𝐈𝐈𝐈. 𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱

AT EIGHT O'CLOCK ON THURSDAY EVENING, Harry left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binns' desk.

"What's that?" said Harry.

"Another boggart," said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real dementor. The boggart will turn into a dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."

"Okay," said Harry, trying to sound as though he wasn't apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real dementor.

"So . . ." Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and in- dicated that Harry should do the same. "The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."

Before Harry could ask, a knock echoed throughout the door. The door opened and Lilith entered. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Ah. . . yes. I completely forgot about the time. You don't mind waiting, do you? I'm teaching Harry the Patronus Charm. You can put your own input and advice as well."

Lilith nodded and set her bag down at the table, sitting on one of the chairs.

"How does it work?" said Harry nervously.

"Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus," said Lupin, "which is a kind of anti-dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor."

Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid- sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the de- mentors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have diffi- culty with it."

"What does a Patronus look like?" said Harry curiously.

"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it."

"And how do you conjure it?"

"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory." Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys' was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had first ridden a broomstick. "Right," he said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach.

"The incantation is this —" Lupin cleared his throat. "Expecto patronum!"

"Expecto patronum," Harry repeated under his breath, "expecto patronum."

"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?"

"Oh — yeah —" said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. "Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum —"

Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas.

"Did you see that?" said Harry excitedly. "Something happened!"

"Very good," said Lupin, smiling. "Right, then — ready to try it on a dementor?"

"Yes," Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. He tried to keep his mind on flying, but something else kept intruding. . . . Any second now, he might hear his mother again . . . but he shouldn't think that, or he would hear her again, and he didn't want to . . . or did he?