Chapter 12 The Patronus

As far as he was concerned, the stripping-down of a brand-new Firebolt was nothing less than criminal damage. Hermione, who remained convinced that she had acted for the best, started avoiding the common room. Harry and Ron supposed she had taken refuge in the library and didn’t try to persuade her to come back. All in all, they were glad when the rest of the school returned shortly after New Year, and Gryffindor Tower became crowded and noisy again. Wood sought Harry out on the night before term started. â€Å"Had a good Christmas?† he said, and then, without waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, and said, â€Å"I’ve been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one†¦I mean†¦we can’t afford you to — well –â€Å" Wood broke off, looking awkward. â€Å"I’m working on it,† said Harry quickly. â€Å"Professor Lupin said he’d train me to ward off the Dementors. We should be starting this week. He said he’d have time after Christmas.† â€Å"Ah,† said Wood, his expression clearing. â€Å"Well, in that case — I really didn’t want to lose you as Seeker, Harry. And have you ordered a new broom yet?† â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"What! You’d better get a move on, you know — you can’t ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!† â€Å"He got a Firebolt for Christmas,† said Ron. â€Å"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A — a real Firebolt?† â€Å"Don’t get excited, Oliver,† said Harry gloomily. â€Å"I haven’t got it anymore. It was confiscated.† And he explained all about how the Firebolt was now being checked for jinxes. â€Å"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?† â€Å"Sirius Black,† Harry said wearily. â€Å"He’s supposed to be after me. So McGonagall reckons he might have sent it.† Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker, Wood said, â€Å"But Black couldn’t have bought a Firebolt! He’s on the run! The whole country’s on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?† â€Å"I know,† said Harry, â€Å"but McGonagall still wants to strip it down –â€Å" Wood went pale. â€Å"I’ll go and talk to her, Harry,† he promised. â€Å"I’ll make her see reason†¦A Firebolt†¦a real Firebolt, on our team †¦She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do†¦I’ll make her see sense. A Firebolt†¦.† Classes started again the next day. The last thing anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and down the crumbling, white-hot logs. The first Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun; Professor Trelawney was now teaching them palmistry, and she lost no time in informing Harry that he had the shortest life line she had ever seen. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Harry was keen to get to; after his conversation with Wood, he wanted to get started on his anti-Dementor lessons as soon as possible. â€Å"Ah yes,† said Lupin, when Harry reminded him of his promise at the end of class. â€Å"Let me see†¦how about eight o’clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough†¦I’ll have to think carefully about how we’re going to do this†¦We can’t bring a real Dementor into the castle to practice on†¦.† â€Å"Still looks ill, doesn’t he?† said Ron as they walked down the corridor, heading to dinner. â€Å"What d’you reckon’s the matter with him?† There was a loud and impatient â€Å"tuh† from behind them. It was Hermione, who had been sitting at the feet of a suit of armor, repacking her bag, which was so full of books it wouldn’t close. â€Å"And what are you tutting at us for?† said Ron irritably. â€Å"Nothing,† said Hermione in a lofty voice, heaving her bag back over her shoulder. â€Å"Yes, you were,† said Ron. â€Å"I said I wonder what’s wrong with Lupin, and you –â€Å" â€Å"Well, isn’t it obvious?† said Hermione, with a look of maddening superiority. â€Å"If you don’t want to tell us, don’t,† snapped Ron. â€Å"Fine,† said Hermione haughtily, and she marched off. â€Å"She doesn’t know,† said Ron, staring resentfully after Hermione. â€Å"She’s just trying to get us to talk to her again.† At eight o’clock on Thursday evening, Harry left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binn’s desk. â€Å"What’s that?† said Harry. â€Å"Another Boggart,† said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. â€Å"I’ve been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch’s filing cabinet. It’s the nearest we’ll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we’ll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we’re not using him; there’s a cupboard under my desk he’ll like.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry, trying to sound as though he wasn’t apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real Dementor. â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. â€Å"The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.† â€Å"How does it work?† said Harry nervously. â€Å"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus,† said Lupin, â€Å"which is a kind of anti-Dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.† Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, â€Å"The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.† â€Å"What does a Patronus look like?† said Harry curiously. â€Å"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.† â€Å"And how do you conjure it?† â€Å"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.† Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys’ was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had first ridden a broomstick. â€Å"Right,† he said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach. â€Å"The incantation is this –† Lupin cleared his throat. â€Å"Expecto patronum!† â€Å"Expecto patronum,† Harry repeated under his breath, â€Å"expecto patronum.† â€Å"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?† â€Å"Oh — yeah –† said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. â€Å"Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum† Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. â€Å"Did you see that?† said Harry excitedly. â€Å"Something happened!† â€Å"Very good,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?† â€Å"Yes,† Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. He tried to keep his mind on flying, but something else kept intruding†¦Any second now, he might hear his mother again†¦but he shouldn’t think that, or he would hear her again, and he didn’t want to†¦or did he? Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto –â€Å" But the classroom and the Dementor were dissolving†¦Harry was falling again through thick white fog, and his mother’s voice was louder than ever, echoing inside his head — â€Å"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I’ll do anything –â€Å" â€Å"Stand aside — stand aside, girl –â€Å" â€Å"Harry!† Harry jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn’t have to ask what had happened. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Lupin. â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it. â€Å"Here –† Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. â€Å"Eat this before we try again. I didn’t expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had.† â€Å"It’s getting worse,† Harry muttered, biting off the Frog’s head. â€Å"I could hear her louder that time — and him — Voldemort –â€Å" Lupin looked paler than usual. â€Å"Harry, if you don’t want to continue, I will more than understand –â€Å" â€Å"I do!† said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. â€Å"I’ve got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can’t afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we’ve lost the Quidditch Cup!† â€Å"All right then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Lupin. â€Å"You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on†¦That one doesn’t seem to have been strong enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry thought hard and decided his feelings when Gryffindor had won the House Championship last year had definitely qualified as very happy. He gripped his wand tightly again and took up his position in the middle of the classroom. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, gripping the box lid. â€Å"Ready,† said Harry; trying hard to fill his head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened. â€Å"Go!† said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Harry — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat –â€Å" White fog obscured his senses†¦big, blurred shapes were moving around him†¦then came a new voice, a man’s voice, shouting, panicking — â€Å"Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off –â€Å" The sounds of someone stumbling from a room — a door bursting open — a cackle of high- pitched laughter — â€Å"Harry! Harry†¦wake up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Harry understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor. â€Å"I heard my dad,† Harry mumbled. â€Å"That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn’t see. â€Å"You heard James?† said Lupin in a strange voice. â€Å"Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Face dry, Harry looked up. â€Å"Why — you didn’t know my dad, did you?† â€Å"I — I did, as a matter of fact,† said Lupin. â€Å"We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced†¦I shouldn’t have suggested putting you through this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No!† said Harry. He got up again. â€Å"I’ll have one more go! I’m not thinking of happy enough things, that’s what it is†¦hang on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He racked his brains. A really, really happy memory†¦one that he could turn into a good, strong Patronus†¦. The moment when he’d first found out he was a wizard, and would be leaving the Dursleys for Hogwarts! If that wasn’t a happy memory, he didn’t know what was†¦Concentrating very hard on how he had felt when he’d realized he’d be leaving Privet Drive, Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case once more. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. â€Å"Concentrating hard? All right — go!† He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark — â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM!† Harry bellowed. â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!† The screaming inside Harry’s head had started again — except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio — softer and louder and softer again†¦and he could still see the Dementor†¦it had halted†¦and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry’s wand, to hover between him and the Dementor, and though Harry’s legs felt like water, he was still on his feet — though for how much longer, he wasn’t sure†¦ â€Å"Riddikulus!† roared Lupin, springing forward. There was a loud crack, and Harry’s cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank into a chair, feeling as exhausted as if he’d just run a mile, and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again. â€Å"Excellent!† Lupin said, striding over to where Harry sat. â€Å"Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!† â€Å"Can we have another go? Just one more go?† â€Å"Not now,† said Lupin firmly. â€Å"You’ve had enough for one night. Here –â€Å" He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes’ best chocolate. â€Å"Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry. He took a bite of the chocolate and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. A thought had just occurred to him. â€Å"Professor Lupin?† he said. â€Å"If you knew my dad, you must’ve known Sirius Black as well.† Lupin turned very quickly. â€Å"What gives you that idea?