043.lyx

#LyX 2.1 created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/
\lyxformat 474
\begin_document
\begin_header
\textclass memoir
\use_default_options true
\master hpmor_volume2_16x23.lyx
\begin_modules
initials
\end_modules
\maintain_unincluded_children false
\language english
\language_package default
\inputencoding auto
\fontencoding global
\font_roman times
\font_sans default
\font_typewriter default
\font_math auto
\font_default_family default
\use_non_tex_fonts false
\font_sc false
\font_osf false
\font_sf_scale 100
\font_tt_scale 100
\graphics default
\default_output_format default
\output_sync 0
\bibtex_command default
\index_command default
\paperfontsize 11
\spacing single
\use_hyperref false
\papersize custom
\use_geometry true
\use_package amsmath 1
\use_package amssymb 1
\use_package cancel 1
\use_package esint 1
\use_package mathdots 1
\use_package mathtools 1
\use_package mhchem 1
\use_package stackrel 1
\use_package stmaryrd 1
\use_package undertilde 1
\cite_engine basic
\cite_engine_type default
\biblio_style plain
\use_bibtopic false
\use_indices false
\paperorientation portrait
\suppress_date true
\justification true
\use_refstyle 1
\index Index
\shortcut idx
\color #008000
\end_index
\paperwidth 8.25in
\paperheight 10.75in
\leftmargin 0.5in
\topmargin 0.875in
\rightmargin 0.625in
\bottommargin 0.875in
\secnumdepth 3
\tocdepth 3
\paragraph_separation indent
\paragraph_indentation default
\quotes_language english
\papercolumns 2
\papersides 2
\paperpagestyle default
\tracking_changes false
\output_changes false
\html_math_output 0
\html_css_as_file 0
\html_be_strict false
\end_header

\begin_body

\begin_layout Chapter
Humanism, Part I
\end_layout

\begin_layout Initial
\begin_inset Argument 2
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
T
\end_layout

\end_inset


\begin_inset Argument 3
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
he
\end_layout

\end_inset

 gentle sun of January shone on the cold fields outside Hogwarts.
\begin_inset Newline newline
\end_inset

For some of the students it was a study hour, and others had been let out
 of class.
 The first-years who'd signed up for it were practicing a certain spell,
 a spell that was most advantageously learned outdoors, beneath the bright
 sun and a clear blue sky, rather than within the confines of any classroom.
 Cookies and lemonade were also considered helpful.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The early gestures of the spell were complex and precise; you twitched your
 wand once, twice, thrice, and four times with small tilts at exactly the
 right relative angles, you shifted your forefinger and thumb exactly the
 right distances…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Ministry thought this meant it was futile to try and teach anyone the
 spell before their fifth year.
 There had been a few known cases of younger children learning it, and this
 had been dismissed as “genius”.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It might not have been a very polite way of putting it, but Harry was beginning
 to see why Professor Quirrell had claimed that the Ministry Committee of
 Curriculum would have been of greater benefit to wizardkind if they had
 been used as landfill.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
So the gestures were complicated and delicate.
 That didn't stop you from learning it when you were eleven.
 It meant you had to be extra careful and practice each part for a lot longer
 than usual, that was all.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Most Charms that could only be learned by older students were like that
 because they required more strength of magic than any young student could
 muster.
 But the Patronus Charm 
\emph on
wasn't
\emph default
 like that, it wasn't difficult because it needed too much magic, it was
 difficult because it took 
\emph on
more
\emph default
 than mere magic.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It took the warm, happy feelings that you kept close in your heart, the
 loving memories, a different kind of strength that you didn't need for
 ordinary spells.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry twitched his wand once, twice, thrice and four times, shifted his
 fingers exactly the right distances…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Good luck at school, Harry.
 Do you think I bought you enough books?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“You can never have enough books… but you certainly tried, it was a really,
 really, really good try…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It had brought tears to his eyes, the first time Harry had remembered and
 tried to put it into the spell.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry brought the wand up and around and brandished it, a gesture that didn't
 have to be precise, only bold and defiant.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Expecto Patronum!
\emph default
” cried Harry.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Nothing happened.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Not a single flicker of light.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When Harry looked up, Remus Lupin was still studying the wand, a rather
 troubled look on his faintly scarred face.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Finally Remus shook his head.
 “I'm sorry, Harry,” the man said quietly.
 “Your wandwork was exactly right.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And there wasn't a flicker of light anywhere else, either, because all the
 other first-years who were supposed to be practicing their Patronus Charms
 had been glancing out of the corners of their eyes at Harry instead.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The tears were threatening to come back into Harry's eyes, and they weren't
 happy tears.
 Of all the things, of all the things, Harry had never expected this.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was something horribly humiliating about being informed that you weren't
 happy enough.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
What did Anthony Goldstein have inside him that Harry didn't, that made
 Anthony's wand shine with that bright light?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Did Anthony love his own father more?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“What thought were you using to cast it?” said Remus.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“My father,” Harry said, his voice trembling.
 “I asked him to buy me some books before I came to Hogwarts, and he did,
 and they were expensive, and then he asked me if they were enough 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry didn't try to explain about the Verres family motto.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Take a rest before you try a different thought, Harry,” said Remus.
 He gestured toward where some other students were sitting on the ground,
 looking disappointed or embarrassed or regretful.
 “You won't be able to cast a Patronus Charm while you're feeling ashamed
 of not being grateful enough.” There was a gentle compassion in Mr.
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
 
