The long line of fifth-years streaming in through the open door of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom never seemed to end. Robes were tangled between legs and wands were sticking awkwardly out of the pockets. The whole class had always been a bunch of misfits. But in this classroom, with the windows open so the dust became visible in the thin slivers of golden sunlight, they always seemed happier. Maybe it was the childish pleasure of waving wands in the air and feeling a wave of magic rush through you, or maybe it was simply the fact that it was a nice change from an hour of History of Magic. Professor Cadence's long robes billowed in the slight breeze that was brought in by the open window.
"Sirius, shut that window would you? It's getting in the way of my craft." she said with a flourish of her wand, as if to illustrate what she meant.
"Today, my aurors-in-the-making, we are going to learn the Patronus Charm. If you were all clever enough to read the first few chapters in this section of your textbooks like I asked you to, you will have grasped the basic idea that you need a happy memory to perform this charm." she uttered.
James was standing at the back of the room, leaning on a wooden beam and craning his neck to catch a glimpse of Lily Evans, who was standing at the front of the crowd of students, her red hair reflecting deep ginger streaks in the sun's light.
"Professor?" Lily asked.
"Yes dear?"
"I don't mean to interrupt, but while I was reading the first chapter last night, I didn't fully understand exactly what a Patronus Charm is. I mean, I understand that it protects you from Dementors and other dark creatures, but could you explain to me what it is in more detail please?" she finished, her big green eyes gazing at Professor Cadence.
"Ah, that is an excellent question Miss Evans. But rather than give you an hour long lecture on what this particular charm is and go into far too much detail, I'd like for someone else in the class to explain it as clearly as they can. Now... let's see..." Professor Cadence's tender look fell on Remus, who was standing behind James, fiddling with his thumbs and looking down at the dark oak floorboards. He was so covered in shadows that it was almost difficult to tell it was him, if it wasn't for the piercing green eyes that stood out even in the darkness.
"Mr. Lupin?" the Professor murmured.
Remus looked up, and where the light hit his face there was a deep scar that ran along his right cheek, almost in line with his cheekbone. There were smaller scratches around it but this was a sizeable wound, which caught everyone's attention.
"Yes Professor?" he said, feeling the uncomfortable stares coming from all over the room, very aware that they were all fixed on the flaw his face beheld.
"Could you please explain to Miss Evans what exactly the Patronus Charm is?"
"I-I-I don't exactly understand it myself, Professor." Remus admitted, somewhat reluctantly.
"Hmm… shame. You've been a very competent student up until now, I hope you don't stray from that, ." she said, with the slightest hint of concern in her voice.
"How about you, ?" she continued.
James stood up straight immediately and cleared his throat. He fixed his gaze on Lily's eyes and didn't break eye contact once.
"To quote directly from Miranda Goshawk's overview of the Patronus Charm, it' s an 'ancient and mysterious charm which conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all our positive feelings'. The Patronus Charm is just a spell which we use to protect ourselves from evil creatures, and the most powerful patronuses take the form of an animal which is an outermost projection of our soul." once he finished reciting, James took a bow and winked at Lily, who still hadn't broken the gaze he initiated. The whole class let out shouts and applause. James took it all in, with a smirk bigger than one belonging to a pure blood who's just been sorted into Slytherin.
"Yes, well done James. It seems as though you've done the homework for once!" Professor Cadence exclaimed in a surprised yet sarcastic tone. James finished basking in the glory of his performance, and sneakily shot another glance at Lily, who was by now looking in awe at the Patronus the teacher had just cast. Her voice droned on in the background, explaining the simple wand movements that were needed to cast the charm.
"-must move your wand in a circular motion. Imagine you're drawing a circle in mid air. As you come to finish the circle, instead of joining it up, expand gradu-" she continued.
James had read this all before with the Marauders. They'd all spent days on end perfecting their Patronus, and now they were all confident in casting them. He continued looking at Lily, who was entranced by the beauty of Professor Cadence's silver robin. It flew around lightly, dancing in the air. A few scarlet hairs strayed from her messy bun and hung loosely on the sides of her face, framing it perfectly. Her cheeks were flushed in awe and her eyes shone in admiration. There was a faint gleam in them, almost as if the desire to cast a Patronus as beautiful as Professor Cadence's was controlling her mind.
"Right, I've talked for far too long. I want everyone to find his or her own space in the room and practice casting a Patronus. This is very advanced magic, so I don't expect any of you to succeed in the first lesson. We'll have plenty more so TAKE YOUR TIME. Concentrate. I want to see the happy thoughts fill you up before I even hear the slightest utter of an incantation. Off you go!" and with that, the room fell silent. It was a deafening silence. A silence so loud, you could almost see the room turning white from the lack of noise.
Suddenly there were the faintest whispers of spells, and soon enough the room erupted into an explosion of words.
Sirius twirled his wand in his fingers, as he looked around the room at the struggling fifth-years, most of whom were finding it difficult to produce even a thin wisp of silver light. He smirked and looked over at Remus, who was still looking down so as to hide the fresh wound he obtained the other day. Remus looked up and glanced at James, who was still gawking over Lily.
He elbowed him playfully and brought his attention back to his friends.
"Stop staring James, the Professor will think Lily's put you under an Imperius Curse and you're just awaiting your next order!" he teased.
"Shut it, Moony." James replied, trying to sound tough but with a smile as bright as the sun plastered on his childish face. He continued to look at her, determined to see what her Patronus was. It was starting to form, but for now he could only see what looked like a few legs and a sizeable lump, perhaps as the body.
Sirius and Remus were laughing now, pretending to cast feeble wisps like the others, mocking them. They desperately wanted to show off, but they had promised James to not show off today because he wanted Lily to be the first one to cast the Patronus in class.
This was the only class that they didn't share with Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius silently thanked God for that, because even if he would never admit it to James or Remus, he had never really liked Peter all that much. He felt more secure when it was just them three rather than the four of them.
And so the lesson went on, Sirius and Remus messing around; James making feeble attempts to strike up a conversation with any girl in the near vicinity just to get Lily's attention; and Lily who was diligently striving to conjure the first corporeal Patronus in the class.
With only 10 minutes left of what was to be the most advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson this rag-tag bunch of fifth-years had ever had, a bright glow started to form at the tip of Lily Evans' wand. It grew bigger and brighter and took the shape of a doe. It darted down the classroom and through the air, passing by Professor Cadence in just enough time for her to realise what it was and who'd conjured it. Her eyes followed the silver path that the doe was making and traced it back to Lily.
"Well done Miss Evans! Everyone, look! This is what we call a corporeal Patronus. It's more powerful than an incorporeal Patronus, and I'm very impressed with Miss Evans for having been able to conjure one in the first lesson."
James' head spun round instantly. He had previously been talking to Sirius about how he'd managed to get catch the snitch within 7 minutes of the last Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but there were far more interesting things going on now. He caught sight of the silver doe that was prancing around the room and took out his own wand.
"Expecto Patronum" he murmured, gripping the mahogany wand with sweaty palms and taking a few steps towards Lily's back.
A strong white flicker shot out of the wand and turned into a stag, it's great antlers forming last. He motioned for it to go closer to Lily's doe and nuzzle against its neck.
She turned around, startled, and looking into his hazel eyes asked the most innocent question she could, "Why is it that my Patronus matches yours?"
"That, is an excellent question. And I would happily give you the answer if you let me have the honour of walking you to your next lesson. I'll even throw in some wand movement tips." James grinned at her, his eyes wide with affection.
"Sounds wonderful."