WE'LL TAKE ON THE WORLD ; h.j.p.

26 | Broken Noses and Easter Eggs

It was their last D.A. lesson before the upcoming Easter holidays. They had finally started to work on Patronuses, which everybody had been very keen to practise, though as Harry kept reminding them, producing a Patronus in the middle of a brightly lit classroom when they were not under threat was very different to producing it when confronted by something like a dementor.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy," said Cho brightly, watching her silvery swan shaped Patronus soar around the Room of Requirement. "They're so pretty!"

She, Hermione, and Allison sat together near the tall bookshelves.

"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you," said Harry patiently. "What we really need is a boggart or something; that's how I learned, I had to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was pretending to be a dementor -"

"Maybe we can ask Malfoy to dress up as one again like he did in Third Year," Allison suggested jokingly.

"I don't think a Patronus is how I would attack Malfoy...," Dean said.

"Guys, concentrate," Harry said. "A Patronus is supposed to protect you. Remember to have the happiest memory you can think of in your mind while doing -"

"Harry, I think I'm doing it!" Seamus yelled, who had been brought along to his first ever D.A. meeting by Dean. "Look - ah - it's gone...but it was definitely something hairy!"

Harry walked over to Dean and Seamus to watch the latter try again.

Hermione's Patronus, a shining silver otter, was gambolling around her as though swimming in the air. Out of the three girls, only Allison had not yet managed to produce a corporeal Patronus. It had merely formed a silver-glowing ball of light and once, with much imagination, something that could have resembled a small, four-legged animal.

"They are sort of nice, aren't they?" She said, looking at it fondly, before her eyes landed on Allison again. "Come on, Allie, try again."

Out of frustration, Allison had settled herself on one of the cushions and was skimming through a book on Patroni. "Did you know that significant others usually produce Patroni that are similar to one another or in some way connected in the animal world, for example - hey!"

Hermione had ripped the book out of her hands and placed it back into the bookshelf.

"Come on, just one more time, you've got to practise!" She said, pulling her upwards.

"Okay, fine." Allison closed her eyes to concentrate, sorting through her memories.

There were some early ones she wasn't even sure were real, most of them revolving around Ron and the Burrow, glimpses of birthday cakes and butterflies and laughter mixed with the feeling of losing track of time. There was the day she got her acceptance letter from Hogwarts and her dad swinging her through the air, holding her by her hands. There were the days at Hogwarts - more precisely, one specific day last year, and though she couldn't remember the exact date, Allison remembered Ron skipping stones and dipping his legs into the Great Lake, remembered Hermione dropping her book with a shriek and pointing out the slippery, black arm of the squid, remembered Harry laughing so hard he had leant against her -

"Expecto Patronum."

The words rolled over her lips without her actively deciding to; it was like her brain knew that this was the right one, even though there was nothing special about the moment itself.

"You're doing it, you're doing it!" squealed Hermione excitedly.

Allison opened her eyes again to see that she was right: out of her wand had burst a hundred silver-blue strands of light now forming into a four-legged animal maybe big enough to reach her hips with its head. It galloped silently over the hard-wood floor and rounded Cho once.