Chapter 4
Seamus rushes into the room and slams the newspaper onto the table. "Dufftown? That's not far from here." Hermione remarks. "You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts do you?" says Neville with a fearful expression. "With Dementors at every entrance?" Dennis tries to think it off. "Dementors? He's already slipped past them once. Who's to say he won't do it again?" Seamus mentions, hinting at the incident with the fat lady in the painting. "That's right. Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." Dennis quietly says in an attempt to not worry Harry too much. Harry can't help but stare at the newspaper with cold palms and a racing heart.
The next class of the day is Defense Against the Dark Arts. The class was especially excited for this lesson. Everyone would be experiencing first hand, how to defend themselves against a Boggart. Professor Lupin stood in front of a wardrobe that was shaking as it contained something unknown inside. The class looks at the wardrobe in wonder. "Intriguing isn't it? Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?" Lupin asks the class "That's a boggart, that is." answers Dean Thomas. "Very good, Mr. Thomas." The wardrobe thumps. "Now, can anyone tell me what a boggart looks like?" "No one knows." Hermione replies. "Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so-" Professor Lupin interrupts "So terrifying, yes,yes,yes. Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Let's practice it now. Without wands, please." He instructs the class as he intones, "After me, Riddikulus!" The class repeats. "Very good, a little louder please. Riddikulus!" The students again, repeat the incantation.
"The incantation itself, isn't enough. What really finishes a boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a form you find truly amusing. Let me explain. Neville, would you join me please?" Professor Lupin calls the boy forward. Neville steps forward toward the professor. "Neville, what frightens you most of all?" "Professor Snape." He replies. The class giggles. "Professor Snape. Yes, frightens all. Now, I believe you live with your grandmother?" "Yes, but I don't want that boggart to turn into her, either." Professor Lupin chuckles softly. "I want you to picture her clothes—only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind. We will see what you see. Wand at the ready." He opens the wardrobe and the boggart has already taken form of the feared professor Snape. The faux Snape approaches, Neville points his wand at his fear and yells, "Riddikulus!" The boggart Snape suddenly appears to be wearing women's clothing. The room erupts with laughter. "Now everyone form a line! Form a line!"
As everyone gets into formation, Ron has found his way at the front of the line. "I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most and turn into something funny." Lupin instructs as he plays a record with upbeat music to set the mood. "Next, Ron!" Ron slowly approaches the boggart. "Concentrate, Ron. Face your fear, be brave." The boggart takes the form of an enormous spider. Ron's face twists in fear. "Wand at the ready Ron, wand at the ready." Ron points his wand at the boggart and, "Riddikulus!" skates appear on the spider's legs causing it to struggle to maintain balance and fall. The room again erupts with laughter. Professor Lupin has a wide grin on his face. "Excellent, Ms. Padma, next!" The girl approaches with a nervous smile and her fear is revealed when the boggart takes form of a giant cobra. "Riddikulus!" The cobra has now turned into a giant Jack-in the- box. She laughs as she skips to the back of the room. "Marvelous, Padma! Next, Seamus!" Seamus briskly steps forward, confident in himself. The Jack- in the-box transforms into a Banshee which startles several students in the class. "Worry not everyone, her screams won't harm you. Want at the ready Seamus!" Lupin informs. "Riddikulus!" The boggart banshee clutches her throat as she tries to sing but instead comes a silly wail. Seamus smiles greatly as his fear of banshees seems to have been conquered. Hermione is called forward. Her boggart is greatly amusing as it takes the form of Professor McGonagall telling her that she has failed her exams. "Riddikulus!" She cries out and McGonagall then appears to be holding an award reading Hermione's name. She smiles proudly as she struts to the back of the room. " your turn!" Dennis steps forward—the fake McGonagall transforms into a grotesque maggot ridden Zombie. Zombies are a common dark creature in America and he has only ever encountered them twice. The laughter in the room ceases as the students are fearful being that they have not actually seen a zombie before. It is basically unheard of in this region to come across a member of the living dead. Dennis points his wand at the zombie. "Riddikulus!" The zombie transforms into a skeleton with a top hat tapping on his bones like a xylophone. The cheery atmosphere returns into the classroom.
