Text Cut: Individual Replies

Jude

”You make an excellent point, there. Powerful wizards can definitely be dark.” Unfortunately. For examples, all one had to do was look at the wizards Grindelwald and Voldemort. ”And it would definitely follow that if a dark wizard was powerful enough, they would be able to produce a patronus.”

Cooper

Wow, that was an interesting take on the question. He’d honestly never thought of it in that way. Maybe being here wasn’t a waste of time after all. ”Either of those could be an explanation. Neither that I would wish on my worst enemy, mind you.” Being eating alive by maggots? Yuuk.”

Ash

He was about to replied that he’d hoped that she’d never seen a dark wizard, period but then he remembered a few years ago and stopped himself. Yep, that wouldn’t have been a good thing to bring up right now. ”You could be right. It could be rare that dark wizards produce a patronus because they don’t have a happy enough memory.” Like that Riddler guy in those Batman stories. Or was it the Joker…..?

”So we’ve established that a corporeal patronus is hard to produce. And we’ve also established some theories about why dark wizards may or may not be able to produce one. But I should point out that it isn’t necessarily unheard-of for a dark wizard to produce one, it’s just less common that it is for a wizard that’s considered ‘light’. Mr. Branxton gave one example; another is Dolores Umbrage. Now, one theory as to why she could do this is that she was so convinced of her righteousness that she was somehow able to produce one.” That thought made him shudder internally. Imagine being so sure you’re the one that’s in the right when you’re torturing children. Yep, that’s the people you needed to be scared of.

And moving on. ”Now, before we start practicing the incantation, I wanna help you find the memory that is most likely to help you cast a patronus, either soon if you’re a fifth year and up, or in the future if you’re a fourth year and below. I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind. We’re going to play a little game.” Wait, did that sound weird? Oh well, it was out there now.

OOC: Okay, so your characters are going to play a game to try and find out what memory is most likely to help them to produce a patronus! Then, Ronan will teach them the incantation and wand movement.

I’ll be back to move us along in around 48 hours from the time of this post.

Violet was excited--she couldn't wait to see what her Patronus would be! But...she was also anxious. What if all the other older students could produce one and she couldn't? She immediately banished that thought from her mind; that kind of negativity was certainly not going to help.

So, closing her eyes (after making sure everyone else was, too, in case someone decided to use the opportunity to gang up on her), Violet closed her eyes in expectation, tried to clear her mind, and wondered what memory of hers would be happy enough to produce a Patronus?

Jude was appalled that Umbridge would consider herself so righteous that she was able to produce a Patronus. Clearly there was a lot more to this Charm than what meets the eye. But coming back to the preparation for them to attempt to cast the Charm… Jude wasn’t exactly sure what memory he should use. There were so many instances when he was happy: with his siblings, baking with his mother, hanging out with his father, hanging out with Evan {for sure}.

The Hufflepuff eyed Ronan skeptically for a bit, trying to decide if the man was messing with them. Then again, the Auror didn’t seem to be that type. Just how did he go about clearing his mind? Jude closed his eyes and tried not to think of anything. Was he doing this right? Feeling a lot awkward, he popped opened his eyes, stared around quickly at his classmates then squeezed his eyelids shut.

Yep. Not thinking about anything here.

Was everyone’s mind clear? Yes? ”Okay, so what we’re going to do is: I’m going to ask you some questions and you’ll have to answer with the first thing that comes into your mind. No thinking! And you don’t have to answer out loud, you can write it down on a piece of paper if you want.” Because Ronan understood that some things you just didn’t want out there, right? ”Ready? What’s the most uncomfortable situation you’ve ever found yourself in? What do you wish you understood better? What memory makes you feel all warm and fuzzy?” That last one was the key there.

He stood silent for a minute or two to let the students answer and really focus on that last one. ”Everyone got their warm and fuzzy memory?” Yes? ”This is the one that is most likely to help you produce a patronus. How do I know this will work, you may wonder? This is the way that I was taught to do it, and I’ve seen it work for others.”

