Hello again, ladies and gentleman, to the next chapter of HP: Freedom's Path! Thank you to all who read my work, as it inspires me to continue writing :) Not much else to say except...
Disclaimer: No ownership of HP save for the OC's.
Now, here's...
Chapter 6: Facing The Past
Let's go!
As Marcus finally managed to make it to his four-poster bed undetected, he just couldn't believe what happened. Here he was, a third year student, promising his long-lost godfather, Sirius Black, that he would help him when everyone else thought he should just be given over to the dementors. But, the words of Sirius Black, what he said to him, Marcus couldn't forget.
He wasn't sure how he was going to go about apprehending Scabbers, not when the rat in question was in hiding half the time from Crookshanks, nor did he have any idea what his godfather could've possibly meant when he said to use his vision enhancement on Scabbers. Surely, he was just a common garden rat. There couldn't have been anything special, right?
Despite agreeing to helping a wanted man, he still had to continue on with everyday tasks. For the next couple of days, he worked out and self-trained twice a day with Lorelei, he diligently did his homework, and he continued to think about ways to get his hands on Scabbers. However, nothing truly interesting happened until Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. Marcus was working on his in-class potion when Malfoy entered the dungeon room, swaggering, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, acting as if he was a hero that survived a life threatening battle.
"How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy Parkinson. "Does it hurt much?"
"Yeah," said Malfoy, putting on a brave sort of grimace.
He saw Malfoy winking at Crabbe and Goyle when Pansy looked away, leaving Marcus thinking, "If that arm hurts him, it can't be nearly as bad as having half of his left rib cage broken," causing him to smirk a bit.
"Setlle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.
Harry, Ron, and Marcus scowled at each other; Marcus knew that, if any one of them were to walk in late, they would've recieved detention quicker than blinking. However, like the rest of the Slytherins, Malfoy was always able to get away with anything in Snape's classes, as Snape was the head of Slytherin House and generally favored his own students above all others.
They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution, which wasn't anything difficult for him. In fact, he was nearly done with it when Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to Harry and Ron so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table. Marcus counted himself lucky that he chose a separate table from Harry and Ron, as he knew that, whatever Malfoy was about to do, it wasn't going to be anything good.
"Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm -"
"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," said Snape without looking up.
Marcus saw Ron's face going brick red as he turned to Malfoy and hissed, "There's nothing wrong with your arm."
He could also see Malfoy smirking at Ron as he stated, "Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots."
Marcus started to stir his potion, finishing it up, as he glanced another look at Ron, who seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, making the cuts different sizes.
"Professor," drawled Malfoy. "Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir."
Marcus focused back on his potion, ensuring he made the correct amount of clockwise stirs, as Snape approached their table, staring down his hooked nose at the roots. Snape gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair as he stated, "Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley."
"But, sir -!"
Marcus knew this was coming. Snape was pulling the big bully card, which was pretty effective when sitting in a position of authority.
"Now," said Snape in his most dangerous voice.
Marcus sighed as he continued to stir.
The problem only continued to get worse and Malfoy, his voice full of malicious laughter, said, "And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned."
"Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," said Snape, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.
Marcus watched as Mafloy started to talk to Harry and Ron, but what he was talking about, he couldn't hear. He knew that it was nothing good.
However, nothing was as bad as Neville's performance in Potions. It was by far his worst subject, easily falling apart on a regular basis during class, and the fact that he greatly feared Snape only made the problem a lot worse. Today, he was in a particular spot of trouble. Unlike his potion, which was a bright, acid green, Neville's potion was -
"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see. "Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"
"Maybe if you were a proper teacher instead of a great, big, bully of a git, Neville would actually retain something," thought Marcus as his hands were balled into fists, shaking from anger.
Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right -"
"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."
Marcus then thought, "Way to be such a bully, you greasy, overgrown brat!"
To Marcus' surprise, Snape turned to look at him suddenly, dangerously narrowing his eyes. A scary thought occured to Marcus: Was Snape able to look into other people's minds? No, surely not. Not even a downright biased git like Snape would actually do that, right?
Marcus finished up his potion just as Snape called out, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."
Marcus then got out a Daily Prophet snippet, placing it so that Snape couldn't see it. On it was all the matchups that were to take place next weekend. Some of them he didn't care about, but he did care about the U.S. All-Stars, who were slated to go up against Japan first. Marcus silently scoffed as he knew that the U.S. All-Stars would blast Japan right out of the running. There were some teams that concerned him, the biggest of which was the Irish International Team. In Marcus' mind, they were the only team that could stop the U.S. Team from making it to the Quidditch World Final and, by the look of things, the U.S. wouldn't see them until the semi-finals, not until around Easter time.
