While Harry was eating chocolate, Lupin left the compartment with the letter to find the conductor.
He needed to inform the school about what happened on the train, and the conductor's place conveniently had an emergency owl.
But that was during his school days; he wasn't sure if it was still the same now.
After Lupin left, Ron still looked at Harry with some concern, "Are you really okay?"
"Feeling much better."
Harry took another bite of chocolate, wiping the cold sweat and rain from his face, and said, "But I don't understand... what happened just now."
"That's what we're curious about too," Fred said.
The feeling brought by the Dementor was uncomfortable, but it shouldn't be enough to faint from. Among the entire train, with hundreds of students, it seemed that only Harry was affected this way.
Even Ron was fine.
"When the Dementor looked at you back then... you suddenly became strange."
"I thought you'd been jinxed." Ron recalled the scene earlier, still looking a bit unsettled, "You seemed to stiffen, then fell off the seat and started convulsing..."
Then, he and Hermione carefully recounted the events, including how Harry fainted, and how Professor Lupin finally drove the Dementor away.
"It was a burst of silver light," Hermione said, "I couldn't see what it was, but the Dementor seemed very afraid."
"Silver light?" George said softly, "It must be the Patronus Charm."
"Didn't expect him to know that," Fred seemed a bit surprised, "Looks like our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor this year might actually have some skills."
"Don't get excited too soon," Cedric said from the side, "He could also be the Care of Magical Creatures professor... remember? Professor Kettlebum is retiring this year."
"Damn, how could I forget that," Fred scratched his head, "I hope we don't have to go through a semester of reading lessons again, I've really had enough."
Cedric shrugged. Although he felt the same, Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts professors had always been disappointing.
With the experience of the past two years, even if there was another useless professor this year, he wouldn't find it surprising...
"Patronus Charm?" Hermione suddenly caught the keyword.
"Yes," Fred explained, "Kael just used this charm to fend off the Dementor, look at our condition, isn't it much better."
As he said this, Hermione realized it was indeed the case.
Ron and Neville... even the people peeking outside, all had somewhat pale faces, she was probably not much different.
But Kael and the others looked perfectly normal, appearing no different than usual, even the youngest, Ginny, was the same.
"Patronus Charm?" Hermione muttered softly, silently noting down this charm.
At this point, Lupin returned, smiling at everyone as he said, "I just asked the conductor, we'll reach Hogwarts in another thirty minutes."
This was really good news for Harry, who couldn't wait to return to the warm and comfortable castle.
Most importantly, there were professors there, and Dumbledore... the Dementor wouldn't dare to enter.
However, Harry still didn't quite understand why he was the only one who fainted, while others were fine.
He asked Professor Lupin, but the latter just shook his head, comforting him.
"Dementors force us to recall the worst memories, our pain becomes their strength, perhaps what you've experienced is different from others, capturing its interest."
He said this casually, "And you don't have to worry too much, because I noticed the behavior of the Dementor here was entirely different from when it was in other compartments.
It couldn't restrain its urge to feed, actively absorbing the surrounding emotions... This unique ability of a Dementor is something even adult wizards can't resist.
You're only thirteen, it's normal to faint."
Harry still felt this explanation was a bit far-fetched.
"But Ron and Hermione didn't faint," he said softly, "Neither did Neville."
Seeing Harry's dejected expression, Ron wanted to comfort him but didn't know what to say.
As he was pondering, he suddenly turned his head and saw something flash on Hermione's clothes.
Ron's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Could it be that we were wearing badges."
He pointed to a similar badge below his own collar, "Remember? Kael gave these to us earlier, they're made of Fire Dragon scales.
A creature as powerful as a Fire Dragon, even a Dementor would likely fear."
"How can that be?" Hermione said, "Even if Dementors are afraid of Fire Dragons, they wouldn't fear a single scale."
"It might... have some restraining effect,"
Honestly, Ron himself found this reason a bit of a stretch, but the problem was he couldn't come up with a better explanation now, so he had to brace himself and continue,
"We wore the badges and were fine, but Harry, he changed into his robes earliest, so he fainted."
