AN: And welcome back for another chapter! Getting back in the swing of this after a while. Not much to say about this chapter, but hope you enjoy! Make sure to review/comment! I read them all!
October brought with it the true chills of autumn, which Harry definitely noticed as he practiced on the Quidditch Pitch. With Harry's increasing skill, wider arenas were needed to safely practice in, and Professor Flitwick had managed to procure some time on the Quidditch pitch for Harry to practice his spellwork.
"Concentrate Mr. Potter! If you're going to be banishing your opponent, you have to learn not to overdo it! Tearing off limbs is a disqualification!" Flitwick said, as he maneuvered the training dummies around his apprentice.
Harry had really found where he excelled in dueling, which was with spells that simply moved and positioned his opponents. The summoning, banishing, and disarming charms were spells he could cast so instinctively he sometimes was capable of doing it without the incantation, which was something Flitwick was very pleased about. While those three skills were not an adequate arsenal for competitive dueling, developing a style around them was a good base to work from, and as such Harry was practicing his ability to control the opponent through positioning.
All around Harry were practice dummies of varying sizes, all being remotely controlled by Flitwick using some highly complicated charms that Harry didn't really have a grasp on yet. He, Padma, and Hermione had been very interested in learning them, but Flitwick mentioned that even Masters had difficulties deciphering how exactly they worked, and that really only the wizard who constructed them would know the exact details. Harry was working on his control to spin them in varying amounts, both clockwise and counterclockwise.
"This one, on your left, clockwise two hours." Flitwick said moving the dummy into position. Harry made a quick turn to his left, pointed his wand at the dummies right arm and said "Depulso!" turning the dummy clockwise, but a little more than intended.
"A bit much on the power. Still in its socket, but you turned him too much." Flitwick said, "We'll need to do some more control exercises… We'll call that for today."
"Sorry Professor, I'll do better next time." Harry said, slumping down a bit. This control issue had been a problem for a while. Harry was simply pouring too much magic into his spells, and it was occasionally causing issues.
"As far as problems go Mr. Potter, this is a good one to have. A person with powerful magic can learn to control their output, but a person with weak magic can't output anymore. You're quite the anomaly in just how much you can put out. Even my more talented students in the past would be rather magically exhausted after the amount of magic you've been putting out, while you're still fresh." Flitwick said, gesturing to Harry.
Harry did notice that he wasn't tired mentally, as intense magic was known to make people feel, and while his muscles burned a bit, that was from the laps and strength training he had been doing earlier. "I see. Thank you for the compliment, Professor."
"Don't let his head get too big Professor Flitwick! He won't fit in Ravenclaw tower!" Daphne said, from her place in the stands. The Sphinx club had bundled up and come outside in the chilly October weather to support Harry in his training, being around to act as training partners or moral support as the need arose. They had been sat doing some homework, but by the looks of the put away books, they had finished it some time ago.
"I'll endeavor not to Ms. Greengrass. Come along now everyone, we should get back inside before it gets any colder, I'm afraid I can't feel the tip of my nose!" Flitwick said with a hearty laugh.
Harry laughed as well, although he suddenly felt the outside get quite a bit colder, which was strange, as he was still wearing his warming scarf Flitwick had gotten for him in his first year. Moving his hand to it, he could feel it was still putting out quite a bit of warmth, but his core still felt so cold. Gasping in realization, Harry looked up and saw it. The black tattered cloak coming toward him.
"Dementor!" Harry yelled out, moving to run away from the others. The black creature turned towards him and continued his advance as Harry put more distance between them.
"Expecto Petronum!" Professor Flitwick called out, causing a bright white light to appear from his wand, a gout of white fog creeped towards the Dementor, causing it to flee. "Are you alright Mr. Potter?" Flitwick asked, moving as fast as his legs could towards the boy.
"Yes, I'm fine. What was that spell you cast?" Harry asked, looking towards the diminutive professor.
"The Patronus charm, it's the only real defense against dementors. Powerful charm, but difficult to cast." Flitwick said through panted breaths. He hadn't run that far Harry noticed… was the spell that taxing?
"That's twice one of those Dementors has come after me…. Could you teach me that spell Professor Flitwick? Just in case it happens again?" Harry asked, looking to his mentor.
