Daphne Greengrass and the Importance of Intent

Eat Drink Man Woman: Part 2

Daphne spent the next few days trying, and failing, to come up with something else to use for Expecto Patronum. She was now on the way to her next session with Harry and was no closer to finding something to use then she was after her meeting with Flitwick. She was annoyed and frustrated and knew for a fact no progress would be made tonight because of it. She was quietly thankful Tracey said she wouldn't be able to attend. That was one less person who would see her fail miserably again.

She pushed the classroom door open to find Harry, and only Harry, was there.

"Where is Astoria?" she asked. She was always the first to arrive and despite herself Daphne immediately became worried.

"I thought it would be best if we worked one on one tonight," he replied. "You seemed to be getting more frustrated last week and seeing Astoria improving wasn't helping."

"Astoria agreed?" she asked disbelievingly. Astoria was so close to conjuring a corporeal Patronus last week that she didn't think anything would keep her sister from continuing.

"I told her it would do her good to clear her head for a week before making the final push....that recharging my batteries by taking a break helped me make the last step," he explained.

"Harry that's a-".

"Lie," he said, finishing her thought. "I know that and you know that but Astoria doesn't...it was the best I could come up with...and it can't hurt anything."

"It was a good idea," she confirmed honestly. "If you had asked her to take a break for my sake she would have laughed at you...and if you had told me your plan ahead of time I would have been too stubborn to let you."

He smiled, genuinely pleased at her approval, and a slight bit of her frustration melted away.

"As smart as you were I don't think it's going to do much good though," she said resignedly. "Flitwick asked me about our progress and made it clear to me that I need to come up with a better memory but so far I've drawn a blank and it's only served to annoy me more," she said, flopping down in a nearby chair.

"No pressure, Daphne," he stated simply. "We can just try different things out for a bit and see if anything gets better results."

And so they did...for the next sixty minutes she thought of anything and everything she could think of that would work...focusing on the feelings and less on the specific thoughts behind the memory. Her initial attempts were a definite improvement but as the minutes ticked by her progress degraded and her frustration mounted.

"That's it," she finally muttered, dropping her wand onto a nearby desk and sinking back into a chair in frustration. "I give up for the night."

"No," Harry firmly replied.

"There is no point," she shot back. "I'm getting worse again."

"If you ever have to actually use this spell it won't be in a quiet classroom with a friend," he interrupted. "You're going to be desperate and terrified and feel completely alone. Whatever Flitwick told you was working but you are getting in your own way now. Don't do that," he stated as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

"I know," she replied in frustration, burying her face in her hands. She hated failing at anything and the fact that this was so important only made it worse.

"Remember what I said...no pressure," Harry repeated his earlier words quietly while placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, instantly calming her.

She nodded her head and sat quietly for a few minutes. At some point she realized she was no longer frustrated...that she believed him and was willing to try again. She was struck with an idea.

Without another thought she grabbed her wand, closed her eyes, and muttered the incantation...focusing on the positive feelings Harry's reassurance had provided and nothing else. Her eyes were still closed but she could feel that it had worked. She opened her eyes and saw a solid shield to rival Astoria's best effort from the prior week.

"How the hell did you do that?" Harry blurted.

It sounded so corny in her mind but she knew it was true. "I thought less and felt more," she said simply. "As Astoria always tells me and you just repeated I was inside my head."

"Well whatever it was it worked and as Hermione would be happy to confirm I always think it's best not to overthink things," he joked.

Daphne was so exhilarated by her sudden improvement she insisted they continue on before she fell back into her old habits. After another sixty minutes passed she could feel the drain on her body caused by attempting the spell multiple times but it had not yet affected the spell's strength.

"Brilliant, Daphne!" Harry exclaimed at her latest attempt. "You look exhausted but I can't tell any difference in your shield...really well done."

She nodded her appreciation, once again sinking down into a chair...much more content than the last time. As happy as she was she stubbornly wished that she could come up with one last idea to push her over the top. She closed her eyes and thought about Flitwick's advice once more. She had spent sixteen years purposely not being overwhelmed by her emotions but to make that final leap she knew that was the key.

And suddenly she saw it. She was sitting at home in her kitchen working on summer assignments and Harry was there...standing at the counter stirring something in a bowl and concentrating on a nearby book. The Greengrass house elves were watching from another room looking scandalized at the mess he was making in their kitchen while Winky seemed to be forcing herself not to help him.

Thinking about that simple future did the trick...it felt overwhelming and most importantly she believed it...it was going to happen. She and Harry were going to make it happen.

Daphne kept her eyes closed and muttered the incantation once again. She caught a breath as the spell seemed to consume her.

"Holy shit," she heard Harry exclaim, "now that is a Patronus!"

She kept her eyes closed a moment more...reveling in the warmth and comfort the spell had created inside her. Finally she opened her eyes and was shocked at what she saw.

"Butterfly?" she dumbly exclaimed as she watched her Patronus floating in front of Harry as he smiled and looked on. The butterfly seemed to be very seriously guarding him from any and all perceived threats.

"You realize Astoria is never going to let you live down the fact that your Patronus is a sparkly butterfly?" he asked as he reached out to touch the apparition, calming the Patronus immediately.

"That's okay," Daphne replied exuberantly. "I can just remind her that I was first."