† he said sharply. â€Å"Nothing — I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin’s face relaxed. â€Å"Yes, I knew him,† he said shortly. â€Å"Or I thought I did. You’d better be off, Harry, it’s getting late.† Harry left the classroom, walking along the corridor and around a corner, then took a detour behind a suit of armor and sank down on its plinth to finish his chocolate, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Black, as Lupin was obviously not keen on the subject. Then Harry’s thoughts wandered back to his mother and father †¦ He felt drained and strangely empty, even though he was so full of chocolate. Terrible though it was to hear his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, these were the only times Harry had heard their voices since he was a very small child. But he’d never be able to produce a proper Patronus if he half wanted to hear his parents again †¦ â€Å"They’re dead,† he told himself sternly. â€Å"They’re dead and listening to echoes of them won’t bring them back. You’d better get a grip on yourself if you want that Quidditch Cup.† He stood up, crammed the last bit of chocolate into his mouth, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. According to Wood, this was good news for Gryffindor, who would take second place if they beat Ravenclaw too. He therefore increased the number of team practices to five a week. This meant that with Lupin’s anti-Dementor classes, which in themselves were more draining than six Quidditch practices, Harry had just one night a week to do all his homework. Even so, he was not showing the strain nearly as much as Hermione, whose immense workload finally seemed to be getting to her. Every night, without fail, Hermione was to be seen in a corner of the common room, several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy objects, and file upon file of extensive notes; she barely spoke to anybody and snapped when she was interrupted. â€Å"How’s she doing it?† Ron muttered to Harry one evening as Harry sat finishing a nasty essay on Undetectable Poisons for Snape. Harry looked up. Hermione was barely visible behind a tottering pile of books. â€Å"Doing what?† â€Å"Getting to all her classes!† Ron said. â€Å"I heard her talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s lesson, but Hermione can’t’ve been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie McMillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she’s never missed one of them either!† Harry didn’t have time to fathom the mystery of Hermione’s impossible schedule at the moment; he really needed to get on with Snape’s essay. Two seconds later, however, he was interrupted again, this time by Wood. â€Å"Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She — er — got a bit shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first.† Wood shook his head in disbelief. â€Å"Honestly, the way she was yelling at me†¦you’d think I’d said something terrible. Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He screwed up his face and imitated Professor McGonagall’s severe voice. â€Å"As long as necessary, Wood†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I reckon it’s time you ordered a new broom, Harry. There’s an order form at the back of Which Broomstick†¦you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy’s got.† â€Å"I’m not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good,† said Harry flatly. January faded imperceptibly into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather. The match against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer and nearer, but Harry still hadn’t ordered a new broom. He was now asking Professor McGonagall for news of the Firebolt after every Transfiguration lesson, Ron standing hopefully at his shoulder, Hermione rushing past with her face averted. â€Å"No, Potter, you can’t have it back yet,† Professor McGonagall told him the twelfth time this happened, before he’d even opened his mouth. â€Å"We’ve checked for most of the usual curses, but Professor Flitwick believes the broom might be carrying a Hurling Hex. I shall tell you 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. â€Å"You’re expecting too much of yourself,† said Professor Lupin, sternly in their fourth week of practice. â€Å"For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren’t passing out anymore, are you?† â€Å"I thought a Patronus would — charge the Dementors down or something,† said Harry dispiritedly. â€Å"Make them disappear –â€Å" â€Å"The true Patronus does do that,† said Lupin. â€Å"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.† â€Å"You said it’s harder if there are loads of them,† said Harry. â€Å"I have complete confidence in you,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Here — you’ve earned a drink. Something from the Three Broomsticks. You won’t have tried it before –â€Å" He pulled two bottles out of his briefcase. â€Å"Butterbeer!† said Harry, without thinking. â€Å"Yeah, I like that stuff!† Lupin raised an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh — Ron and Hermione brought me some back from Hogsmeade,† Harry lied quickly. â€Å"I see,† said Lupin, though he still looked slightly suspicious. â€Å"Well — let’s drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I’m supposed to take sides, as a teacher†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he added hastily. They drank the butterbeer in silence, until Harry voiced something he’d been wondering for a while. â€Å"What’s under a Dementor’s hood?† Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully. â€Å"Hmmm †¦ well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon.† â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"They call it the Dementor’s Kiss,† said Lupin, with a slightly twisted smile. â€Å"It’s what Dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and — and suck out his soul.† Harry accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer. â€Å"What — they kill –?† â€Å"Oh no,† said Lupin. â€Å"Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no†¦anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever†¦lost.† Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, â€Å"It’s the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it if they find him.† Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black. â€Å"He deserves it,† he said suddenly. â€Å"You think so?† said Lupin lightly. â€Å"Do you really think anyone deserves that?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry defiantly. â€Å"For†¦for some things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He would have liked to have told Lupin about the conversation he’d overheard about Black in the Three Broomsticks, about Black betraying his mother and father, but it would have involved revealing that he’d gone to Hogsmeade without permission, and he knew Lupin wouldn’t be very impressed by that. So he finished his butterbeer, thanked Lupin, and left the History of Magic classroom. Harry half wished that he hadn’t asked what was under a Dementor’s hood, the answer had been so horrible, and he was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of you that he walked headlong into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs. â€Å"Do watch where you’re going, Potter!† â€Å"Sorry, Professor –â€Å" â€Å"I’ve just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Well, here it is, we’ve done everything we could think of, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it at all — you’ve got a very good friend somewhere, Potter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry’s jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever. â€Å"I can have it back?† Harry said weakly. â€Å"Seriously?† â€Å"Seriously,† said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. â€Å"I daresay you’ll need to get the feel of it before Saturday’s match, won’t you? And Potter — do try and win, won’t you? Or we’ll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to ear. â€Å"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow?† â€Å"Yeah†¦anything†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in a month. â€Å"You know what — we should make up with Hermione†¦She was only trying to help†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah, all right,† said Ron. â€Å"She’s in the common room now working — for a change.† They turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, who seemed to be refusing him entrance. â€Å"I wrote them down!† Neville was saying tearfully. â€Å"But I must’ve dropped them somewhere!† â€Å"A likely tale!† roared Sir Cadogan. Then, spotting Harry and Ron: â€Å"Good even, my fine young yeomen! Come clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force entry to the chambers within!† â€Å"Oh, shut up,† said Ron as he and Harry drew level with Neville. â€Å"I’ve lost the passwords!† Neville told them miserably. â€Å"I made him tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps changing them, and now I don’t know what I’ve done with them!† â€Å"Oddsbodkins,† said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming over his Firebolt. â€Å"Where’d you get it, Harry?† â€Å"Will you let me have a go?† â€Å"Have you ridden it yet, Harry?† â€Å"Ravenclaw’ll have no chance, they’re all on Cleansweep Sevens!† â€Å"Can I just hold it, Harry?† After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was Passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione, the only person who hadn’t rushed over to them, bent over her work and carefully avoiding their eyes. Harry and Ron approached her table and at last, she looked up. â€Å"I got it back,† said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt. â€Å"See, Hermione? There wasn’t anything wrong with it!† said Ron. â€Å"Well — there might have been!† said Hermione. â€Å"I mean, at least you know now that it’s safe!† â€Å"Yeah, I suppose so,† said Harry. â€Å"I’d better put it upstairs.† â€Å"I’ll take it!† said Ron eagerly. â€Å"I’ve got to give Scabbers his rat tonic.† He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys’ staircase. â€Å"Can I sit down, then?† Harry asked Hermione. â€Å"I suppose so,† said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair. Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay (‘Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity’) and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over. â€Å"How are you getting through all this stuff?† Harry asked her. â€Å"Oh, well — you know — working hard,† said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin. â€Å"Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?† Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary. â€Å"I couldn’t do that!† said Hermione, looking scandalized. â€Å"Arithmancy looks terrible,† said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart. â€Å"Oh no, it’s wonderful!† said Hermione earnestly. â€Å"It’s my favorite subject! It’s –â€Å" But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, Harry never found out. At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys’ staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder — and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet. â€Å"LOOK!† he bellowed, striding over to Hermione’s table. â€Å"LOOK!† he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face. â€Å"Ron, what –?† â€Å"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!† Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like — â€Å"BLOOD!† Ron yelled into the stunned silence. â€Å"HE’S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?