions from the cabinet.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hermione asked anxiously, unable to bring herself to stop and wait for Winston to be rescued.

Madam Pomfrey raised her head and stared at her, then said in no uncertain terms, "If you're willing, help me make some silver powder."

"Professor Snape just consumed some of it, and the current stock may be insufficient. I need someone to help me grind some silver powder and prepare a mixture of silver powder and distilled water."

"Normally there's a Slytherin student who does these things, but she's not here right now. If you're sure, come over. If you don't have the ability, don't come and cause trouble."

Hermione quickly replied, "I will! Madam Pomfrey, I got all O's in Potions."

Harry doubled over in unbearable agony as he watched Hermione follow Madam Pomfrey inside and begin helping.

The conversation outside started again.

"...Do you think I'm stupid? Dumbledore, Snape! He is a former... and you vouched for him! I believe it, but the Wizengamot Court will not believe such ridiculous evidence unless you can produce more rigorous evidence. I will not accept the testimony of a Death Eater, a werewolf and three children! The leader of the Dementors has told me... that you took in a werewolf! Think carefully about how you are going to explain it to other parents. Instead of making me worry about my minister being shaken, I'd rather worry about yourself - Dumbledore, no parent would want to see such a guy appear in a safe campus!"

Harry frowned, wanting to hear them talk about something else...it would be best to find someone to go find Winster together.

But suddenly Fudge's scream was heard.

"Oh my god! What happened to the little wizard! Dumbledore!"

Winster!

Harry hurried out of bed.

There was a noise.

The door was knocked open.

Snape and Professor McGonagall hurried in with a stretcher.

Winster was covered in blood and lying unconscious on a stretcher.

Hermione and Madam Pomfrey heard the noise and ran out quickly.

"Winster! Winster!"

Harry rushed over and followed the stretcher, eager to wake him up: he saw the scabbed wounds and hideous bite marks on Winster's shoulders, the blood soaked through most of the robes, the chest was almost motionless, and even the Slytherin house emblem was stained dark.

"What happened to him? Is he dead?" Harry asked, trotting closely beside Snape.

Snape's anger rose: "Get out of the way! Potter! Don't get in the way here!"

Snape and Madam Pomfrey pushed Winston into the innermost part of the hospital wing and slammed the door, leaving Harry and the others outside.

Harry paused outside the door, deeply concerned at what he had seen.

Hermione was also sent out and stood with him, looking anxiously at the closed door.

"Professor McGonagall..."

"The school is already busy enough." Professor McGonagall answered Harry in a low voice, "The headmaster has called most of the professors. And I am waiting for them at the castle gate."

"Winster..."

Professor McGonagall sighed.

"Will Winster not survive?"

Hermione asked in a tearful voice.

"If it had been earlier..." Professor McGonagall shook her head, "perhaps the outcome would have been better. When I saw the child at Severus's place, he had already lost too much blood. We don't know how long he had been in this state. I don't know if it's too late..."

"And..." Professor McGonagall sighed, hesitating what to say.

"…Trust Poppy, she's the best healer."

Harry stopped and stared at the door through which Winston entered the room.

He saw Snape going in and out, constantly refilling potions from the potion cabinet outside, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could kill a fly.

When the door was open, the chanting from inside never stopped.

"Don't just stand here, Harry." Professor McGonagall said, dragging Harry and Hermione away, and brought a row of thick bed curtains to surround Harry and the others on their beds. "Go to bed early," Professor McGonagall said softly, "The rest has nothing to do with you. You have to go home tomorrow."

Harry opened his mouth and fell silent again.

He was still in a daze even after he sat on his bed. He listened silently to the noise outside.

Snape never stopped walking.

The chocolates on the bedside are still there.

Ron was lying next to them. Hermione was there too. She was sitting absentmindedly. She had just refused Professor McGonagall's suggestion to take her back to her dormitories, saying that she wanted to stay and keep an eye on them.

Professor McGonagall sighed and didn't force her to leave.

It seemed as if Ron's chocolate was filled with the water of life and death. Ever since Dumbledore left, he had been unusually quiet.

Harry lay down, disturbed by the constant clatter of Snape's footsteps.

He looked at the ceiling.

Will Winster live? Or will he become a werewolf? ... And Peter, Peter ran away again.

After a while, Snape's footsteps disappeared, leaving only a small buzzing sound.

Harry was stunned for a moment before he realized that a whispering charm had been cast on the curtain.

Professor McGonagall hoped they would fall asleep soon.

Really, who could sleep in such a situation? Harry knew that Hermione wasn't either, as he could hear her tossing and turning in her bed.

Maybe only Ron -

"...Harry?" Ron asked, turning his head while lying on the bed, "Are you asleep?"

Harry answered sullenly, "No." And he felt that he might as well listen to Snape's busy footsteps... At least he knew they were still working hard for Winston.

Ron was also staring at the ceiling; the sound seemed to be coming from next door.

He whispered, "...Although my relationship with Winster has never been very good and he doesn't think much of me, I still hope he can live."

Harry was silent for a moment, then hummed.

After tossing and turning for a while, Hermione finally sat up in the dark and took something out from her chest -

A sigh came from the darkness.

Headmaster Dumbledore lit the candles.

"Fortunately I arrived in time." He said to Hermione, who was holding the hourglass in her hand, neither moving nor still.

Hermione hesitated and did not put the hourglass back after pulling it out of her clothes. She just said hesitantly: "But, Professor Dumbledore..."

"I am not here to stop you, Miss Granger." Dumbledore sighed, "On the contrary, I admire your determination and courage to save your friends."

Harry looked in confusion at Hermione who was holding a strange hourglass, and then at Dumbledore who suddenly appeared here.

"Then..." Hermione wondered.

"Only I wish you would take Harry with you," said Dumbledore.

"what?"

Dumbledore looked over and said, "Do you remember how you got to the lake where you fainted, Harry?"

"Of course!" Harry said without hesitation, "Winster has marked the way along the way to prevent us from getting lost -"

"That's all very well," said Dumbledore, looking at Hermione. "Harry will be able to help you with your ideas."

Hermione nodded vigorously, holding the hourglass.

Dumbledore handed Harry another hourglass in his hand. "This is Mr. White's. He left it in the dormitory. I just went to get it."

Harry took the strange golden hourglass.

"But Professor, aren't you still talking to Mr. Fudge? How...?"

Dumbledore said lightly, "I have fallen out with Fudge. He decided to immediately fulfill the promise in the newspaper - to give the Dementor's kiss to Black in Professor Flitwick's office to avoid any further trouble."

"I saw that he couldn't be persuaded, so I came back to see you." Dumbledore casually pulled out a time-revealing spell and looked at it. "Miss Granger will teach you how to use it, Harry."

"By the way, in order to catch the werewolf that's still on the loose, Fudge has decided to have the Dementors search the Forbidden Forest again - and there's absolutely no way I can refuse." He spread his hands, looking rather distressed.

"I hope you won't be seen by anyone. Especially Professor Lupin. You know, we can't afford another student to have an accident." Dumbledore blinked, "But now I think three is a wonderful number - in two ways."