\end_layout

\end_inset

Lupin's voice, and for a moment, Harry felt like hitting something.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Instead Harry turned around, and stalked to where the other failures were
 sitting.
 The other students whose wandwork had also been proclaimed perfect, and
 who were now supposed to be searching for happier thoughts; by the looks
 of them they weren't making much progress.
 There were many robes there trimmed in dark blue, and a handful of red,
 and one lone Hufflepuff girl who was still crying.
 The Slytherins hadn't even bothered showing up, except for Daphne Greengrass
 and Tracey Davis, who were still trying to get the gestures.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry plopped down on the cold dead grass of winter, next to the student
 whose failure had surprised him the most.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“So you couldn't do it either,” Hermione said.
 She'd fled the field at first, but she'd come back after that, and you
 had to look closely at her reddened eyes to see that she'd been crying.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I,” Harry said, “I, I'd probably feel a lot worse about that if you hadn't
 failed, you're the nicest, person I know, that I've ever met, Hermione,
 and if 
\emph on
you
\emph default
 also can't do it, it means I might still be, be good…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I should have gone to Gryffindor,” Hermione whispered.
 She blinked hard a few times, but she didn't wipe her eyes.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The boy and the girl walked forward together, definitely not holding hands,
 but each drawing a kind of strength from the other's presence, something
 that let them ignore the whispers of their year-mates, as they walked through
 the hallway approaching the great doors of Hogwarts.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry hadn't been able to cast the Patronus Charm no matter what happy thought
 he tried.
 People hadn't seemed surprised by that, which made it even worse.
 Hermione hadn't been able to do it either.
 People had been 
\emph on
very
\emph default
 surprised by that, and Harry had seen her starting to get the same sidelong
 looks as him.
 The other Ravenclaws who'd failed weren't getting those looks.
 But Hermione was the Sunshine General, and her fans were treating it like
 she'd failed them, somehow, like she'd betrayed a promise she'd never made.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The two of them had gone to the library to research the Patronus Charm,
 which was Hermione's way of dealing with distress, as it was sometimes
 also Harry's.
 Study, learn, try to understand 
\emph on
why…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The books had confirmed what the Headmaster had told Harry; often, wizards
 who couldn't cast the Patronus Charm in practice would be able to do so
 in the presence of a real Dementor, going from flat failure all the way
 to a full corporeal Patronus.
 It defied all logic, the Dementor's aura of fear ought to make it 
\emph on
harder
\emph default
 to wield a happy thought; but that was the way it was.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
So the two of them were both going to give it one last try, there was no
 way either of them wouldn't give it one last try.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was the day the Dementor came to Hogwarts.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Earlier, Harry had unTransfigured his father's rock from where it usually
 rested on his pinky ring in the form of a tiny diamond, and placed the
 huge gray stone back into his pouch.
 Just in case Harry's magic failed entirely, when he confronted the darkest
 of all creatures.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry had already started to feel pessimistic, and he wasn't even in front
 of a Dementor yet.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I bet you can do it and I can't,” Harry said in a whisper.
 “I bet that's what happens.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“It felt wrong to me,” Hermione said, her voice even quieter than his.
 “I tried it this morning and I realized.
 When I was doing the brandish at the end, even before I said the words,
 it felt wrong.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry didn't say anything.
 He'd felt the same thing, right from the start, though it had taken another
 five attempts using five other happy thoughts before he'd been able to
 acknowledge it to himself.
 Every time he tried to brandish his wand, it had felt hollow; the spell
 he was trying to learn didn't fit him.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“It doesn't mean we're going to be Dark Wizards,” said Harry.
 “Lots of people who can't cast the Patronus Charm aren't Dark Wizards.
 Godric Gryffindor wasn't a Dark Wizard…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Godric had defeated Dark Lords, fought to protect commoners from Noble Houses
 and Muggles from wizards.
 He'd had many fine friends and true, and lost no more than half of them
 in one good cause or another.
 He'd listened to the screams of the wounded, in the armies he'd raised
 to defend the innocent; young wizards of courage had rallied to his calls,
 and he'd buried them afterward.
 Until finally, when his wizardry had only just begun to fail him in his
 old age, he'd brought together the three other most powerful wizards of
 his era to raise Hogwarts from the bare ground; the one great accomplishment
 to Godric's name that wasn't about war, any kind of war, no matter how
 just.
 It was Salazar, and not Godric, who'd taught the first Hogwarts class in
 Battle Magic.
 Godric had taught the first Hogwarts class in Herbology, the magics of
 green growing life.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
To his last day he'd never been able to cast the Patronus Charm.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Godric Gryffindor had been a good man, not a happy one.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry didn't believe in angst, he couldn't stand reading about whiny he\SpecialChar \-
roes,
 he knew a billion other people in the world would have given anything to
 trade places with him, and…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And on his deathbed, Godric had told Helga (for Salazar had abandoned him,
 and Rowena passed before) that he didn't regret any of it, and he was 
\emph on
not
\emph default
 warning his students not to follow in his footsteps, no one was 
\emph on
ever
\emph default
 to say he'd told anyone not to follow in his footsteps.
 If it had been the right thing for 
\emph on
him
\emph default
 to do, then he wouldn't tell anyone else to choose wrongly, not even the
 youngest student in Hogwarts.
 And yet for those who 
\emph on
did
\emph default
 follow in his footsteps, he hoped they would remember that Gryffindor had
 told his House that it was all right for them to be happier than him.
 That red and gold would be bright warm colors, from now on.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And Helga had promised him, weeping, that when she was Headmistress she
 would make sure of it.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Whereupon Godric had died, and left no ghost behind him; and Harry had shoved
 the book back to Hermione and walked away a little, so she wouldn't see
 him crying.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
You wouldn't think that a book with an innocent title like “The Patronus
 Charm: Wizards Who Could and Couldn't” would be the saddest book Harry
 had ever read.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry didn't want that.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
To be in that book.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry didn't want that.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The rest of the school just seemed to think that 
\emph on
No Patronus
\emph default
 meant 
\emph on
Bad Person,
\emph default
 plain and simple.
 Somehow the fact that Godric Gryffindor also hadn't been able to cast the
 Patronus Charm seemed not to get repeated.
 Maybe people didn't talk about it to respect his last wish, Fred and George
 probably didn't know and Harry certainly wasn't about to tell them.
 Or maybe the other failures didn't mention it because it was less shameful,
 the smaller loss of pride and status, to be thought Dark rather than unhappy.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry saw that Hermione, beside him, was blinking hard; and he wondered
 if she was thinking of Rowena Ravenclaw, who'd also loved books.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Okay,” Harry whispered.
 “Happier thoughts.
 If you do go to a full corporeal Patronus, what do you think your animal
 will be?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“An otter,” Hermione said at once.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“An 
\emph on
otter?
\emph default
” Harry whispered incredulously.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Yes, an otter,” said Hermione.
 “What about yours?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Peregrine falcon,” Harry said without hesitation.
 “It can dive faster than three hundred kilometers per hour, it's the fastest
 living creature there is.” The peregrine falcon had been Harry's favorite
 animal since forever.
 Harry was determined to become an Animagus someday, just to get that as
 his form, and fly by the strength of his own wings, and see the land below
 with sharper eyes… “But why an 
\emph on
otter?
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione smiled, but didn't say anything.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And the vast doors of Hogwarts swung open.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
They walked for a time, the children, over a pathway that led toward the
 unforbidden forest, and continued through the forest itself.
 The Sun was lowering to near the horizon, the shadows long, the sunlight
 filtered through the bare branches of the winter trees; for it was January,
 and the first-years the last to learn, that day.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then the path swerved and took a new direction, and they all saw it in the
 distance, the clearing in the forest, and the sere winter grounds, yellowing
 dried grass whitened by a few small remnants of snow.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The human figures still small at that range.
 The two spots of dim white light from the Aurors' Patronuses, and the brighter
 spot of silver light from the Headmaster's, next to something…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry squinted.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Something…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It must have been purely Harry's imagination, because there shouldn't have
 been any way for a Dementor to reach past three corporeal Patronuses, but
 he thought he could feel a touch of emptiness brushing at his mind, brushing
 straight at the soft inner center of himself without any respect for Occlumency
 barriers.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Seamus Finnigan was ashen and trembling as he rejoined the students milling
 about on the withered and snow-spotted grass.
 Seamus's Patronus Charm had been successful, but there was still that interval
 between when the Headmaster dispelled his own Patronus and when you were
 supposed to cast your own, when you faced the Dementor's fear unshielded.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Up to twenty seconds of exposure at five paces was certainly safe, even
 for an eleven-year-old wizard with weak resistance and a still-maturing
 brain.
 There was a lot of variance in how hard the Dementor's power hit people,
 which was another thing not quite understood; but twenty seconds was definitely
 safe.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Forty seconds of Dementor exposure at five paces might 
\emph on
possibly
\emph default
 have been enough to cause permanent damage, though only to the most sensitive
 subjects.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was harsh training even by the standards of Hogwarts, where the way you
 learned to fly on a hippogriff was by being tossed on one and told to get
 going.
 Harry was no fan of overprotectiveness, and if you looked at the difference
 in maturity between a fourth-year in Hogwarts and a fourteen-year-old Muggle,
 it was clear that Muggles were smothering their children… but even Harry
 had started to wonder if this was pushing it.
 Not every hurt could be healed afterward.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But if you couldn't cast the spell under those conditions, it meant you
 couldn't rely on using the Patronus Charm to defend yourself; overconfidence
 was even more dangerous to wizards than to Muggles.
 Dementors could drain your magic and your physical vitality, not just your
 happy thoughts, which meant you might 
\emph on
not
\emph default
 be able to Apparate away if you waited too long, or if you didn't recognize
 the approaching fear until the Dementor was within range for its attack.
 (During his reading, Harry had discovered with considerable horror that
 some books claimed the Dementor's Kiss would 
\emph on
eat your soul
\emph default
 and that this was the reason for the permanent mindless coma into which
 it put the victims.
 And that wizards who 
\emph on
believed this
\emph default
 had deliberately used the Dementor's Kiss to 
\emph on
execute criminals.

