❝𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧
𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦
𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩
𝘯𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘸
𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳
𝘪 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩
𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸❞
- 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘺𝘦
"DOES IT HURT TERRIBLY, DRACO?"
you roll your eyes, looking over at the small group of students fussing over draco's arm. it was wrapped up and in a sling.
"it comes and it goes. still, i consider myself lucky. madam pomfrey said another minute or two and i uh, could've lost my arm"
pansy touches his arm tenderly, you rub your eyes and shake your head.
"could've lost his arm" you inform the group matter-of-factly.
"i couldn't possibly do any homework for weeks"
"listen to the idiot" ron scoffs, "he's really laying it on thick, isn't he?"
"yeah, but at least hagrid didn't get fired" harry says thankfully.
"yeah, but i heard draco's father's furious. we haven't heard the end of this"
you sigh, "of course we haven't"
"he's been sighted! he's been sighted!" seamus shouts as he runs over to the table, slamming down a newspaper, your eyebrows raise.
"who?"
"sirius black!"
everyone gasps as you all go to surround him, looking down at the paper.
everybody starts muttering, hermione looks down at the newspaper, "dufftown? that's not far from here"
"you don't think he'd come to hogwarts, do you?" neville asks nervously, you glance up at harry for a second.
"with dementors at every entrance?"
"dementors? he's already slipped passed them once, hasn't he? who's to say he won't do it again" seamus says.
"that's right. black could be anywhere. it's like trying to catch smoke. like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands"
THE WARDROBE RATTLED, YOU STARE WITH A FURROWED BROW.
you were now in defence against the dark arts with your new teacher, professor lupin.
your eyes narrowed at him, now further noticing his scars that stand out quite a lot. your hand raises gently to your face.
in front of you all was a large wardrobe with mirrors on the doors, it was rattling like crazy.
"intriguing, isn't it?"
the wardrobe continues to rattle.
"would anyone like to venture a guess... as to what is inside?"
"that's a boggart, that is" dean says.
"very good, mr. thomas" lupin nods curtly.
"now, can anyone tell me what a boggart looks like?"
"no one knows" hermione steps up, you look at her with your eyebrows furrowed, sure she wasn't there just a second ago.
"when did she get here?" ron voices your thoughts.
"boggarts are shapeshifters" she says as if she didn't hear him, "they take the shape of whatever the person fears the most. that's what makes them so.."
you stiffen.
"so terrifying, yes, yes, yes.." lupin steps up towards the wardrobe.
"luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart" lupin steps in front of the cupboard, looking back at it as it shakes again.
"let's practice it now. without wands, please" he points his finger around the room.
"after me. riddikulus!"
"riddikulus" the class choruses.
"very good. a little louder and very clear. listen : riddikulus" he says loudly and clearly.
"riddikulus!" you all say louder.
"this class is ridiculous" draco scoffs from the far right.
a smirk twitched at your lips.
"very good" lupin congratulates.
"so much for the easy part. you see, the incantation alone is not enough. what really finishes a boggart is laughter"
well i'm fucked
"you need to force it to assume a shape you find trule amusing. let me explain. uh, neville, would you join me please?"
neville looks shocked, looking around at you all nervously.
"come on, don't be shy. come on"
neville gulps, stepping up slightly.
"come on" lupin whispers.
neville walks up to him, nervously glancing at him.
"hello. neville, what frightens you most of all?"
"professor snape" he says quietly.
"sorry?"
"professor snape" he says louder.
the class laughs, lupin chuckles, "professor snape.. yes, frightens all"
your eyebrows rose slightly.
"and i believe you live with your grandmother" he muses.
"y-yes, but i don't want that boggart to turn into her, either"
the class laughs again.
"no.." lupin shakes his head, the wardrobe rattles from behind him.
"..it won't. i want you to picture her clothes. only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind"
"she carries a red handbag.." he mutters,lupin shakes his head, "no, no. we don't need to hear. as long as you see it, we'll see it. now, when i open that wardrobe... here's what i want you to do"
he walks up to neville, "excuse me" he nudges past a girl.
he bends down in whispers something inaudible in his ear.
he stands back up, "can you do that?"
neville looks at him and the wardrobe nervously as it rattles once more.
"yes. wand at the ready" he takes his wand from his robes, neville takes his out as well.
