Cilla decided that it would be wise to practice before thinking of a happy memory. She also was having a bit of trouble thinking of a happy memory that would be strong enough.

Cilla picked up her wand a moved it in a circular motion three times until she felt comfortable. Cilla always had the notion that no matter how simple or how complicated the wand movement was, it needed to be practised and perfected. Once, she had gotten the wand motion perfected, Cilla lowered her wand and ran the incantation in her head.

"Expecto Patronum, Expecto Patronum, Expecto Patronum."

That aspect was done but now Cilla had to think of a memory. She was starting to get nervous.

Twirling his wand in hand, Zeke considered his options, and avery early memory sprang to mind. He remembered receiving a knuckle sandwich, again, and again, and again. The taste of blood from his cut lip, the sucker punch to the gut, his shoulders aching from being held back. She'd intervened then, saved him... kept him safe... patched him up. It was cold out, but she was warm. It was him against the world, but he wasn't alone.

Deciding to let that memory be for now, he focused his attention on practicing the wand movement, letting his hand guide his wand in a circular fashion, small at first and then wider, but really that was the EASY part.

He surely couldn't get THAT part wrong.

Nevertheless, he practiced it a few more times. Just to be sure.

If he was being completely honest with himself, as much as he wanted to see and use his patronus, he also wanted to shield it and hide it, never let it see the light of day. It was a personal thing in that sense.... but something that would protect him, and so as vulnerable as it made him, he would try his best anyway.

THEY WERE GONNA LEARN TO DO THAT!!! ANIMAL FRIEND ALL THE TIME!! AMAZING THINGS AND COOL STUFF AND OH MY GOODNESS ROWAN JUST LOVED MAGIC IT WAS SO EXCITING...

...

She was going to have to take a second... and breeeaaathe...

Okay so she had to think of her happiest memory... She closed her eyes to think about it...

So... there was that time that her and Robin and Laurel had been chased out of the McMann's farm because they were trying to set the pigs free, and they'd swam across the river so Mr McMann didn't follow them, and then they'd got home and they were soaked... it was just a really funny memory, and the thought of it made her smile.

Or there was that time when Brook said his first word and she was convinced that he'd said her name. And she'd helped him take his first steps and she was really proud of that, but it wasn't the happiest memory she'd ever had.

But what was? This was gonna require some serious thinking.

Professor Dakest thought that she brought up a good point, and Lux had to smile at that. She had practiced the Patronus charm a little last term, but there had been so many other spells that she had needed to work on as well. Now that OWLs were over with, she could devote more time to developing her Patronus.

A lot of people didn't succeed, but Lux was determined; it could take a year - or twenty - but she would get there in the end.

As the Professor said, a lot of the difficulty lay in the emotions behind the spell, so it was key to focus on the right memory and put all you had into it. Lux already knew that her happiest memory was connected to Bay, but there were so many of them. How could she choose just one? Could she maybe connect them all into one amazing super happy memory? Somehow she doubted that was possible... All she knew was that he was always there for her and made her feel so safe and loved. He was always there to protect her, and that was what the spell was all about.

Smiling at her thoughts, Lux decided that it wouldn't hurt to get in a little practice of the incantation before giving the spell another go. Even though she had already done it before, it would help her feel more confident. She repeated 'Expecto Patronum' a few times under her breath.

"It's based off personality traits mainly, or sometimes a deep connection with someone. It depends on the person, but usually there is a strong affinity with the animal, or a person associated with the animal." The Korean guy just nodded at Dakest's explanation. Perhaps he has similar personality with otter. Hehehe.

Now it's time to work with patronus charm. Maybe he should think about his happiest memory first. Hmmm... He did remember his first piano recital. He was still ten at the time, he's really nervous at the time but very excited. It was his first time on stage. Maybe he should try thinking about that. Twirling his wand, he thought about his first recital and maybe tried casting the patronus charm too.

The problem that Rowan was having right now, was that her brain was almost exclusively full of happy memories. So picking one was proving to be quite a challenge. She went through a few more memories in her head as she practiced the wand movement...

There was the first time she'd managed to make a cake all by herself and everyone had loved it, and that was a really happy memory because the first two tries had failed but the third one was perfect and it was her mum's birthday so everyone was happy anyway...

Or... when her grammy had sat with them all outside when it was really sunny and they'd played games and had loads of fun... but that was more like a big group of happy memories all squidged into one, because she did that a lot.

Of course, there was her eleventh birthday... when someone had told her about Hogwarts... but that had felt so surreal at the time, she wasn't entirely sure if it was a happy memory or a mildly bemused one.

Gosh, this was hard...