\emph default
 It was a certainty that some called criminals were innocent, and even if
 they weren't, 
\emph on
destroying their souls?
\emph default
 If Harry had believed in souls, he would have… drawn a blank, he just couldn't
 think of an appropriate response to that.)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Headmaster was taking security seriously, and so were the three Aurors
 standing guard.
 Their leader was an Asianish-looking man, solemn without being grim, Auror
 Komodo, whose wand never left his hand.
 His Patronus, an orangutan of solid moonlight, paced back and forth between
 the Dementor and the first-years awaiting their turn; beside the orangutan
 moved the bright white panther of Auror Butnaru, a man with a piercing
 gaze, long black hair in a ponytail, and a long braided goatee.
 Those two Aurors, and their two Patronuses, were all watching the Dementor.
 On the opposite side of the students was the resting Auror Goryanof, tall
 and thin and pale and unshaven, sitting back on a chair he'd conjured without
 word or wand, and maintaining an absentminded pokerface as he scanned the
 entire scene.
 Professor Quirrell had shown up not long after the first-years began their
 attempts, and his eyes never strayed far from Harry.
 The tiny Professor Flitwick, who had been a champion duellist, was fiddling
 absently with his wand; and 
\emph on
his
\emph default
 eyes, peering out from within the huge puffy beard that served as his face,
 stayed focused on Professor Quirrell.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And it must have been Harry's imagination, but Professor Quirrell seemed
 to wince slightly each time the Headmaster's Patronus winked out to test
 the next student.
 Maybe Professor Quirrell was imagining the same placebo effect as Harry,
 that backwash of emptiness caressing at his mind.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Anthony Goldstein,” called the voice of the Headmaster.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry quietly walked toward Seamus, even as Anthony began to approach the
 shining silver phoenix, and… whatever it was beneath the tattered cloak.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“What did you see?” Harry asked Seamus in a low voice.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A lot of students hadn't answered Harry, when he'd tried to gather the data;
 but Seamus was Finnigan of Chaos, one of Harry's lieutenants.
 Maybe that wasn't fair, but…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Dead,” said Seamus in a whisper, “grayish and slimy… dead and left in water
 for a while…
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry nodded.
 “That's what a lot of people see,” Harry said.
 He projected confidence, even though it was fake, because Seamus needed
 it.
 “Go eat some chocolate, you'll feel better.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Seamus nodded and stumbled off toward the table of healing sweets.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Expecto Patronum!
\emph default
” cried a young boy's voice.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then there were gasps of shock, even from the Aurors.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry spun around to look 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was a brilliant silver bird standing between Anthony Goldstein and
 the cage.
 The bird reared its head and let out a cry, and the cry was also silver,
 as bright and hard and beautiful as metal.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And something in the back of Harry's mind said, 
\emph on
if that's a peregrine falcon, I'm going to strangle him in his sleep.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Shut up,
\emph default
 Harry said to the thought, 
\emph on
do you want us to be a Dark Wizard?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
What's the point? You're going to end up as one eventually.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
That… wasn't something Harry would usually have thought…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
It's a placebo effect,
\emph default
 Harry told himself again.
 
