The Tale of a Gaunt

The Patronus

A few months later, Arabella was walking through one of the many corridors of Hogwarts when she was stopped by Harry.

"Hey, uh, Lupin wants to teach me how to defeat dementors and he wondered if you wanted to learn too" Harry told her.

"Sure" Arabella smiled and the pair of them went to Lupin's office together.

When they entered the room, Lupin was leaning against the wall. He saw Arabella and smiled.

"Good, I thought you'd want to learn. Now, are you sure you want to learn this? It is a very advanced and difficult form of magic to master, in fact, it's beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level" Lupin said. "It is called the Patronus Charm" Lupin continued.

"Yeah, how does it work?" Harry asked.

"Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus, which is a kind of Anti-Dementor guardian which acts as a shield between you and the Dementor. Each Patronus is unique to the wizard who conjures it" Lupin explained.

"How do you conjure it?" Arabella asked.

"With an incantation: Expecto Patronum" Lupin told her. "In order for the Patronus Charm to work, you need to summon the happiest memory you have, and the Patronus will appear".

"Now, let's begin, shall we? Repeat after me: Expecto Patronum" Lupin smiled.

"Expecto Patronum" Arabella and Harry repeated.

"Very good" Lupin smiled. "Have you got your happy memory?" He asked and the other two nodded.

Lupin walked towards a chest. "Before I open this, the Dementors inside are Boggarts" Lupin assured them. "The real one is much worse".

Lupin then opened the chest and two massive cloaked figures glided out.

Harry and Arabella pointed their wands at the Dementors. "Expecto Patronum!" They yelled, but only the candles from behind them were put out.

"Expecto- Expect-" Arabella tried saying, but everything went black.

"Lily! It's him! Take Harry and Bella and run!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Arabella woke up suddenly, she looked to her left to see that Harry had collapsed too. Lupin was standing over them holding two bars of chocolate.

"Here, take these, no one ever masters it on their first try" Lupin smiled. Arabella and Harry struggled to sit up, their heads still reeling from the failed attempt. Lupin handed them the chocolate bars, and they gratefully accepted.

"Let's try it again," Lupin encouraged. "Remember, focus on your happiest memories and say the incantation with conviction. Expecto Patronum."

They nodded, determination etched on their faces. Arabella closed her eyes, recalling the day she first walked into the great doors of Hogwarts.

"Expecto Patronum!" they shouted simultaneously, pointing their wands at the looming Boggart Dementors. But once again, the room plunged into darkness.

"You two are so, so loved. Mama and Dada love you"

Arabella woke up again.

"Take a moment, gather your thoughts, and let's try again," Lupin encouraged, his patience unwavering.

They attempted multiple times, each iteration met with failure and the comforting offer of chocolate from Lupin.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a large white light emitted from Arabella's wand and the Dementor was pushed back into the chest. Harry had the same success.

Lupin beamed with pride. "Excellent work!" He said, handing two more bars of chocolate to them.

Harry and Arabella leant against the wall, feeling accomplished.

Then, Arabella thought of a question.

"What's under a Dementor's hood?" She asked.

Lupin looked at her. "Well, the only people who know are in no condition to tell us, you see, a Dementor only lowers its hood to use its final weapon" Lupin explained.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"It's known as the Dementor's Kiss, it's what they do when they want to destroy someone entirely" Lupin said.

"What, they kill-?" Harry asked.

"No, no, far worse than that" Lupin said.

"They get expelled?" Arabella asked and Harry snorted, remembering the words Hermione said in their first year.

"No, you see, a Dementor clamps their jaws over the mouth of a victim and suck out his soul" Lupin said.

"Isn't that killing them though?" Harry asked.

"No, you can exist without a soul, as long as your brain and heart are intact, but you will not have any sense of self anymore, no emotion" Lupin explained.

"It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black, the Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it on him when he is seen" Lupin sighed.

"He deserves it" Harry said.

"Really? You think someone deserves that?" Lupin asked.

"Yeah, for some things" Harry told him.

After speaking for a few more minutes, both Arabella and Harry left Lupin's office to head back to their Common Rooms.

"Potter, Gaunt, where do you think you're going?" Professor McGonagall's voice came, the pair of them turned to her.

"We were just heading back to our Common Rooms" Harry said.

"Ok, I have something that belongs to you, Potter" Professor McGonagall said, bringing out a broomstick which Arabella figured that it must have been Harry's Firebolt.

"We checked it over and found no jinxes, you have a very good friend out there, Potter" Professor McGonagall smiled.

After Harry got his broom back and when the pair of them resumed their journey to their Common Rooms, they started speaking about their Patronuses and the Dementors.

"Bit nuts, isn't it? The Dementor's Kiss, I mean" Harry said.

Arabella smiled. "Yeah, but we know one thing now, though" She said.

"Oh yeah? What is that?" Harry asked.

"We can now prove to Hermione that there is something worse than expulsion" Arabella chuckled.

The pair of them laughed and said goodbye as they returned to both the Gryffindor and Slytherin Common Rooms.