Chapter 122: Patronus

"... Only the sage can spirit the spirit without being spirited by the spirit, drive all things and hold their mechanism, can meet them, can scatter them, can control them, responding to all things daily, his heart is silent."

After a long spell that almost made people fall asleep, a white Dementor slowly took shape in the mist.

Its covered face turned toward Harry, a scarred hand gripped its cloak, the lights around the classroom flickered, and almost in the blink of an eye, the white Dementor turned into a dark black. With a clicking, deep breathing sound, the bone-chilling cold invaded Harry.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry tried his best to think about the moment of winning the championship, but his thoughts slipped to that night ten years ago. After a puff of fleeting white smoke, Harry's wand had no movement anymore.

"No! Harry! Please take me instead!"

"Step aside. Stand and watch, woman!"

"Lily, take Harry away! It's him! Hurry! Run! I'll block him..."

A person's voice approached from the next room... the door exploded in an instant... he let out a high-pitched cackle...

"Harry! Harry... wake up..."

Lu Ping's hand waved in front of Harry, and he suddenly came back to his senses, discovering Zhang Qiu had dissolved the spell. She was reciting other spells in a low voice to restore her sanity. Harry took a deep breath; he felt a bit ashamed.

"I heard my father," Harry said slowly, harboring a complicated mood, "This is the first time I've remembered his voice... he tried to block Voldemort, to help Mom buy time..."

Harry choked up as he spoke.

"You heard James?" Lu Ping said in a strange voice.

"Yes..." Harry sniffed, "Oh, right, I heard others say you were friends, Moony and Prongs."

"I... actually," Lu Ping looked a bit embarrassed, "Indeed, I really wanted to do something, but I couldn't do anything."

"Let's take a break." Zhang Qiu suggested, "Can Professor Lu Ping tell some stories from school days? Harry really hopes to know more about his father."

"Alright." Lu Ping sat down and handed a chocolate bar to each of the two children, "When I was in school, I, James, and, and Peter were in the same dormitory..."

"And Sirius." Harry knew he couldn't get around this person.

"Indeed, I meant to say..." Lu Ping looked like he was racking his brains to tell some happy stories, but he looked miserable.

In fact, what could Lu Ping say? Say James copied homework, violated school rules, and went night-wandering everywhere? Or say the four of them teased Filch and teased Slytherin classmates? Even the Animagus that moved Lu Ping the most, he felt it wasn't suitable to tell Harry, who was in his third year.

"How about talking about Peter." Harry said pretending to be relaxed, "Among Dad's good friends, he is the one I know the least."

"Speaking of Pettigrew." Lu Ping revealed a helpless smile, "He wasn't as smart as the others, and was also timid and afraid of trouble, but as long as James took the lead, no matter what, he would follow. After all, we were all Gryffindors."

"Then where is he now?" Harry asked this question, and a bad feeling suddenly surged in his heart.

"He, he went to America, because he was afraid of Voldemort..." Lu Ping said with difficulty.

"Please tell me the truth, Professor." Harry looked into his eyes seriously.

"That night." Lu Ping sighed, "He should have been unable to accept it, then ran to find Sirius."

"We finally only found a small finger; Sirius killed his friend for the second time." Lu Ping said with a complicated expression.

Harry sat in place for a long time. He thought of Hannah, a child who could always muster the courage to follow Neville. If one day something terrible happened, Hannah would rush to want to avenge Neville, but she was completely overestimating her abilities...

And Jin Ni and Ivy, he still remembered Jin Ni trembling in the Forbidden Forest but supporting herself wanting to follow them. This kind of substitution made him feel heartbroken.

"Actually, Harry." Zhang Qiu said softly, "The Patronus represents hope. Hope doesn't just come from your happiest memories; actually, it also comes from your most painful memories."

In Lu Ping's somewhat uncomprehending eyes, she continued, "My uncle once said a sentence: beyond enlightenment, one can see hope. What stays by your side in the worst and most painful times, supporting you to continue walking, is hope."

Harry thought thoughtfully, when he won the championship, how much did that intense happiness, achievement, pride, and hope have to do with it?

"Dementors will suck away all your positive emotions, leaving you only with despair, so what truly can block them is precisely that bit of hope in despair, the brand-new road seen when standing up in the darkness, even if this road is full of thorns." Zhang Qiu said slowly.