He wrote down his predictions so that he would remember them when he wrote to Mr. Booker later today and, just as he finished writing down the last prediction, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering in fear.
Marcus quickly, but quietly stuffed the snippet back into his bag as Snape, his black eyes glittering, said, "Everyone gather 'round and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink into a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."
As the other Gryffindors watched fearfully, the Slytherins looking excited, Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion, which was now green. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat.
There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm.
The Gryffindors burst into applause...all except Marcus, who saw the sour look on Snape's face and knew what was going to happen. After pulling a small bottle from the pocket of his robes, pouring a few drops on top of Trevor and reverting it back to normal, Snape said, "Five points from Gryffindor. I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."
Marcus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the steps to the entrance hall. Ron was still seething about Snape as he said, "Five points from Gryffindor because the potion was all right! Why didn't you lie, Hermione? You should've said Neville did it all by himself!"
Marcus looked to Hermione for her answer, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she?" asked Ron.
They were at the top of the steps, watching the rest of the class pass them, heading for the Great Hall and lunch.
"She was right behind us," said Ron, frowning.
"Yes, she was," said Marcus. "This is starting to not make any sense."
"Look, there she is," said Harry.
Marcus looked to the bottom of the stairs to find a slightly panting Hermione hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes.
"How did you do that?"
"What?" said Hermione, joining them.
"What do you mean, 'what', " said Marcus stiffly. "One minute, you were right behind us. The next minute, you're back at the bottom of the stairs again."
"What?" Hermione looked slightly confused. "Oh - I had to go back for something. Oh no -"
A seam had split on Hermione's bag. This was expected as she crammed the bag with at least a dozen large and heavy books.
"Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her.
"You know how many subjects I'm taking," said Hermione breathlessly. "Couldn't hold these for me, could you?"
Ron started turning over the books she handed him. Marcus took a look for himself, looked at Hermione, and said, "You do realize you're not actually taking any of these classes today, right? We've only got Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."
"Oh yes," said Hermione vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. "I hope there's something good for lunch, I'm starving," she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall.
"D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?" Ron asked Harry and Marcus.
"Yes, I definitely do," said Marcus, who was starting to worry about Hermione.
Marcus waited in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class room, eagerly awaiting for his uncle to arrive. The rest of the class took out their things and were talking amongst themselves when his uncle finally arrived. He smiled vaguely, placing his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He looked the same as before, except he must've had a few decent meals, due to looking healthier than before.
"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."
"Now this is what I like," thought Marcus. "Nice start, Uncle Remus."
A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. Unless the disastrous lesson with freshly caught Cornish Pixies last year counted, they never had a practical lesson before.
"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."
Marcus followed right behind his uncle, eager to see what he was going to teach the class. It was his first lesson, and Marcus wanted to make sure it was an astounding success. His uncle led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw, to Marcus' utter chagrin, was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.
Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin -"
Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers, which was pissing Marcus off that he wasn't showing any to his uncle. Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."
Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a miserable, bad-tempered, and annoying Squib who waged a constant war against the students and, most especially, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry.
Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.
"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."
He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed in at Peeves.
With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.
"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.
"Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"
"I'll definitely have to remember that spell the next time Peeves pisses me off," thought Marcus, thouroughly impressed.
They set off again. Marcus looked at the rest of the class, who was looking at their teacher with increased respect, causing Marcus to smirk.
Professor Lupin led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.
"Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back.
The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."
He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway, he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."
Marcus felt absolutely enraged. It was bad enough that Snape had to be a giant git in his own class, but to do it in front of other teachers was unexcusable. However, he knew that his uncle could handle this.
Marcus looked to his uncle, who raised his eyebrows and said, "I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I am sure he will perform it admirably."
Snape's lips curled in response, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.
"Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As his uncle went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Nothing to worry about," said Professor Lupin calmly in reaction to a few people having jumped backward in alarm. "There's a boggart in there."
Marcus excitement grew at least five fold. He always wanted to face a boggart and, each time he had the chance to growing up, his parents would place him in a separate room so that they could deal with it. Since no one was going to stop him this time, Marcus was raring to go.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said his uncle. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks - I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?"
Hermione put up her hand and replied, "It's a shape-shifter. It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. "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."
Neville started to let out small sputters of terror, which his uncle chose to ingore as he continued, "This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
"Er - because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Precisely," said Professor Lupin. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake - tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."
