𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                             CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
         ───  MYSTERY PRESENT & EXPECTO PATRONUM

It was safe to say that when the golden five arrived back at the castle that night, things were quiet. Neither of them knew what to say to one another with this newfound information.

A hatred such as he had never known before was coursing through Charlus like poison while Harry didn't know what to feel anymore. Alistair had spent hours replaying the conversation in his head to put pieces of the puzzle together, but that was hard to do when the final image was so unknown. Hermione couldn't help but worry about Charlus and Harry's well-being after finding out who was the real reason for their parents' death. And Ron? Well, in typical Ron fashion, he had literally no idea what the hell was going on.

Charlus hadn't gotten to sleep until late into the night. He  had woken up, took a shower, got dressed, walked down the spiral staircase to a common room and made his way to the Gryffindor common room that was completely empty except for Ron, who was eating a Peppermint Toad, Hermione, who had spread her homework over three tables, Alistair, who was seated on the sofa, and Harry, who looked far better than Charlus was.

"Where is everyone?" the boy asked his brother and his friends. "Gone! It's the first day of the holidays, re​mem​ber?" Ron said and watch​ed Charlus close​ly. "It's nearly lunchtime; I was going to come and find you up in a minute."

 Charlus slumped into a chair next to his brother. Snow was still falling outside the windows. Crookshanks was spread out in front of the fire like a large, ginger rug.

"You really don't look well, you know," Hermione said, peering anxiously into his face from across the room where she was satting. "I'm fine," Charlus said. "No, you're not," Harry replied. "You look worst than me. You can't lie to us. Especially me."

" Charlus, Harry, listen,"  Hermione said, exchanging a look with both, Alistair and Ron, "you must be really upset about what we heard yesterday. But the thing is, you mustn't do anything stupid."

"Like what?" Charlus asked. "Like trying to go after Black and White-Riddle," Ron said sharply through a mouthful of candy.

Charlus and Harry watched as their three friends all looked at one another. It was almost as if they had rehearsed this conversation while they had been asleep. They didn't say any​thing about it.

"You won't, will you, Charlus, Harry?" Hermione asked cautiously. Alistair spoke softly, "Because Black and White-Riddle are not worth dying for, mates."

Harry just stayed silent, while Charlus looked at them. They didn't seem to understand at all.

"Do you know what we hear every time a Dementor gets too near us?" he asked.  Alistair, Ron and Hermione shook their heads, looking apprehensive. "We can hear our mom screaming and pleading with Voldemort. And if you'd heard your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if you found out  that two  people who were supposed to be  friends of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her --"

"There's noth​ing you can do!" Hermione said, looking strick​en. "The De​men​tors will catch Black and White-Riddle and they will go back to Azk​aban and – and serve them right!"

Charlus was in disbelief, "You heard what Fudge said. Black and White-Riddle aren't affected by Azkaban like normal people are. It's not a punishment for them like it is for the others."

"So what are you saying?" Ron said, looking very tense. "You want to — to kill Black and Wite-Riddle or something?" "Don't be silly," Hermione said in a panicky voice. "Charlus doesn't want to kill anyone, do you, Charlus?"

Again,  Charlus  didn't answer. He didn't know what he wanted to do. All he knew was that the idea of doing nothing, while Black and White-Riddle at liberty, was almost more than he could stand.

So Harry answered for him, "I'm sure he wouldn't." "Malfoy knows," Charlus said abruptly. "Remember what he said to Harry and me in Potions? 'If it was me, I'd hunt them down myself... I'd want revenge.'"

"You're going to take Malfoy's advice instead of ours?" Alistair said a little harshly, getting up from the chair he was sitting in. "Malfoy's dad must have told him," Charlus said, ignoring Alistair and making Harry frown in worry. "He was right in Voldemort's inner circle—"

"Say You-Know-Who, will you?" Ron interjected angrily. "- so obviously, the Malfoy's knew Black and White Riddle were working for Voldemort -"

Alistair rolled his eyes, "— and Malfoy'd love to see you blown into about a million pieces, like Pettigrew! Get a grip. Malfoy's just hoping you'll get yourself killed."

