One Honest Heart

10. Expecto Patronum

The
Patronus
Charm is used to fend off Dementors. Being the spectral embodiment of
its caster’s happiness, the Patronus repels the Dementors who thrive on misery
and despair.

Proper
practice of the Patronus Charm is difficult to achieve since most students fail
to put themselves in a suitable state of mind without the actual presence of a
Dementor. When Dementors were banned from the Hogwarts grounds, practical study
of the Patronus was removed from the Defence Against the Dark Arts course plan.
Attempts to use shapeshifters as stand-ins for Dementors have consistently
failed to be of any real use.

—
from Spells
& Charms III, 1976 ed.

One
of the best examples of this is the Patronus Charm. Its incantation, Expecto Patronum, is
a masterpiece of layered spell-making that channels its wielder’s power in the
most direct and visible way possible. Expecto Patronum helps its caster
will a physical embodiment of his magical power into existence. It creates an
autonomous weapon of pure willpower that can home in on its target while its
wielder’s mind is muddled by the fear that Dementors use to incapacitate their
prey.

Lexically,
both halves of the charm carry multiple meanings, all relevant and working
together towards the expulsion of the Patronus. The etymological Latin origins
of expecto
that will resonate most clearly for modern users are the most obvious: to
expect, to look out, (ex specere). To produce a Patronus, one must expect it
to appear. Since this is inherent in all incantations, it need rarely be
addressed within the wording itself. The fact that it is in evidence here
proves the failsafe nature of this vital protection charm.

The
second origin of expecto
is the one more specific to this particular charm: to expel from the chest,
expectoro. It is likely the wielder’s wand is placed right before his chest
when the charm is used and therefore this centring of power in that area is
most useful, facilitating the focusing of the power that needs to be expelled.
The (inherently flawed) assumption that goodness and happiness resides in the
heart (pectus) helps the caster concentrate on the positive energy that
he needs to produce the Patronus. Such concentration is vital as our only
direct channel to the pure and undiluted magic inside us are the very feelings
that the Dementors subvert, or attempt to destroy, in order to make our own
magic inaccessible to us.

The
part of the spell that deals with what we are to expect is
unsurprisingly the one richest in connotations. The root of patronum is, of
course, the Latin patr, father. The most fundamental reason for this
(often overlooked) is that this is a charm that is very much the product of a
patriarchal society. The patr is expected to preserve and protect. The
fact that the most powerful of gods have often been pictured as great fathers
is telling. The father is a symbol of safety, protection, power, and
benevolence – precisely the things essential to the creation of a Patronus that
knows its purpose.

.
. .

The
father image inherent to the Patronus Charm has the rarely discussed side
effect of affecting the strength of an individual Patronus based on the
caster’s relation to his father or the image of a father. This would explain
the much hyped Potter Patronus, cast as it is by a boy who went from direct
father worship to a conflicted turmoil of emotions that are all excellent at
counteracting Dementor influence and creating a very powerful Patronus indeed.
Rather than being a sign of Potter’s great magical powers or prowess, his
Patronus is a sign of his substantial psychological father issues. Issues that
have thus far served him well.

.
. .

Phonetically,
the Patronus Charm is a prime example of an expulsion incantation. Heavily
aspirated and semi-aspirated p’s and t’s interact crosswise to
phonologically represent the thrusting forth of the father figure that is the
Patronus. . . . The consonant sounds of the two stressed syllables together
form [phtr], a close approximation of the Latin patr. . . .
The final [nm] can easily be seen as a shortened form of [nam], adding to the
sense of reverent foreboding, building the expectation implied in Expecto.

.
. .

Considering
the amount of guidance and direction inherent in the very wording of this
charm, it is a sure sign of the degradation of wizarding kind that so many
people these days suffer great problems creating even the faintest wisp of a
Patronus. Though considering the lamentable effects of its destructive twin,
the Killing Curse, perhaps this too is a blessing, for never has wit been
spread so thin over the Wizarding World as today.

—
from Phonetic
Focus and Conductive Connotations, or Why the Will is Mightier than the Quill
by Henry Witherto, 1999

   To
please the spirits of the Empty Woods,

   To
fill the fiends that on the merchants fed,

   The
Rulers ruled to offer Sacrifice;

   To
ease the calling of the Empty Ones,

   To
still the waking nightmares they inspired,

   They
picked a boy of wit and reason dull

   And
bade his brighter brother bring him forth

   Into
that deep and dreary Darkened Wood,

   Infested
with the fest’ring evil sores

   That
ravage souls and leave but withered cores.



   Poor
were the boys, no ruling could refuse;

   Against
their will, without a backward glance,

   They
ventured t’wards that vile Forbidden Wood;

   The
elder wept, the younger wondered why,

   Then
from the dark was heard a ghastly cry.



   From
every shade, from every beastly bower,

   The
damnéd Empty Ones came wailing forth

   And
circled round the boys to break their wits.

   In
fevered fits they crumpled to the ground,

   Both
victims of that vicious, searing sound.



   But
in the Boy where Wit was loosely tied,

   There
dwelt a sleeping, silent, secret Soul;

   Beneath
his breast, a shining Knight drew breath

   To
thunder forth; Avenge his brother’s death.



   Of
passion, power and the heart of Life

   Composed,
beside himself he stood his ground,

   Opposed
the Empty fiends with fiery light;

   With
strength of spirit, like a Phoenix fought

   Against
the damnéd spirits o’the dirt;

   Their
foul advance with flame did he divert.



   Drew
back they did, like Shadows from the Light,

   Like
Darkness from the bloom of budding Day,

   And
bowed before the One they could not fight,

   Before
that Kingly Soul they could not slay.



   Thus
having won his vict’ry of the Heart,

   He
settled slowly on a stronger shape

   And
rose with brain and brawn of brother born.

   Then
by the Empty Ones an oath was sworn:

   To
him or his they would not do a thing;

   From
that day on, was he their Shining King.

—
from the Tale of the Shining King, from a seventeenth century manuscript