Now for the other important components of the spell. ”Of course, this isn’t going to be any help if you don’t have the incantation or wand movement. The incantation is ‘Expecto Patronum’ and the wand movement is to draw a circle with your wand, ending with a pointing motion at your target,” he explained with a demonstration of the movement. It didn’t sound too complicated put that way, he knew. It was the memory and some unknown force that made it so difficult. ” Fifth years and up, I want you guys to practice your pronunciation first, then the wand movement as a warm-up and then put it all together. First through fourth years, I want you guys just to practice the pronunciation and wand movement for now. And don’t feel bad if you can’t produce a patronus. Many witches and wizards never do and make it through life just fine. In fact, Neville Longbottom never could produce a corporal one.” Which he had thoughts about, but he wasn’t going to go there because he was here to teach, not depress.

OOC: And here we are! Remember that patronuses are supposed to be rare in the wizarding world, so some (or a lot!) of struggle is to be expected. No one is going to judge your character if they can’t do it! And I’m sorry for the wait and lack of individual replies this time, life is gonna life.

I’ll be hanging around for extra questions/encouragement (and to see what kind of shenanigans ya’ll get up to!) so have fun with it![/COLOR]

What’s the most uncomfortable situation you’ve ever found yourself in? That one time with Emmerson. No, wait- when I upset Lumi. Yeah.

What do you wish you understood better? Who I am. Ash wondered how that was relevant.

What memory makes you feel all warm and fuzzy? ...Warm and fuzzy? Wait wait wait!!! She didn't really ever feel warm and fuzzy. She either felt very sad or very in love or very interested or very mad or very happy and none of those were fuzzy feelings! Happiness was definitely not fuzzy(wouldn't dying feel more fuzzy?)- it was clear, like breathing should be. Although she did admit that it was warm. Afraid to ask for clarification, she tried her best to interpret. The memory she'd been using for it was the one with Theodore. She had some good memories from Hogwarts, but Hogwarts would never be a good memory. Some of the times her Father had interacted with her? No... ........ Could they use an angry, determined memory instead? This was so frustrating. She'd just use the one from saving Theodore again, because it seemed like a pretty strong positive memory.

Ash did not want to write any of that down, so she wrote it on a paper and promptly put the paper in her pocket where nobody could see it.

She practiced the familiar incantation and wand movement. "Expecto Patronum."(circle) "Expecto Patronum."(circle) "Expecto Patronum..." Actually, she was trying for the real thing, but that was hard to tell since nothing was happening. She had sometimes felt very close to producing something in the boathouse with her art and in the right state of mind... and none of that was present here. No water, no artwork, no solitude, and definitely no right state of mind. "Expecto Patronum..."(circle) "Expecto Patronum..."(circle)

Expecto... Patronum? Ash did not look very expectant.

Jude’s mind was as clear as it was going to get. Or so he thought because he still wasn’t sure if he had done the mind clearing process correctly. But he was ready for this game so he grabbed his quill and parchment. He wrote his responses down rapidly and without thinking at all. When he was done, he read them over:

1. When Reagan told me she set me up on a blind date with Davet.
2. The human mind.
3. Bonding with Evan over cats and a snake during the summer of 2105.

Truthfully, Jude liked the way Ronan had asked them the questions; it was definitely a shrewd and easy way to get them to call upon their happiest memory - or one of the happiest. He hastily tucked the paper away, not wanting anyone, especially Evan, to see that last answer. The last thing he was going to do was make things awkward now that it was clear Evan wasn’t going to reciprocate THOSE feelings. The Hufflepuff focused his attention on the practice. “Expensive Petroleum Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!’’ Over and over he said the incantation. Circling and pointing with the wand wasn’t challenging but he didn’t exactly feel confident about even being able to cast a wisp of a Patronus. His mood had suddenly taken a dive. Maybe there was another happy memory that could be used? Because the more Jude thought of the one he had written, the sadder he felt when his mind reflected on reality.

The most uncomfortable situation she'd ever been in? Violet wrote down, The time I was stuck in a Muggle hotel in New York with my father and I realized the only reason he'd come looking for me was because he thought I could do magic that would help him with his 'business'. Violet stopped and looked at that answer for a minute. Why hadn't she put down being locked in the sub-dungeon by the Neo-Alliance? Surely that had been worse; she'd even worried she was going to be killed, maybe. But...for some reason, fear and physical discomfort didn't compare with the hurt she'd felt when she realized her father just wanted to use her and maybe didn't love her at all, and despite this, being stuck in a room with him with nowhere to go.

