Welcome, Ladies, Gentlemen and whatever else you identify by, to Harry Potter's 3rd year.
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Harry was excited.
The new Defence teacher, Professor Lupin, was the best he'd ever had. His lessons were always fun and exciting, and not even Ron Weasley and his whining couldn't keep his spirits down for long. Today, they were making their way to the staffroom, because Professor Lupin had a surprise for them, and for some reason, it wasn't in the classroom. Neville was jittery, and looked slightly pale. Harry spared Granger a glance, even as she started mumbling all the spells she knew under her breath, and Draco Malfoy was mercifully silent, as if he knew what was in the staffroom. Or was scared.
Professor Lupin opened the staffroom door, and held it open, gesturing for them to be quiet as they entered.
"There may be teachers in here, so be respectful. This is their space for relaxing, not a classroom."
Harry nodded, as did the rest of his class, and walked through the door, feeling a slight tingle of magic washing over him, and causing him to immediately relax. Neville squeaked when it happened, and glared at the doorframe.
"Calming spell on the doorway. That's just creepy."
"Probably didn't want any teachers killing Lockhart last year." Harry whispered to him, causing Neville to snort. Lily Moon from Slytherin joined them, and stuck close to Neville.
"Professor Snape was muttering about a Boggart yesterday, about how it had taken up residence in the staffroom. It's also the next creature in our books."
Harry put a comforting arm around Lily.
"The spell is Riddikulus, and you have to imagine your fear turning into something funny."
"Thanks." Lily whispered, leaning into his hug.
Lily Moon was a quiet ravenette with auburn streaks, and was as small as Harry was, which was quite small compared to the rest of their classmates. She preferred Potions and Charms compared to any combat or violent course of magic, such as Transfiguration and Defence.
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Professor Lupin had stopped at a dark green couch, and stood frozen, an expression of disbelief and exasperated fondness covering his face. Creeping around to that side, Harry saw Professor Snape sprawled out on the couch, robes draped around him like bat wings, and his hair falling over his eyes. His face was smooth, and he looked peaceful; the lines around his face disappeared.
Professor Lupin looked torn between wanting to wake him up or ward the couch, but Harry noticed the slight hitch in Professor Snape's breathing, and knew that he was awake. The whispers from his classmates probably didn't help. Lupin noticed as well, and bit his lip.
"Severus?" he called hesitantly. Professor Snape groaned, and flung an arm over his eyes.
"Don't tell me; I slept through my 5th year Ravenpuff, class."
Lupin smiled slightly, but shook his head.
"No, it's my 3rd year Slythendor class. I told everyone, didn't I?"
Snape groaned again, and ran a pale hand through his hair, pulling it away from his face as he sat upright, exhaling heavily. His robes slid off his form, and Harry realized that he had, actually, taken off his robes, and was now clad in a white dress shirt, and black slacks. He ran a hand through his hair again, making it even more dishevelled.
"You did; I didn't mean to fall asleep." Snape looked up, and caught sight of the class that was now staring at him in shock, because no one had ever seen him so human.
"Shit." He muttered under his breath, garnering a reproving look from Lupin, and a few surprised looks from some students who were close enough to hear. He sighed, and stood up, grabbing his robes, and made to exit the room, but was stopped with Lupin's hand on his arm.
"You're welcome to stay and watch, you know. I'm sure your Slytherin's would like the reassurance that you are here." Lupin murmured. Harry saw Snape sigh once more, and heard him mutter "Fine." That done, Professor Snape wandlessly moved all the furniture to the side of the classroom, stacking it neatly, before following said furniture, and leaning against it casually, ignoring the questioning glances from the students.
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Professor Lupin clapped his hands, and drew attention back to him.
"Right, now who can tell me what's in the wardrobe?" He pointed to the wardrobe, with rattled and shook ominously. Harry narrowed his eyes, and Granger's hand shot up, along with Lily's. Professor Lupin looked surprised, before pointing to Lily.