"one, two, three"
with a small flick of lupin's wand, the wardrobe handle turned and it went slightly ajar.
neville stands nervously, his quivering hand holding his wand.
a pale hand emerges from inside the wardrobe, grabbing the edge and soon the familiar face of snape pokes out.
the boggart snake narrows his eyes at neville, walking towards him.
"think, neville, think" lupin urges.
boggart snape stands a few steps away from neville, joining his hands together but neville had already swung his wand, "riddikulus!"
boggart snape falls back slightly, replacing his black robes was a green skirt and coat, with what looks to be a dead fox around his neck and a large hat with a bird on it sitting on his head. he was also holding the red handbag neville had previously mentioned.
the class erupts into laughter, lupin laughing along, "wonderful, neville, wonderful! incredible! okay.."
neville looks to boggart snape, smiling slightly in accomplishment.
"to the back, neville. everyone, form a line" lupin orders.
everyone hastily runs forwards, trying to get to the front as far as possible.
ron was trying to get further back but he ended up at the front.
you tried pushing back but ended up right in front of harry, leaving you third in line.
"form a line! i want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most.."
boggart snape looks around cluelessly, not a thought running through his head.
".. and turn it into something funny"
you look to your feet, you knew exactly what you feared the most, but you really did not need your whole class seeing it.
your hand trembled slightly as it gripped your wand, your brain frantically trying to think of anything possible that could make that thing humourous.
lupin puts the record going, "next! ron!"
ron steps forward, glancing around nervously. the boggart snape steps up from his odd position, staring ron down.
"concentrate. face your fear. be brave!"
the boggart spins around, in mid-air forming into something and changing into multiple different things before picking one, a giant redback spider, yet probably only half the size of aragog.
you frown.
ron whimpers, looking at the massive spider in fear. he holds his wand in his robes as the spider starts stepping closer.
"wand at the ready, ron. wand at the ready"
ron takes his wand out, pointing it at the giant spider, "riddikulus!"
everyone laughs as rollerskates suddenly appear on each of the spider's legs.
"yes!" lupin cheers, laughing in glee.
"you see? very good, very good!"
"marvelous! absolutely, very, very enjoyable! parvat, next!"
as ron walks passed he high-fives everyone.
parvati ; a gryffindor girl, walks up, glancing up at the shifting boggart.
her eyes go wide as it turns into a giant-cobra snake.
you smile slightly.
"keep your nerve. steady"
"riddikulus!" she shouts.
your face scrunches up as the snake turns into a giant swaying jack-in-the-box.
you scrunch your face up,
that is more horrifying than any snake
everyone laughs again, "and next! step up, step up!"
your stomach dropped as you took a trembling step forward.
everyone looked on curiously, what would your fear be? from what they've seen, you hardly seemed scared of anything.
your heart thumped painfully in your chest as you struggled to keep yourself standing.
the boggart caught sight of you and started to shift.
everyone's eyes widened as the jack in the box swayed menacingly before switching into a tall.. creature.
it had the lower body of a serpent and the upper body of a woman, it was shirtless with purple stripes circling over it's breasts, it wore a thick gold necklace.
as everyone's eyes turned to it's face, they were met with a horrible sight.
a slim face with a mouth stretched so wide it reached her ears, sharp ravenous teeth making space for a long serpent-like tongue. it's eyes wide, yellow and snake-like matched with long, seeping black hair.
you trembled furiously, everyone questioned what the hell that thing was.
it hissed, large mouth stretching into a sickening grin.
"my child~" it purred, "why don't you show them the truth"
your eyes rattled, your hand shaking so much you could barely even lift your wand.
it's long hand dragged to the right, suddenly a child coming in view. a familiar child.
it had long black hair, heterochromia eyes and a terrified look. the only difference was it did not bear a mask.
everyone shared murmurs of confusion.
"is that iguro?"
"did she actually know this thing???"
"what the fuck is that"
it's hand suddenly outstretched to your face, it's sharp nail swinging down and slicing your mask.
it fell for a moment, only lupin being able to get a glance before you smacked your hand over your mask to lift it back up and cried, "riddikulus!"
you bolted out of the classroom, not seeing the serpent demon shift into a regular corn snake.
date posted ; 31/01/24