Chapter 93: The Patronus of the Young Wizards

An endless darkness completely filled the Quidditch pitch, and the young wizards silently watched the Dementors hovering above them, terrible memories flooding their minds.

They felt depressed, helpless and terrified, as if the end of the world had come.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Just when they were all in despair, a slightly young but firm voice sounded from the Gryffindor stand.

Like a ray of light in the darkness, a silvery white animal appeared, becoming the only source of color and light for that black and white world.

The little wizards turned their heads together. They saw a slender boy with his wand standing before more than a hundred hideous Dementors. The light from the tip of his wand formed a strong wall in front of the Dementors, as well as the only light in the darkness.

This image will be imprinted in their minds for many years to come.

"It's Ivan Mason, it's his Patronus!"

No one knew who shouted that, but they all suddenly remembered that they saw an article about Dementors in the newspaper 'Hogwarts Magic', and that the 'Patronus Charm' was the only thing that could resist them.

The young wizards hastily drew their wands and cast the spell into the sky.

Like little stars in the night sky, silvery white lights shone in the stands.

It soon became clear how many people were secretly practicing the 'Patronus Charm', and the entire grandstand was illuminated with about six hundred silvery-white lights.

The dense fog of light emanating from all of them was so thick that it instantly dispelled the fear and cold.

Among them, some began to form a corporeal Patronus.

Percy's Patronus took the lead as it ran out of the mist, it was some kind of weasel, followed by a dozen other animals of various kinds.

Ivan also saw an otter at the tip of Hermione's wand, which circled around him twice and then flew towards the Dementors.

After those corporeal Patronuses, the mist of white light floated upward and countless halos of light began to emerge.

Like a sharp arrow, the white mist struck the Dementors under the will of their casters.

The Dementors never seemed to have found themselves in such a situation. Faced with so many Patronus and a large amount of mist made of happy emotions, they panicked and retreated. These creatures that had always brought fear and despair to others, felt for the first time the taste of fear and instinctively wanted to flee.

The next second, a pleasant creaking sound came from the highest point of the castle.

That was the voice of a Phoenix. Ivan had once heard it in the Secret Chamber in the previous semester. He turned around and saw a huge silver-white phoenix coming out of the Headmaster's office. It was Dumbledore's Patronus, a very rare and powerful magical creature.

It approached the Quidditch pitch with a huge white aura more dazzling than all the other Patronus. Under its light, the Dementors that were slow to escape turned into a wisp of smoke under the gaze of all present and disappeared completely.

The Common Patronus could only scare away Dementors, but Dumbledore's Phoenix could actually kill them.

It seems that the Dementors that broke into the castle, angered the greatest White Wizard of modern times.

Next to the path of the Phoenix's flight, Ivan saw Harry falling from a high altitude and ran towards the center of the Quidditch pitch.

Ron and Hermione were stunned for a moment and hurried after him.

...

"Luckily the ground was very soft."

"I thought he was going to die, but he didn't even break his glasses."

Harry heard their whispers, but he couldn't understand what they were talking about.

He didn't know where he was, or how he got there, or what he was doing before he got there.

All he knew was that he felt pain all over his body, as if he had been beaten up.

"Fortunately, Ivan and his Patronus woke us from fear and despair."

"A hundred Dementors, this is the most terrible thing I've ever seen in my life."

"Yes, the most terrible and terrifying thing!" Harry remembered, those black shadows in the hoods, that horrible thing.... Under the hoods...

And he also remembered the chilling screams that constantly pounded his mind, and the man who seemed to say something at the end.

The next time Harry opened his eyes, he realized he was in the hospital bed.

The members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team were splattered with mud from head to toe, and they were surrounding his bed. Ivan, Ron and Hermione were also there, as if they had just gotten out of a swimming pool.

"Harry, Harry! How are you feeling?" Ron's face looked pale.

"What happened?" Harry's memory returned and he sat up suddenly, startling everyone in front of him.

"You fell from over fifty feet," Ron said.

"We thought you were dead!" Alice followed him. She was standing there, trembling.

When Hermione heard her utter those words in a high-pitched voice, she couldn't stop her eyes from turning red.

"But the game..." Harry said. "What happened? can we play again?"

No one spoke, and Harry began to realize the horrible truth, "We haven't... lost or have we?"

"Diggory caught the Snitch!" said Fred, "Right after you fell, he didn't understand what was going on. When he looked down and saw you fall to the ground, he planned to interrupt the game to play it again later."

"But you won the game fair and square, and even Wood admitted it." George followed.

"Where's Wood?" Harry looked around and suddenly realized Wood wasn't there.

"He's still in the rain!" Fred said. "We think he's going to drown."

Harry buried his face between his knees and grabbed his hair with both hands.

"Well Harry, you were always catching the Snitch," Fred said.

"It's not over yet!" said George. "The tournament isn't over yet!"

Fren nodded and said, "We lost a hundred points, didn't we? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin..."

"Hufflepuff must lose at least two hundred points," said George. "But if they beat Ravenclaw..."

"No way, Ravenclaw is great. But if Slytherin loses to Hufflepuffs...," said Fred.

"It all depends on their scores; whoever wins gets a hundred points," said George.

Harry lay on his bed and listened to the argument between Fred and George. He didn't say a word.

They lost because of him. He lost a Quidditch match for the first time.

About ten minutes later, Madam Poppy Pomfrey came to tell the team members to let Harry rest.

"See you later." Fred said to Harry, "Don't blame yourself, Harry! You're still our best Seeker!"

The team walked out leaving a trail of mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey closed the door behind them and looked unhappy.

Ivan, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and preferred to stay.