Authors Notes

Hello All! I'm sorry for the delay again, I'm struggling balancing this and work and I acknowledge that I am beginning to slip on my once a month updates. I will try to do better in the future though! This chapter was tricky to write, I wanted to get a balance and show that although Harry definitely has prodigious skill, he's not going to master every spell in a matter of minutes. So please let me know what you think!

Reviews

disestablishmentaria - You're very welcome, I hope this one is worth the wait!

griffin blackwood - Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

littleemberlou - Yep Remus will be dropping hints and nuggets about Harry's parents throughout the year. I'm glad you liked it, I hope this chapter is as good!

Guest - Thank you very much!

Chapter 25

"Professor Lupin tells me you wish to learn the Patronus Charm?" Professor Flitwick asked, though the question was clearly rhetoric. He studied Harry over the rim of his goblet as they sat across from each other in the Charms Master's office, both enjoying the comfort of the cushioned armchairs and the warmth of the fire crackling in the hearth.

Harry nodded rather than vocalising his desire to learn the spell, the mention of it also dragged memories of the demon he encountered on the train and he couldn't completely disguise the tremor in his hand as he lifted his cup of tea for a sip. If Flitwick noticed the slip he didn't comment, only drinking deeply from his goblet and letting the comfortable silence continue for a few minutes.

"The Patronus Charm has a very narrow field of use, Harry." Flitwick began as he turned his gaze to the fire for a moment. "It is also extraordinarily difficult to cast with any degree of success, as such it is usually only taught to Seventh Year Charms students, and of those very few are able to produce much more than a wisp of light."

Harry didn't say anything, but something in his expression must have betrayed his rebellious thoughts as Flitwick sighed heavily.

"You are extraordinarily talented Harry, I do not say this because I do not believe you capable of summoning a Patronus. I just want to impress upon you how difficult this endeavour will be. There are Aurors who cannot cast this spell properly, it requires a great deal of focus and effort to even manage the lesser shield form of the spell."

"I know it will be difficult Professor, I've read about it in the Library. Most books barely mention it, one author said it was 'an almost impossible to cast spell that isn't needed anymore because the Ministry controls the Dementors it can repel'. But even if it takes me years, I just … I don't want to go through that again. They're h-horrible." Harry drew in a rattling breath as he tried to force the memory of the monster from his mind.

"Ah that sounds like Wilbert Slinkhard, yes he is a rather odious man. His grandfather fought in the war against Grindelwald in Europe, he earned an Order of Merlin for his efforts. Wilbert and his father unfortunately have not inherited their ancestor's bravery nor his skill with a wand. Neither of them has ever written anything worth reading, I would advise you to ignore their words. But I digress, I have discussed your request with Professor Lupin and we have agreed that he would be the better teacher for this particular spell."

"Really? Couldn't you teach me the charm Professor?" Harry asked confusedly. He didn't have a problem with the Defence teacher instructing him in the spell, but he was used to Flitwick's methods, and the man was a Charm's Master, surely he was best suited to teach an advanced charm.

"Expecto Patronum." Flitwick waved his wand in a quick circle above his head and from its tip burst a spectral eagle, enormous wings spread wide as it soared over their heads. Lines of purest white light made up its form, and a gentle mist of white light drifted from it in Harry's sight. "While I can cast the spell, I am by no means an expert on it. It is part of an esoteric branch of magic that interacts with the soul and I have never had an inclination to study such things. Professor Lupin is both an expert on Defensive magic and he has some experience with the branch of Animus magics that may help him in teaching you this particular spell." The summoned eagle landed softly on the back of Flitwick's chair and dissipated into a cloud of loose particles that collapsed and drifted across the room as the spell faded.

"Now tell me how have your electives been? You have already had a Divination lesson, yes?" Flitwick asked excitedly as the remains of his spell slowly disappeared in Harry's sight.

"Well I don't think I can read tea leaves…"

Ancient Runes turned out to be 80% memorisation to begin with, which seemed to disappoint much of the class. Any plans of breaking curses or placing enchantments on things were quickly quashed by Professor Babbling's opening speech.

