"Okay, as you all know, we're nearing the end of the year," Isabella announced to the VI. It was the first day of May, one month before school let out. "I know examinations are coming up, so this might be our last meeting."
There were a lot of groans and Sedgwick actually stood up and said, "Who cares about exams? I'd rather do this than study!"
"Me too, but I don't think our teachers would agree," Isabella said, casting a side-long glance at Professor Hadrian. "What do you think, Praetorian Guard?"
"Well, I'd have to side with the teachers on this, Generalita," he shrugged. "Revision is pretty important." There were a few joking boos and hisses at his comment and he held up his hands in an attempt to ward off their displeasure. "Come on, kids, I don't make the rules!"
"Anyway," Isabella said over the chatting crowd, which instantly fell into a respectful silence. "I've decided to do something really special. Has anyone ever cast a corporeal patronus?" A pen could have dropped and everyone would have heard it.
"Um, no? Have you?" Flavius asked sarcastically, combing back his long golden hair with his fingers.
"Actually..." Isabella said. "Expecto Patronum!" A lion erupted from the tip of her wand, his silvery mane glowing as though made of moonlight. He glared around the room with mercury-like eyes and, finding no threat, curled at her feet and went to sleep.
"I wish he wouldn't do that," Isabella sighed, nudging him with her foot. "But the point is that a corporeal patronus can protect you from dementors. They act as a sort of positive source of energy that the dementor feeds off of instead of on your memories and thoughts."
"You mean, when they're actually awake?" Emiliano asked, rolling his eyes.
"Er, yes," Isabella glared at him. "But a shield charm can be just as effective. Shall we begin?"
There was a clattering of footsteps down the stairs just before Isabella could issue instructions and a timid looking second year jumped down the staircase.
"Professor Bianchi would like to see you, Professor Hadrian," she told him, her eyes wide to see so many students looking at her. "Right away, sir."
"Right," he sighed. "I'm coming. I might be a while, Generalita, so go on without me."
"Okay," she said, frowning after him as he left. She wondered what on earth the headmistress wanted that would demand his attention 'right away' and 'for a while'.
"Patronus Charms?" Khalid prompted her.
"Oh. Right." Isabella said, shaking herself out of her reverie. "In order to cast a Patronus you need a happy memory. Not any happy memory, but one that makes you the happiest you have ever been."
"What memory do you use?" Flavius interrupted. He usually was subdued when Professor Hadrian was present, but loud and stubborn when the teacher was not.
Isabella blushed. "That's personal," she snapped.
"Shut up, Antonio!" Mariano shouted at the younger boy. "Go on, Isabella."
"Well, you must focus on that memory," Isabella said, fighting to cool her flushed face while she spoke. "And let it fill your being, drowning out all thought. The spell is 'Expecto Patronum'." With these last two words, the lion at her feet stood up and yawned massively.
"Everyone stand up, please," Isabella said, placing a hand lightly upon her silvery guardian. There was a loud scraping sound as the chairs were pushed back. A few of the boys pushed the tables over to the walls while the girls stacked the chairs, clearing a space on the floor. They had done this so many times that they movement seemed almost mechanical.
"And begin!" she ordered. The room was filled with shouts of "Expecto Patronum!"
"A really happy memory!" Isabella said over them, stepping across the room, the lion following like a glowing shadow. "The most powerful memory you can think of. Excellent, Sedgwick!" A silvery mist flowed from the young boy's wand, his face screwed up in concentration. He grinned and the mist immediately stuttered to a halt.
About an hour passed. Zala, after much struggle, managed to produce a silver wren that flutter around her and made soft calls.
"It's so small," she frowned at it, squinting through her glasses. "Can it really protect me?"
"A small leak can sink a great ship," Isabella told her.
"Who said that?"
"I don't know. An American."
"I think I got something! I think it's - !" Isabella turned to see Mariano pointing his wand before him and a distinct lack of silver in his vicinity
"It was definitely something!" he said. "It had a shape, maybe with claws!"
"Keep trying!" Isabella smiled at him. She saw his sister a little way away, looking frustrated, her brown hair plastered to her neck with sweat.
"What memory are you thinking of?" she asked the girl, who lowered her wand.
"My first kiss, I guess," Angelica sighed.
"I'm not sure that's strong enough," Isabella told her kindly, but Angelica still looked defeated. "But what about Khalid? And all your happy memories with him?" Angelica nodded and raised her wand.
"Expec - Expecto Patronum!" she said. A beautiful marten leapt from her wand and twisted through the air, turning to look back at its creator with curious dark eyes.
