Chapter 257

Chapter 257

There was little to say about lunch. Suer merely followed Professor Filius Flitwick in enjoying the treatment reserved for members of staff.

This did not mean that the house-elves failed to put their hearts into preparing meals for the students. As everyone knew, student fare placed greater emphasis on balanced nutrition, while the professors’ meals pursued elegance and flavour. The three-layered steak before Suer, covered in a special sauce, was a perfect example. It tasted exquisite.

After the meal came tea and relaxation. Suer’s conversation with Professor Flitwick was rich in practical knowledge.

The professor possessed a vast store of learning, abundant experience and an engaging sense of humour. He was proudest of his youthful career as a duellist. At Suer’s request, he drew upon his past duels against other wizards and generously taught Suer a great many small techniques for casting spells.

Whenever enthusiasm seized him, the professor even stood upon the sofa to demonstrate their effects.

These techniques included, but were by no means limited to, making a spell curve through the air, or appearing to attack with one spell while concealing a second beneath it — an application of nonverbal magic.

There were many more useful tricks, too many to recount one by one. Suer would have to practise and develop them himself.

One saying was entirely correct: there were no useless spells, only useless wizards. Even an enlarged Lumos could produce an unexpected effect in a duel, although anyone preparing to try it would be wise to put on a pair of dark glasses first.

Professor Flitwick said he had done exactly that once in a dark place and nearly blinded his elderly eyes. Even now, small black specks occasionally drifted across his vision.

Suer was listening to Professor Flitwick recount an expedition among the native tribes of Africa when someone knocked on the office door.

Several older students whom Suer recognised but did not know entered. Judging by their clothes, the group consisted mainly of young eagles and lions, with several little badgers and snakes mixed among them.

Cedric Diggory was one of them, as were Percy Weasley and his girlfriend, Miss Clearwater.

Professor Flitwick’s club was neither as solemn nor as rigid as an ordinary lesson, and it did not rely upon one-sided instruction. Instead, it took the form of a discussion. After greeting the few people he knew, Suer obediently settled into a corner and ate from the three-tiered afternoon-tea stand the house-elves had just delivered.

This meeting concerned the recent mass incursion of Dementors onto the Quidditch pitch. They would discuss only one spell: the Patronus Charm.

“The Patronus Charm is highly advanced by every measure. Learning it requires a great deal of time. Its difficulty lies neither in the wand movement nor the pronunciation, but in your ability to summon and direct emotion.”

“You have all seen the Dementors outside the castle. The charm is not effective against Dementors alone. It can also repel other dark and evil creatures.”

“Furthermore, learning it early can earn you a considerable number of additional marks in your wizarding examinations.”

“This ought properly to be taught in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Strictly speaking, it is one of that subject’s most advanced protective charms.” Professor Flitwick took a small jab at the post that seemed to require a new occupant every year.

“However, this is only an extracurricular discussion, so there is no need to draw such strict boundaries. I shall begin by explaining the distinctions between the various stages of the charm.”

“The first stage is where most people begin. At this initial stage, the Patronus can drive away weaker dark creatures.”

Professor Flitwick drew his wand and gave it a gentle wave. A stream of silvery-white mist drifted out.
“The second stage is more advanced. At this point, your emotions begin to take visible form.”

As Professor Flitwick moved his wand, the silver mist grew steadily larger and began to assume a distinct outline. It was clearly an eagle.

The students, including Suer, listened attentively. Suer even borrowed a sheet of parchment and a quill from Cedric beside him.

Knowledge deserved revisiting, even when one had learned it before. Reviewing the old could reveal something new.

“The third stage,” Professor Flitwick continued, “is when the Patronus sheds its former rigidity. It can act almost as a second body for the wizard. This is the highest recognised level: the corporeal Patronus.”

“It can assist a wizard in many ways. It may scout a path, for example, or carry a message to a relative or beloved. It travels much faster than an owl.”

The young wizards immediately burst into laughter. Once it subsided, someone raised a hand to ask a question.

“Professor, is there a fourth stage?”

“I do not know whether the path continues beyond this point.” Professor Flitwick shook his head and flicked his wand. The silver mist immediately dispersed, and everyone felt a warm, joyful presence brush across their faces.

“We generally consider a wizard to have mastered the Patronus Charm upon reaching the third stage.”

“If any of you discovers a fourth, and I am still alive by then, I hope you will come and tell me.” Professor Flitwick winked mischievously.

“If I have already gone to meet Merlin, you may tell me beside my gravestone instead.”

The young wizards laughed again.

“Remember: with the Patronus Charm, summoning the emotion is more important than the incantation itself.”

“Next, I invite Mr Bones to share his experience.” Professor Flitwick stepped aside. “He has already travelled a considerable distance along the path of the Patronus Charm.”

There was little else to say about what followed.

Suer displayed his Patronus. During the demonstration, he deliberately concealed part of his ability, showing only what Professor Flitwick had described as the second stage, when the Patronus possessed a visible shape.

In truth, Suer himself had already reached the third stage — or perhaps even the fourth.

Even so, his demonstration dazzled students at least two years older than he was, an effect commonly known as showing off. Most of them were still somewhere between the first and second stages. Some knew how to cast the spell in theory but had never succeeded.

Suer was therefore a magnificent oddity among young wizards. He knew few other truly advanced spells, yet somehow he had mastered the Patronus Charm.

Any student admitted to Professor Flitwick’s club ranked among the finest scholars in their house.

Such students inevitably possessed pride of their own and were unwilling to be surpassed by someone younger.

Yet they also knew how to learn. They possessed pride without arrogance.

Suer therefore spent the entire afternoon answering requests for advice. Naturally, the accomplished students were equally generous, sharing with him what they had discovered through their own studies.

All in all, it was an immensely rewarding Saturday.