Harry Potter and the Enemy Within

by jerjerrod

For five years Darren Clarkson has sufferd in Slytherin House, but this year it will be different. He hates Draco Malfoy as much as anyone else at Hogwarts, and now he gets the chance to get away from him. But, how will he react when he gets away from o

26. Patronus Class

Chapter 26 – Patronus Class

The looks that Malfoy got the next day were ones of shock and almost relief. It seemed that everyone had an opinion of what had happened to him. Most of the students seemed to think that either Ron, Harry or Darren had done it to him. Darren could not help but want to tell everyone that it was in fact Neville, but since Malfoy and his friends had apparently not told anyone, neither would Darren. After all, it was not surprising that Malfoy had not told anyone, or gone to see Madam Pomfrey in the school hospital. Darren had never spent much time in the hospital, but he knew very well that Madam Pomfrey would have let the staff know about Malfoy's injuries, and then Snape would demand to know what had happened, which he had probably already done. After all, Malfoy was his favorite, so it would be reasonable to think he would do everything in his power to protect him.

There really was no way that Malfoy could tell what had happened because if Neville was punished for it, it would become immediately apparent that Malfoy had been attacked by the boy that he had terrorized and intimidated for almost six years. So, he had just kept quiet and taken the stares and ignored the snickers and comments that came from the other students. That had lasted for a week until Malfoy's bruises had started to fade and then he started to be the same bully he had been before. He had glared at Neville and looked as if he wanted to exact revenge on him, but nothing had happened. Darren had stayed close to Neville to make sure that nothing did happen, but he decided that Neville could really just take care of himself as long as the Imperius Curse had him under its control. Want happened when it was lifted Darren didn't know, but hopefully Neville would not go back to being the same meek person he was before.

Two weeks had passed by the time that the school was back to normal. Everyone had seemed to forget about Malfoy's incident. Darren had been unable to get closer to the information he needed, or to get Neville closer to Harry. He really didn't have a clue how to get the prophecy for Voldemort, especially since he had no reason to believe that Harry had ever even told his closest friends. Darren had to admit that he would keep something like that secret as well, but hopefully Harry would need to let it out in order to just get some weight off his chest. That was what he hoped to find out. When Harry told Ron and Hermione, he would be there and then he would have what he needed to get his sister and mother back. At least that is what he told himself to keep his spirits up. What he knew in his mind was that even if he got the prophecy and gave it to Voldemort, he and his family would never leave that house alive. It would be too dangerous for Voldemort to have people walking around that could tell Dumbledore what he had just learned.

'How can I get them back?' he was thinking as he sat on his usual bench in the courtyard. 'If I tell Voldemort, I am dead, and so are they, and if I try to use it to bribe him to at least let them go, how do I know they will be safe later?'

There was only one conclusion he could reach. Neither option would ensure their safety. Therefore he would have to try something else.

"Let's go for a walk Neville."

"Okay Darren."

Darren waited until Neville had packed his books away before setting off towards the Forbidden Forest. He wanted to get to a place where it would be unlikely that they would be overheard. At the edge of the forest, Darren turned to look around to see if anyone might see them, but he could not see that any of the other students on the grounds that afternoon were paying them any attention. He tugged Neville by the cloak and led him into the forest. Behind a large tree Darren sat down and motioned for Neville to sit across from him. Neville sat with his back to the grounds and Darren moved a bit to one side to better see if anybody came their way. It seemed as if there was not a soul to hear them so Darren turned his attention back to Neville.

"Neville, tell me the truth about something."

"Okay."

"Do you think that you will ever get the information that I want you to get for me?"

"No," Neville answered plainly.

"Why is that?"

"Because Harry, Ron and Hermione would never tell me anything as important as the information that you want. I am not close enough to them to find a lot of things out."

Darren had to admit to himself that the answer had been truthful. In fact it was exactly what Darren had known about Neville's relationship with the three friends from the beginning. Harry, nor his friends, would ever tell Neville anything that might compromise Harry's safety. Harry though, on the other hand, probably trusted his friends enough to tell them what he had learned that night in the Ministry of Magic, especially if it weighed him down and turned into something that he had to get off his shoulders. Darren could only hope that whatever information Harry had would bother him enough to make him want to talk to his friends about it. The only question was how Darren could use that to his benefit. After a few more seconds of thought he turned back to Neville.

"Has Harry ever told you anything of importance Neville?"

"No, nobody has. Everybody just keeps quiet around me and never tell me anything. I am the last one to hear about everything. I was even the last Gryffindor to hear about you coming from Slytherin, and I share a dormitory with you."