"Charlus please," Hermione said, her eyes now shining with tears, "please be sensible. Black and White-Riddle did a terrible, terrible thing, but d-don't put yourself in danger, it's what Black and White-Riddle wants ... oh, Charlus, you'd be playing right into Black and White-Riddle's hands if you went looking for them. Your mum and dad wouldn't want you to get hurt, would they? I don't want you to get hurt! They'd never want you to go looking for Black and White-Riddle! And I can't lose you! Please!!"

"I'll never know what they'd have wanted because, thanks to Black and White-Riddle, I've never spoke to them," Charlus said shortly. There was a silence in which Crookshanks stretched luxuriously flexing his claws — Ron's pocket quivered.

"Look," Ron began to say, obviously casting around for a change of subject, "it's the holidays. It's nearly Christmas! Let's — let's go down and see Hagrid. We haven't visited him for ages!" "No," Hermione said quickly. "Charlus and Harry aren't supposed to leave the castle, Ron—"

"Yeah, let's go," Charlus said, sitting up, "and I can ask him how come he never mentioned Black and White-Riddle when he told me all about my parents!" "Oi!" Alistair said, getting defensive of the half-giant. "Don't go blaming Hagrid for this. He probably didn't tell you out of fear of you reacting the way you are right now!"

Charlus gritted his teeth. Alistair was probably right, but he still wanted to see Hagrid.

Further discussion of Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddley plainly wasn't what Ron had had in mind. "Or we could have a game of chess," he said hastily, "or Gobstones. Percy left a set—" "No, let's visit Hagrid," Harry said firmly, standing up.

So they got their cloaks from their dormitories and set off through the portrait hole, down through the empty castle and out through the oak front doors.

As they reached the small hut on the outskirts of the castle walls, Alistair knocked twice on the door, but there was no answer. "He's not out, is he?" Hermione said, who was shivering under her cloak. Ron had his ear to the door. "There's a weird noise," he said. "Listen – is that Fang?"

Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Hermione put their ears to the door, too. From inside the cabin came a series of low, throbbing moans. "Think we'd better go and get someone?" Ron said nervously. "Hagrid!" Alistair called, thumping on the door. "Hagrid, are you in there?"

There was a sound of heavy footsteps, then the door creaked open. Hagrid stood there with his eyes red and swollen, tears splashing down the front of his leather vest. "You've heard?" he bellowed, and he flung himself onto the boy's neck.

Hagrid was at least twice the size of a normal man, meaning  Alistair was undoubtedly getting crushed. Alistair, about to collapse under Hagrid's weight, was rescued by Charlus, Harry, Ron and Hermione, who each seized Hagrid under an arm and heaved him back into the cabin. Hagrid allowed himself to be steered into a chair and slumped over the table, sobbing uncontrollably, his face glazed with tears that dripped down into his tangled beard.

"Hagrid, what is it?" Hermione asked, aghast. Harry spotted an official-looking letter lying open on the table. "What's this, Hagrid?"

Hagrid's sobs redoubled, but he shoved the letter toward Harry, who picked it up and read aloud:

"Dear Mr. Rubeus Hagrid,

Further to our inquiry into the attack by a Hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the regrettable incident."

"Well, that's okay then, Hagrid!" Ron said, clapping Hagrid on the shoulder. But Hagrid continued to sob, and waved one of his gigantic hands, inviting Harry to read on.

"However, we must register our concern about the Hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter has therefore been taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.

After examining the case thoroughly, the Committee has sincere regret to inform you, that there has to be repercussions set in place. Buckbeak the Hippogriff, is set to succumb to an execution for his harm against the young students of Hogwarts. The execution date is set to be fixed. In the meantime, the Hippogriff should be kept tethered and isolated.

Yours in fellowship,
The Hogwarts Board of Governors"

"Oh, Hagrid." Hermione said softly, tears welling up in her eyes. She gave the half-giant a huge hug to which he gladly reciprocated as he sobbed into her robes.

Charlus, on the other hand, was furious. "They can't do this!" he yelled. "Bloody Malfoy! I swear to Merlin, when I get my hands on that blonde haired prat, he's going to wish that he had never been born!"

Harry,Alistair and Ron seemed to agree as they nodded their heads seeping with the same amount of anger as Charlie had expressed.

