Occupational Theropy

DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you’ve seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$

A/N: Because of the day and delay, another two for the price of one…

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Friday, August 6 th 1993

Harry had activated time compression the moment he had returned to the trunk after catching the stray dog. They had a week before the real Friday returned, what little was left of it for it was about a half hour until midnight when he activated one of his favorite trunk features. Dobby had so interconnected the trunks that Time Compression could apply throughout the estate. His control room was now larger for he could now control and monitor each of the eight separate trunks from this one room. He never spent much time in the Control Room, but there was a part of him that thought it was the coolest place in his whole estate.

He had activated Time Compression because he wanted to give Sirius time to settle in before August resumed. He and his girls were no longer on Holiday in France but they had a busy “Outside” schedule for the remainder of the summer and he wanted more time with his parents and Sirius before they returned to Hogwarts. He wanted more time for them to refine their plans so that catching the rat would result in the ultimate exoneration of Sirius Black and they could truly begin the task of relegating one Albus Dumbledore and his Liberal faction to the dustbin of history. It was, after all, the least he could do given what the man was trying to do to him and his family. He had no illusions that it would be either quick or easy. This was not a situation for charging in. It required patience, persistence and above all a fair degree of subtly.

This was a project best tackled one small step at a time. The more Harry thought about it, the more he could see that was the only way to ensure success. He was willing to settle for getting the man out of his life, but knew in the long run that would not be enough. The man remained a threat so long as anyone thought he was in anyway relevant to anything. In all probability, their plan would not see Dumbledore cast into prison. He could quite conceivably keep many of his positions including that of Headmaster. But his ability to use those positions to his own ends would eventually come to an end. He would be rendered less than a figurehead. Maybe he’s actually do one of his jobs. The more Harry had thought about it the more he was convinced the man wasn’t doing any of them. Actually doing the job probably got in the way of scheming, manipulating and advancing whatever this Greater Good of his was.

But dealing with Dumbledore and Voldemort - and Harry had to deal with that vile bastard as well - was not something that could be done quickly and cleanly and certainly not any time soon. Harry sat in his study to reveal what was in his immediate schedule:

Monday 2 August - ?: Catch stray doggie - DONE 5/8

Saturday 8 August: Grangers, Greengrasses, M. Abbott visit. ONE DAY! Lunch, Dinner. Send Letter to Gringotts about meeting w/ Black Account Manager for Sirius and Private Shopping for Sirius, Mum and Dad.

“One Day” meant no planned Time Compression. Lunch and Dinner meant the guests would be there for those meals. It did not mean Harry would make either of them. The rest of the entry was new. Gringotts was considered an independent country and would not honour any British Warrant just because the Ministry asked. By treaty, if the Ministry wanted to arrest any witch or wizard in Gringotts, they needed Gringotts to issue something called a “writ of extradition”. Harry understood it was a complicated procedure to get one of those, so complicated that it took weeks by which time the fugitive would be long gone and the treaty required a new writ be requested for any new attempt at an arrest. This meant that the Ministry had to request weeks in advance the right to arrest a person on a specific day and had to submit a separate request for each day they wanted to be able to arrest that person. There was no guarantee that any such request would be approved nor was it certain that if such a request was approved that later requests to arrest the same person would also be approved. If the suspect was deemed as not a threat to Gringotts, there was no reason for Gringotts to allow the Ministry the request. The only request they had ever approved in Britain had been for Voldemort and that was only after the deaths of some Goblins. As far as anyone knew, Voldemort never had done any business at Gringotts, so that approval was much ado about nothing, particularly because had the man every entered Gringotts after those deaths, the Goblins would probably have killed him first and turned over the body to the Aurors.

As Harry understood it, as long as Sirius could get to and from the Bank safely, the entire Auror department could be in the Lobby and would be powerless to even attempt to arrest him - unless they wanted a war with the Goblins. Despite the rubbish taught in History of Magic, Goblin Wars had never gone well for the Wizards. There were many reasons for this, not the least of which was the fact that Gringotts was the bank throughout their world. If one Wizard country went to war with the Goblins, they went to war with all of the Goblins and quite a few of the other Wizarding nations as well. Harry thought the idea of Black walking through the bank would be a nice poke in the eye for magical Britain. Of course, they’d only be that bold if they were certain to get away with it.

Regardless of whether Sirius walked through the lobby bold as brass or did all his business in a private conference room, they wanted him to assume his titles as Lord Black and meet with private vendors. His parents would be meeting with such vendors as well. These vendors would be foreign who travelled to the London Branch with their wares via the banks private and completely internal international floo connection (the only truly international one in existence). All of their research over the summer suggested that Voldemort was mostly a British thing. His connections beyond the islands were very limited and his few efforts to operate beyond the islands had been quickly defeated. He barely rated a paragraph in the foreign press. Consequently, names like Potter and Black were not household words across the Channel. It was one thing Harry had really liked about France. The Boy-Who-Lived was all but unknown there and he could walk about the magical shopping districts and visit the magical places and not attract any more attention than any other foreigner. Use of foreign vendors for private shopping was a service provided to wealthy and favored customers of the bank. Harry did not know if he was one, but it did not hurt to ask. If his request was granted, his parents and Sirius could get clothes and, more importantly, new wands without having to reveal themselves to the rest of magical Britain.

