LEARNING FROM THE BEST-006
Christmas went faster than Diana would have liked. She and Sam went home for the holiday, joining their mother's and grandma's company. Her mother, Joanna was a beautiful singer. They all sang and danced around the house as their Gran made her homemade food.
Now, Diana was sitting on the couch in the common room with her brother and Harry, eating sugar quills she got from Fred. For Christmas, Harry had received a Firebolt from some anonymous person. Ron was furious with Hermione who had gone to McGonagall with the thought of Sirius Black had sent the broom to Harry.
Diana knew that her best friend had good intentions and she did agree with her, but she would never tell Harry and Ron. Ron and Harry avoided the bushy-haired girl, sitting farther down the Gryffindor table and in classes. Diana still talks and sits with Hermione, she isn't going to let boys keep her away from her best friend.
"Had a good Christmas, Harry, Diana?" A voice said from behind them.
Diana looked up from the sugar quill she was struggling to open to see Oliver Wood standing in front of them. Crookshanks was curled up on her lap, purring; his head nuzzled in her stomach.
Wood didn't wait for an answer as he sat down next to Diana, lowered his voice, and said, "I've been doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After the last match, you know. If the dementors come to the next one...I mean..we can't afford you to—well—-"
Wood broke off, looking awkward. He grabbed the sugar quill out of Diana's hand and opened it for her. She smiled at him in thanks before sucking on it.
"I'm working on it," Harry said quickly. "Professor Lupin said he'd train me and Dia to ward off dementors. He thinks it is best if Dia learns it too, just in case. We should be starting this week. He said he's had time after Christmas."
"Ah," Wood said, his expression clearing. "Well, in that case—I didn't want to lose you as Seeker, Harry, or a Chaser, Diana. And have you ordered a new broom yet?"
"No," Harry said, taking a sugar quill from his friend when she handed one to him.
"What! You'd better get a move on, you know—you can't ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!"
"He got a Firebolt for Christmas," Ron pipped up, finally announcing his presence.
"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A—a real Firebolt?" Wood exclaimed loudly.
"Don't get excited, Oliver," Harry said, gloomily. "I haven't got it anymore. It was confiscated."
He looked to Diana to explain what happened making the girl roll her eyes. "Hermione thinks it was jinxed. So she went to Minnie, who took it."
Wood frowned. "Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?"
"Sirius Black," Harry said, causing Oliver to glance at Diana and then back at him. "He's supposed to be after me, Diana, and Sammy. So McGonagall reckons he might have sent it."
Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker and the Black twins, Wood said, "But Black couldn't have brought a Firebolt! He's on the run! The world countries are on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?"
"I know," Harry said. "But McGonagall still wants to strip it down—"
Wood went pale before standing up and headed towards the portrait. "I'll go and talk to her, Harry. I'll make her see reason—A Firebolt—a real Firebolt, on our team—she wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do—I'll make her see sense. A Firebolt..."
***
"So..." Lupin had taken out his wand and indicated that Harry and Diana do the same. They were standing in the DADA classroom for their lesson with Lupin. "Are you sure about this, Harry, Ana? You know, this is very advanced magic, well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."
"How does it work?" Harry asked nervously.
"Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus," Lupin said. "Which is a kind of anti-dementor—a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor."
Diana spoke up as she walked towards Harry. "A Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon."
Lupin smiled at her and continued. "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, and Diana, that the charm might be too advanced for you both. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."
"What does a Patronus look like?" said Harry curiously.
"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it," Lupin said.
"And how do you conjure it?" Diana asked.
"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."
Both Diana and Harry cast their minds on a happy memory. For Diana, the wolf plushie she got when she was a little girl. To some people, it was just a plushie, but to her it meant something. And for Harry, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys' was going to do. Finally, he set on the when had his first broomstick.
Diana and Harry nodded as Lupin continued. "Harry, you'll go first. The incantation is this—" Lupin cleared his throat, " Expecto Patronum!"
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry repeated. "Expecto Patronum!"
"Concentrating hard on that memory Harry?" Lupin asked. Harry gave a nod, closed his eyes, and concentrated on his memory.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry said something shot out the end of his wand, looking like a wisp of silvery gas.
Harry looked at Diana, smiling. "Did you see that, Dia!"
Diana smiled back. "Good job, Harry."
"Yes, very good job, Harry. Right, now, Diana, it's your turn." Lupin said.
Diana gripped her wand. "Expecto Patronum!" she said. The same silvery wisp came out of her wand. Her smile widened as she looked at Harry.
"Very good, Ana." Lupin smiled fondly. "Now, Harry, are you ready to try on a real dementor?"
"Yes," Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly.
Diana stepped back as Harry moved to the middle of Lupin's classroom. Lupin grasped the lip of the packing case and pulled. A dementor slowly rose from the box, its hooded face moving from Diana to Harry. The candles in the room blow out as the dementor steps from the box and starts to move silently toward Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry yelled "Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum! Expecto—Expecto—"
Diana watched as Harry fell to the floor. She rushed towards him and cradled his body in her arms. "Harry!"
A few minutes passed with Dia freaking out as Lupin tried waking the poor boy up. When Harry jerked back to life to find himself lying in Diana's arms. Lupin asked. "Are you all right, Harry?"
He nodded and muttered as he sat up."Sorry."
"Here—" Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. "Eat this before we try again. I didn't expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had."
"It's getting worse," Harry muttered, biting off the Frog's head. "I could hear her louder that time—and him—Voldemort--"
Diana's hair melted to blue as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Harry leaned against her as Lupin paled. "Harry, if you don't want to continue, I will more than understand—"
"I do!" Harry shouted, suddenly. Diana jumped but rubbed his back. "I've got to go! What if the dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can't afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we've lost the Quidditch Cup!"
Lupin nodded. "All right then... You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate... That one doesn't seem to have been strong enough..."
Harry thought hard and decided on his feelings when Gryffindor won the House Championship last year. He stood up, gripping his wand, and took his position in the middle of the classroom.
"You can do it, Harry," Diana said, encouragingly. That caused Harry to smile and believe in himself more.
"Ready?" Lupin asked, gripping the box lid.
"Ready," Harry said, determined.