𝐎, 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 ⎥ "He wants a fight with
a God? I'll give him one."
﹙ from stardust we came, to stardust we return ﹚
Prisoner of Azkaban - Deathly Hollows
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ELARA COULDN'T SLEEP. lately every time she'd be able to succumb to sleep, she'd dream about thousands of dementors surrounding her. she'd only wake up when one lifted its hood off it's face and she saw it's terrible black hole for a mouth.
at eight o'clock on thursday evening, elara and harry left gryffindor tower for the history of magic classroom. it was dark and empty when they arrived, but they lit the lamps with their wands and had waited only five minutes when professor lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto professor binn's desk.
"what's that?" said harry.
"another boggart," said lupin, stripping off his cloak. "i've been combing the castle ever since tuesday, and very luckily, i found this one lurking inside mr. filch's filing cabinet. it's the nearest we'll get to a real dementor. the boggart will turn into a dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. i can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."
"okay," said harry. elara was relieved they wouldn't have to use a real dementor.
"so..." professor lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. "the spell i am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic — well beyond ordinary wizarding level. it is called the patronus charm."
"corrine told us about it when we were in the hospital," said elara. "but how does it work?"
"well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a patronus," said lupin, "which is a kind of anti-dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor."
professor lupin continued, "the patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can't hurt it. but i must warn you, harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."
"what does a patronus look like?" said harry curiously.
"each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it."
"and how do you conjure it?" elara asked excitedly.
"with an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."