Tuesday 10 August: House Potter to visit House Longbottom. Longbottom Manor, 10:00 A.M. per Neville’s request. Lunch and Dinner.

Harry had received a reply from Neville days ago about this. It seemed Neville was eager to see him for some reason. He had no sense of déjà vu about this which meant this had not happened in that other timeline for some reason. Naturally, he and his ladies were curious.

Wednesday 11 August: Ginny’s Birthday.

Harry had already bought her gift. He had bought special birthday gifts in France for Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Daphne who would all have their birthday’s between now and the Christmas Holiday. He also had bought them Christmas presents, although he was sure he was going to buy them more between now and then. Hannah’s birthday was in May. He had also bought her present in France. As for Ginny, her day was already planned out as Mrs. Granger was taking her and the other girls out for some “pampering” whatever that was.

Saturday 14 August: Grangers, Greengrasses, Mrs. Abbott visit. ONE DAY! Lunch, Dinner.

Tuesday 17 August: Windsor Castle.

Wednesday 18 August - Friday 20 August: London.

After the trip to France, Hermione though it would be a good idea to see these places. Harry was English after all and she thought it wasn’t right that he had seen so much of France and so little of England. What surprised Harry was that you could see such places. He did not know that Windsor Castle was open for tours to the public or that you could see a fair bit of it if the Royal Family was not in residence - and they usually were not except on weekends and then only when they were not somewhere else. What also surprised Harry was that the Grangers had never been on a tour. They only lived a few miles away. Hermione had been on school trips, but never with her parents.

Saturday 21 August: Grangers, Greengrasses, M. Abbott visit. ONE DAY! Lunch, Dinner.

Tuesday 24 August: Diagon Alley for school stuff.

Wednesday 25 August: Weasleys return from trip. Ginny to visit her family. GET THE RAT!

Saturday 28 August: Grangers, Greengrasses, M. Abbott, Tennysons, Ginny returns, Weasley(?) visit. TC 1 week.

The plan was that Ginny would spend a few days with her former family. If it worked out at the very least her parents would be allowed to visit. Harry was still unsure about the brothers. He didn’t know Percy at all. Ron might have issues with Harry’s new home and he might not. Harry figured show Ron the Quidditch Pitch and Ron would be okay with it. Fred and George? He liked them. He didn’t need their pranks, however. Then again, with his Dad and Sirius around the twins may well find themselves on the losing end of a prank war and so long as he was not in the middle of it that might be fun. It was ultimately up to Ginny. Hopefully the Rat would already be caught and in stasis. Until they had found Harry’s parents, they did not know what they were going to do with the rat other than keep it in a cage. Now they knew that a human could survive indefinitely under stasis and they already had whole storerooms set up with the charm. The Time Compression was mostly for the Tennysons and Luna. Harry hoped the Tennysons would change their mind about moving on, or at least doing so in a way that meant Luna lost them. She didn’t need that. Harry hoped to convince them not to abandon their great-granddaughter. But the Time Compression was there for the purpose of giving them time to say their goodbyes as well.

“This is a little surreal,” Sirius admitted. He was sitting on what was called a veranda which extended behind Harry’s Manor and overlooked the extensive lawn and gardens that stretched off to the “north” of the place. James and Lily were with him enjoying the day. The others were somewhere else. While Harry and the others were spending time with the revived Potters and recently escaped prisoner, as these three would be living here for the foreseeable future, they felt it better to continue with or establish a routine rather than spend all their time “entertaining.” After all, for now these three were also residents of the estate and not truly guests.

“How so, Padfoot?” Harry asked. The others had not noticed his arrival mainly because he had only just arrived. His “Ladies” were with him. “Hope we didn’t arrive in the middle of a conversation. Always annoying.” They took a seat. They had a glass of something with ice. “Juice,” he said. The adults were allowed “adult” beverages and the first time they were served, Lily Potter had interrogated Harry on it until she was satisfied that the children were not indulging in such things.

“Good question,” James added.

“Bit of a change in pace from my former situation,” Sirius said. “I won’t say I miss that, but I did get used to it. Much nicer here.”

“What was it like?” Harry asked innocently.

“Hell,” Sirius said. “If there’s a hell on this earth, that place comes close. If I had not been an animagus, I’d’ve probably lost my mind ages ago. Mixed feelings about the place. I was a Hit Wizard during the War, you know. When we joined up, Auror training was practically on hold. They needed wands more than they needed full on Aurors. Much of Auror training has little to do with fighting. Aurors are also taught investigative techniques, infiltration skills, a fair bit of curse breaking and warding and magical forensics. Hit Wizards are taught to fight. The deal was we’d be Hit Wizards until such time as we could be reassigned to Auror training. Had we been in the Aurors, we’d still have been in training when that night happened.

“Still, there was a fair bit of on the job stuff. Naturally, it depended upon your team leader. I was assigned to a team led by Alistor Moody as were your parents. He was a hard corps, veteran Auror so the fact I was just a Hit Wizard never entered his mind. He expected us to pick up skills well beyond fighting. As such, we all got a chance to see that place - Azkaban that is. Didn’t like it much then, either. Took us there for Patronus training…”

“Patronus training?” Harry asked.

