Raven remembered her father's patronus. A lfox. Then she wrote about the meaning of fox



Raven thought about her best memory. There were so many, but since she just only eleven, her best memory maybe was not too special. Then she wrote it on her journal

Violet went through her memories hastily, looking for one that might be happy enough to produce a Patronus--getting good marks in school, brewing a really good potion, eating candied violets, sneaking out to the park to see her Muggle uncle--somehow none of these seemed really [I]happy[/I/, just sort of pleased. She wasn't sure she could think of anything really, spectacularly happy. She raised her hand. "Professor...what if you don't have a really happy memory?"

Sarah felt uneasy. Happy memory? That word didn't show up a lot in her life. Her memories had some good chapters, but they weren't really that happy to create a Patronus, not that given she could do it now. Owe it all to Mr.Strathmore. Her mind filled with that man's malicious smile. Oh, I just hate that guy. She was about to ask the Professor, when another girl did just that. She looked a bit relieved, maybe there's someone else too. She pipped up too. "That's what Professor. What if we don't have a real happy memory? What if they aren't that strong enough?" she asked. "Won't we be able to produce a Patronus then?" Her brows curved. That thought depressed her, she'd loved hearing her uncle describe the charm and always wanted to do it. Her face turned a little sad. Disturbed.

A happy memory? It sounded alot simpler when you just said it. Daichi closed his eyes as he tried to remember a memory that made him feel happy. The rooms glow and warmth add up to that as he soon started to become quite relaxed. Still with his eyes closed, the Slytherin tried to find his happy memory and his minds eye stopped at the sight of his mother.

He could see her laughing and cheering. They were at a quidditch game, Daichi's first quidditch game. Despite his mother being a muggle , she still came with the rest of the family to the watch the game. From the outside, Daichi was smiling. He didn't know that he had felt so happy at that time but for this image to pop up had to mean something right?

But that memory faded when suddenly the horror he experienced came in view. He couldn't make out everything but the fire was strongly visible, it was like it was really there.

With a gasp of shock, Daichi opened his eyes and noticed that his hands were trembling in fear. His eyes tried to find where the fire was but soon realised he was in the practise hall together with other students. He breathed out heavily as he looked around. Hoping that no one had seen his sudden...spasm...

He tried to think about that one memory again, of his mother together with him at the quidditch game. He tried and tried but when he thought about his mother he also instantly thought about what happened to her when he was nine. Daichi could feel ...he didn't know...anger...sadness? That was not suppose to happen. It was really hard for him to keep hold of that memory where he felt truely happy but a shadow overlapped it everytime.

Daichi remembered reading about the red panda patronus. He strongly felt connected to what he had read about it. Proper use of masks... He instantly knew that this wasn't meant of just normal mask you put on at parties and such. But more emotional. Atleast that's how he felt when reading it.

Daichi knew that most of the students thought he was the bubbly type. But there was only one person in all of Hogwarts that knows about WHY he is so bubbly and cheerful all the time...Not to mention that he didn't want to bother others with his troubles so he placed up a mask of happiness. So far, it had worked. Not that he was pretending to be happy all the time. There were numerous occasions in which he felt happy without pretending. It were the moments when he felt lonely and missed his mother that he smiled too.

Daichi sighed, maybe he just wasn't ready yet. "This is stupid" he said, actually out loud and crossed his arms over each other. After a few more tries he gave up. Raising a hand in the air, Daichi felt a blush creep up on his cheeks as he murmered a question which he hoped didn't got eyes focused on him. "P-professor....wh-at..what if a happy memory is...is overlapped with " he fell silent as he looked towards the bright coloured windows. "I-i don't know...nevermind" he ended and smiled at the woman.

So what was Jonathan's happiest memory?

Since they are talking about Patronuses, the memory has to be strong enough to conjure the spell. It could be the time when he plays the piano. That always makes him happy. Music soothes Jonathan, especially when he is mad or sad. A little music calms him down. Although, is it not good enough? Probably.

He thought for awhile on his desk. Happy memory? What is his happiest memory? He started tapping his fingers on the desk while thinking. Jonathan does have a lot of happy memories but one should bound to be fit to cast a patronus charm...

Think. Think. Think.

Of course! He remembered, 5 years ago, before boarding for Hogwarts his father gave him his old pocket watch. That pocket watch has been in the family for centuries already and even though it is old, it still works perfectly. Although, it should be taken care off. It looks like it's going to break or something. Probably if he shared it the professor would get confused to why choose such memory.

