Snow fell outside again. Inside, the house was warm. A pot bubbled on the stove, cooking creamy mushroom soup.
The chicken tilted its head and examined the person before it. Its summoner.
He held a jar of acrylic paint and coaxed it not to move.
"Since we can't achieve this through magic, let's try the Muggle way," Anthony persuaded. "Come on, red comb."
The chicken endured him painting its comb a dry red. When Anthony studied it carefully, wanting to add more strokes, it had enough. It pecked at the approaching brush and flew to the top of the cupboard. The cat rolled over and made room.
Cat and chicken looked down at Anthony from above. He reached up and called several times. Neither pet paid him any attention.
Anthony surrendered. He threw himself into the armchair and opened his notebook. "Fine, I'll find more magical solutions."
After a while, the chicken flew down and stood on his knee. Anthony touched its comb and used whiskey to remove the makeup.
After finishing soup and bread, Anthony stared at his notebook for several minutes and decided to find something else to do. His inspiration had run dry.
Whether Necromancy or soul research, there was no topic called "How to Keep Your Wraith Looking Fresh." In fact, if not for that coincidental bottle of "Elixir of Life"—considering the cat's characteristics, more like an elixir of eternal death—he might not have even found a way to disguise the cat in time.
Anthony flipped back. His gaze fell on an earlier note—the Patronus Charm.
From another angle, the Patronus fit exactly what he needed to research: it was a summoned creature that could go anywhere, and it was opaque. If he could summon a Patronus, study why it could travel freely everywhere despite not having absolute physical form...
"Expecto Patronum," Anthony gripped his wand and said quietly.
Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Of course, he needed positive emotion. Some happy memory. Anything... The happiest recent thing, uh... all the students passed.
He took a deep breath. "Expecto Patronum!"
Still nothing. The cat curiously came over to look at his wand tip, then walked away disdainfully.
"All right, all right," Anthony muttered. He pulled out the Defense Against the Dark Arts reference book and flipped to the Patronus Charm section. "Let me see... 'If a memory cannot provide enough emotion, try switching to something more positive.' Easy to say."
More positive. He looked at the sidebar tip: "For example, the first time you showed magical talent, or achieved something satisfying."
Right—he woke up to find darkness all around, felt himself full of manic power—no—he broke through the wooden boards and dirt above—no, definitely not that.
He successfully found a job that didn't require background checks and started rebuilding his life. He calculated quickly and accurately, never made change mistakes, and was the cashier with the fewest complaints.
"Expecto Patronum?" Anthony said without confidence. If this worked, even he'd wonder if magic favored him too much.
The wand's coldness showed magic didn't favor him that much.
No matter. Think again. He got a wand that couldn't be faulted... He'd been worrying about getting the cat into Hogwarts, but luckily the cat solved that problem itself... Students and colleagues liked him well enough (most of them, anyway)... He came home to find everything still intact... The cat and chicken were keeping him company...
These thoughts circled his mind and brought him a little peace and warmth.
Anthony spoke the incantation again. This time, a small puff of silvery-white smoke spurted from his wand tip. Before he could see what it looked like, the smoke dissipated into air.
All afternoon, Anthony kept summoning that thin but steady smoke.
He got more and more skilled but still couldn't truly summon a Patronus.
Forget a powerful corporeal Patronus—he couldn't even manage the "large amount of silvery mist that can resist Dementors for some time" the book mentioned. Not that he actually needed to resist those things called Dementors.
Anthony sighed. Either because he was a Dark wizard, or because he hadn't found the right memory. Or both.
He set down his wand and rubbed his throbbing forehead. He decided to make tea.
While waiting for water to boil, Anthony kept thinking about what kind of memory he needed. He'd practically used exhaustive search to try every good thing he could remember, from recent to distant.
But it was only after practicing the Patronus Charm that he realized how many memories provided almost no positive emotion at all.
Flint lying limply on the Quidditch pitch... Potter hanging one-handed from his broomstick, swaying in midair... Longbottom suddenly vanishing from the ice, leaving only a hole... Those young Slytherins completely unaware they were doing the most wrong thing humans could do... Myrtle crying in the bathroom, Acromantulas fearfully leaving the Forest grounds... He struggled desperately but somehow couldn't float up... A little girl pushed into the lake, people on shore watching coldly...
The closest thing to positive they could provide was called "relief."
Anthony waved his hand and tried to throw these memories to the back of his mind.
"If there's anything I don't need, it's practicing Expecto Patronum with those," he muttered.
The final words seemed to trigger something. Magic surged within him. Anthony froze.
"No way?"
The cat jumped over and watched him quietly. He carefully pointed at the empty space before him. "Expecto Patronum!"
Magic responded almost immediately.
A mass of gray-black mist poured out from within him—Anthony kept thinking about how anxious he'd been, how terrified—the mist grew thicker and thicker—he wanted to live, he wanted others to live—the black fog gradually solidified, transforming into a very large animal—if he could choose again, he wished he could have stopped these things earlier—the animal stood up from the floor. It arched its back, spine pressing against the ceiling. The boards creaked. The kitchen light bulb swayed...
Anthony stared at what he'd summoned. He didn't know if it counted as a Patronus.
It was a bear. A summoned creature. Opaque. Could move freely. But definitely not any kind of Patronus that blocked Dementors.
In fact, Anthony thought it could swallow a Dementor whole.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (50+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/GoldenLong
Happy reading, everyone!