Year 7 - Patronus lesson

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Lola Rowann

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Birch Wand 14 1/4" Essence of Dragonstone
Professor Rowann walked to the top of the North Tower, cursing the fact that she could not simply apparate up there. She was fit enough for her age, keeping herself so as she firmly believed that any professor of the dark arts or defence of them needed to be physically fit as well as magically gifted. She was doing a favour for her colleague Professor Lloyd today though, she herself had taught only the theory behind the incantation in her own class. It was Charms that had the fortunate task of teaching the 7th year students the patronus charm.

As she waited for the seventh year girls to arrive she wondered just how long it would take them to accomplish the task ahead of them. With more eagerness than what she had seen all year, the students made their way up to the North Tower and stood infront of her. She smiled at them as she removed her wand from her mass of curly hair.

"Today my dears we have separated from the boys to simply get this spell under control. It is difficult to master and any distractions usually hinder it. Boys as well all know are a hindrance" she flourished her wand and called out "Expecto patronum".

From the end of her wand came a silvery mist that quickly turned into the shape of a squirrel that appeared to float about the girls. Weaving its way in and out of them. As it dispelled Professor Rowann turned to all of them.

"The incantation as you have heard is expecto patronum. It is not easy by any means. Some of you may get it today, others may not get it for months yet. You may all even produce the silvery wisps of mist that you saw before mine took form but do not be discouraged. This is advanced magic" she smiled stuffing the wand back inside her hair once more.

"Right I want you all to flourish your wands with a swish and flick, think your happiest memory and off you go. I have faith in you girls, now have faith in yourselves". Professor Rowann stood back to observe the class as the girls made slow progress.



-- rp the lesson, be creative and have fun with this as Professor Lloyd wants this particular lesson to be interactive like a normal rp, please don't hesitate to talk amongst your classmates or to ask me any questions.--
 
Cyndi walked up to the North Tower for her lesson, wondering which professor would be assisting them today. It was a very short walk and before she knew it, Cyndi had arrived. She smiled as she saw Professor Rowann waiting for them. Over the short period of time that she had been their professor, Cyndi had grown to like her a lot. She made their lessons quite interesting and always was ready to help them however she could.

Once they were all there, Professor Rowann began speaking about what they would be required to do. Cyndi had thought long and hard the entire week to come up with a memory that would be adequate enough to produce a proper Patronus. Finally, she had been able to come up with several, not knowing which one would work best. Watching as the professor produced who own Patronus, which was a squirrel, Cyndi wondered what shape hers would take, if she was lucky enough to produce one on this day.

Smiling at Professor Rowann's final words of encouragement, Cyndi pulled out her wand and began to think of a memory. She thought about the day when she received the letter announcing that she had been chosen as a prefect. Cyndi attempted to picture it, and thought about opening up the letter, and feeling her jaw drop as a badge fell out and onto her lap. It had been one of her proudest moments. With a swish and a flick, Cyndi uttered "Expecto Patronum" but nothing happened. Not even a wisp of silver escaped her wand. Trying again, Cyndi received the same result.

Raising her hand, Cyndi asked the professor, "If it doesn't work should we move on to a different memory right away or keep trying with the same memory for a while?" She didn't know whether it was the memory not being strong enough or something else that was causing her lack of success. As Cyndi waited for Professor Rowann to answer her question, she realized that there was another one or two memories she could try if she needed to.
 
Professor Rowann smiled at the attempts being made, it was certainly not the easiest spell in the world to perform. Many people could never settle on a particularly happy memory for some reason and teenagers seemed incapable of settling on simply one memory.
Cyndi Weasley asked her a question, so she walked over to where the girl stood. She was a very pleasant young lady, extremely hardworking and diligent. Never tardy for class and always had her work presented on time and neatly, Professor Rowann often regretted that she would not have much time with the 7th years so was even more determined to make sure they could perform this spell before the school year was though.

"Yes, Cyndi. Sometimes people simply think they're not doing the spell accurately and it is often something as simple as not having a memory happy enough. If you all wish to, lower your wands and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and listen to your breathing. Then very slowly let your mind wander, let it drift to a time when you were nearly delirious with happiness. Grasp that memory and hold it, use it. Now try again".
 
Estrella was a little flustered by the time she reached the North Tower. She had gunned it all the way from Ravenclaw tower, to the Charms classroom, and then all the way up the steps to this destination. The Ravenclaw smiled as she saw Cyndi and Professor Rowann. The Defense Professor had been a good choice for teaching the Patronus Charm, and Estrella was sure that the woman would teach it well.

