Trick 44: Hunting for Dementors!

Ace was sent rolling on the ground and smashed directly into a wall, passing right through!

He landed on the other side of the wall and slowly stood up, dusting himself off as he groaned, "Oh man, and I just cleaned this thing…" He looked around only to be greeted by amused looks from many children and parents.

Ace turned his head and saw that he was on Platform 9 and ¾!

He cleared his throat and snapped his fingers, his clothes changing into a black suit without a tie along with a jet black silk scarf hanging from his neck untied. The only thing that looked weird was the fact that Ace insisted on wearing black and white sneakers instead of dress shoes.

Apparently, dress shoes were too uncomfortable.

… He's right!

Anyway!

Ace sorted himself out and boarded the train, smiling at the returning students. He moved through the train cars before finding one with only one man in it. He seemed to be a teacher, so Ace sat in the same cart as him.

The man looked at him and Ace smiled, stretching out his hand, saying "Hello! I'm Ace Brand… Uh… I guess you could call me the Librarian?" The man shook Ace's hand and smiled "Remus Lupin. Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Ace whistled and leaned back, saying "Oh boy! Tough job, man. I've been here for 2 years and every year there is a new one. There's always an incident with Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, the first one was… well, he was something! And the second one was a fraud!"

He chuckled and Lupin asked "That Gilderoy fellow? I heard about that." Ace snapped his fingers and nodded "Yeah! That dude! Apparently, he would steal achievements from other Wizards and wipe their memories. A super douchebag, honestly." he shook his head and added "I can't even imagine being such a clown. Who would do such a thing?"

Lupin sighed and replied "A real twat." Ace laughed and nodded "Yeah! Hahaha! So how did you get the job?" Lupin curled his lips and retorted "Why? Looking for something other than a Librarian?"

Ace chuckled and patted his chest, saying "I'll have you know, I don't get paid at all!" Lupin chuckled and they started chatting about random things.

Surprisingly, Lupin was happy to chat endlessly with Ace!

Until, he yawned and fell asleep instantly.

Ace was stunned and said to himself "What a narcoleptic!" just as he finished, Ron, Harry, and Hermione stopped at the door, looking at Ace.

Ace looked at them and smiled, saying "You can sit here. Just don't wake up professor Lupin." The trio came in and settled their things down, sitting as they asked "Where did you go, Ace? Did you hear about the magician superhero man? Bloody hell, did you take that scarf from a woman!?"

Ace glared at Ron, saying "I did not!" before snorting as he replied "Yes, I've heard of that Magic Superhero." and turned to Hermione, saying gently "Studying other forms of magic."

Hermione's eyes lit up and Harry asked excitedly "So cool! I saw him on the Telly!" Ron looked at him and asked "Who?" Harry gestured to Ron, explaining "Well, Dudley was watching Tv and there was a news broadcast that Uncle Vernon changed to that showed a man in a black cloak fighting a bunch of robots! He was using all sorts of spells! There was even one that conjured a sword and went 'woosh!' before destroying a robot!"

Ron was stunned and shouted "REALLY?! MERLIN'S BALLS!" Hermione glared at him, saying "Ron!" Ron made a face at her and Ace smiled from his seat as she turned to him asking "What kind of magic, Ace?"

Ace held his finger on his lips and winked, "It's a secret." Hermione pouted and Ace flipped his palm over and a golden mandala pattern appeared over his hand, spinning as another one separated and flew up, forming a flame version of Hermione skipping in place.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione stared at the flames with awe, shouting "So cool! Wow! Can you teach me?" Ace tilted his head and suddenly heard the Ancient One in his head, "The spells at Kamar-Taj are free to everyone."

Ace said in his mind "Everyone?" The Ancient One replied "Given that they visit Kamar-Taj and receive the proper training afterwards, of course." Ace understood and looked at the three little gremlins, smiling "I can teach you, but you have to go to Magic University."

Ron and Harry groaned, but Hermione's eyes lit up and she nodded desperately, almost as though Ace wouldn't see her otherwise. Ace smiled happily and said "When we get to Hogwarts come with me." Hermione was quite literally shaking with excitement.

Harry sighed and said "So you'll never guess what happened…" as he proceeded to talk about him accidentally blowing up his aunt, or rather turning her into a human balloon.

Ace looked out the window with a smile when suddenly the train stopped. The lights flickered on and off and the glass started freezing over.

Ace frowned and looked at the door to the train cart. He said "Come here, don't move." Ron and Hermione shifted closer to Ace, who reached out and pulled Harry close.

Just at that moment!

A shadowy being, looking similar to a ghost, slowly floated into the cart.

Hermione's cat hissed at the creature and Ace frowned, muttering "A Dementor?" Hermione and Ron looked at him as Ace said slowly "Just calm down, normally Dementors aren't aggressive to non-targets…" his eyes lit up as he added "Although, Dementor Cloth is extremely valuable in artifact making."

Ron covered his head and started shaking as the Dementor looked around before locking onto Harry.

Ace frowned and his eyes glowed purple. He flipped his palm at the Dementor, creating a purple mandala in front of Harry. The Dementor hissed, turning to Ace, who twisted his hand, creating a big flame on the Mandala.

The Dementor dove at Ace just as Ace's scarf started changing slightly. However! Before anything else could happen, Lupin woke up and pointed his wand at the Dementor, a bright white light appeared at the tip and drove away the Dementor.

Ace let out a breath and took his hand back, smiling "Thanks, Remus." Lupin smiled and asked "Is everyone alright?" The three kids nodded and Harry asked "What was that?"

Lupin looked at Ace before explaining "That was a Dementor. They're usually guarding around Azkaban, however they were tasked with checking the train for Sirius Black." He frowned at this and handed the kids some chocolate, saying "Eat this, it'll make you all feel better. I have to have a word with the conductor, if you'll excuse me." before getting up and leaving the train cart.

Harry bit the chocolate, asking "Why did it come for me?" Hermione and Ron looked at Ace, who touched his chin, frowning as he replied "Dementors feed off of the Happiness of a person… Although, they are attracted to individuals who have experienced mass trauma in their lives…"

He got up and looked outside the cabin, into the hallway as he continued "The reason why I said that they weren't aggressive to non-targets is because they are supposed to have been controlled by the Ministry…" Hermione looked at Ace and asked "Then you mean?" Ace sighed and replied "Clearly, they aren't getting paid very much! To be harassing students on a train looking for a criminal is really something else."

Harry was confused and asked "Aren't Dementors good?" Ron and Hermione looked at him, forcing him to explain "They are guards for Azkaban, right?" Ace shook his head and corrected "They're 'employed' in a sense. The Ministry keeps the prisoners in check with Dementors while the Dementors feed off the prisoners."

He looked in the halls and muttered to himself "Now where did that thing go…" he bit his thumb and cursed under his breath, "My damn cloth!" he sighed and returned to his seat, looking out the window sullenly.

Ron looked at Harry and pointed his thumb at Ace, mouthing 'He's gone mad!' Harry shrugged and Hermione asked with curiosity "Mr. Brand, why is Dementor Cloth so precious?"

Ace replied slowly "Allegedly, Dementor Cloth is used in various clothing artifacts, including Invisibility cloaks. It is supposed to be a soft, almost ethereal, material perfect for anything. I happen to have a friend who might've been interested in such a material." he paused before remembering "Oh yes, apparently Dementor brains are a delicacy in eastern countries."

The three kids retched and made faces of disgust as Ace chuckled.

A while later