\emph on
The Dementor can't actually get to me through three corporeal Patronuses,
 I'm just imagining what I think it's like.
 When I actually face the Dementor, it'll feel completely different, and
 then I'll know I was just being silly before.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A slight chill went down Harry's spine then, because he had a feeling that
 yes, it 
\emph on
would
\emph default
 be completely different, and not in a positive direction.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The blazing silver phoenix sprang back into existence from the Headmaster's
 wand, the lesser bird vanished; and Anthony Goldstein began to walk back.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Headmaster was coming with Anthony instead of calling out the next name,
 the Patronus waiting behind to guard the Dementor.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry glanced over to where Hermione was standing, just behind the glowing
 panther.
 Hermione's turn would have come next, but had apparently just been delayed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
She looked stressed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Earlier, she'd politely asked Harry to please stop trying to destress her.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Dumbledore was smiling slightly as he escorted Anthony back toward the others;
 smiling only slightly, because the Headmaster looked very, very tired.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Unbelievable,” said Dumbledore in a voice that sounded much weaker than
 his accustomed boom.
 “A corporeal Patronus, in his first year.
 And an astounding number of successes among the other young students.
 Quirinus, I must acknowledge that you have proved your point.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Professor Quirrell inclined his head.
 “A simple enough guess, I should think.
 A Dementor attacks through fear, and children are less afraid.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Less
\emph default
 afraid?” said Auror Goryanof from where he was sitting.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“So I said as well,” said Dumbledore.
 “And Professor Quirrell pointed out that adults had more courage, not less
 to fear; which thought, I confess, had never occurred to me before.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“That was not my 
\emph on
precise
\emph default
 phrasing,” Professor Quirrell said dryly, “but it will do.
 And the rest of our agreement, Headmaster?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“As you say,” Dumbledore said reluctantly.
 “I admit I was not expecting to lose that wager, Quirinus, but you have
 proven your wisdom.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
All the students were looking at them, puzzled; except Hermione, who was
 staring in the direction of the cage and the tall decaying robes; and Harry,
 who was watching everyone, since he was imagining himself feeling paranoid.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Professor Quirrell said, in tones that did not invite further comments,
 “I am allowed to teach the Killing Curse to students who wish to learn
 it.
 Which will render them considerably safer from Dark Wizards and other pests,
 and it is foolish to think they will otherwise know no deadly magics.” Professor
 Quirrell paused, his eyes narrowing.
 “Headmaster, I respectfully observe that you are not looking well.
 I suggest leaving the remainder of the day's task to Professor Flitwick.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Dumbledore shook his head.
 “We are almost done for the day, Quirinus.
 I will last.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione had approached Anthony.
 “Captain Goldstein,” she said, and her voice trembled only a little, “can
 you give me any advice?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Don't be afraid,” Anthony said firmly.
 “Don't think about anything it tries to make you think about.
 You're not just holding up the wand in front of you as a shield against
 the fear, you're 
\emph on
brandishing
\emph default
 your wand to drive the fear away, that's how you make a happy thought into
 something solid…” Anthony shrugged helplessly.
 “I mean, I 
\emph on
heard
\emph default
 all that before, but…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Other students were starting to congregate around Anthony, with their own
 questions.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Miss Granger?” the Headmaster said.
 His voice might have been gentle, or just weakened.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione straightened her shoulders, and followed him.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“What did you see under the cloak?” Harry said to Anthony.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Anthony looked at Harry, surprised, and then answered, “A very tall man
 who was dead, I mean, sort of dead-shaped and dead-colored… it hurt to
 see him and I knew that was the Dementor trying to get at me.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry looked back out at where Hermione was confronting the cage and the
 cloak.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione raised her wand into position for the first gestures.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Headmaster's phoenix winked out of existence.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And Hermione gave a tiny, pathetic shriek, flinched 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

 took a step back, Harry could see her wand moving, and then she brandished
 it and said “Expecto Patronum!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Nothing happened.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione turned and ran.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Expecto Patronum!
\emph default
” said the Headmaster's deeper voice, and the silver phoenix blazed back
 to life.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The young girl stumbled, and kept running, strange sounds beginning to come
 from her throat.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Hermione!
\emph default
” Susan yelled it, and Hannah, and Daphne, and Ernie, and they all started
 to run toward her; even as Harry, who was always thinking one step ahead,
 spun on his own heel and ran for the table with the chocolate.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Even after Harry had shoved the chocolate into Hermione's mouth and she'd
 chewed and swallowed, she was still breathing in great gasps and crying,
 her eyes still seemed unfocused.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
She can't have been permanently Demented,
\emph default
 Harry thought desperately at the confusion inside him, the horrible fear
 and deathly fury beginning to twist around each other, 
\emph on
she can't have been, she wasn't exposed for even ten seconds let alone forty
 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But she could be 
\emph on
temporarily
\emph default
 Demented, as Harry realized in that moment, there wasn't any rule that
 you couldn't be 
\emph on
temporarily
\emph default
 injured by a Dementor in just ten seconds if you were sensitive enough.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then Hermione's eyes seemed to focus, and dart around, and settle on him.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Harry,” she gasped, and the other students went silent.
 “Harry, don't.
 
\emph on
Don't!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry was suddenly afraid to ask what he shouldn't do, was 
\emph on
he
\emph default
 in her worst memories, or some sleep's nightmare that she was now reliving
 in waking life?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Don't go near it!”
\emph default
 said Hermione.
 Her hand reached out, grabbed him by the lapel of his robes.
 “You mustn't go near it, Harry! 
\emph on
It spoke to me, Harry, it knows you, it knows you're here!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“What 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

” Harry said, and then cursed himself for asking.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
The Dementor!
\emph default
” said Hermione.
 Her voice rose to a shriek.
 “
\emph on
Professor Quirrell wants it to eat you!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In the sudden hush, Professor Quirrell came forward a few steps; but he
 didn't approach any closer (Harry was there, after all).
 “Miss Granger,” he said, and his voice was grave, “I think you should have
 some more chocolate.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Professor Flitwick, don't let Harry try, send him back!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Headmaster had arrived by then, and he and Professor Flitwick were exchangin
g worried looks.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I did not hear the Dementor speak,” the Headmaster said.
 “Still…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Just ask,” said Professor Quirrell, sounding a little weary.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Did the Dementor say 
\emph on
how
\emph default
 it would get to Harry?” said the Headmaster.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“All his tastiest parts first,” said Hermione, “it would 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