"Many of you will have chosen this elective after hearing stories of Curse Breaker's and Warder's, how they can disarm magical traps and create powerful enchantments to defend against creatures and dark wizards." Professor Babbling shook her head and pointed to one of the chalkboards that lined the walls of the room, Harry couldn't tell what was on it at first but a moment later lines of energy crawled across the surface of the board. The lines formed strange symbols, each one glowing with a dull red light until the board was covered in them. "These are Heiroglyph's, this is one of the most effective Runic Alphabet's we know of for channelling and anchoring magic. There are over 800 of these symbols, some are simple phonetic characters that correspond to a sound, but most have deeper meanings. Before going anywhere near even the least guarded tomb in Egypt, you need to know all of them and their meanings. No cheat sheets or dictionaries will save you if you trigger a curse in one of those tombs." As the witch dropped her hand, the glowing symbols faded until once again they were invisible in Harry's sight.

Despite this warning, and Professor Babbling's promise that they wouldn't be using any magic with the Younger Futhark runes they were studying, Harry remained excited for each lesson. He had explained to Professor Babbling that while he couldn't see the symbols, he could feel them if they were engraved or raised on the page and showed her the copy of Spellman's Syllabary he had brought in from his bookcase at home. She had been impressed with the copy and, after he demonstrated that he could correctly identify the runes she pointed to in the pages, had left him to it as most runes were carved into their mediums for permanency anyway.

After a lesson spent on identifying the lesser meanings of Ur, the rune for iron and rain, it was also one of the Futhark runes that existed in Elder Futhark, though there it symbolised strength and resilience, Harry was jolted from his musings on the class by his name being called from the end of the corridor. A quick check in his awareness showed that it was Professor Lupin who had called for him, his magic was easily recognisable amidst the smaller and less vibrant colours of his classmates. He made his way through the crowd until he reached the Defence teacher and followed him as he walked around the corner in the direction of the Defence classroom.

"I understand Professor Flitwick spoke with you?" Lupin opened the door to the classroom and gestured for Harry to enter. "He has agreed that I should instruct you in the Patronus Charm as best I can, that is if you still want to proceed?"

"Yes, I know it's difficult to cast, but I need to try." Harry dropped his bag onto a chair and leaned against a desk as Lupin made his way to the front of the room. The Defence professor sighed and nodded before he gestured with his wand and a heavy chest scraped across the floor, coming to a stop in the middle of the space between the teacher's desk and the first row of student's desks.

"Very well. The Patronus Charm is deceptively simple in its description. There is no wand movement, the incantation is Expecto Patronum. Emphasise the 'o' and the 'um' like this EXPECT-O PATRON-UM. Give it a try."

Harry repeated the incantation as best he could but he didn't draw his wand, he had been warned by Professor Flitwick that even speaking the wrong words while holding a wand could cause chaotic results, especially if the wielder was emotional at the time.

"A little more emphasis on the '-o' next time but it should be fine. Now for most spells you only need to hold the form or shape of the spell in your mind, which is to say imagine what you want to happen and will it to do so. However, the Patronus is not so simple, it was created to fight off the darkest of magic's and it requires both immense willpower and, for want of a better word, fuel for the charm to work. While the spell is mostly used to defend against Dementors, in ancient history it was recorded to be effective against other evils that thankfully are all bound or broken now." Professor Lupin seemed to perk up as he explained the purpose and history of the spell, clearly in his element. "But I think its most common use is the one you are interested in. To successfully cast the Patronus Charm, you need to think on a happy memory. Like I said, deceptively simple. This memory can't be just a happy day where you did well on a test or something Harry. It needs to be true, pure happiness. The Patronus, when cast correctly, forms a barrier between you and the Dementor made of that which the Dementor cannot touch. It's antithesis."

"So the key to the spell is a happy memory?" Harry mused as he tried to think back on his happiest memories. There were several to choose from, his birthdays with Petunia or the first Christmas with Professor Flitwick, Castamir, Moody and Percival came to mind immediately.

