Patronus (4K)

The next morning, just as the new term began, the sixth-years received a surprise: a large notice about "Apparition Lesson" had been pinned to the notice board the night before.

The moment Snape and Aber entered the common room, they were drawn in by a burst of excited chatter.

"Wow!" Cries of amazement erupted from the crowd from time to time.

The two of them squeezed toward the notice board as well. Students had already crowded around it, lining up to sign their names. Amid all the pushing and shoving, they finally managed to add their signatures.

"Oh, don't be silly. You can't Apparate here—the castle won't allow it," one student reminded his excitedly gesturing friend.

"Isn't that obvious? Anyone who's read Hogwarts: A History should know that, shouldn't they?" another student replied somewhat smugly.

"Yeah, I suppose nobody except a Troll could fail to know that..."

The students excitedly discussed everything about Apparition.

After a while, Snape and Aber finally squeezed free of the noisy crowd, left the dungeon, and prepared to head to class after breakfast.

"Severus has Apparated before," Aber told Pandora outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, looking immensely proud. "Someone took him Side-Along Apparating last year, you know?"

"I didn't know," Pandora said cheerfully. "You know Sevy better than I do."

"I had several experiences with Side-Along Apparition last year," Snape quickly took over, his expression somewhat complicated. "Believe me, it doesn't feel good. You wouldn't like it.

"In an instant, everything around you plunges into darkness, as if countless invisible hands are squeezing you from every direction. It feels like iron bands are crushing your chest so tightly that you can barely breathe.

"You can even feel your eyeballs being pushed back into your skull, and your eardrums pressed deep into your head... Then it's like being forcibly squeezed through an extremely narrow rubber tube. Only then can you finally gasp for air..."

As Snape spoke, he unconsciously gestured to describe the sensation.

The other sixth-years nearby overheard their conversation and gathered around, curiously asking Snape what Apparition felt like.

Mary fired off question after question. As Snape answered, he happened to look up and discovered Lily among the crowd.

She stood quietly there, listening intently, her red hair particularly conspicuous amid the others.

Ever since they had parted outside Gryffindor Tower at the end of fifth year, he had not spoken to her for an entire term.

Of course, he had no intention of forcing a conversation.

It was not a matter of deliberately avoiding her or not. In Snape's heart, he always felt that the girl in his memories was no longer quite the same as the Lily before him, as though the girl in his memories was an illusory shadow and not the same person as the real one.

Perhaps it was like a saying from his previous life: "No one can compare to you in my memories—not even you as you are now."

Perhaps he needed an opportunity to get to know her again.

Back to the matter at hand: after Snape told everyone how unpleasant Side-Along Apparition was, the students did not lose interest. Instead, they looked awestruck and expectant.

Only after Professor Grubbly-Plank deliberately coughed loudly several times did they reluctantly return to their seats.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Professor Grubbly-Plank raised her voice again, sweeping a stern gaze around the classroom. "When you encounter Dementors and face their Kiss, do you want to do nothing but tremble in terror?!"

She spun around and pointed at a picture pinned to the blackboard.

In the picture, a Wizard curled up in a corner, his eyes vacant as though his soul had been sucked away.

"Dementors are among the foulest things in the world."

Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice was low and grave as she picked up another picture of a Dementor for the class to see.

The Dementor in the picture was blurry. Beneath its cloak, one could faintly make out rotting limbs covered in slime and spots.

"They like to hide beneath their cloaks and haunt the darkest, filthiest places. They live amid decay and despair, sucking every trace of peace, hope, and happiness from the air around them.

"Even Muggles can sense their presence. Though Muggles cannot see them, whenever a Dementor approaches, every good feeling and every happy memory is sucked out of you.

"If they can, Dementors will keep draining you until you become like them... soulless and full of evil. After receiving a Dementor's Kiss, all you have left are the worst experiences of your life, nothing more than an 'empty shell'..."

"Professor," a student asked in a trembling voice, "I heard they guard Azkaban?"

"Yes, they are there even now," Professor Grubbly-Plank said with a frown. "That prison built on a lonely island in the middle of the vast sea.

"Azkaban has never needed high walls or seawater to keep prisoners inside, because the prisoners are trapped in their own minds. They cannot summon even the faintest happy thought, much less think of escaping.

"For centuries, the Ministry of Magic has used Dementors as guards for Azkaban prison, as if they naïvely believed this could solve the problem once and for all."

Professor Grubbly-Plank sighed and shook her head.

"This may be unnecessary to say, but remember to obey the law. Do not get yourselves locked in Azkaban.

"More than two hundred years ago, a Minister for Magic named Edrich Diggory conducted an inspection of Azkaban.

"He discovered that the conditions inside the prison were appalling: the Dementors had drained away joy and every other positive emotion.

"People died from despair, while most of the few who survived had already lost their minds. That place had become a haven for Dementors."

"Does such a monster really exist, Professor?" Peter Pettigrew asked in a thin voice, a flicker of fear passing through his little eyes beneath his mouse-gray hair. "If they do, surely someone has to keep them under control?"

"Unfortunately, Peter, there is no doubt that they exist. They are merely confined to Azkaban for the time being.

"As for your other question, on that point I agree with Headmaster Dumbledore. Dementors have never truly been loyal to anyone. They only side with those who can provide them with more human victims.

"If we must say who can control them, I think they would be more willing to obey the Dark Lord than the Ministry of Magic."

