Chapter 126: The Patronus Lesson

The first week at Hogwarts settled around new restrictions. Prefects moved students between evening lessons, portraits reported anyone travelling alone, and every conversation eventually returned to the Dementors stationed beyond the grounds. 

Edward spent his mornings in class, and two of his free periods were spent in Dumbledore's office during scheduled observations of the Marauder's Map. Remus activated it while McGonagall witnessed the readings. The name Peter Pettigrew appeared beside Ron both times, but never when Ron was surrounded by fewer than five students. The Map stayed in adult custody when the session ended. Dumbledore had ordered patience, and the observations made the reason plain. Peter had chosen his shelter well. 

Draco proved less patient about the Patronus Charm. 

"You promised to teach me," he said for the fourth time outside Charms. "You cannot show Potter something like that and then leave us defenceless." 

"I showed Potter an incomplete charm that nearly failed." 

"It still held a Dementor." 

"Until Professor Lupin intervened. That part belongs in the story too." 

Draco looked dissatisfied, but he stopped arguing when Edward said the first lesson would take place under Lupin's supervision. The professor approved a small group after Edward gave him the list of students and agreed that no one would summon or imitate a Dementor. 

They met at sunset in an unused classroom. Lupin moved the desks to the walls and left the door open. Pansy, Theodore, Daphne, Draco, and four other alliance members formed a loose circle around him. 

"A Patronus is not made by shouting louder than the person beside you," Lupin began. "It requires a memory that can support you when fear is trying to rewrite what you believe. Tonight you will learn to choose one. Most of you will produce nothing. That is normal." 

Draco glanced at Edward. "How long did yours take?" 

"All summer to produce mist for a few breaths," Edward said. 

That answer did more to steady the room than any boast could have done. 

Lupin asked each student to find one specific memory rather than a general idea of happiness. A birthday was too broad. The moment a present opened, the smell of a familiar room, or a joke remembered word for word gave the mind something it could hold. 

Edward chose Kreacher at King's Cross again. He raised his walnut wand, spoke the incantation, and released a ribbon of silver vapour. It crossed half the room before dissolving. No figure emerged. 

"That is a successful beginning," Lupin said. "Notice that Mr. Black stopped when the spell weakened. Forcing it after the memory slips usually gives exhaustion, not improvement." 

The students tried in turn. Theodore produced a bead of light that clung to his wand tip. Daphne managed two strands of vapour. Draco obtained a bright flash and immediately attempted to repeat it so quickly that Lupin lowered his wand for him. 

"You have proved that you can begin," the professor said. "Do not ruin the proof by treating your mind like a broom in a speed trial." 

Pansy laughed. Draco complained, but he waited. 

After half an hour, Lupin ended the casting. He gave them a written exercise for refining memories and warned them that painful recollections could not be made happy through willpower. A Patronus drew on happiness, not denial. 

"No private competitions," Edward added. "No practice on staircases, no casting at younger students, and no pretending to be under attack. We meet here twice a week while Professor Lupin permits it." 

"You have become fond of rules," Draco said. 

"I have become fond of everyone leaving with the same number of memories they brought." 

The lesson ended with laughter instead of the solemn pledge Draco had apparently expected. That suited Edward. Fear already gave the alliance enough weight. 

Over the next several days, he tested a different part of the group's purpose. Hermione sat alone in the library annotating a chapter on nonverbal casting. Edward stopped across from her and asked about a diagram whose wand motion contradicted the text. 

She examined it, forgot to be suspicious, and drew the corrected path on spare parchment. Their discussion lasted until Madam Pince told them that whispering was still talking. 

"You changed the pressure at the end," Edward said as they packed their books. 

"The original motion releases too much magic at once. You noticed the same thing." 

"I noticed the failure. You found the reason." 

Hermione studied him for a moment, then accepted the distinction. "Bring your notes next time." 

It was not an alliance or a strategy. It was a useful conversation between two students who cared about the same problem, and Edward refused to reduce it to recruitment. 

Ron required greater care because Scabbers reacted whenever Edward approached. In a crowded courtyard, Edward asked whether the rat had recovered from the train. Ron loosened his grip on the cage but did not open it. 

"He has been hiding under the straw," Ron said. "Probably the Dementor." 

"Keep the latch secured. Frightened animals run." 

"You are very interested in him." 

Edward could not offer the whole truth without endangering everyone around them. "He has lived far longer than an ordinary rat. Professor Lupin suggested I record anything unusual rather than guess at the cause." 

The reference to a professor eased Ron's suspicion. It also gave Lupin's earlier attention to the cage a purpose without exposing Sirius. 

That night, the alliance gathered after Patronus practice. Draco waited until Lupin had left before returning to the library conversation. 

"Why spend time helping Granger?" he asked. "She would choose Potter over us without hesitating." 

"I was not asking her to choose." 

"Then what were you doing?" 

"Learning something she understood better than I did." 

A boy named Grayson objected from near the window. "We have old family libraries. We should not need outsiders." 

Edward looked at the seven students around him. "A library is an inheritance, not evidence that its owner deserves authority. If possession were the same as merit, Lucius Malfoy would understand every book in his cellar." 

Draco winced. "That was unnecessary." 

"Was it inaccurate?" 

Draco considered and said nothing. 

Edward placed the alliance charter on the nearest desk. Its earliest language had been written before the Chamber attacks, when he had confused inherited access with earned judgment. Several clauses still assumed that old families would lead and everyone else would follow. 

"We say we want reform," he said. "Then we use the same habits as the people we criticize. We measure blood before competence, treat house rivalry as policy, and call cooperation humiliation. That is not a new order. It is the old one with younger names." 

Pansy read the page. "What are you proposing?" 

"Membership based on conduct and ability. Fixed responsibilities. Recorded votes for decisions that affect anyone outside this room. No punishment without evidence, and no insults based on blood status." 

Grayson folded his arms. "And Potter joins tomorrow?" 

"No. No one joins without consent, including Potter. This is about what we become, not whom we can collect." 

Theodore took the quill first. He crossed out the phrase old families and wrote members in its place. 

Daphne amended a protection clause so it covered any student present during a threat. Pansy demanded that access to dangerous material still require training. Draco argued over every line, but he argued about consequences rather than ancestry. 

By midnight, they had not finished. That was the most encouraging part. A change accepted without resistance would have been another performance. 

Edward rolled the charter and scheduled a second meeting. The Patronus lesson had begun with the problem of choosing a memory strong enough to stand against fear. The alliance faced a similar choice. 

It could preserve the comfort of inherited certainty, or build something that would remain defensible when people outside Slytherin were allowed to examine it.