Echoes of Emotion (Sebastian Sallow x OC)

Chapter 32 - Expecto Patronum

That was when something seemed to cross her mind.
She stopped laughing, before looking around the room, as though she were wondering something.
"Where's Anne?" she asked.
I froze as the question escaped her lips, and I could see Sebastian go pale beside me.
Meanwhile, Ominis just looked as confused as Skye, but for a different reason.
"What do you me-" he began, but Sebastian quickly cut him off.
"She's still away with Solomon. You know Anne, she has always wanted to go out and see the world, not to mention learning all Solomon could teach her about Aurors. I guess he thought this would kill two birds with one stone." Sebastian let out a nervous laugh at the end, trying to play off how quickly he had blurted out the information.
Yet, Skye didn't seem all that convinced.
"... during term?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Sebastian laughed again as he nodded, as though that were somehow more convincing than his story.
Luckily, while Skye still held a questioning look, she seemed to decide not to press, turning to me instead as she put on her grin again.
"So why exactly am I here?"

I opened my mouth to begin the exhausting explanation, but I cut myself short as a wave of dread filled my body.
So many people are getting involved now. And it felt like the more people knew, the more we put them at risk. If Isidora found out any of this, who knows what she would do.
But then again, who was to say she didn't know already.
Besides, Skye didn't seem like the type to worry about such things.
Which is why I decided to swallow this feeling, trapping it deep down, and begin to explain once again, hoping this would be the last time the words left my mouth.
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Skye was quiet for a while afterwards, her hand cupping her chin as she stared off in thought.
I couldn't quite make out what she was thinking in this moment, she definitely didn't seem excited by the information or request, but she didn't seem deterred either.
Just.... Somewhere in the middle.

"What are you thinking?" Ominis asked, clearly uncomfortable in the silence, concern in his voice as he struggled to gauge her reaction.
She looked up at him, like she wasn't expecting to hear his voice.
After looking at all our faces, taking in our expressions as we waited in anticipation, a smile seemed to tug at her lips, before slowly turning into an amused laugh.
"And here I thought your lives would be boring without me." She giggled, causing us all to look at each other in slight shock.
I hadn't expected her to be so calm.

As I looked back at her, I was taken aback to see she was now looking at me, a friendly smile resting on her face.
"Why don't you go fetch those other friends of yours?"
I blinked in surprise, processing what she was saying.
"Does that mean...?" I trailed off, to which she nodded eagerly.
"I'll teach you guys the patronus charm."
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We all stood there in a line, watching as Skye paced back and forth, clearly enjoying the attention as she grinned before she began to explain what we needed to do.
"Alright, so, it's actually a pretty simple charm once you get the hang of it, so I need you all to listen carefully." she began, looking at us all as she stopped in her tracks, holding her wand out in front of her.
"First, you need to know that the charm is first and foremost a projection of all your most positive feelings, and can take the form of a magical guardian, an creature which embodies you." she explained.

She quickly pointed her wand, uttering the words 'expecto patronum'.
A bright light emerged from the tip of her wand, followed by a glow on the ground.
As our eyes adjusted, we could all see that it wasn't just a glow, it was a Hedgehog.
We watched in awe as the creature scurried around, before running up to Ominis, who was confused to say the least.
He jumped as he felt something on his leg, but as he pointed his wand down towards the blue hedgehog, a small smile graced his face, knowing it was a production of Skye's happiness.

Skye lowered her wand, causing the hedgehog to disappear.
We all looked back at her with wide eyes, while she held a triumphant grin, like she'd been waiting to show that off for a while now.
"See, it's easy. Just focus on a memory, point your wand, then recite the incantation." she simplified.
And with that, we all whipped out our wands, eager to try it for ourselves, wanting to see what our guardian would be.
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It had been a while now, and everyone was starting to get exhausted.
While we had all managed to cast the charm, none of us had yet managed to conjure our guardian.
However, just as it was beginning to feel pointless, I heard a gasp from behind me.
I quickly turned to see that Natty was stood there, staring in awe as the light from her wand took shape.
After a moment of adjustment, she was greeted with a Gazelle, which quickly began to bounce around the room, full of energy and freedom, just like Natty.
I smiled at her as she looked at everyone in amazement, proud of her success.
It made sense that it would be the same as her Animagus form, since the two followed the same principles.
Natty was just meant to be a Gazelle.