"It sounds simple but it needs to be a powerful memory, it needs to resonate with your very soul to be able to bring joy to you even when faced with a Dementor's fetid breath. You have experienced the aura of decay they are surrounded by, can you think of a memory that could keep you happy while standing before one again?" Lupin's words crashed over him like a bucket of ice-water. Nothing could make him happy next to one of those demons, they were monsters in the truest sense of the word.

"Is there no other way to repel them?" He asked with a vain hope, though he already knew the answer from his research in the Library.

"I am sorry Harry, no. They consume magic in almost every form, the only other spells which affect them are truly monstrous things. Like can effect like, beyond the Patronus there are some Dark Magic's which can harm Dementors or even cajole them into doing your bidding. But they require an evil heart and a broken soul. The cost is not worth it, I promise you that. Are you still sure you want to go ahead with the lessons?" Harry let out a little sigh as he turned the choice he faced over in his mind. He could give up, rely on someone else to protect him if he faced a Dementor again. Or he could knuckle down and spend as long as it took to learn this spell.

"Okay, so should I just try casting the spell here?" He asked as he pulled his wand from its holster beneath his armpit and gripped it firmly. Lupin seemed unsurprised by his response and simply shook his head softly.

"No, no it won't do you any good just speaking the words. You need to face that which you fear to truly know what memory will work. So, choose a memory, remember it as best you can, let it fill you. When you are ready let me know."

Harry frowned as he wondered how he would face his fears in the classroom but pushed the thought away as he focussed on selecting a memory to use for the spell. It needed to be powerful. Powerful and happy. He spent several moments recalling times when he was at his happiest and eventually settled on his first meeting with Professor Flitwick. Learning he was a wizard was certainly a happy memory.

He nodded to Professor Lupin and raised his wand as he did his best to immerse himself in the memory, picturing the Charms Master's magic as it flowed around the living room when he demonstrated magic for the first time. Lupin stepped back behind the chest and waved a hand across the front of it, an echoing rattle and then a heavy click sounded and the lid swung open. The room dropped to a frigid temperature and Harry felt the hairs on his arms rise as a dark figure rose from the depths of the trunk.

A swirling hungry void leered from beneath a tattered hood as the Dementor drew in rattling breath, the air around it pulsed with shadow as it drew in the very colour from the room, leaving only pale grey in its wake. It moved slowly, rising from the chest until it hovered a few feet in the air and leaned forward to loom over Harry.

"Ex-Expecto…" The words died in his mouth as the memory he had chosen fled from his mind, replaced almost instantly by the feeling of his hand burning like it had in his first year, the pain of venom coursing through his blood in his second, and the shadowy figure that so reminded him of those that terrified him as a child.

He didn't remember passing out, but when he came to the chest was closed and Professor Lupin was holding a broken piece of chocolate under his nose, the rich sweetness filling his senses. His hand clenched tightly around his wand and he was grateful that it hadn't fallen from his grip at least.

"Wha – How did you trap a Dementor?" Harry asked as he pulled himself upright and accepted the treat from Lupin who rocked back on his heels and chuckled darkly.

"That wasn't a Dementor Harry." Lupin pointed at the innocent looking trunk. "That was a Boggart. I kept it after the lessons, thought it might come in handy. Unlike a Dementor, it is fairly easy to contain a Boggart. In fact they're usually happy enough to be kept locked up somewhere cold and dark so long as they aren't near other people."

Harry slumped slightly, he hadn't even faced a real Dementor and he'd still failed miserably. As if reading his thoughts, Lupin patted him gently on the shoulder and sighed softly.

"Harry, I am not surprised you didn't manage to cast the spell on your first try. In fact, I would be worried if you had, not only are you trying to learn a post-NEWT level spell, you are doing so as a third year. I doubt even the Headmaster would have been able to do better." The words were a balm for Harry's wounded pride and he realised he was being arrogant, he had expected the spell to come easily to him as many other charms did, but he was no stranger to practicing spells. It had taken him the better part of a year to produce any results with some of the spells he had learned, and that was with no instructor.