"Expecto Patronum." Lu Ping suddenly said. His wand tip began to gush out a large amount of white mist, pouring onto the ground like mercury. Then, a white wolf appeared, completely silver-white, and its eyes were full of calmness.

Harry looked at this Patronus in surprise. He didn't expect Lu Ping's Patronus would be a wolf, especially in the situation where he himself was a werewolf.

"Thank you, Zhang." Lu Ping said softly, "I originally thought I would never be able to release a complete Patronus in my life."

Harry could imagine that Lu Ping, who had suffered from the werewolf identity, once rejected this white wolf Patronus so much. However, he pretended not to know and just accompanied him to make a surprised expression.

"Harry, perhaps my original train of thought was problematic." Lu Ping said, "If your happiest memory cannot take effect, and the Dementor makes you think of that night every time, then think about that night."

"Your parents sacrificed everything to let you live. Think about this, think about their love for you." Lu Ping continued, "Knowing that your parents loved you, perhaps this is the way to help you release the Patronus."

"Let's do it again." Zhang Qiu stood up.

When the Dementor attacked again, Harry thought about his parents in his heart—the ones seen in the Mirror of Erised, the ones seen in the Forbidden Forest of the afterlife, the ones seen in photos—countless identical, vivid faces gathered together, bringing him the only glimmer of light in the cold despair of that terrible night.

"Expecto Patronum." Harry had never felt himself so concentrated, so focused. He seemed to see James and Lily smiling at him through the white mist.

A silver-white stag jumped out from his wand tip, forcing back the Dementor that was approaching step by step. The room became bright again, and the temperature rose again.

"James." Lu Ping said blankly, "So you have always been here."

Zhang Qiu dismissed the Dementor, then continued to close her eyes to restore her sanity.

"Dad?" Harry asked hesitantly, "Why do you say that?"

"Your Patronus is him himself, child." Lu Ping wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his robe quietly, "I thought I would never see him again in this life."

"Himself, but this is a deer?" Harry was stunned for a moment, "Could it be that he is an Animagus?"

"Uh." Lu Ping looked a bit embarrassed, "I originally wasn't prepared to say it."

"So Prongs hinted at his animal form? Professor, your Animagus is a white wolf?" Harry chose to play dumb when mentioning Lu Ping, "Then Sirius Padfoot is a bear, and Wormtail Peter is a rat?"

"Something like that, but I think you'd better go back quickly now." Lu Ping said awkwardly, "It's already very late, and your harvest today is already enough."

Zhang Qiu pulled Harry. He realized Lu Ping didn't intend to say anything anymore and could only politely say goodbye to him.

The next day, after the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Lu Ping kept Harry behind again.

"I think our learning about the Patronus Charm can come to an end." Lu Ping said, "You already know how to release the Patronus, and even released it more perfectly than I did."

"But, Professor..." Harry actually enjoyed the time spent with Lu Ping.

"You don't need to continue wasting too much time on this, Harry." He stated a fact calmly, "Your original intention for learning the Patronus was to deal with Dementors; now you are already doing better than most people. In fact, although your extraordinary experiences make you more easily affected by Dementors, they also make you more easily master the Patronus Charm."

Harry knew what he said was right, and he couldn't find any other reason.

On Saturday of the first week of school, the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match was held. All Gryffindors who cared about Quidditch went to watch the match. Because at the end of the last term, Ravenclaw defeated Hufflepuff by 240 to 160, which meant that each house might become a strong opponent for Gryffindor this term.

"Now Hufflepuff has finished all their matches, and their total score is 480 points. This sounds like a lot." Ron said, his small notebook recording that Gryffindor still only had a pitiful 120 points, "But the good news is, it's over; their score cannot rise anymore."

"What's difficult is that Hufflepuff lost to the other two houses after beating us." Jin Ni said with some distress, "Now whether it's Ravenclaw with 240 or Slytherin with 180, they are both our strong opponents."

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Ivy said confidently, "Harry has already obtained the Firebolt; we just need to win 240 and 180 points respectively when playing against them, which is enough."

"Right, Harry, you don't need to worry." Neville also supported, he rarely participated in collective activities.

"We will win!" Wood patted his shoulder excitedly. ===== CHAPTER 123 =====