“It’s a charm. Only thing known that can keep those demons at bay much less drive them off,” Sirius replied darkly.

“Dementors,” Lily explained.

“Um…”

“You ever see Muggle drawings and such of Death?” Lily asked. “You know, black robed with a hood, no face, skeletal hands and carrying a sythe?”

Harry nodded.

“They’re probably based on dementors,” Lily said. “Although, Muggles can’t see those things. Squibs can, however. No one really knows what they are. They are physical so that you can’t really call them spirits. I wouldn’t call them beings. They are, however, about as vile a thing as you’re likely to ever encounter and I would hope that you never do. I’ve encountered them too. Voldemort managed to get some on his side somehow. No one knows how he managed that. The things seem to feed off of emotions. When they’re around and close, every good feeling you have, every good memory, it’s all gone. You feel miserable and depressed, enough so that it’s hard to function. All you remember are your bad and unpleasant memories. It becomes dark. Light dims, warmth fades, hope vanishes. Nasty things. It comes back when they’re gone but you’re left with the memories of what it was like which is not a lot of fun either. The Ministry used those things to guard Azkaban Prison.”

“Sounds rather cruel,” Harry thought.

“They like to think they’re progressive,” James said. “Been using those things for ages. Perhaps it was progressive at the beginning when Muggles tortured and killed people for their crimes. Back then in the Muggle world, prison existed only to hold the criminal until it was time to kill them. We did away with execution in favor of letting those things suck out all hope and happiness.”

“It’s said that Dementors feed on good emotions,” Daphne said. “They also can suck out your soul given a chance.”

Sirius snorted. “Don’t think anyone really knows what it is those things actually do. They can describe the effects, but that’s it. Being around those things is not pleasant. It’s cold whenever they’re around. But that’s nothing to what they do up here,” he added pointing to his head. “When they’re nearby, you feel miserable. You can only feel miserable. People try to explain what it’s like, but feeling miserable and believing that’s all you’ll be ever again is about as clear an explanation as I can think of. Then again, if you were feeling miserable before one of those things popped by, you might not even notice. Being truly miserable makes them less effective. Know it helped me.”

“It did?” several voices asked.

“Oh my!” Luna exclaimed oddly.

“Something wrong, Luna?” Harry asked.

“I’m fine. Later. Continue, Mr. Black.”

“At first,” Sirius nodded, “at least long enough ‘til I figured out I had a better defense. I felt miserable when I was thrown to them - that’s what it seems like. Most of the time in that place those things are loose. The only time they’re not are the three or four times a day when the human guards are about. They only come around to bring you your meals - a nasty, tasteless gruel - and one other time to check on the prisoners and on occasion to remove the dead ones or take the live ones for a shower and change of togs - and that is not a pleasant experience either the way they do it.

“At first I was miserable not ‘cause of those things, but because I was. My two best friends were dead - or so I thought - and another had betrayed them. I tried to avenge them and failed. And it was all my fault…”

“How was it your fault?” Hannah asked confused.

“I was originally the Secret Keeper. About a week before things went pear shaped, another Secret Keeper for another family was killed. He was an Auror and we have no reason to believe his death was because of his being a Secret Keeper even though the family he protected was a prime target for the bad guys. By then I was an Auror and just out of hospital following a rather nasty fight so I thought it better to choose a friend who was not sticking his neck out every day. I recommended Peter. Had I not done that…”

“You didn’t know he was…?” Ginny began to ask.

“We suspected there was a spy. We were part of an organization led by Dumbledore. I won’t say we completely trusted the man ‘cause there were some of us who did not. There were others who did so completely. But that organization… well, it was the only thing really trying to stand up against the Death Eaters. It was a going concern before we finished Hogwarts so our choices were hope the Ministry took the lead in defeating those… people or join a group that would. There were many in the Ministry who wanted Voldemort dead and the Death Eaters dealt with, but that place was riddled with sympathizers, Death Eater spies and even Death Eaters. They were too divided to succeed. Our other choice was to start our own counter… um… counter something. Easier said than done. The third was join an organization already fighting the good fight with resources to do so. That left us with Dumbledore’s Order. As I said, we suspected there was a Death Eater spy in the group. I suspected one of our other friends. I suggested Peter 'cause he’s the last person you’d ever think could be one. He was the son of two Muggle Borns and had two Muggle Born grandparents, which we thought meant they’d never consider him worthy. There were other reasons not to suspect him. So he became the Secret Keeper and within a week… It was my fault. Worse that could’ve happened had I remained Secret Keeper was that I would die and the others in on the secret might talk. Instead, I gave it up to a traitor who spilled as soon as he could. So I felt miserable.”

“You said at first,” Hermione said.

“It was cold,” Sirius nodded. “It’s not like they’re stoves there or fireplaces. It was winter and even if it had been warm, those things were about most of the time anyway. I began turning into Padfoot to stay warm. I soon realized that those things have no effect on Padfoot. As the dog, I was safe from them. Didn’t make me feel much better, but I certainly didn’t feel any worse and waste away like those other poor bastards. Most people lose it there if they’re there long enough. Twelve years without totally losing it or not being dead or worse may be a record. At least five died in that place while I was there that I know of including two for certain who were sent there after I was. We don’t have a death penalty. What we have is far, far worse.”