He grabbed the lip of one of the desks and lifted himself onto his feet, his left hand reached for his cane instinctively and he smiled briefly at it's comforting warmth. He shook his head and lifted his hand, his wand trembled slightly but he ignored it as he faced the chest again.

"Hold on. What memory did you try last time?" Lupin asked as he crossed the room to stand beside the locked trunk.

"When I received my Hogwarts letter and Professor Flitwick showed me magic for the first time."

"A good memory, but not powerful enough if the Boggart was able to push it from your mind so quickly. So think again, really dig down for something that fills you with warmth Harry."

Harry tried to think of a memory that made him happier than finding out he was a wizard. It wasn't an easy task, although he had lived a relatively comfortable life, he hadn't experienced all that many moments where he felt only happiness. He focussed on how he had felt when he first cast magic with his wand, the thrill of warmth and the pride he had known at being able to use magic for himself.

"Ready? Here we go…" Lupin unlocked the chest and the demonic form rose once again, and Harry did his best to face it.

The extra lessons with Professor Lupin weren't Harry's least favourite, despite his continued failures. That honour went to Divination. Professor Trelawney was … eccentric. She could be oblivious to the classroom at one moment, studying a crystal ball or a deck of cards at her desk, and then suddenly she would appear across the room and spend several excruciating minutes asking questions about what a random student had eaten for breakfast, or if they had noticed any oddly shaped clouds that day. For the first four lessons she had mostly ignored Harry's presence in the class, barely glancing his way as they did their best to discern the hidden meanings of the dregs of their teacups.

Sadly, their fifth lesson meant they were moving on from Tasseomancy and onto Crystal Gazing. Harry had hoped that he would have more luck with this method of divining information and the future, but as he sat opposite Neville with the orb between them, that hope vanished quickly. Much like the tealeaves, Harry could see the crystal ball in his sight, but he couldn't look inside it as the rest of the class could. His awareness of the orb ended as his magic brushed against it's glassy surface, if it was hollow or much smaller he might have been able to push his magic into it, but it was solid crystal and rebuffed his attempts with ease.

"Having some difficulty boys?" The dreamy and slightly rasping voice shocked him from his attempts to peer into the sphere's depths, Neville was so surprised he half-jumped from his seat and it was only Professor Trelawney's perfectly placed hands that kept the ball from falling from the table. "What do you see when you look into the ball?"

"Erm…" Neville shot a nervous look Harry's way before he leaned closer and peered into the returned crystal ball. He leaned close enough that Harry thought his nose would push the ball over again, but eventually he slumped back in defeat and shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry Professor, I just see clouds in there."

"Well of course you do, you're looking with those." Trelawney gestured to Neville's wide eyes with a ring encrusted hand. "You need to look with everything else. It is called the Inner Eye for a reason Mr Longbottom. Now, try again but don't look for anything in the ball, let the visions come to you."

Neville blinked twice but at the Professor's urging he turned and leaned closer to the crystal orb again, this time he looked less focussed and a little more relaxed as his face slackened slightly. Harry sat silently and awkwardly as he tried his best not to fidget in case he distracted the Gryffindor.

"Well?" Trelawney asked expectedly when Neville blinked and moved his head back several minutes later.

"I … I think I just saw clouds again." Harry did his best to disguise his snort as a cough as Professor Trelawney sighed and shook her head at Neville's pinking face.

"Keep trying Mr Longbottom. Now Mr Potter, your turn I think?" She turned to Harry and he nodded with a defeated sigh as he settled into his seat and faced the crystal ball. He knew he wouldn't be able to see anything so instead he sat quietly and did his best to keep his breathing even. He didn't notice it at first but as he took slow breaths in, his magic coiled and built beneath his skin. On each exhale the magic drifted free of his body and sat twisting around him. He had spent so many hours practicing the technique Flitwick had taught him that it came naturally anytime he breathed in a similar manner.

As his emerald magic drifted about him like smoke he felt himself relax, his mind calmed as he let his worries about the Dementors and Black and the Patronus fade from his thoughts. Only the next breath mattered.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

Clouds.