† â€Å"N — no,† said Hermione in a trembling voice. Ron threw something down onto Hermione’s rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs. Chapter 12 The Patronus As far as he was concerned, the stripping-down of a brand-new Firebolt was nothing less than criminal damage. Hermione, who remained convinced that she had acted for the best, started avoiding the common room. Harry and Ron supposed she had taken refuge in the library and didn’t try to persuade her to come back. All in all, they were glad when the rest of the school returned shortly after New Year, and Gryffindor Tower became crowded and noisy again. Wood sought Harry out on the night before term started. â€Å"Had a good Christmas?† he said, and then, without waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, and said, â€Å"I’ve been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one†¦I mean†¦we can’t afford you to — well –â€Å" Wood broke off, looking awkward. â€Å"I’m working on it,† said Harry quickly. â€Å"Professor Lupin said he’d train me to ward off the Dementors. We should be starting this week. He said he’d have time after Christmas.† â€Å"Ah,† said Wood, his expression clearing. â€Å"Well, in that case — I really didn’t want to lose you as Seeker, Harry. And have you ordered a new broom yet?† â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"What! You’d better get a move on, you know — you can’t ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!† â€Å"He got a Firebolt for Christmas,† said Ron. â€Å"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A — a real Firebolt?† â€Å"Don’t get excited, Oliver,† said Harry gloomily. â€Å"I haven’t got it anymore. It was confiscated.† And he explained all about how the Firebolt was now being checked for jinxes. â€Å"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?† â€Å"Sirius Black,† Harry said wearily. â€Å"He’s supposed to be after me. So McGonagall reckons he might have sent it.† Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker, Wood said, â€Å"But Black couldn’t have bought a Firebolt! He’s on the run! The whole country’s on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?† â€Å"I know,† said Harry, â€Å"but McGonagall still wants to strip it down –â€Å" Wood went pale. â€Å"I’ll go and talk to her, Harry,† he promised. â€Å"I’ll make her see reason†¦A Firebolt†¦a real Firebolt, on our team †¦She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do†¦I’ll make her see sense. A Firebolt†¦.† Classes started again the next day. The last thing anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and down the crumbling, white-hot logs. The first Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun; Professor Trelawney was now teaching them palmistry, and she lost no time in informing Harry that he had the shortest life line she had ever seen. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Harry was keen to get to; after his conversation with Wood, he wanted to get started on his anti-Dementor lessons as soon as possible. â€Å"Ah yes,† said Lupin, when Harry reminded him of his promise at the end of class. â€Å"Let me see†¦how about eight o’clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough†¦I’ll have to think carefully about how we’re going to do this†¦We can’t bring a real Dementor into the castle to practice on†¦.† â€Å"Still looks ill, doesn’t he?† said Ron as they walked down the corridor, heading to dinner. â€Å"What d’you reckon’s the matter with him?† There was a loud and impatient â€Å"tuh† from behind them. It was Hermione, who had been sitting at the feet of a suit of armor, repacking her bag, which was so full of books it wouldn’t close. â€Å"And what are you tutting at us for?† said Ron irritably. â€Å"Nothing,† said Hermione in a lofty voice, heaving her bag back over her shoulder. â€Å"Yes, you were,† said Ron. â€Å"I said I wonder what’s wrong with Lupin, and you –â€Å" â€Å"Well, isn’t it obvious?† said Hermione, with a look of maddening superiority. â€Å"If you don’t want to tell us, don’t,† snapped Ron. â€Å"Fine,† said Hermione haughtily, and she marched off. â€Å"She doesn’t know,† said Ron, staring resentfully after Hermione. â€Å"She’s just trying to get us to talk to her again.† At eight o’clock on Thursday evening, Harry left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binn’s desk. â€Å"What’s that?† said Harry. â€Å"Another Boggart,† said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. â€Å"I’ve been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch’s filing cabinet. It’s the nearest we’ll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we’ll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we’re not using him; there’s a cupboard under my desk he’ll like.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry, trying to sound as though he wasn’t apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real Dementor. â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. â€Å"The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.† â€Å"How does it work?† said Harry nervously. â€Å"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus,† said Lupin, â€Å"which is a kind of anti-Dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.† Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, â€Å"The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.† â€Å"What does a Patronus look like?† said Harry curiously. â€Å"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.† â€Å"And how do you conjure it?† â€Å"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.† Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys’ was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had first ridden a broomstick. â€Å"Right,† he said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach. â€Å"The incantation is this –† Lupin cleared his throat. â€Å"Expecto patronum!† â€Å"Expecto patronum,† Harry repeated under his breath, â€Å"expecto patronum.† â€Å"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?† â€Å"Oh — yeah –† said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. â€Å"Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum† Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. â€Å"Did you see that?† said Harry excitedly. â€Å"Something happened!† â€Å"Very good,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?† â€Å"Yes,† Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. He tried to keep his mind on flying, but something else kept intruding†¦Any second now, he might hear his mother again†¦but he shouldn’t think that, or he would hear her again, and he didn’t want to†¦or did he? Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto –â€Å" But the classroom and the Dementor were dissolving†¦Harry was falling again through thick white fog, and his mother’s voice was louder than ever, echoing inside his head — â€Å"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I’ll do anything –â€Å" â€Å"Stand aside — stand aside, girl –â€Å" â€Å"Harry!† Harry jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn’t have to ask what had happened. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Lupin. â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it. â€Å"Here –† Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. â€Å"Eat this before we try again. I didn’t expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had.† â€Å"It’s getting worse,† Harry muttered, biting off the Frog’s head. â€Å"I could hear her louder that time — and him — Voldemort –â€Å" Lupin looked paler than usual. â€Å"Harry, if you don’t want to continue, I will more than understand –â€Å" â€Å"I do!† said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. â€Å"I’ve got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can’t afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we’ve lost the Quidditch Cup!† â€Å"All right then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Lupin. â€Å"You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on†¦That one doesn’t seem to have been strong enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry thought hard and decided his feelings when Gryffindor had won the House Championship last year had definitely qualified as very happy. He gripped his wand tightly again and took up his position in the middle of the classroom. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, gripping the box lid. â€Å"Ready,† said Harry; trying hard to fill his head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened. â€Å"Go!† said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Harry — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat –â€Å" White fog obscured his senses†¦big, blurred shapes were moving around him†¦then came a new voice, a man’s voice, shouting, panicking — â€Å"Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off –â€Å" The sounds of someone stumbling from a room — a door bursting open — a cackle of high- pitched laughter — â€Å"Harry! Harry†¦wake up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Harry understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor. â€Å"I heard my dad,† Harry mumbled. â€Å"That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn’t see. â€Å"You heard James?† said Lupin in a strange voice. â€Å"Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Face dry, Harry looked up. â€Å"Why — you didn’t know my dad, did you?† â€Å"I — I did, as a matter of fact,† said Lupin. â€Å"We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced†¦I shouldn’t have suggested putting you through this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No!† said Harry. He got up again. â€Å"I’ll have one more go! I’m not thinking of happy enough things, that’s what it is†¦hang on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He racked his brains. A really, really happy memory†¦one that he could turn into a good, strong Patronus†¦. The moment when he’d first found out he was a wizard, and would be leaving the Dursleys for Hogwarts! If that wasn’t a happy memory, he didn’t know what was†¦Concentrating very hard on how he had felt when he’d realized he’d be leaving Privet Drive, Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case once more. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. â€Å"Concentrating hard? All right — go!† He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark — â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM!† Harry bellowed. â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!† The screaming inside Harry’s head had started again — except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio — softer and louder and softer again†¦and he could still see the Dementor†¦it had halted†¦and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry’s wand, to hover between him and the Dementor, and though Harry’s legs felt like water, he was still on his feet — though for how much longer, he wasn’t sure†¦ â€Å"Riddikulus!† roared Lupin, springing forward. There was a loud crack, and Harry’s cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank into a chair, feeling as exhausted as if he’d just run a mile, and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again. â€Å"Excellent!† Lupin said, striding over to where Harry sat. â€Å"Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!† â€Å"Can we have another go? Just one more go?† â€Å"Not now,† said Lupin firmly. â€Å"You’ve had enough for one night. Here –â€Å" He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes’ best chocolate. â€Å"Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry. He took a bite of the chocolate and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. A thought had just occurred to him. â€Å"Professor Lupin?† he said. â€Å"If you knew my dad, you must’ve known Sirius Black as well.† Lupin turned very quickly. â€Å"What gives you that idea?