Shadows || A Severus Snape Fanfiction

Chapter 6 - The Boggart

To Asha's surprise, Snape's threat of further disciplinary action turned out to be an empty one, and when a particularly nasty potions assignment in January required background reading, he grudgingly relinquished her ban from the library. So even though Asha was still facing an unrelenting sense of unease and many unanswered questions, she threw herself into her school work (with the exception of potions) and all in all, life at Hogwarts had returned to its normal state.

Asha was especially enjoying Defence Against the Dark Arts. She had never liked a teacher more than she did Professor Lupin. This was her first year of learning real defensive magic - her previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors had been utterly useless - and Lupin was a very practical, down-to-earth man and evidently an exceptional wizard. Walking into his class immediately made Asha's underlying feelings of frustration and distress dissipate. Today was no different.

As the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins entered the classroom, Professor Lupin cheerfully called, "No need to get out your books today, everyone. We'll be heading up to the staffroom for a practical lesson." Asha's spirits lifted even more. What could Lupin have in store for them today? Perhaps they would finally get to have another go at duelling, she thought hopefully.

The staffroom was not as lavish as Asha had expected. It was a long, spacious room, lined with mismatched chairs and the occasional coffee table. Perched on a chair in the middle of the room was Professor McGonagall, sipping a cup of tea and perusing a copy of the Daily Profit.

"I hope you don't mind Professor, I came across a Boggart in the back wardrobe yesterday and I was hoping it would provide some good practice for my third years" said Lupin, genially.

"Of course, not a problem, Remus," she smiled, "I've got plenty of work to be getting on with anyway". She stood up and slid past the crowd of students and out the door, her cup of tea bobbing along behind her. Asha found it strange that McGonagall hadn't wanted to stay and watch the show. Having read about Boggarts in the DADA textbook, Asha knew they were creatures that turned into the victim's greatest fear. It would be fascinating to see what scared everyone the most. Now she thought about it, she was quite interested to see what the Boggart would turn into for herself. She could think of plenty of concepts that frightened her, like the torture of her friends, the raping of her mother, the permanence of death. But a thing that frightened her. What would that be? Perhaps an Inferius, or, she thought with a sickening sensation in her stomach, her brother telling her it was all her fault...

"Right, gather round everyone," called Lupin, indicating an old wardrobe in the back corner of the room. He explained the basic behaviour of Boggarts to the class and had begun introducing the Riddikulus charm when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence, having noticed something behind the mass of students.

"Ah, Professor Snape, I didn't see you there. Apologies for the interruption," said Lupin. Sure enough, at the back of the room, lounging on a faded leather armchair and reading a  black, titleless book, was Snape. He looked up coldly at Lupin and Asha felt a wave of anger at the potion master's lack of respect for her favourite teacher. "I'm afraid this lesson is bound to get noisy so you may want to continue your reading elsewhere," suggested Lupin.

"Actually, I would be quite interested to see what this Boggart has in store for your students, Lupin," replied Snape, with a malicious look in his eye.

"Very well then. As we were everyone. Repeat after me... Riddikulus".

Eventually, the time came for the Boggart to be released. A Slytherin boy called Blaise Zabini was up first. There was an air of nervous anticipation in the room. After a count of three, Lupin sent sparks at the wardrobe and a huge, hunched beast burst from the door, growling and drooling from a snarling wolf-life snout. Its skin was grey and patched with matted fur, taut against its skeletal limbs. Screams and scuffling feet sounded from behind Asha as half the class hurried to create more distance between themselves and the werewolf. Asha was horrified yet mesmerised as the creature prowled towards Blaise, its huge claws clicking against the stone floor.