Jonathan doesn't know why he chose such memory. All he knows was that when his father gave him that watch, he felt really happy. It was of great sentimental value, that's why. He can't even explain how happy he was at the time and up to now. Everytime he holds that pocket watch he just feels content. Nothing more.

So...happy memory?

Sure, Ellie had TONS of happy memories. She was generally a very happy person. This should be quite easy, right?

Wrong.

Actually, what might be a happy memory, kind of only made Ellie sad. Because they seemed to involve people who weren't here. Reyn, Little Professor, her family, Treyen.... But they weren't HERE.

Also, Ellie wasn't necessarily happy enough to think of something happy at the moment. She blamed Schirmer, of course.

But it didn't really matter to her whether or not she could find a happy memory because she wasn't planning on trying to produce a Patronus anyway. That was something she'd long planned to do with Little Professor and Little Professor only.

HMPH.

Minerva thought of different memories. She could think of two that really were strong. "Well Professor one that I can really think of is my first Hockey game I went with my dad to. It was a great memory."

Nate closed his book and raised his hand. "When I realized I was a wizard, and that I was going to come here to Hogwarts was a great memory. And being in Diagon Alley for the first time. Getting my wand was great! Oh, and there's also when I realized that--" he caught himself. Not only was he ranting, but he had also almost brought up Pam right then and there in class.

Stella had started getting distracted by her own things again by the time the lesson had progressed. Namely, her egg, and wondering if she'd be able to conjure up her unicorn again if they were instructed to practice the Patronus Charm. She had faith that she wouldn't completely fail, and she also just wouldn't let herself fail. Not in this class, and definitely not in front of Professor Schirmer. Not the Charms professor, especially if she was going to have to explain her Charms project had distracted her from successfully casting a Patronus Charm, when Talia could get her to manage it more than once.

She'd looked up again as they were told to think about, and possibly discuss their happy memories with the lesson. That wasn't going to happen, as she felt like her happy memories were her own personal ideas, and even more so as the first memory that came to mind was from not that long ago in the Room of Requirement. Awkward didn't mean the memory wasn't happy, and somehow she felt like the memory of getting her first role in a Shakespearean play wouldn't be good enough this time. It had worked in the practice with her sister, but memories changed. Their power changed, and she knew that for a fact. Either way, she wasn't going to tell the class her happy memory. Not when she had a feeling not all of them would understand.

Pam thought about the happiest memory she could. The first time she ever got snowball was a happy memory. The smallest bunny in the bunch was a small little white one. She was different than her brothers and sisters, for they all had brown fur. But this one stood out to Pam, and she bonded with it instantly. But then something else came to mind. Nate. The first time she ever, truely, felt happy was when she was with Nate. She picked a memory, fairly recently, of when her and Nate got together. How happy she had felt. She let the memory fill her mind. She felt happy, and at ease. She looked up at the teacher for what to do next.

Ronnie racked her brain for a memory. This was hard, she had so many! Suddenly, one just seemed to POP right into her head. Her hand shot up.

"Well, I do love spending time with my brother, Rupert. I've had many happy memories with him." she said.

"That sounds very special." Althea answered. The girl must have been particularly precocious to understand the depth of a situation like that so young. She smiled encouragingly.

"... Please be serious." He had to be joking right? Suddenly the blonde woman was revising her opinions regarding the young boy.

"How Slytherin of you." Althea observed but didn't sound all that cut up about it.

"Its not about what I'm looking for." Althea answered. "Its about how strong it is for you. How happy it makes you, and yes if its a life-changing experience, there tends to be stronger memory associations."

"That sounds lovely." Althea commented. It sounded like a good one to her.

"The memory is as important. If its indistinct it'll be much harder to truly hold to it in the face of a Dementor. That's one of the contributing factors as to why children usually can't cast a Patronus easily." Comparatively less to draw on and all.

"If its fresher, or something that you feel really changed your life, it tends to be stronger just because its easier to focus on and hold those details and the associated feelings in your mind." Not that old memories didn't work, they just had to be stronger, more life-changing, more powerful, in order for them to still have a strong effect.

"You must have been very proud." Althea commented and smiled back at the Gryffindor.

"You'll have to choose one when the time comes. If you focus on happiness in general it won't work at all." Althea answered. "But you don't have to share with the class."

