10:00. Time for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
I gathered my things – my copy of "Confronting the Fearless", quills and parchment – and climbed the stairs to the third floor.
I hurried to Classroom 3-C. The classroom was full except for one seat – the one in front of Potter. Yay. I quickly took it. "Hey there, Evans. Looking good today." I rolled my eyes. Typical Potter. Hey really should cut that out.
"May I have your homework, please?" asked Professor Puckle. We quickly lined up in front of his desk and handed our essays one by one.
When everyone had given in their homework and had settled back into their seats again, professor Puckle stood up and addressed the class. "All right, students. Today we will be working on the Patronus Charm. Come now, let's start practicing."
The desks and chairs floated towards the back of the room, and hit the floor with a thud. Now we had plenty of space to practice.
Potter and I ended up next to each other. What a coincidence. Lucky me.
A happy memory... I thought about when Petunia and I used to play in the park when we were little. Running, laughing. Before she hated the very mention of me.
"Expecto Patronum!" I shouted. Just barely visible mist. Darn. I tried again. Still nothing. What happy memory could be so strong? Then I got it. I thought of the day Sev and I were lying on the grass back home, and he was telling me all about how I was a witch and Hogwarts and the Houses.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A white misty light erupted from the tip of my wand, and took the shape of a doe in the air in front of me. I stood rooted to the spot, amazed at what I had produced. She was beautiful.
After I got over the initial shock, I looked over at James. He was staring at my doe, his mouth hanging open, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.
"What –?"
Then I got an even bigger shock – one of the biggest of my life. There, floating in front of him was a white luminous stag – the perfect match for my doe.
James quickly recovered and turned towards me. He smirked at me and said, "Well, well, well!"
And he winked.
