My Godfather is an Innocent Convict (Rewrite)

Expecto Whatever

Harriet was sitting in Lupins office, drinking tea, listening carefully to his explanation of the patronus charm.

"So all I need is a very happy memory?" Harriet said flatly, "I guess that would have been too much to write into a book!"

"The useful books are being rebound," Lupin chuckled, "Dumbledore sent them out at the start of the year."

"He sent out the books that we could have used to learn how to defend ourselves from a dementor attack?"

Lupin nodded grimly, "Yes. I taught the prefects this charm at the start of the year. It's rather complex magic, despite how it sounds."

"Well, that's good." Harriet set down her tea cup. "When do we begin?"

"Well, right now if you feel up to it."

"Absolutely!"

"Alright," Lupin stood, pulling out his wand. "Get up and copy me."

He took a few steps away from the table and waved his wand in a specific pattern. Harriet copied him.

"Not bad," he said, "Raise your wand a little higher, the movements need to be clear when you're beginning to learn. As you get more familiar with how the spell feels, you can drop some of them."

"Why is that anyway?" Harriet asked curiously. "Professor Flitwick has been lecturing us about spell feelings for a while but I still don't quite understand. Even with Magical Theory clearing up most of the issues."

"Your taking Magical Theory?"

"Yeah, I figured it'd be useful. I really enjoy Ancient Studies as well. Anyway, about the magic?"

"Well, as Magical Theory will have explained, magic isn't tied down. It's not a muscle or a nerve, it's more of a living thing. You can morph it and shape it how you like with spell casting or potion making. Also with sigils and symbols," Remus explained, "You do this mostly in your mind and soul. In other words, your wand is merely an extension of the two. It reflects your magic with it's own, hence the wand choosing the wizard. After a while, you become so familiar with certain spells that they become like secondary nature. For an expert duelist these would be the combat spells they cast behind their backs."

Harriet nodded, processing the new information. "So you're saying someone might not need a wand to cast spells?"

"Pretty much," Lupin smiled, "These would be very powerful wizards though. One example would be Merlin and another would be the high priests of Egypt. All of them lived long ago. These days it's impossible to achieve that kind of control."

"And why the happy memory for the patronus?" That was the part Harriet hadn't understood yet.

Remus smiled patiently. "The Patronus charm wards against a dementors aura, so to speak. It needs to be particularly bright to balance out the fear and pain a dementor makes you recall. It usually takes the form of an animal which will fight the dementor off."

"What's yours?" Harriet asked.

Her godfather chuckled. "Expecto Patronum!" he called.

Silver and light leapt from his wand. A giant wolf leapt out, bounding around the room. It sniffed at various things, gently nipped at Harriets robes before leaping forward again and dissolving.

"Cool!" Harriet cried happily, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Now you try!" Remus laughed.

"Okay!"

Harriet thought for a while. Happy memories, happy memories...

This was harder than it seemed. She thought of playing cards with her friends. That was happy enough, right?

A pathetic wisp of white smoke appeared. Harriet's face fell in dissapointment.

"Don't worry," Lupin said gently, "No one gets it on their first try. What did you think of?"

"Playing cards with my friends."

"A good memory," he smiled, "Not strong enough. Try again?"

Harriet did. She tried three more times. No luck. Just meager whisps.

"Don't worry," Remus told her as she sat back down in a huff. "It's alright if you don't get it that quickly. It took me much longer to even get the whisps, your doing fine."

Harriet just nodded, not entirely happy with herself. She wanted to learn this quickly! It wasn't really her fault that charms wasn't her best subject. Who would have thought magic was so emotional. Transfigurations were definitely easier to do.

Absentmindedly, she drummed her fingers on the table. Did she have any better memories she could use?

"What's your memory?" She asked Remus.

Remus gaped at her slightly.

"If you don't mind," Harriet added quickly, "Just curious."

Lupin seemed to consider for a moment, Harriet's expecting eyes looking at him inquisitively. He gave a gentle smile, "Finding my family again."