"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please...riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" said the class together.
"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."
Marcus saw the wardrobe shaking again, but not nearly as much as Neville, who walked forward as if he was going to his death.
"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.
"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.
Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."
Marcus smirked greatly while everyone else laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.
"Professor Snape...hmmm...Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"
"Er - yes," said Neville nervously. "But - I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."
"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"
Neville looked surprised by this question, but said, "Well...always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress...green, normally...and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."
"And a handbag?" prompted Professor Lupin.
"A big red one," said Neville.
"Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"Yes," said Neville uncertainly, plainy wondering what was coming next.
"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Uncle Remus. "And you will raise your wand - thus - and cry 'Riddikulus' - and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped, hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."
Marcus had to force himself not to laugh at the thought of Snape being dressed up in something so ridiculous. The rest of the class, however, shouting greatly with laughter, making the wardrobe wobble more violently.
"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."
Marcus found himself stumped at this one. The only thing he could possibly think of was a dementor, but he wasn't afraid of it, per se. He was only scared about the effects it caused, and that wasn't much to go on against a boggart. How can you physically combat something that can't even take physical form?
Marcus could hear Ron muttering, "Take its legs off." It was no surprise that Ron's greatest fear was spiders.
"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin.
Marcus steeled himself. He reasoned that he would be quick to improvise and counterstrike when it was his turn. He didn't do all of his self-training for nothing, after all.
Everyone nodded and rolled up their sleeves, Marcus summoning his wand and gripping it as his uncle said, "Neville, we're going to back away. Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward...Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot -"
Marcus backed himself to the walls with everyone else, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and certainly frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.
"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One - two - three - now!"
A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.
Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.
"R - r - riddikulus!" squeaked Neville.
There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.
Marcus kept his right hand clasped over his mouth, using every bit of his willpower to retain his bearing. This was easily the funniest thing he'd seen in a long time, and it only made it better that it was the form of Snape being subjected to it.
The rest of the class thought the same as they roared with laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"
Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a blood-stained mummy; it sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, draggin its feet, its stiff arms rising -
"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.
A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin.
Seamus darted past Parvati.
Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face - a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Marcus' head stand on end -
"Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus.
The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.
Marcus watched as the banshee turned into a rat, which chased it tail in a circle; then - crack! - becoming a single, bloody eyeball.
"It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!"
Dean hurried forward.
Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.
"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean.
There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.
"Excellent! Ron, you next!"
Ron leapt forward.
Crack!
Marcus had to edge himself back a bit while a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, Marcus thought Ron had frozen up. Then -
"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. Harry raised his wand, ready, but -
"Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward.
Crack!
The legless spider had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" rather lazily.
Crack!
"Forward, Marcus, and finish him off!" said Professor Lupin as the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach.
Marcus darted forward, his chance had finally arrived. He raised his wand head-level, his left foot was planted in front of him, his right arm raised above him in an arc, ready for the boggart. Marcus could vaguely hear the fervent whispers behind him, his classmates no doubt wondering what form the boggart would take in front of Marcus, who seemed to be fearless. Marcus was very confident that, whatever form the boggart would take, he'd be able to deal with it immediately.
Which vanished the moment the boggart took form, along with any amount of reason.
Crack!
Standing in front of him, around six feet seven inches, with straight hair, slightly curving bangs and red eyes, an evil smirk on his face, wearing a black suit with a white tie and a black cloak over the suit stood the Dark Prince.
Nearly everyone screamed in horror. Marcus forgot everything, even that it was simply no more than a boggart, and replacing it was anger, far more than he felt in a long while.
He then heard the Dark Prince say in a semi-deep, confident voice, "It's been a long time, Marcus Williams. I'm glad we've had the chance to meet again. You've made quite a bit of progress over the years. But, enough of the pleasantries."
The Dark Prince's wand appeared in the left hand, a lion fang in the right hand, and the Dark Prince stated, "Let's pick up where we last left off, shall we?"
"WITH PLEASURE!" roared Marcus. His wand shot back up his left sleeve one second and, the next second, Marcus found his right hand gripping his enemy's throat, smashing him into the floor.
Marcus didn't hear anything else but the sound of his fists hitting his enemy. He had only one goal, and that was to kill him. The Dark Prince fought back, slamming Marcus into objects and walls just as much as Marcus was. Marcus couldn't stop, he wouldn't stop. Nothing would deny him the opportunity to end it once and for all.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a different arm, holding a wand, came into view. No words were spoken, but Marcus found himself being blasted back into a wall. He got back onto his feet and saw that Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were in the room with Professor Lupin, looking at him with a mixture of fear and apprehension.