Out.

Screams.

In.

Cold.

Out.

PAIN.

Harry jolted in his seat, pushing the crystal ball away as he did his best to claw breath into his lungs. At some point his magic had kept moving even when his breathing had stopped. He could feel sweat dripping down his neck and behind his glasses his eyes, or what was left of them, stung. His hand clenched and he felt a dull itching feeling in his palm.

"What did you see boy?" Trelawney asked from beside the table, her voice had lost its dreamy quality and was all rasp and roughness as she reached out a trembling hand for him. "What did your Inner Eye reveal?"

Harry shook his head as he struggled to keep what he had felt and experienced in his mind but he could feel it slipping, like the brief moment of awareness after awakening from a dream. He opened his mouth but the memory faded completely and although he knew he had seen something, he couldn't recall what it was. He closed his mouth quickly when the Divination Professor leaned closer and he caught a whiff of her breath, he had smelt something similar on Marge's breath several years previous after she drank most of a bottle of Sherry after Christmas Dinner.

"A pity." Trelawney muttered disappointedly as she stepped back from their table. "You held it longer than most, but you do not possess the Gift it seems. It is not a surprise, very few can truly peer through the mists of Time. But with practice you should still be able to use the lesser practices to divine information, any with magic and patience can do so."

"You okay Harry?" Neville whispered as Trelawney walked away to talk with an eager looking Lavender Brown about something she had seen in her crystal ball. "You turned real pale for a minute there mate."

"Yeah I'm alright Nev, think maybe the incense got to me or something." Harry did his best to assuage his friend's concerns and by the end of the lesson the Gryffindor seemed convinced, though he did offer to walk him to the Hospital Wing if Harry changed his mind.

Harry struggled through the Potions class that afternoon and, thanks mostly to Terry's Potioneering skill, managed to produce a passable Dreamless Sleep draught. Snape sneered silently when they handed it over but, apart from some calculating looks from the Potions Master when Malfoy avoided Harry like the plague, didn't seem to pay any undue attention to Harry or Terry thankfully.

That evening Harry dictated a letter and made a quick trip to the Owlery, he had some questions about Divination and Ancient Runes and he hadn't heard from Castamir in over a week. He hoped the enchanter wasn't in any danger helping Moody with tracking Black, surely Castamir wouldn't be all that much help chasing an escaped prisoner anyway. Would he?

The remnants of Dunnottar Castle sat on a crumbling clifftop and were often surrounded by tourists come to take in the spectacle of the still regal ruins. Or at least during the warmer summer months they were. As winter approached and the wind and rains from the North Sea crashed against the cliffside, pelting the already weathered stone walls with a never-ending bone-chilling assault. The other reason for the lack of visitors to the ruins were the rumours of a wild animal that had been spotted prowling the Castle, the descriptions varied but all agreed it was big, with black fur and unnaturally glowing amber eyes.

CRACK

"Merlin's arse why don't you apparate louder, I don't think Aberdeen quite heard you lass!" Moody shouted above the whistling wind and the percussive beat of the rain striking the stone around them. His companion didn't deign to reply, focussing most of her attention on staying upright in the face of the storm that seemed to be fighting to carry her away with it.

"Are you a witch or not?" Moody bellowed as he slammed his staff into the ground. The wind and rain lessened, and his greying hair stopped whipping around his head as the spell he cast blocked the worst of the weather's effects.

"Come now Alastor, the poor girl is as likely to lose her wand as cast a spell with it in this wind." Castamir said as he appeared near silently beside the young woman who sagged in relief when flicked his own wand and sheltered them both. "Now why have you called me up here? I know I agreed to help you find Black, but the Goblins look poorly on those that rush out of negotiations every other day."

"He was spotted near here in Dufftown and there have been potential Werewolf sightings in the area. I don't believe in coincidences. " Moody grunted as his enchanted eye rotated to scan their surroundings warily.

"Werewolf sightings? You think Black has recruited Greyback?" Castamir raised his wand and grabbed the young auror's shoulder when she moved to step forward towards the ruins.