† he said sharply. â€Å"Nothing — I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin’s face relaxed. â€Å"Yes, I knew him,† he said shortly. â€Å"Or I thought I did. You’d better be off, Harry, it’s getting late.† Harry left the classroom, walking along the corridor and around a corner, then took a detour behind a suit of armor and sank down on its plinth to finish his chocolate, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Black, as Lupin was obviously not keen on the subject. Then Harry’s thoughts wandered back to his mother and father †¦ He felt drained and strangely empty, even though he was so full of chocolate. Terrible though it was to hear his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, these were the only times Harry had heard their voices since he was a very small child. But he’d never be able to produce a proper Patronus if he half wanted to hear his parents again †¦ â€Å"They’re dead,† he told himself sternly. â€Å"They’re dead and listening to echoes of them won’t bring them back. You’d better get a grip on yourself if you want that Quidditch Cup.† He stood up, crammed the last bit of chocolate into his mouth, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. According to Wood, this was good news for Gryffindor, who would take second place if they beat Ravenclaw too. He therefore increased the number of team practices to five a week. This meant that with Lupin’s anti-Dementor classes, which in themselves were more draining than six Quidditch practices, Harry had just one night a week to do all his homework. Even so, he was not showing the strain nearly as much as Hermione, whose immense workload finally seemed to be getting to her. Every night, without fail, Hermione was to be seen in a corner of the common room, several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy objects, and file upon file of extensive notes; she barely spoke to anybody and snapped when she was interrupted. â€Å"How’s she doing it?† Ron muttered to Harry one evening as Harry sat finishing a nasty essay on Undetectable Poisons for Snape. Harry looked up. Hermione was barely visible behind a tottering pile of books. â€Å"Doing what?† â€Å"Getting to all her classes!† Ron said. â€Å"I heard her talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s lesson, but Hermione can’t’ve been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie McMillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she’s never missed one of them either!† Harry didn’t have time to fathom the mystery of Hermione’s impossible schedule at the moment; he really needed to get on with Snape’s essay. Two seconds later, however, he was interrupted again, this time by Wood. â€Å"Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She — er — got a bit shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first.† Wood shook his head in disbelief. â€Å"Honestly, the way she was yelling at me†¦you’d think I’d said something terrible. Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He screwed up his face and imitated Professor McGonagall’s severe voice. â€Å"As long as necessary, Wood†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I reckon it’s time you ordered a new broom, Harry. There’s an order form at the back of Which Broomstick†¦you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy’s got.† â€Å"I’m not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good,† said Harry flatly. January faded imperceptibly into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather. The match against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer and nearer, but Harry still hadn’t ordered a new broom. He was now asking Professor McGonagall for news of the Firebolt after every Transfiguration lesson, Ron standing hopefully at his shoulder, Hermione rushing past with her face averted. â€Å"No, Potter, you can’t have it back yet,† Professor McGonagall told him the twelfth time this happened, before he’d even opened his mouth. â€Å"We’ve checked for most of the usual curses, but Professor Flitwick believes the broom might be carrying a Hurling Hex. I shall tell you 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. â€Å"You’re expecting too much of yourself,† said Professor Lupin, sternly in their fourth week of practice. â€Å"For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren’t passing out anymore, are you?† â€Å"I thought a Patronus would — charge the Dementors down or something,† said Harry dispiritedly. â€Å"Make them disappear –â€Å" â€Å"The true Patronus does do that,† said Lupin. â€Å"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.† â€Å"You said it’s harder if there are loads of them,† said Harry. â€Å"I have complete confidence in you,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Here — you’ve earned a drink. Something from the Three Broomsticks. You won’t have tried it before –â€Å" He pulled two bottles out of his briefcase. â€Å"Butterbeer!† said Harry, without thinking. â€Å"Yeah, I like that stuff!† Lupin raised an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh — Ron and Hermione brought me some back from Hogsmeade,† Harry lied quickly. â€Å"I see,† said Lupin, though he still looked slightly suspicious. â€Å"Well — let’s drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I’m supposed to take sides, as a teacher†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he added hastily. They drank the butterbeer in silence, until Harry voiced something he’d been wondering for a while. â€Å"What’s under a Dementor’s hood?† Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully. â€Å"Hmmm †¦ well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon.† â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"They call it the Dementor’s Kiss,† said Lupin, with a slightly twisted smile. â€Å"It’s what Dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and — and suck out his soul.† Harry accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer. â€Å"What — they kill –?† â€Å"Oh no,† said Lupin. â€Å"Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no†¦anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever†¦lost.† Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, â€Å"It’s the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it if they find him.† Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black. â€Å"He deserves it,† he said suddenly. â€Å"You think so?† said Lupin lightly. â€Å"Do you really think anyone deserves that?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry defiantly. â€Å"For†¦for some things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He would have liked to have told Lupin about the conversation he’d overheard about Black in the Three Broomsticks, about Black betraying his mother and father, but it would have involved revealing that he’d gone to Hogsmeade without permission, and he knew Lupin wouldn’t be very impressed by that. So he finished his butterbeer, thanked Lupin, and left the History of Magic classroom. Harry half wished that he hadn’t asked what was under a Dementor’s hood, the answer had been so horrible, and he was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of you that he walked headlong into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs. â€Å"Do watch where you’re going, Potter!† â€Å"Sorry, Professor –â€Å" â€Å"I’ve just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Well, here it is, we’ve done everything we could think of, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it at all — you’ve got a very good friend somewhere, Potter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry’s jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever. â€Å"I can have it back?† Harry said weakly. â€Å"Seriously?† â€Å"Seriously,† said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. â€Å"I daresay you’ll need to get the feel of it before Saturday’s match, won’t you? And Potter — do try and win, won’t you? Or we’ll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to ear. â€Å"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow?† â€Å"Yeah†¦anything†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in a month. â€Å"You know what — we should make up with Hermione†¦She was only trying to help†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah, all right,† said Ron. â€Å"She’s in the common room now working — for a change.† They turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, who seemed to be refusing him entrance. â€Å"I wrote them down!† Neville was saying tearfully. â€Å"But I must’ve dropped them somewhere!† â€Å"A likely tale!† roared Sir Cadogan. Then, spotting Harry and Ron: â€Å"Good even, my fine young yeomen! Come clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force entry to the chambers within!† â€Å"Oh, shut up,† said Ron as he and Harry drew level with Neville. â€Å"I’ve lost the passwords!† Neville told them miserably. â€Å"I made him tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps changing them, and now I don’t know what I’ve done with them!† â€Å"Oddsbodkins,† said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming over his Firebolt. â€Å"Where’d you get it, Harry?† â€Å"Will you let me have a go?† â€Å"Have you ridden it yet, Harry?† â€Å"Ravenclaw’ll have no chance, they’re all on Cleansweep Sevens!† â€Å"Can I just hold it, Harry?† After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was Passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione, the only person who hadn’t rushed over to them, bent over her work and carefully avoiding their eyes. Harry and Ron approached her table and at last, she looked up. â€Å"I got it back,† said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt. â€Å"See, Hermione? There wasn’t anything wrong with it!† said Ron. â€Å"Well — there might have been!† said Hermione. â€Å"I mean, at least you know now that it’s safe!† â€Å"Yeah, I suppose so,† said Harry. â€Å"I’d better put it upstairs.† â€Å"I’ll take it!† said Ron eagerly. â€Å"I’ve got to give Scabbers his rat tonic.† He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys’ staircase. â€Å"Can I sit down, then?† Harry asked Hermione. â€Å"I suppose so,† said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair. Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay (‘Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity’) and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over. â€Å"How are you getting through all this stuff?† Harry asked her. â€Å"Oh, well — you know — working hard,† said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin. â€Å"Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?† Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary. â€Å"I couldn’t do that!† said Hermione, looking scandalized. â€Å"Arithmancy looks terrible,† said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart. â€Å"Oh no, it’s wonderful!† said Hermione earnestly. â€Å"It’s my favorite subject! It’s –â€Å" But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, Harry never found out. At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys’ staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder — and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet. â€Å"LOOK!† he bellowed, striding over to Hermione’s table. â€Å"LOOK!† he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face. â€Å"Ron, what –?† â€Å"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!† Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like — â€Å"BLOOD!† Ron yelled into the stunned silence. â€Å"HE’S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?† â€Å"N — no,† said Hermione in a trembling voice. Ron threw something down onto Hermione’s rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs.