Darren could understand Neville's frustration, but he also had to admit that he could see why none of the other students would tell him anything of importance. Neville would be expected to crack under the slightest pressure. At least he would have been before this year. After he had learned about Neville's parents and what had happened last June in the Department of Mysteries, Darren had decided that the teachers and students didn't know the real Neville Longbottom. Neville was no coward, he was just unsure of himself, and the domineering grandmother he had was never going to let him break out of his shell. He had to do it himself, and that had started, Darren realized, when Bellatrix Lestrange had escaped from Azkaban Prison.

"Neville, tell me about Ron."

"What about him?"

"Tell me, is he a powerful wizard? Or is he really as loud and oafish as eh seems to be?"

"He is a good wizard, but he has not shown Harry or Hermione's capabilities."

"What do you mean?"

"He is smart, but nowhere near as smart as Hermione, and he is good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but not even close to being as good as Harry. None of us are."

"Really?"

"Really. He has fought against Voldemort face to face twice, killed a Basilisk, and stood up against ten Death Eaters at one time. He is more powerful than he even knows."

"Why do you think that he doesn't know?"

"Because he is so modest. He doesn't show off or brag about what he has done, or expect people to fawn all over him and give him attention. In fact, he hates all the attention he gets from other people."

"Well, I can't blame him one bit Neville. But tell me about Ron."

"Ron is good, but he tries too hard to live up to his older brothers. Bill and Percy were Head Boy, Charlie was a great Seeker for the Gryffindor team, and Fred and George were probably the most popular boys in our House when they were here. He never thinks anything he has is good enough, or that he is good enough either."

Darren thought that bit of information was interesting, but it got him no closer to what he needed.

"Tell me about his abilities."

"I already said he is good, but not great at magic. When we were in fourth year, Professor Moody put us all under the Imperius Curse and Ron was the only one unable to break it."

That made Darren raise an eyebrow. Ron had a problem fighting off the Imperius Curse. That was definitely a good piece of information to know.

"What happened when he was under the curse?"

"Professor Moody made him skip around the room for a few minutes and when class was over he was still skipping a little as we left."

"What did he make you do Neville?"

"He made me do gymnastics."

"And the rest of the class?" Darren's curiosity had gotten the better of him just then.

"Lavender Brown ran around on all fours like a squirrel, Dean Thomas hopped around the room and sang the national anthem, Hermione told the entire class that she hoped she failed the year, Seamus was forced to yell and cheer for the England Quidditch team…"

"That's enough Neville."

Neville fell silent then.

"What did Harry do?"

"Professor Moody tried to make him jump onto a desk, but Harry fought it off the first time and crashed in to it instead. We all thought he had hurt himself."

"And after that?"

"After that Harry could fight off the curse more easily each time."

"But Ron never was able to fight it off?"

"No, and neither were several of the others."

"Thanks Neville; that is exactly what I needed to know."

Another two weeks had passed since his conversation with Neville in the Forbidden Forest. The information was useful, but Darren didn't really know how he would use it to his advantage. For the last few days he had been trying to think about how he could get the chance to put Ron under the Imperius Curse too, but each time he had an idea, it seemed as if it would never work. Harry or Hermione were always with him, and though Darren was not afraid to take Hermione on in a fight, he had a good idea that Harry would be another matter all together. The thought of dueling with someone that had survived Voldemort three times was not very palatable at all. After all, the story of the Philosopher's Stone in their first year had leaked out, but that night during the Third Task Harry had actually dueled with Voldemort, and survived. He would not fall prey to any use of the Imperius Curse, and Hermione was strong enough mentally to fight it off, so it had to be Ron, if Neville's information was accurate.

'How do I get him alone?' Darren kept thinking, and was still thinking when he felt a tap on is shoulder.

He turned quickly, having been caught off guard. When he had turned around, he saw Harry behind him. For a second he felt a lump in his throat and his mouth went very dry.

"Hey Darren."

"Hey Harry, what's up?"

He casually looked over Harry's shoulder and saw that he was not accompanied by his friends, for once.

"Not much. I just wanted to catch up with you about what we talked about a few weeks back."

Darren gave him a questioning look. He could not remember what it was that Harry was talking about.

"The Patronus Charm? We were going to work together. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember now," Darren answered.

"Well, Saturday is a Hogsmeade day, and I was thinking we could get together that afternoon."

"On a Hogsmeade day?"

"Well, Ron and Hermione are going to be running around in the town all day, and Ginny will be going home for a quick visit, so I figured it would be a good time to work on it."

