The Dark Gryffindor

sjauthor: Thanks for replying. I knew I had a good sense of your motivation. I just had a feeling. I suppose the plot is getting thicker - yet there is soon to come more very sadistic, graphic events. Hope you can comment in the future with whatever your opinion is (I can take criticism if need be). I see Draco is one of your faves. He has a couple of small parts in this story (none of them sadistic, LOL).


Chapter Twenty: Valerie’s Patronus


The very next evening everyone returned from whatever they had done that day when they got a chance to go outside the hideout. Their fake gold galleons had burned, meaning that their leader, Neville was calling for another meeting.

Valerie went back through the corridors from where she had been in the library studying for her N.E.W.T.S. She did her best to look inconspicuous especially as she passed a line of prefects on patrol duty. For once they did not affront her, although looking back she had to think that was probably because it happened that it wasn’t the Slytherin prefects whom she past.

A whole big group entered the door appearing in the blank stretch of wall along the same corridor. Apparently they were the last of the members to arrive. Valerie was a little surprised. The room had changed since last night, now it seemed even bigger and more spacious, giving them more territory to perform defensive spells on, and what was more, mirrors had appeared against the dark panelling. Although the bright tapestry hangings: gold lion on red of Gryffindor, black badger on yellow of Hufflepuff and bronze eagle on blue of Ravenclaw remained, the hangings were pushed away from the mirrors. And the bookcase had moved itself to another section, still bulging with copies of many texts. Earlier today, Valerie had went searching to see what kind of books the group favoured. She was sorry to find absolutely nothing on dark magic. She wondered how they expected to be defence experts when they didn’t even study the enemies they needed to be defend themselves against.

Valerie and the others followed the crowd to Neville and Ginny in firm stances, legs and torsos braced, wands held up almost as if for dueling. Valerie could not tell if they were trying to look like they were about to fight on purpose, or if it was just their habit to do this for dramatic effect at the start of training sessions.

Neville commented airily, “I thought I’d change the room around a bit after everyone left. This is kind of how it looked when Harry taught us…I thought it might work today for what I have in mind.”

“Yeah? Why is that Neville?” said a boy named Anthony Goldstein. He sounded a bit critical.

Neville just gave a mystified expression and said with pent-up excitement, “You’ll see. What we’re going to try today is really fun. But not all that simple. It’s some of the most advanced charms known to sorcerus – er - I can never get that word – sorcerous?”

“Sorcerers!,” hissed Ginny. Honestly, he considered himself to be one, he should be able to say the word! And then Ginny laughed a guffaw of mirth. Some of the crowd laughed too. Valerie did not.

“But what is it, Neville? Just tell us!,” prompted Seamus Finnegan, Neville's good friend.

“Alright, alright! It’s the Patronus charm.”

There was instantly a buzz of intrigue and commentary. Loudest of all was Lavender Brown who insisted, “But we’ve done that before Neville, remember?! Most of us did it two years ago. Mine was a beautiful gazelle!”

The Patil Twins – Parvati and Padma nodded at Lavender. Parvati chimed in, supporting her friend, “She’s right. We can already do that!”

But Neville shook his head. “Guys. We still need to practice it. It’s really important stuff. Just because you could do it two whole years ago, doesn’t mean you can do it today. And – I just read that if your spirits are low, it’s even harder to do.”

“Yes,” agreed Ginny. “Who hasn’t felt miserable and down in the dumps lately? Especially when we’re stuck under the tutelage of the stinkin’ Carrows!”

There was more agreement now and second-guessing glances amongst each other. Perhaps they were not as familiar with the charm as they thought?

“You see,” said Neville. “We need to make Patronuses to raise our spirits. I think we’ll all feel better after this little practice. And…If we get really good – we can go out the castle and perform them against the Dementors!”

Once again there was cries of dissent around the room, whilst others considered this idea less vocally, mulling it over in their heads. Neville just waited patiently and soon enough the outrage subsided to looks of worry, confusion and fear at the thought of confronting the Dementors.

“In the real thing – we’ll need the experience, especially if Hogwarts is attacked. Besides it was only an idea of mine. No harm done. But then again – I also wanted to teach this now cause I know a lot of you are walking to Hogsmeade during the day to escape this hell-hole…That’s certainly understandable, but you don’t really want to leave your chances up to fate? Even if Dementors aren’t supposed to come after us, they could. I don’t want anybody at Hogwarts – save a few – like Snape – to suffer the Kiss…”

People laughed a little, but mostly remained tense and serious.

Neville abruptly ordered rather exuberantly, “Okay…Get started!”

For a couple of minutes Valere listened and observed the others with shrewd eyes, trying to remember and note anything and everything. For she had better be able to explain whatever Voldemort threw at her! And for the reason that she had never heard of this charm, for her specialty was not advanced magic for protection and support, but rather she knew advanced dark magic, and it’s nature was very different from this.

