The Hogwarts Express

Robert looked at the second student to join him and Jack. "Yes. You can help. As I told Jack, I want all the students back to their compartments at once. Leave the cleanup until I can look at the crime scene. I can see to the cleanup myself. I just asked Jack to take the sweets and the cold drinks off the sweets trolley and make sure that all the students get some.

"Being around intense dark arts skills can deplete magical energies, especially a student's energies. Sugar--particularly chocolate--can be helpful. Especially for anyone who has perhaps cast a patronus. It takes a lot of one's energies to cast a patronus. Some students will need the sugar lift more than others.

"I want to know at once about injuries. Who, how badly, and what compartment they're in. I'll get to them as soon as I can. Under no circumstances is anyone to antagonize these creatures in any manner, if there are any still here on the train.

"I am not surprised your patronuses didn't work," Robert said. "I have some theories about that, but they are just theories. I may know more after I investigate. Go now. Get everyone back to their compartments. Quickly. "

Upon entering the dining car, things had just got too much for Cassiopeia. It was one thing to see people with injuries; she'd seen muggle devices in their shops, and muggles were morbidly fascinated with pain and suffering, but it was something else to see it in real life.

The scene in the dining car was overwhelming. Not only were people bruised, burnt and wounded, but the entire area was covered with blood, although some students were trying to clean it up.

Cassie began shivering involuntarily. Her hand rose to her mouth and she bit her knuckles while her eyes went wide with shock. Even though the scene was gruesome and she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, she couldn't stop her feet from moving her forward, deeper into the mess. She physically recoiled whenever somebody came near her, whimpering as she did so.

Jack nodded at the man, Lupin, and shrugged. "After today, no problem. Sure thing." He asked about the dead and Jack pointed in the direction Chase and the others were healing kids. She adressed his other questions by curtly saying, "I don't think there are any more demons, if there are, they are hiding well and not acting out. It's been just us for a few minutes now and the train just started going again, moments before you came here, I believe."

Brienne joined again, filling him in a little and Jack quickly said after her, to explain to Lupin. "We tried Patronuses, and they sort of repelled them for a bit, but they had strange, powerful magic. I'm not sure why they left. They were obviously winning. No matter how hard we fought, they had some strange powers." She shrugged and said in a rallying, concluding sort of voice, "Though I'm sure that can wait to be answered. We have chaos here and now we need to deal with."

She would have asked Brienne to help pass out food and candies, but she knew Brienne was healing and that would be important. She reached out a hand and dragged the cart towards her, before turning to Lupin. "Anything you need, holler." She turned and grabbed the cart and began wheeling it forward, calling out to milling students, "Get into a compartment. I'll be passing out free food and drink." She paused at the first compartment and began to hand out the sweets. "Anyone here hurt?" No one was so she thanked them and closed the compartment, before continuing on.

Brianna nodded and went down the train gradually, telling students to get back to their compartments, sort of like a cattle corral. She even took the students who were cleaning up away to their compartments. She went through each compartment that was already full to make sure that the occupants were okay. Some students disobeyed her, which made her try to settle them down.

She went back to Robert when she was halfway done, as she had some answers to the questions.

"Most of the wounds are just deep gashes, contusions, bruises, and in severe cases they're unconscious or dead. I think someone said one guy exploded. I cannot confirm, as that is hearsay. There was a thick dark fog that came from the demons, and as Jack said they reacted to our Patronuses at first, but then it had no effect any more. The demons disappeared as soon as they came".

When the train had lurched forward, the sudden force had sent Elijah to the floor with a smack and the mental exhaustion had overwhelmed him physically so he’d decided to just stay down much to the chagrin of the Pygmy Puff that Elijah had decided he’d just call Puff. It seemed appropriate to him. He was absolutely shattered. He didn’t want to do anything anymore. He was just content in lying there next to the dead driver. Now if that wasn’t weird then he didn’t know what was. Lying next to a dead guy was a little bit too strange even with his own morbid tendencies – i.e., the lung.