Drama essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Drama - Essay Example Many women were still constrained in their activities by the wishes of their male relatives, whether the dominant voice belonged to the father, the oldest brother or other guardian figure or the husband. These are the issues explored in Henrik Ibsen’s play â€Å"A Doll’s House† through the character of Nora and in Susan Glaspell’s short story â€Å"Trifles.† Comparing these two characters provides insight into the various constraints women had to deal with in their physical setting, their relationships and in their position in society. In both stories, the primary action takes place within the homes of the two female characters involved and each has much to say about the women who are trapped there. Nora’s house is presented in direct reflection of the play’s title. It is a doll’s house, perfectly decorated and arranged for the display of a happy family atmosphere without going to extremes of expense. This can be discerned from Nora’s careful selection of gifts for the upcoming holiday. She tells Torvold, â€Å"they [the gifts] are very plain, but anyway she [Emmy, their little girl] will soon break them in pieces† (Act 1). Gifts for the rest of the household include a new suit for Ivar and dress lengths for the maids, all highly practical and economical. Minnie’s house, in contrast, is introduced as two women and three men, none of them residents, enter into a gloomy farm kitchen. The house is set away from the road and far from the closest neighbor. This does not necessa rily mean the house was a trap for the woman who lived in it, but Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters that she stayed away because the house was gloomy and lonesome. As she mentions this, she reflects that it must have been that much harder for the woman who had to live there. This is made clear in the half-cleaned table, the bread sitting next to rather than inside

Schizophrenia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Schizophrenia - Essay Example This difference in levels of cognition in various patients led to more research into other underlying pathologic pathways responsible for severe cognitive impairment in NPI patients but was apparently working fine in patients on NPNN category. Brain morphometry was used to analyze differences. Both groups were tested against each other on the basis of four tests to asses the attention and working memory (verbal and nonverbal) and were confirmed by California verbal learning test and degraded stimulus continuous performance test. The standard deviation within 0.5 was the cut off for near normal cognition whereas 1 standard deviation below normal rendered the patient cognitively impaired. They gray matter was found to be smaller in both the groups along with larger third ventricle. An additional pathology found in NPI was that along with the gray matter, their white matter was also decreased in volume. The lateral ventricle cavity was also enlarged. Whitford et al (2007) further invest igated the white matter abnormalities in schizophrenics and also studied whether the degenerative changes are progressive. T1 weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 41 first- episode schizophrenics were compared against those of 47 normal comparable people for baseline volume of white matter using voxel-based morphometry in statistical parametric mapping- 2 (SPM2). The schizophrenics had decreased volume of white matter in frontal and temporal lobes. However there was an increase in white matter at frontoparietal junctions on both sides. The longitudinal changes at follow up after 2 to 3 years were compared using tensor based morphometry which showed decreased white matter bilaterally in middle and inferior temporal cortices of schizophrenics. The neural connection abnormalities were attributed to this progressive loss of white matter. The structural brain abnormalities at the time of first psychotic episode were studied by Fannon et al (2000) whose research involved 37 patient s going through their first episode of psychosis. T1 weighted steady brain scans of 1.5 mm contiguous sections were obtained and volumetric brain measurements were taken. The patients were found to have structural deviations and there was generalized reduction in brain volume, along with enlarged third and lateral ventricles. Cortical and temporal gray matter was found to be decreased. Schizophrenia is a chronic progressive mental disorder. It is associated with cognitive impairment and worsening interpersonal skills. The attacks are accompanied by hallucinations and delusions. Person feels that he is hearing different sorts of voices and has false beliefs and perceptions. There is extreme emotional instability and the patient may suffer from depression or social isolation. Cognitive decline involves memory impairment, decreased ability to pay attention and difficulty in functional execution of activities. The abnormalities are attributed to abnormal distribution and ratios of gray and white matter in the brain. Apart from that, increase in size of ventricular cavities as well as generalized reduction in brain volume also adds to affect the typical schizophrenic picture. The result is alterations in various brain functions owing to

Summarizing a biological article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summarizing a biological article - Essay Example It is, therefore, added to tools of sampling mosquitos. The study investigated whether CO 2, supplied from gas cylinders could be replaced by CO 2 derived from fermenting yeast. Trapping experiments targeting of gambiae s.s. Mosquitos species were conducted in the laboratory for both semi-field and field (Verhulst 28). The main purpose of the study was to answer if: CO 2 derived from fermenting yeast replace that supplied from supplied from gas cylinders in catching mosquitoes? (Verhulst 28). Change in CO 2 concentrations in MM-X trap baited affects the number of mosquitoes trapped? And which one of the MM-X traps recorded a significant number of mosquitoes? The main experimental approaches used were field and laboratory tests. In these methods, it was found that more mosquitoes were recorded in the baited trap with CO 2 produced by yeast than in unbaited trap.MM-X trap was baited with volatiles produced by mixtures of sugar, water and yeast in 25 L bottles (Verhulst 28). Comparisons of Catches were done with traps baited with industrial CO 2. Human odors were also examined as an additional effect. In the semi-field facility and laboratory dual-choice experiments were performed. The test showed that the yeast-produced Carbon dioxide on mosquitoes’ number entering an African house was carefully studied in the Malaria Sphere. The results of these methods recorded that, Traps baited with yeast-produced CO 2 trapped a significant more mosquitoes than traps baited with industrial CO 2 and unbaited traps, both in semi-field the laboratory. Adding yeast-produced CO 2 to traps baited with human scent significantly increased trap catches. Outdoor traps baited within industrial CO 2 or yeast-produced CO 2 + human odour reduced mosquitoes’ entry to the house with a human host under a bed net indoors. During the field trials, Anopheles gambiae s.s. was not caught. However, similar numbers of Anopheles arabiensis was caught in traps baited with yeast-produced

Analyze The Policies Of Tun Abdul Razak Period History Essay

Analyze The Policies Of Tun Abdul Razak Period History Essay On the other hand, he also established agencies such as the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), Malayan Industrial Development Finance (MIDF), and Council of Indigenous Peoples Trust (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, MARA). Furthermore, he changed Malaysias socioeconomic landscape through the New Economic Policy (NEP) during his premiership. This New Economic Policy was aiming at eliminating poverty and restructuring society by focusing not only on rural development, but also on education. Tun Abdul Razak played an important role in reestablishing the public identity of Malayan as he was also closely involved in the formation of Malaysia and its reconciliation with Indonesia. Due to his contribution to Malaysia and the public especially in development, he is known as the Father of Development. An Overview of Foreign Policy of Malaysia Since Independence, a variety of geographical, historical, social and political factors contribute to the shaping of Malaysias foreign policy that includes the conduct of the countrys international relations. The various determinants have become increasingly important in line with globalisation and in the advancement of communication and information technology (ICT). Although the nature of the foreign policy of our country is changing by time, the basic objective remains the same, which is to pursue the national interest at the international level and to ensure the continued prosperity and stability of our country. Examining Malaysias foreign policy since 1957, it is obvious that there are evolutionary changes characterised by notable differences in emphasis, which occurs with the change in Malaysias political stewardship and the need for political, economical and social stability. Under Tunku Abdul Rahman, our first Prime Minister, Malaysia is one of the anti-Communist and pro-western countries that also has close links to the Commonwealth due to the close adherence and relationship between British and us. After Tunku Abdul Rahman, we began to approach a foreign policy based on non-alignment, neutralization and peaceful co-existence, marked by it involvement in Non- Alignment Movement (NAM). Under Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia began to identify itself as a Muslim nation in accordance with its involvement in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Trying to achieve true independence by seeking out friends