Excitement was bursting in every bone of Estrella's body. Her grin was exceptionally broad as she stood next to Cyndi, waiting for the lesson to begin. The Ravenclaw was not sure of her memories, but she had come with a few of them just in case. Hopefully, one of them would prove worthy of the Patronus Charm.

She listened as Professor Rowann explained what they were to do. Estrella would rather be one of those people who was successful with the Patronus today, but she was careful not to set her hopes too high. She would rather be happy with the progress she made than feeling the bite of not doing well enough.

Estrella had watched Professor Rowann conjure the squirrel Patronus and thought that she had the correct wand movement memorized. She practiced moving her wand around before going over the incantation. 'Expecto Patronum' was strange on her tongue, but satisfying at the same time. She decided to give this a shot.

One of her first memories concerning the school came to her mind. Getting her letter from Hogwarts New Zealand. It had not been the Hogwarts she had been anticipating, of course, but the memory was riddled with happiness. The Ravenclaw gave it a try. Nothing happened.

After a few goes, she deemed that the memory was not wonderful enough. She tried another, kissing Kale for the first time at Madam Puddifoot's. Still, nothing.

She noticed that Cyndi was experiencing similar problems, and she decided to listen in on her inquiry to the Defense Professor. Maybe she would have to experiment with some more recent memories? They weren't as fuzzy- the passage of time had yet to take a toll on them.

Letting her hand fall to her side, she squeezed her eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. She would be happy for some smoke- anything. Deciding that she would rather be safe than sorry, she asked, "Professor Rowann, would using more recent memories be more effective?" She wondered if this was her problem. The memories she had brought with her were so old.
 
Professor Rowann smiled at her Ravenclaw student and shook her head.
"You saw my squirrel didn't you? Well would you like to know how old the memory I use to conjure that is? I was six years old, it is the only memory I have of my parents. It becomes fuzzy over time sure but the trick is to hold it tightly not just in your mind but in your heart. Your magic is tied to your emotions, so use your most powerful happiest emotional memory. Try again Estrella" she willed the girl to give it another go though she knew that many would not have happy memories outside of Hogwarts she truly did hope that some had managed to build up some store of them since they had gotten here.
 
Estrella beamed back at Professor Rowann gratefully. "Thank you Professor, I think that will help," she responded sincerely. Thinking of an appropriate memory would be the difficult part. There were many emotional highlights in her life, so it would probably be a while before she could even utilize one that would work properly.

Pocketing her wand, she closed her eyes again as Professor Rowann had advised before. She drew in a few deep breaths and tried to recall her happiest moment. One of the first that came to her was a memory just previous to her fifth year at Hogwarts New Zealand. She and Sophia had been back at the Herrogard, and they had destroyed the family ring. Both had lost strange abilities- well, more like a strange curse- that they had inherited through their family. Estrella shook her head lightly. As much triumph as she had felt that day, the memory was simply not happy enough. The whole situation had been riddled with negative emotions too.

Estrella pulled her wand out of her pocket as she focused on one memory. There were a lot of memories with Jaken that she could possibly try out, but one with another person was solid in her mind. Rose Landers had been her very first friend at school, and had died young. When she found out that her fellow Ravenclaw had broken from the Borely Mansion and was now at the school as a ghost, she had been absolutely elated. It was happy in a morbid sort of way, but Estrella had been simply delighted to see someone she had never thought she would never lay eyes on again. Ghost or not, Rose was still her old, bright self. Estrella never saw Rose anymore but she knew that her friend was here, somewhere.

Taking a deep breath, Estrella extended her arm and stated clearly, "Expecto Patronum!" The silver vapor that trailed from her wand was barely there and disappeared as soon as it had come. It was thin and stretched, and wasn't much by any standards, but it was good enough for the Ravenclaw. A triumphant smile decorated Estrella's face. Conjuring a Patronus would be a long and difficult road to travel, but she knew her determination would bring her to the end. Small steps were what mattered.
 