"Won' make no diff'rence!" Hagrid sobbed. "Them Disposal devils, they're all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket! Scared o' him? An' if I lose the case, Buckbeak—"

The half-giant broke out into more sobs and sniffles. The five of them shared a glance. The whole Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle debacle was the last thing on their minds at the moment. Instead, they all stayed with Hagrid until he calmed down. Alistair even made a cup of tea for the half-giant; it was what his adoptive mother did whenever he was upset about something.

After a while, Hagrid went quiet for a moment, staring into his tea. Then he said quietly, "Thought o' jus' letting Buckbeak go... tryin' ter make him fly away... but how d'yeh explain ter a Hippogriff it's gotta go inter hidin'? An' — an' I'm scared o' breakin' the law..." He looked up at them, tears leaking down his face again. "I don' ever want ter go back ter Azkaban."

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On Christmas morning, Charlus was woken by Ron throwing his pillow at him."Oi! Presents! Let's go!" he yelled before doing the same to Harry and Alistair, "You both too! Get up!"

Charlus groaned as he groggily sat up in his bed. Squinting through the semi-darkness to the foot of the bed he was sleeping on, where a small heap of parcels had appeared. Ron was al​ready rip​ping the pa​per off his own presents.

"Another sweater from Mum... maroon again... see if you've got one."

As expected, Charlus had. Mrs. Weasley had sent him a green sweater with the Slytherin snake knitted on the front, also a dozen home-baked mince pies, some Christmas cake, and a box of nut brittle. As he moved all these things aside, he saw more presents.

He quickly got into unwrapping them. From Ron, he got a box full of his favourite sweets. Harry had gotten him a brothers bracelet. As  Charlus  examined the bracelet, he noticed that it was made out of silver and had two chains: a lion and a snake. He smiled while he put it on his right wrist.

Charlus received gifts from the other two as well. Alistair  brought him some blood-flavored lollipops, and lastly Hermione got him a heavy gift. Inside of this gift was  a boxed set of classic books—The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Then only two long, thin packages were left. "What's that?" Ron asked and looked over, a freshly unwrapped pair of maroon socks in his hand. "Dunno," Harry replied. Alistair had a newfound curiosity as he looked over, "Well go on, open it."

The two of them ripped the par​cel open at the same time and gasped as a mag​nif​icent, gleam​ing broom​stick rolled out on​to their bed​spread. Ron dropped his socks and jumped off his bed for a closer look. Alistair got out of his bed and moved towards Charlus and Harry to see as well.

"I don't believe it," Ron said hoarsely. "Same." Charlus said and looked at the broom in confusion. His own broomstick hadn't broken or shown any signs of damage. So why on earth would someone buy him a new one?

It was a Firebolt, identical to the dream broom of every young Quidditch player in the country. Its handle glittered as Charlus picked it up. He could feel it vibrating and let go; it hung in midair, unsupported, at exactly the right height for him to mount it. His eyes moved from the golden registration number at the top of the handle, right down to the perfectly smooth, streamlined birch twigs that made up the tail.

"Who sent  it to you two?" Ron said in a hushed voice. "Look and see if there's a card," Har​ry said. Alistair ripped apart the Fire​bolts' wrap​pings. "Noth​ing! Blimey, who'd spend that much on you two?"

"'Well," Har​ry said, feel​ing stunned, "I'm bet​ting it wasn't the Durs​leys." "Definitely not." Charlus said with a little chuckle. The Dursley's didn't like him and his brother.

"I bet it was Dum​ble​dore," Ron said, now walk​ing round the Fire​bolts, tak​ing in every glorious inch. "He sent you two the Invisibility Cloak anonymously..."

 "That was their dad's, though," Alistair said . "Dumbledore was just passing it on to them. He wouldn't spend hundreds of Galleons on them. He can't go giving students stuff like this —" "Yeah," Charlus agreed with him. "Besides, he knows my broom didn't break. Why would Dumbeldore buy me a new one?"

"True. But, Charlus, Harry -" Ron gave a great whoop of laughter - "Malfoy! Wait 'til he sees the two of you on them! He'll be sick as a pig! They are international-standard brooms, this is!"

