Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 19: Team-Building Exercises (3)

4:00 p.m.

Team Protector

At four o'clock, Harry and Flint entered the DADA class room. Harry was pleased to see that Neville was also on this team, but he didn't really know any of the others very well. The room had been cleared of most of the chairs, leaving enough for each team member arranged in a loose circle. There were five other students, all upperclassmen: three Puffs and two Gryffs, one of whom was Head Girl Emily Rossen. Harry was somewhat surprised to note that no Ravenclaws were assigned to this team, and Flint said that other than Harry and Neville, everyone else in this research group was Fifth Year or higher. After a minute or so, Lockhart strode into the room with his typical flair.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentle-wizards, welcome to Research Team Protector. Please take a seat. Before we start, I should warn you in advance that I believe this group will face the most challenging year of all the research teams. While your assignment will be difficult, I have every confidence that you will give me your best effort, and I promise you that I will be fully satisfied with your best effort, even if you ultimately fail to attain this team's objective. You see, you have each been selected for this research team so that you may hopefully learn one of the most powerful and yet most difficult defensive Charms known to wizarding kind – the Patronus Charm!" With that, Lockhart pulled out his wand, pointed at the floor in the center of the group.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he intoned. Instantly, there was a blast of a glowing fog that erupted from the tip of his wand, a fog which quickly coalesced into a strange translucent silvery beast the likes of which Harry had never seen before. It was a lithe and sinewy quadruped with a long thin tail, oddly shaped hind legs, and black stripes along its back. From the head, Harry couldn't tell if it was a dog or a cat, but it was clearly a predator of some kind to judge by the size of its teeth and the obvious strength of its jaws. The creature walked slowly around the center of the room sniffing the air as if looking for some kind of threat. Then, it yawned, frightening several of the students, as the strange beast was able to open its jaws unnaturally to well over ninety degrees.

"That, ladies and gentle-wizards, is my Patronus. A Patronus is, for lack of a better description, a spirit guardian – a creature of pure magic drawn from the wizard or witch's positive thoughts and summoned into existence as a protector and guardian. The Patronus can defend you against nearly any predator. It can follow fairly complex instructions so long as the task you give it involves protecting yourself or others. It is the only known spell capable of inflicting any harm at all on either a Dementor or a lethifold, and it can ward off vampires, werewolves and most other 'Dark' creatures. It is also a highly effective form of communication. A wizard can will his Patronus to deliver a message to anyone in the world provided it is someone the wizard considers a friend or ally, and it will instantly apparate to that location to open up a line of communication." The class was enthralled watching the beautiful yet deadly looking creature as it walked around the room. Lockhart waved his wand, and the Patronus faded away.

"The Charm has two deficiencies, however. First, it is a tremendous drain on power, and only the most formidable of wizards can maintain a Patronus for more than a few minutes. Secondly, and more importantly, the Patronus Charm is extremely difficult to cast and maintain. Not because of the wand movements or the incantation – no, no, both of those are quite simple. No, my students, the Patronus Charm is difficult because it falls within that class of spells known as esoteric magic. I see some of you recognize the term from the pop quiz I gave you, though no one below Sixth Year had any idea what it meant. You see, virtually all the Charms you will learn during your Hogwarts studies are categorized as standard spells. You speak the right words. You wave your wand in the right way. And voila! The magic happens. Even so-called wandless and wordless magic are still considered standard magic, as they both require the wizard to imagine that he is casting the spell with wand and incantation and do so with sufficient mental clarity to satisfy the spell's requirements. Esoteric spells, however, require a third ingredient. You must actually think a certain way while casting and maintain that requisite state of mind for as long as the magical effect lasts. Allow your self to become distracted and thus unable to maintain that necessary state of mind, and the spell will fail."