In the suitcase world, outside the iron house.
Lucien stared at the humanoid Patronus standing before him. The silver light washed across his face, making the complicated emotions in his eyes impossible to hide.
That face was too familiar and too strange all at once. Familiar because he had worn it for more than twenty years. Strange because he hadn't seen it in a mirror in far too long.
A problem hit him imdiately.
This appearance… probably wasn't sothing he could show off casually.
The ancient Greek wizard Andros had supposedly summoned a giant humanoid Patronus that matched his real face exactly. Even when it grew massive, the features stayed the sa.
Lucien rubbed his jaw, gaze dropping slightly.
If only I could change how it looks. Just enough to cover the face would be fine.
But everyone knew Patronus forms were fixed. They only shifted after massive trauma or huge emotional upheaval—like falling in love.
That was why most wizards who wanted to stay anonymous never bothered forming the full guardian. The mist alone was enough to drive off Dentors and Lethifolds. Only when the numbers got ridiculous did you actually need the solid form to charge in and scatter the darkness.
Eh. Whatever.
He had plenty of other Patronuses. He could just ignore this one for now and use the rest.
Lucien stopped overthinking it. He stepped around the faceless figure, raised his wand, and started to open the iron door so he could check on Nagini.
The real work ca next. He wanted to test whether the mist's strange ability to pull emotions and mories out of anyone it touched still worked once the Patronus was fully ford—or if sothing new had appeared.
Back in the classroom, Snape had been so paranoid he'd sealed himself in the corner like he was bracing for a flood. The old bat hadn't let a single wisp of mist touch him, so Lucien never got the chance to check.
He was still picturing Snape's "I'm about to die" expression when his eyes flicked sideways.
The wand froze mid-motion.
"Where's the face?"
Lucien blinked hard, almost convinced he was seeing things.
The Patronus still stood in the sa spot. Sa short hair, sa collar, sa sleeves—every detail exactly as before.
Except the face was gone.
Completely smooth. Blank. Like soone had slapped a featureless silver mask over it.
The silver light flowed quietly across that empty curve. No trace of eyes, nose, or mouth remained.
What the hell? Did it turn into a silver egg?
Wait—when did that happen?
Lucien moved closer and circled the Patronus slowly, studying it from every angle.
He hadn't given it any conscious command. He'd only thought—
Thought?
He stepped back half a pace, eyes locked on the blank silver surface.
Could this Patronus actually change shape based on what he was thinking?
Suspicion turned into an imdiate test.
He pictured his old face again—slower than he liked, since it had been years—but the mont the image ford in his mind, the Patronus's head shifted.
The change was almost instant.
And a little creepy.
Every stray thought that crossed his brain made the face flicker and morph at ridiculous speed—different features sliding on and off like soone flipping through masks in fast-forward.
Lucien caught himself before he started playing with it and forced the Patronus back to the smooth, featureless state.
He wasn't sure if this shape-shifting trick belonged only to this particular Patronus… or if all of them could do it.
He took a slow, deep breath.
Was his Patronus getting a little too special?
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