Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

53.

Professor Dumbledore emerged from the Entrance Hall and walked forward to the three women who stared at him with different expressions. McGonagall looked relieved and hopeful while Umbridge had pursed lips and looked ready for a fight.

"Minerva, if you'll please escort Sybil back inside," Dumbledore instructed softly and the said Professor took Trelawney back inside the castle. The man shot a smile to the weeping woman before turning back to the pink toad with a hard expression on his lined face.

"Dumbledore, might I remind you under Educational Decree-"

"You have the power to dismiss my teachers' yes, but that does not mean you can banish them from the grounds," Dumbledore's voice rose slightly with a hint of anger. The usually calm Professor seemed to find the situation inconvenient and a waste of his time. "That power resides with Headmaster."

"For now..." the woman nodded with her sweet smile and glanced at the watching students staring from the corridors. And with that, the woman walked around Professor Dumbledore and left into the castle. Dumbledore turned and followed after her in much more brisker walk.

"Don't you all have studying to do?!" the man announced on his way, making students rush away in fear of being personally confronted.

This run-in made the members of Dumbledore's Army only become more eager to come to lessons in the Room of Requirement. There had also been a mass breakout from Azkaban that was reported in the Daily Prophet, saying that it was the work of Sirius Black. This absolute drivel had made most people realise how corrupt the Ministry now was as it was obviously their influence over the newspaper that produced this barbaric story. This made students at Hogwarts start to ease off of Harry and believe his story of the return of You-Know-Who. Seamus was even seen now attending the DA meeting with Dean. But the news of the breakout had caused a hefty amount of speculation and fear in everyone. It made the DA lessons become more meaningful and important to attend.

"You need to think of your happiest memory," Harry instructed while walking around groups of students practicing. "Find it and hold on to it. It's the only way to make your Patronus take its full form."

Sophia watched around the room as Hermione conjured an Otter from her wand and Ginny conjure a horse that ran around the entire room. This motivated her to start thinking of a happy memory in order to conjure her own, raking through her mind vividly. She went through the memories she's had with her Father, like the Christmas she spent with him in his office in third year. But that somehow didn't feel strong enough. All of her past memories didn't seem to be strong enough as only a thin mist would flow out from her wand when she uttered the spell.

She then thought about one of the past trips to Hogsmeade when they first went to the Hogs Head. She remembered slipping on the icy hill and being caught by Fred before she fell, making him hold her close to him in fear of her doing it again. She then pictured George falling next to her and seeing him slide all the way back down the hill to the bottom, making her and Fred burst out into a contagious laughter. She concentrated hard on this memory and thought about what she felt at that moment as well as what she could see and hear. She felt the happiness and care-free attitude she had and remembered the sound of Fred's laughter in her ear, creating a bubbly feeling in a stomach that made her smile unconsciously.

"Expecto Patronum," she muttered to herself with a sway of her wand and out came a silvery figure. A large leopard began to prance majestically around the room looking on-guard yet relaxed while being surrounded by other Patronuses. Sophia beamed at the animal and caught sight of another animal cautiously walking over to stand in front of the leopard, bowing its head slightly and received a similar one from the feline. The two animals then began to playfully chase each other around the room, weaving through other Patronuses before eventually nuzzling heads in a sign of affection. The unlikely pairing confused Sophia once she realised the animal that wasn't her Patronus was in fact a hyena. She followed the mist that flowed off the animal and towards a familiar wand as well as a familiar redhead that wore a lazy smirk.