"I assume you've already looked into Dementors on your own, so I'll only explain things you might not know."
"If you have questions, check the books after class. This is an extracurricular lesson, after all."
Under the students' horrified gazes, Tver took a long step forward, stopping less than half a foot away from the Dementor. One step closer, and he would have been standing right beside it.
Yet he showed no sign of discomfort. His face still wore that perfectly composed professor's smile.
The Dementor itself seemed equally oblivious, showing no reaction at all. It was actually less animated now than when the students had crowded around earlier.
"Dementors don't actually have facial features. Hmm…"
With clear distaste, he lifted the creature's hood using his wand, revealing a horrifying, hollow mouth.
Come to think of it, he really ought to study how that mouth managed to suck out souls.
The thought alone sent a chill through him.
"More accurately, they only have a mouth. That's why they're effectively blind and deaf. They don't rely on sight to hunt."
"Then what do they rely on?" George demanded angrily. "During the last match, the Dementors went straight to the Quidditch pitch!"
If it weren't for the Dementors, Gryffindor's best broom wouldn't have been smashed to pieces.
"Emotions."
Tver dabbed a trace of silver light onto his wand and waved it teasingly, like a cat toy, drawing the Dementor into craning forward.
"Dementors feed on joyful emotions. When such emotions appear within their range, they follow the scent."
"So don't think disguising yourselves will fool them. It's meaningless."
"Only someone like me, who completely seals off their emotions, can stand beside a Dementor openly, without any disguise at all."
Only then did the students notice how unnatural the professor's smile looked. It was stiff, like a puppet's, and his eyes were utterly calm, neither warm nor cold.
To be honest, that lifeless smile was even more unsettling than the Dementor itself.
This was a small technique Tver had developed while practicing with Boggarts, used to lock away his emotions.
It could be considered another form of Occlumency, or perhaps an advanced application of it.
The effect, however, felt a little strange.
So he didn't maintain it for long, stepping away from the Dementor once more.
Even if his mental strength was enough to resist the negative emotions a Dementor radiated, he had no desire to endure that oppressive feeling any longer.
"What does this method of perception remind you of?"
Tver blinked lightly, easing the students' tension a little.
"Boggart," Cedric answered at once.
"Correct. Dementors and Boggarts both fall under non-beings, but they are fundamentally different."
Tver's expression turned serious.
"In my understanding, Dementors aren't simply feeding on happiness. If you're familiar with the concept of a black hole, then you'll understand what they're really doing."
"They devour positive emotions like joy and excitement."
"They're like the dark side of this world, and our happiness is actually one of the weapons we use against them."
"It's similar to water and fire, restraining one another."
"If positive emotions aren't strong enough, they're suppressed by Dementors. But when our emotions are intense enough, we can suppress them in return."
"So when you feel despair, don't panic. Stand up bravely and use joyful emotions to defeat them."
"And that is the principle behind the Patronus Charm."
The students nodded thoughtfully.
Ever since learning that Dementors were stationed around the school, they had done plenty of reading, so the Patronus Charm was nothing new to them.
The books all emphasized the need for strong positive emotions, but never clearly explained what kind.
Now, with the professor's explanation and their firsthand exposure to Dementors, they finally understood.
What they needed was positive energy powerful enough to rival the negative emotions Dementors constantly radiated.
"Does that mean if our positive emotions are strong enough, we could wipe out a whole bunch of Dementors?" Cedric suddenly asked.
"Oh, come on. We haven't even managed to summon a Patronus yet, and you're already thinking about that?"
George dropped his earlier confidence and started mocking Cedric.
"That's just wishful thinking."
"If Dementors really came after us, forget positive emotions. We'd be lucky not to wet our pants," Fred said, still shaken as he pointed at the Dementor.
"If I had to face that thing alone, I'd be too scared to move."
"Exactly. And that's what I want to warn you about," Tver said seriously.
"If you encounter a group of Dementors, unless your positive emotions are strong enough, the best way to use the Patronus is to carve out an escape route."
After all, not everyone was a protagonist like Harry. For most people, being able to cast a Patronus that could hold its own against a Dementor already counted as competent.
"Wait, what about casting it repeatedly?" Davies asked in surprise.
"No. Even if your magic reserves are sufficient, the Dementor's influence will keep weakening your positive emotions until you can no longer cast a Patronus at all."
Tver flicked his wand, reshaping the bindings on the Dementor into a ring, which slowly expanded into a hemisphere.
The hemisphere was about twenty feet in diameter, radiating a silvery-white glow that made people feel relaxed and at ease.
"Next, you'll enter this sphere one by one and face the Dementor head-on using the Patronus Charm."
"If you succeed, you'll be allowed to come back out."
Tver opened a small gap in the hemisphere and waited for a challenger to step forward.
"Professor," George raised his hand, trembling, "what happens if we fail?"
"You'll die," Tver said with a gentle smile.
The eager grins on the students' faces instantly froze.
"Alright," he continued calmly. "Who wants to go in first?"
The students retreated backward in perfect unison. George, Fred, and Davies decisively shoved Cedric forward, pushing him right in front of the professor.
"Then it'll be you four," Tver said with a laugh, pointing at the four standing there.
"All of you. Go in together."
∑(O_O;)
George and the others exchanged looks, realizing they were all equally stunned.
"Come on," Cedric said, already standing by the entrance. "I'll be waiting for you here."
Cedric had been feeling a bit resentful, but seeing their expressions now, he couldn't help waving at them with a touch of schadenfreude.
After two and a half years at the school, he understood the professor well enough.
The lessons often involved danger, but the professor's safety measures were always thorough.
There was no way he'd actually let them die in there, though suffering a bit was very likely.
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on P@treon.
[Upto 50 chapters ahead for now]
[email protected]/BlurryDream