TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Seventeen

Some of the class cheered again. First no Professor Hunatil and second no awful classroom! This was going to be awesome!

The class piled down the hallway and into Professor Granger's classroom. It was a lot more spread out than Professor Huntail's. In fact, there were no chairs or tables at all. The room was completely empty apart from a large wardrobe that stood proudly in the middle. Confused, the third-years entered the classroom. As they were doing so, the wardrobe shook wildly causing some of the students to jump.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Professor Granger calmed the class to the best of her ability, "Everyone just get in a line!"

The third-years did so and kept their eyes on the wardrobe cautiously. Tom went to the very back of the queue. He hadn't reacted at all to the wardrobe because, in all honesty, he didn't much care. Alannah stood directly in front of him in the queue and they waited for instructions from the teacher.

"So," Professor Granger spoke to the class, "What do you think is in this wardrobe?"

It shook again causing those at the front of the line to jump back in fear. There was no response to Professor Granger's questions. Internally Hermione sighed in disappointment.

'Well I would've known,' she thought to herself before addressing the class once again, "Do any of you know? Any of you?"

Professor Granger looked around the class. Everybody who she met eye contact with immediately broke it. At the back of the line, Tom internally groaned. This little exercise was getting boring. Couldn't they just get it over and done with?

"Alright, I'll tell you," conceded Professor Granger, "It's a boggart."

There was a sudden buzz around the classroom. Now a few more people were beginning to understand. Tom was not one of those people.

"A what?" Tom murmured under his breath. Alannah turned around.

"You don't know?" Tom gave her a withering look, "Oh... I guess... you're not from a wizarding family then?" Tom shook his head, "Well she'll explain it," Alannah turned back around, slightly embarrassed (but not showing it) after forgetting that he didn't come from wizarding parents.

"Now I'm sure a few of you may be aware of what a Boggart is but for those who aren't..." Professor Granger walked up to the wardrobe and tapped it. It shook again wildly, "They are the scariest creatures known to mankind," you could have heard a penny drop in the classroom. Professor Granger continued, "Nobody knows a Boggart's true appearance because whenever they are viewed they take on the appearance of that which the person viewing them fears most."

"Huh?" Tom murmured again.

"It looks like what you're scared of," Alannah explained matter-of-factly without even turning around. Tom grunted quietly in understanding. He still didn't really care much.

"But it was important that we learn how to combat such creatures in a non-violent way," Tom internally groaned again. She was still going? "Because you may not believe this but Boggarts are actually just as afraid of you as you are of them."

"So how do we stop a boggart?" asked a voice from the middle of the line.

"I'm glad you asked!" Professor Granger was happy someone was finally getting engaged with the lesson. When Professor Huntail had fallen suddenly ill, she'd been tasked with supplying a lesson for his third-years. Unfortunately she had no plan so she just found a Boggart lying around and decided to roll with it, "Boggarts have one large, exploitable weakness: Laughter. Being in large groups when dealing with them helps too but laughter is a sure fire way to get rid of a Boggart," she tapped the wardrobe again, "So here we have a Boggart and you are all going to get rid of it, one by one."