When the door of the cabin opened, Elijah groaned. He just wanted to be left alone to brood or sleep or whatever. He wouldn’t make it to the feast, there was no chance. But when he heard a familiar voice he lifted his head and met Rob’s gaze. “Oh sod off you bloody dog.” He groaned. “Can’t you just leave me and my new friend alone?” He asked, gesturing sleepily to the corpse. “When you think too much does your brain hurt? Demons...Rob...demons. They were on the train.” Eli yawned. “Killed some kid and a load more. But they don’t have weaknesses...happy thoughts don’t work..” and with that, almost like a child would, Elijah fell asleep.

Jack continued down the train slowly, slightly resenting the fact that this was busy work, grunt work, whatever you liked to call it; it was not the work for someone like Jack who liked to be leading. Though, she was one who also preferred to be in the thick of things, which this task guaranteed, though she was learning that was not exactly great.

Everyone was shaken up to a degree. She ignored scratches and the such that she could heal in an instant, which she planned to do on her way back. But there were people who were vomiting (luckily she had just recently went Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and by chomping down on the right end of particular pastille, they were cured), bleeding, limping, unconscious and all sorts.

Jack, personally, did not see any corpses. Yet there was the general knowledge that the driver was long gone, and there were faint whispers of rumors suggesting a boy had died, death by explosion...of some sort. It almost sounded as though he had been hit by an entrail-expelling curse gone awry. Jack also assumed no good had befallen the wielder of the cart she was currently pushing, which did sadden Jack. The woman did good work.

Jack continued on; it seemed almost everyone had escaped to the confines of their respective compartments. She reached the front of the train and maneuvered it to be facing back. She began to push it, pushing open doors as she went to hand out "provisions" making sure especially-frazzled students received some sort of chocolate. A small processions of injured people headed her as more and more people came from the compartments with injuries, leading her solemn, sweet-laden trek down the train.

"I do not believe it was your patronuses that made any effect, honestly," Robert said. "Demons are far older than patronuses. They are as old as creation itself and completely immortal. Entirely beyond most of the magic we know. I will return. I must investigate what we have here. Once you have the students settled, stay in those cars until I return."

He walked the length of the train, seeing students physically and emotionally shaken, but clearly glad to see an adult present. Robert gave many of them reassurances as he moved through the train, checking anything he could see as he went.

He entered the final passenger car. He could see the mayhem and destruction. Clearly most of the carnage had been cleaned up already. He could see the body of an older female on the floor. She appeared to be in one piece. He investigated the car thoroughly, missing nothing. He found scraps of clothing and enough evidence to figure out that the student was a young male. He sighed heavily. The young man had never stood a chance. He found the young man's wand and confiscated it. He gathered as much evidence as he could and collected it into the leather shoulder bag he carried. Once there was no more to be learned, he magically cleaned up the scene himself.

He levitated the trolley woman, as he had learned from his investigation, and put her in the last, empty compartment. Well, clearly there were 3 dead. The student, the trolley woman, and the engineer. His mind began evaluating the evidence he had gathered so far. He still wanted to examine the last fatality, who he presumed had fallen dead at his post in the train's engine. He secured the car, checked the baggage cars completely, and found them untouched. Then he made his way back towards the engine again.

Robert entered the train engine and found Rob at the helm of the train, and he apparently had either figured out the spell that bewitched the thing or had figured out the controls. He looked at the floor and found the engineer's body being used, in a not too classy way, as a pillow for Eli.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Robert sighed. "Rob, get that body out of here. Take him to the last passenger car and secure him with the trolley lady in the last compartment on the right." Robert looked at the young man for a moment, cast a rather mischievious look at Rob, and, knowing what truly yanked Eli's chain, he took the young man's wand first and then cast a spell on his own voice to imitate the voice of Viktor Krum.

"Elijah Nathaniel Krum! On your feet! Now!' He shouted in Viktor's thick accent, right into the boy's ear.

Sammy had been to late for the battle with the demons, but she was in time to see what they had done. It was horrible. Hurt children and destroyed train parts everywhere. She helped what kids she could and put out what fires she could. Finally she couldn't take it any longer she had to find out if Keegan was ok. She rushed back to the compartment to find him covered in blood. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Sammy asked looking him over but finding no wounds. It must have been someone elses.

