The Patronus
chapter twelve of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Classes start up again, and soon after Lupin begins teaching Harry how to conjure a Patronus. Harry also gets his Firebolt back, but when he tries to make up with an increasingly frantic Hermione, they are interrupted by Ron – who is irate that Crookshanks seems to have eaten Scabbers.
“She doesn’t know,” said Ron, staring resentfully after Hermione. “She’s just trying to get us to talk to her again.”
(by gerre)
“Ah yes,” said Lupin, when Harry reminded him of his promise at the end of class. “Let me see … how about eight o’clock on Thursday evening?”
(by Laurence Peguy)
A dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak.
(by Laurence Peguy)
The sounds of someone stumbling from a room – a door bursting open – a cackle of high-pitched laughter –
(by Hala Zabaneh)
And then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry’s wand, to hover between him and the dementor, and though Harry’s legs felt like water, he was still on his feet….
(by Mudblood428)
“I’ve lost the passwords!” Neville told them miserably. ” I made him tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps changing them, and now I don’t know what I’ve done with them!”
(by pojypojy)
Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay… and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over.
(by reallycorking)
“LOOK!” he bellowed, striding over to Hermione’s table. “LOOK!” he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face. “SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!”
(by Tealin Raintree)
about the chapter
Something You May Not Have Noticed
A week after term begins, Slytherin plays Ravenclaw in Quidditch, and Slytherin narrowly wins – so does this mean that Draco Malfoy finally caught a Snitch? Or did Slytherin’s Chasers outscore Ravenclaw’s by so much that Cho Chang caught the Snitch for Ravenclaw and they still lost? Either way, the result would be mildly interesting to know (especially since it was a “narrow” victory – somebody’s Chasers must have done some serious scoring!).
The Wizarding World
Boggarts are funny creatures. They seem to spontaneously move into wizarding buildings for no reason at all. Why not Muggle buildings as well? It seems like some magical creatures must be drawn to magic, somehow, and avoid Muggles all on their own. Boggarts certainly fit into this category. But one other thing I can’t help wondering about them: what (and, for that matter, how) do boggarts eat?
The Boy Who Lived
Harry doesn’t know any differently, and Lupin doesn’t ask him about it, but when Lupin tells Harry to come up with the happiest memories he’s got, the results are so, so sad. Harry tries three memories in succession: his first ride on a broomstick, winning the House Championship, and finding out he was leaving the Dursleys. I hope, very much, that there aren’t many children in this world who can’t come up with something happier than that.
The Final Word
(When asked, “What one spell would you like to bring to life and why?”)
“Ooh, there are so many, aren’t there? So many. Erm, I think for me there … the outstanding spell is ‘Expecto Patronum’, and you know what that does don’t you? It creates the Patronus, it creates a kind of spirit guardian in a way. And that’s partly because of what it does. It’s the protector, and you could protect yourself and other people that you cared about with a Patronus, but it’s also because it’s such a beautiful spell. you know, the image of the silver Patronus emerging from a wand. I really like that.”–J.K. Rowling, July 2005
I love this chapter. It’s kind of bittersweet to read about the conjuring of the Patronus. Maybe Boggarts feed of the magic, so they need to be close to a wizarding family? Or maybe they’re more like Dementors: Muggles can’t see them, so they might think about the thing that scarees them most when they walk past a Boggart or something….
kim said this on June 30, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I’ve always thought that boggarts do come into contact with muggles as the “monster” in the closet or under the bed that children see. I think Lupin says something to this effect when he’s talking about the boggart for the first time in DADA.
Ben said this on August 25, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I also have a thought about Boggarts. I know early on Lupin says no one knows what a Boggart really looks like, but later we find out that Moody might know. What do you think he sees? Is it what scares him? or is it what a Boggart truly looks like?
Joyce said this on November 5, 2009 at 12:28 am
I think muggles just don’t see them. Maybe they feel them, like Ben said: they’re the monster in the closet or under the bed. Like dementors, they feed off people’s good feelings and memories. I wish they’d eat dust bunnies instead!
Sheri said this on January 15, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Re: to something you may not have noticed-
Malfoy must be a fairly decent seeker. They wouldn’t keep him around if he wasn’t, despite the hugely generous gift of the brooms in COS. My understanding is that the only team he fails to catch the snitch against is Griffindor, and only because Harry’s a better seeker.
Adele said this on March 10, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Jayce I believe that Moody sees what a Boggart really looks like. Lupin (or Harry or Hermione) says that a Boggart turns into a persons biggest fear when the Boggart sees the person, and I think that we can be pretty sure that the Boggart didn’t see Moody as he was donwstairs in another room.
Emilie said this on March 12, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Boggarts probably *do* move into Muggle homes at times – particularly since they turn up in British folklore (they’re “real” legendary creatures, like hippogriffs, basilisks, and phoenixes, rather than inventions of Rowling’s), and the Muggles would have had to have found out about them somehow.
Todd said this on April 25, 2010 at 5:49 am