“And you didn’t even have a trial,” Hermione said. “That’s so wrong!”

“Life’s not fair,” Sirius said. “Although… , Well, this is… I could never have imagined all this! All I had to do was - what was it one of you said? - release myself on my own recognizance and here I am in a very nice place, with my two friends who I thought were dead not quite so dead yet and other very pleasant company. All that’s really missing is a dating pool.”

“Oh, I like swimming,” Luna said. “We have plenty of places for that here. But you’re talking another kind of swimming, aren’t you Mr. Black.”

Sirius laughed. “I am. While you ladies are quite lovely, you are all too young for this old dog and spoken for.”

“Well,” Lily said, “I really think it may be a while before you’re ready for that, Sirius. You’re still grossly undernourished and out of shape and goodness knows about your mental state…”

“Are you saying he may be unbalanced?” James asked with a mischievous grin.

“You can’t say those things had no effect on him, James! Most people there as long as he was are mad! They may come out of it in time, but they are mad.”

“And how are we to tell?”

“What?”

“Before Padfoot’s recent island holiday you must say there were few who thought him sane, Lils.”

“You’re one to talk,” Lily Potter huffed. “No one thought you were all there either. There were those who thought I must’ve gone round the twist to wind up married to a nutter like you.”

“But it’s a pleasant kind of insanity?”

“It is indeed,” Lily said giving her husband a kiss.

“Well,” Luna announced, “Mr. Black is not there any more and if things go right will never be there again…”

“Still have to worry about those things,” Sirius said.

“I agree.”

“Why?” a few voices asked.

“‘Cause they were in league with Voldemort during the last War,” Sirius said. “Not all of them, probably only just a few; but they were a major problem.”

“The threat is more immediate,” Luna said.

“Oh?” several voices asked.

“When Lily described those things I had one of those memory things. Did you two?” she added looking at Harry and Hermione.

“No,” they replied.

“Interesting,” Luna said.

“What do you mean they’re a more immediate threat?” Daphne asked after a pause.

“Sorry,” Luna said. “I would say there must be Wrackspurts bothering me but there’re aren’t any here so I guess I was just thinking.”

“Wrackspurts?” several asked.

“Tiny, invisible creatures probably related to fairies although I don’t know that. They make you mind go all fuzzy. Hogwarts seems loaded with them.”

“What were you thinking,” Harry asked. He was not certain about whatever these things were. But Luna’s Dad had been a leading Naturalist before Luna’s Mum had died and they did believe that Luna had a point that it was by no means certain that every conceivable magical creature had been properly identified and described. Hermione was a little put off when Luna said that the work Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was filled with inaccuracies. It was certain to Luna that its author Newt Scamander had studied many of the creatures personally, but she and her father had studied some of the others and found that work wanting. She said some of the descriptions were more akin to a fairy tale than the real thing suggesting that was what he used as a basis. In Luna’s opinion he had never been to the Far East or India or south of the Sahara for if he had been he may have gotten those bits right.

“Why are you worried ‘bout Dementors if V-voldemort is still not back?” Ginny asked.

“They’re going to be at school this year,” Luna said.

“WHAT?” several voices as Luna said as if to say they had not misunderstood here.

“They’ll stop and search the Hogwarts Express,” she continued. “The Ministry will say they are there to protect Hogwarts from Sirius Black. In my memory, I can’t say if the Ministry is lying. It seems they believe that nonsense. But their idea of protection…”

“Luna?” Hannah asked after a pause.

“A student,” Luna said sadly. “A girl who was on her way to start Hogwarts dies on the Hogwarts Express. Well, she either dies or has her soul sucked out. In my memory that was hardly common knowledge at the time.”

“Soul sucked out?” Harry asked.

“It’s the described effect of a full on attack from one of those things,” Sirius said. “No one really knows what they do. They call it the Dementors' Kiss and they say it destroys the soul but does not harm the person physically. Maybe that’s what it does but I’m not aware of any way to detect the existence or absence of a soul. If you can’t detect it, how can you know it’s not there? But that’s not to say there’s no indirect evidence. The person’s mind is destroyed. They live, but everything that they ever were is gone and nothing will take its place. They’re just a living shell, empty and irreparable. They need intensive care just to feed themselves and drink ‘cause they won’t do that on their own. Most who suffer that attack die within months of it.”

“That’s horrible!” Hermione said. “And they use those things to guard prisoners?”

Sirius shrugged.

“You said a First Year died?” Harry asked.

Luna nodded. “I don’t remember her name. The memories are from years and years in the future, right? She never even made it to the sorting. She and I were sharing the same compartment when one of those things came in, put its face to hers as if kissing her and she was alive, but not there any more, you know? She was not the only one, only the first. At least two more Muggle Borns died as well later in the year. One was during a Quidditch Match and another had wandered off alone during a Hogsmeade visit. The staff hushed it up for it was never even a rumour.”

“Then how’d you know?”

