Gold Tinted Spectacles (Hecatemus Book #1)

Chapter 32 - No Longer Frightening

It was a little hard to breathe as the laughter kept coming, almost like he was under a tickling charm. It occurred to Harry that his instincts knew the best defence against the Boggart and were not about to let him stop until it was gone. After this thought it occurred to him that the more people who were laughing the quicker this would be over and that was all his peculiar mind required to come up with a solution.

There was a mirror on the professor's desk and, following the rather abstract idea in his mind, Harry pointed his wand as it and cast a revealing charm with a twist. The mirror turned helpfully towards the Boggart so that the creature was reflected in it and for a moment the class stood there completely stunned by what they were seeing.

Harry didn't need to wait long to find out that whatever he had done to the mirror had worked; Neville was the first break down and within a minute the whole class was laughing. The Boggart didn't stand a chance and it went up in smoke like so much firewood doused in lamp oil.

"Thank you, Harry," Professor Daemon said as the minor bout of hysteria the class seemed to be undergoing began to pass, "ten points to Gryffindor. I think that is the most interesting solutions to a Boggart I have ever seen."

* * *

Harry stood in the middle of the Room of Requirement looking around himself dubiously; it was almost completely bare and the walls were padded. It was the last fact which was somewhat disconcerting. He had a suspicion he knew why Hilde had sent them a note changing the location of their weekly meeting, and the state of the walls was backing up this suspicion; today they would be beginning wandless defence.

The book on the subject had been long and mostly boring, but both Harry and Draco had finished reading it in under a week. The only thing that had been stopping them after that point was Hilde's unwillingness to teach anything she had not researched very thoroughly. Harry could sympathise, but he had been becoming a little impatient over the last week or so.

"Good evening, Gentlemen," Hilde greeted grandly as she strode through the door.

She may have been a petite woman, but as soon as she entered a room she seemed to fill it. Harry found himself smiling despite his curiosity.

"Wandless defence?" Draco asked before Hilde even had a chance to put down the bag she habitually carried.

Coming to a halt the woman put her hands on her hips and gave a mock pout comparable to Draco's when he was trying to wheedle something out of Harry.

"Oh poo," she said dramatically, "now you've ruined my surprise. What gave it away; I thought I was being so subtle?"

Harry laughed and Draco waltzed up to Hilde, sunk down on one knee and bowed his head.

"Mademoiselle," he said grandly, "can you ever forgive me?"

At which point Hilde dissolved in a fit of giggles and Draco stood back up again.

"Harry, save me," she said between laughs, "your soulmate is trying to steal my scene."

"Ah, Dear Lady," the Slytherin responded and rose to his feet, "that would be impossible."

Sometimes Harry wondered if his lover was related to thespians since he could carry off any character, if somewhat over the top. As it was, he trotted over to where the other two were standing and slipped his arm round Draco's waist with a cheerful grin on his face.

"So you finally know all you need to know to teach us?" he asked as his enthusiasm grew.

"Well, not at much as I'd like," Hilde replied, every cheerful, "but you know me, that could take years. Bryan finally managed to fit me in for an intensive training session last week, so at least I know how to not damage any of us."