Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 57 Patronus

After Dumbledore agreed to personally teach Moran the Patronus, he naturally found excuses to delay for several weeks. During this time, Ravenclaw defeated Hufflepuff in a match, and Ravend Brown learned from his parents the bad news that his pet rabbit, whom he had left at home, had been killed by a fox.

"Is she still not better?"

"Hermione, who suddenly appeared in Transfiguration class, asked in a low voice." This startled Ron. He first turned to Harry to confirm if they had just seen Hermione, then said irritably:

"That was her favorite pet that died. Can't you have any compassion? Or do you only like things that can kill other small animals?"

"Stop being sarcastic. Crookshank hasn't been bothering Scabbers lately, Ronald, you know that perfectly well! Besides, what I just said was that Lavender shouldn't keep dwelling on Professor Trelawney's prophecy."

Hermione's calm analysis did not win Ron's approval, and he argued forcefully:

"Professor Trelawney said that the thing Lavender feared most would happen on October 16th, and she received the letter from home yesterday morning, not a day off. Doesn't that prove anything?"

“We were all there. If you had paid closer attention, you would have noticed that Lavender’s rabbit had died some time ago, and she only found out about it yesterday. Moreover, Lavender was very shocked when she heard the news, which means she wasn’t actually afraid of it all along.”

Ron, unable to win the argument with Hermione, steered the conversation back to the topic of pets, saying:

"I don't think you understand what the prophecy means at all, and you don't even care about other people's pets!"

Hermione also suddenly lost her temper, and she angrily retorted:

"What exactly are you trying to say? Are you taking your anger out on me because of Scabbers and Crookshanks? Or do you think only people born into wizarding families can learn divination well? Don't you find yourself ridiculous? According to you, you expect Professor Trelawney to be right about everything, including Harry's bad luck?"

Ronten stood up abruptly, but fortunately, Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door in time, thus averting a potential explosion in the atmosphere between the two.

……

The weekend finally arrived, and Harry, having completed his wolfsbane potion-brewing assessment on his own, was in a better mood. In fact, apart from the fluctuating relationship between Ron and Hermione, most things had been progressing in a positive direction lately.

"Professor! You finally have time!"

Harry pushed open the headmaster's office door and immediately shouted.

Dumbledore put down a roll of parchment, a slightly weary and helpless expression on his face, then stood up and replied:

“Yes, Harry, I finally have some time… What were we going to talk about today? Oh right, Patronus.”

"Didn't you get enough rest?"

"Some things are very taxing, and I'm already quite old."

Dumbledore stood up as he put the parchment into the cupboard.

"I was going to ask Professor Lupin to help me find a Boggart, but I heard him say that you didn't get a chance to practice repelling a Boggart in that Defense Against the Dark Arts class?"

"Do you think my Boggart will turn into a Dementor?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore blurted out:

"Your past experiences have included fears that others have never experienced or even can't imagine. Combined with the courage you showed when facing Voldemort, what you fear is very likely fear itself. However..."

He paused, then looked at Harry with a pair of intelligent blue eyes.

"It seems my guess was wrong... Could you tell me what your fear is? This will help you learn the Patronus Charm."

Upon hearing this, both Harry and Mo Ran in the live stream were delighted. Just like their last encounter in the Forbidden Forest, regardless of who was controlling the body, Dumbledore seemed unable to use Legilimency to probe their thoughts.

"It's the way my friends died tragically."

Harry's frankness surprised Dumbledore somewhat. He turned his head and looked out the window at the sky, pulling his thoughts away from the memories that were about to resurface.

"I see..."

He murmured:

"It seems we need to find a real Dementor to help you train."

Before Harry could even realize what Dumbledore was up to, the old bee, who had walked slowly to him, had already placed his hand on Harry's shoulder.

Snapped!

In the middle of the vast ocean, on a lonely island, stood a triangular black fortress. The cold, damp, and decaying stench, like the embodiment of death, relentlessly and undeniably forced its way into Harry's nose.

"here it is?"

"Azkaban."

Dumbledore, who was leading Harry to a spot on a rock, had to raise his voice so that Harry could hear him amidst the crashing waves.

"The Ministry of Magic originally built it here to prevent dark wizards from breaking into the prison, but after they successfully tamed the Dementors, Azkaban became a means of controlling those terrifying creatures. Without exception, all the prisoners imprisoned here became nourishment for the Dementors, forced to imprison themselves in their minds, unable to evoke even a single thought of happiness. The vast majority of criminals went insane after being imprisoned for a few weeks."

The astute Harry quickly grasped the headmaster's unspoken meaning and said:

"But Sirius Black stayed here for twelve years, and then he ran away."

Dumbledore nodded.

"He must have found some special way. Many people think it's impossible to resist Dementors, and even believe that Dementors will drain the wizard's magic. But in reality, Dementors only absorb people's happiness."