“I saw it happen during that Quidditch match. The other one I saw when they brought the body back in the evening. I seem to recall at that time I had a way of being unnoticed ‘cause there were other students who did see those bodies and they were obliviated.”

“You weren’t on the train?”

“They tried,” Luna said. “It was years before I remembered it. We learned my mind is such that it’s very, very hard to remove a memory. It just gets muddled enough so I can’t recall it easily. But if enough time passes - in this case a few decades - and there’s a reason to recall or something happens, then it comes back.”

“And those things were there ‘cause of me?” Sirius asked.

Luna nodded.

“The Wizarding World - or at least Wizarding Britain - thinks you’re almost as bad as Voldemort,” Hermione said.

“They assumed you got loose to finish me off,” Harry added.

“The Ministry thought setting the Dementors loose would protect Harry,” Luna said. “In my other memories; for some reason those things have a strange attraction to Harry. Harry was always nearby when one of those attacks happened. We thought much later those attacks happened ‘cause someone was preventing those things from going after Harry and they were in some kind of frenzy 'cause he was around.”

“Great!” Harry moaned. “But why didn’t Dumbledore stop that?”

“As we understood - and nothing suggested otherwise - he tried. The Minister was set on employing those things and the Wizengamot supported that idea. They knew of the deaths. They did not change their minds about those things at all. After all, all the victims were either Muggle Borns or from unknown families…”

“That’s horrible!” Lily and Hermione exclaimed although it was clear no one disagreed.

“So we get through last year when Voldemort was clearly bent on killing off the Muggle Borns without a student dying and everyone at school knew that and this year that does happen? Muggle Borns die and no one knows or cares?”

“The staff knew,” Luna said. “Much later we learned that the Ministry and Wizengamot knew. I seem to recall from much later that many of the Professors were furious about it: McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Madam Pomfrey and others. They say Dumbledore was at least frustrated about it. But the government did not care. Perhaps if some Pure-blood from a ‘respected’ family had died…”

“Like Malfoy!” Harry growled.

“Even better as he’s an only child,” Daphne added.

“Then the old codgers might have had second thoughts,” Luna finished.

“Now we know why Luna had memories sent back as well,” Daphne said. Everyone looked at her. “Harry and Hermione had memories about Sirius Black. It was their memories that told us he was innocent and only trying to help Harry. That’s why we - or I should say Harry - brought him here. It’s how we know about Pettigrew and why we’re planning to capture him as well and why we have the plans about what to do once we have the rat in stasis. Luna had no memories of any of that. She probably knew nothing of that first hand. But she was a witness of these other events coming up this year and it seems she’s the only one - or at least the only one of the three of them.”

“Makes sense,” Hermione nodded.

“But what do we do about it?” Harry said. “We can’t let those people die, can we? But how do we stop it?”

“If you were older,” Sirius said, “I’d say we could teach you the Patronus Charm. I mentioned it earlier. Even a weak one can keep one of those things at bay and if you do that long enough - how long, I don’t know - they seem to give up and go away. A powerful one drives them away. But it’s a very difficult spell. Well beyond your abilities…”

“In my memories, Harry learns it this year,” Hermione said. “At the end of the year - and I don’t remember how this worked - he used it against over a hundred of those things at once and drove them all away! They were attacking him and Sirius when he did it, although in my memory there were two Harrys: the one under attack and the one who cast the spell… Don’t ask me how that happened ‘cause I don’t know except I had something to do with there being two Harry’s at the same time.”

“I’d say a Time Turner,” Lily said…

“Grammy and Grampy mentioned those,” Luna said brightly. “They invented them, you know.”

“But how could Hermione get one? They’re highly restricted. She’s a rising Third Year, not an Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries.”

Harry, Hermione and Luna shrugged.

“We can’t count on that,” Harry said.

“Certainly not to prevent a death,” Lily added. “That is not if the person actually died. You can’t go back in time and undo death for some reason. I suppose you could go back and stop what might have been a death from happening. I don’t know.”

“Perhaps that’s what they did,” Ginny said. “They did something where Sirius and Harry did not die but to do that they went back in time to do what they did to prevent it.”

“Possible,” Lily nodded. “Not something you can count on, however. Sounds more like they had to have been - or will be - very, very lucky.”

“Still,” Hermione said, “it wouldn’t hurt to learn that charm.”

“It’s well beyond you lot,” Lily said with disappointment. “It’s not taught until N.E.W.T. level charms and even then many can’t get it to work at all.”

“We can still try, can’t we?” Harry asked with a tone of determination that made it sound more like a demand.

“Do you all have your wands?” Sirius asked. The five students were standing in the Magical Gym which they had been using all summer to practice spells. Ginny’s First Year marks had not been good and they all agreed those marks did not reflect what she truly was capable of doing so they were determined to get her caught up and to get a head start on their next year. The five of them nodded as James and Lily stood with Sirius.

“This would be easier if we had wands and could demonstrate,” Lily suggested.

“This isn’t the levitation charm, Lils,” James said. Lily nodded in agreement although the children looked confused. Why would that matter? “The Patronus Charm is difficult enough that it is best learned and cast with a matched wand,” James said. “We can probably do a fair bit of magic borrowing one of your wands, but this spell is usually an exception that requires a match or near match.”