WAIT!! How about that time when she and Robin had found the rabbit hole and they had spent ages trying to get the rabbits to trust them and the first time one had jumped into Rowan's lap she had been so happy and excited that she'd almost cried. That was a nice memory... Maybe that would work?

"Professor??" she raised her hand so he would see her, cause she was still kinda tiny. "Does it have to be the same memory every time? Like does everyone only have one memory that will work or could it be different ones if they all make you really happy?" Because she had a lot... she was a very happy person, and pretty much liked everything, so it would be far more difficult to find a bad memory than a good one.

Cilla's mind ran through the major events in her life, focusing on any positive memories and then focusing on a really happy memory. Cilla decided to focus on when she was nine and she sang solo at her Muggle primary school's end of year concert. She had combated her nerves and this made her feel happy and proud. She closed her eyes and a mental image of her nine year old self appeared singing like a beautiful nightingale. Soon the memory was as clear as day. Cilla took a breath in and was ready to begin...

Here she was thinking about the point the professor made about the dark arts so much so that she completely missed the question about the patronus. Whoops. Should she answer what the professor asked? Was it even really a question? Hmm... The biggest question she had about it all was why was she being all Ravenclawy about this. Her answer was pretty deep, and that was the first time that happened. Anywho...

They were moving on to really cool, advanced stuff and AJ didn't want to be left behind. She knew this was going to be hard, and nothing got her blood pumping quicker than a good challenge. First, she had a question though. The lion's hand shot into the air. "Professor, do you have chocolate on you? I heard that this spell really takes a lot out of you and you don't want us passing out on you, do ya?" Or a taco. AJ would take one of those too.

A happy memory. Which one should she choose? How would she know if it would be considered happy enough? So many questions. The first memory that popped into her head was when she found out that she was a witch. A smile played across her face at the memory. Of course she would have to share the magic thing with her sisters, but was that really so bad? Wait, did this mean this wasn't a super happy memory? Okay, she was having way too many questions about this. At this rate this would never work.

PSH. As if he'd go ahead and try this out and actually go into the Dark Arts. PSHHHHHHHHHH!

It was all a matter of self-preservation but the dude wasn't gonna go into that. Not when Dakest had moved onto........

.............. HOLY FREAKING MERLIN, THEY WERE GONNA CAST PATRONUSES? FREAKING YEEEEEEEEEEES!

Now THIS was what he was talking about. Good lesson, yo. The Slytherin was ALL too confident that he'd be able to produce one -- surprise surprise -- so he streeeeeeetched out his arm and tilted his head to both sides. Time to show 'em how it was DONE. Even if Dakest had said not to concentrate on anyone else. Yeah, alright. But if they were gonna race their patronuses, he was gonna get competitive. Just saying and all.

It was a force that would protect them. Right. And to bring it about, the boy needed to think up of a happy memory. ............. Er. What if he didn't have a happy enough memory? He looked down at his wand, a worried expression crossing his face. What WOULD he pick? The moment when he was finally leaving that freaking awful place known to most as Beauxbatons? Going to that rave with Toby? Or how about the moment when Ruby said yes to being his girlfriend?

Jeez, this was hard, wasn't it?

He was content with the movements now, and was about to recite the incantation a couple of times to get into the swing of things before ACTUALLY attempting the super duper difficult way above his level advanced charms work. But then he couldn't help but overhear a question.

...

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

They were moving on to really cool, advanced stuff and AJ didn't want to be left behind. She knew this was going to be hard, and nothing got her blood pumping quicker than a good challenge. First, she had a question though. The lion's hand shot into the air. "Professor, do you have chocolate on you? I heard that this spell really takes a lot out of you and you don't want us passing out on you, do ya?" Or a taco. AJ would take one of those too.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Zeke was chuckling internally, externally he was simply grinning like a goofball. But SEEEEEEE, Professor SABEL! Chocolate had its uses in the classroooooooooom! So what says you now? Hhmmm?

Zeke didn't say anything, but he gave Sabel a pointed look.

That.....made sense. Artificial happiness wouldn't be as effective. When the spells and potions wore off, one would still be in the state they were in before consumption (or casting).

Gabriel made a note of that in his writing.

Unfortunately, it wasn't good news for the Ravenclaw...as there was no other way he could see himself being successful at this. If he could...manipulate himself into it...maybe. See, it wasn't that he didn't have happy memories. There were a few...but...Gabe didn't recall them WITH that blindly happy feeling. If that made sense. His mind...didn't work like that. Everything was dulled down and lukewarm.

