"Yes, I think you can give it a try now," Lupin nodded, confirming Harry's thoughts.
"But... okay!"
After a brief hesitation, Harry immediately perked up. Even though just seeing that thing made him want to vomit, the opportunity to master the Expecto Patronum was beckoning him, and Harry had to seriously consider whether this would be the only chance in his lifetime...
Cough, cough, anyway, the two of them walked out of the Boggart's room and down the increasingly long hallway to its end, touching the ice-cold brass doorknob. Lupin turned to look at Harry, his expression solemn, "Are you ready?"
Harry didn't speak and instead nodded vigorously with the same serious expression.
"Well then..."
Lupin pushed open the door and raised his magic wand, "Expecto Patronum!"
Harry felt a blur in front of him as a white shadow surged from the tip of Lupin's magic wand. Harry widened his eyes; he had never seen Professor Lupin's Patronus before. It seemed to be... a big dog?
"Alright, come in with me, be careful."
Lupin maintained a serious expression, with the magical power in his Patronus Charm unwavering. Harry followed him into the room, finally seeing the shape of the Patronus clearly. It indeed looked like a big dog, but somewhat peculiar, as the dog's forelimbs were very long, and its muzzle was much shorter.
Unfortunately, Harry hadn't attended Snape's substitute Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, or he would have recognized that it resembles a werewolf.
The Dementor was blocked on the other side of the room by the Patronus. It didn't display the ferocity shown by a Boggart's transformed Dementor. Instead, it just floated silently, its face hidden under the hood staring toward the door. Harry felt as if he could see a chilling gaze piercing through the tattered hood—
Just by "locking gazes," Harry felt an icy hand clutching his heart.
At the same time, that bothersome low whisper echoed again, "Kill, kill him—"
"Do you see, the Patronus is a sort of Dementor's nemesis—remember, it's a guardian, like a shield between you and the Dementor..."
"Shut up!"
"?" Lupin blinked.
"Oh, sorry, Professor, I didn't mean you, I was referring to..." Harry pointed to his head. He didn't feel the need to hide anything from Lupin, ever since he learned about the connection between Lupin and his father, this gentle professor had gradually taken on a father-like role in his heart.
So, he never hid anything from Lupin.
"Oh, yes, everyone feels uncomfortable facing Dementors."
Lupin knowingly nodded; he was aware that Harry hears inexplicable whispers when facing Dementors, but now apparently wasn't the time to delve into that. "Now then, raise your magic wand—"
Harry obediently did so, then vigorously swung his wand, "Expecto Patronum!"
It was still a mass of white mist, like a cloud aimlessly hovering, lingering behind the big dog, appearing and disappearing. Even though this was the result of the boy exerting all his strength, seeing this scene inevitably deflated Harry, but Lupin's voice followed, "I'm going to stop the spell now!"
"?"
Harry's eyes widened, almost dropping his wand. He stared at Lupin's back, seemingly at a loss.
"Yes, our lives are in your hands now."
Lupin meant what he said, retracting the Patronus the moment his words fell. Watching the Dementor rush forward, Lupin suppressed the coldness creeping over him, speaking sternly, "Remember what I said, the Patronus is a guardian, it's a wall between you and the Dementor—"
You must learn to let go.
This was the method William told Lupin when Harry first hit a bottleneck. At that time, William suggested this method, based on the idea that human potential is limitless, and pushing often brings out new things. Lupin questioned the validity of this method.
So, it was delayed until today.
But it seemed to not be working?
Watching the boy tightly closing his eyes as the Dementor approached, Lupin fiddled with his wand, and the moment he decided to intervene, Harry suddenly moved. He lifted his wand, and a cloud of white mist, infinitely thicker than before, spewed out. The Dementor's rushing figure abruptly halted, and the next moment, a gigantic hand emerged from the mist, grabbing the Dementor's head and slamming it to the ground. The white and black mist obscured the surroundings—
"...Hagrid?"
Seeing the white giant emerging from the mist, Lupin was momentarily confused.
...
Rewind time to thirty seconds earlier.
As the dog-shaped Patronus vanished, the suppressed cold and fear instantly swallowed Harry. The bone-chilling cold seized his throat while the low voice began to amplify, resonating in his mind, finally exploding like a thunderous bell—
"Kill her! Replace her! Become her!"
"No! No, no! Spare me!"
This time, the screams had a new voice, different from the previous hoarse voice, it was a woman's scream. Harry felt immense terror, and the scene before him started to change, with a dark forest replacing the room. Looking at the woman under his feet, Harry blinked somewhat dazedly.
He saw himself standing before the woman, biting her snow-white neck hard. The blinding red made the boy instinctively close his eyes.
The next moment, an inexplicable joy surged through his mind, like the bliss of rebirth. The sensation was so immersive that Harry almost lost himself, but just as he was about to, Lupin's voice returned to his ear—
"...a guardian, a wall between you and the Dementor."
Wall? Guardian?
Instinctively, Harry's mind conjured the image of himself hiding behind a figure as large as Hagrid, with a big stick in hand.
Wait, Hagrid?
So Harry raised his wand, feeling an inexplicable joy within him, and swung his wand. The white Patronus instantly formed, though the shape didn't look quite right. Opening his eyes, watching the white "Hagrid" freely sparring with the Dementor, Harry's eyelid twitched hard.
"Is this my Patronus?"
"If there's nothing unexpected, yes."
"..."
"..."
Silence is tonight's Cambridge.
Harry hesitated for a moment, finally tearing his gaze away from the Hagrid wrestling with the Dementor, and looked over at Lupin, "But aren't Patronuses supposed to be animals, and Muggle animals at that?"
"...there are exceptions, like the giant of invincible Andros, William's dragon, and... the Headmaster's phoenix Patronus."
Lupin scratched his head, speaking with uncertainty.
He hadn't expected to summon Harry's Patronus all in one go, and it was such a... peculiar one.
"Perhaps you can ask William later."
After a long contemplation without answers, Lupin sighed, deciding to pass the conundrum to a certain hands-off boss.
"No news from Senior?"
"Nope."
...
...
"Squeak squeak?"
"Hiss hiss—"
In the Map Chamber, Kabuda sat atop the Poisonous Snake Green Pepper's head, chatting casually with a Niffler and a Basilisk, a peculiar combo unmatched worldwide. Kabuda occasionally glanced at the other end of the Map Chamber, where an additional platform had been constructed, now looking completely—
A major light pollution area.
"Buzz—"
William's figure shuttled continuously across the field, magic wand waving, casting a disarray of spells as if they cost nothing, targeting the towering figure in the center of the field—once a simple greenish-gray statue.
However, golden streams of light coursed all over the statue's body at that moment, with dark Seik Stones substituting for all its joint connections. It brandished a golden great sword, launching every move towards William's head, forcing the boy to evade those mighty attacks continuously.
"Immobulus!"
Seizing an opportunity, a deep blue ice cone struck the statue's wrist, freezing rapidly, though the statue merely shook off the ice with slight force. The next moment, the golden great sword in its grip suddenly radiated dazzling light, and a female voice sharply shouted from the statue's head—
"Excalibur!"
The golden brilliance surged, and the great sword, with unstoppable momentum, fiercely swept towards where William stood.