“Right then,” Sirius said trying to sound commanding. “What is the most important part of spell casting?”

“Wand movement,” Daphne called out.

“I was going to say incantation,” Harry said.

“Except,” Daphne explained, “most spells can be done without any incantation. They start teaching us that Fifth or Sixth Year.”

“Fifth,” James said, “if your DADA teacher has any talent. Sixth for Charms and you’re already learning some in Transfiguration, aren’t you?”

There was no arguing with the last assertion for more often than not McGonagall’s lessons did not include any incantations.

“That and,” Sirius said, “Lumos!” A ball of bright light appeared just above his upheld finger. “You are witches and wizards! Most get lazy and stuck on their sticks of wood. You’ve all done magic without a wand so a wand is not much more than a useful fashion statement in many cases. Before any of you try and counter my argument, explain the light! Explain each and every bit of accidental magic you’ve done! Surely you didn’t do that with a wand and I’d wager some of it was quite powerful stuff.”

There was a silence as no one had a counter argument. Sirius smiled. “INTENT! FOCUS! COMMAND! Learn it! Live it! Those are the most important thing in all spell casting. Incantations, wands and wand movments are tricks to help you do what you should be doing without any of it! Wands make magic easier. They allow for greater precision and focus of projected magical energy. But if you want to be a really, really well rounded witch or wizard DON’T USE THEM AS A CRUTCH!

“Intent: you intend your magic to do something! Focus: you focus your mind and your magic on doing that something! Command: you command your magic to do it! None of that requires silly wand waving or incantations.”

“That’s what Moody taught us our Third Year in DADA,” James said. “Started right in by saying ‘By the time I’m done with you lot there’ll be no silly wand waving or incantations in this class!’”

“And he was right if you could open your mind to his way of doing it,” Lily said. “After all, aside from wands we were already doing that sort of spell casting in transfiguration. A wand makes it easier to cast spells, but you can do it without a wand although learning to control and focus your magic without a wand is very, very difficult.”

“The harder the spell,” Sirius continued, “the more you need a wand to learn it and to do it with any kind of ease and there are some spells that can never work without a wand - or at least no one knows of anyone who’s ever done it without a wand. Perhaps Merlin could’ve.” He shrugged.

“Right then the Patronus Charm. We’re going to skip the theory bit. You want to learn the theory, you’ll probably find several books in your library that discuss it. Just don’t be surprised when they don’t agree with each other.

“Intent: the intent is to protect you from an evil spirit or being. There are other uses for the charm, but you need to get the basics first. This spell will provide at least some protection for you and maybe for others as well from Dementors and Lethifolds - although it’s Dementors we’re concerned about.

“Now, most who try and teach this charm say you need to focus on a happy thought. Rubbish! Worst possible way to cast this spell against a Dementor ‘cause that’s the first thing they take from you by their presence! It’s an easy way to explain what you really need to cast the thing. Many spells have an emotional component. Even more spells are more powerful when the caster is experiencing powerful emotions…”

“Accidental magic!” Hermione gasped. “It’s usually the result of powerful emotions!”

“I’d give you House Points if I could,” Sirius said. “‘Course if I could, McGonagall would probably have kittens,” he added with a chuckle.

“She had red hair when we started school,” James added. “It was grey when we finished…”

“She was older, James,” Lily said.

“You can’t say we had nothing to do with it,” James protested. “Gave her fits. It seemed fun at the time but…”

“We really do like her,” Sirius added. “If we could’ve found a way to prank to our hearts content without driving her up the wall, we would’ve. But we couldn’t.”

“You could’ve stopped the pranks!”

“We did,” Sirius said.

“Mostly,” James added.

“Sixth Year.”

“We like to think we saw the error of our ways.”

“Didn’t stop them altogether,” Lily began.

“Oh, but I disagree,” Sirius said. “We used to prank everyone and anyone if we could and thought it would be a laugh. Last couple of years what we did was less a prank and more in the ways of retaliation against the Junior Death Eaters and their ilk. You have to admit that what they did was far more vile than anything we had done before and intentionally cruel. At least no student died from it!”

Lily nodded.

“That was uncalled for, Padfoot!” James shouted.

“James,” Lily said softly, “leave it. He spent all that time in Azkaban. He’s allowed a temper for now.”

“Sorry, Lils,” Sirius said.

“Get better!” Lily commanded softly.

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked.

Lily seemed to slump a bit. “Adrian Montegue,” she said. “He was a Seventh Year Slytherin Prefect when we were Fifth Years. I was a Prefect, you should know. It was after curfew and I was on patrol with our friend Remus. We were passing the Astronomy Tower when we heard screaming from up there and we went up to investigate. I was in the lead. Got to the top and there was Montegue with his pants down ‘round his ankles and a younger girl - Third Year Muggle Born from Hufflepuff - whose clothes were ripped apart on her knees screaming. He was using the Torture Curse on her. We later learned he demanded her to… to pleasure him and he found her… unsatisfactory. I hit him with a knockback hex intending to break his spell. I didn’t intend what happened.”

“He was standing quite close to the… what do you call the low walls on a rampart, the space between those tooth-like things?” Sirius said. “He was knocked over that low part and fell to his death. He had already taken the mark as a Death Eater, turns out.”

