Chapter 387: Backflip
As the only real casualty of the Dementor attack, Harry had to stay in the Hospital Wing for the entire weekend. People visited often, trying to cheer him up, but Harry struggled to smile.
His broomstick was shattered, split cleanly in two. He had known it would likely break from a fall of fifty feet, and the thought had crossed his mind when he first regained consciousness. Yet, actually seeing the pieces made him feel miserable. Wood had assured him that it could be fixed, that a trip to Diagon Alley and a bit of gold would have it as good as new. But he couldn't go to Diagon Alley now... he couldn't even go to Hogsmeade.
And something else weighed on Harry's mind. In his first Divination class, Professor Trelawney had foreseen a dark omen in his tea leaves—a large, black dog. And then, during the match, a black dog had been right there in the stands... and moments later, he had fallen fifty feet.
He hadn't told anyone about this—not Ron or Hermione—because he could predict their reactions. Ron would panic, and Hermione would laugh it off. He knew his friends too well. What he wanted was real advice. The black dog had already appeared twice, each time right before deadly danger. The first time, just before term began, he had nearly been flung off the Knight Bus; now, he'd fallen off his broomstick. Was he meant to be on guard against this creature for the rest of his life?
And then there were the Dementors...
Harry sat in silence on his hospital bed, half-listening to Hermione tell him about the latest school gossip. She mentioned that Kyle's dragon-scale badge was suddenly in demand again.
"I still don't think it does much, but most people say it's helpful," Hermione said, toying with the badge pinned to her chest. "Dean Thomas swore he didn't feel a Dementor at all, but I was there, and before the Patronuses appeared, he nearly cried."
"But what about Neville?" Ron countered. "He wore two of them and did a lot better than on the train. He even came to visit Harry."
"Maybe he's just getting used to the effects of the Dementors," Hermione suggested. "It has nothing to do with an amulet."