Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 7 - Private Lessons

Christmas came and went without any major events. The full moon unfortunately landed on Christmas Day that year, so Selene spent Christmas alone. She made sure to make up for it later, though, for Remus' sake. As soon as he was himself again, they spent a lot of time eating chocolate in bed and drinking cups of coffee. It was as good as any Christmas they had ever spent together.

Classes started back before they even knew it, and with them, Remus' Patronus lessons with Harry.

"You're welcome to come," Remus said, poking Selene's side.

Selene had been pouting since she'd found out about the lessons, a little jealous that Remus was getting to spend so much time with her godson.

Selene pursed her lips. "No, no, it's okay. You go do your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor thing."

Remus smirked. "Come on, you know you want to come."

"Okay, I do want to," Selene said, allowing a small grin to appear on her face.

"Well, then come on," Remus said, pulling her up from her place on the sofa. "We don't want to be late."

Remus and Selene made it to the empty History of Magic Classroom only five minutes late, and Harry was already there, leaning against a desk.

"Hello, Professor Lupin, Professor... er... Black... I guess," Harry stammered.

Selene grinned. "Hiya, Harry. I think you have the right to call me Selene... at least, you can outside of Astronomy class."

Harry smiled.

Remus heaved a large suitcase onto Professor Binns' desk.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Another boggart," Remus said, pulling off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real dementor. The boggart will turn into a dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."

"Okay," Harry said.

"So..." Remus took out his wand. Harry mimicked him. "The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry – well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."

"How does it work?" Harry asked.

"Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus," Remus said, "which is a kind of anti-dementor – a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor. The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon – hope, happiness, the desire to survive – but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."

"What does a Patronus look like?" asked Harry curiously.

"Each one is unique to the wizard that conjures it," Remus answered him.

"And how do you conjure it?"

"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."

"Right," Harry said, looking queasy.

"The incantation is this –" Remus cleared his throat, "Expecto Patronum!"