"Given time, you'll find something that works." Althea assured the girls. "Some people say everyone should have a happy memory to call on, a powerful memory. But sometimes that isn't the case. It doesn't mean you don't have happy experiences in your life. A theory I'm rather partial to claims that unless you've experienced great pain, tragedy, sadness or other negativity in your life, you won't be able to find a true happy memory because you won't have anything to compare it to. I think there is some merit to that argument, but in saying that, give it time. Give yourselves more time to build memories to call on, and in the meantime, for the activity we're going to do, just focus and try your best. You might stumble on something and not even know it was there." She looked between the two girls.

"And try to smile and think general happy, positive thoughts too. If you allow yourself to feel depressed or sad, you'll find it much harder to focus on a happy memory. That's like having your own personal dementor right here." She tapped her forehead and smiled encouragingly.

Being as Althea had been answering a question, she didn't notice the gasp or trembling. She DID hear the 'this is stupid' comment and that got her attention. She looked over in time to see the boy's hand raised.

"Overlapped with something painful?" She suggested softly. "Oh my dear, it takes time to separate such things but you should try your best. If you have a happy memory, is it fair to that memory, fair to the memory of those you remember, to let it be overshadowed? That's another example of having your own personal dementor right there in your head. If you can't overcome it in there, overcoming one in truth won't work for you. But on the bright side, if you can face your own fears, your own personal dementors, you'll be that much more prepared and stronger if you ever have to face one in truth."

Keep trying, in other words. It was hard work, but worth it in the long run.

"Well you'll have the chance to see if it will work for you." Professor Schirmer answered.

"You'll have to try to focus on one, and compare and see what is the strongest." Althea commented with a small smile.

"Maybe one in particular will come to the forefront." Althea responded.

-------------

"Alright, we're going to have a chance to test out those memories in a fun and safe way." She summoned some boxes which came whizzing into the room to settle at her feet and Althea smiled to herself.

The first box she opened contained some party decorations, like streamers and balloons and silly hats, as well as a lovely old gramophone and an assortment of records, particularly those of the most popular current Wizarding Rock groups.

The second box contained some trestle tables, which she enlarged and placed against the wall ready to be set up, but within the box itself there was also some tablecloths and paper party plates, paper cups, and plastic utensils.

The third box contained small bottles, each filled with a clear pale blue liquid, enough so that everyone could take one each. She opened it and left it at her feet as she spoke.

"We're going to have a bit of a party, and you guys are going to set it all up to make a happy environment for the rest of the lesson. The first thing I want you to do is take some party decorations from the first box and set them up. If you need to use some spells you can, levitating, sticking charms, if you know them and they are appropriate to use, go right ahead.

The second thing I'd like for you to do is work together to set up everything we need for party food, get those trestle tables set up, and ready to go.

After we have the room party-ready, comes part three! See these little bottles at my feet? We're going to test out our happy memories, see how strong they are. The bottles contain a levitation potion, activated by happy thoughts. If you take a little sip and think hard about your chosen happy memory, and its strong enough, you'll float up into the air. The strongest memories will allow you to float up to the ceiling." And she was sure those of them who were potions savvy would realise that one of the ingredients was Billywig stings, as well as the use of a cheering charm in its brewing. Giddiness and happiness would be a bit of a lingering after effect.

"To get down to the floor again, you just burp. I'll mind your manners just this once!"

And of course one other thing.

"An elf will be along shortly with party food. Plenty of chocolate and plenty of soft drink for those of you that need happy fuel and burping fuel." She smiled around at the students. "And if you're floating around enough, you might just work up a hunger anyway, do feel free to help yourselves when the food arrives." Especially because Professor Schirmer wasn't usually one to allow food in her classes.

"If you don't levitate at all, try a different memory, or focusing harder. This is your chance to experiment and see what works for you." Althea advised. "Alright, lets get everything set up, shall we?"

OOC: Activity time! For this portion of the class, you'll be marked out of TEN POINTS for participating and following instructions. You'll need to make at least five posts, the first two need to be as instructed, getting the party set up: one decorating the room somehow (by hand is fine for students that don't know useful spells) and one helping to set up the trestle tables and the things that should be on it. Please work together! Take note of what others post and build on it. Interact and have fun!

The remainder of your posts should be taking the levitation potion and experimenting with it and your character's happy memories. I'll resume the class again as soon as I'm able, it will likely continue past this activity in 24-48 hours so you have plenty of time to join in. It'd be helpful if you title your posts.

