Because You Love Me

73. Severus and the Boggart

Neville stood there for a moment. He was reluctant to go anywhere near that wardrobe. Being in a class with Slytherins already made him nervous enough.

"Come on," Lupin encouraged. "Don't be shy."

Neville glanced backward and then hesitantly stepped forward.

"Neville, what frightens you most of all?" Neville mumbled something, but Lupin couldn't quite hear him. "I'm sorry."

"Professor Snape," he said more loudly. Some of the students behind him giggled.

"Yes," Lupin said. "Professor Snape. He frightens all. And I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Yes, but I don't want that boggart to turn into her either."

Another fit of laughter came from behind him.

"No. It won't. I want you to picture her clothes. Only her clothes." Neville started to describe them, but Lupin stopped him. "As long as you see it in your head, then we will see it. Now, when I open that wardrobe, here's what I want you to do." He went over and whispered in Neville's ear. "I want you to picture Professor Snape in your grandmother's clothing."

Neville stared at him.

"Can you do that?"

He nodded uncertainly.

"Wand at the ready."

Neville pulled out his wand and held it in front of him. Lupin used his own wand to unlock the wardrobe. The door slowly creeped open and hand came out, startling the students behind him. Harry held his breath. Was Professor Snape really going to be coming out of the wardrobe? His mouth dropped open when he did. He looked at Neville. The poor boy was actually shaking so bad he could hardly stand it. Snape just kept coming toward him and finally Neville said the spell. Snape was suddenly no longer wearing his black robes. He was wearing Neville's grandmother's clothes. Laughter erupted throughout the room. Lupin was even laughing himself.

"Alright," he told them. "Everyone form a line!"

Student after student went up against the boggart. There were snakes, spiders, and off the wall things like jello coming alive. Everyone managed to turn their fear around. Lupin was off to the side enjoying himself. Ron's fear, of course, was a huge spider. He said the spell and made it dance on roller skates.

Hermione's fear was one of the worst. When she stepped up the boggart, the scene before her turned into a graveyard. It was an open casket and there she was laying inside. She looked like she did now. Tears came to her eyes. She didn't know how to deal with it. Harry touched her shoulder from behind and she got the strength to get a hold of herself. She said the spell and she popped up and said, "Happy Halloween." Everyone laughed, including her.

"Thanks, Harry," she said as she went to the back of the line.

He smiled at her. He was next. Harry stepped up to the boggart and images started spinning in front of him. He thought of the big black dog he had seen earlier in the summer first, then of Voldemort coming back, but neither of those matched the fear he had felt when the Dementor attacked him on the train. The boggart stopped spinning and turned into the dementor. Lupin's eyes widened and he jumped in front of Harry. Suddenly the boggart changed into a bright, silvery, orb and he changed it into a balloon that floated away. He put the boggart magically back into the wardrobe.

"That's all," Lupin said. "I'm sorry. That's the end of the lesson. Get your books." He was strangely out of breath. "Class is over."

Harry stood there for a moment, unsure of why Lupin hadn't let him face the boggart. He could have withstood it. He knew he could have. He frowned and turned to leave class like the others. Lupin, in the excitement, forgot to lock the wardrobe back. He wiped his brow and held his heart. He thought for sure that the boggart might have turned into something else besides a dementor, something far more sinister: Voldemort. He couldn't have had that. He started to clean up the place a little when the door to his classroom opened again. He looked up. Severus glided through the door, a scowl on his face. He was holding a small bottle in his hand. He handed it to Lupin.