...and this didn't even account for his anxiety...which had started to kick in at the first mention of patronuses. Gabe couldn't pinpoint which was more stressful: the fact that he had tried (and failed) at this charm over the summer, and was now having to revisit that failure in class....or the fact that this was most likely going to be on his NEWT tests now. Generally speaking, failure wasn't all bad. If at first you don't succeed, try again, you know?....but....there were just....reasons.......

Swallowing thickly, Gabe set his quill down on the desk and focused on his breathing; attempting to get his mind right.

There was nothing to be panicking about. Nothing at all. The professor had said it wasn't that big of a deal...if you couldn't do it. And science doesn't care about defense, anyway. This isn't mandatory for what you want to do in life.

He could...just write out...some memories...and do that, instead. There wouldn't be any attempts. Not....from him today.

Clearing his throat, Gabe pulled a clean piece of parchment and set to writing. It wasn't as surprising that most of his 'happy memories' involved Ruby. Where was she? Would she come sit with him? He needed to hold her hand for a moment.

Cilla moved a bit so that she had a good amount of working space surrounding her. She aimed her wand at a spot a few inches in front of her and focused on her happy memory. She moved in wand in a circular motion and said firmly and clearly, "Expecto Patronum." Nothing happened.

She wasn't going to let it phase her considering Professor Dakest said for the students to not be worried if they didn't produced a patronus. She really concentrated hard and repeated the wand movement and incantation but a bit louder.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A trail of wispy smoke emitted from Cilla's wand and floated in front of her. "Not bad," Cilla thought to herself but she wanted to conjure a corporeal patronus.

Finished with the incantation, Lux moved on to the wand movement. With her wand, she did the counter-clockwise circular motion a few times. Each time she remembered not to close the circle the whole way and bring the end in a little. All and all she was confident in this part of the spell. The only problem was the happy memory thing.

Ughhhh, couldn't she just combine all the happy memories together???? Yep, she was going to do that. Make the one super happy memory and maybe then she would be closer to casting a corporeal Patronus. So far all she had managed were small wisps of smoke, which were better than nothing but no amazing feat when compared to Dakest's otter.

Wand at the ready, she was about to try this new idea out when AJ mentioned chocolate. There was no way she could ever resist a chance to eat chocolate when it presented itself, and AJ DID have a point. Lux remained silent on the matter, but was hoping that it would be allowed because she had some Chocolate Frogs in her bag and was dying to eat them. The only thing that would have made it even better was if cucumber sandwiches were involved as well, but that didn't seem very likely...

Henric was sure he wasn't going to do the spell right. It was going to be hard...most definitely hard. He stood a little further away from the group so he could be by himself. He breathed in slowly, trying not to think about his fears since he was little.

Henric's happy memories? Of course, he had plenty while he was growing up, he never had once forgotten the day he was out from the orphanage and into the arms of his new parents, his love for food and animals, the day he got his first pet terrapin, Manchester United scoring 7 goals before half-time, and many more. But everytime he reminised about the happier times in his life, he felt like one day, it would all be gone and taken away from him. That was the reason he despised and feared the Dementors...those things exist for that sole purpose of sucking the happiness and hope inside of you,until you left with nothing.

"No....not this time...fight it. You can do this..you can...and...you must..."Henric thought determinedly inside his head. His held up his wand, ready to cast the spell.

Ethan was VERY tempted to do a series of slow claps. Dakest is a genius. And a Star Wars fan (?) so it’s a PLUS, definitely. The auror made good points as he addressed each and every one’s answer. The Slytherin found himself fumbling for the small notebook and short muggle pencil that Simon always kept on his night stand back in the dorm, and started to quickly jot down the gist of the discussion. There was a lot to digest, but the concept was really simple. He was also aware that casting his patronus would be a hard task.

Why?

He’d gone through a lot during his younger years, and there were only a few people who know about it. The thing is, he couldn’t remember HOW he got through all of those trials. Sighing and rubbing his face, Ethan chose the corner of the classroom and sat on the floor. He then began to trace circles on the floor with his wand, and allowed his memories to bring him back to his younger years.

How was he able to surpass those dark days? What sort of memory can he bring forward mentally when faced by a dementor? What recollection does he have that made him believe in the good of the world? What...or who made him happy?

No chocolate? Yes chocolate? Could he just let her know where he was with chocolate? Even though nobody said anything regarding her question, she could tell they were on the same thought process as she was. Who didn't like chocolate? Oh, could a chocolate eating memory be considered happy? Because sweets really did put her in a happy place. For a few minutes AJ's eyes glazed over as she reminisced on her days spent at her mom's sweet shop. Man, she was in such a good mood. The only thing that could be better would be if she was able to produce this super hard patronus and eat chocolate as a reward.