A sharp intake of breath swept through the classroom, as though an invisible Dementor were lurking nearby and giving off an icy chill.

Wormtail looked even more frightened, his body trembling faintly. He gnawed at his fingernails, looking anxious.

"Then is there any way to destroy them?" Lily's calm voice broke the oppressive atmosphere. "If there is no way to deal with them, I don't think Dementors would obediently remain in Azkaban. And besides, what is the purpose of this lesson?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank nodded approvingly at Lily. She stepped down from the platform and slowly walked among the students.

"To date, Wizards have not mastered a way to completely destroy Dementors. All we can do is drive them away temporarily.

"A Wizard who has mastered the Patronus Charm can conjure a Patronus. It is a natural enemy of Dementors—a guardian that can stand between you and a Dementor like a shield."

Professor Grubbly-Plank continued, "A Patronus is a positive force, the embodiment of the very things Dementors feed upon—hope, happiness, the desire to survive—but unlike a real person, it cannot feel despair. Therefore, Dementors can do nothing to it."

"You must understand that the Patronus Charm is highly advanced magic," Professor Grubbly-Plank solemnly reminded them, her gaze passing over each student's face. "Many accomplished Wizards have failed to master it. Only a small number of you will learn it.

"More importantly, producing a Patronus in a classroom and doing so while truly facing a Dementor are entirely different matters."

But her warning had the opposite effect, dispelling the students' fear. Clearly, no one believed they would be the person unable to produce a Patronus.

"What does a Patronus look like?" Aber asked curiously.

"They are usually some kind of animal, taking the form of an animal with which you have the greatest affinity," Professor Grubbly-Plank answered patiently.

"How do you make one?"

"Can two Patronuses be the same?"

The students began asking all at once, one question after another, and the classroom became lively again.

"Quiet!" Professor Grubbly-Plank had no choice but to return to the platform and slap the desk hard. The loud bang, bang silenced everyone once more.

"Every Patronus is unique to the Wizard who conjures it," she said loudly. "I have never seen two identical Patronuses.

"You need to recite an incantation, and while doing so, you must focus all your thoughts on one particularly happy moment. Only then will the spell work."

"The incantation is—" She cleared her throat. "Expecto Patronum! Remember, think carefully about your happiest memory! Now, you may all practise freely. Come ask me if you have any questions."

The difficulty of the spell exceeded everyone's expectations.

Cries of "Expecto Patronum" rose and fell throughout the classroom, but most students merely waved their Wands uselessly, with no reaction at all.

Only a few students produced wisps of silvery-white vapor from the tips of their Wands, like thin mist over a lake at dawn, vanishing moments later.

Snape rose to his feet and racked his brain, searching the depths of his memories for his happiest moment.

Without question, the memories from the original owner of this body could not be used. They had to be cast aside.

As for the memories of his previous life, though that period occupied most of his life, when he looked back on it now, it had mostly been filled with busyness and exhaustion.

Growing up, going to school, working... Someone was always telling him that things would be better after he did this or that, yet there was always another this or that waiting ahead.

There had been happy moments during that time too, but he had no confidence that those joys could summon a Patronus. Perhaps there was no need to try, he thought.

In the end, he chose certain moments after arriving in this world.

"Expecto Patronum," Snape repeated silently. "Expecto Patronum."

His thoughts drifted to an old set of Gobstones, then to a crudely handmade wallet...

Suddenly, something shot from the tip of his Wand. It looked like a mass of silvery-white vapor, swaying back and forth in the air.

"Wow, mate!" Aber exclaimed enviously. "You actually made something appear."

"You think this is enough?" Snape shrugged, a trace of self-mockery in his smile. "A cloud of smoke can't deal with a Dementor."

"You don't actually think we'll be fighting Dementors, do you?" Aber carelessly waved his Wand, looking unconcerned. "They've been trapped in Azkaban for centuries."

"Practise properly, Aber," Snape told him. "Who knows what may happen in the future? It is always better to be prepared."

With that, he continued replaying every happy moment in his mind, silently repeating the Patronus Charm over and over.

It was not until class was nearly over that Snape's Patronus changed from a shapeless cloud into something more substantial—a long, silver shadow burst from the tip of his Wand and twisted through the air.

Though it was long and narrow in shape, it looked rather strange, nothing like the four-legged animal he had expected.

"What kind of animal is that?" Aber grinned teasingly. "My long-bodied Fuzzy-wuzzy?"

"Can't be bothered with you." Snape rolled his eyes and put away his Wand.

Looking around, Snape noticed that a few other students had also successfully produced silvery-white mist.

Pandora was progressing quickly. The Patronus she had summoned was small, but two long ears could already be seen, and it bounced restlessly through the air.

James and Sirius had also made great progress. Wisps of smoke rose from their Wand tips, forming some kind of beast. James held up his Wand and constantly showed off his achievement to everyone around him.

Sirius had already put away his Wand and leaned lazily against the desk. His expression was proud and bored.

Wormtail stared at the two of them in awe, his mouth hanging open. Whenever a puff of white mist emerged from James's Wand tip, Wormtail would gasp and clap in applause.

Lupin stood beside them, his eyes full of frustration and helplessness. He held his Wand with a miserable expression but made no move at all.

Looking farther ahead, Snape saw Lily.

What broke free from her Wand tip was not shapeless vapor, but a brilliant silver animal with wings.

Snape narrowed his eyes, trying hard to see what it was.

Perhaps it was a small bird? But one thing was beyond doubt: it definitely was not a doe.