After lunch which had been spent discussing their new classes and professors, all of the third year Slytherins walked to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived so they all sat down in the back of the classroom. Like Harrison's first two years the classroom looked different since there was a new teacher. The room was filled with posters of dark creatures and a Grindylow was swimming around in a tank on Remus' desk. The Gryffindors soon walked in, Ron, Dean and Seamus glaring at the Slytherins as they did so. Neville smiled when he saw Harrison and took the seat on his left that the latter had saved for him. Harrison was glad that Neville didn't change how he acted around him after learning who Harrison's father was. After exchanging greetings Remus walked in, he smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on his desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.
"Good afternoon," Remus 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 put 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 cage full of pixies to class and set them loose. Harrison doesn't like the man, but if the lesson was going to be a practical one then he was going to like him more than Lockhart or Quirrell. And if he was able to "accidentally" curse Ron in the process, than it would be even better.
"Right then," said Remus, 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 Remus was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin —" Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Harrison suppressed a snort, Draco however didn't bother to suppress his. Blaise leaned up against the stone wall and crossed his arms over his chest, amusement dancing in his eyes. Everyone looked quickly at Remus to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling. Harrison's eyes took on a calculating glint, he knew that Remus was most likely going to attempt to impress the class.
"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." Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Remus 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. Harrison raised an eyebrow, he had never heard that spell before. However, he didn't doubt that Remus invented himself. With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.
"Cool, sir!" said Dean in amazement. Ron and Seamus were grinning like idiots next to him.
"Easily impressed," Leo murmured in Harrison's ear.
"Thank you, Dean," said Remus, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?" They set off again, he led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staff room door. "Inside, please," said Remus, opening it and standing back. The staff room, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth.
As Remus 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 one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Ronald Weasley. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult." Ron turned red as Draco and Blaise snickered.
Remus had raised his eyebrows. "I was hoping that Ron would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably." Ron's face went, if possible, even redder and Draco and Blaise immediately stopped laughing. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap. "Now, then," said Remus, 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 Remus went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. "Nothing to worry about," said Remus calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a boggart in there."
Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Lavender gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively. Harrison looked at the wardrobe warily. Harrison wasn't scared of boggarts, they couldn't physically harm a person. But he was scared about what his boggart might be, if it was his father in jail or something of that nature he would be in trouble. He could see Draco and Leo looking apprehensively at the boggart, Leo's face turned into a stony mask but the apprehension was still visible in his eyes. He knew that Leo feared his parents being proven as Death Eaters and being sentenced to life in Azkaban. Harrison scowled, parents being sent to Azkaban was most likely a lot of Slytherin and Ravenclaws worst fears. It would be a happy day when his father won the war and Death Eaters were celebrated instead of convicted.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Remus. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon," Blaise snorted at the professors wording, "and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?"
Daphne raised her hand.
"It's a shape-shifter," Daphne said when Remus pointed to her. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Remus kindly. Ron scowled, Harrison's eyes narrowed at the read head. No doubt Ron thought that Remus being an ex-Gryffindor and a member of the Order would make him inclined to favor the house of lions. "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 Remus, choosing to ignore Lavender's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harrison?"
Harrison was surprised that the man called him by his first name but he didn't show it. "Because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be. It would attempt to turn into more than one thing, resulting in transforming into something not remotely frightening."
"Precisely," said Remus. Ron's scowl grew and he moodily crossed his arms. "It's always best to have company when you're 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 that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Which as Harrison put it, is 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 is 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.
"This lesson is ridiculous," Draco muttered under his breath.
"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, Ron." The wardrobe shook again, as Ron looked nervously at Remus. "Right, Ron," said Remus. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" Ron's lips moved, but no noise came out. "I didn't catch that, Ron, sorry," said Remus.
Ron looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Spiders." The Slytherins laughed as memories of last years welcoming feast entered their minds causing Ron to turn redder than his hair.
Remus looked thoughtful. "Okay, Ron. When the boggart comes out it will take the shape of a spider." Ron's red face went pale. "You must think of something to make the spider funny, picture it clearly in your minds eye and you will raise your wand — thus," he flicked his wand, "— and cry 'Riddikulus' — and concentrate hard on making the spider funny." There was a great shout of laughter from the Slytherins as the wardrobe wobbled more violently. "If Ron is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Remus. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical."
The room went quiet. Harrison thought...what scares me the most? Losing my father...or anyone I love...my best friends, Aunt Cissy, Aunt Bella, Uncle Lucius...Dumbledore winning and my dad losing. Harrison scowled at the thought, he didn't want to partake in this lesson. Harrison looked around noticing that people had their eyes shut tight. He could hear Ron muttering to himself, "Take its legs off." Harrison smirked, he knew that Ron had become even more terrified of spiders after the incident in the Great Hall.
"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin. "Ron, we're going to back away," he said. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward… Everyone back, now, so Ron can get a clear shot —" They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Ron 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 count of three, Ron," said Remus, 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 Remus' wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. A black spider the size of a small elephant crawled out of the wardrobe, hairy and menacing. Pinchers clicked loud and menacing as Lavender screamed and Jenna took a step back, running into Theo. Ron stared wide eyed at the spider, his mouth open in a silent scream and his body frozen.
"Go on Ron," Remus encouraged. Ron looked like he was going to pass out and Draco was snickering into his hand. Blaise's snort when Ron took a step backwards and tumbled was covered up by the spiders noises. Seamus grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him up as the spider advanced. Seamus and Dean exchanging worried looks as Ron appeared to take a deep breath.
"R — r — riddikulus!" Ron squeaked, his wand hand shaking as he pointed it at the spider. There was a noise like a whip crack. Suddenly bright orange roller blades appeared on the spider and it began to stumble causing most of the class to laugh. The Gryffindors at the sight of the stumbling spider and the Slytherins at the look of terror on Ron's face.
Remus smiled and shouted, "Parvarti! Forward!"
Parvarti walked forward, her face set. There was another crack, and where the spider had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvarti and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising. Parvati's eyes widened as she leveled her wand at the mummy's chest.
"Riddikulus!" cried Parvarti. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
"Seamus!" Roared Remus. Seamus darted past Parvarti, his wand held steadily in his hand. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face — a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Harrison's head stand on end — "Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone. Theo rubbed his ears as Lavender ran up to face the boggart. Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then —crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before —crack! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball.
"It's confused!" Remus shouted. "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! Abigail, you next!" Abigail Carrow looked startled to be called on but she moved forward. Crack! A giant manticore appeared and several people screamed, Lavender looked faint.
"Riddikulus!" Abigail bellowed, and the manticore turned pink while everyone laughed, and the boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.
"Excellent!" Remus cried out as the Gryffindor's broke into applause. "Excellent, Abigail. Well done, everyone… Let me see… five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart, and five to Slytherin for Abigail's turn." Harrison could tell his friends were annoyed, none of them got a chance to earn points. Harrison was annoyed but part of him was glad, he didn't want to see what his boggart would turn into. "And five points to each Harrison and Daphne for answering questions."