beside British, Malaysia started to encourage investments from sources other than Br itish. During Tun Hussein Onns premiership, Malaysia played an important role as a member of ASEAN regarding the issue of the collapse of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1975, the withdrawal of the US military presence from Southeast Asia and the invasion of Kampuchea (now Cambodia) by Vietnam. Malaysias foreign policy began to change dramatically when Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad took over as the fourth Prime Minister in 1981. It became more economy- oriented than what it had used to be, in line with its focus on building up a strong and nationalistic defense of the rights, interests and aspirations of developing countries. Under Tun Dr. Mahathir, there were a number of new initiatives, including treating Antarctica as the common heritage of mankind, the look east policy (LEP) that encourages Malaysians to learn from the positive values of Japanese and Koreans, reverse investment, East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC), Group of 15 (G15)   ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Co-operation, Islamic Unity and the championing of the cause of developing countries on major issues like environment, human rights, and democracy. Dato Seri Abdulah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi has served as prime Minister and becomes the chairman of OIC, ASEAN, NAM for a period of time. Different foreign policy that comes under different prime ministers reflects a pragmatic response to the geopolitical and economic changes from time to time. A combination of being static but alterable according to the distinct needs at different moment as the main feature of our countrys foreign policy is a reflection of the development and maturation of our country in the conduct of its international affairs. In fact, in several occasions, Malaysias leadership has been recognised as one of the most influential. Malaysia has proved that it has possessed the quality of independence by depending less on foreign aid and courageous. Gradually, Malaysia has gained its fame as a politically, economically and socially stable country mainly due to its foreign policy. In short, Malaysia seeks to maintain the bilateral relations with almost all countries by upholding the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect for territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each others internal affairs, peaceful settlement of disputes as well as mutual benefit in relations and peaceful co-existence. Re- Alignment in Foreign Policy The suspension of Parliament after the crisis of May 13th 1969 entailed the administration of the country by an emergency body, the National Operations Council (NOC/ MAGERAN), for a period of four years. Starting from May 1969, Tun Abdul Razak was considered as the Head of Government due to his position as the Director of Operations of NOC. However, he was reluctant to make any changes on the foreign policy as long as Tunku Abdul Rahman was still holding the premiership. Yet, he was convinced that Malaysias foreign policy which was then revolving around the pro- western democracies, could no longer sustain Malaysias needs. Once he took over the premiership, the foreign policy agenda of a politically reconstructed Malaysia was to be put in place then. The new Administration was clearly at pains to regain domestic (both Malaysia and non-Malay) and international confidence in Malaysias viability as a multiethnic state. The serious challenge to governments ability to govern Malaysian society caused a significant review of policies. The introduction of new strategies represented the first observable attempts to employ foreign policy to a domestic political purpose, to increase the stability and balance of economic and political dominance among all races. For example, the development of more extensive contacts with international Islamic activities was part of the post -1696 pattern of UMNO or government movement towards a more Muslim character while maintaining patterns accommodation with other races. Besides, there was also an issue referred by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the apron- string complex. There were pressure and arguments on the type of relationship we should maintain between the former colonizers and our country. In addition, there was also an urgent need to take the middle stand between the two major power blocs in the world by then in order to establish significant Third World credentials. The British Military Power, once the major power in Southeast Asia, was facing a gradual rundown that would definitely caused the whole withdrawal of the power from the region. Nevertheless, at the moment, Malaysia still needed the Western allies due to its under- developed defense systems. That is the reason for in April 1970, Tun Abdul Razak who was still the Minister of Defense, subscribed to the Five- Power Defense Pact, signed in London with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Britain. The turmoil in international and regional affairs was also one of the issues during the Razak administration. Prolonged United States involvement in Vietnam, the a complex geo-political challenge, particularly the rising of the neighborly countries such as Indonesia and India, both culturally and politically, the emergence of China as possessing the nuclear super- power and its re-entry to international diplomacy, the increasing influences of Japan on Asia especially in the fields of commerce, industry and finance, the renewed strength of Muslim states in the Middle East were indirectly shaping Malaysias foreign policy at the time. Moreover, Malaysia also had to deal with some regional security issues such as the Philippines claim over Sabah, the cooperation with Thailand to solve communist guerrillas in border area, the Thai treatment of Malay- Muslims in Southern Thailand and the relationships with Indonesia regarding to the navigation rights in the Melaka straits issue and the pos session of offshore oil resources. Tun Abdul Razak wondered about the strategies that Malaysia could adopt to cope with it. He felt that the emerging new countries in Africa and Asia should be cultivated. Besides, the ways that Malaysia managed these issues were also in the consideration as popular sentiment determined the perception of the outside world about Malaysia. It is important to create an image of Malaysia as an independent and free from foreign dominance country. When he took over his premiership, he began to implement his plans, elevating neutrality and non- alignment as our official foreign policy goals in order to ensure the future security and well- being of Malaysia. One of his goals was to achieve full neutralization of the whole of Southeast Asia while still maintaining a good relationships with the West by acquiring cooperation from the major powers that were concerned with this region, and also by identifying with the Third World of Afro- Asia including Latin American, South Pacific and Middle East . Another goal was to gain alliance with the ASEAN countries and to make sure that the region would be safer and freed from foreign military forces and also to maintain harmonious, peaceful and bilateral relationships with these neighbour countries. The Association of Southeast Asia (ASEAN) During the period of Tun Abdul Razak as the deputy prime Minister of Malaysia, there were only few organizations such as the ASA (Association of Southeast Asia) and the ASPAC (Asian Pacific Council). Tunku Abdul Rahman realized that there was no space for two organizations to work perfectly at the same time. Thus, in 1967, not long after the Confrontation dispute with Indonesia, five main country members including Adam Malik from Indonesia, Narciso Ramos from the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak from Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam from Singapore and Thanat Khoman from Thailand held a meeting in Bangkok and eventually founded the ASEAN, in response to the failure of MAPHILINDO, for the strategic and security reasons. This is the Bangkok Declaration. Before the forming of ASEAN, Malaysia was facing the issues regarding to the claim made by the Philippines over Sabah as Sabah was once the territory of Sultanate of Sulu. Besides, Malaysia also had to deal with the Confrontation of Indonesia at Southern part of Malaysia. In line with the formation of ASEAN, many conflicts were resolved as the members of ASEAN come to agree that there were better solutions instead of confrontations and conflicts. By 1967, the open dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia was replaced by cooperation through the formation of ASEAN. In fact, the Philippines claim on Sabah was slow down after the formation of ASEAN. Tun Abdul Razak played an important role as he stood firmly in declining the Philippines claim on Sabah. From his point of view, it was a test for the new nation. Malaysian demanded for the withdrawal of the Philippines from Sabah even if they wanted to infiltrate Sabah with a special forces. The Malaysian government lodged a formal protest in September 1968. A meeting was held between Tuan Abdul Razak and Narciso Ramos in Bangkok. It seemed to be fruitless but they agree with a solution by having a cooling off period. Yet, matters went even worse when the Philippines claimed again over Sabah territory and its water. In addition, the Philippines Executive also accused the State Government of Sabah for infringing the Kuala Lumpur Declaration by interfering with its internal affairs such as smuggling arms and explosives in the Sulu Islands and Mindanao. This is an ongoing issue but without Tun Abdul Razak and the government, we may not have Sabah as a state in our country today. In February 1977, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, drafted initiatively by Tun Abdul Razak, to foster peaceful