Valerie glanced at two Hufflepuff girls who had both screamed the incantation simulataneosusly, “Expecto Patronum!” A playful kitten made of pure light and an oddly rambunctious dove of a similar type of matter began to chase and tease each other. The two girls laughed clearly enthralled by it.

Finally, Valerie raised her wand and focused as hard as she could on something positive. She was at a loss of what to choose and just decided on the feeling of happiness and contentment. She did not know that wasn’t enough, but she had gleaned that this was the general idea in order to produce the Patronus.

“Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!,” she yelled over and over again. Yet nothing happened. It was as if she could not produce magic at all, but then finally a silver vapor-like gas came out momentarily, but Valerie wrongly took it for an accident.

Valerie shrugged and was about to take a rest and do some more observations on the D.A. Perhaps after a rest she would be successful. There must be some kind of trick or secret they had not told her!

Neville was finally coming near to her little corner of the room. The place she had purposefully picked in order to socialize the least.

She heard Neville coach, “Make it something powerful. Hold it in your mind and your Patronus will emerge to it’s true form!” Valerie was a bit surprised at Neville. He sounded just like a kind teacher. He totally knew what he was doing. He may not have the best orator skills what with his awkward speech and trying to copy Potter, but he was certainly strong. Valerie realized she was wrong to misjudge him all those years as a slow-witted weakling.

“Valerie? Have you done your corpor – corpor corporale one yet?”

“No…,” said Valerie suddenly smiling. It was still funny how phonetically challenged the Longbottom boy remained! She supposed it was just an odd quirk of his, just like everybody has one.

Neville confidently stepped into Valerie’s space and placed his hand over her hand where she held her wand raised. Valerie tried to ignore the repercussions of this touch, it was just a bit too intimate for her liking. “Your hand feels cold. Like a Dementor’s.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Well…You don’t want your hands that way. I noticed that my hand always gets warm when I’ve summoned the – the will to do it I guess.”

“Oh,” said Valerie less taken aback. She had been a little offended at being referred to as if she was a slimy, rotten Dementor!

“I’m sorry nobody told you how. You think of a memory, the happiest thing you remember.”

“Right….Can you give me an example someone uses?”

“Yeah, sure…” And suddenly Neville’s went red and his bruised cheeks flushed pink about to admit a little something he had never admitted to anyone. “I think of my parents sometimes. Imagining them better and whole again even out of St. Mungo's. Maybe your parents will work? It always does for me…”

Valerie’s face darkened and she frowned slightly. “No. I don’t think my parents will work,” she managed to say casually. And Valerie forced those thoughts of her crazy father out of her mind. It was strangely ironic that Neville’s parents had become crazy against their will and he could think of them for the Patronus but Valerie’s father had been crazy on his own accord and she couldn’t bear to use him for the Patronus.

“Wait – you said it was just a thought – that you use to imagine your parents better. So, can’t I think of something that isn’t quite a memory?”

Neville rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know I never realized that. Of course you're right. You can use something outside of an actual event. Try that.”

For several minutes Valerie tried to think of her happiest thoughts as she attempted the spell. The idea of marrying Professor Snape one day was one of them. But it just wasn’t working powerfully enough and Valerie did not know why. She did not know it – but deep in her heart she sagaciously knew that this possibility for winding up married to him was extremely unrealistic.

Sweaty and becoming very upset at her failures, Valerie pressed her head against the cool surface of the intricate mirror patterns along the wall. Without knowing what effect it would have – she gazed into her reflection – staring deep within her hard-staring blue eyes. And suddenly an epiphany hit her – she seemed to understand herself and an awareness came over her of something even grander and larger! Valerie smiled – tears flecking her eyes – tears of happiness that did not fall.

She turned around quickly and jumped forward wand raised, she roared in the loud room, unbeknowest to everyone else, “Expecto Patronum!”

Out burst a creature that looked to be cloaked. It had wings and then a beak protruded from it. It stood proud and intelligent, eyes of light gleaming. It was the form of a huge raven, the wings spreading and enveloping as they fluttered out, as if offering protection like an angel’s wing’s would. Her Patronus - as all are - was a projection of Valerie’s individual soul and she could feel it take form in the energy of it’s radiating power. She felt like an entire piece of herself stepped outside her body. And it was the thought of her own death that did this. Not quite death – but of her spirit one day transcending it and her own personal beliefs in an afterlife that made her happy enough to produce one.

Later that night she finally had her own multi-coloured hammock strung out from the ceiling besides the rows of all the others crammed next to hers. She wasn’t sure if she was glad she wound up squeezed far away from Ginny. She supposed the idea of kindling a friendship with her cousin was a pipe dream. It wouldn’t help her spying either and that was, afterall the whole reason she was really here. It was not for friendship.



Note: The next scene definitely features Snape and Voldemort and Valerie. It should be interesting. I must be honest I have not totally figured out how Valerie’s spying plays out in the overall plot. I am still coming up with things. This is definitely not the only focus of the story. Other things will happen not related to her spying on the D.A.! Including interactions with the Malfoys, and other Death Eaters showing up later for an interesting little occasion indeed!