Chapter 3
Of course it wasn't as easy to begin as they would have hoped. For one, it was required that you be able to cast a patronus. "I can teach you" Harry had assured them. But that led to another problem called the 'no magic outside of school' rule. So they would have to wait until they returned to Hogwarts before they could even start. This didn't stop Hermione from reading the whole book twice over so she could be extra prepared as usual.
It turned out in the end to be a good thing to wait because the events of the Quidditch World Cup took up all their time. What with death eaters crashing the affair to strike terror into the hearts of wizardkind, the dark mark being cast by Harry's lost wand, and poor Winky the house elf taking the blame for it all, they were far too busy to give much thought to becoming Animagus.
Finally Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to Hogwarts for their fourth year which proved to be an exciting one. The Triwizard Tournament was announced and it was the talk of the school for weeks thereafter. "Wouldn't it be great if we could enter? I bet you being an Animagus won't be half so interesting as that" Ron said though he was still inclined to try and learn.
Meanwhile Hermione was determined to above all else become an Animagus the proper way. Never one to break rules lightly, she insisted they register legally once they succeeded in the transformation into an animal. Between that and her plans for S.P.E.W. she was in the library even more than usual. Harry and Ron spent their time daydreaming about what it would be like to an Animagus and being in the Triwizard Tournament. Ron wanted the latter more than Harry but he did allow himself to wonder occasionally.
It wasn't until after the first week of classes that they finally had time to begin practicing the patronus charm. Harry, Ron and Hermione found an empty classroom and began.
Harry wasn't sure how effective this was. They didn't have a boggart pretending to be a dementor to practice on, which meant that he didn't know if it would really hold in front of a real dementor. He hoped it wouldn't matter. After all the book had only said you needed to be able to cast a full corporeal patronus, not that it needed to be able to hold against a swarm of dementors effectively.
"Expecto Patronum!"
"Expecto Patronum!"
Ron and Hermione were smiling as they practiced and littles wisps of light were slowly forming into the shape of something, which meant that the memories they were using were happy enough to work. Harry envied them a little, it took less time and he couldn't hell but feel that is was because they bith had more happy memories to choose from. So many of his were tinged with the sadness of it ending and having to go back to the Dursleys when it did.
"Let's take a break" Harry told them after a few more minutes of practice. The trio sat together and Harry listened to his friends chatter excitedly about the progress they were making.
"Did you see that?"
"Mine was forming a shape!"
"I think my patronus looks like it could be a dragon"
"How many times do I have to tell you Ron? Magical creature patronus' are rare and even if you do have one it won't be your animagus form."
"We'll see."
Harry was silent during all this. Hermione finally turned to him and gazed at him with concern in her warm brown eyes.
"Harry are you ok?" She asked.
"Er what? Oh yeah...yeah" He replied distractedly. She kept looking at him worryingly.
"C'mon we know something's not right" Ron put in.
"It's just...it wasn't hard for you to come up with a really happy memory to cast your patronus, did you?"
"No, why would it?" He asked.
"Harry you have one too, I know you did. I saw your patronus last year, it was amazing" Hermione said.
"It took me a long time to find one that was happy enough" Harry admitted. "I only cast the one I did because I knew I had already done it."
"Oh Harry." Hermione reached and took his hand in hers.
"It's those muggle relatives of yours isn't it?" Ron said knowingly. "I remember the way we found you before second year. Bars on the window, cat flap on the door, dozens of locks. Then your uncle comes barreling after you, yelling about how you're not gonna get away from him. And you still go back every summer."
"Is that true Harry?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Yeah kinda" He answered quietly.
"B-but that's crazy!" She exclaimed. "Why would Dumbledore put you with them in the first place and why would he keep you there, knowing how they treat you?"
"I don't expect he knows. Ron and the twins are the only ones who saw it" He replied.
"I know Mum wrote him a letter after it happened, so he has to have some idea" Ron said suddenly angry. "Hermione's right you know. How could he keep sending you back there after what they've done!? We've got to do something about it."
"No don't. It's fine really" Harry assured. "It's not a big deal, I can handle it." Ron and Hermione both opened their mouths in protest but Harry cut them off. "Let's just drop it, ok?" He said firmly. "Please." He knew this wouldn't be the end of it, but he was grateful that neither said anymore about it and they returned to practicing.