Lucille Rose Potter

Chapter 34

"C'mon Sawyer! We're going to be late!" Lucy yelled as they rushed up to the seventh floor.

"Relax Lu, I'm sure Harry won't mind if we're a couple minutes behind," Sawyer responded.

Lucy ignored him.

"Sorry we're late," Sawyer said as they entered the Room of Requirement, "Filch was out and about."

"Don't worry about it," Harry smiled at them, ruffling Lucy's hair as he passed.

Sawyer gave Lucy a surprised looked she just smiled at him, assuring him that it was ok.

"Ok," Harry addressed the group, "today we're starting on the Patronus charm, can anyone here cast a Patronus?"

Lucy raised her hand hesitantly.

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"You can cast a Patronus, Lucy?" Harry looked at her in shock.

"Not a Corporeal Patronus," Lucy said quickly, "I can cast a Patronus though."

"Brilliant!" Harry smiled at her, "you can help me teach then, for those of you who don't know, the Patronus charm is used to ward off dementors, in order to cast a Patronus, you have to think of a happy memory, any will do as long as it's strong."

He raised his wand, "Expecto Patronum," a brilliant stag formed from silver mist, circling the room before returning to Harry.

The room broke out into applause.

"That's a Corporeal Patronus," Harry said, "they take on a form that resembles your personality, mine takes on the form of a stag, Coporeal Patronus' are very difficult to preform, a Patronus won't always take on an animal's form...Lucy?"

Lucy stepped forward and raised her wand, "Expecto Patronum."

A strong jet of silver streamed from the tip of her wand, making a protective barrier around her.

Harry was the first to clap and everyone followed, "well, you guys might not have that strong of a spell on your first couple tries," he chuckled, "but you get the point."

He did a couple more group demonstrations before setting them off to practice on their own.

"Off for it then," Harry clasped his hands together, "I'll be walking around, holler if you need me."

He jogged over to where Lucy and Sawyer were standing.

"Luce! Where'd you learn how to do that!" Harry looked at her in amazement.

"I taught myself when the dementors were stationed around Hogsmeade," Lucy shuddered at the memory, "that was not an enjoyable holiday."

"Well it was bloody brilliant!" Harry praised, "you just need to work on your Corporeal Patronus and you're all set."

"Thanks, Harry," Lucy smiled, she saw Cho shoot a resentful look from across the room.

He waved to the pair as he wandered away to go help others.

>•<

It didn't take long for everyone to produce the silvery ribbon from their wands, a couple even managed to produce a Corporeal Patronus after a couple sessions of training.

"Remember, it's very different producing a Patronus here in a brightly-lit classroom than it is when you're facing dementors, you really have to dig deep and feel your happy memories." Harry reminded them all the last meeting before the Easter Holiday.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Harry," Cho said brightly, watching her swan soar around the Room of Requirement, "they're so pretty."

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

"But that would be really scary!" Lavender protested as silver puffs shot out from her wand, "and I still can't do it!" She added angrily.

Neville wasn't having much luck either, his face was screwed up with concentration, but only feeble wisps of silver emerged from the tip of  his wand.

"You've got to think of something happy," Harry reminded him.

"I'm trying!" Neville groaned in frustration, he looked miserable, he was trying so hard, his face shone with sweat.

"They are sort of nice, aren't they?" Hermione smiled softly as her otter did a twirl in the air.

The door to the Room of Requirement opened and closed suddenly, startling everyone.

"We're all here, right?" Lucy whispered to Sawyer, trying to see who had entered.

"Hi Dobby!" Harry greeted a house elf, "what are you—what's wrong?"

The elf's green tennis ball eyes were wide in fear, his small body was trembling.

The few Patronus' that moved through the air dimmed and then disappeared, leaving the room much darker than before.

"Harry Potter sir," Dobby squeaked "Harry Potter sir...Dobby has come to warn you...but the house-elves have been warned not to tell you..."

He ran headfirst into a wall, making Lucy jump, she reached back and grasped Sawyer's hand for reassurance.

Harry grabbed the elf's tiny arm and held him away from anything that he might use to harm himself, "what's happened Dobby?"

"Harry Potter...she...she..." Dobby hit himself hard on the nose with his free fist.

Harry seized that arm too, "who's 'she' Dobby?"

The room fell silent, everyone knew who the elf was talking about, they were just waiting for him to confirm it.

"Umbridge?" Harry asked in a horrified tone.

Dobby nodded and tried to bang his head against Harry's knees, thankfully the boy kept him at bay.

"What about her, Dobby? She hasn't found out about this—about the DA?"

The answer was clear on Dobby's face.

"Is she coming?" Harry asked quietly.

Dobby let out a howl, and began beating his bare feet against the ground, "yes, Harry Potter! Yes!"

Harry straightened up, a blind panic seeping in his bones.

Everyone was frozen, unsure what to do, terrified expressions on their faces.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" Harry bellowed, panic building in his voice, "RUN!"

With her other hand, Lucy interlocked her fingers with a stunned Ginny, pulling her and Sawyer along to the exit.

Everyone poured into the corridor in a massive stream, people were pushing and pulling to get away and Lucy found herself separated from her friends.

Not having time to look for them, she booked it up the corridor, trying to find a suitable place to hide.

She knew it was too late when she heard footsteps, she was caught in the middle of a corridor like a deer in headlights.

The person stopped walking and their eyes widened as they saw her. Neither of them moved for a second.

The figure rushed forward.

"What are you doing!" They whispered urgently, "you have to get out of here! They're coming! You don't know what she'll do to you!"

Lucy found herself unable to form any words.

"Listen to me," they spoke in a quick, hushed tone, "they're surrounding this place right now, find a classroom, bathroom, closet, whatever, and don't come out I find you."

Voices got louder as they approached.

"I'll go cut them off, Run!"

And Lucy did.