“Couldn’t’ve happened to a nicer guy, you ask me,” James commented sarcastically.

“Saved us from having to hunt the bastard down and snuff him later. Pity we couldn’t’ve offed a few more before we finished school,” Sirius added darkly.

“We’re off topic,” Lily said clearing trying to control her emotions.

“Sorry Lils,” James offered. She merely shrugged in reply.

“Where was I before we got off topic?” Sirius asked.

“Emotional components,” Hermione answered. “You were saying something about how some spells had them and all or most are affected by emotions.”

Sirius nodded. “Again, ‘fake points that would give McGonagall fits’ to you. The Patronus Charm has an essential emotional component without which it cannot be cast. The caster must bring forward that emotion for it to work. Doesn’t matter how they do it, as long as they do it and that’s the real reason why they suggest a happy thought or memory ‘cause those - at least those that work - are rooted to a degree in the proper emotion. What emotions are manifested in happy memories.”

“My first ride on a broom?” Harry asked.

“Learning I was a witch,” Hermione added. “It explained so much and it meant I might have friends,” she explained.

“Love,” Ginny said.

“Exactly!” Sirius said pointing to Ginny. “Fake house points to you!”

“What about those who don’t have a boyfriend or husband?” Hannah asked.

“Need not be romantic love,” Sirius answered. “Good thing, too. There are folks out there married to each other who do not and have never felt love for each other. True, romantic love works. But so does the love you can feel for your family, friends even a beloved pet. Self love does not work. A happy memory of friends or family can bring the emotion to the forefront to power the spell. With practice, you can call it forward at will which is a good thing if you’re actually facing a dementor. Why?”

“‘Cause they take away all your happy thought right off,” Daphne said.

“Fake points to you,” Sirius smiled. “So step one is the right emotional mind frame. Happy thoughts help, but are not necessary and no, Harry, broom rides and great pranks don’t work.”

“I think I got better ones,” Harry said smiling at the rest of the “class.”

“That’s the Intent side and part of the focus. Intent: protect from really evil nasties. Focus: opposite of evil - love. To begin, we use an incantation. Anyone know why you’re taught those beyond what a book says?”

Hermione was going to answer until he finished his question.

“They help focus your mind on what you intend and are a tool to call up control of your magic. Truth is, any word uttered would work provided you associate that word with the spell you’re trying. Reason we use dead languages for incantations is we don’t speak those languages and therefore don’t associate those words with anything else usually other than whatever spell is associated with those words. You could use ‘Rubbish’ as in incantation for any spell provided you associated that word with that spell and nothing else. In this case, the incantation is Expecto Partronum.”

The six students repeated that.

“Also, after a year or two of school, you’ve learned - rightly or not - that intending a spell, pointing and/or waiving a wand in a certain way and speaking the incantation and the spell is cast. That' not really what happens. Intent plus focus plus control equals release. Intent - protect me from evil nasties, focus - get that love mojo rolling, control - ‘expecto patronum’ and a spell will be cast. It’s how we learn to trick ourselves into projecting magic how we want to when we want to.

“Now the other reason for a specific incantation has nothing to do with any spells. It’s a way for us who are teaching the spell to know what you’re trying to do so we can help you when it does not work. If you used your own private incantations - which you could - I wouldn’t know what you were trying so it’d be hard to know why nothing happened. Okay, let’s put it together and give it a try.”

They all did as they were told and all of them had some kind of white mist coming from the end of their wands. It varied from Daphne’s which looked like a stream shooting out a few feet to Harry’s which was more like a smoldering cigar. But something happened for each of them and all three adults gasped.

“Think you may be onto something, Padfoot,” James said. “Harry’s was the weakest, but loads better than my first several attempts.”

“Try a different trigger for the emotion, Harry,” Sirius suggested. “Whatever you tried, Daphne, good job. But if any of you have something more powerful, think about it before we try again.”

The next time, all got to the same stream that Daphne had the first time.

“Who used a different memory or trigger?” Sirius asked. All but Daphne raised their hands. “See if you have something better this next time,” he said to Daphne but they all understood it meant all of them.

Six faint shield like projections appeared on this try some seemingly brighter than others.

“Whoa!” James said.

“Where’d you learn to teach that?” Lily asked. “Took ages to get that far along.”

Sirius shrugged. “Twelve years to think about how best to get at those things helps. Right then, AGAIN!”

“AGAIN!”

“AGAIN!”

“AGAIN!”

A blob of some sort appeared at the end of Ginny and Harry’s wands and shot out and away for a few yards before fading. The others had very bright shields. As soon as the spells faded, three of the girls practically fell to their knees and the other three were bent over panting heavily.

“What h-happened?” Harry panted. “Feels like I’ve been running.”

“I… I thought I was in better shape,” Hermione added. She was one of the three who was on her knees.

“It’s a very powerful and draining spell,” Lily said. “Your magic is like your muscles. Work it hard enough and you get tired magically and physically.”

“And the fact that you lot are knackered and what we saw tells me you lot are doing it right.”

“Bloody brilliantly, you ask me,” James said and flinched expecting a smack of some kind that never came. “You see two of them were borderline corporeal?”

