Chapter 125: Patronus Charm Practice

After the end of the school banquet, news spread among the young wizards that Harry had been frightened by a Dementor and that Alaric had scared away the Dementor at the gate.

In comparison, the former became everyone's laughing stock, but the latter was admired by all. 

Being able to drive away Dementors with a Patronus was quite impressive, and to scare off a Dementor without even using a Patronus was truly unprecedented.

When they learned that Alaric's Patronus was a dragon, everyone exclaimed in admiration: truly a genius of Ravenclaw.

After learning that Dementors would be staying outside of Hogwarts for a while, the young wizards became interested in the Patronus Charm, especially Hermione and Cho Chang. 

They requested Alaric to teach them how to summon a Patronus.

So, this semester's Defense Against the Dark Arts class had an additional learning project - practicing the Patronus Charm.

To help them quickly master this technique, Alaric specifically brought a Boggart, intending to use it to simulate a Dementor.

In this world, Boggarts were actually very special creatures. 

Like Dementors, they neither born nor died; they were created by human emotions and fed on those emotions. 

Boggarts could transform into whatever nearby people feared most and feed on human fear. Additionally, like Dementors, Boggarts could fly without any physical assistance.

In fact, Alaric wanted to use real Dementors, but that would cause unnecessary conflicts with the Ministry of Magic. 

After killing two Dementors, the Ministry had wanted to summon Alaric for questioning, but Dumbledore's letter prevented it. 

Dumbledore complained in the letter about the Dementors' proactive attacks on students.

Considering Dumbledore and Alaric's influence, the Ministry of Magic did not intend to hold Alaric accountable.

But instead sent him an apology letter, promising that such incidents would not happen again and requesting Alaric not to intervene with Dementors anymore.

Helplessly, although Alaric was not afraid of the Ministry of Magic, he didn't want to disturb his current peaceful life, so he had to make do with a Boggart.

"Oh, there's nothing here," Hermione looked at the empty Room of Requirement and complained.

"There's only a broken closet. Are you sure we can practice the Patronus Charm here?"

Before Alaric could respond, the closet suddenly shook and banged against the wall.

"Don't worry," Alaric said calmly as the three girls jumped back in fright.

"There's a Boggart inside," Alaric explained, "Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces, like closets, under beds, or under the sink."

"I know Boggarts," Hermione volunteered, "They can turn into whatever they think would scare us the most."

Cho Chang admired her.

"So, are you planning to use the Boggart to help us practice the Patronus Charm?" Penelope asked in confusion.

"Of course, as everyone knows, Boggarts can become whatever terrifies someone the most, and we can use this method to make it become a Dementor, then use the Transfiguration spell to fix its state."

"Use a Transfiguration spell to fix a Boggart's state?" Penelope was somewhat astonished, "I can't believe you can do that."

Alaric motioned for the girls to step back, and he stood in front of the closet because Boggarts could become confused in crowds, not knowing what to turn into.

He waved his hand gently, and the closet immediately opened.

Instantly, before them appeared a vast, chaotic space, with no direction, no time, filled with catastrophic torrents and countless cracks appearing and disappearing suddenly...

This was an infinite tunnel of time and space, an experience during that time that truly left Alaric in despair.

However, the girls found it quite fascinating. To those who didn't understand, the sight of the Time-Turner was indeed sufficiently strange and spectacular. They were puzzled as to why Alaric would be afraid of it.

Alaric slightly altered her thoughts, and immediately, the Boggart in front of her transformed. This time, it appeared as a Dementor.

The flames in the Room of Requirement flickered, then extinguished. 

A chill spread through the air as the Dementor, wearing a black hood, reached out a luminous, gray, emaciated hand with scabbed skin towards Alaric.

The girls gasped, and Cho Chang immediately hid behind Hermione.

"What's going on? Why did it change again?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"It's been confused," Penelope explained. 

Her former professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts had mentioned this to her.

"Only masters of the Patronus Charm can do this. They can manipulate what the Boggart reads in their minds. It's quite remarkable."

Boggart transformed into a Dementor and lunged at Alaric, spreading icy frost throughout the room. 

Finally, Alaric drew her wand and gently pointed it at the Dementor, which seemed to be bound by invisible ropes and curled up.

Then, she stuffed it into the closet. With a clang, the closet door shut.

"That's it," she turned back, smiling slightly. "You all know the spell, 'Expecto Patronum'. So, who wants to try first?"

"Why do we have to practice the Patronus Charm with a Dementor?" Cho Chang weakly objected. 

"Even without the Dementor, we can practice the spell, can't we?"

"No! Summoning a Patronus with and without a Dementor present are two different things," Alaric pointed out very seriously.

"Whether the Patronus can be successfully summoned depends directly on the caster's state of mind at the time. 

If one is feeling low, using this spell becomes particularly difficult. 

The difficulty of casting the Patronus Charm in the classroom and facing a Dementor directly are entirely different."

"Alright, then, who wants to try first?"

"I'll go!" Hermione stepped forward first.

"Very good. Recite the spell with me," Alaric cleared her throat. "Expecto Patronum."

"Expecto Patronum," Hermione repeated softly, "Expecto Patronum."

"Concentrate on recalling your happiest memories!"

"Oh, yes," Hermione said, quickly forcing herself to think of the moment she received her Hogwarts acceptance letter.

"Expecto Patronum, no, sorry, Expecto Patronum, Expecto Patronum."

Suddenly, something silver shot out from the end of her wand, resembling a silver mist.

"Did you see that?" Hermione said excitedly. "It's working."

"Very good," Alaric said with a smile. "Now, let's try it with that Dementor. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Hermione said, gripping her wand tightly as she approached the closet door.

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