CELESTE bit into a piece of bacon, then took a sip of the black coffee in front of her. She enjoyed the bitter taste of it. It was her first time drinking it, thanks to Draco pouring a cup for her and insisting that she try it.
It was Monday morning and the Slytherins were all on time, eating breakfast after getting ready for the day. The Gryffindor table, however, was half empty, meaning that they were late. The Ravenclaw table was also filled like the Slytherin table. The Hufflepuff table, meanwhile, was only a little empty. You could see which house cared for school and which house didn't.
"What class do we have first?" asked Blaise, snapping Celeste out of her thoughts. She took out the schedule from her bag and gave it to him wordlessly. Blaise looked at it, his face dropping immediately. "Defense with the Gryffindors." he said in a low voice.
Celeste's head snapped up. She grabbed the schedule from his hands and groaned when she realized he wasn't kidding.
"It'll be fine," said Dashne comfortingly. Celeste did not reply.
Breakfast passed in silence with the group of friends. Soon enough, they were walking towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Draco pushed open the door, motioning for the girls to go in first as he was taught to do by none other than his mother.
When they walked in, they shared looks of confusion after realizing the desks and chairs were all gone and there was a large, shaking wardrobe in the middle of the class. A few other Gryffindors and Slytherins were already there, standing. Sirius Black was in a conversation with Harry Porter, but they both stopped when they saw Celeste.
The young girl rolled her eyes and walked to the right side of the empty classroom, where the Slytherins
were.
Sirius clear his throat awkwardly, his eyes never leaving Celeste. "Celeste, could you come over here, please?" he asked hopefully.
Her father. The one who left her. Her gray eyes narrowed on him and she noticed the way a flicker of emotion passed through his face.
Draco protectively stepped in front of her but she put a hand on his arm and said, "It's fine." She let go of his arm and looked at her 'father'. "No," she coldly replied, enjoying the way a flash of hurt passed through his face this time.
What did he want with her just before the lesson, anyways? What would he do— apologize for leaving her twelve years ago in front of the students?
This guy was mental, Celeste concluded
And where was Remus to stop him? He was nowhere in sight. In fact, Celeste didn't remember seeing him at breakfast.
Just a second after thinking that, Remus Black walked in with a few other Gryffindor students, smiling while talking to them. The class quietened down— mostly the Gryffindors had been talking— and they all looked at the still-shaking wardrobe.
As Professor Remus went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Nothing to worry about," said Remus calmly, as a few people jumped backwards in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there."
Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Remus a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively. Celeste's eyes widened as she looked even more horrified than Longbottom. She shared a look with Draco, whose eyebrows furrowed in concern when he noticed her look.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," continued Remus. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks – I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, 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?"
Hermione Granger 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," replied Remus, 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 Remus, choosing to ignore Neville's small splutter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
"Er – because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" Harry uncertainly replied.
"Precisely," nodded Remus proudly. "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. 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 practise the charm without wands first. After me, please... riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" said the class together.
"This class is ridiculous," muttered Draco.
Blaise and Celeste let out laughs.
"Good," said Remus, having not heard Draco. "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 was heading for the gallows.
"Right, Neville," said Remus. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.
"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry."
Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."
Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Remus, however, looked thoughtful.
"Professor Snape... hmmm... Neville, I believe your grandmother lives with you and your parents?"
"Er – yes," said Neville nervously. "But – I don't want the Boggart to turn into her, either."
"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Remus, 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 stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress... green, normally... and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."
"And a handbag?" prompted Remus.
"A big red one," said Neville.
"Right then," said Remus. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"Yes," said Neville uncertainly, 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 Remus. "And you will raise your wand – thus – and cry "Riddikulus" – and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, that green dress, that big red handbag."
There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.
"If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to turn 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.."
"What scares you the most?" Daphne whispered to Celeste, putting her book in her bag as she waited for her answer.
Celeste did not need to think about it. She knew exactly what scared her the most— something she had already went through. Something she did not want to go through ever again: abandonment.
"Dunno," shrugged Celeste, looking bored. "What about you?"
Daphne frowned in thought. "Probably a dementor. I once went to Azkaban to visit someone with my parents and it was horrible." She shuddered at the memory.
"Everyone ready?" Asked Remus, snapping them out of their thoughts.
Celeste felt a lurch of fear. She wasn't ready. How could you make abandonment less frightening? But she didn't want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves.
Her eyes fell on Sirius Black, who was quietly observing everything in the corner. He seemed to be waiting for something— more specifically someone's worst fear.
This was it. Celeste was going to be humiliated and everyone would figure out how weak and pathetic she was—
"Neville, we're going to back away. Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward.. everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot –"
They all retreated, backing 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 count of three, Neville," 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's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his 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-eaten vulture, and swinging a huge crimson handbag from his hand.
There was a roar of laughter; the Boggart paused, confused, and Remus shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"
Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a blood-stained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk towards her, very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising –
"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.
A bandage unravelled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forwards and its head rolled off.
"Seamus!" roared Remus, motioning for them all to line up. Celeste immediately ran to the back.
Seamus darted past Parvati.
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 which made the hair on Celeste's head stand on end –
"Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus.
The banshee made 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! – became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before – crack! – becoming a single, bloody eyeball.
"It's confused!" shouted Remus. "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, they all thought Ron had frozen. Then –
"Riddikulus!" bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished. It rolled over and over; Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt at Celeste's feet.
Celeste looked at the boggart, watching as it started to change and take the form of—
Regulus Black. Huh?
Regulus opened his mouth, his cold eyes glaring at Celeste. "I don't want you anymore, Celeste." He said, his voice as cold as ice. "I do not want to be your guardian anymore. I don't want anything to do with you. I am leaving you."
Celeste felt her heartbeat quicken and she took a step backwards, her hands shaking as she stared at the now-changing boggart.
It turned into Draco.
"You are not my cousin anymore, Celeste." Boggart-Draco said, sneering at the girl. "Go and leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you. I am leaving you."
Remus rushed to the back of the classroom and rushed in front of Celeste. "Here!" He shouted.
The boggart changed.
It turned into bodies on the ground. Dead bodies of the Potters— Sirius Black— and more people Celeste did not recognize—
"Riddikulus!" Remus said, and the boggart turned into fake clown ghosts and vanished.
Sirius, who was stuck in his place, rushed forward and closed the wardrobe. He turned to his daughter, his eyes filled with tears.
Celeste, who was frozen in place with her mouth wide open, rushed out of the classroom immediately after snapping out of it.