Be creative and have fun, and remember Althea is still right here watching and she won't let anyone get hurt.... and there still aren't any chairs


About the levitation potion:
Aside from what is written in the description above, please note that your character's maximum altitude is approximately their natural height, though Althea said up to the ceiling, most children won't get that high unless you know they can cast a Patronus already.

You can have your charrie move around a bit, but no silly business such as flying out windows or anything of that nature.

Moving while levitating is slow, think astronauts in a spaceship in outer space.

Your character can levitate just an inch off the ground if you decide their memory isn't happy enough, or just feel lighter even if they aren't levitating at all. Feel free to experiment with the height/memory relationship as you judge whether or not the memory will be happy enough for a patronus.

Side effects include mild giddiness and lingering happiness, so feel free to include that if you wish.


PM me if you have any further questions!

The ickle studentses were being very well behaved, and Pips peeked in the doorway to make sure there were actually people in the classroom. His tray was heavily laden with goodies for the class, but he didn't want to be in the wrong place. Not enough time to be running around to the wrong place.

Elveses were very busy.

"Pips has snackies for the studentses, Missus." He tiptoed into the room and offered the tray. Someone should tell him where to put it, maybe?

Nate dropped his book at the word 'party'. He looked up and listened attentively as Professor Schirmer explained what to do. Then, he stood and walked to the front of the room, taking some streamers out of the box with one hand and pulling out his wand with the other. He walked over to a bland wall and started hanging the streamers, with a sticking charm every few feet. Then, he pointed his wand at the end of the streamer and said "Mustachio!", making a Mario Bros.-esque mustache appear at the end. He repeated this with the other end. Then, he went back over to the box of supplies.

Pam laughed as Nate used his charm to make moustaches. She went over to the box of decorations, and gathered some brightly colored streamers. She started hanging them around the room. Some with a sticking charm, and others by hand.

As Nate was back at the supply box, a house elf, apparently by the name of Pips, came in with a tray full of snacks. Uh oh, there isn't a table up yet! he thought. "Hello, Pips, was it?" Nate asked the elf politely, trying to be respectful as possible. Muggle born Nate didn't have much experience with interspecies relations. "I'm sorry, there isn't a table set up yet for the treats..." he glanced around the room, "They all look delicious, by the way!" And he meant it. That chocolate had his name all over it. But he couldn't had it yet. First, to decorate!
Nate grabbed a bunch of balloons and began to blow them up one by one. He had them mostly strewn randomly around the floor, and his face had become red. The smile showed through though, as this was always one of Nate's favorite things to do: make a mess for a reason.

They're having a party? Louisa's face started beaming as Schirmer explained the preparation. The three boxes couldn't look more intriguing to the Ravenclaw standing still staring at them... and then there was a levitating potion in one of them? O. Em. Gee. She wanted to skip the first two parts of the mission and just gulp down that potion!

A minute after the professor had finished talking, a house-elf made his way into the room with a tray filled with food. Louisa glanced at the creature and smiled formally, too bad he had to wait until they laid down the trestle tables.

SO! The fourth year headed to the first box and sank into it. There were dozens of streamers, balloons and... were those hats? O.o Pffft, Louisa was going to make sure NONE of those hats touched her head. When she straightened up, she had two or three streamers and a bunch of balloons. The girl moved toward one of the walls, set two streamers on the floor while levitating the other with her wand. Reaching a suitable altitude, Louisa mouthed, "Lentesco!" A pale blue light ejected from her wand and hit the streamer's edge connecting it to the wall. She repeated the spell on the other edge and walked few steps backward, bumping into other students gently, and admired her work.

She'd never used magic to prepare a party and decorate a place! This was her first but definitely not her last. The girl excitedly held the other streamers and moved to another wall to repeat the process of hanging them up.

Party?!?!

Victoria poked her head into the boxes the professor showed. Whoa…there are sure many decorations they can put up. They sure look very cheerful too; no wonder she wanted them to have a party. Not only to have fun, but to think of a strong memory in order to produce a Patronus Charm.

Mwahaa…

Victoria took a strand of long silver streamer and looked around the brightly lit room. It would look terrific anywhere, but it will probably hurt their eye at the same time. If anything’s going to become brighter than it already is, Victoria will probably go blind for a few hours.

After Victoria put up the silver streamer by magic, she went over to the first box again to get another decoration. This time, she got a inflatable lavender balloon, shaped like a sailor boat. As Victoria put more and more decorations on the walls, she only did not feel the room getting brighter, but the room getting more cheerful like the professor had said it would.

While she worked, she couldn't help noticing a curiously wrinkeled creature. Could that be a House Elf?