 it would eat 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione blinked.
 Some sanity seemed to come back into her eyes.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then she started crying.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“You were too brave, Hermione Granger,” the Headmaster said.
 His voice was gentle, and clearly audible.
 “Too much braver than I comprehended.
 You should have turned and run, not endured and tried to complete your
 Charm.
 When you are older and stronger, Miss Granger, I know that you will try
 again, and I know that you will succeed.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I'm sorry,” Hermione said in gasps, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm
 sorry, Harry, I can't tell you what I saw, I didn't look at it, I didn't
 dare look at it, I knew it was too horrible to ever be seen…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It should have been Harry, but he'd hesitated, because his hands were all
 chocolatey; and then Ernie and Susan were there, helping Hermione from
 where she'd fallen on the grass, leading her toward the snacks table.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Five bars of chocolate later, Hermione seemed to be all right again, and
 she went over and apologized to Professor Quirrell; but she was always
 watching Harry, every time that he glanced in her direction.
 He'd stepped toward her only once, and stopped when she'd stepped away.
 Her eyes had silently apologized, and silently pleaded for him to leave
 her be.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Neville Longbottom had seen something dead and half-dissolved, oozing and
 running with a face like a squashed sponge.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was the worst thing anyone had yet described seeing.
 Neville had been able to produce a small flicker of light from his wand
 before, but he had, intelligently and with great presence of mind, turned
 and run away instead of trying to cast his own Patronus Charm.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
(The Headmaster had said nothing to the other students, told no one else
 to be less brave; but Professor Quirrell had calmly observed that if you
 made the mistake 
\emph on
after
\emph default
 being warned, that was when ignorance became stupidity.)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Professor Quirrell?” Harry said in a low voice, having come as close to
 the Defense Professor as he dared.
 “What do 
\emph on
you
\emph default
 see when you 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Don't ask.” The voice was very flat.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry nodded respectfully.
 “What was your 
\emph on
original
\emph default
 phrasing to the Headmaster, if I can ask?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Dryly.
 “Our worst memories can only grow worse as we grow older.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Ah,” Harry said.
 “Logical.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Something strange flickered in Professor Quirrell's eyes, then, as he looked
 at Harry.
 “Let us hope,” Professor Quirrell said, “that you succeed upon this try,
 Mr.
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
 
\end_layout

\end_inset

Potter.
 For if you do, the Headmaster may teach you his trick of using a Patronus
 to send messages that cannot be forged or intercepted, and the military
 importance of that is impossible to overstate.
 It would be a tremendous advantage to the Chaos Legion, and someday, I
 suspect, this entire country.
 But if you do 
\emph on
not
\emph default
 succeed, Mr.
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
 
