'I promised I would,' Harry reminded him, stepping to the middle of the room.
The members of the DA were looking at him with a mixture of expectation and wariness, except for Hermione whose eagerness could not be contained. She was rocking back and forth on her heels, tapping her wand into her palm.
'The Patronus Charm is more advanced than anything else you will likely be learning at Hogwarts,' Harry began. 'It creates a partially tangible form of positive emotion and intent. The steps are relatively simple, you need only focus on a positive emotion and speak the incantation, but having the ability to cast it is another thing entirely.'
Harry spread his hands to indicate they should move apart from each other.
'Can anyone produce a patronus of any sort?' Harry asked, looking at Cedric.
'Nope,' he shook his head, 'if I knew how you wouldn't have nearly died when they interrupted our quidditch game in third year.'
'I can,' Hermione burst out. 'It's not a proper one like yours, but I can cast it.'
'Show everyone,' Harry instructed.
Hermione stepped out of the group, glowing pink with pride, but also appearing rather nervous.
'Expecto patronum,' she cried, closing her eyes.
A rush of silver vapour shot from her wand to form a shining shield between her and Harry. 'That's very impressive,' Harry remarked neutrally, 'self-taught I presume.'
'Yes,' she admitted.
'How long have you been trying?' Harry asked. 'All the way since the end of third year?' Hermione nodded, a little abashed that she hadn't completely mastered it in over a year.
'You heard the incantation,' he told the others. 'Hermione pronounced it perfectly. Focus on the happiest memory you have, or imagine something that will make you happier still, and then cast.'
'Which do you use?' Ginny asked.
'Whichever comes easiest,' Harry answered simply. It was a lie. He had used to imagine a scenario that would make him happy, but it had failed him in the maze. Now he was tempted to cast it off his happiest memories, but not in front of all the members of the DA, not if he could avoid it.
'Can you show us yours?' It was Cedric that had asked. Neville and Katie knew better than to ask him, well Neville did, Katie sometimes pushed her toes over the line. Cedric was the only other person in the room who would dare ask and Harry couldn't refuse without adding further fuel to the dark wizard rumours. He'd just have to hope that it didn't fail completely when he chose a memory that wasn't quite his happiest.
'Expecto patronum,' her murmured, sliding his wand a few inches out of his sleeve. A bright cloud of silver vapour burst from its tip, hovering in the air in front of him. The vapour didn't hang still like Hermione's had, it twisted and churned within itself, trying to take on a corporeal from, but not quite having the strength to manage it. 'I thought you said you could form a corporeal patronus,' Smith accused.
'He can,' Ron spoke up, 'we all saw it at quidditch in our third year when Malfoy tried to pretend to be a dementor.'
'Stags don't have feathers,' Terry Boot commented. Harry's gaze snapped back from Smith to his weakened patronus. The Ravenclaw was right, the tips of ghostly feathers shivered at the edges of the mist, flaring as if to catch the wind.
Harry dispelled it immediately. He didn't need everyone seeing whatever it was his patronus had become. He could cast it later without concern in the chamber to find out for himself.
'A patronus takes on a corporeal form that is unique to the caster,' Hermione recited. 'A corporeal patronus generally takes the shape of the animal the caster shares the deepest affinity with.'
'He probably doesn't want us to see what it is,' Smith sneered. 'It's likely a snake.'
'With feathers?' Terry Boot asked sceptically. Smith shot the Ravenclaw an angry look, but couldn't deny he had a point.
'It's changed,' Hermione remarked, staring at Harry. 'A corporeal patronus only changes when the caster has been though a dramatic, emotional upheaval. The book said things like loss, love and betrayal have caused changes in patronuses.'
Thanks, Hermione.
'Perhaps you should all try casting your own patroness now,' Harry instructed, moving the topic on from him and his patronus. The members of the DA slowly split up and began to cast the Patronus Charm, most had little success beyond a few wisps of silver that shot from the wands to disperse into the air.
'Pick your happiest memory, or if that doesn't work choose something that would make you happy and imagine that while casting,' Harry reminded them. He took a seat on the floor nearby where Katie and Neville were trying.
Both of his friends were producing copious amounts of silver mist, but Katie's seemed to coalescing more each time she cast.
Watching with interest Harry sat back as the silver mist gradually transformed into a crow.
Katie pouted. 'Well that wasn't what I was expecting,' she beamed, far too happy about being the first person to manage a corporeal patronus to be upset by her rather surprising affinity for crows.
'That explains a lot,' one of the twins grinned.
'Oh great Dark Mistress,' the other added with as straight a face as possible.
'Well done for being the first,' Harry congratulated her. 'Though,' he surveyed the room, 'Cedric, Hermione and Neville look like they're getting fairly close now.'
Cedric got there before the two Gryffindors, a rather noble looking, silver badger forming from his wand to patrol rather cautiously around his feet.
The Hufflepuff grinned ruefully up at Harry. 'It was inevitable that it would be a badger, wasn't it?'
Hermione managed to produce a silver otter, that chattered cheerfully and scampered about her until it eventually faded to nothing. His former friend was still one of the most talented witches Harry knew of and he felt the otter quite suited her.
In the distraction that Hermione's otter caused Harry drew Ginny to one side.
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