"I'd normally be happy to, but I'm afraid I'm incapable. While I know all about the theory of the spell, I'm only just able to cast it myself. It requires a powerful wizard to truly cast the spell, and I'm simply not up to snuff in that department. The true form of the patronus is meant to be a creature, that spouts forth from your wand to actively combat a dementor. My fog is called an incorporeal patronus, a lesser form of the spell. Good enough for driving a dementor away, but not for groups." Flitwick said, managing to catch his breath. "Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are both capable of casting it, but they're likely too busy to teach you. I believe it's possible Professor Snape could as well, but I don't know that for sure."
"I don't believe Sn-" Hermione glared at him from a distance. "Professor Snape would be interested in teaching me more than he has to for his job." Harry said.
"I suppose you are right on that front." Flitwick said.
"Professor Lupin cast that spell on the train." Susan spoke up. "Maybe he could teach you, he summoned a wolf with his."
"Ah! I shouldn't be surprised. Professor Lupin was quite the exemplary student when he was here, despite his pension for mischief. I imagine that was much more your father's influence than any of his own." Flitwick said, nodding to Harry. "I would recommend asking him. Should he agree, and you are successfully able to cast the charm by the end of the school year, I would give you some points towards the house cup. I believe you are capable, and that is a post-NEWT level spell, so it would be well worth the points."
"Well now you HAVE to do it Harry, we need the extra points!" Padma called. "Got to show the other houses that Ravenclaw's the best." She said, as she stuck her tongue out at Daphne.
"If you were the best, then you wouldn't need Harry to do the extra work for you. You'd simply have enough points already." Daphne said, in a fake haughty voice. Unable to keep the charade up much longer, both Padma and Daphne broke into laughter.
The following day, Harry approached Professor Lupin after their class. "Oh yes, Mr. Potter? Is there something I can help you with?" Lupin asked, his tone curious.
"The girls said you cast the Patronus charm on the train to save me from that dementor right?" Harry asked, Lupin nodded in response. "I'd like you to teach me that charm if you would. I've been attacked by Dementors twice now, and I'd like to be able to defend myself against them."
"I see… Harry are you aware of what exactly you're asking? If this were a normal spell I'd be happy to teach you, but the Patronus charm… there are quite a number of very powerful and skilled wizards who can't cast the charm. You're an exceptional third year student for sure, but still just that, a third year student. I'm not certain if your core is even developed enough to cast it." Lupin said, his brow furrowed.
"I know… but I can't just be defenseless. If Daphne, or Hermione, or any of the girls were to be attacked by the Dementors, and I couldn't keep them safe. I don't know what I'd do. I understand it'll be difficult, maybe even impossible. But I have to try. I can't just sit by and hope for someone else to solve my problems for me." Harry said, clenching his fist in resolve.
"Guess you've got more of your mother in you than I thought, that's definitely Lily in there. Yes, I'll teach you. But I expect you to give it all you've got and then some." Lupin said.
"Thank you sir. I won't let you down." Harry said, happy to have started this journey.
"I imagine we should take this time to get started then. How much do you know about the patronus charm Harry?" Lupin asked, shifting into instructor mode.
"Not much. It wards away dementors." Harry said, a bit sheepish that he didn't know more.
"That's quite alright. The patronus charm is a relatively obscure spell in the grand scheme of things. Due to its limited use cases, and high casting requirements few individuals truly interact with the spell. The patronus charm is an intent based charm, it comes from a desire to protect and shield. The latin 'Expecto Patronum' literally translates to 'I await a protector', or 'I await a guardian' using your magic, you are in essence summoning a guardian to fight on your behalf against a creature you normally have no defense for. This is why the spell has such a high powerdrain, unlike transfigurations or conjuring, you aren't summoning or changing something that already exists, you are creating something wholly new. The patronus itself can take on two forms, the corporeal patronus, which is somewhat physical, it has defined shape and form, and can even apply force, and the incorporeal which is a sort of mist or fog. The latter is much easier to cast, and occasionally has it's uses even if the prior is able to be cast." Lupin said, going into his lecture. "Tell me Harry, why do you think the incorporeal one might be better for a given situation?"
"Um… well if it's less magically draining, being able to maintain it for longer?" Harry answered, unsure. This was entirely new territory, his academic mind not as ready for this as he had hoped.
"A good answer, and had we been talking about most other spells, a correct one, but not in this instance. Since all of the magic cost of a patronus is given on it's initial casting, if you were able to summon the corporeal patronus, you would be able to keep it up just as long as the incorporeal one. Generally, the advantage of the incorporeal, beyond it's easier casting providing more magical energy for later, is that it can simply cover a wider area. The corporeal patronus gives up it's ability to spread itself out to ward off an area in exchange for being able to more effectively combat dementors." Lupin said. "There are three things you need to cast the patronus charm. One is a healthy supply of magic, the next is the innate desire to protect. The final, is a sufficiently happy memory."
