Harry Potter: Raised by Wolves.

Harry thought about having to face a real dementor, and his stomach turned over. Yes, the boggart was a much better idea.

He listened attentively as Lupin explained the Patronus charm to him, going over the incantation in his head. "Expecto Patronum," he murmured, wrapping his tongue around the sounds. "It just needs a happy memory?"

"The happiest one you can think of," Lupin confirmed. "When you think you've got one, give it a try."

Harry stood, lips pursed in thought. As tragic as it sounded, he didn't have an abundance of happy memories. He rolled a few through his mind — the moment Hagrid told him he was a wizard, maybe? No, that was mostly just confusion. His first Christmas at Hogwarts? That didn't feel right either.

Eventually, he settled on the first time he ever rode a broom. Simple, uncomplicated, breathless joy. He held the memory in his head, grasping his wand tight. "Expecto Patronum!" Nothing happened.

He focused harder on "Expecto Patronum!"

the

memory.

A burst of silvery wisps shot out of the end of his wand, and Harry almost dropped it in shock. "Look! I did it! Sort of." It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Well done, Harry!" Lupin enthused, his grin making him look so much like the young man in the back of the Potters' wedding photo that Harry's breath caught for a moment. "Are you ready to try it on a dementor?"

"Yeah," Harry said, squaring his shoulders and facing the desk. "Let's do it." His blood roared in his ears, the happy memory at the forefront of his mind. Only… it wasn't entirely there, the little voice in the back of his head reminding him that he was about to hear her again. His mother. The only time he ever heard her voice.

Lupin opened the packing case, and before Harry could truly brace himself the room went cold, a dark figure looming up above him. Harry's hand shook as he tried to gather his happy thoughts. "Expecto Patronum!" The dementor grew closer, the world starting to go fuzzy around the edges for Harry, the scream building in the back of his mind. "Expecto Patronum!"

Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! It was a new voice. A male voice. White fog filled Harry's vision. I'll hold him off!

There was a crash, like a door bursting off its hinges.

"Harry! Harry, wake up!" The room was slowly warming. Harry became aware of two things; he was sprawled on the floor of the office, and Lupin was tapping him hard on the face. "Harry! Merlin, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I should've eased you into it more, I—"

"It's fine. I'm fine," he croaked, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. He still felt shaky. Lupin thrust a chocolate frog towards him.

"I didn't expect you to get it the first time. I would've been astounded if you had," Lupin told him, still looking concerned.

"It's getting worse," Harry mumbled, thinking about what he'd just heard. That had to be… his father. James Potter's voice. He'd never heard that before, either.

"If you want understand—"

to

stop,

I

completely

"No," Harry insisted, biting the head off the chocolate frog. "I can do this. Let's go again."

Lupin made him wait until his hands no longer trembled, then helped him to his feet and moved towards the packing case. "You might want to try a happier memory," he suggested. "It's possible the one you were using wasn't quite strong enough."

Harry rolled through his limited stash of happy memories, finally choosing the memory of winning the house cup the year before. He nodded. "Do it."

The lights dimmed and the room went cold, the now-familiar rattling breath echoing through the office. Harry clenched his jaw, forcing the memory to the forefront of his mind. "Expecto Patronum! EXPECTO PATRONUM!" This time, an enormous silver shadow burst from his wand, sending the dementor reeling back several steps. Harry stood wide-eyed, and Lupin jumped in with a sharp Riddikulus, sending the boggart back into the case in the shape of a silvery orb again. Harry's patronus vanished. The lamps re-lit, and Harry sank into the chair behind him, panting.

"I did it!" He felt like he'd run a mile, but he was beaming, and Lupin returned the expression.

"Excellent, Harry! Fantastic first start."

"Let's go again," Harry urged, and the professor sighed. "Please, sir. Just one more."

Once again, Harry managed a silver shadow big enough to cut the dementor off before the screaming started. It probably wouldn't help against a real dementor, but it was a start. Lupin insisted that was enough for the day. "It's a large amount of magic, I don't want you overdoing it," he warned. On the contrary, Harry's magic felt better than it had in weeks, finally able to start levelling out the extra burst from his newly-freed core. But he couldn't say that, so he allowed himself to be herded into the chair and given a large mug of hot chocolate. "I have to say, I'm impressed. You're picking it up far quicker than I expected."