He looked around for the Dark Prince, seeing the colored auras surrounding the teachers and classmates. He didn't know when he enhanced his vision, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was finding the Dark Prince and ending his life.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, WILLIAMS!" roared Professor McGonagall, which terrified Marcus enough to come back to his senses. He returned his vision to normal and had a good look around him.
The staffroom was an absolute wreck. Nearly everything in it was broken or destroyed, and there were numerous craters in the walls, all except for the one his classmates were leaning against. He looked at his classmates for a second or two and saw all of them had looks of fright and terror. He couldn't bare to look at them, so his focus instead went to Dumbledore, who looked furious, and Professor McGonagall, whose lips were very thin.
"Professor Lupin, please escort the rest of the class out of the room and send them on their way," Professor McGonagall stated. "Then, come back in here. Williams, stay where you are."
Marcus went from dazed to depressed. He had lost control, and he knew it. It was just a boggart, that's all it was. Why did he lose control like that?
The two professors waited until his uncle returned into the room before Professor McGonagall said, "Explain yourself, Williams, now."
"I don't know what happened," said Marcus. "The boggart took the form of the Dark Prince, and I blanked out, I snapped. I don't know what took me over."
"Marcus," said his uncle. "Were you thinking of the Dark Prince before you stepped forward to deal with the boggart?"
"No, I wasn't," replied Marcus. "I don't understand why the boggart took that form."
Professor Dumbledore, who had calmed down, said, "Then it must be a fear that is strong enough for the boggart to sense it, even if that fear is buried deep within your mind, surrounded by other emotions."
"Thirty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your inability to control yourself, Williams," said Professor McGonagall. "I expect better restraint from you in the future."
Once Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore left the staffroom, Marcus buried his face in his hands, himself being on the verge of tears.
"Marcus, it'll be all right," said his uncle.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Remus," said Marcus, talking through his hands, still on the verge of crying. "I wanted your first lesson with me and my classmates to be outstanding, and I absolutely ruined it for you! I thought I could take on the boggart."
"The fault lies with me, Marcus," said his uncle. "Your parents told me in advance not to have you go up against a boggart, but I did not heed their advice. I thought you would be able to do it, too. Look at me, Marcus."
Marcus let his hands fall to his side, his eyes watering, and looked to his uncle as he said, "Tonight, you'll come to my classroom and try again. We'll take it nice and slow until you're able to take on a boggart without losing control, all right?"
"Yes, Uncle Remus," said Marcus, who wiped away the tears.
"Get some dinner, and come to my classroom at nine o'clock," said his uncle. Marcus nodded and left the staffroom.
As he was eating his dinner alone in the Great Hall, talk of Marcus' brawl with Boggart Dark Prince ran rampant through the school. The couple of times he glanced around him, he saw the student's faces and felt embarrassed. Some looked at him with awe, others in apprehension.
"Marcus, there you are," said what Marcus knew to be Hermione.
Hermione sat next to him while Harry and Ron sat directly opposite him.
"Oh, hello," said Marcus indifferently. "I thought you guys would be up in the common room."
"We wanted to talk to you, Marcus," said Ron.
"About what?"
"Who that was," said Harry.
"Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know, Harry," said Marcus, not happy about where this was going. "The form you saw the boggart take when it was my turn, that was the Dark Prince, Voldemort's strongest ally. He was the one responsible for killing my babysitter on my fifth birthday and mutilating my torso with a lion fang."
"That was the Dark Prince?" Hermione said in horror. "No wonder people are talking about it. I felt terrified just seeing it."
"What are you talking about?" asked Marcus.
"Everyone's saying how frightening the thought of the Dark Prince being free was," said Ron. "I don't blame them. Dad told me stories about him that gave me nightmares for weeks."
"And what're they saying about me," asked Marcus before muttering, "Nothing good, I'd bet."
"If you really must know, Marcus, everyone's saying how impressive it was that you took him on without hesitation," Hermione coolly replied.
"What do they know?" said Marcus, his words filled with venemous anger. "I was too weak to even face a boggart properly, I was too weak to stop the Dark Prince from killing my babysitter, and if I continue like this, I won't be strong enough to kill him when I finally do get the chance!"