"Yes, Ms. Moon?"
"It's a Boggart sir. They change into your fears, and you have to make them funny in order to defeat it." Lupin beamed. Granger scowled.
"10 Points to Slytherin for a perfect answer, Ms Moon. Now, I want you all to line up, and step up to the Boggart when I call your name. Both Professor Snape and I are on hand if you have any difficulties, so don't be afraid to ask for help. Up first, Ms Patil."
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Harry watched as people faced their fears, one by one, standing at the back of the line.
Snakes, spiders, clowns, needles, doctors, dentists (Hermione had nodded knowingly, and smirked a little), heights, the dark. Dean was afraid of a world with no colour, Draco was afraid of a ball of purple light, which made Professor Snape go for his wand with a spell halfway to his lips, before Draco turned it into fireworks. Pansy Parkinson was afraid of being old, and Millicent Bulstrode was afraid of knives; Professor Snape eyed her with concern. Theodore Nott was next, and looked imploringly at Professor Snape, who nodded, and gestured for him to move to the side.
"Exempt, Theo. See me after." He called out, and Theo gave a huge sigh of relief, moving to the side of the classroom.
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Soon, it was Harry's turn, him being last, and he squared up with the Boggart, wand at the ready. The Boggart twisted and whirled as if it couldn't decide. Harry saw a flash of red eyes and pale skin, a bright green light, dark green scales, and the thin, bony hand of a Dementor, before it solidified into a horrifying sight; one he had hoped never to see again.
It was Vernon, drunk as hell, and an ugly puce colour. There was a bottle in one hand, and his expression was livid.
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"YOU WORTHLESS FREAK! YOUR AUNT AND I TOOK YOU IN OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF OUR HEARTS, AND HOW DO YOU REPAY US!? FREAK!"
Vernon bellowed, and Harry flinched, stepping back automatically, the ingrained apologies pouring form his mouth in a torrent of babbling, even as Vernon stepped forward, swinging his fists. Harry ducked, and scrambled back, arms held in front of his face protectively.
"YOU'RE A FREAK, AND DON'T DESERVE ANYTHING THAT NORMAL PEOPLE DO! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF A WASTE OF SPACE, JUST GO AND KILL YOURSELF!"
Harry was panicking, and didn't notice when arms wrapped around him, pulling him away from Vernon and whispering reassurances and soothing words into his ear. He did, however, notice when Professor Snape stepped in front of him, and his Boggart appeared.
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Whatever anyone wasn't expecting, it wasn't for Vernon to become thinner, as his hair darkened and he grew muscles, black eyes glaring out of a heavily lined face.
"Worthless scum. I should have drowned you when I had the chance. You're a disgrace to your bloodline, and a disgrace to me! You, with your magic tricks and your fucking cauldrons, your bloody books and your freakish looks! You're a disappointment, Severus, and too much like your whore of a mother. You're no son of mine!"
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The voice was quieter, but no less scary, and Professor Snape flinched as the Boggart lifted what looked to be a broken bottle of an alcoholic drink. Snape seemed to catch himself before he ducked, and he waved his hand dismissively at his Boggart.
"Riddikulus." He intoned lazily, forgoing his wand in favour of incantation.
The Boggart whirled around, and Harry was certain that it was going to go back into the wardrobe, when it suddenly manifested into a tall, thin, snakelike figure with red eyes, aiming a wand at him.
"Traitor." It hissed menacingly, its voice high and cold. Both professors froze, and Professor Lupin swore heavily, only beaten by the impressive amount of profanity emitting form the Potions Professor's mouth. Someone screamed, and it seemed to jolt the professors into action.
Both pulled their wands, both took aim, and each fired a string of curses. Harry recognized some explosives in Professor Lupin's spell chain (he was excited by that; Flitwick had mentioned them in passing during Charms, and now he got to witness them!), but Professor Snape's were far darker; Harry could practically taste the darkness emitting form his spell chain.