resolutions of disputes between ASEAN member countries was signed at the ASEAN summit conference in Bali. Another issue that had a big impact on Malaysia was the idea of the communism. The formation of ASEAN was mainly for strategic and security reasons and political stability among the ASEAN countries. To prevent ASEAN countries from being colonized, threatened or involving in communism, ASEAN bind all the countries together to have a neutralized stance. The early formation of ASEAN was to prevent all war involving ASEAN countries, to focus in economic growth and also to rebuild and recover after World War II. Federation of Malaya, by the time, had just came out from the confrontation of Indonesian and the state of emergency, without the idea of ASEAN and the co-operation among the ASEAN countries for the economical support, Malaysia would not be able to survive throughout the whole early period before and after the formation of Malaysia. Neutralization and Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) Since Tun Abdul Razak assumed his position as the second prime minister of Malaysia, neutralization had become the key element of Malaysias foreign policy. The proposal of neutralization under Tun Abdul Razak had two levels of implementation. The first level specified that Southeast Asian nation-states adopt and practice non- aggression and non- intervention principles based on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, besides reaching out to ensure harmony and security among themselves. The second level of implementation involved the major superpowers at the time, the United States, China, and the Soviet Union, were singled out as prospective guarantors for ensuring that the Southeast Asian region would not become an area for conflict among these major countries. In addition, the superpowers were also called on to take the role of supervising to ensure the neutrality of Southeast Asia. The declaration emphasized regional cooperation to strengthen the economic and soc ial stability of the region to ensure peaceful and progressive national developments. Since 1970, Malaysia has been practicing non- interference policy or the exception policy to create a bilateral good relationships with many countries, without involving itself in the complications of super- power such as Russia and United States. ZOPFAN (Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality), originated in a 1970, a proposal by Tun Abdul Razak, was one of the efforts made for the purpose of neutralizing Southeast Asia, to be free from any form of external interference and to create a region that has lasting peace, freedom and prosperity. In October 1971, Tun Abdul Razak proposed his plan for neutralization to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He received a lot of encouragement and acceptance. He managed to arrange a meeting with four other ASEAN countries to hold a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on November 26th and 27th. The result was the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, an issue of a joint communiquà © that included a declaration of all ASEAN countries by the time to cooperate and work together to gain the recognition and respect for Southeast Asia as ZOPFAN. The Malaysian Government under the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministership of Tun Razak and Tun Ismail organized a chain of diplomatic campaigns to have the Malaysian initiative adopted and accepted by the other non- ASEAN Southeast Asia countries for the need of a neutralized Southeast Asia. He called for a greater regional cooperation and warned people about the danger and risk of the existence and intention of super- powers. During the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on 16 December 1969, he stressed the importance of regional cooperation and regional solidarity through self-help and collective efforts. Tun Abdul Razak did not cease his personal effort in implementing the idea of ZOPFAN to a wider area including those countries that were not ASEAN members. In 1974, he made an official visit to Burma to convince President U Ne Win about neutralization. Although Burmese remained skeptical and Indo-China was about to be ruled by communists, Tun believed and was convinced that in the future, these countries would embrace neutralization. However, ZOPFAN had not progressed very much beyond the conceptual beginnings and terms set down during the Bali meeting in 1976. ZOPFAN remains an intra-ASEAN policy, but over the years, the principles of the proposal and the subsequent Treaty of Amity and Concord have been contravened by non-ASEAN states. In 1990s, after reviewing the relevancy of ZOPFAN, some analysts believed that the concept of ZOPFAN seems increasingly irrelevant in the post-Cold War era and it was merely a statement of principle rather than a plan for effective actions. ZOPFAN was extremely limited in the contribution it can make toward the shaping or formulation of security arrangements and other such forms of regional cooperation among the member states of ASEAN. Non- Alignment Movement (NAM) Tun Abdul Razak made a couple of significant changes in Malaysias foreign policy. One of his fundamental moves was the decision to join NAM (Non-Aligned Movement). NAM was considered by the Razak administration as a major discussion for consultations and management of positions on political and economic issues to determine an international order that were of importance among the almost two- thirds of the sovereign developing countries of the world. To understand why Tun Abdul Razak decided to actively be a member of NAM, remember that NAM emerged during the collapse of the colonial system in Asia and Africa and the emergence of independent countries from colonization and imperialism. As the name implies, NAM members follow a strict non-alignment policy, did not favor both democratic bloc and communist bloc. NAM countries promote self-determination, national independence and sovereignty and territorial integrity. NAM countries also focus on strengthening the socioeconomic development as well as reconstituting international economic system. Tun Abdul Razak, practiced a non-alignment policy by establishing ZOFPAN. He believed that the joining of Malaysia into NAM can prove the stance of Malaysia, which chose to be non-aligned with any powers of block. During the period of Tun Abdul Razak as the Foreign Minister, Malaysia was officially brought into the fold of the Movement as a member country with its participation in the Informal Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of NAM at New York on 27th September 1969. Consequently, the Malaysian Delegation, led by Tun Abdul Razak as the new Prime Minister, attended its first ever Summit as a member country at the 3rd NAM Summit in Lusaka, Zambia from 8th until 10th September 1970. To strengthen Malaysias determination and pursuit of disentanglement, Tun Abdul Razak led the delegation of Malaysia to the Fifth Conference of Heads of State of Government of NAM Countries at Colombo in the year of 1976. In the political aspects, NAM members agreed to condemn Zionists violent action against Palestinians. Zionist (Israel) persistently continued his hostile racist and unlimited expansionary policy in Palestine boundaries. As a Muslim, Tun Abdul Razak paid sympathy and condemnation against Israelis actions. NAM also agreed that this situation posed a threat to international security and peace. As the same time, Tun Abdul Razak wanted to create a closer relationship with Muslim countries. This gave Tun Abdul Razak a greater chance and higher reputation, since Muslim countries also disagreed with Zionists brutal action against Palestine. Another issue that helped Tun Abdul Razak to proven his role in Asian is the issues of United States, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Vietnam. As a prominent figure in South East Asian, Tun Abdul Razak was working hard to make South East Asian a free-alignment zone, free from any alien powers. By the time the fifth conference was held, Vietnam had a successful birth as Socialist Republic of Vietnam, while Lao Peoples Democratic Republic had freed from United States attack. NAM celebrated the struggle of the country to fight against Imperialism by United States. To make sure that Malaysia stood in the side of Vietnam, joining NAM and agreeing with the resolution was the right actions. This act, therefore, would bring confidence to South East Asian countries to join Tun Abdul Razaks plan to made South East Asian a free and neutral region. In the economic context, Tun Abdul Razak, which at that time had visions to develop Malaysia, has made a right path by joining NAM, which clearly paralleled with his visions and missions. Malaysia, which was going step by step to neutralize from big powers (bloc), would surely suffer in terms of economic if they continued to do so. By far, most underdeveloped and developing countries still depend on big powers for economic support, and these policy had never made them any better; economic discrimination, along with imperialism, colonialism and apartheid would never place a big space for these countries to developed. Malaysia had made the right step to gradually become independence in terms of economic and sovereignty by joining NAM. The Relationship with China The most recent historical perspective of bilateral Malaysia-China relations is relevant for todays situation. This is due to the fact that the relation of China and Malaysia and also with other Southeast Asian countries was complicated by two problems. According to Malaysia, Southeast Asia and the Emerging China: Political, Economic and Cultural Perspectives; one had been the Beijings policy towards Malaysian of Chinese origin and the other is its policy towards the Communist Party of Malaya. Unlike the establishment of diplomatic relations with other countries such as for example African countries