At this point, Dumbledore turned to Harry and asked with a meaningful look:

“Harry, you and Newt studied Dementors, so you should know about their characteristics. Can you guess why there are rumors in the wizarding world that Dementors drain magic?”

Harry looked at the black cloaks floating in the distance near Azkaban prison, and his mind drifted back to that night in Little Wheegham.

Dementors drain magic? Is that just an excuse made by wizards who can't use the Patronus Charm? But that doesn't make any sense! Not being able to use the Patronus Charm doesn't mean you can't use other magic. I didn't even use my wand and I still managed to cast spells, didn't I?

and many more……

Harry seems to have found some clue.

Back when he was trying to train his ability to cast spells without a staff, he started with flying broomsticks.

That's right, wandless spellcasting isn't a skill only highly skilled, powerful, and talented wizards can master. On the contrary, even first-year Hogwarts students can perform the simplest wandless spell—Get Up—on a flying broom.

With enough confidence and emotionally charged instruction, the flying broom, a magical tool, will spring into the young wizard's hand. This illustrates that the difficulty of wandless spellcasting increases gradually with the complexity of the magic the wizard wishes to perform.

This is why Harry, when he first learned wandless spellcasting, could only cast some common, everyday spells. It wasn't until Morgen absorbed the other two Obscurials and raised the magical energy stored in his body to a new level that they gradually began to apply wandless spellcasting techniques to combat.

The same logic applies to Harry in the original story. Because when he was humiliated by Aunt Maggie, he inflated her into a balloon and sent her flying without using his wand. Unfortunately, everyone, including Harry himself, focused on the magical outburst and Sirius Black's escape, failing to properly develop this potential.

“I think I understand. Because any spell or magic requires the wizard to maintain confidence in order to be successfully cast, and those who are affected by the Dementors and lose their minds are precisely those who have lost this most important thing, which is why they mistakenly believe that the Dementors have drained their magic power after failing to cast the spell.”

Harry's answer pleased Dumbledore, who nodded and said:

"Many excellent wizards can skillfully utilize their talents, but few truly understand the underlying principles. Exceptional abilities often bring confidence, and confidence, in turn, can help people continue to improve themselves. I firmly believe that every student can find their own..."

"Ahem, Professor?"

Harry promptly interrupted Professor Dumbledore, whose tone was becoming increasingly cheerful. It wasn't that he was tired of hearing Dumbledore's lectures; it was simply that his primary task today was to learn the Patronus Charm.

Dumbledore sighed with a hint of regret. He glanced at Harry, then flicked his wand, conjuring a waterspout that seemed to reach the clouds, pulling the nearest Dementor back from miles away.

Harry, who already had one foot in the ultimate realm, wasn't shocked by the scene before him. Looking at the Dementors caught in the giant water sphere, he curiously asked the question that had been nagging at him:

"Huh? Professor, aren't Dementors supposed to be immune to anything other than a Patronus Charm?"

Dumbledore replied:

“I didn’t hurt it. As you can see, it’s just a cage, a cage made of water. Dementors are physical entities; they can’t pass through physical structures like ghosts. I think you noticed that when you were dealing with them on Privet Road in Little Huijin District.”

"Then this water prison technique?"

"Be patient, Harry, be patient. Today we're here to learn about the Patronus Charm."

Dumbledore gently waved his sleeve, and the originally smooth water sphere slowly flowed into the shape of a box that could be opened.

"The incantation for Patronus is very simple; anyone who has seen it in a book can recite it. However, as the most profound type of magic, it also has rather strict casting requirements."

"Then what is it?"

"You must concentrate all your thoughts on a particularly happy and joyful moment while chanting the mantra for it to be effective."

Harry frowned, carefully considering Dumbledore's words, then asked again, somewhat uncertainly:

"But that's not all, right, Professor?"

Dumbledore's expression turned satisfied again, but this time he didn't steer the conversation back to education. He said:

“You see, Harry, although Dementors feed on happiness and hope, that doesn’t mean all positive emotions are weak in their presence. When you want to summon a powerful Patronus, a steadfast heart capable of overcoming pain and despair is often more important than moments of joy…”

"Expecto Patronum." (The Patronus)

Dumbledore's voice was gentle yet firm. Silver flowers suddenly bloomed from the tip of his Elder Wand, and then a phoenix guardian spirit, identical to Fawkes, emerged.

Thanks to Mo Ran's good habit of not giving away spoilers, Harry once again understood why the Headmaster was called the greatest wizard. Watching the silver phoenix circling the "water tank" and the Dementors tripping over their own robes in fright at their Patronus, he seemed to see Dumbledore's proud and dashing youth for a moment.

"Your guardian deity is a phoenix!"

"What the guardian deity is is not important."

Dumbledore, as calmly as if recounting what dessert he had for breakfast, continued: