-Chapter 1-
The castle looked the same as the past three years; old, massive, and… magical. Flashbacks, both good and bad, of my third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ran through my mind as I rode in one of the horseless carriages.
It was DADA in the third year. Shabby Professor Lupin stood by a shaking wardrobe; giving off a silly smile.
"Today we will be learning about Boggart," Lupin asked.
Some people in the class gasped; some near me muttered under their breath.
"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.
"The only way to defeat a Boggart, is the Riddikulus Charm. Repeat after me, Riddikulus!" Lupin ordered. The class immediately followed suit.
"Good. Now, that charm won't just work with incantation and wand movement alone. The correct way to perform the charm is to push past the fear, and concentrate on something that will make the Boggart look comical, and harmless," he continued.
The flashback continued until the class stood in a line. One by one, each student faced his or her worst fear. Neville Longbottom transformed Snape's clothes into his grandmother's. Ron Weasley added roller skates to a spider. Tracey turned a zombie into a smiling flower. Before I knew it, I was pointing my wand at a jack-in-the-box. It quickly transformed…
A winged beast swallowed up what must have been half of the room. Its spiked head tossed back and forth until it laid its beady eyes on me. It swung its tail back and forth, knocking and smashing anything and everything in range over. A few squeals erupted from the line behind me.
"Riddikulus!" I choked.
"Concentrate, Katie. Remember how to cast the spell," Lupin reminded me.
I had visualized it not having a tail. No, there'd still be most of it left then. Maybe… No fire…no spikes… no wings…
I took a deep breath, but the image of a lizard quickly faded.
The dragon took a few steps forward.
I had panicked; imagining a dragon transforming into a helpless kitten. "Riddikulus! Ri-Rikkidulus!" I remember my nightmares clogging my brain; forbidding me to cast the spell. I had pushed them out with all of my willpower
"Concentrate! Don't hold back!" Lupin called.
"Riddikulus!" I had bellowed; but the Boggart dragon came even closer. It was only two feet away now. It let out a short roar. A round of squeals had followed. Its tail lashed around and around. My legs started to feel a bit like jelly. I can't… I'm too weak…
"Do something Professor!" Draco called.
But Lupin needed no telling; he was already in front of me. The dragon disappeared and in its place was a silvery orb.
"Riddikulus," Lupin said, and the orb, now a balloon, hurled itself around the room, scathing heads of students. Lupin waved his wand and sent it back into the wardrobe.
I fell to one knee, panting, embarrassment chilling my veins.
Another, happier flashback entered my mind. I was exploring Hogsmeade. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle left when I took too long examining every different candy in Honeydukes. There was everything from sugar quills to chocolate phoenixes. I had stayed away from the jelly dragons, and took a whole bag full of sweets out of the store with me.
An argument with Potter, Weasley, and Granger fluttered around in my mind. They were absolutely furious that my father had convinced the Ministry to execute Buckbeak the hippogriff. I had then found myself convinced (forced) to come along with them to see Buckbeak's final moments. After Macnair did the deed, the next few moments had happened in a flash; Ron's rat bit him, and ran off towards the Whomping Willow. Ron caught him and was struggling to keep a hold of him. A big black dog had appeared out of nowhere and dragged Ron into the Whomping Willow. 10 minutes later I was in the Shrieking Shack staring at the face of a supposed infamous mass murderer the Ministry was after. Lupin was apparently his friend, and Snape was apparently their enemy back in their school days. Potter jinxed Snape, then Sirius Black revealed he was Harry's godfather. Ron's rat turned out to be an unregistered Animagus; Peter Pettigrew. The flashback was going too slowly for my liking. In my mind, I skimmed over the many parts of the end of last year.
Pettigrew escaped from Black's clutches when he was distracted by Lupin turning into a werewolf. I had guessed this earlier in the year, as did Hermione, but we had never encountered one ourselves before.
We were running through the forest, under the effect of the Time Turner.
Dementors were surrounding the other Harry, and Black on the other shore of a small lake. Harry had run up and cast a spell that sent the dementors spiraling away into nothingness…
The flashback transformed into an image of the Quidditch World Cup two weeks ago… My father disappearing from my side… Death Eaters scaring every last person out of the place; burning all the tents to the ground… The Dark Mark in the sky, the uproar in the Daily Prophet...
