The rest of the weekend came and went. Fortunately, the story of Seraya's relationship had been kept rather minimal. Although most of the student body as well as the faculty were now aware of their romantic involvement, the story had remained truthful, curtesy of Timothy who must have felt severely threatened.
The early hours of the following Monday morning were gray and cold; the halls and corridors of the grand castle eerily dark. Winter was still in its full bloom. The shallow edges of the Black Lake were frozen over and the treetops of the Forbidden Forest were delicately covered in powdery snow.
Alongside her fellow fifth year Ravenclaws, Seraya made her way from the Great Hall to the classroom for Defense and Magical combat, located on the third floor. The Slytherin's followed shortly after. Similar to the class during which they had learned about wizarding duels, the tables and benches had been swept aside. There was an old wooden trunk positioned near the teacher's desk.
Professor Merrythought was standing beside it and eyeing the tired students excitedly. "All that energy on a Monday morning", Abraxas muttered referring to their Professor. The blond boy had quietly snuck up behind Seraya, to place a chaste kiss just beneath her right ear, causing her to smile adoringly. The students of both houses had gathered around the trunk and the Professor and were watching it warily as it shook and moved.
"Does anyone have an idea what this trunk contains?", Professor Merrythought asked them. it was Claudius Lestrange who spoke up first: "A boggart, I suppose." "Precisely, five points to Slytherin. Now, who can tell me more about Boggarts?" Multiple people raised their arms. Merrythought pointed at a mouse-brown haired girl from Ravenclaw: "Yes?" The girl cleared her throat before perfectly reciting the text on boggarts from their copy of "Dark Magic and Creatures, a guide to self-defense".
"The boggart is a shape-shifter that assumes the form of the observer's greatest fear. Therefore, the true physical form of the boggart remains unknown. To banish a boggart, one most say the incantation Riddikulus and will it to turn into something amusing, as it is laughter that will cause its disappearance." Happily, the professor awarded ten points to Ravenclaw before turning back to the class.
"Today we will be attempting to banish the boggart. Form a line in front of the trunk and face it one by one. Remember, you must visualize the form you wish the boggart to take before casting the spell. Create a strong mental image. When confronted with our deepest fear, we as humans tend to forget how to keep calm and think. So, stay focused, be brave." Abraxas was standing beside Seraya and scoffed at the Professor's speech: "Do we look like bloody Gryffindors?"
The students started shuffling around to form a long line. Seraya found herself somewhere in the middle of the line. First to step up to the boggart was Eric Whitmore. His legs were visibly shaking as Professor Merrythought opened the battered trunk. Out burst a brown chicken. Not few of the other students chuckled. Eric had let out a high-pitched screech but quickly collected himself, raising his wand to point at the chicken that was stalking towards him, relentlessly bobbing its head.
"Riddikulus", he said and the class watched as the poor chicken transformed into something that Seraya would categorize as a mutilated crossover between reindeer and chicken. Its legs had moved to the top of the chicken's head as some sort of horrifically creepy antlers. The young witch couldn't find anything amusing in the sight it made and thus didn't join the laughter of the others.
The line moved on, the boggart switching into mummies, zombies, clowns and large aggressive dogs. When Abraxas stepped up to the boggart, Seraya watched in horror as the creature took on the face of a man who, by the looks of it, appeared to be his father. Lord Malfoy was sporting an expression of snobby arrogance and distaste. "How dare you besmirch the honorable name of Malfoy like this. You are a disgrace to your heritage. Just you wait, when I'm through with you...", the boggart-man said with an icy voice.
Abraxas stood unmovingly, frozen in horror as the image of his father advanced towards him, cruel intent on the angled face. Quickly Seraya took a step to stand right behind her boyfriend. Gently she placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered: "It's alright, Brax. He can't harm you. He isn't real."
The blond boy inhaled deeply and then cast the spell. With a flash the clothes Mister Malfoy had been wearing changed to something one would see Professor Dumbledore in. Extravagant pink and purple robes of fine velvet and a ridiculous pointy hat in matching colors. Everyone burst out in laughter, even Tom Riddle could be seen earnestly chuckling at the sight. Satisfied, Abraxas stepped aside and made way for Seraya to face her greatest fear.
The boggart took a while to change form as though it was unsure. Then, with a loud boom, it transfigured. Knowing herself, Seraya was aware of the nature of her greatest fear and was prepared to immediately turn it into something different. She didn't want all the other students to see her boggart and question its meaning. For a split second a glowing red circular object appeared to be hanging in the air before "Riddikulus" it turned into a red Quaffle.
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After all he had learned about the girl, it didn't surprise Tom the least that her Boggart took a rather unusual form. At first he hadn't been certain what exactly the red glowing object was, that took shape in front of Seraya for a brief second, before being quickly transfigured into a Quaffle. Judging by the confused murmuring that echoed throughout the classroom, the other students were equally clueless.
But Tom wouldn't be Tom Riddle if he didn't put his intellect and wit to use and figure it out. When after the Ravenclaw-girl two more students had successfully faced their Boggart, he found his answer. A full lunar eclipse; a rare meteorological phenomenon. Due to the reddish colour of the moon during a full lunar eclipse, people occasionally referred to it as a blood-moon. Why would one be afraid of a total lunar-eclipse?
If her Boggart had turned into the moon in its most common form, he would have suspected her of being a werewolf, but a blood-moon was rather specific. Tom was dumbfounded. Ever since Seraya Cassedy had entered Hogwarts, there had been surprises hurling themselves at Tom from around every corner. He knew this situation currently remained beyond his grasp and decided to postpone his ponderings and refocus on the class.
Tom had yet to face his own Boggart. The everlasting mystery of Seraya Cassedy would have to wait until the Slytherin-Prefect found the time for a thorough research in the vast expanses of the Hogwarts-Library or, if that didn't prove to be successful, in Salazar Slytherin's private study. "Tom, you're up", Professor Merrythought called him and he made his way to stand before the magical shapeshifter, back straight and chin held high. The Boggart sensed his presence and at once started shifting then, with a loud crack, it took its designated form.
At Tom's feet lay himself. Dead. Face pale and lifeless, chest sunken in. His corpse looked so utterly fragile, so brittle and weak and at once Tom felt a revolting feeling blaze in his stomach. It was mixed with his determination, a promise to himself, to ensure that he never, NEVER, ended up like that. Dead. Death was for the weak and the ordinary and Tom Marvolo Riddle, heir of Salazar Slytherin was anything but that.
Tom looked disdainfully at the image of his dead body but never raised his wand. There wasn't any way to turn his Boggart into something funny and laughable and thus he turned on his heel and made his way through the group of wide-eyed and murmuring students and left the classroom, still focused on the turmoil of emotions within him.
He was going to go beyond anything other witches or wizards merely dreamed of, he would push the boundaries of all magic. One day, no one, not even Albus Dumbledore, would be able to deny that he was the most powerful wizard to ever live. They wouldn't dare speak his name out of reverence or fear.
[Obviously, updates have been rather slow as of late. I fear that might stay that way for a while. I'm currently applying to about 30 universities while also moving out of my last apartment and it is stressing me out. I really hope that once everything is settled I'll find some time to write before term starts and I'll be flooded with work again.]
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Madness- T.M.R.
Fanfiction"There is no good and evil, only power and those too weak to seek it." "You're wrong, there is only madness and those too scared to admit it."
