Chapter 12

Remus, Sam, and Dean sat in the staffroom on Wednesday afternoon. They were talking about the various classes they had sat in on, what they had learned so far, and how well they were getting on.

"Both of you really have come a long way in a week." Remus remarked.

"Thank you." said Sam.

"I didn't think I was going to be any good to tell you the truth." Dean admitted. "And I definitely never thought I'd look forward to tea time."

Remus smiled and poured them all another cup of tea and reached for a biscuit.

"I can honestly say you have been a quick study and both of you have impressed not only myself with your natural talents, but most of the staff as well."

"Yeah, I know." said Sam, rubbing his shoulder. "Hagrid keeps patting me on the back. I think I've got a bruise back there."

The three of them laughed heartily.

"I only nodded off twice in Binns' class this morning." Dean said feigning pride.

"Ah, yes. Well, he does tend to drone on, doesn't he?" said Remus.

They all began another round of chuckles when suddenly the wardrobe in the corner of the room began to shake.

Dean leapt to his feet, spilling his tea, and brandished his wand in the direction of the wardrobe faster than anyone could say 'what was that'?

"Easy! Easy now, Dean." Remus said. Dean lowered his wand. "I think I have an idea as to what might be in there." He set his tea down carefully and walked over to the still rocking wardrobe.

Remus put an ear to the door and listened. "Oh? Oh, yes. What we have here, gentlemen," he said. "is a Boggart."

Dean looked at Sam who nodded in recognition. He sat back down and retrieved his teacup from the floor.

Remus gave the handle a jiggle and found it was locked tight. "It seems that this one has gone and locked itself in. Of course I'll have to get rid of it if we are to use the wardrobe again." he said and took a few steps back removing his wand from his pocket.

"Hey, Remus!" Sam said through a mouthful of biscuit. "Aren't boggarts in the third year curriculum?"

Remus thought a moment. "Yes, actually, they are."

"Maybe you could do a practical lesson tomorrow for your class. It could be fun, don't you think?" Sam said.

Remus considered the idea. "Good thinking, Sam! I was going to teach them about Grindylows but a Boggart lesson would be ace!" He lowered his wand and returned it to his pocket. Returning to the table, he picked up his tea and sipped while he stood in thought.

Dean and Sam both looked up at him inquisitively.

Remus returned the cup to the table then plunged hands deep in his pockets pensively. He looked straight at Sam. "Now, how do you know about boggarts?" he asked.

"Well, I have read about them." he admitted without saying more than he should.

"And what do you know about them?"

"Uuuuuh . . . well, I know that they are shape shifters and nobody knows what they look like because they take the shape of your fears."

"Exactly. Dean, what about you?"

Dean looked up a bit startled that he'd been asked. "Didn't know there'd be a pop quiz." he laughed nervously.

"Anything at all?"

"Not really." Dean shrugged. "Sorry."

"Do you know what scares you?" Remus asked seriously.

Dean froze. His eyes lifted and met Remus'. "When you have fought as much 'scary' as we have, a few of them tend to stick with you."

"Do you know which scares you the most?"

Sam cleared his throat. "I remember we had this one job." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "These nightmares were coming to life and killing people. I had to, um, face my fear."

"And what is that, Sam?" Remus queried.

"He's afraid of clowns." Dean said.

Sam winced at the word.

"Really?" Remus smiled. "I would have thought with your past history that your biggest fear would have been something more sinister." He and Dean began to chuckle, which in turn became a contagious laughter that after a while, Sam couldn't help but join in.

"Dean is afraid of flying!" Sam said through the giggles.

"Oh?" said Remus. "Perhaps that explains why he was unable to command the broom into his hand during the tests."

"It sensed his fear." said Sam, relishing the chance to rag on his brother a bit. He wiggled his fingers playfully in Dean's direction and make silly "OOooOooo" sounds as if trying to spook him.

The wardrobe danced in the corner.

Dean tossed a sugar cube at Sam pegging him in the shoulder. It bounced off and shot across the room and disappeared into a corner somewhere.