"Well done!" Isabella grinned, clapping Angelica on the back. "Really good - "
"Watch out!" someone shouted and loud yipping sound came from about ten feet away. Flavius stood there looking over a large starlit hyena, which yipped yet again.
"It's ugly," Zala said cruelly. "Wowzers, I had no idea a Patronus looked like its maker."
"Zala, that was rude," Isabella said sternly.
Mariano finally recaptured that clawed creature, which turned out to be a wolf. Kalid watched a fine silvery bear roam around him, looking hot and bored. Zala's wren was joined by a multitude of birds which filled the room of the Dining Hall with star-like, darting flashes of light.
"All right, everyone, that's enough for today," Isabella tried to say, but with the room crowded full of talking students and calling animals she could not heard.
"Viva Italia!" she shouted.
"VIVA!" came the thundering response. Even the animals fell silent.
"Right, you've all done very well," she said, smiling over them all. "This is really advanced magic, and you've really stepped up and mastered - "
Her pocket was growing hot. Very hot. "And um, well, I guess this - " Isabella tried to continue, ignoring her pocket's radiant heat. "I mean, er - " She couldn't stand it anymore. Pulling the fake Galleon out of her pocket, the coin instantly cooled to her touch. Emblazoned on the side were the words, "HARRY POTTER AT HOGWARTS. WE FIGHT."
Turing the coin in her hand, Isabella's heart missed a beat when she saw that the dragon image normally stamped on the Galleon had been replaced by a raven with outspread wings and instead of saying "unum galleon" the letters at the top spelled "golde ravin". When she turned the coin over, a lion rampant filled the back of the coin. Her own silvery lion flickered and faded away.
"Isabella? Are you all right?" Zala asked, shaking her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Caterina asked, sounding terrified.
"Harry Potter is at Hogwarts," she said softly. "There's going to be a battle."
Stunned silence greeted her announcement. Isabella looked up and saw a mixture of confusion, excitement, and fear on the faces of the self-proclaimed Gloria-Mangiatori.
"I'm going," she declared, quietly but with force. "Will someone tell my uncle?"
"I would," Mariano said, stepping up to her, "But I'm going with you."
"No," Isabella said, shaking her head. "This isn't your fight."
"Well then it's not yours either," Angelica argued.
"I thought this was about standing up and fighting!" Emiliano shouted.
"Well, it was... look, that's not the point - " Isabella stammered.
"Then what is the point?" Caterina demanded, her eyes flashing.
"The point is that I'm running out of time!" Isabella shouted. "I need to go now."
"You aren't going without us!" Khalid told her, stepping up and putting a hand on Angelica's shoulder.
"We can help!" Sedgwick piped up, brandishing his wand and nearly taking Zala's eye out.
"... Fine! But I can only take those of age with me!" Isabella said, feeling the tension building up in the coin, as though Rowena was waiting for her to answer. There was an outbreak of protests from the younger students, including Khalid and Angelica but especially Sedgwick.
"Because we're going to have to Apparate in!" she shouted over them.
"Right," Mariano said firmly. "Now, where exactly are we going?"
Isabella instinctively reached in her pocket and pulled out a photograph. She was not sure how it had gotten there, as she had no memory of putting it there, but Rowena was probably behind that, too.
In the picture, a smiling girl with very blonde hair and bright green eyes beamed at the camera, a tall girl with short brown hair beside her with one arm flung around the shorter girl's shoulders. Two identical boys grinned from either side of a picture of Isabella, their cheeks red with the cold and their breathes coming in puffs of mist. A dreamy looking girl with dirty-blonde hair smiled slightly at the photographer, her fingers twirling an odd, radish-like earring. The ground fell away behind them, snowy and white with a small village visible in the background. It was one of those clear days where you can see very far away so that the village was in sharp detail.
"There," Isabella announced, passing Mariano the picture and pointing to the distant Hogsmede. He nodded and passed the photo to Zala and Caterina. To her surprise, Emiliano stepped up and took the picture next, examining it critically. Soon a small contingent of seventh- and eighth-years were gathered around Isabella, looking determined.
"No, Sedgwick," she said sharply. "You can't come."
"But I can help!" the boy protested, his blue eyes sparkling with frustrated tears.
"Angelica, keep them here," Isabella asked the girl, who nodded and place a restraining hand on Sedgwick's collar. "And tell them where we've gone," Isabella added. She briefly wondered if Rowena had arranged Professor Bianchi to call Professor Hadrian and to keep him away, for the tall, graying man had still not returned when Isabella turned on the spot and was pressed very hard from all directions so that she could not breathe.