"Well, I guess it would be a good time to do it then. When do you want to meet?"

"How about in the Room of Requirement? We can head up there right after lunch."

"Okay, so we meet up in the Great Hall then?"

"Fine, see you then."

"Okay."

Harry turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back to tell Darren one other thing.

"Tell Neville he can come too, if he wants."

"No, that's okay; I'll just send him to Hogsmeade for the day."

Harry raised an eyebrow and said, "Send him?"

Darren felt his ears pull back as he realized the slip he had just made. He had to cover it up, and quickly.

"I meant I'll just tell him to go to Hogsmeade on his own; I want to work on this by myself without any distractions."

"Oh. Well, okay then, I'll see you later then Darren."

"Okay Harry, take it easy."

Three days later Darren was sitting at the Gryffindor table finishing his lunch. Harry sat next to him, but there was not one student over third second year at the table. The two of them were getting weird looks from the young Gryffindors, probably because none of them could figure out why the two of them were not in Hogsmeade. It became well known to the entire student body whenever someone lost their Hogsmeade privileges, so they were all trying to determine why somebody who could go to Hogsmeade wouldn't. Darren had enough black pudding and pushed the bowl away. Harry had finished a few minutes before.

"Are you ready Darren?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Together they got up and left the Great Hall and headed up the stairs to the seventh floor corridor. In the hallway Darren let Harry make the door appear and then followed him inside to room. There was nothing in the room except a large wardrobe in the center of the room that started to wobble and bang around on its legs.

"Is that what I think it is?" Darren asked.

"There is a Boggart in there. The Boggart turns into a Dementor for me, so I wanted to use one to show you how the Patronus works."

"Oh, but it won't work for me though."

"No, but if you are far enough away, and out of its sight, I think it will allow you to practice on it anyway."

"What, I stand behind the wardrobe or something."

"Exactly, that way you see the Dementor, but it won't see you."

"Oh, okay, but if it turns around, it won't be a Dementor anymore, will it?"

"No, but I really don't know of any other way to let you practice on something, other than bring a real Dementor in to the school, but I doubt Dumbledore would appreciate that."

"No, I wouldn't appreciate that either Harry."

They both had a small chuckle at the thought of Dumbledore's reaction to finding out that two students had a Dementor inside Hogwarts. A minute later Harry broke the revelry and brought Darren's attention back to the matter at hand.

"Okay, you go stand to the side and to the rear of the wardrobe, and when the Boggart comes out, I will do the charm and show you how it looks when it works properly.

Darren walked to the right rear of the wardrobe and took his position. With a nod Harry waved his wand at the door of the wardrobe and Darren heard the lock open and then saw the door swing wide as the Boggart moved towards Harry. Darren could see the large shape of a Dementor as the creature changed its shape and kept moving towards Harry. A cold feeling overcame Darren and he felt as if all the air in his lungs was as cold as ice. He saw the Dementor stand up to its full height and Harry facing it. Harry pointed his wand straight at the Boggart/Dementor and cast the spell.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Darren heard him yell.

A bright flash of white exploded from the tip of Harry's wand and Darren saw a huge silvery body that looked like a stag. The Patronus landed on its feet and when it saw the Dementor, it attacked with its antlers down as if it were a bull charging a matador. The Boggart/Dementor was impaled on the Patronus' antlers and then shaken and thrown against the wardrobe. The stag made to charge again, but Harry stepped forward and said "RIDDIKULUS!"

Darren saw the Boggart/Dementor take the shape of a fat young man wearing a school uniform. With a second wave of his wand and a second casting of the Riddikulus spell, the Boggart was back in the wardrobe.

"That was pretty, well, impressive Harry."

"Thanks, but it isn't as easy as it may seem."

"Well, I didn't think it would be easy Harry."

"I wasn't trying to make it sound like I could do it easily; I just meant it takes an extremely powerfully happy thought to make the spell work. The first time I tried it, the Boggart almost got me and if it had not been for Professor Lupin, it probably would have. I passed out a couple of times, to be perfectly honest."

"Well, I can understand why. Dementors are nasty as hell and I would never want to have to face one myself."

"The problem Darren is that now that the Dementors have left Azkaban, they have joined up with Voldemort, so a lot of witches and wizards are concerned that the Dementors may start attacking people that Voldemort feels are his enemies, or even people that refuse to support him. That's why Dumbledore had Professor Lupin teaching the Patronus Charm this year."

"Well, I never got to where I could do it."

"You and more than half of the students here. Anyway, let's have you try to use the charm when the Dementor comes out after me."