"Have you ever encountered a Dementor?" Remus asked sincerely, breaking the moment's lightheartedness.

"Nope. Can't say we have." answered Dean.

"Or your world's equivalent." he continued.

"The concept of a Dementor is . . . it's like several things in one creepy package." Sam offered.

"I see." Remus began to pace a bit. "Dean, you wanted an easier way to learn the Patronus Charm. There is simply no other way to learn other than to throw you into the deep end. I think tonight we should travel out to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and find ourselves a Dementor."

Sam and Dean looked at each other.

"And what exactly would that achieve?" Dean asked.

"Couldn't you use the Boggart to teach us?" said Sam.

Remus lifted an eyebrow. "A very clever idea, Sam. However if neither one of you have ever encountered a Dementor, and you have never felt it's effects, that Boggart in there would not turn into one. It would turn into a clown, wouldn't it?"

Sam shuddered.

"Don't worry. I am perfectly capable of a full corporeal Patronus. I will be able to fend them off if need be. But you will not fully understand what the Dementor is capable of until you've met one. How those happy thoughts that you've been digging down deep for are not nearly happy enough. Once you are under a Dementor's influence it will be very difficult -"

"To find our Happy Place." finished Dean.

"Precisely!"

Sam nodded to Dean after thinking it over.

"If that's what it takes." Dean agreed.

"Good!" said Remus. "We shall venture out after the children have been sent off to bed. Of course I shall be informing Dumbledore of our little adventure."

The three parted ways and the brothers went off to the greenhouse to sit in on Pomona's class. Today she was doing a refresher lesson on the severing charm, Diffindo. The ivy on the outside of the greenhouse was becoming far too dense to deal with, so the students took turns hacking away at it with the spell.

By the time the class was over, the sky was beginning to darken. They hurried up to the Great Hall in preparation for dinner.

"What do you think about this field trip tonight?" asked Dean.

Sam had been thinking about it all afternoon. "I think it's probably the best way to learn."

"Well it's a good thing we deal with monsters all the time." he chuckled.

"Throughout the year, this school sees a lot of these things. It is better that we learn how to deal with them properly. If we can't make a proper Patronus then we're pretty much screwed."

"I hear that. Ooo is that pie I smell?"

"Yeah. I think it is."

Dean inhaled deeply and his eyes practically disappeared as they rolled back into his head. "Oh, yeah. Come to Daddy." Dean said, and walked with a purpose the rest of the way.

When they were finally seated, and all of the children were present and accounted for, the food appeared. Low and behold, not only was there pie, there were four kinds of pie. But the thing that they did not expect was the large platter that appeared in front of them on which sat a perfectly stacked pyramid of bacon cheeseburgers and a large bowl of American French Fries.

Dean fist pumped in silent victory and grabbed one of the burgers. He looked it over in his hands and smelled it. "Yes!" he quietly said to himself. He then took a large bite and moaned in food-ecstasy.

Sam stared at him the entire time. Dean finally finished his first mouthful and saw Sam's attention was on him.

"What? This is the most amazing burger I've ever freaking had!"

"You found your way to the kitchen didn't you?"

"Yes I did!" Dean said very satisfied with himself.

"When did you do that?" Sam asked.

"Sunday." he said before taking another huge bite.

Remus made his way over to where the brother's sat. He leaned down between the two to speak with them.

"I've spoken with Dumbledore, and he has given us permission to venture out to the boundaries and have a Dementor encounter. Just so long as it is not one near the castle he has asked us to stay as out of sight as possible."

"That makes sense." Sam agreed.

Dean continued to chew, refusing to add any verbal confirmation to the conversation. Instead he nodded in agreeance and gave a thumb up to show his support.

Remus smiled and gave Dean a light pat on the shoulder before returning to his seat.

Sam and Dean finished eating and met up with Remus. They headed into the night, following the shore of the lake northward, behind the castle. As they walked, Remus took a couple of chocolate bars out of his pocket and handed one each to them.