\end_layout

\end_inset

Potter… well, 
\emph on
I
\emph default
 shall understand.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Morag MacDougal had said, in a wavering voice, “Ouch”, and Dumbledore had
 recast his Patronus right away.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Parvati Patil had produced a corporeal Patronus in the form of a tiger,
 larger than Dumbledore's phoenix, though not nearly as bright.
 There had been a great burst of applause from all the watchers, though
 not the same shock as when Anthony had done it.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And then it was Harry's turn.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Headmaster called the name of Harry Potter, and Harry was afraid.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry knew, he knew that he was going to fail, and he knew that it was going
 to hurt.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But he still had to try; because sometimes, in the presence of a Dementor,
 a wizard went from not a flicker of light to a full corporeal Patronus,
 and no one understood why.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And because if Harry 
\emph on
couldn't
\emph default
 defend himself from Dementors, he had to be able to recognize their approach,
 recognize the feeling of them in his mind, and run before it was too late.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
What is my worst memory…?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry had expected the Headmaster to give him a worried look, or a hopeful
 look, or deeply wise advice; but instead Albus Dumbledore only watched
 him with quiet calm.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
He thinks I'm going to fail, but he won't sabotage me by telling me so,
\emph default
 thought Harry, 
\emph on
if he had true words of encouragement to speak, he would speak them…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The cage came closer.
 It was already tarnished, but not rusted away to nothing, not yet.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The cloak came closer.
 It was unraveling and shot through with unpatched holes; it had been new
 that morning, Auror Goryanof had said.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Headmaster?” Harry said.
 “What do you see?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Headmaster's voice was also calm.
 “The Dementors are creatures of fear, and as your fear of the Dementor
 diminishes, so does the fearsomeness of its form.
 I see a tall, thin, naked man.
 He is not decaying.
 He is only slightly painful to look upon.
 That is all.
 What do you see, Harry?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
…Harry couldn't see under the cloak.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Or that wasn't right, it was that his mind was 
\emph on
refusing
\emph default
 to see what was under the cloak…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
No, his mind was trying to see the 
\emph on
wrong
\emph default
 thing under the cloak, Harry could feel it, his eyes trying to force a
 mistake.
 But Harry had done his best to train himself to notice that tiny feeling
 of confusion, to automatically flinch away from making stuff up; and every
 time his mind tried to start inventing a lie about what was under the cloak,
 that reflex was fast enough to shut it down.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry looked under the cloak and saw…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
An open question.
 Harry wouldn't let his mind see something false, and so he didn't see anything,
 like the part of his visual cortex getting that signal was just ceasing
 to exist.
 There was a blind spot under the cloak.
 Harry couldn't know what was under there.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Just that it was far worse than any decaying mummy.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The unseeable horror beneath the cloak was very close, now, but the blazing
 bird of moonlight, the white phoenix, yet lay between them.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry wanted to run away like some of the other students had.
 Half the ones who'd had no luck with their Patronus Charms just hadn't
 shown up today in the first place.
 Of those remaining, half had fled before the Headmaster had even dispelled
 his own Patronus, and no one had said a word.
 There'd been a little laughter when Terry had turned and walked back before
 his own try; and Susan and Hannah, who'd gone before, had yelled at everyone
 to shut up.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived, and he would lose much respect if he was
 seen to give up without even trying…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Pride and roles seemed to diminish and fall away, in the presence of whatever
 lay beneath the cloak.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Why am I still here?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't the shame of others thinking him cowardly, that kept Harry's feet
 in place.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't the hope of repairing his reputation that brought up his wand.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't the desire to master the Patronus Charm as magic, that moved his
 fingers into the initial position.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was something else, something that 
\emph on
had
\emph default
 to oppose whatever lay beneath the cloak, this was the true darkness and
 Harry had to find out whether it lay within him, the power to drive it
 back.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry had planned to try one final time to think of his book-shopping spree
 with his father, but instead, at the last minute, facing the Dementor,
 a different memory occurred to him, something he hadn't tried before; a
 thought that wasn't warm and happy in the ordinary way, but felt righter,
 somehow.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And Harry remembered the stars, remembered them burning terribly bright
 and unwavering in the Silent Night; he let that image fill him, fill all
 of him like an Occlumency barrier across his entire mind, became once again
 the bodiless awareness of the void.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The bright silver shining phoenix vanished.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And the Dementor smashed into his mind like the fist of God.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\size large
FEAR / COLD / DARKNESS
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was an instant when the two forces clashed head-on, when the peaceful
 starlit memory held its own against the fear, even as Harry's fingers began
 the wand motions, practiced until they had become automatic.
 They weren't warm and happy, those blazing points of light in perfect blackness
; but it was an image the Dementor could not easily pierce.
 For the silent burning stars were vast and unafraid, and to shine in the
 cold and darkness was their natural state.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But there was a flaw, a crack, a fault-line in the immovable object trying
 to resist that irresistible force.
 Harry felt a twinge of anger at the Dementor for trying to feed on him,
 and it was like slipping on wet ice.
 Harry's mind began to slide sideways, into bitterness, black fury, deathly