Professor Rowann smiled indulgently once more at the Ravenclaw girl, she marvelled at these seventh year students. She truly did and once again it hit her that she had not had the honour and privilege of knowing them longer. As Estrella took her wand out once more and gave the spell another attempt, Lola found herself actually willing the girl to succeed though she knew very few did not alone on the first try but on the first day. As the silver mist appeared Lola smiled it was a start that was for sure, but it dissipated as fast as it came.
"That was very good Estrella, very good. Now when you try again don't necessarily think the memory play it like a ... moving picture in your head. Like one of those muggle movies" she didn't know if the girl had ever seen one but every magical person had seen a moving photograph.
"Have any of you ever seen a movie?" she herself hadn't seen one until she had taken muggle studies back at school, "or read a really good book. Recall how you felt then... whether it made you cry or laugh or angry. Well you need a memory that has inspired raw emotion, happiness true happiness. There is such a thing and somewhere in each of our lives we have experienced some measure of it. Even if we don't think we have. A child who has been beaten or neglected for years can manage to pull a happy memory out, trust me. Now... get your happiest, pack it up tightly in happy wrapper. Tape it with cello-happy. Label it with a happy card and post it to Happy-Ville end of Your wand".

Lola knew her methods were somewhat unorthodox but this was how she had been taught many years ago and what she would not tell these girls just yet was that it was possible to get it on the first day... even if it took a hundred attempts. It was possible.
 
Cyndi listened to Professor Rowann's advice and slowly placed her wand in her pocket. Closing her eyes, Cyndi tried to picture a happy memory in her head. The first one that came to mind was flying on the Quidditch pitch with her team. She knew that it was one of her most favorite things to do because she was surrounded by her friends. Somehow, however, Cyndi knew that this memory would not be enough to produce a Patronus. It was a good memory and a happy one, but not happy enough.

She opened her eyes as Estrella asked the professor a question about recent memories being more effective and was surprised to hear that Professor Rowann's patronus was produced by a memory from her own childhood. As she slowly closed her eyes again, another memory slowly made its way to the forefront. It was a very recent memory, having only occurred several months before, but somehow, Cyndi knew it would work. It was the memory of her 17th birthday. She had woken up that morning and her friends had arrived in the Great Hall to greet her and share her birthday with her. It was one of the best days Cyndi had ever had in her life. Sliding her wand out of her pocket, Cyndi said "Expecto Patronum." Opening her eyes, Cyndi saw a silvery mist erupt from her wand. It remained for a few seconds and then slowly dissipated. She looked over at Estrella and saw that she had done the same. She smiled encouragingly at her friend.

As she got set to try again, Cyndi listened to Professor Rowann tell them to picture their memory as if it were a movie. Cyndi thought she could do that and closed her eyes to try.
 
"Well done Cyndi, well done" she smiled and clapped her hands at the valiant effort being made by both girls. "Exceptional work today. Would you both like to continue for another while? If you do then we will try another approach otherwise I have no problems at all with you attempting the patronus on your own".

She looked to the girls and waited for their answer.
 
"Thanks" Cyndi said with a smile. When the professor asked whether they wanted to continue or not, Cyndi knew that she wanted to give it one more go. "I think I'll try one more time professor." Cyndi answered and looked to Estrella to see if she wanted to as well.
 
Estrella was delighted to see that Cyndi had also had some success with conjuring her Patronus and grinned at her friend. Who had ever thought that mist could be so exciting? Turning to Professor Rowann as the woman inquired whether they would like to continue or retire from practicing, she said, "I think I'll go with Cyndi- I wouldn't mind giving it another try." Estrella would need all the practice she could get.
 
Lola smiled at the girls and taking her wand out once more conjured up three large comfortable armchairs.
"Sit sit, if we are staying we might as well get comfortable" she sat down herself and folded her legs up under her as she did so, she put her wand back into the mass of curls before continuing.
"Now tell me to mind my own business but this is how my adoptive mother taught me. I learnt how to do the patronus on the Christmas holidays of my 6th year. My guardian at the time Clarissa was the matron of the orphanage and retired, she was well into her 70's I think. Anyhow she adopted me that same year but knew she would not be around for long and wanted me to be able to protect myself if needs be. Her gift to me that year was teaching me the patronus charm."

Lola smiled at the memory another of her favourites that she called on once in a while to produce the charm. She didn't speak of Clarissa or her life before Hogwarts at all if she could help it and only did so now so the girls would benefit from her knowledge.
"Can you tell me about the memory you are using?" she looked at the girls and wondered if they would, if they were willing to share it with each other even.
"I ask because thinking of something is all well and good but if it is spoken about, the thought pattern becomes stronger. We can hold it longer and even the act of speaking about it releases endorphins as we recall the emotions to others. Having other people share in that moment of happiness increases it again. It is worth a try, is it not?"
 
Cyndi was happy that Estrella also still wanted to continue and sat in one of the chairs that the professor conjured. She listened to Professor Rowann speak about her childhood and how she learned the patronus charm. It wasn't every day that they heard about their professor's childhoods, and as she didn't know much about this particular professor, Cyndi smiled.

