Later that day –
“You mean Harry’s broom crashed into the whomping willow?”
Felix asked in surprise, and Hermione said sadly, “When we went to look for it, we only found some wreckage.”
“Harry must be very sad,” Felix said with a sigh, he drew out a notepad and wrote down a few lines of well-wishes, then stopped to ask Hermione’s opinion: “Do you think on the greeting card, should I need to add some kind of magical effect, like sound?”
“Better not,” Hermione said firmly, “Ginny just gave Harry a recovery card, if you don’t keep it under your pillow, it will sing shrilly …”
Felix shrugged, “So be it,” he handed the card to Hermione, “Take it to Harry for me.”
In the following days, the young wizards happily discussed the events of Saturday, especially Professor Hap’s visually appealing Rain Swallow Patronus, which was talked about with great gusto.
With it, the name Patronus Charm quickly spread throughout the school and became the center of a recent conversation. Any random student you could pull over would be able to talk a great deal about it – even if there were many absurdities in their words.
Some junior wizards got all kinds of true and false information from the senior students, which they combined with their own understanding, they then spread it again.
Many people could not distinguish the mechanism behind the “half-moon”, so they considered it as a second form of charm and named it ” Silver Moon”.
Felix heard this term during breakfast in the great hall on a certain morning, and almost spit out his gruel.
Fourth-year Cormac McLagan bragged, “My uncle’s Patronus has a second form, I would never lie!” He stroked his rough, stiff hair and said loftily, “My dad said it personally, my uncle’s Patronus is a wild boar, but I saw it once when I was a kid, and it was clearly a long-eared rabbit, and originally I was wondering … if this charm has two forms.”
Felix glanced at McLagan’s eyes, if his words are not mixed with lies, his uncle must have experienced a tragic encounter, the whole person’s temperament must have changed greatly – only in this case, the Patronus will change.
Others kept inquiring where they could learn this charm. “What a cool charm!” Lee Jordan exclaimed in the common room, “I mean, even if I can’t cast it like Professor Hap, I can at least protect myself, right?”
But Flitwick poured cold water on them, standing over a stack of large books as he emphasized more than once: “The Patronus charm is not included in our test; it is too advanced even for many adult wizards to master, and this magic requires great mental strength … ”
Flitwick is not going to teach it, So some young wizards turned their focus to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and the Dueling class, which they considered to be a good idea – both classes teach students how to protect themselves according to the curriculum.
On the second Thursday evening of November, during the Dueling class, Felix heard this question being asked.
“Patronus?” Felix repeated it.
“Yes, Professor Hap. That’s the charm we need right now, no? The Dementors are staring at us blankly and ready to attack us outside the school!” A fifth-year Gryffindor shouted, his words drawing nods of agreement from the young wizards below the stage.
Felix laughed, ” Lee Jordan, the Dementors are guarding Hogwarts under the orders of the Ministry of Magic, and their target is Sirius Black, the fugitive from Azkaban.”
“But Professor, what happened that day at the Quidditch match has proven their unreliability, I even wrote to my family and Mum wrote back saying that letting the Dementors out of Azkaban is the stupidest decision the Ministry of Magic has ever made!”
“Yeah, they’re not controllable at all.”
“My aunt told me that even in Azkaban, Dementors used to riot … and some prisoners died.” Susan Bones of Hufflepuff said, and seeing Professor Hap’s eyes fall on her, she added, “My aunt is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.”
Felix wavered a bit, and frankly, he didn’t think teaching the young wizards the Patronus charm in Dueling class is a good option – it’s time-consuming and hard to learn, and most importantly: it won’t always work.
A charm, as profound as this one, would be very difficult for a student to master on their own without one-on-one instruction. If you really want him to teach them by hand, he can’t do it even if you give him ten time-turners.
He glanced at the other two professors, Snape and Flitwick, “What is your opinion, Severus, Filius?”
Snape immediately showed an expression of resistance as he said coldly, “I don’t know this spell.”
Flitwick also once again made his opinion clear: “Felix, the Patronus charm is very complex and too single-functional, I do not think it will work. Besides – Dumbledore has already appealed to the Ministry of Magic, and Fudge guaranteed that the Dementors would never make the same mistake again.”
Felix nodded, and he knew about it. In fact, when a bunch of shrunken Dementors went back, people within the Ministry of Magic were very upset about it, and some even wanted to send someone to investigate, only Dumbledore firmly pushed them back.
In addition, some grumpy parents of students constantly send Howlers to the Ministry of Magic, and even to Fudge’s mailbox, which made them anxious, the Dementor matter is no longer brought up.
Felix put the matter aside for the time being, but … he looked at Snape, the professor said he can’t cast the Patronus Charm, is it true?
Is it possible that the professor went too deep into the dark magic domain, which resulted in his inability in using the Patronus charm?
…
At dinner, he and Snape sat together, discussing the details of what they should teach in the next Dueling class. Felix commented, “The students have mastered several common dueling moves, and it would be best to let them practice in the next few classes. Severus, I have an idea, perhaps we can host a small dueling tournament.”
“Are you not afraid of trouble, Felix?” Snape said.
“I’m going to leave it to the student body, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater are both very capable and I trust them,” Felix said.
Snape showed his usual mocking expression, “How much sincerity is there in your trust? Felix, is there really anyone who can break into your heart?”
Felix laughed, “Oh, Severus, are you trying to call me a hypocrite? We’re talking about competence, and I do trust Mr. Weasley and Miss Clearwater very much in that regard, what are you referring to again?”
Snape stared at him expressionlessly, and Felix deliberately flashed a smile that looked fake.
At that moment, a voice interjected the silent exchange between the two –
“Professor Snape, I just met Professor Flitwick, and he said you are in the great hall.” Lupin said cheerfully as he walked up in front of them. He had changed into a new robe, and it looked like Dumbledore is paying him enough to cover his daily expenses.
“What can I do for you, Lupin?” Snape’s eyes narrowed: ” Did you finish all the potions I gave you? I have some more there, a cauldron full of …”
Lupin smiled and said, “Not for now, Severus. I came here for another thing–”
Snape looked at him, without a half-smile on his face.
Lupin said, “I appreciate you covering for me during my illness, but the teaching in the third year was so advanced and aggressive, that it went straight over most of the chapters in the textbook–”
“Werewolves …,” Snape trailed off, and Lupin’s hand trembled for a moment, which he hid well, “…chapter, what’s wrong with it? Any problems?”
Lupin frowned slightly, “Severus, the third year has only just learned about Hinkypunk, most students do not have an appropriate foundation, I’m sorry, I decided to postpone this chapter.”
Snape gave him a contemptuous look, “If you ask me, Lupin, something like a werewolf is too dangerous, and it’s a very necessary thing for students to know how to identify and kill werewolves as early as possible.” He said softly, “Maybe it will be useful one day.”
Lupin regained his composure: “Thanks for the reminder. I will teach according to the scope of the young wizard’s ability, if there is nothing else, I will leave now, there are many things to do.”
“Wait, Lupin.”
“Is there anything else, Snape?” Lupin said in a deep voice.
“Allow me to introduce to you,” Snape’s gaze moved between Lupin and Felix, “I believe that Professor Lupin’s Patronus charm is extremely advanced, and perhaps — Felix, you could invite him, as a Dueling class temporary professor.”
Snape’s eyes flickered, “As a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts class, surely it’s his duty to show his students how to deal with dangerous dark creatures like Dementors.”
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