 hatred 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's wand came up in the final brandish.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It felt wrong.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Expecto Patronum,” his voice spoke, the words hollow and pointless.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And Harry fell into his dark side, fell down into his dark side, further
 and faster and deeper than ever before, down down down as the slide accelerated
, as the Dementor latched onto the exposed and vulnerable parts and fed
 on them, eating away the light.
 A fading reflex scrabbled for warmth, but even as an image of Hermione
 came to him, or an image of Mum and Dad, the Dementor twisted it, showed
 him Hermione lying dead on the ground, the corpses of his mother and father,
 and then even that was sucked away.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Into the vacuum rose the memory, the worst memory, something forgotten so
 long ago that the neural patterns shouldn't have still existed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Lily, take Harry and go! It's him!” shouted a man's voice.
 “Go! Run! I'll hold him off!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
And Harry couldn't help but think, in the empty depths of his dark side,
 how ridiculously overconfident James Potter had been.
 Hold off Lord Voldemort? With what?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Then the other voice spoke, high-pitched like the hiss of a teakettle, and
 it was like dry ice laid on Harry's every nerve, like a brand of metal
 cooled to liquid helium temperatures and laid on every part of him.
 And the voice said:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Avadakedavra.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
(The wand flew from the boy's nerveless fingers as his body began to convulse
 and fall, the Headmaster's eyes widening in alarm as he began his own Patronus
 Charm.)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” screamed the woman's voice.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Whatever was left of Harry listened with all the light drained out of him,
 in the dead void of his heart, and wondered if she thought that Lord Voldemort
 would stop because she asked politely.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Step aside, woman!” said the shrill voice of burning cold.
 “For you I am not come, only the boy.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Lily Potter, Harry thought, seemed not to understand what type of people
 became Dark Lords in the first place; and if this was the best strategy
 she could conceive to save her child's life, that was her final failure
 as a mother.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“I give you this rare chance to flee,” said the shrill voice.
 “But I will not trouble myself to subdue you, and your death here will
 not save your child.
 Step aside, foolish woman, if you have any sense in you at all!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
The empty thing that was Harry wondered if Lily Potter seriously imagined
 that Lord Voldemort would say yes, kill her, and then depart leaving her
 son unharmed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Very well,” said the voice of death, now sounding coldly amused, “I accept
 the bargain.
 Yourself to die, and the child to live.
 Now drop your wand so that I can murder you.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
There was a hideous silence.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Lord Voldemort began to laugh, horrible contemptuous laughter.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
And then, at last, Lily Potter's voice shrieked in desperate hate, “Avada
 ke-”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
The lethal voice finished first, the curse rapid and precise.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
“Avadakedavra.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
A blinding flare of green marked the end of Lily Potter.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
And the boy in the crib saw it, the eyes, those two crimson eyes, seeming
 to glow bright red, to blaze like miniature suns, filling Harry's whole
 vision as they locked to his own 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The other children saw Harry Potter fall, they heard Harry Potter scream,
 a thin high-pitched scream that seemed to pierce their ears like knives.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was a brilliant silver flash as the Headmaster bellowed “
\emph on
Expecto Patronum!
\emph default
” and the blazing phoenix returned to being.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But Harry Potter's horrible scream went on and on and on, even as the Headmaster
 scooped up the boy in his arms and bore him away from the Dementor, even
 as Neville Longbottom and Professor Flitwick both went for the chocolate
 at the same time and 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione knew it, she knew it as she saw it, she knew that her nightmare
 had been real, it was coming true, somehow it was coming true.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Get him chocolate!” demanded the voice of Professor Quirrell, pointlessly,
 because Professor Flitwick's tiny form was already cannonballing toward
 where the Headmaster was racing toward the students.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione was moving forward herself, though she didn't know what else she
 meant to do 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Cast Patronuses!
\emph default
” shouted the Headmaster, as he brought Harry behind the Aurors.
 “
\emph on
Everyone who can! Get them between Harry and the Dementor! It's still feeding
 on him!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was a moment of frozen horror.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Expecto Patronum!
\emph default
” shouted Professor Flitwick and Auror Goryanof, and then Anthony Goldstein,
 but he failed the first time, and then Parvati Patil, who succeeded, and
 then Anthony tried again and his silver bird spread its wings and screamed
 at the Dementor, and Dean Thomas roared the words like they had been written
 in letters of fire and his wand gave birth to a towering white bear; there
 were eight blazing Patronuses all in a line between Harry and the Dementor,
 and Harry went on screaming and screaming as the Headmaster laid him on
 the dried grass.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione couldn't cast a Patronus Charm, so she ran toward where Harry lay.
 In her mind, something tried to guess how long it had been already.
 Was it twenty seconds? More?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was a dreadful agony and bewilderment on the face of Albus Dumbledore.
 His long black wand was in his hand, but he spoke no spells, only looked
 down at Harry's convulsing body in horror 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to do, she didn't
 understand what was happening, and the most powerful wizard in the world
 seemed equally at a loss.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Use your phoenix!
\emph default
” bellowed Professor Quirrell.
 “
\emph on
Take him far away from that Dementor!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Without a single word the Headmaster scooped up Harry in his arms and vanished
 in a crack of fire along with the suddenly appearing Fawkes; and the Headmaster
's Patronus winked out, where it had guarded the Dementor.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Horror and confusion and sudden babble.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Mr.
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
 