"I can't be​lieve this," Har​ry mut​tered, run​ning a hand along the Fire​bolt, while Ron sank on​to Harry's bed, laugh​ing his head off at the thought of Mal​foy. "Who –?" "I know," Ron said, con​trol​ling him​self. "I know who it could've been – Lupin!"

"What?" Charlus said, now start​ing to laugh him​self. "Lupin? Lis​ten, if he had this much gold, he'd be able to buy him​self some new robes." "I agree with Charlus," Alistair said.

The four boys  turned around as the door opened. Hermione had just come in, wearing her dressing gown and carrying Crookshanks, who was looking very grumpy, with a string of tinsel tied around his neck. "What're you four laughing about?" she asked as she moved to sit at the end of Seamus's bed.

Ron, however, ignored her and payed more attention to the cat in her hands. "Don't bring him in here!" he said, hur​ried​ly snatch​ing Scab​bers from the depths of his bed and stow​ing him in his py​ja​ma pock​et.

But Hermione wasn't lis​ten​ing. She dropped Crook​shanks on​to Seamus's emp​ty bed and stared, open-​mouthed, at the Fire​bolts. "Oh, Har​ry! Charlus! Who sent you two that?" "No idea," Har​ry said. "There wasn't a card or any​thing with the brooms. "

To Charlus' great surprise, Hermione did not appear either excited or intrigued by the news. On the contrary, her face fell, and she bit her lip.

"What's the matter with you?" Ron grunted as he noticed of the look on the girl's face. "I don't know," Hermione said slowly, "but it's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, these are supposed to be quite good brooms, aren't they?"

Ron sighed exasperatedly. "Not just good — Mione, they are the best brooms in the world," Alistair explained to her. "So it must be really expensive. . ." "Probably cost more than all the Slytherins' brooms put together."  Ron added happily.

"Well. . . . who'd send Charlus and Harry something as expensive as that, and not even tell them they'd sent it?" Hermione said. "Who cares?" Ron said impatiently. "Listen, Harry, can l have a go on it? Or yours Charlus?"

"I don't think anyone should ride those brooms just yet!" Hermione said shrilly, which caused  the four  boys to look at her as if she had gone mad. "What do you think Harry and I  are going to do with it — sweep the floor?" Charlus said sarcastically.

But before Hermione could answer, Crookshanks sprang from Seamus's bed, right at Ron's chest. "GET — HIM — OUT — OF — HERE!" he bellowed as Crookshanks's claws ripped his pajamas and Scabbers attempted a wild escape over his shoulder.

Ron seized Scabbers by the tail and aimed a misjudged kick at Crookshanks that hit the trunk at the end of Harry's bed, knocking it over and causing Ron to hop up and down, howling with pain. Charlus laughed, "Nice one dumbass."

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Christmas spirit was definitely thin on the ground in the Gryffindor common room that morning. Hermione had shut Crookshanks in the girls dormitory, but was furious with Ron for trying to kick him; Ron was still fuming about Crookshanks's fresh attempt to eat Scabbers.

Charlus and Harry gave up trying to make them talk to each other, and devoted themselves to examining their Firebolts, which they had brought down to the common room with them. For some reason this seemed to annoy Hermione as well; she didn't say anything, but she kept looking darkly at the brooms as though they, too, had been criticizing her cat.

At lunchtime the five of them  made their way down to the Great Hall. Harry, Hermione, Alistair and Ron sat down side by side at at the Gryffindor table, but Charlus ran up the staff table to say Merry Christmas to the the Professors. As he reached the table, however, he took notice in the fact that Lupin wasn't there.

Charlus made his rounds before joining his brother and his friends once again. Once they were done eating, they headed back up to the Gryffindor common room where the Potter twins were eager to test out their new brooms with their friends.

However, as Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Ron were about to head towards the castle grounds, they were stopped by Professor McGonagall, who walked towards them with Hermione following closely behind her.

"So these are it, aren't they?" Professor McGonagall said beadily, stopping in front of them and staring at the two Firebolts. "Miss Granger has just informed me that you two have been sent a broomstick, Potters."

The four boys looked at Hermione in disbelief. They could see her forehead reddening over the top of her book, which was upside-down.

"May I?" Professor McGonagall asked, but she didn't wait for an answer before she pulled the Firebolt out of Harry's hands. She examined it carefully from handle to twig-ends. "Hmm. And there was no note to go with it, Potter? No card? No message of any kind?"