What else could she think about? Adi! Everything that involved him made her really happy. She could think about the time that he asked her out. Or any time that they hung out together. Oh, when he promised her that he would get her a unicorn farm. She could pile on this memory with Zander's agreement in assembling the troops in the forbidden forest to get her a unicorn NOW. Man, Hogwart boys sure were nice.

What else? It made her pretty happy inside when she tackled Ian, BUT thoughts of him made her skin crawl sooooo that would be defeating the purpose, yes? No Ian thoughts. Ummm... what else?

For this, she would need concentration so Ilia walked back a bit farther from the group. She knelt down with her back against the wall and closed herself off in thought.

A lasting, happy memory would be the hardest part wouldn't it? Wouldn't that be the hardest for most probably at least? Ilia would have to consider what she thought would be powerful enough to work. Her recent memories didn't hold anything that would work , she didn't think. Her new school was nice, it was nice to have some friends now. Especially her friend Henric, he was her best friend and made her happy just being around her. Was that enough though? Was that strong enough? When she felt like her heart was breaking in diagon alley he just bumped into her life, quite literally. She wondered if he even knew how much he meant to her.

She turned her mind away from him for a moment and breathed deeply. She would use a trick her father taught her and clear her mind out. She breathed deeply with her eyes closed until she felt stillness within. Then, slowly, she allowed thoughts and memories to trickle back in.

Oh. Oh. SO you didn't get to choose. That was COOL. Like a surprise, or a birthday present! Norah added the endless amount of information to her notes but didn't even grumble about it, because this was all sorts of interesting. Complicated, interesting. MERLIN, she really WAS getting old, that was an old person thing to think. Heheheh look at her, a TEENAGER. She smiled down at her parchment before scooting her chair back from her desk and pulling her knees up to her chest. Time to think. Think think think.

The fourth year chewed her lip. A happy memory? How was she supposed to pick one? What if they weren't happy enough? Happy had a lot of meanings, y'know. She'd figured that one out all by herself. The kind of happy when she ran was different from the kind when she got hugs which was different from the kind when there was something good for lunch. Sometimes the happiest things weren't even REAL things. She put a hand in the air and waved it around. "Professor, do happy imaginary things count?" Sometimes imaginary things were the bestest things but they weren't real memories.

Cilla really focused on her happy memory as she waved her wand in a circular motion and said, "Expecto Patronum!" Her cheeks were a bit flushed from concentrating and her brow was slightly glistening. That wasn't important, though. As soon as Cilla said the incantation, what appeared to be a very transparent cat materialised in front of her.

"Professor? How am I doing?" Cilla asked, her voiced a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

He needed to tune out EVERYONE. Sighing his annoyance, Ethan stood up from his spot, tucked his hands behind him and started to pace the in his little corner. Years ago, prior to Durmstrang, he lived a happy life with his mom. He could see his mother’s face so clearly inside his head as if he just said goodbye to her yesterday, but the memory did not, surprisingly, gave him the anchored feeling he needed to bring his patronus out.

He needed to go deeper.

Biting his lower lip, Ethan hung his head as he kept pacing around, searching for a particular memory that he knew would give him the right chills. Somehow, he felt like, he shouldn’t think too much about the happiest memory, but actually finding the right memory that will protect him for life. The patronus, he realized, would simply be his own happy memory personified, encased within a form of an animal.

With that thought in mind, Ethan stopped dead in his tracks as he blinked at the floor several times. The chill he had been waiting for finally came.

Mordred.

Ethan did not realize that he momentarily stopped breathing as his thoughts carried him back to that one time in Russia where he stayed with his cousin shortly after his mother’s death, and his step father’s disappearance. The Mordaunts, he knew, were a cold bunch. He was technically orphaned that time, and he still could not believe that his cousin, whom he initially didn’t get along with, came to his side and took him in without question. Ethan was quick to question the move however, but Mordred only had one answer: Family.

The word echoed in his mind like a loud gong being hit. The memory was further amplified as he remembered being hugged affectionately by his older cousin as he cried his eyes out, dampening his shirt. The love of his deceased mother was felt through a person whom he considers as the brother he never had.

Smiling, and finally looking up, Ethan looked around as he rolled his right shoulder. As he did so, he encased the memory in his brain, and mentally placed a force field around it to secure and anchor it within his head, and heart. Should he face a dementor or leithifold, he was sure that he’ll get the chance to survive. He knows that his memory was strong enough to get him through.

EEEEP! They were actually going to get started on this now! Adi rocked from side to side slightly after he finished up making his notes, trying to think of his happy memories. There were so MANY, man! Were the memories of winning cricket tournaments sufficient? How about when he first came to Hogwarts? NOOOOO! He had one even better!