O__________o

Victoria really doesn't know what to do with him(or her?) around the room. She had never seen a House Elf before, and had never expected it to be this...wrinkled. The House Elf looked quite scary to her, and Victoria decided to leave him alone. But she kepted looking back at it once in a while and giving him a weird look.

House Elves are strange creatures.

Willy Wonka!

That's what the potion reminded him of. M'hm. Except they weren't at chocolate factory and this wasn't a movie. Kennedy stood up went to get some balloons. He was about to blow some air into it when he saw an elf.

Not Nimma, but a different elf.

"Hey," Kennedy waved at it, the balloon still in his hand. His eyes drifted to the goodies it was holding. DROOL. He was just made hungry. How could re-phrase it to the elf if he could help him.

Hmmm...

"Do you need somewhere to put that?" he asked, cooly so the elf wouldn't do anything like hurt itself.

Yep, cooool.

William is not comfortable with his spells at this time. William decided to put paper plates and paper cups on the tablecloths on the tables.

"Hi there, my name is Alyssa. I see that you're putting up the streamers for the party. Is it okay, if I help too?," Alyssa asked the older student. "I don't know how to do the spell you're doing. But it looks like it's working. Could you teach it to me? If not, I could always just climb up and put up the streamers, although I don't see any chairs around, so that might be a problem. But just let me know what I need to do. Do you want me to start on the other side or I could help blow up the balloons?", Alyssa asked reaching into the box and pulling out more colorful streamers and balloons. She loved blowing them up. She started blowing one up while she waited for the Ravenclaw to finish what she was doing. Alyssa was really excited about helping to decorate the room because the end result was that they were going to have a party.

Taking the cue to help set up, Kurumi set all her things on the ground and walked over to the box, pulling out a small package of colorful balloons. If she knew how to produce a proper Hot Air Charm, this would be much easier, but she was afraid of melting the balloons or blowing them up - and a balloonless party was really no party at all.

Turning around, with a red balloon partially hanging from her mouth, Kurumi's eyes widened and she felt giddy. Forget the potion that they had just been offered, Kurumi felt like she was going to float away with glee right now!

"PIPS!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the small elf and bowing to him in greeting. Merlin had she been missing seeing the house elves around the school and in the kitchens "Pips, I've missed you." She eyed the tray. "Here, let me take that for you."

Nate decided to help the house elf out and give him a relief of his tray. Seeing as the other students were decorating, and all Nate could really see in the box was some glitter and a crumpled party hat that was wrapped in a balloon, he moved on to the table. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Nate said, moving the table where it would best fit in with the rest of the room. He set it down gently and proceeded to set it up manually. Once it was set, he walked back over to Pips the elf, who had been relieved by the Gryffindor prefect. "The table's over there," he said, gesturing in the general direction. "Thank you, Pips," he added, bowing slightly to the elf. Gosh, he looked overworked.

Kourtney perked up at once as the Professor mentioned the word party. Ooo, she did love parties! And this one sounded super fun! Not to mention, she was getting the chance to possibly levitate off the ground. Flying was great and all, but just hovering above the ground with no support was even cooler!

Her head turned to the right as she noticed a house elf arrive and she studied it for a moment. Interesting looking creatures, they were.

Not wanting to appear rude by staring, she looked over to where some of the students were beginning to decorate. At once, she skipped over to a young boy and reached down, picking up one of the balloons that he had blown up. "Good job." She complimented with a quick smile. "I think I'll just go hang up some of these near the tables."

With that said, she made her way towards the tables and began to secure the balloons to the wall with small pieces of tape. Red, purple, yellow, orange, blue! So many colors! She gathered a few more balloons in her arms and continued to place them in random spots around the room, including on some of the large windows. The sunlight streaming in made things look even nicer.

When she had finished with hanging up the balloons that the boy had blown up, she turned her attention towards the boxes. Peering into one, she noticed streamers and hats and wall decorations. She reached into the box and pulled out a set of hats and a decoration. She wasn't tall enough to hang the streamers anywhere.

She set the hats on one of the tables for now and then glanced around the room, trying to decide the perfect place to hang the decoration that read Party Time! in large red letters.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Pam said, pointing her wand at a table. She moved the table over to an empty spot, making sure not to hit anyone. Afterwards the gathered a table cloth, and placed it on the table with the same levitating spell. Afterwards she placed some of the treats on the table. Smiling at her work, she went over to help the others set up the tables and decorations.