On October 31, 1981, Lord Voldemort attacked the Potter's, set on a mission to kill Harry Potter, the baby boy who would ruin his plans and bring his downfall. Underestimating the young boy and his family, Voldemort is vanquished, never to be heard...
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It was a chilly Saturday afternoon, and the group of four students could be found chatting at their table in the Great Hall. Lunch had been served an hour prior, but there were still a few groups of students at each table that were still eating, chatting, or doing work. The group's conversation died down as their Head of House strolled up to them, a heavy brown clipboard in hand.
"Afternoon, students!"
"Afternoon, Professor," they chimed.
"I'm taking tally of students who are going home for the winter holidays, as well as those who are staying here at the castle. Made your decisions yet?"
"I'll be going home for the holidays, Professor," replied Cedric, Amara and Kevin responding similarly afterwards with their plans to be with their families back home. Checking them off on her list, the teacher's eyes flitted towards MJ, whose face was currently stuffed with a ham and cheese toastie dipped in tomato soup. "Don't need to worry Miss Smith, I already have you marked on the list to go back home to your guardian like the last few years."
Sending her a thumbs up, MJ swallowed down her mouthful of food with an audible gulp as the teacher walked away. "I know you're tired of me saying this," MJ groaned as Cedric spoke, she knew where this conversation was going. "But you are always welcome to come to my home, my folks are already cleared by Dumbledore and your matron to let you stay with us for a while."
"I know, and I'm so grateful for them, honestly!" Assured MJ, her hand fiddling with the glass of water in front of her. "But you know what it's like back there, if I'm not taking care of them then nobody is! Those kids need someone to look out for them, remind them to brush their teeth or make dinner that isn't canned soup, carrots and stale bread. Miss Hitch only cares for them about a quarter of the time, other than that we were always on our own."
None of them responded, their eyes darting quickly to each other with such a feeling of hopelessness. Knowing their friend was sacrificing her happiness for these kids and constantly having to pay for it. And knowing she was too stubborn to let them do anything about it.
Quickly clearing her throat, MJ tried to change the sad mood as she switched topics. "Speaking about creatures that suck my soul out," a snort escaped from Amara's lips, "I wanted to talk to you a lot about the Dementor issue." That certainly got their attention. Her friends all leaned in as the dark-haired girl continued. "Cedric, your dad taught you how to do a Patronus charm, correct?"
"Yeah, he's had his fair share with them while working in the Ministry. Wanted to make sure I knew how to produce one for emergencies. Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking you could teach us how to produce Patronuses of our own."
The boy furrowed his brows. "Why not ask Professor Lupin? I'm sure he wouldn't mind, seeing as he's the only competent DADA teacher we've had in the past few years."