whereby communities of Chinese ancestors and African communist parties linked closely to China didnt have any issues that complicated matters so much. Thus, these two factors played a prominent role in playing in the establishment o diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. In 1949, communism took over China. They, at that time didnt think of a clear policy towards Southeast Asians of Chinese origin. Instead, they continued the previous Kuomintang government which was to consider as Chinese those who had a grandfather who was a Chinese citizen. This caused numerous difficulties with other countries which just obtained their independence from colonial rule. Those new countries did not want to deal with citizens that came from other countries, especially China. However, the Chinese communist were enthusiastic to have diplomatic relations with these new nations especially those that were not seen as Western allies. Most the Chinese in Malaysia had embraced Malaysian citizenship and were already integrated in Malaysian polity by 1974. Again, according to Malaysia, Southeast Asia and the Emerging China: Political, Economic and Cultural Perspectives; it has been suggested that one reason Tun Razak wanted to establish diplomatic relations with China was an attempt on part of Barisan National to win Malaysian Chinese votes for a general election that was expected to be declared after he came back from China. UMNO leaders were confident of their loyalty to use the China card. However, there were still problems regarding the citizenship issue. Many Chinese in Malaysia still could not obtain their Malaysian citizenship and therefore were so-called stateless Chinese. It was feared that they could complicate the negotiations between Malaysia and the Chinese communist authorities. The Chinese communist government couldnt openly abandon them. But both parties really wanted to develop diplomatic ties so in 1974, Tun Razak and Premier Zhou En-lai signed the join communiquà ©. And in that draft, there was no mention of this group of Chinese beyond the usual urging by the Chinese premier that Chinese residents in Malaysia should respect Malaysian laws and customs. Besides that, there were other reasons Malaya wanted to establish diplomatic ties with China was that was due to regional strategic causes and economic reasons as well. According to Malaysia: Fifty Years of Diplomacy, in May 1971 a trade mission went to China at the invitation of the Chinese Governments National Foreign Trade Corporation. The outcome of this initiative was that China agreed to buy an entire stockpile of the Malaysian Rubber Fund Board. Apart from that, China also agreed to purchase an additional150,000 tons of rubber a year at average market prices. After almost a year later, in March 1972, the China National Chemical Export and Import Corporation invited a rubber technical advisory mission from Malaysia to visit China for two weeks. Malaysias recently established national trading corporation, PERNAS sponsored a 60-member trade delegation to the Canton Spring Fair in April 1972. Besides that, Malaya also developed a relationship with China based on other levels such as sports and medical exchanges throughout 1971 and 1972. This clearly shows that Malaysia really wanted to demonstrate its goal to achieve wide understanding with this growing power. Chinas formal membership in the UN and President Nixons visits to China was kind of triggered Malaysias initiative to have diplomatic relations with China. Malaysia then decided to begin a dialogue with China with a view to normalization of relations. The discourse began in June 1973 and the first few meetings showed Malaysias seriousness in the negotioations. Those who represented Malaysia were Zain Azraai (representing Prime Ministers Office), Khor Eng Hee (Wisma Putra) and Ahmad Kamil Jaafar (Deputy Permanent Representative). On the other hand, the person who represented China was their Ambassador, Huang Hua. Even though both sides expectations were opposed, the Malaysians were still able to persuade the Chinese to accept a package deal in which Malaysias main concerns were satisfied. The perception of China as a threat to Malaysia began to change from the mid 1980s onwards. This was a result of many factors. One was due to the increasing acceptance by the Malaysian government and the Malaysian Chinese were well integrated in Malaysian polity. Any further opening towards China such as allowing Malaysians to visit China with the same degree of freedom they were permitted to travel to any other friendly country. Besides that, it was also encouraged for Malaysia to enhance business ties with China. Due to that, it would not have negative domestic political consequences. In conclusion, ties between China and Malaysia have been complicated by the issue of Beijings policy towards Southeast Asian of Chinese descent since 1949, especially by its support by the Communist Party in Malaya. However, these two factors did not prevent both of these countries from having diplomatic relations. But from 1980s onwards, the two factors mentioned began to dissolve when the Chinese were taken consideration into the local polity and when the Communist Party of Malaya decided to surrender back in 1989. Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is an international organization with a permanent delegation with the United Nations. It happened to be an idea of the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1969 and Malaysia has officially joined the organization since then. The succeeding government of Tun Abdul Razak reaped advantage from his leadership role. With more than 25 countries became the members of OIC before 1970, Tun Abdul Razak had become a second man by carrying on the idea made the first Prime Minister. In fact, this capable leader was persisted in the policies of Tunku Abdul Rahman in the organization. Apart of being renowned in Malaysian New Economic Policy (DBP), Tun Abdul Razaks foreign policy had been a great success from his efforts in the OIC. First of all, he was acknowledged with conspicuousness of Muslim Nation. Under Tun Abdul Razak, as a member of the particular organization, Malaysia began to identify itself as a Muslim nation. Even though there were three races in the country, he wanted to establish and recognize Malaysia as one single country. Indeed, it has been one up to the present. More or less, this situation had strengthened the Malaysian support towards the liberation of Palestine at that time. As Islam is the official religion of our country and the actual religion of the Malays, most contemporary leading politicians were Malays; thus, in various Arab- Israeli conflicts, despite Malaysias policy towards neutralization, the government encourage monetary contribution and volunteers from the public to aid the Palestinians during the Arab- Israeli war in October 1 973. Tun Abdul Razak also held responsible for Malaysias agreement for Islamic Charter of OIC in 1972. As a result of this, he had given birth to a clean international Islamic image for a new country like Malaysia at that particular moment. Furthermore, this second Prime Minister had emphasized the pragmatism of OIC. It was his idea to come out with economically supportive Islamic Organization to the members of the OIC. In the 5th Islamic Conference, he used to stress the importance for the OICs members to promote and regard Islam as a religion of steadfast progression and human modernization. In a sense, the idea involved the constitution of economic and technical cooperation, the broadening of trade, investments schemes and its members, better and improved deployment of Islamic Development Bank (IDF) funds within the Islamic world, and the modification on the system of Islamic education. As a result, there was a sharp boost in the volume of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Middle Eastern countries. The increasing volume $172 million in 1969 to $654 million in 1974 in trade is a clear evident for this case. As a matter of fact, Malaysia was considered as one of the top ten countries to be exempted from oil cutbacks during the global energy crisis in 1973. The mission to attract foreign investment through the establishment of foreign policies was also proven successful through the funding of oil-producing Arab countries in the constructions of mosques and religious schools in Malaysia. The Secretariat for the development of Ummah during the 1970s was liable for those kinds of modernizations. In a nutshell, Tun Abdul Razak contributed a lot to Malaysians development in terms of its foreign policy. It was him who initially practiced commercial bond between Malaysia and other Islamic nations, coupled with his ability to serve a respectful image of Malaysias name throughout the world and preserved Malaysias cerebral policies towards a nations freedom. At this point, he had moved Malaysia one step forward to the present Malaysia. Overall influences of the foreign policy on Malaysia Political Effects The existence of ZOPFAN in line with the foreign policy goal to achieve neutralization has contributed to an agreement formed between Malaysia and South East Asia (ASEAN) with other foreign powers, which in turn freed Malaysia and other ASEAN countries from any kind of violation and disturbance from the foreign power that wished to carry out the imperialism policy. In fact, foreign powers had actually promised to acknowledge and recognize the sovereignty and independence of the countries in this area Thus, the forming of ZOPFAN has provided ASEAN countries with an institutional framework and the sinews of future co-operations, emphasizing that ASEAN was free to embark on a journey to prove the viability of the philosophy of building regional resilience based on the respective national resilience of each of its Member Countries, anticipating an era of peace and co-operation. Despite the partial success of the p