The Boggart exploded, and its remains vanished into black smoke. Professor Snape frowned, and blinked, the expression of raw fury and concentration vanishing from his face, and he took in his surroundings.
"Lupin…" he trailed off, and Professor Lupin groaned, hand covering his eyes in sudden realization.
"It was the fucking Boggart, wasn't it?"
Professor Snape sighed, and hummed in agreement, a tinge of red making its way onto his pale cheeks as his eyes darted around the class, and taking in their awestruck expressions, and the admiring ones thrown in there. Professor Lupin blushed, and dragged his hand down his face.
"We will never tell anyone of what transpired here, agreed?" Lupin gritted out, voice thick with embarrassment.
"Are you kidding? Sinny and Vector would never let me live it down."
"Prof. McG would probably scold us both for overreacting."
Both Professor looked at each other, and nodded, shaking hands.
"Nothing happened." They chorused, and turned to the class.
"If any of you breathe a word of this to anyone, you will be in detention for the rest of your Hogwarts career. Understood?" Snape snarled. There were hurried affirmatives, and Lupin dismissed them, Theodore Nott staying after to chat with Professor Snape.
Harry joined Neville and Lily as they exited, the rest of their classmates whispering furiously amongst themselves. Harry could hear Granger telling anyone who would listen about how spell-chains were only able to be cast by wizards and witches of immense power and skill, and how only light wizards were known for that technique, so why could Professor Snape do it? Lily rolled her eyes.
"Does she ever shut up?"
Neville and Harry shook their heads, identical grimaces twisting their faces. Lily sighed, and linked arms with them both, dragging them towards the library, snagging her friends, Fay Dunbar and Blaise Zabini, on the way.
"On the bright side,' Lily continued, 'she certainly shut up when your Boggart turned up. Before, she was listing all the long names for fears. Arachnophobia, gerascophobia, herpetophobia, iatrophobia, Trypanophobia and I think she even muttered paterophobia in there somewhere, but she couldn't think up of one for yours, or Malfoy's, for that matter. I don't think even she knew what that curse was, and if she did, we should be worried."
"Still,' Blaise interrupted, 'who's 'Sinny'?"
"Professor Sinistra, obviously." Fay retorted. "I heard Professor Snape call her Rory once, but he calls her Sinny more often. I sit nearest to the teachers table."
"Guys,' Neville intervened, 'we have Potions in an hour, and I still haven't finished my essay, because Granger wouldn't shut up about study plans for our tests. Can we just go to the library?"
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They left quickly, Theodore joining them quickly after he'd finished talking to Professor Snape, and they headed towards the library, aiming to get there before Granger did. Still, Harry couldn't stop thinking about his Potions Professor's Boggart; someone said that it was his father, and they did look too similar to be a coincidence (Vernon and Dudley were a good example; both pink, fat and loud). He also thought back to the time when Professor Snape had seen the scars on his arms, because he knew what he was looking for. Harry frowned, trying to figure out the mystery of his Professor, and listed the things he knew so far.
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1. He knew Professor Lupin well, so was at school around the same time as him, possibly in the same year, which meant the same year as his father.
2. He knew how to recognise injuries that can't have been mere accidents
3. He had a girlfriend/wife/fiancée/partner called Evan, who spent a lot of time in hospital
4. He spoke to Thestrals as if they could understand, and he could understand them
5. He was a proficient dueller (Lockhart's club was a testament to that)
6. His Boggart first turned into his father; unhappy childhood
7. His Boggart had turned into Voldemort; he'd seen, fought for or against, and spoken to the Dark Lord
8. He tended to react to threats quickly rather than analyse them.
9. He had a sailor's mouth
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Harry wasn't too happy with his meagre list, but vowed to wait longer. Something would come up, and maybe, just maybe, he'd know his Potions Professor a bit better.
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There we go, munchkins. Drop a review, PLEASE! I'M BEGGING!
Cheers,
Siofra