"Potter! You're up." Professor Lupin calls him to the front. Harry smiles in amusement but it quickly dissipates as the boggart transforms into a Dementor. Professor Lupin stands in front of Harry. "Here!" he yells. The boggart transforms into what appeared to be a full moon in a starless night sky. "Riddikulus!" The moon transforms into a balloon as it shoots around the room much to everyone's amusement. He points his wand at the wardrobe and the boggart flies in and the door is shut. "Right, uh sorry about that. That's enough for today. Collect your books from the back of the class. That's the end of the lesson. Sorry!" Dennis notices Harry still staring at the wardrobe with a blank expression. "Come on, he calls out to Seamus, Neville, and Dean. The four boys collect their belongings and walk to their dormitory. "Did you think it a bit odd when Professor Lupin stepped in front of Harry earlier?" Dean blurts out. "Aye, his boggart looked like the moon?" Seamus says as the four boys wonder why Lupin would have a fear of the moon. They reach their room. "Such a long day!" Dennis declares as he releases Madge from her cage and scoops her up in his arms as she tries to squirm out— he has her tightly pinned to his chest. Neville lies on his bed as he giggles to himself at the image of Snape in his grandmother's clothes.
Seamus pulls off his robe and his vest, "I'm going to head off for the shower. See you guys later." "Yeah, I'm going to go see what Ginny is up to. I want to surprise her with some chocolate frogs." Dean smiles as he walks out the door passing the fat lady painting. Dennis turns to Neville "Hey, want to play a game?" "Yeah sure, what do you have in mind?" Neville sits up directing his attention to Dennis. "Um, I don't know—what about Wizards Chess?" "Okay, only if you want to lose." Neville jokes as he challenges his friend. Dennis releases Madge from his arms as he and Neville set up the game board.
The boys are midgame. Neville looks up at Dennis as he has made his move. The game is at a critical tie. One wrong move and loss is inevitable. Dennis moves his knight. "Oi, guess what?" Neville says with a gleam in his eye. "Pft— what? Are you gonna ask for mercy?" Dennis smugly smiles. "Checkmate." Neville yells as he raises his arms in a cheering motion. "Whatever. I allowed you to win out of the kindness of my own heart." Dennis joked. He looked at Neville. The boy often gets teased about his awkwardly crooked teeth but Dennis found it cute and liked it when Neville smiled. "Hey winner, I have some custard cookies. Wanna eat some with me?" Dennis offers. The two boys enjoy the sweets as Seamus walks into the room looking refreshed. "Might I have some biscuit?" He joins the two boys on the floor as he picks up a cookie. Seamus takes notice of the finished chess game. "Who won?" he asks. "Neville did. But to be fair, I could have destroyed him if I wanted to." Dennis responds as he breaks off a piece of the confectionery for his cat. Neville observes Dennis feeding Madge. "You're just like Filch." He jokes. "Shut up, cats are great. Ms. Norris could never compare to my little Madge though." Dennis laughs. Harry, Ron and Dean walk into the room. In his hand, Dean is holding a striped box containing jellybeans. Neville and Seamus both grinning. "Is that what I think it is?" Seamus asks with a chuckle. Dean looks at Seamus. "Aye, the every flavor jelly beans!" Dennis was a bit excited as he had only eaten the jellybeans once at a family gathering 4 years ago. The 6 boys gather in a circle on the floor of the room. Dean takes the first bean, he slowly lifts it to his mouth. "Yes! Apple!" Everyone huffs out in disappointment. Ron grabs a bean. "Blimey, it tastes like Pepper!" He coughs while laughing. The boys have fun together until it is time to gather for dinner in the Great Hall.
The group walks out the door. Neville swings his hand and accidentally grazes Dennis' backside. "Sorry!" He abruptly apologizes. Dennis laughs and playfully jeers, "Jeez, buy me a drink, first why don't ya" They sit at the long table with all their classmates as they enjoy their meal and each other's company. All the teachers are at their table in the front of the room but Professor Lupin is notably missing. Harry, Hermione, and Ron scoff as Malfoy was still pretending his arm was badly injured from earlier that day. A red note comes flying in toward Dennis. He has received a howler from his parents. Everyone, at the table turns to him, "Oooooo, looks like you got a howler!" Seamus remarks awaiting the message. "Hi son, we hope you're doing well and we hope you're having fun at school…" The message starts sweetly enough. "Just how many times have your father and I asked you to return that skull you found during your class trip last year?! Now, we have a damn ghost causing chaos here and it's getting to be a pain just to get rid of him! We have always told you to never remove someone's remains from their location of origin! He broke my 20 year old vintage plates and bent most of our silverware! If we can't get rid of this, you will be dealing with it when you come home! And YOU'RE GROUNDED FOR A MONTH!" The howler rips itself into several tiny pieces. Dennis shrugs his shoulders and laughs "Oh well, it can't be helped. I forgot to return it back to the burial grounds."