"A happy memory?" Harry asked, confused.
"A patronus is more or less a manifestation of your joy, your soul. A happiness so pure it overwhelms the negative emotions that dementors bring out. You pull from a memory, or a feeling of such overpowering joy that it literally bursts forth from you. You then channel that with your intent to protect something or someone to create the patronus." Lupin said.
"How will I know if I have a happy enough memory?" Harry asked. He did have more happy memories in the past two years than he had sad ones, but… overpowering happiness? Could he even feel that?
"It's not really an exact science. You just have to feel it out, for lack of a better word. Everyone feels happiness differently, and as such something that would work for one person, may not work for another. You'll simply need to think on that yourself." Lupin said. "For now, we'll need to measure your magical output. You're a remarkable wizard for your age Harry, but you still are developing in regards to your core. We'll work on measuring if you've even got the output to manage it." Lupin said.
What followed was a series of tests that worked on measuring Harry's magical abilities. A magical testing device was brought in that Harry would banish as hard as he could, and it would provide a score based on how "far" the banished object would have gone. Harry's results were, of course, rather exceptional. His results were of the level of a particularly powerful adult wizard, and to come from a child still in development? It seemed Harry was truly well on his way to outstrip Dumbledore as the most powerful wizard on the British isles.
"Well, output doesn't seem to be an issue for you. You're currently a bit below me in that regard, but given the fact that you're still developing, that's outstanding. You've got more than enough juice as it were to power the spell." Lupin said. "We'll work on the theory next then."
What followed for Harry was a lecture, not only on the specific wand movements involved in the Patronus charm, but also about how to effectively weaponize happiness. Harry meditated on happy moments in his life, letting them flash before his mind's eye in quick succession. Learning he was a wizard, getting Hedwig, meeting Hermione, then meeting all his other friends, forming the Sphinx Club, meeting the Tonks for the first time as his family, the party for his twelfth birthday, meeting Luna, his first kiss with Padma, his first kiss with each of the girls, and so many other happy memories beyond that. Lupin released him shortly after, instructing him to ruminate on those memories, distill them down into just the emotion from those events, and learn to be able to pull it out.
The rest of October was filled with what Harry considered fairly mundane lessons. The Sphinx Club continued to prove that they were the most effective study group in the school, holding the top 10 spots in their year by a wide margin. Luna was also the top second year, with Astoria and Ginny taking the second and third spots, since they had also taken to studying with the Sphinx club, although they didn't consider themselves proper members. Luna had jokingly called them the Griffon club instead, based on the creature having similar features to a Sphinx, but being somewhat separate. Everyone got a good laugh at that the first time she brought it up.
Halloween however, brought Harry a great deal of anxiety. As he awoke and took a look at his calendar, marking down what he had going on today he simply felt something was going to happen despite its seemingly mundane nature. It was a normal Sunday except for the holiday, Harry had expected to spend it with the Sphinx club, probably playing some game together, since they had agreed to take the day off. Harry, though, couldn't shake the feeling of unease he got from this holiday. It was, after all, the anniversary of his parent's death, but even beyond that it was the day Hermione was attacked by the Troll in the bathrooms, and the day that Susan unwittingly opened the Chamber of Secrets. No, Halloween was not a good day in Harry's eyes at all. He however, would grin and bear today, for the other's sake at the very least.
Harry was, of course, not surprised to see Hermione, Padma, and Luna waiting for him at the base of the stairs to his dormitory. He had always been the late riser of their group, preferring to spend his days off sleeping in. Hermione was punctual, always waking up at 6 AM every morning, no matter what day it was, which is one of the ways she managed to still stay a bit ahead of the rest of the Sphinx Club in their test scores. Padma and Luna simply both happened to be morning people.
"Good morning Harry, Happy Halloween!" Luna said, in her usual chipper way.
"Happy Halloween to you as well Luna." Harry said, putting a smile on his face. He didn't feel like smiling, not really deep down. But for Luna? He'd put on a face, to make her happy at least.
"So, any idea what the other's have planned today?" Padma asked, looking to the others as they started to make their way to the Sphinx Club room. "I think Lavender and Parvati were handling today weren't they?"
"They always handle the parties. I would say something about it, but they do a remarkable job at it." Hermione said, taking Harry's hand in hers. Competition over who held Harry's hands whenever they walked places was always fierce, even more so when it was just the Ravenclaw girls. Hermione and Luna seemed to have won on this day, although Hermione was on the opposite side than she normally would.