"Marcus!" Hermione said, covering her mouth in horror. "Surely, you wouldn't -"
"I consider each and every day to be a waste if I don't at least come up or refine a way to kill that bastard," stated Marcus. "And I won't stop until I personally end him. I've got to get to training before I see my uncle for a remedial lesson, so I'll see you all later."
Marcus then got up and left, not looking back.
Training that evening with Lorelei was awkward, to say the least. Marcus neither felt happy or proud, as he usually did when doing his training with his training partner. He felt weak, he felt pathetic. What did he have to do to get past this and make himself stronger?
After they finished their self-training, Lorelei asked, "Marcus, is there something wrong?"
Marcus suppressed his anger as he calmly stated, "No, there's nothing wrong. You did great today, Lorelei. I can see you improving with each training session. I'm sorry, but I have to be somewhere right now. Please excuse me."
He couldn't bare to look at her face the most. The look of confusion and concern really bothered him. He didn't want her to see him like this. He would give anything for her not to see him the way he was now. He made his way to the dormitory, hopped into the shower, changed into his normal clothes, and proceeded to make his way to his uncle's classroom.
He arrived in the classroom and heard, "Ah, there you are! Are you ready, Marcus?"
"I am," said Marcus as he looked at his uncle and a familiar looking wardrobe.
"Is that the same one from the staffroom?" asked Marcus.
"It is," said his uncle. "Obviously, we were unable to destroy it, so now we'll make sure to do in this attempt."
"But, it's just the two of us," said Marcus. "That won't be very effective to destroy a boggart."
"You're right, it won't," said Uncle Remus. "Which is why I asked for some helpers."
Marcus was confused until he heard the door open and turned around to see -
"Harry!" exclaimed Marcus. "Ron, Hermione! What are you all doing here?"
"Professor Lupin wanted us to help you tackle the boggart properly," Hermione stated.
"Plus, we're here for you, mate," said Ron.
"Always have and always will be," said Harry, smiling.
Marcus started to feel emotional as he choked, "Thanks, you guys. You don't know how much this means to me."
"Well, hold on there, Marcus," said Professor Lupin. "I believe there's at least one more who feels the same."
"What?" said Marcus stupidly.
Professor Lupin then looked at the entrance door and said, "There's no need to hide among friends, Miss Flamel. Please, come join us."
Marcus' eyes grew wide as he looked to the door and, sure enough, Lorelei was starting to become visible, saying, "What gave me away, Professor Lupin?"
"The door slightly moved," said Uncle Remus. "I must say, that is an impressive use of the Disillusionment Charm, and for someone as young as you to use it, Miss Flamel, is even more so. Tell me, how did you learn to use it?"
Lorelei walked towards them as she replied, "Marcus taught me to use it. Said it would come in handy."
Marcus felt his face getting hot, saying, "Let's begin this remedial lesson, shall we?"
"Yes, yes, of course," said Professor Lupin. "But, first, Miss Flamel, do you know how to deal with a boggart?"
"I researched it in the library earlier today, Professor," said Lorelei. "I know the charm to repel it and what I must do to make it successful."
"Don't worry, she'll most likely do better than me or my friends," Marcus said, causing Lorelei to blush.
"Well, we shall soon see," Professor Lupin said with a smile. "Marcus, you'll go first." He then looked to everyone else and said, "Remember, this is for Marcus. So, Marcus will go every other time, and I'll call out the person who'll take on the boggart."
Everyone nodded their heads, the others stepping back, giving Marcus plenty of room. He already had his wand out, getting into the same stance he had during the lesson.
"Do it," said Marcus.
His uncle nodded and opened the doorknob, and the Dark Prince came out of it, with the same attire and same evil smirk he had before.
He immediately wanted to hit the boggart, but he breathed deeply, trying to retain a sense of rythem to maintain his reason. It was just a boggart, it didn't matter what form it took.
The Dark Prince raised his wand when Marcus bellowed, "Riddikulus!"
The hem of his cloak came under his feet, which the boggart stepped on, causing him to land on his face.
"Excellent, Marcus!" said Professor Lupin. "Ron, your turn!"
Ron stepped forward while Marcus leaped back. He saw the boggart take the shape of a giant spider like before, but Ron said the charm, and the legs were immediately gone.
Marcus stepped forward again, this time focusing on something different. He didn't want the boggart to take the same shape again. That would've been too easy. Instead, he focused on something else that had scared him at one point or another.
The boggart shifted around until he took the form of a smaller version of the Basilisk, the creature that gripped Marcus with fear during the second half of last school year.
He didn't even hesitate as he yelled, "Riddikulus!"