"What about Neville, he doesn't have a badge either," Hermione frowned.
In the corner, hearing his name, Neville shiveringly raised his head.
He was in worse shape than Harry, even after eating a large piece of chocolate, he continued to tremble uncontrollably.
For some reason, after combining Professor Lupin's and Ron's words, Harry felt much better at heart.
Although thinking this way seems a bit self-deceptive, compared to being weak and timid himself, he is more willing to believe that the Fire Dragon Badge played a role.
In the compartment, there was another person who believed it too.
"What Fire Dragon Badge..."
Neville stood up, looking at Kael with hope, "Is there more? I can buy it."
The cold feeling that seemed to penetrate the soul earlier was something he truly didn't want to experience again.
"There is... there is..."
Kael grabbed a handful of colorful badges from his pocket, "But this thing shouldn't work against Dementors..."
"I'll buy them!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Neville had already taken all the badges from his hand.
"How much?"
"Uh... two Galleons each."
Neville's hand hesitated for a moment, "How much?"
"Two Galleons." Kael explained, "This is authentic Dragon Scale, valuable in itself. The pattern is hand-carved by locals in Romania, two Galleons is hardly profitable."
Neville looked at the six badges in his hand, feeling a bit hesitant.
A total of twelve Galleons... he didn't have that much money.
Since he always loses things, Mrs. Longbottom usually doesn't give him too much pocket money.
"Maybe forget it, it's actually not that useful." Kael advised again.
He had plenty of ways to sell things without having to use this method.
Dementors will be resident at the castle this year, whether it's useful will soon be revealed.
False advertising could lead to returns in the future, causing severe negative impacts, potentially collapsing the reputation they've built over three years instantly.
It doesn't seem worth it.
But just as Neville hesitated, Lupin unexpectedly spoke.
"Perhaps, it might really have some effect."
These words seemed to make Neville make up his mind.
He returned three badges to Kael and took out six Galleons from his robe pocket to hand over, "I only have this much, I'll buy three!"
"This..."
Kael looked at Lupin, not understanding what he meant by those words earlier.
Facing Kael's questioning gaze, Lupin shook his head, taking advantage of everyone's distraction to walk to his side and quietly explain, "Faced with Dementors, the most important thing is courage. Only by not fearing them can you be unaffected.
If Mr. Longbottom firmly believes the badge has a defensive effect against Dementors, then it is effective.
I think, as the youngest recipient of the Merlin Order Medal, you should understand what I mean."
Certain belief in its effectiveness... means it is effective?
Kael pondered seriously.
This is not difficult to grasp; many magical practices are like this. When he was learning the Patronus Charm, Newt repeatedly reminded him that to successfully summon a complete Patronus, strong belief is necessary.
When he was learning Disillusionment too, doubting oneself in the heart leads to failure.
"Do you mean..." Kael asked contemplatively, "the badge can empower him with the belief to no longer fear Dementors?"
"That's one way to put it."
Lupin nodded, "But the premise is that Dementors must restrain their desire to feed."
He pointed in Neville's direction, whispering, "However, at least for now, things seem fine."
Kael also looked over.
Since receiving the badge, Neville stopped trembling, and his pale face had gained quite a bit of color, looking much better than before.
"The badge is just a vessel; it could be a stone, a leaf, or a twig... the important thing is that people genuinely believe that it is useful!"
Lupin looked at Kael, suddenly changing his tone with a peculiar expression, "However, selling it for two Galleons, isn't it a bit too expensive?"
"No, sir." Kael smiled and said, "You can inquire in Diagon Alley about the price of Fire Dragon Scales. In Potion Master Shop, they are clearly priced at one Galleon and fifteen Sickles per scale, and there's no discount.
Plus the cost for engraving the pattern, and the Portkey trips to and from Romania, two Galleons is already the cost price, I really don't make a profit."
Lupin found himself at a loss for words.
Indeed, anything related to Fire Dragons tends to carry a hefty price; he sighed deeply, turned back to his seat.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside, just as Lupin left, someone else walked into the compartment.
"Sorry, I accidentally overheard your conversation... do you have more of those badges?"