Harry McGonagall

Chapter 24 -Dementors, Boggarts and Seers - Oh My!

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry McGonagall – Chapter 24 –Dementors, Boggarts and Seers – Oh My!

"Expecto patronum!" exclaimed Harry for the sixth time in the last hour. It was the second day of Patronus lessons, and he was in the common room at McGonagall Manor with Hermione, Padma, Brianna and Aunt Minnie. So far, none of the students had gotten any results, no matter what memory they used. Harry had tried concentrating on birthday parties, Quidditch matches, trips to Six Flags, finding out he was magical and seeing his parents after a semester at Hogwarts, but none of them worked. This time, he focused on the Sorting Hat announcing he'd be in Ravenclaw, the same house that Hermione had been sorted into moments before. For a split second, there was a white flash from his wand.

"That's very good, Harry!" exclaimed Minnie. "Very good, indeed."

"Yeah," commented Brianna sarcastically. "Now you have an alternate spell to Lumos." The girl's wand lit up from the light spell, which she'd learned previously at the American magic school.

"Ha Ha!" grumbled Harry, before trying again. Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, he had realized that thoughts of Hermione seemed to be more powerful than others, so he remembered her hugging him when his family arrived in England just over a week before. Subconsciously, he glanced at the object of his recollection, but was only noticed by Hermione, who said nothing while her eyebrows furrowed for a moment as Harry said, "Expecto Patronum!"

This time, a white, misty shield seemed to come out of his wand and lasted for about five seconds before fading. Harry noticed that holding it was draining. He was starting to sweat, as well as pant, with the effort. "Excellent!" proclaimed his aunt just before Harry dropped his wand, clearly exhausted.

He was bending over to pick it up when he heard his best friend repeat the same incantation he had, with identical results. "Well, done, Hermione!" he complimented between breaths.

"You, too," she replied just before her shield faded.

Harry could see that she was just as drained as he, so he suggested, "Maybe we could take a break."

"Yes," agreed Minerva. "You two have probably done all you can for the day. Good job, both of you. Take the rest of the lesson off, while the other two keep trying."

The two friends walked into the library that Hermione always insisted on visiting whenever she was in this house and were looking at the books, trying to decide what to read, when a pecking noise got their attention. "It looks like someone's sent a letter," commented Harry needlessly as he walked toward the closed window and welcomed a rather unusual owl with huge blood-shot eyes that looked slightly out of focus. It was a rather petite brown owl, but along with a rolled up scroll, it carried the scent of cooking sherry as it flew in a slow, erratic, zig-zag pattern, finally hovering in front of Harry's face and slowly sticking its right leg out.

Harry untied the scroll as he called, "Blinky."

"Yes, Master Harry," the elf said after popping into the room.

"Could you bring an owl treat for this bird?"

"Yes."

Before the elf disappeared, Hermione added, "And maybe something to sober the poor thing up."

Blinky popped away and returned about ten seconds later. "This owl treat is being dipped in sobering potion." Harry could see that it was in fact dripping with something as he took the owl treat. He was actually surprised that the owl ate it, but it did. He grinned when its eyes got a bit more focused before it flew off.