The boggart Basilisk suddenly found himself without fangs or eyes, rolling around on the ground.
Harry went next. Marcus saw the boggart form into a dementor, which surprised him. He thought for sure that it was going to assume the form of a revived Voldemort.
Harry hesitated for a second saying, "Riddikulus!"
The dementor tripped on its robe, falling down onto his back.
Marcus went forward again. This time, the boggart took the form of Fluffy, Hagrid's Cerberian Hound that guarded the Sorcerer's Stone his first year at Hogwarts. All three heads growled menacingly at him, looking to attack.
"Riddikulus!" yelled Marcus.
The Cerberian Hound then started to chase its tail, running round and round into a circle.
Hermione stepped forward; the boggart assumed the form of Professor McGonagall, saying, "Miss Granger, I regret to inform you that you've failed all your subjects."
Hermione froze for a moment, then regained herself and said, "Riddikulus!"
Professor Boggart McGonagall somehow pulled an award out of nowhere and tried to give it to Hermione. Marcus could see that the boggart was starting to get confused.
Marcus stepped forward once again. This time, the boggart took the form of the Mirror of Erised, trying to show him the same awful things it showed him during his first year.
"Riddikulus!" said Marcus, starting to get very confident.
The mirror suddenly stretched and wiggled, making Marcus look all stretched or deformed.
Lorelei stepped forward. Marcus was very interested to see what form the boggart would take with her.
It surprised him what he saw. The boggart took the form of a humanoid with a cruel-beaked bird head, long scaly wings coming from its shoulders. It looked sort of freaky, but Marcus didn't know how this would terrify Lorelei.
His training partner didn't miss a beat, regardless. She cried, "Riddikulus!" and the creature turned into a colorful parrot, squawking it's head off.
"Marcus, the time has come!" shouted Uncle Remus. "Finish it off!"
Marcus stepped forward, thinking of the only thing that could possibly scare him at this point.
The boggart took the form of a dementor reaching out to grab his throat.
"Riddikulus!" cried Marcus.
The dementor's hood was lowered to show a clown head with a goofy smile.
"Ha!" cried Marcus.
The boggart then exploded, turning into tiny wisps of smoke, and it was gone.
"Well done, Marcus!" said Uncle Remus. "Do you realize what was wrong before?"
Marcus shook his head, to which his uncle stated, "Up until now, you've had no way to deal with the things that affected you psychologically. That's why your parents never let you be in the presence of something that could affect you in such a way. By being able to confront your fears, the only thing you have left to fear is fear itself."
"That makes complete sense," said Marcus. He knew that he was never good at handling things of that nature, and he had a feeling he wouldn't ever truly be able to. But, at least he had a way of confronting it, to accept it and move on.
"I believe this concludes your remedial lesson, Marcus," said Uncle Remus, smiling. "Let's see here...five points each for your friends for helping you and ten points for successfully taking care of the boggart. You're all free to go."
As the five of them went to Gryffindor Tower, Marcus knew that he had one last thing to do, and he needed some help to do it.
He waited until everyone was gone from the common room, made sure no one was listening from above, and said, "Blinky."
Crack!
His house-elf had appeared at his side, saying, "What can Blinky do for you, Master?"
"Blinky, I need you to gather a week's worth of food into a container that can hold it all," said Marcus. "Make sure that there's cooked meat and vegetables in there. No elaborate meals. Once you complete this task, come back to me with the container in hand."
"Yes, Master," said Blinky, who disappeared.
Marcus didn't have to wait too long. In about fifteen minutes, Blinky came back with an incredibly huge basket and said, "Here you are, Master. Does Master have anything else Blinky can do?"
"Not at the moment," said Marcus. "By the way, Blinky, how are you liking it here at Hogwarts?"
"Blinky is getting along well with the other house-elves in the castle, sir," Blinky stated. "Blinky is in the kitchen most of the time, but Blinky also cleans the different rooms in Hogwarts, as well."
"I'll be sure to visit you sometime, Blinky," said Marcus, smirking. "Keep up the good work."
Blinky bowed before disappearing.
Marcus then rendered himself and the basket of food invisible and said, "Now to meet my godfather," making his way out of the common room and to the Forbidden Forest.
This concludes another chapter of HP: Freedom's Path! Please feel free to leave a review, telling me your thoughts on the story. Also, if you have any questions for me, feel free to leave me a PM and, I promise, I will do my best to answer them! Until then, keep your eyes open for the next chapter of HP: Freedom's Path!