All the negative energy that the Demons had brought with them was starting to effect her. Her eyes turned red and her skin became as pale as a ghost. But she knew what to do in order to keep herself from going evil again. She looked down at her robes, pulled them open, and pulled out a vial of blood. She was hoping to not have to use it yet, but it looked like she had no choice. She opened the vial and drank it down quickly. Her eyes went back to normal and her skin pinked up alittle but not all the way. She saw the concern on Keegan's face. "I'm fine love. Don't worry." Sammy said sitting down next to him.

FInally, an adult. Her mind felt exhausted, and all she wanted to do was get to Hogwarts, eat something, be reassured, and go to sleep. It was almost nice though, all of the action had gotten her mind off the one thing that she knew would come back full force later when she was alone. She appreciated the business, but kids were slowly filtering out of the compartment, healed up and ready to go deal with the emotional trauma of it all, the part Chase had little ability to heal. She looked over at the adult who had finally shown up. She may be 17, and technically an adult, but she wasn't ready for this. She fell into a chair and covered her hands with her face, before standing up. She had to keep moving, had to keep herself busy. But there was barely anyone to do that with.

She wondered vaguely where that Elijah kid had gone. She was in need of a bit of company and a smoke. But he hadn't come back from the engine room, and she knew there wasn't much she could do about that. She moved out of the compartment finally, her legs feeling like they would give out under her at any moment. But she made it back to her compartment. Her owl had come in handy after all, helping deliver the note to the Ministry that got help there. She smiled slightly and fell into her seat. Staring blankly at the chair across from her. She was to tired to let her mind wander, and that was probably a good thing, because she knew what she would think about.

Chase closed her eyes and then stood up quickly. She needed a smoke, and she needed one now. "Elijah.." she muttered and disappeared down the hall, heading to the engine room, the last place she had known him to be in at least. Maybe he was actually driving the thing, she wasn't sure, but they were going to Hogwarts anyway. Finally, and then she'd be so busy she wouldn't even think about her problems. Or the train ride anyway. She found her way to the outside of the compartment and put her ear to the door. Someone was shouting something, and she gently knocked. "Bad timing? I was wondering if I could talk to Elijah." She said peeking her head in through the door.

Elijah had definitely been around him and his sister for too long. The Bulgarian didn’t seem to care that he’d fallen asleep with his head resting on the chest of the dead driver. Rob couldn’t quite believe the sight. It was incredibly bizarre and it was something both he and Jen had done in the past but to be fair they didn’t do it on a regular basis. Sleeping on corpses was a little bit strange but hey, strange was the trio’s band name. Rob kicked Elijah and the Slytherin grumbled irritably. Smirking, Rob settled himself in the driver’s seat and watched the Slytherin edge closer to his pillow. He was clearly the type to curl up when he went to sleep. Very cat like, Rob noted. He poked Elijah again and this time the Slytherin’s hand came out to bat his foot away. Rob sighed. There was no way he was going to be able to move the corpse if Elijah was unconscious on it. Rob yawned and rested his head against the back of the chair, his eyes falling shut as he did so. When Robert walked in, Rob jumped to his feet and looked as if he was trying to do something. On Robert’s order he pulled the body out from underneath Elijah and he left the car.

Elijah groaned and looked around himself. The Pygmy Puff squealed and he felt it morph. Eli glanced at it and saw it had morphed into Robert. The Pygmy Puff dropped its trousers and turned around before promptly waving it’s backside at Robert. Elijah laughed and dropped his head back to the floor. Then, he heard his father’s voice. Not only did the prat never actually speak to him but he also never said his whole name so Elijah merely groaned. “Sod off you fat git.” He growled, obviously thinking that it was in fact Viktor. “Go and stick your broom up your arse because I’m not listening to your drivel.”

Lifting his head, Elijah clapped eyes on Chase and he smiled despite his fatigue. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the Pygmy Puff Robert grip his shirt and hop onto his shoulder as he did so. He saluted the man in question while the Pygmy Puff shook its bum at Robert again. Eli chuckled and slipped out into the corridor. “’Ello sweetheart,” He mumbled tiredly. “What did you need? I could go for some Firewhisky and a ciggie m’self.”