It Meant Family

7th of January 1994

 "Only when he said that did I realize I hadn't been smiling. Not sure for how long. Maybe thirteen years." - Glory O'Brian's History of the Future, A. S. King

Hogwarts, Scotland

After Dinner on Friday Harry left the Great Hall for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, so he lit a lamp with his wand, dropped his bag on the floor, sat in one of the desks and laid his head on his arms. He watched as the flame flickered and the wax dripped from the candle, the wind blew against the window and he zoned out waiting for time to pass. A few minutes later Remus turned up carrying a large packing case, he walked through the corridor of tables and chairs and placed it on an empty space on his desk.

"What's that?" Asked Harry, standing up slowly.

"Another Boggart." Said Remus, stripping off his cloak. He waved his wand and lit all the lights in the room. "I've been combing the castle since last term. I just found this one lurking in Filch's filing cabinet." He waved some desks away to make more room for Harry to practise. "It's the nearest we'll get to a real Dementor." He assured him. "But don't worry, we're not using it today."

"Okay." Said Harry, relieved.

"You'll be alright, cub." He rubbed his godson's arm and offered a reassuring smile.

"What if I can't do it?" He hugged himself as he realised the weight of that possibility for the first time.

"Then we'll figure something else out." He said "I promise." Harry nodded. "So," Remus took out his wand and nudged Harry to do the same. "This spell is highly advanced magic," he prefaced, "well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."

"I know that already." He said impatiently. "How does it work?" He asked.

"Well then, when it works correctly, the Patronus serves as a guardian and provides protection against darkness and fear, which is why they're most commonly used to fight off Dementors." Harry pictured himself hidden behind his bed curtains with a silvery blue orb floating above and tried not to consider that his roommates might notice. "The Patronus is made of light and positive forces, it's a projection of hope, happiness, the desire to survive... the very things that the Dementor feeds upon, but it can't feel despair, so they can't hurt it and it gives a sense of calm and safety to the people around it, provided that's the intention of the caster." Harry listened attentively. "Remember, this spell is tricky, many qualified wizards have difficulty with it, so don't beat yourself up if you don't get it right away."

"You really think I can do it?" His palms began to sweat and he wiped one of his hands on his cloak.

"I wouldn't teach you if I didn't." He looked at Harry with a certainty that gave him hope. "The incantation will work only if you are concentrating and you'll need to choose a happy memory to focus on." Harry cast about for a happy memory, but he'd been haunted by so many terrible things that it was hard to dig through it to find the good. Somewhere in the surface, he found the memory of when he'd won his first Quidditch game, there had been a big celebration at Gryffindor Tower and they all cheered for him, he chose that.

"Right." He reconstructed the scene in his mind, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful feeling in his chest, the pride on his friends' faces.

"The incantation is expecto patronum."

"Expecto patronum." Harry repeated. "Expecto patronum."

"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?" He asked.

"Yeah." Said Harry.

"Good." Remus nodded. "Now hold out your wand" he showed him as he explained "and as you say the incantation, do like so." His wand moved swiftly through the air, drawing an imaginary rising diagonal line. He fixed his posture and readied himself.