Boggart
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☀︎︎❦⌫☺︎︎𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞☺︎︎⌫❦☀︎︎
☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎ ☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎
THE TRIO quickly caught up with Rose after Potions.
"Rose!"
"What?" She demanded, turning around.
Harry could have sworn he saw a glint of red in her eye.. but it was gone as quick as it came.
"D-did you do that?" Ron asked in amazement.
"Do what?"
"That— the— the fire!"
"What? You think i did that? How could i?" She asked, exasperated. "I don't have magical powers."
"I mean- it looked like you did."
"Where your friend? Hermione?" Rose changed the subject.
"Right here- oh." They both turned, Hermione was no longer there.
"She was right behind us," said Ron, frowning.
Malfoy passed them, walking between Crabbe and Goyle. He smirked at Harry, but once he saw Rose, the smirk faded from his face but this made the one on Rose's face grow and he dashed away with his 'boyfriends'.
"There she is," said Harry.
Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes.
"How did you do that?" asked Ron.
"What?" said Hermione, joining them.
"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again."
"What?" Hermione looked slightly confused, as did Rose. "Oh— i had to go back for something. Oh- Hi Rose. Oh no—"
A seam had split in Hermione's bag. Rose wasn't surprised; she could see that it was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books.
"Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her.
"You know how many subjects i'm taking," said Hermione breathlessly. "Couldn't hold these for me, could you?"
"But—" Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. "You haven't got any of these subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."
"Oh yes," said Hermione vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. "I hope there's something good for lunch, i'm starving," she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall.
"D'you get the feeling Hermiones not telling us something?" Ron asked Harry. He then looked towards Rose. "Well, you're a girl."
She looked at with with fake surprise. "No way really?"
"No— talk to Hermione. Find out what she's hiding."
"Not every girl can talk telepathically." She rolled her eyes and walked off after Hermione.
"What's Telepathically mean?" Asked Ron.
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Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived at his first Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson. They all sat down, Rose sat next to Hermione, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teachers desk.
He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had a few square meals.
"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."
A few curious looks were exchanged as the class out away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a careful of pixies to class and set them loose.
"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."
Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.
Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into a song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony loppy Lupin—"
Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Everyone looked quickly as Professor a Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.
Peeves turned to Rose, smiled and said "Hello!" while waving.
"Hi Peeves." She said back.
Peeves didn't really like any of the students, or professors for that matter, but he liked Rose. She was funny in his opinion.
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if i were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."
Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupins words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry.
Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.
"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."
He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves.
With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.
"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.
"Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"
They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.
"Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back.
The staff room, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatch chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low arm chair and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said "Possibly no ones warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."
Neville went scarlet. Harry and Rose glared at Snape; it was bad enough that he bullied Neville in his own classes, let alone doing it in front of other teachers.
Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows.
"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation." he said, "and i am sure he will perform it admirably."
Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.
"Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Nothing to worry about," said Professor Lupin calmly because a few people, including Rose, had jumped in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there."
Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, Rose and Seamus Finnigan eyes the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks— i've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one only moved in yesterday afternoon, and i asked the head mater if the staff would let it to give my third years some practice."
"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"
Hermione, who was standing next to Rose, put up her hand.
"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when i let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears."
"This means," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Nevilles small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
Trying to answer a question with Hermione close to him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, was very off-putting, but Harry had a go.
"Er— because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Precisely." said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. "It's always best to have company when you ur dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make a very mistake— tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is Laughter. What you need to do if force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" said the class together.
"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, i'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."
The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.
"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
Nevilles lips moved, but no noise came out.
"I didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.
Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."
Nearly everyone laugh, Rose didn't though. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.
"Professor Snape... hmmm.. Neville, i believe you live with your grandmother?"
"Er— yes," said Neville nervously. "But— i don't want the Boggart to turn into her either."
"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"
Neville looked startled, but said, "Well... always the same hat. A tall one with a stiffer vulture on top. And a long dress... green, normally... and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."
"And a handbag?" promoted Professor Lupin.
"A big red one," said Neville.
"Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your minds eye?"
"Yes," said Neville uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next.
"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand—thus—and cry 'Riddiulus'— and concentrate hard on your grandmothers clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that ig red handbag."
There was a great shout of laughter, including Rose. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.
"If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn." said Professor lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that's acted you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."
The room went quiet. Rose thought... What scared her most in the world?
Her first thought was the Ocean, but she doesn't know how a Boggart would turn into an Ocean.
"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin.
Rose did not feel very ready. She wasn't sure what she was exactly scared of most. But she didn't want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves. "Neville, we're going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, alright? I'll call the next person forward.. Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot—"
They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and Frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.
"On the could of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One— two— three—now!"
A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupins wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out $8: eyes flashing at Neville.
Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.
"R—r—riddikulus!" squeaked Neville.
There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eating vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.
There was a roar of laughter; the Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"
Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he and stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; it's sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, it's still arms rising—
"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.
A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin.
Seamus darted past Parvati.
Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floorlength black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face— a banshee. She opened her mouth wide an an unearthly souls filled the room, a long, walking shriek that made the hair on Rose's head stand in end— "Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus.
The banshee mad a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.
Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then Crack! it became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before—Crack!— becoming a single, bloody eyeball.
"It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!"
Dean hurried forward.
Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.
"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean.
There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.
"Excellent! Ron, you next!"
Ron leapt forward.
Crack!
Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, Rose thought Ron had frozen. Then—
"Riddikulus!" Bellowed Ron, and the spiders legs vanished; it rolled over and over; Lavender brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to Rose, she raised her wand ready. Professor Lupin was watching closely, expecting Sirius Black.
But it wasn't.
Crack!
Rose felt her heart drop in her stomach.
It was Aurora.
The class got confused. 'Who is this girl?' was their thoughts.
Aurora was standing there with a glare. A glare towards Rose.
"You." Aurora pointed at Rose. "You left me. You left me with them! I died, because of yo—"
Rose acted like it didn't affect her at all. "Riddikulus."
Aurora disappeared and came to a halt at Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but—
"Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack!
Aurora had vanished. For a second everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily.
Crack!
"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the Boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined.
"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split seconds view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of Laughter, and the Boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.
"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause—except for Rose, who was still staring at the spot Aurora was standing— "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone... let me see.. five points to Gryffindor for every person to tack the a Boggart—ten for Neville because he did it twice... and five each to Hermione, Harry, and Rose."
"But i didn't do anything," said Harry. Rose didn't say anything.
"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry." Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly fed the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me...o be handed in on Monday. That will be all."
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