"Now, these will help you recover after an encounter with a Dementor." he began. "You must prepare yourselves, as you will feel it before you see it and it will not be pleasant. You must recall happy memories like you have been doing, but for the real thing you must find something even stronger. Let it fill you up like –"

The air suddenly turned frigid. They were quite some ways from the castle now. They had followed the road that led to the gate house on the opposite side of the lake from the castle. As they neared the gate the three saw the water along the banks begin to freeze. Not just a frosty slush, but a full on hard freeze. The wildflowers, folded up for the night froze solid and wilted.

"This is it!" said Remus looking around for the encroaching Dementor. "Happy memories and wands at the ready!"

All three of them presented their wands to the night air and stood with their backs together.

Remus stood strong against the illusive foe. He was ready. Dean looked around wildly, he could not see what direction it was coming from.

"Steady!" said Remus.

Sam looked every which way, he could not see it either, but soon he began to hear its death-rattle like breathing. It was so close. So close he should be able to see it now. He felt the happiness of his memory start to fade like a dimmer switch. He looked up and there it was floating a ways above them, hiding in the black of the night sky.

"Look up!" Sam shouted.

They saw it descend upon them from above. The closer it got, the colder it became. Sam and Dean began to feel its effects like a heavy weight was pulling them down. The blood drained from their faces and they felt a sadness they have felt many times before.

"Expecto Patronum!" Dean said feebly.

"Again!" Remus said. "Hold on to your happy thought! Don't let it take it from you!"

"Expect –" Dean faltered.

Sam lifted his wand and strained against the depression and quickly blurring vision. "Expecto Patronum!" he yelled.

A faint, glowing white wisp floated out from the tip of his wand.

"That's it!" Remus shouted. "Keep going, Sam!" He flicked his wrist in a clockwise circle and produced the beginnings of his own patronus.

Sam tensed every muscle in his body and with a renewed effort he took every last ounce of energy and called upon the memory of himself, Dean, Bobby, and their father all together. They had had a barbeque and watched old horror movies and spent the night just talking and drinking beers. The whole family together.

He remembered that night and with gritted teeth he bellowed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

He felt the body of his brother slump down on the ground against his leg as a blinding light erupted from his wand. It joined Remus' and formed a glowing white shield above them. The Dementor struggled against the shield, rasping and rattling in its frustration. A ghostly owl burst forth out of the shield leaving a swirling trail of illumination in its wake. The owl flew around the trio once and then made a bee line straight for the Dementor, chasing it off. Sam's energy spent, he too collapsed. His vision tunneled and then went black.

Dean came to. Remus was alternating shaking him and lightly tapping his cheek. "There we are. Come 'round now. That's it." He then turned his attention to Sam and began to wake him.

"Ooo. That was gnarly." Dean said shaking his head. "What happened?"

"That would be the effects of the Dementor." Remus answered still tapping Sam's face.

"I had it. It was there." said Dean. "Then it all just . . . melted away."

"Trust me, eat the chocolate. It helps." he said, popping a piece of chocolate into his mouth. "I had already started my patronus when Sam brilliantly came through!"

Dean opened his chocolate and ate a piece. The warmth of it filled his mouth and spread to his chest and limbs quickly. Sam was still out cold.

"Did you see his Patronus?" Remus asked.

"No I didn't." Dean admitted.

"It was an owl. Full corporeal! Lovely!"

Sam began to stir.

"There you go. Nice and easy does it." said Remus

"Ooooooh!" Sam moaned. "That sucked!" He opened his eyes and looked around him. All he saw in his frame of vision was Remus handing him a bit of chocolate. "Where's Dean?"

"I'm right here." Dean answered and tapped him on the leg.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. You?"

"Oh, I'm . . . . just peachy." Sam said taking the chocolate from Remus. He ate it and felt better quite quickly. He was surprised.

Remus shook Sam by the shoulders slightly. "You did it, Sam! You did it!"

"I did? What was it?"

"An owl!" Remus was grinning from ear to ear.

Dean looked at Sam happy for him but clearly disappointed. . "Congrats man. I'm sure it was awesome."