Harry thought Luna likely did that on purpose, as a small harmless prank. That, made Harry laugh inside just a little bit, and brightened his demeanor.
"I hope there's pudding." Luna said, skipping a bit. "I also hope Ginny and Story come."
"Story?" Harry asked, looking at his youngest significant other.
"Astoria, Daphne's sister. Astoria is a bit of a mouthful, so she's had us call her Story for a while. It was when I figured out we were really friends." Luna said, smiling to herself at the thought.
"You didn't think you were friends before?" Harry asked.
"I thought we were friendly. I wanted to be her friend, but you can never tell how the other person feels. Story especially is a bit closed off, not like Ginny who is open all of the time. I was happy to give her my friendship and receive friendliness, if not friendship in return, but then she told us to call her by that name, and we really became friends then. It's nice having her in classes with me, since I can't join you guys." Luna said skipping.
"I'm sure it is. You spend so much time with us it must be a bit hard to find friends in your year." Harry said, squeezing Luna's hand a touch.
"Oh, it's not too bad. I have Ginny and Story so I'm not really lonely on that front, and Ginny is such a people person that I get to make acquaintances by association. Like Colin Creevey from Gryffindor, he's nice. He shows me his muggle camera and the pictures he takes. There are a few others, but I'm not as close with them. It's alright though. I have plenty of friends." Luna said, squeezing Harry's hand. "Even a boyfriend! Never thought I would have one of those. All the girls are jealous."
"That has been a bit of an issue. It's a shame." Padma said, her tone a bit annoyed.
"What's been an issue?" Harry asked.
"Well, even though you're Harry to us… to a lot of people you are THE Harry Potter, famous wizard, vanquisher of Voldemort, golden boy. Some of the less nice girls have said some pretty mean things to us since we're dating you." Padma said.
"Why is this the first time I'm hearing of it?" Harry asked, looking at the three girls.
"For one, we didn't want to bother you with it." Hermione said. "You can't really do anything about it, this kind of thing is normal even in the muggle world with minor celebrities. There was a boy in my class in primary school who was in an episode of Jim'll Fix It, and this happened to the girl he had a crush on too. Some people are just mean Harry."
"That's still not right though… maybe I should say something." Harry said, before Hermione pulled him back.
"No, you will not say anything. We are capable of fighting our own battles. These are petty girls with crushes on a boy they know nothing about. We're fine. I handled rude girls long before you entered my life, I can handle them now." Hermione said, a look of flushed anger on her face. It softened quickly though. "Sorry about that, I just… Harry, I really appreciate you wanting to do something about it, I'm sure we all do. There's just nothing you CAN do that won't just make things worse."
"Besides, I would still much rather them be complaining at me that we're together, than trying to convince me to let them also have a piece of you." Padma said, and Hermione went red, though not with anger.
"Yes, that has been a bit… frustrating when they try that." Hermione said, her cheeks still red.
"What?" Harry asked, confused.
"Well, they figure since you already have several girlfriends, what would another one be? Then they try to get close to us just to ask you out." Padma said.
"Oh." Harry said, his face flushing a bit. "I didn't realize I was… uh… desirable in that way?"
"Did the 5 girlfriends not clue you in?" Hermione asked, her tone sarcastic.
"Don't you get a big head about it though. I'll tell Daphne, then you're in trouble." Padma said.
"I won't, I promise. If I do, I give you all full permission to knock me down as many pegs as you feel is necessary." Harry said, smiling at the girls.
"They can. I'll let you get a big head. It'd be funny to watch you fly like a balloon." Luna said, giving everyone a nice laugh.
The Halloween celebration for the Sphinx Club was a lively affair, with the 'Griffon Club' members in attendance as well. Apparently Lavender and Parvati had gotten some of the 7th year Gryffindor students to transfigure some costumes for the occasion, after hearing some of the muggleborn students describe their halloween festivities and found it fun. Harry had been given a vampire costume, complete with cape and fake fangs. Hermione was a muggle interpretation of a witch, complete with green skin and wart on her nose. Padma was a mummy, wrapped in bandages. Daphne had managed to get a costume representative of Cleopatra, complete with a rather appropriate snake circlet. Tracey meanwhile had white make-up on making her look like a ghost. Susan and Hannah matched, both being black cats. Parvati had styled herself after American moviestar Marilyn Monroe, and Lavender had gone for Audrey Hepburn. Neville was dressed as a dullahan, with a pumpkin where his head would be. Ginny decided to have her costume be an american cheerleader, and Astoria had gone for a simple zombie get-up. Luna however, decided she was Frankenstein's monster, and spent the evening walking around on boxes she had attached to her feet to make her taller.
