Chapter 305: Transformation, Then Meets the Real Dementor

Tom slipped out of the Three Broomsticks through a side window when no one was looking. Thanks to Menes, whose drink had healed his soul, he had fared better against the Dementors this time. If he had fainted at the first encounter, Tom's subsequent actions would have been pointless.

As he landed on the ground, he noticed something unusual outside: the entire village of Hogsmeade seemed to be shrouded in mist. There were more Dementors in Hogsmeade than the ones that had stormed the Three Broomsticks, and Tom estimated that the number of Dementors involved in the operation approached a hundred.

That was not a small number!

With so many Dementors floating through the streets of Hogsmeade, Tom wondered if there would be any Dementors left to guard Hogwarts. Fudge was acting foolishly to give such an order. If Sirius wanted to sneak into Hogwarts, now would be the perfect time to do so.

In fact, Tom had misunderstood Minister Fudge. His calculations were quite clever and, in theory, it was a "good move." The immediate reason for today's incursion was Hogsmeade Day, and Fudge believed that Sirius would likely be in Hogsmeade today to watch the village for Potter; after all, Sirius wouldn't know that Harry hadn't been given permission to go to Hogsmeade. So, a search would need to be organized to catch Sirius.

The deeper reasons, which were darker, couldn't surface at all. As the Minister of Magic, Fudge knew, of course, that the Dementors outside Hogwarts held a grudge against him, and that grudge was about to turn into anger, so he decided to send half of them to Hogsmeade to search the village, and as for whether the Dementors had gone overboard and had the opportunity to suck a bit of "happiness," Fudge planned to turn a blind eye.

But the problem was in the execution.

His intention was to release half of the Dementors, but when he did, it turned out that all the Dementors had abandoned their posts and gone to the village of Hogsmeade to feast, and the Ministry couldn't do anything to stop them.

So Hogwarts became a defenseless zone, and Hogsmeade became a ghost town.

Tom exhaled two breaths of cold air, the cold air passed through his lungs and came out warmer, creating a thick white mist that quickly lost the heat it had carried. From Tom's perspective, it seemed as if he wasn't just inhaling air, but two piles of ice.

The arrival of the Dementors had lowered the temperature throughout Hogsmeade.

The Dementors had fled, but the commotion here had attracted more of them. Tom felt the growing coldness and transformed into a Dementor.

When he transformed into a Dementor, everything looked and felt different.

His body twisted like a reflection on water as his magic surged through him, and he seemed to turn into a cloud of smoke. The next moment, the smoke dissipated, revealing a shadow, a tattered black robe, and a pale corpse-like body...

A Dementor appeared in the same spot.

Only this Dementor differed in details from the others: a ring on the rotten and crusted finger, and a pale human face if the hood was lowered. Ordinary Dementors only have a mouth, while the rest of their features are sealed by crusts.

After Tom transformed, the first thing he felt was that the environment was no longer cold, but rather a pleasant sensation. This is a bit inaccurate because if cold means low temperature, then it's still cold. But Dementors are not the same as humans; for them, a cold, damp, and eerie environment is the most comfortable, so the air is cold, but Tom remains very comfortable.

So the trembling wind was as pleasant to him as the breeze in the shade of a mountain forest in the height of summer.

Dementors had no sight, and Tom could feel calluses on his eyes. It was a bit like the conjunctivitis he had as a child, when he would wake up in the morning to find his eyes sealed shut with a mass of eye discharge. The cocoon, almost as if he had lost his sight, was unnecessary for Dementors, who could perceive everything around them through emotions.

He could feel the room around him teeming with living people, generating steaming emotions: joy, inspiration, excitement, admiration... all positive emotions. He also noticed that emotions were changing throughout Hogsmeade, with fewer positive emotions wafting through the streets and alleys and a slow rise in negative emotions, a problem caused by the feeding of the Dementors.

The patrons of the Three Broomsticks were exhilarated because they had just overcome the Dementors. Emotions are like springs, the more they have been suppressed, the higher they bounce.

And Tom, one wall away, was on the verge of crying: the emotions smelled so good!

Positive emotions were food for the Dementors, and all of Hogsmeade was like a cafeteria, with popular shops like the Three Broomsticks and Zonko's Joke Shop being as irresistible as the seafood counter at a cafeteria.

Tom struggled to resist the urge to rush into the bar and feast. But while he could restrain himself, the other Dementors couldn't. The Dementors that had entered earlier left, just like the line of customers at the seafood counter, and new Dementors immediately made their way towards the bar.

Tom pondered for a moment and headed towards them. Dementors also had a unique way of moving; they had no legs and floated in the air. Wherever they passed, there was a sense of withering. Each Dementor, like a machine releasing negative emotions, spread negative energy wherever it went. Together, they could even change the surroundings and the weather.

Soon, the new Dementors encountered Tom on a narrow path. They descended from the sky and stopped in front of Tom, examining him, looking at this strange-looking being.

Tom's body tensed; he could feel himself surrounded by the Dementors, and they were scrutinizing him. If they recognized him, a battle would be inevitable. But he was confident that he could handle the Dementors. Even if he didn't know the Patronus Charm, he could transform into his unicorn form and fight the Dementors, and even if he didn't, he could have Hermione back him up and easily take care of them.

After a few seconds of "looking" at Tom, the Dementor right in front of him spoke, with a voice so hoarse it sounded as if its vocal organs had rotted and rusted.

It said slowly, "You... so small..."