"No," Harry said blankly. Professor McGonagall now turned to Charlus, "Potter, did you get a card?"

The light brown-haired boy shook his head silently and bit his lower lip. "I see..."  the teacher muttered, "Well, I'm afraid I will have to take these, Potters."

"W-what?" Harry said, aghast. "Why?" "Are you kidding me?!" Charlus blurted out indignantly, looking at the transformation teacher in amazement.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" she retorted matter-of-factly, giving the boy a stern look. Charlus swallowed and meekly admitted, "You never look like you're joking."

The corners of McGonagall's mouth twitched before she began to explain Harry's previous question as to why, "They will need to be checked for jinxes. I'm no expert, of course, but I'm sure Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick will stripe them down."

"Strip them down?" Alistair repeated, as though Professor McGonagall was mad. "It shouldn't take more than a few weeks," Professor McGonagall replied. "You will have them back if we are sure they are jinx free."

"They're perfectly fine!" Charlus protested, his voice shaking slightly. He clutched the handle of his new broom possessively. "Honestly, Professor —"

"You can't know that, Potter," Professor McGonagall said, quite kindly, "not until you've flown it, at any rate, and I'm afraid that is out of the question until we are certain that it has not been tampered with. I will keep you informed."

Professor McGonagall stepped towards Charlus and snatched the Firebolt from him as well before she turned on her heel and carried the new brooms out of the portrait hole, which closed behind her.

Charlus and Harry stood staring after her, in absolute disbelief as to what just happened. Ron, however, rounded on Hermione, "What did you go running to McGonagall for?"

Hermione cowered under his harsh gaze at first. She was still pink in the face, but stood up and faced Ron defiantly. "Because I thought — and Professor McGonagall agrees with me — that those brooms were probably sent to Charlus and Harry by Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle!"

Ron didn't agree with this. "Rubbish!" he growled, face red out of anger. "Hey, hey, hey." Charlus said and  stepped in between the two of them, "Let's all calm down, shall we?"

"Fine," Ron said reluctantly before retreating back to the boys dormitory. Charlus looked at Harry who smiled softly. "It's alright," he said, before shifting to Hermione. "Thanks for looking out for us."

Hermione smiled softly as Harry and Alistair retreated back to the dormitory as well to check on Ron. This left Charlus and Hermione, alone in the common room.

The boy turned around to make sure Hermione was alright. To his surprise, she was looking up at him with a small blush on her face, "You didn't have to do that."

Charlus laughed as he scratched the back of his neck, a habit of him when he was nervous, "Yeah, well, what are friends for?"

Hermione watched the boy intently as he moved to the couch in front of the fire and slumped down. She bit her lip nervously.

After a moment, Charlus cleared his throat and spoke softly, "You know, I realized that I didn't give you a present earlier—" "Oh, yeah." Hermione cut him off quickly.

"I didn't forget—no, no — I have something for you. " he said politely as he got up, "Wait here for a second, okay?" 

Hermione nodded, and Charlus ran back to the dormitory, only to return moments later with a  small box, just large enough for jewelry, wrapped in a small  green bow. "Go ahead, open it." he said with a smile as he handed it over.

Nodding, Hermione took the green bow off slowly, unwrapping it as Charlus watched her. In the next instance, she opened the box and was presented with a silver chain accented with a pendant. It was still warm and Charlus had made it finer than any other blacksmith. It was yellowish in color and shaped like a square, except that the sides turned inwards a little. The front had a fascinating pattern.

Hermione's mouth fell agape, and suddenly, she was speechless. "Charlus, this is gorgeous," she breathed out and looked up into his eyes for a second."I carved it out of a japor snippet," he explained, a hint of pride in his voice. "It'll bring you good fortune."

"Here, help me put it on." Hermione said to him as she took the necklace out of the box and passed it to him. Charlus took it from her, and she moved her hair out of the way for him to place the necklace around her neck and put it on.

Hermione felt the cool chain of the necklace touch her skin as he finished clipping it together. She let her hair back down and turned around to look at Charlus, who was already looking at her. "It's perfect." he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Charlus." she said softly, her arms flung around his neck at once. Charlus returned the hug quickly, and she rested her head in the crook of his neck for a second before pulling away.

