Open Expecting a Patronus

[Jasper Night]

Ever since the last Charms lesson, Jasper knew he needed to work on his patronus. It wasn't just a cool spell, it was something he needed to know for his career. He knew it could be useful and would likely get him an advantage in Auror training. Also, Jasper was very curious what sort of animal his patronus would be. He had found a nice spot on the lawn to practice, trying to focus on a happy memory. The one he had picked was winning the Slytherin game against Beauxbatons not too long ago. It had been a great relief, so he figured that was a pretty happy memory. "Expecto Patronum!" He cast, making the same whisp of silvery smoke appear that he had managed during class. He lowered his wand and let it dissipate before trying again. This time, it seemed a little bigger at least.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

With everyone in the castle losing their heads over exams, Sydney was getting increasingly desperate to get away from her usual haunt in the library. She didn't come outside often, the grounds usually filled with people intent on wasting time, but she was pleased to spot Jasper messing around with some spells as she paced the lawn. "Someone was complaining about someone being bad at Charms out on the lawn," Sydney said, raising an eyebrow as Jasper's raised wand. Objectively she knew Jasper was a NEWT student, but considering how much time he spent messing around and wasting his time on Quidditch, she'd never really imagined he could actually attempt high level magic like a patronus. Though, emphasis on attempting, considering it didn't seem like he was having much success with a corporeal one yet. "Having trouble?" Sydney hadn't attempted the spell herself yet, but she imagined it couldn't be that hard.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper tried to cast the spell again, this time getting a slightly bigger result. But he wondered if he was maybe using the wrong memory. He was thinking about it when he was interrupted by Sydney's voice. He looked up and stuck out his tongue at her. "Right, as if you actually listen to anyone's complaints Miss Prefect." He joked. He tried to focus on his thoughts again, but Sydney then asked him if he was having trouble. "No, I"m just practicing." He told her a bit sharply. "It's not an easy spell, you know." He added pointedly.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

"I listen, I just chose to ignore them," Sydney said haughtily, rolling back her sleeves and smirking at Jasper's apparent frustration with the spell. "I'm sure it's not that hard if you know what you're doing," she said, drawing her own wand. Sydney hadn't had a class on the spell like Jasper had, but she'd done plenty of reading on dark magic on her own, so she knew at least the basics. "Expecto Patronum!" She tried, flicking her wand and frowning when she wasn't even able to produce silver smoke like Jasper had. She'd been trying to think happy thoughts, but apparently it hadn't been enough. "I must be too much of a pessimist," she huffed, crossing her arms and daring Jasper to comment. She might not be able to produce a patronus first try, but she knew plenty of jinxes.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper rolled his eyes when Sydney said she was sure it wasn't that hard. He watched her as she attempted the smell, unable to hide the slight smile. "You really think you can do better than me?" He asked her. "I'm a year ahead of you, and I'm good at Charms. It's a seventh year spell." He told her with a shrug. "Just let me focus, I'll get it." He added, taking a deep breath. He thought of Nell, the moment when he had realized she liked him too. He tried the spell again. "Expecto Patronum!" He cast. This time, a small silvery shape sprung from his wand and ran around his feet. He caught a glimpse of it, sure it was a chipmunk. Then it disappeared. He grinned, jumping up and down. "I did it! Did you see that?"

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney glared at Jasper, daring him to laugh, though his comment was enough to earn him an annoyed huff. "I've learnt harder spells," she muttered, glaring back down at her wand as it was its fault she'd fumbled the spell.

She crossed her arms, content to watch Jasper try again and enjoy them both failing again, though her eyes did widen when Jasper's wand managed to produce some sort of corporeal shape, though it was gone before she could get a proper look at it. "Yeah sure, looked like a rat or something, that seems about right," she said dismissively, annoyed that Jasper had managed it at all when she couldn't. She'd never get how someone who acted so dumb sometimes was able to pull off complex magic like Jasper did. "Now if only you could have won the duelling tournament," she mused, pointing her wand to try again, though her effort was about as pointless as before. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't about to master this spell any time soon, though jinxing Jasper one last time was probably still on the table.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper laughed at Sydney as she said she had learned harder spells. "No you haven't." He argued. "This is end of NEWT year stuff, and we're not even supposed to do more than a wisp of silvery smoke to pass." He told her.

He wasn't bothered by her guess of his patronus. Jasper knew what he had seen, and he also knew Sydney well enough to know she would never be very nice about a spell he could do and she couldn't. He just grinned at her and shrugged. "Eh, the tournament isn't that big a deal." He said, almost amused by the way she was trying to get the upper hand now by mentioning something she was better at. "I'll be doing the real deal soon enough."

 

[Sydney Townsend]

"Sure I have, I know all sorts of stuff," Sydney retorted as Jasper tried to lord on about complicated the patronus is. "I've been in the restriction section, there's all sorts of spells they don't bother teaching you in your NEWT classes," she said, playing her trump card and making sure to put just enough emphasis on the word 'NEWT' to drive home how useless the tests all were.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance, sure Jasper was just covering for the fact he hadn't managed to win the tournament. Ever. It was fine. He was insecure, she could understand. Maybe not as much if she hadn't won every year, but a little. "I don't get how someone like you could want to be an auror," she scoffed, still baffled that Jasper of all people wanted to go work for the ministry once he was out a school. "What good is that going to? Working for a bunch of out of touch suits," she said, crossing her arms after having given up on trying to work out a patronus and content to watch Jasper keeping trying to summon his little silver squirrel or what ever.