Hogwarts Summoning Guide

The next morning, as usual, the shopkeeper Tom woke everyone up with hot tea. Harry was still arguing with the sulking Hedwig, while Ron was still bickering with Percy, who had just been promoted to president of the boys' council. Percy's promotion made him as proud as a rooster, but his three younger brothers didn't indulge him and played pranks on him every day.

The pre-departure chaos was palpable; everyone felt their belongings were unpacked, and Ron was still arguing with Hermione about whether Crookshanks should be kept in a cage.

For the children's safety, Mr. Weasley called a car from the Ministry of Magic to take Harry and the others to King's Cross Station. The process was uneventful, but Harry was a little disappointed that he hadn't seen Bai Lin since early morning.

Bai Lin arrived at the station a few hours earlier than them. After waiting for half an hour, he finally saw a familiar figure on the newly arrived train—Hagrid, wearing his brown coat, was waving at him from the last carriage.

Hagrid gave a brief overview of the situation at Hogwarts. Although Dumbledore hated Dementors, he was forced by pressure from both Azkaban and the Ministry of Magic to allow Dementors to occupy the entrance to Hogwarts in order to prevent Sirius Black from entering.

Meanwhile, the real Sirius Black—the big black dog—had arrived at Hagrid's hut and was waiting day and night for Whitescale and Harry to join him.

"When I came out in the carriage, I saw Dementors in the distance... They were terrifying, so cold, and I felt they were even more ferocious than the ones I saw in Azkaban!" Hagrid said.

Bai Lin thought to himself, "In the original story, Harry summoned his Patronus Stag and used his third-year level of magic to drive away hundreds of Dementors in the entire forest. This is obviously unreasonable. The author did not explain it and it was an accidental burst of power. But if the Dementors were really that weak, then people who know the Calling Charm would not have been imprisoned. And as far as I know, the Patronus Charm itself is not that complicated. Everyone should know it. The difference is only whether they can condense the image of the Patronus."

Hagrid said, "Mrs. Pince told me to tell you that she searched the entire library but couldn't find a way to completely kill Dementors. Instead, there were many cases of people being cruelly tortured by Dementors, especially the terrible Dementor's Kiss, which would cause the person kissed to lose their soul and become a vegetative shell."

Bai Lin said thoughtfully, "I do have a guess... but we need to test it out..."

Before long, the Weasleys, along with Harry and Hermione, arrived at Platform 9-3/4. From afar, they could see the handsome Bai Lin and the enormous Hagrid.

The Weasleys greeted Hagrid with a long chat. Mrs. Weasley was particularly kind to Hagrid, as they had been classmates, though Hagrid had been expelled because of the Myrtle incident. Everyone was delighted to learn that he was the newly appointed professor of Magical Creatures Protection.

Hermione kept stealing glances at Whitescale, her eyes sparkling, until Ron came over again to ask if he could stay in the same carriage as Hermione to avoid Crookshanks hurting his Scabbers. Hermione, of course, rolled her eyes at him.

With Bai Lin and Hagrid escorting the children to school, the Weasleys felt much more at ease and didn't give Harry repeated instructions before seeing them off on the train.

Once on the train, Ron seemed to have suddenly forgotten what he had just said. The three friends naturally gathered together. Harry, who was on the train, was clearly worried. Last night, he had overheard the Weasleys arguing outside their door and learned that Sirius Black was very likely to come looking for him, and that the legendary Dementors would guard Hogwarts like a prison, making Hogsmeade a pipe dream.

Harry led Hermione and Ron to the last carriage, intending to tell them about Sirius Black, when they saw Bai Lin chatting with Professor Lupin, who was dressed somewhat shabbily, while Bai Lin held a large book in his hand.

Ron stared at Bai Lin, swallowing hard. He had never seen such a handsome and renowned wizard as a teacher at Hogwarts; in comparison, the other professors were all eccentric. "The Gryffindor girls are sure to scream for him!" Ron thought sheepishly.

Bai Lin enthusiastically introduced Lupin to everyone. Although Lupin was somewhat poor and had an awkward status, he was a rare and powerful wizard who possessed both kindness and strength.

The three little ones chatted away for a long time, and soon it was noon. The sky outside the train darkened, and soon it started to rain heavily.

Hagrid brought a lavish spread of food and treats from the house-elves in the castle kitchen, instantly outshining the food Mrs. Weasley had prepared for Ron and Harry. However, Hermione noticed that White Scale hadn't been looking at her and was eating his crucible-shaped cake alone, looking rather sullen.

Professor Lu Ping turned out to be a rather witty and humorous person. He and Bai Lin quickly became friends, and the two chatted and ate together, making the last carriage quite lively.

Malfoy, accompanied by two henchmen, searched everywhere for Harry and Ron, hoping to cause some trouble, but upon seeing them in a carriage with several professors, he left somewhat disgruntled.

Suddenly, Ron asked somewhat shyly, "Mr. Casey, could you please ask Professor McGonagall to allow Harry to go to Hogsmeade with us? We'd like to go to Bee Duke... oh no, I mean, the birthday present I gave Harry seems to be broken, and we'd like to take it to Hogsmeade to get it repaired."

As Harry pitifully pulled out the miniature spyglass that was still whistling, Bai Lin and Lupin immediately sensed a dangerous approach and stood up straight.

"Harry, draw your wand and prepare for battle!" Bai Lin shouted, drawing his wand.

The train slowed down noticeably, and the sound of the wheels gradually faded away. The wind and rain pounded against the windows louder than before. Ron thought the train was about to arrive at the station and excitedly leaned towards the window, but it was pitch black outside. Although it was only four or five o'clock in the afternoon, it was already as dark as midnight.

Harry was closest to the door, and he was about to get up and look into the aisle when Bai Lin walked to the aisle door between the carriages first, looking ready for anything.

Lupin and Hagrid nervously drew their wands, while Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, subtly standing in front of them.

Seeing the four of them, Ron and Hermione clearly sensed that something was wrong. Just as they were about to ask something, the train came to a sudden stop. The sound of ping-pong balls came from afar, and luggage fell from the racks on time. Then, without any reason, all the lights went out, and they were plunged into complete darkness.

The carriage was thrown into chaos, filled with collisions and screams of pain; clearly, the children had been injured while groping and running around.

"Quiet!" Lupin said in his somewhat hoarse voice. As he spoke, his wand made a slight cracking sound, and a flickering light illuminated the box like a torch, shining on his tired gray face, while his eyes appeared very alert.

"Snow Wind, clear the area!" Bai Lin summoned the white werewolf—he named it Snow Wind. Snow Wind roared and chased away the students in the second-to-last carriage, making room for a fight. Lu Ping was clearly taken aback by Bai Lin's summoning, but he didn't say anything, only a big question mark appeared in his mind about Bai Lin.

Bai Lin wasn't sure if the Dementors could pass through the carriage walls like ghosts, but soon a window opened, and a huge figure wearing a black and gray cloak crawled into the carriage and stood in front of everyone.

"Dementors," Lupin whispered. Bai Lin licked his lips.