What if Harry's Boggart in his third year had not been a Dementor. What if it had been what he had feared most at the time? Lord Voldemort.
I'M NOT SURE IF I'LL DO MORE. IT'S QUITE A SHORT CHAPTER AND SO IT DEPENDS ON IF PEOPLE LIKE THIS CHAPTER. IF I GET LOTS OF REVIEWS I'LL ADD ANOTHER CHAPTER!
"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 Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but -
The legless spider vanished and turned into one of his worst nightmares. It wasn't anyone dying horribly, it wasn't even the dementors. It was something so obvious that he had not even thought to consider it when he had been thinking about what he feared most. It was so simple yet so terrible. It was none other than Lord Voldemort.
The whole class could see all his inhuman characteristics. His slit-like eyes shining from the blood it had seen spilt, his non-existent nose, bald head and the snake-like features which had mangled his once handsome and charming face. It was scary to think about what this man had done. The kills that the wand which he held in his right hand had performed. The killing of his mother and father. His mum begging for her death in exchange for her son's, him.
The noisy classroom was no longer noisy. An eerie silence not un-like those in a graveyard filled the room almost louder than any type of noise. No one was moving. Everyone was staring at the face of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry couldn't believe that he had not thought of this and prevented it. He was already the reason for his mother's death and now he was going to mentally harm everyone in the room. But no matter how desperate he couldn't think of anything funny. All he could hear was the distant screaming… A woman's…
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now..."
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -"
He didn't know what was making him relive these moments but it was not helping him think of something happy. In all the time that he had thought, Boggart-Voldemort was drawing closer to Harry.
"Potter! The one who thwarted me. The one in the prophecy. The one who led to my downfall and will presumably lead to it once again." The one who led to my downfall," sneered Boggart-Voldemort.
He heard gasps of surprise from behind where he was standing and even weirder he heard a chuckle and a sneer. Malfoy. How could he be laughing at this point? It was cruel but it was nothing less than what he expected from a Malfoy. He was probably incredibly happy that his father's old master had come back. An image of Lucius Malfoy bending down at Voldemort's right hand side brought a bizarre desire to laugh.
"Riddikulus!" shouted Harry.
Nothing happened.
Boggart-Voldemort laughed. IT was a sound that cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter. High and cruel were the only words to describe it. Unforgiving.
If Harry had been listening, he would have heard a whimper from someone behind him, a scuffle of feet as someone made their way forward, clumsily.
"Mate, just say the words," said Ron but Harry did nothing.
"You dare believe that you can defeat me! You filthy half-blood!" screamed Voldemort, "But of course, you and that muggle loving, believe that you can. Defeat me, the most powerful wizard of all time."
"Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of all time!" yelled Harry.
Despite the fear, those words had awoken the class from their stupor. If Harry had looked around he would have seen some of the students straightening up and nodding their heads in agreement. Obviously, Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of all time but with a sense of déjà vu he realized that this was the second time that Voldemort, both young and old, had thought different.
And then he remembered the words that the Boggart-Voldemort had spoken.
"The one in the prophecy. The one who led to my downfall and will presumably lead to it once again."
"The one in the prophecy? What prophecy?" asked Harry, puzzled.
The class gasped in unison. They could not believe that Harry was speaking to a Boggart-Voldemort in a normal conversation.
"Harry! I think it's best for us to-" started Professor Lupin.
"No! Don't! I want to hear what it says," said Harry.
"Harry, you know it's not real. Whatever it says is only to make you fear him."
"Then I want to hear what it says. I want to hear exactly what I fear," said Harry. Thinking back on his words, he realized how masochistic he sounded. But he wanted to know what he feared most and defeat it. Like Hermione said fear the name creates fear for the thing itself. Except he did not fear the name, he feared his fear of fearing Voldemort. If he was to face Voldemort again, he could not have fear.
"Oh? Has Dumbledore not told his favorite about the prophecy? Well, well, well. You, Harry, a mere boy will defeat me. But you cannot defeat me, Potter."
The Boggart-Voldemort paused for his words to sink in. Harry stared at the Boggart and wondered whether this was his fear talking or if it was actually true.
The Boggart-Voldemort was walking forward towards Harry, twirling his wand in his fingers, caressing it.
Everyone backed away from Harry and Voldemort, except for Ron and Hermione. They stood by his side as they had for the past two years and as they would for his entire life.
But Voldemort did not acknowledge them, except for the slight flicker of annoyance that anyone would dare stand in his way.
"Because I, Harry, am immortal. Undefeatable. While you are fragile, delicate and," he raised his wand at Harry, "about to be murdered."
"Harry!"
"Cast the spell!"
Harry could hear screams, yells and words but they were all meaningless when Lord Voldemort stood in front of him. So this was how his mum and dad had died. At the mercy of Lord Voldemort.