“What’s that mean?” Hannah panted.

“What was that blob thing?” Ginny asked. “Did I make a mistake?”

“Far from it,” James replied. “Shields such as the ones the lot of you did would probably protect you from a dementor for a bit. That blob thing is the beginning of the full on patronus!”

“Full on?” a few voices asked.

“With skill and practice, you can shift from a shield for defense to an offensive variation of the spell,” Sirius said. “For now, your work shall be to get to that version. That takes practice and you can only do so much ‘cause that spell will wear you out quick until your magic is stronger and like a muscle really working your magic will make it stronger. Most of the spells you’ve learned so far barely task your magic. This one does. We used to cast this one and other draining spells over and over and over as part of our Hit Wizard training work outs.”

“Don’t remind me,” James groaned.

“You’re not going to put them through that, Sirius!” Lily scolded. “They’re just kids! They’re not magically mature enough for that!”

“I wasn’t gonna do that, Lils. I’d suggest they try that spell four or five times in quick succession a day. That’s both to help master the spell and work their magic. But I wasn’t gonna suggest more than that. They should practice their school spells before this one ‘cause their magic will probably be all dodgy for a couple of hours afterwards.”

“What was that blob thing?” Ginny asked again.

“Beginnings of the offensive version of the spell,” Sirius explained. “The shield will protect you from one of those things. But it won’t drive one off. You got to hope it gets bored and looks for easier pickings. The corporeal patronus - which that blob thing will become with practice - attacks dementors and chases after them. We don’t know exactly what it does. Maybe it hurts them. Whatever it does, they don’t like it and will leave if they can and try and stay as far away from one if they can’t. It’s how they can be controlled to a point.”

“Corporeal?” Hermione asked. “You said something about it being corporeal.”

Sirius nodded. “The blob reaches full effectiveness if it’s corporeal. What that is varies from person to person. It manifests itself as some kind of animal. People who master that spell to that point have whatever animal as their patronus from then on usually although it’s known that a major event later in life might cause it to change. Being the proper Gryffindor that I am, mine’s a lion.”

“It’s an adolescent lion cub!” Lily corrected.

“Well, it’s been a few years. Maybe it grew up?”

“Don’t count on it!”

“He’s spent almost twelve years in that pit, Lils,” James said. “A life changing experience can alter a patronus. ‘Til we get wands none of us can truly say what ours is, only what it was.”

“You’re saying that ‘cause you don’t like yours,” Lily teased. “His is a badger. Who would’ve thought he was a closet Hufflepuff? Of course, I knew he was.”

“Oh?”

“You and Sirius stuck by Remus despite his little furry problem. You know as well as I do most people would not have. They’d have abandoned him as soon as they found out.”

“Remus? Your other friend?” Harry asked.

“And what’s a little furry problem?” Luna asked. “Does he have a Hagrid pet?”

“Hagird pet?” James asked.

“Hagrid has interesting pets,” Luna said. “Although most people wouldn’t want them as pets. They wouldn’t want to be anywhere around them to tell the truth. I like hanging out with his herd of Thestrals personally.”

“Thestrals?” James asked.

“Oh yes. They’re loads of them, I think. They pull the carriages that take you to the train. Mostly, though, they hang around in the forest near his hut. They’re very nice.”

“But they’re,” Sirius began to protest.

“People don’t like them only ‘cause you have to see someone die to see them,” Luna said. “They’re actually very nice and kind of pretty.”

“I’ve never seen them,” Harry said.

“Your parents didn’t really die, Harry,” Hermione said.

“I was thinking about Quirrell. I don’t remember that other night. But I killed Quirrell, didn’t I?”

“Um…”

“Did you see the life leave his eyes?” Luna asked. “I know I saw the life leave my Mum’s eyes. If it weren’t so sad, I’d say it was almost peacefull.”

“Um… no come to think of it,” Harry said. “They were kind of burnt up before he died.”

“Maybe that’s it then,” Luna said. “You killed him but didn’t really see the life leave him. Hence the reason why you can’t see Thestrals.”

“I suppose.”

“So we’ll practice this every day?” Hermione asked after catching her breath.

“You lot did real well, but this is a spell that needs a fair bit of practice to truly master,” Sirius said. “Once you have a corporeal patronus and control over both the shield and the magic beastie, there other applications you can learn. Besides, this is a great spell for strengthening your magic.”

“Most witches and wizards don’t like to perspire,” Lily said.

“Death Eaters may be scary and vicious,” James added, “but the truth is they’re weaklings. If you’re in shape and skilled, they can’t last against you. Once we get new wands, we’ll probably practice with you. Can’t say where Lils and my magic is now. We might be about where we were or we might not be and won’t know ‘til we get a wand. Sirius here? Fair bet he’ll need the work out.”

“He needs to fatten up some more,” Lily observed.

“I was never fat!” Sirius protested. “Nor big-boned, pleasantly plump or any of that!”

“You look emaciated, little more than skin and bones.”

“It’s not like they had decent menus at that place. I agree, I need to put on weight. How am I supposed to retain my reputation as a true ladies man like this? What decent, sane woman would find the walking corpse look sexy?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “You haven’t changed. You’re still impossible.”