"Okay," Darren answered as he turned to take his place behind the wardrobe.

"Okay, ready Darren?"

"Yeah, I guess so Harry."

Again Harry waved his wand and again the wardrobe opened and again Darren felt the cold fear run down his spine. He saw the Boggart/Dementor move towards Harry and raised his wand and pointed it at the creature's back.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he screamed, but only a small wisp of silvery smoke came out of the end of his wand.

When the Boggart/Dementor heard him, it immediately turned its attention towards Darren. When it saw him, it changed shape. Darren saw his sister bathed in green light as she lay on the floor. His heart stopped and he could not move. The image in front of him started to scream his name, to scream for help. He froze in horror at the sight and did not feel his wand land on his foot after he dropped it. The Boggart was in his mind, and he was helpless against the image it was showing him. He heard a voice yell out "RIDDIKULUS!" in the background, but it sounded hollow and far away. Not like a voice that was anywhere near him at all. The Boggart changed into the fat boy again and with another shout of the spell, it was back inside the wardrobe.

"Darren! Darren! Hey, come on, it was just a mirage!" Harry was saying as he shook Darren by the shoulders.

Darren felt groggy and weak, but he was able to pull his mind out of the shock and terror it had been in just a minute ago.

"Are you okay Darren? What was that it turned into?"

"It was…nothing," Darren said.

"Nothing? How could it be nothing? You couldn't move when you saw it."

"Don't worry about it Harry, it was nothing to be worried about, really."

"But Darren, you froze up completely. If that had been a Dementor, you would be a zombie lying on the floor right now."

"Well, I'm not, and that wasn't a real Dementor, so what is the big deal?"

"What's the big deal! Darren, did you feel the way it made everything go cold. That means it was a real Dementor, and it would have done to you what a real one would have."

Darren didn't feel like arguing with Harry right then so he tried to push the discussion in another direction.

"Can we just try it again Harry?"

"Sure, fine."

Two minutes later Harry was forcing the Boggart/Dementor back into the wardrobe because Darren had frozen up again.

"Again Harry."

Again he froze up at the sight of Ellie on the floor, and then again and again and again.

When Harry helped him up from the floor after the last attempt, Darren was about to quit in frustration.

"Darren, you have to think of something that makes you happy, something that is a powerful memory from your past that will make the Patronus work. Nothing else will do it."

Darren nodded, but admitted to himself that he didn't know what memory to use. Everything that had been able to make him happy the last few years had instead been turned around and used against him. What he would have used was the memory of his family coming back together again, but that memory had been destroyed by his grandfather's betrayal and his father's murder. Even the memories of his sister when she was younger were overshadowed by the situation she was in then and he had resigned himself to the fact that the Patronus would probably a charm he would never be able to perform, until Harry brought up something Darren had forgotten about.

"Remember when the class first discussed the Patronus Charm at the beginning of the year Darren?"

"Yeah."

"You had asked if a thought, instead of a memory would work, if it was something that made you happy."

"Yeah, what about it."

"Well, try to think of something, anything that would make you happier than you have ever been. We'll give it one more try, but if it fails we wrap it up for the night."

"Okay, one more try Harry."

Darren took his place behind the wardrobe and waited for Harry to open the wardrobe one last time. When the Boggart/Dementor came into view Darren reached down into his very soul to pull out the one thing that would make him happy. Surprisingly it was not the thought of his mother and sister being safe. It was not being re-united with his father. It was a vision of Voldemort cowering at Darren's feet as Darren pointed his wand at him just before killing him in cold blood.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Darren screamed and he felt his wand grow hot and begin to vibrate. Then he felt the Patronus coming before he saw it. It rushed up from the handle of his wand and he felt it with his fingertips and in his palm. It felt like a train running through his and then the light escaped from his wand with a huge explosion of power. A huge figure erupted from the tip of his wand and he saw a tail swaying as his Patronus leapt on the back of the Boggart/Dementor and attacked it ferociously. Darren could not really see what was happening but he heard Harry cast the Riddikulus spell and saw the Boggart being pushed back into the wardrobe and the door being slammed shut.

"Wow Darren, that was really good. You did it."

Darren could not even answer. He felt like all his energy had drained from him and he slumped to the floor and leaned against the wall.

"Are you okay Darren?"

"Yeah, I think so," Darren gasped between deep breaths.

"Well, whatever you thought of worked, and it worked really well Darren."

"I guess so."

"What did you think of anyway?"

Darren answered before he even realized what he had said.

"I thought of revenge."