The memory of asking AJ to be his girlfriend and the fact that she had not rejected him that day on the Wooden Bridge! YEAH! That memory trumped every other and to this day he always got extra happy (and MIGHTY relieved) whenever he thought of it.

Definitely. That. Memory.

Thinking of AJ... Adi laughed. "No food in the classroom, AJ.'' Adi did have chocolate frogs in his bag as usual so he would give her a couple at the end of the class. SHHH! Do NOT tell Professor, Sabel.

Angel smiled, they were actually going to try and make a Patronus, how amazing was that going to be, though she hoped that she could figure things out and actually produce one, now though she had to figure out how to pronounce the spell.

"Expecting Petrol!" decided that she would practice the words first. "Expecting Patrol!" Angel had a funny feeling that neither of these were right, she looked at the incantation and giggled, nope she was going way wrong here, that wasn't the best thing to do was it.

"Expecto Patronum!" Angel finally managed to say the spell. "Expecto Patronum!" Angel smiled this was just so amazing and she was totally enjoying herself at the minute. "Expecto Patronum!" Angel said again, so that was that down, she finally managed the incantation, even if it had taken her longer than she thought it would.

What else was missing? Ah, yes. The confidence to deliver the patronus out. He had heard the professor say not to fear their patronus, and of course there was a simple logic behind that. He wasn’t afraid of, whether or not his patronus was a butterfly, but his enemy right now was his own self.

“Expecto Patronum.” Circle wand movement. “Expecto Patronum.” I await a protector. Ethan could not help but smile at the thought. The word protector instantly connected it with his happy memory. “Expecto Patronum.” All he needs to do now, is to believe his memory, “Expecto Patronum.” And to trust himself.

The patronus is a positive FORCE.

The Slytherin centered himself and pictured his memory forming into a huge ball of white light. All he needs to do now is to get that energy out from his center, down to his wand arm, and right through the tip of his wand. “Expecto...Patronum!”

Something. There was something. A thick puff of bluish-white smoke came out of his wand...but no form...yet.

Ethan exhaled, and grinned at his progress. He’s not expecting anything really. But literally seeing that blinding white light inside him come out of his wand was almost enough for the Slytherin.

Practice. Yes. More of that, please.

Good connection. See? That was what happened when he refused to be ashamed of a mistake. It actually was a sort of okay answer. Not one that would hold up in an argument, but for a fast-moving class, it was fine.

Xavi listened closely to all of the questions and answers about Patronuses, not knowing before this class what they were. Apparently they were difficult, else the professor wouldn't have said 'don't worry about getting one a year from now.' But Xavier's competitive spirit was coming out. Maybe not today, but certainly a year from now he would be able to do this.

He moved over to the wall and sat on the ground, leaned back and closed his eyes. Apparently the key to this was to access an incredibly happy memory, and Xavi had loads to choose from. But not just any happy memory would do. He had to find the happiest.

His mind flicked between different ones, music festivals with his father, travel with his mother, the day they adopted his little sister...they were all wonderful memories, but none was absolutely perfect.

Ilia had learned about a patronus before this class. Her father was with magical law enforcement in her homeland and he was concerned about her when she was away at school. It was one of the first charms she had learned to practice , under his guidance. He taught her the incantation the moment she acquired a wand, so that she could practice at school. She may not have had a very strong patronus, just smokey wisps really , but she took time practicing it every year.....until this year. That happy memory was going to be hard.

Her happy memory used to be when her father had saved her. She had been playing on the ice with her cousins the winter she had turned ten. When it broke and she fell through, she didn't think she would make it back up to the surface through the numbing cold. Her happiest memory had been when she woke up safe in her fathers arms, warm and secure despite that they were soaking wet. It was a memory of safety and love for her father. It was the one that she used to use , but she didn't know if it would still work.

The first thoughts that came trickling back when she thought of her father's face, were of her parents arguing. The reason she came to Britain in the first place. That was definitely the opposite of a happy memory. It was the one that she was thinking of when she looked into the snake enclosure at the magical menagerie shop. She wanted to be a snake that day, beautiful and graceful, alright with being alone because that is what she feared she would be. Alone.....

Henric saved her from being alone that day and all school year. She realized that she wanted to keep that safe. She wanted to keep him safe. In that, she firmly decided that she would manage to start casting a strong patronus. That would be her new memory.

She raised her wand and began to do the motions, whispering the incantation to herself. Focus, just like you were taught. You can do this Freya. She told herself as she formed her memory and focused it.