"You're very welcome," Charlus replied. "Merry Christmas, Hermione Granger." "Merry Christmas, Charlus Potter." Hermione said and kissed the boy on the cheek.

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The holiday break didn't seem to last long because soon enough, all of the students had returned to Hogwarts, and quickly January went into February. Ravenclaw had played Slytherin a week after the start of the school year. Slytherin had won, albeit narrowly.

Charlus and Harry not only got their Firebolts back, but now   had their anti-dementor magic lesson with Lupin like  they had told  their friends  they were  going to.

Alistair had even decided to go with them to Professor Lupin's lesson. If he was being honest, it was Alistair's attempt at trying to avoid Ron and Hermione as their bickering kept getting worse and worse

A warm smile painted over Lupin's face as the young boys entered Professor Dumbledore's office. He stood on a balcony and gazed down at the three of them.

"Are you sure about this?" his kind voice bounced off the walls and his smile widened. "This is very advanced magic, well beyond the Ordinary Wizarding Level." "I'm ready." Harry said, firm as he could be. Charlus and Alistair nodded at his statement.

Lupin glanced at the three of them as if he was unsettled, then nodded.  "Well, everything's prepared," he began to say while he descended the stairs, "The spell I'm going to teach you is called the Patronus Charm. Ever heard of it?"

Charlus and Harry shook their heads but Alistair gave a slight nod. "A Patronus is a kind of positive force," Lupin explained. "For the wizard who can conjure one, the Patronus works something like a shield. The Dementor feeds on it instead of them."

Just then, a packing case shook violently. The boys' eyes wandered to the object and only turned their attention back to the professor at the sound of his fingers snapping. "But in order for it to work, you must think of a memory," Lupin said. "And not just any. This memory needs to be a very happy one. And powerful."

Charlus cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys' was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had met Hermione on the train.

"Do you have one?" Lupin asked, which caused the three boys to nod. "Good. Let it fill you up, lose yourself in it. Then speak the incantation: Expecto Patronum. Without your wands..." "Expecto Patronum," Charlus,Harry and Alistair repeated under their breath.

"Right then. Shall we?" Lupin asked and walked over to the packing case. "Who's up first?" "Charlus can. He's better at this stuff than us." Harry said, volunteering his brother to go first.

Charlus turned his head towards him and gave him a glare. The boy then stepped forward and got his wand ready. Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled.

A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned towards Charlus, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the office flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently towards Charlus, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him.

Charlus closed his eyes and thought of Hermione. Suddenly, he felt a warm sensation in him. "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted, and a silvery shield appeared, but he wasn't quite satisfied. "Expecto Patronum!"

Just then, a silver figure erupted from the end of his wand. It pushed the dementor away from him and back into the case. He could hear Professor Lupin laughing in delight.

"Remarkable, Charlus!" Lupin said as he closed the dementor back in place. He was staring at the boy with pure pride. Harry and Alistair stared at him in complete amazement.

"I have to say I'm impressed," Lupin said, giving Charlus chocolate. "Normally, wizards don't cast a Corporeal Patronus on their first try. You'll be a very powerful wizard." "Thanks," Charlus replied and smiled.

He then turned to Harry. "You wanna have a turn, Harry?" he asked his brother, which caused him to nod nervously. Charlus took a step back to let his brother have the space to perform the charm.

Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case again and pulled. The Dementor rose slowly again, from the box, its hooded face turned towards Harry. The lamps around the office  flickered and went out again.

 The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently towards Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him –"Expecto patronum!" Harry yelled, but nothing came out of his wand. "Expecto patronum! Expecto –"

But the office and the Dementor were dissolving... Harry was falling again through thick white fog, and his mother's voice was louder than ever, echoing inside his head.

Alistair's alarm bells were ringing, so he pulled out his wand and thought of his happiest memory. "Expecto Patronum!" he said loudly, and a silvery shield appeared out of his wand, causing the Dementor to cower away and back inside the trunk.

Alistair smiled, proud of himself for being able to defeat the Dementor. Though that moment quickly disappeared when he remembered Harry, who dropped to the ground.