\end_layout

\end_inset

Potter should recover,” Professor Quirrell said, raising his voice, but
 his tone now calm once again, “I think it was just over twenty seconds.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then the blazing white phoenix appeared again, like it was flying before
 them from elsewhere, to Hermione Granger came the creature of moonlight,
 and it cried to her in Albus Dumbledore's voice:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
It still feeds on him, even here! How? If you know, Hermione Granger, you
 must tell me! Tell me!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The senior Auror turned to stare at her, and so did many students.
 Professor Flitwick didn't turn, he was now leveling his wand on Professor
 Quirrell, who was holding out clearly empty hands.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Seconds ticked past, uncounted.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
She couldn't remember it, she couldn't remember the nightmare clearly, she
 couldn't remember why she had thought it was possible, why she had been
 afraid 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hermione realized then what she ought to do, and it was the hardest decision
 of her life.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
What if whatever had happened to Harry, happened to her too?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
All her limbs cold as death, her vision gone dark, fear overwhelming everything;
 she'd seen Harry dying, Mum and Dad dying, all her friends dying, everyone
 dying, so that in the end, when she died, she would be alone.
 That was her secret nightmare she'd never talked about with anyone, that
 had given the Dementor its power over her, the loneliest thing was to die
 alone.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
She didn't want to go to that place again, she, she didn't, she didn't want
 to stay there forever 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
You have courage enough for Gryffindor,
\emph default
 said the calm voice of the Sorting Hat in her memory, 
\emph on
but you will do what is right in any House I give you.
 You will learn, you will stand by your friends, in any House you choose.
 So don't be afraid, Hermione Granger, just decide where you belong…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was no time for deciding, Harry was dying.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I can't remember now,” said Hermione, her voice cracking, “but just hold
 on, I'll go in front of the Dementor again…”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
She started to run toward the Dementor.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Miss Granger!” squeaked Professor Flitwick, but he made no move to stop
 her, only kept holding his wand on Professor Quirrell.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Everyone!
\emph default
” shouted Auror Komodo in a voice of military command.
 “
\emph on
Get your Patronuses out of her way!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
FLITWICK!
\emph default
” roared Professor Quirrell.
 “
\emph on
SUMMON POTTER'S WAND!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Even as Hermione understood, Professor Flitwick was already crying “
\emph on
Accio!
\emph default
”, and she saw the stick of wood zooming up from where it had lain almost
 touching the Dementor's cage.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The eyes opened, dead and vacant.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Harry!
\emph default
” gasped a voice in the colorless world.
 “
\emph on
Harry! Speak to me!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The face of Albus Dumbledore leaned over into the field of vision, which
 had been occupied by a distant marble ceiling.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“You're annoying,” said the empty voice.
 “You should die.”
\end_layout

\end_body
\end_document