once we've finished checking it. Now, please stop badgering me." 

To make matters even worse, Harry's anti-dementor lessons were not going nearly as well as he had hoped. Several sessions on, he was able to produce an indistinct, silvery shadow every time the boggart-dementor approached him, but his Patronus was too feeble to drive the dementor away. All it did was hover, like a semitransparent cloud, draining Harry of energy as he fought to keep it there. Harry felt angry with himself, guilty about his secret desire to hear his parents' voices again. 

"You're expecting too much of yourself," said Professor Lupin, sternly in their fourth week of practice. "For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren't passing out anymore, are you?" 

"I thought a Patronus would -- charge the dementors down or something. Like Amelia's had." said Harry dispiritedly. "Make them disappear --" 

"Don't drag me into this," huffed Amelia, perched on a chair near the end of the classroom, floating a paper airplane on a gust of wind.

"The true Patronus does do that," said Lupin. "But you've achieved a great deal in a very short space of time. If the dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, You will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground." 

"You said it's harder if there are loads of them," said Harry. 

"I have complete confidence in you," said Lupin, smiling. 

"Bullshit detected," Amelia muttered to herself, stopping the gust of wind, the plan crashing down with a light clatter.

"Here -- you've both earned a drink - something from the Three Broomsticks. You won't have tried it before , Harry--" 

He pulled threebottles out of his briefcase.

 "Butterbeer!" said Harry, without thinking. "Yeah, I like that stuff!" 

Lupin raised an eyebrow. Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose and jumped off her chair with a click of her tongue.

"Oh -Ron and Hermione brought me some back from Hogsmeade," Harry lied quickly. 

"I see," said Lupin, though he still looked slightly suspicious. "Well -- let's drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I'm