Dementors!
The students in third year and above were no strangers to those creatures. Two years earlier, the professor had already explained all sorts of Dementor traits to the entire student body in class.
Of course, that was also because Hogwarts had once been surrounded by a huge swarm of Dementors.
Some unlucky students had even encountered them up close, and as for what that felt like...
Well, for that entire school year, the clouds over the school never truly cleared, and the only thing the students hated more than the lack of sunlight was the Dementors themselves.
So even after two years, if you asked the students what they hated most, Dementors would still rank second.
As for first place, Umbridge held it without question...
"P-Professor... you're joking, right?"
At the mention of Dementors, even George and Fred, who had already learned the Patronus Charm, could no longer smile.
"I never lie to you in class..."
Tver flashed a mysterious smile at the panicked and bewildered students around him, then casually pulled out a dark cloth sack.
George was not sure if it was just his imagination, but when he saw the sack, he felt as though the loosely tied opening was leaking cold air, along with white mist that felt completely opposite to the Patronus Charm.
Likewise, unlike the joy a Patronus brought, this white mist carried a fear that seemed to seep straight into their souls.
And then.
"Here come the Dementors!"
With a wicked grin, Tver threw open the sack, and several little black figures flew out at once. In that instant, everyone felt as though they had dropped into an ice cellar, as cold and fear spread rapidly through every heart in the room.
But before their cries of alarm could leave their throats, what they saw in front of them choked the sound off.
Imps?!
The things that had made their hearts shake with fear were actually a flock of imps.
They just were not like the ordinary imps they had seen at Halloween. These imps were black as ink and gave off a freezing aura. Their somewhat cute little faces somehow managed to create a bizarre, almost ridiculous kind of terror.
The students could not summon even the slightest courage to fight back.
Looking at the suddenly silent Room of Requirement, Tver was very satisfied with the effect these imps had produced.
This fear-inducing ability was actually similar to the way he had once used Transfiguration in the Defence Against the Dark Arts Club to imitate a Boggart. It was simply a dark-magic simulation.
It could not drag up painful memories the way real Dementors could, nor could it be maintained for long. Tver did not know whether the students would be able to endure it, but he was certain Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall would not let him get away with it if he pushed things too far...
"These imps are being used to imitate Dementors, and dealing with them is simple. Attack them the same way you did on Halloween, except the only magic that can truly defeat them is the Patronus Charm!"
Tver called out loudly, snapping the students out of their shock and daze.
"But," Dennis Creevey said cautiously as he huddled beside his brother, "we still don't know the Patronus Charm..."
The wicked smile on Tver's face had not faded, and only widened a little more.
"Then all I can do is ask you to hurry up and learn it, or you'll have to worry about wetting yourselves from fright."
The moment the words left his mouth, the imps gathered in the air seemed to receive a command and scattered in every direction.
And panic spread with them, sweeping over the students' heads.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Startled by the imps, the students who had been able to cast a Patronus in a cheerful, relaxed atmosphere immediately panicked and fumbled in confusion.
"The incantation for the Patronus Charm is 'Expecto Patronum,' not a lot of useless squeaking and shouting!"
Hearing the professor's stern voice, the students no longer dared treat this gathering as a bit of pre-holiday fun. Instead, they faced it with even greater seriousness than they would in class.
The upper-years did not want to lose to the lower-years, and the lower-years did not want the upper-years looking down on them.
Those who considered themselves good students did not want to fall behind in advanced spellwork to the so-called slackers they usually looked down on.
And the poorer students, after sneaking a glance at the person they liked, also suddenly became full of competitive spirit.
In other words, aside from the students who preferred to give up and would never have shown up here in the first place, the entire room suddenly fell into a bizarrely competitive atmosphere.
Tver scratched his head in confusion. He had assumed the students would be too relaxed about this, which was why he had planned to take a stern approach.
But after following the direction Harry kept glancing in from time to time, and spotting Cho Chang chatting and laughing with Cedric, Tver immediately understood what was going through the minds of these hormone-driven young wizards.
"Harry, I need you to go teach..." Tver looked around, found Ginny, and pointed in that direction. "...those students who are just about able to cast a Patronus."
Harry reluctantly tore his eyes away, said nothing, and walked straight toward Ginny, whose face had already begun to turn red.
Seeing that, Draco immediately dragged Neville over and pretended to casually approach the professor.
He was one of the few students who could cast a Patronus in front of a Dementor, and there was no way he wanted to lose to Potter in that area.
Tver saw straight through his little scheme and said helplessly, "Alright, Draco, you go guide the younger students."
"Huh? But they're all beginners," Draco said with a displeased pout.
In terms of ability, the students Potter would be helping were much stronger.
"I'm afraid if I let you teach students your own age, you'd get mobbed," Tver said irritably, tapping him on the head.
Although Draco had kept a much lower profile over the past two years, in the eyes of the students who had seen how arrogant he used to be, he was still that obnoxious Slytherin ringleader.
So sending him to teach the younger students who did not know the full story was already the best arrangement possible.
After shooing off the muttering Draco, Tver turned to Neville, who was still standing there alone.
"I suppose you still haven't learned the Patronus Charm?"
Neville immediately lowered his head in disappointment.
"I'm sorry. It seems like I just can't use the Patronus Charm at all."
Tver patted him on the shoulder in reassurance. "It's alright. We all know why."
Even if it was for the sake of curing his parents, the fact remained that Neville had studied the Cruciatus Curse.
And unlike Draco, Neville had always been fundamentally gentle, and he had studied the Cruciatus Curse even more deeply. That had inevitably created an enormous obstacle for him when it came to learning the Patronus Charm.
Put simply, the stronger a person's moral sense, the greater the torment they feel after doing something wrong.
And that torment was Neville's biggest obstacle in casting a Patronus.
"But there's one thing you got wrong..."
With a casual wave of his hand, a burst of pure white light immediately surged out as his palm turned.
Neville unconsciously closed his eyes, feeling the warmth spread around him and beautiful memories rise in his heart.
"As my student, there's no such thing as magic you can't learn. Only magic you don't want to learn!"