When Professor Rowann asked about the memories they were using, Cyndi thought about and realized that it was not so personal that she couldn't share it. "Umm...I was thinking about the day that I came of age. I got to spend the day with Andy, Kat and Bruin. They all brought me gifts, and sang happy birthday to me, and we made plans to spend the summer together, which we did." Cyndi couldn't help but smile at the memory, and she realized that the professor was right about the memory becoming stronger. "It was one of the best days ever..." she trailed off happily.
 
"Well done Cyndi, now can you tell me what food was on the table? What you were wearing? How you felt when they all sang to you? What each present meant to you? The more you remember the more you can hold that particular memory again and again. It doesn't fade quite so fast. Memory recall is very hard and the ones I use, I often find I need to meditate or talk with ..." she looked down just as one of her cats Mercutio sauntered over to her, hopped up on her lap and began to purr, "Mercutio or Talephis. Sometimes it's hard to find someone you can have an intellectual conversation with, so I make do with my cats".

She smiled at the girls as she stroked Mercutio.
 
Cyndi closed her eyes to try and remember some of the details the professor was asking her to recall. "Hmm...I was wearing a pair of jeans and my Gryffindor t-shirt and I remember walking to the Great Hall hoping they would have French Toast and they did!That's right and then Andy came and gave me a big jar of candy and sang to me, but she was really sick and sounded terrible" Cyndi giggled and then went on, "Then Kat came and she gave me a hug and these gorgeous combs. They're all sparkly and I'll probably use them for the Yule Ball. Then Bruin came and gave me a t-shirt that says 'But I was under the Imperius Curse'" Cyndi added with another giggle. The feelings were coming back to her as she continued to recall that day. She felt herself smiling much the same as she had been that day.

Professor Rowann was right. The feelings and everything were coming back to her and somehow she just knew that this memory would work.
 
Estrella sat back as she listened to Professor Rowann recall one of her most powerful memories. It was rather descriptive. The Ravenclaw wondered if she could do as much with her memory. As the professor asked about theirs, she would figure out if she was using the right memory soon enough.

She let Cyndi go first, listening to the girl's recollection with a smile. Estrella felt bad that she hadn't been there to celebrate Cyndi's birthday. The Ravenclaw was determined not to let it slip past her this year. When it came to be her turn she said, "Well, the memory I used was when I saw Rose again at the Lakefront." She wondered if Cyndi would remember Rose Landers, the Ravenclaw girl who had died in their first year.
 
The professor smiled as Cyndi began to recount varying details from her memory and as Lola watched her she knew just by little signs in her body language that the memory was growing in depth just from being spoken a bout.
"Well done, keep at it Cyndi already it begins to grow in form and substence. I bet if you attempted the patronus now even the vapour you conjured earlier would be far stronger" she turned to Estrella and raising her eyebrows waited for her memory. When she told it Lola sat somewhat perplexed for a while.

"May I ask why meeting this girl Rose at the lake was so happy for you?"
 
Estrella bit her lip as Professor Rowann spoke. "Well, in first year, she was swallowed up by the Borely Mansion," she said, saddening a bit, and she wondered if she should be using this memory after all. "I hadn't seen Rose for too years, and after she died, well, I figured that I'd never see her again. I went down to the Rosebush at the lakefront to do some homework and there she was." A smile decorated her features, remaining there. "She spoke only a little bit, but I was just too happy to see her again. Even if she was a ghost, she was away from that horrid place." She wondered if Professor Rowann would find this memory sufficient enough to use for a Patronus. Though it was happy, it was more bittersweet than anything, laced with both positive and negative memories. The thing she was having a problem with was seeing it like a movie, like Professor Rowann said. Third year was such a long time ago.
 
[Grades have been posted in the classroom. You may continue to rp if you wish.

And a huge round of applause for Professor Rowann on doing such an awesome job! (And for helping me out of course.) ]
 
Professor Rowann could simply have hugged the girl before her, instead she tapped Mercutio's nose with her index finger and the cat obediently and without hesitation jumped from her lap and sauntered over to Estrella. It leaped up on to her chair and curled itself on to her lap, purring softly.
"Sometimes something cute and fluffy helps" she smiled, "now concerning this particular memory, I think you perhaps are using the wrong one my dear. It may seem like a happy memory because you were reunited with a dear friend but she hasn't moved on, the meeting reminds you of her death and her life. It's a tinged memory, both happy and ... sad" she smiled kindly at the girl hoping she would understand, "could you perhaps try another memory?"
 
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