"Oi gerroff."

"Tonks!" Moody barked angrily. "He ain't copping a feel for fucks sake, look at the grass in front of you."

The female auror, Tonks, turned her attention to the ground, illuminated by the full moon above them, where she had been about to step, and her short hair flashed from black to a deep crimson briefly as she recognised the heavy imprint on the slick grass. A large pawprint, too large for any normal canine, was still visible in the compressed grass and mud, though the depression was quickly filling with rainwater.

"Shit…sorry guv, sorry Cas." Tonks mumbled embarrassedly as she stepped back carefully and looked at the ground more carefully for more signs of life.

"Eyes on a swivel Auror." Moody instructed as he led the way closer to the ruined Castle, carefully stepping around loose stones and puddles that could hide traps.

They were within a few feet of what was left of the outermost wall of the keep when they all froze in place. In the distance, barely audible over the storm, a bestial howl echoed, the sound carrying across the cliffs and shaking the broken stones enough that several smaller pieces fell with a clatter. As the echoes faded Moody was the first to act, quickly swiping his wand through the air with one hand and stabbing his staff into the pliable mud with his other. His two companions were only fractionally slower, both turning to face the direction the noise had come from with wands at the ready, peering into the dark as they tried to pick out any movement.

They stood silently and warily at alert for several long minutes, the spells that held the rain and wind from them faded but none risked casting again and potentially giving away their location. So they stood waiting. Cold. Wet. Focussed. After an indeterminable amount of time Moody relaxed his stance and turned his head to look in his trainee's direction, his hand drooping slightly as he let his attention shift.

"It's gone." He stated grumpily. The three of them were sodden and quickly retreated to shelter from the weather beneath an overhand from one of the more sturdy sections of the Castle.

"Was it Greyback?" Castamir asked as he waved his wand and dried the three of them in an instant. "If it was then he's on Belby's brew, no way one of them turns from hunting three humans without it."

"I'm not sure." Moody grumbled as he leaned against the worn stone wall and sighed. "It was the right size, and it got close … maybe a hundred feet away afore it turned and left. But it doesn't sit right with me. Greyback should still be in Albania, if he was here there'd be signs."

"So it might not have been a werewolf? Or it was someone on Wolfsbane and they just left?" Tonks asked curiously as she rubbed her arms to warm them and poked her head around the corner to glance out into the dark again.

"It wasn't human, that's all I can tell you. Even this has it's limits." Moody gestured to his enchanted eye. "But now we're closer I can tell ya that Black ain't here, not now anyway." The eye swivelled in a full circle as he inspected the surroundings carefully. "Theres some scratches on some of the walls deeper in but they look like animals, maybe whatever that was out there left them. No traces of magic besides what we've left though."

"So no closer to Black then?" Castamir summed up.

"Aye alright, best you get back to Gringotts. I'll let you know if we get anymore leads." The grizzled Auror waved Castamir off and the enchanter disappeared with a soft crack. "Come on rookie, you need to spend some more time practicing your awareness."

Both Aurors followed Castamir's lead and disapparated, one leaving with a much louder sound than the other.

It was several hours later when the enormous coal-black dog risked padding back along the cliff to shelter from the ongoing rain in the ruins. He had almost walked right into the Aurors, and had only caught wind of Moody just in time. The old man had a very distinct scent but the wind and rain had disguised it until he got too close for comfort. Padfoot had debated approaching Moody and trying to explain, he knew him to be a decent man if a little irritable, but the risk was too great. In his prime he might have been able to give Moody a run for his money, but after so long in that infernal prison he was a shadow of his former self.

His tongue lolled out and he let out a low bark as he lapped at a mostly clean puddle just outside the collapsed wall he had used as a resting place for the past few nights. At least he was closer to the school now, he thought. He would watch for a few more days and then risk slipping in through one of the old passages, the one under Honeydukes or the boar statue perhaps.

He had made a promise to James and Lily. He would protect their son. He had failed for thirteen years. He wouldn't fail them any longer.

END