The two Slytherins immediately made his way over to him. "Harry!" Charlus said, shaking the boy lightly. He tried again, but his brother didn't wake up. "I'm sorry."

He slapped his brother across the face, as gently as possible.

Harry jerked back to life. He realised that he was lying on his back on the floor, with half of his head on Charlus' lap  and Alistair crouched beside him. The office lamps were alight again and he didn't have to ask what had happened.

"Sorry," he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses. "Are you all right?" Alistair asked and looked at him with worry. "Yes." Harry said , pulling himself up with the help of Charlus and leant against him.

"It's all right," Lupin said kindly, "I didn't expect you to do it the first time. That would have been remarkable. Here," he handed him a large piece of chocolate from his pocket. "Eat this. You'll feel better."

"That's one nasty Dementor," Harry mumbled, fixing his glasses and taking a bite from out of the chocolate. "Oh, no, no, no. That was a boggart, Harry. A boggart, " Lupin  explained to the boy, "The real thing would be worse. "

"What memory did you choose?" Charlus asked. "First time I rode a broom," came Harry's immediate reply. However, this was not enough for the professor, who looked at the boy somewhat uncomprehendingly, "Well, that's not good enough. Not nearly good enough."

Harry said nothing, but looked around the room.  "There's another one. It's not happy, exactly, " he spoke after he found another memory. "Well, it is. It's the happiest I've ever felt. But it's complicated."

"Is it strong?" Lupin asked intrigued and with that Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case once more. He nodded confidently, "Yes." "Then let's give it a try. Do you feel ready?" Lupin said, who looked as though he was doing this against his better judgement. "Just do it." Harry replied.

Lupin pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark."EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRON-UM!"

The screaming inside Harry's head had started again - except this time, it sounded as though it was coming from a badly tuned radio. Softer and louder and softer again... and he could still see the Dementor... it had halted... and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry's wand, to hover between him and the Dementor, and though Harry's legs felt like water, he was still on his feet... though for how much longer, he wasn't sure.

"Riddikulus!" Lupin roared, springing forwards.

There was a loud crack, and Harry's cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank onto the floor, feeling as if his legs turned into water. Charlus and Alistair rushed over to his side, checking him over to make sure he was ok.

Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again. "Well done! " Lupin said before he sat down next to the three boys and handed them some more chocolate.

"I think I've had enough for today," Harry muttered, a little out of breath, and took a bite of the chocolate. "So you know, Charlus,Harry, Alistair, I think the three of you would have given your your fathers a run for their money," Lupin smiled proudly at them. "And, believe me, that's saying something."

"I was thinking of him," Harry began to tell them. " And mum. Seeing their faces. They were talking to Charlus and me. Just talking. That's the memory I chose. I don't even know if it's real, but it's the best I have."

                          ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

It's been a few weeks since the Firebolts incident. Ron had yet to forgive Hermione for telling McGonagall about them. It also didn't help that Crookshanks had been relentless in going after Scabbers recently. She had started to avoid the Gryffindor common room at all times because of this.

Charlus decided to join her in the library so that she wouldn't be alone and they could spend more time together, for which she was very grateful. They spent most of their time doing their any of their homeworks and just having fun in the library.

One cold, February night, after barely being about to fall asleep after an intense Quidditch practice, Charlus was awoken by Alistair, who told him that Snape was in the common room.

Finally, when the two of them went downstairs, they found the professor, who was already wearing his normal black robes. Didn't he wear pajamas? Well, Charlus couldn't ask him that  because Snape quickly told them about the matter that had happended in Gryffindor common room.

It seemed Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle had managed to get into Gryffind​or Tow​er with knifes because some idiot had written down the passwords and then lost them. 

In the end, the professor said that was no problem and that Black and White-Riddle escaped again, but of course the Slytherins shouldn't be so worried about the murderers trying to enter their room. Who would they be looking for, after all?

After sending them all back to bed, Snape turned on his heel and left the room. As the students began to drift off, Alistair turned around and saw Charlus sitting on the sofa opposite the fireplace. "I hope they enter our room. Because, when they do , I'm going to be ready," he muttered, staring into it. "When they do, I'm going to kill them."

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

Which animal do you think could be the patronus of Charlus?

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