Okay--what do you wish you understood better? I want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me with my grandfather before she disappeared. Hmmm...this was beginning to show a pattern. Violet hadn't realized she had these deep emotional hurts before; she guessed she had just pushed them deep down and ignored them and focused on school to keep them at bay.

Now for the big one--warm and fuzzy. Humph, Violet mentally snorted. She didn't do 'warm and fuzzy.' Well--she supposed this translated to, what makes you feel safe and good? An image of Miss Howard appearing in the doorway of that same seedy Muggle hotel in New York and giving her father a proper scolding (did grownups get scoldings? Apparently they did when faced with an angry Miss Howard). And then her governess had spirited her away from there and Portkeyed them both home to London, even though her grandfather had already fired the woman. And that meant--it meant Miss Howard cared about her, Violet Blackthorne, and would always have her back, and that made Violet feel all warm and fuzzy (had she actually thought those words?! good gracious, what was wrong with her, she was getting soft).

Violet wiped some sweat out of her eyes so she could see better (yes, that was sweat, not...anything else!) and tried to wrote some less revealing semblance of her good thought. Okay, that's what she would focus on. Maybe it would turn out better than the other times--Violet had picked less important things, or sometimes thoughts of her mother, but those seemed tinged with the sadness of her loss, so maybe that's why they hadn't worked.

So--Violet had said the incantation before, but she murmured the words again her, just to make sure they were right in her head: Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!

This was exciting! Karleigh had hoped that they'd be learning and practicing the patronus charm today. But it also made her a little nervous just for the sole fact that she might not be able to do it at all. Mr. Carter even said many adults weren't able to cast one. It might be a little embarrassing to not be able to do it here today, but it would be devastating to never be able to do it at all.

But first, some questions. Her most uncomfortable situation was an easy one to answer, but she sure didn't want to say it out loud. She wasn't even sure she wanted to write it down. But thinking about feeling so left out and left behind at the beginning of the term... yeah, she'd say that was pretty uncomfortable.

Okay... moving on... What did she wish she understood better? Feelings? Yeah, maybe that. They were being pretty confusing right now. And.. the warm and fuzzy memory... it was a recent one, but it tied to the confusing one.. and.. she wasn't sure it was going to work. Warm and fuzzy and confusing.

Anyway, Karleigh tried to focus on the warm and fuzzy part of the feeling rather than the confusing part, but it was really hard to separate them. Maybe this wasn't the best memory to focus on then, but that was what she was going with and she tried to really focus. Ugh. "Expecto Patronum," she said softly, trying to focus. "Expecto Patronum," she said again, this time circling then pointing her wand. "Expecto Patronum!" Putting it all together a little more forcefully and... nothing.

Violet had tried a number of times to cast the Patronus charm for real before class ended and, though she was managing a much clearer and larger silver cloud than ever before, it was still very far from being what one would call a corporeal Patronus. And now class was ending, and she felt almost too frustrated to try again properly. But...just one more time, perhaps. She vigorously cleared her thoughts of aggravation, the way Miss Howard had always taught her--ah, Miss Howard! Jane now, really, now she was pretty much grown. The woman had always been there for her, functioning as both teacher and a sort of mother figure--well, more like a very wise aunt or older friend, perhaps. When Violet had been stupid enough to go to meet her Muggle father in New York, it had been Miss Howard who had tracked them down. Violet remembered how her governess had looked, appearing suddenly in the doorway of their shabby hotel room with the harsh lights shining behind her, like the silhouette of an avenging angel. Once she saw Jane, Violet had known everything would be all right.

Violet recalled strongly how she had felt when she realized how much Miss Howard cared about her and that she was about to be rescued from her situation, and holding that scene in her mind, she cast one more time: "Expecto Patronum!" The strongest silvery cloud yet came rushing out of her wand and began to form into...what? Violet had never seen a creature like that anywhere (and she suspected, neither had anyone else). The closes she could describe it was an extremely large pillow with arms and little round mouse-ears. But it was definitely a shape now.

Violet sighed--she had cast a sort-of Patronus, but obviously it was not quite complete yet. And that was probably her final chance to do so in class this year, since the term was ending. She sighed as she stowed her wand and gathered her other things together for the end of class. Still...that Patronus-to-be was definitely going to be something soon. Something large! And intimidating--maybe (Violet really hoped so). Well, she would keep practising over the summer, because she couldn't wait to find out what it really was.