Harry had felt much better about the day after their celebration. Nothing bad had happened, and he had fun dancing and playing with his friends and girlfriends. His anxieties had all but melted away when the made their way to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast. Dumbledore as always started the feast with great fanfare, and the students tucked into their food with fervor.
Harry sipped his pumpkin juice as he and his friends chatted amiably at the Ravenclaw table. The addition of Luna into the relationship had shaken up their normally seating arrangements. Despite the general Padma on the left and Hermione on the right arrangement, Luna was now occasionally usurping one of their spots, which Harry found amusing.
The friendly competition the girls had to simply be close to him had been a constant source of entertainment for Harry. Daphne and Padma in particular had developed a bit of a rivalry, each trying to claim the position as "top girlfriend", despite the fact that no such position would exist. Harry wouldn't let himself do that. Despite that however, the competition persisted. Daphne and Padma would display obvious, and more salacious means of affection, passionate kisses, meaningful innuendo and the lot. Hermione and Susan however were more content with the less active side of affection though, more cuddles on the couches in the Sphinx Club room, warm hugs and sweet tender kisses. Luna was the wildcard though, and seemed to flip wildly between the extremes, while simultaneously finding her own methods to show her affection. From piggyback rides, to tickle fights, Luna's affections sparked a unique kind of joy that it seemed only she could provide. Harry was immensely grateful to all five of them for what they did. He cared for them all very deeply, and wanted nothing to happen to them. Was that love? Harry was unsure about that, but felt that it didn't matter if that was the word for that feeling anyway. He would protect it, and them, with all he had. Come Basilisk, Voldemort, or whatever else would get in their way.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Professor Lupin making his way hurriedly, though not running, up the center aisle of the great hall. Had he not been here for the feast up to now? Harry hadn't noticed his absence. Lupin made his way to the Heads table, where he appeared to whisper something to Dumbledore. Whatever it was certainly seemed to surprise the aged headmaster, as he quickly rallied Professor McGonagall and Snape with him, and the quartet made their way quickly out of the Great Hall.
"Wonder what that's about?" Padma asked, pulling Harry out of his own thoughts for a moment. "Must be important for all of them to rush out in the middle of the Halloween feast."
"I don't know, but I have a very bad feeling about it." Harry said, his earlier anxieties coming to the forefront. Luna seemed to notice, and squeezed his hand.
"I guess we don't exactly have a good track record with Halloween do we?" Hermione said, almost in a defeated manner. "Troll first year, Basilisk the second."
"I'm sure everything will be okay this year. All of the Sphinx Club members are here, as well as Ginny and Story. Harry doesn't need to rush off to save anyone this time." Luna said.
"You do have a bit of a saving people thing Harry." Hermione said, looking at him.
"I don't like people being hurt." Harry said. "I wouldn't exactly call it a 'saving people thing' though."
"Well, you fought a troll as an eleven year old novice wizard for a girl that you still didn't know particularly well." Padma said.
"Hermione was my friend! I was worried about her." Harry said defensively.
"And don't think I don't appreciate that, and love that you thought so highly of me, but you had no reason to not just tell a prefect that I wasn't in the great hall." Hermione said.
"I didn't think they'd take it seriously." Harry said.
"I suppose that's fair enough, later events with a Basilisk being loose in the school support that." Hermione said.
No sooner had Hermione finished speaking, than Professor McGonagall reentered the Great Hall, making her way quickly to the Head Table for an announcement. "Students, there has been an incident outside of Gryffindor tower. For your safety, we will be not be releasing you back to your dorms tonight. You will remain here in the Great Hall while the staff investigates the situation. Prefects, please report to the Head table so we can discuss how to organize everyone for this evening."
After an initial burst of panic and confusion, which McGonagall shot down with an authoritative voice, students were eventually given instructions. Groups were formed by house and year, and given dedicated areas to sleep on cots provided by house elves. No one was to leave the Great Hall, which was monitored by no less than two professors throughout the entire night.
Professor Flitwick approached Harry, with a saddened look on his face. "Mr. Potter, I need to speak with you. We believe this incident may be somewhat connected to you, and it is of my opinion that you should be informed of what transpired here tonight. We believe, in his search for you, Sirius Black attacked the Fat Lady in an attempt to get into Gryffindor tower, likely believing that you would have been sorted there, like your father and mother were before you."
Harry was shocked.