Chapter 7.0
Percy
Professor Lupin stood at the front of the classroom, waiting for them. The students took their seats, looking at him with interest. Their last two teachers had been utterly useless, and they feared the worst. Once they had settled, he calmly and confidently addressed them all.
"I've heard some⦠interesting things about your previous Professors." A few chuckles from the students, and Percy snorted.
"I will be showing you a variety of different creatures that will show up on your O.W.L.'s. In fact, I have one already. If you would follow me, I'll take you to it. No need to worry, I know you're not going to want to see pixies for a while." He led the students down the hall, to the staff room. Snape was waiting by the door.
"I should warn you, Neville Longbottom is in this class. If I were you, I wouldn't leave anything of a delicate nature to him." Snape sneered at them, and Lupin scowled. He opened his mouth, but Percy beat him to it.
"That's really not the kind of thing a teacher should say, Snape. How about you leave us and go wash your hair?" The students gasped, but Snape just sighed. He was used to Percy's sarcasm by now. Lupin eyed him, and it looked like he was trying to keep a straight face.
"Percy, I heard about your scene on the train. We'll spend this Saturday making up that lesson instead of our usual potions. Don't be late, or I might just have you clean out the old potion flasks instead." He swept past, and Percy scowled at him. The hatred he'd seem to have specifically for Harry seemed to also belong to their newest Professor.
"Come on in, now." Said Lupin, striding into the room. The students followed, murmuring quietly to each other. A cabinet on the far wall rattled ominously. The students took a collective step back, but Lupin chuckled.
"Don't worry. There's just a boggart in there." Quite a few people thought that was a problem, Percy included.
"What's a boggart, Professor?" asked Harry, and Lupin smiled. "A boggart is a creature that changes into what you fear most. We don't know what it looks like when it's alone, but it has two weaknesses. Can someone tell me what they are?" Lupin scanned the room, and Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"Yes, Hermione?"
"Laughter and groups of people, Professor."
"Correct. Take five points to Gryffindor. Laughter, simple laughter, is what finishes off a boggart. A boggart gets confused when it is faced by two people. If one fears slugs, and the other bats, should it be a slug or a bat? Half a slug isn't very frightening.There is a spell to help, repeat after me: 'riddikulus' You need to think of a way to make your fear funny, and concentrate on that image. " Everyone yelled the spell, not holding wands.
"Good. Now, how about you lend me a hand, Neville? I want to prove you can do whatever you set your mind to." Neville went to the front, clearly pale.
"Now, what do you fear most, Neville?" Neville muttered something.
"Come again?"
"The Death Eaters, sir." Lupin nodded seriously, and asked Neville to approach the cabinet. Neville did as he was told, and the shaking got worse.
Then, the door opened. A cloaked man wearing a blank white mask climbed out, wand pointed at Neville. Neville threw up his own wand, face scrunched up with concentration.
"Riddikulus!" He yelled, and there was a loud crack. The Death Muncher (Percy refused to calm them Death Eaters, it was a stupid name) tripped over his cloak. The mask fell off, and inside was a crude smiley face drawn on an otherwise blank face. Neville let out a quick "Ha!", before Lupin pulled him back.
"You, you're next!" He said, pointing at Ron. Ron walked forward, still nervous. The cloaked man vanished, and in its place was a massive spider. It towered over Ron, and a few people screamed.
"Riddikulus!" He roared, his usual belief that volume equaled power evident. The spider slipped on roller skates, and Lupin ordered the next person up. Percy and Harry were last in line.
The boggart shifted, a mummy, a severed hand, a snarling dragon, and a massive black wolf. Percy was up next, and he was honestly not sure what to expect.
"Here goes nothing." He said, and a few people laughed. He walked forward, and it turned to him. Then, it became a pile of corpses. The eyes of Beckondorf, Luke, Thalia, Daedalus, and even more of his lost friends stared up at him.
"Why didn't you save us, Percy?" He heard a gasp of horror from behind him. Then, it shifted. It became the towering form of Tarturus. He was still dazed, but this made him stand at the ready. A few students screamed.
"Someday you'll be mine. No matter how many monsters you kill, they always come back. Your precious home will be swarmed, and Olympus torn down brick by brick!" The boggart again shifted, becoming himself. Boggart Percy, who was his normal age, leaned on his sword. The blade was tainted red with blood. His eyes were poisonous green, and his shirt blood splattered.
"You're a monster, you know that? You fed Misery her own misery, drowned her in her own poison." Percy strode forward, refusing to let this continue.
"Riddikulus!" Percy roared, and the figure before him became a large guinea pig. Laughter rippled around the room, and Percy joined them.
"Too bad, I know my own weaknesses better than anyone!" He went back to his classmates, and Harry stepped forward. The boggart shifted, becoming a Dementor. Harry stood firm, and yelled the spell. The dementor tripped, tangling itself in it's long cloak. It then grew confused, shifting between a mummy, an eye, a spider.
Lupin stepped forward, and it faced him. It became a shining silver orb, and he lazily flicked his wand at it. It became a balloon that whizzed around the room, with a loud 'WEEEEEEEEE' the students laughed, and it vanished with a POP. They chattered excitedly amongst themselves as they left, but Lupin put a hand on Percy's shoulder.
"Stay behind for a minute, then you can have lunch." Percy let himself be led into an office that had more than a few books piled on chairs and filling a bookshelf. Other than the books, there was only a desk and one empty chair. Percy plopped into it, and Lupin sat across from him.
"That was more than a little concerning, Percy." Percy sighed, and ignored the panic he was feeling. He'd had time to master these fears, he knew they were his. He hadn't expected to see himself, but he knew it wasn't without reason.
"Why did you see an older version of yourself?" Lupin asked, kindly. Percy gritted his teeth. Good intentions or no, he wasn't spilling his guts to anyone here. It was none of their business.
"Thanks for the concern, Professor, but I'd rather not be asked about what just happened. I'll deal with it on my own." He stood, and quickly left. He practically ran to the Great Hall, and joined his friends.
"That was a hell of a first lesson." His friends gave a small laugh, and he relaxed a little. They didn't care that he was one of his fears. They had seen some awful things that he feared, and they didn't treat him any different.
"Man, even your boggart spoke a different language Percy. Guess you really do speak Gronk." Ron said, and Harry choked on his beef sandwich.
"I didn't even notice it wasn't English. And I speak Greek, not Gronk." Ron blushed a little, and Hermione chuckled.
"What's up next?" Percy said, between bites of his meatloaf. He wasn't completely calm yet, but the presence of his friends was reassuring. Aeto snuggled closer to his ear, and Percy gave him a thankful pat. Then, they went their separate ways. Percy went to Ancient Runes with Hermione, and Ron and Harry went to Divination.
I think this makes more sense. We know about what happened to Neville's parents, and that would definitely traumatize any kid. Having him fear Snape as a character trait, despite him being the other possible Chosen One, was sleeping on his potential as a character. Also, Percy has a lot of fears. The fact the boggart kept changing meant he was unsure himself what he feared most. Harry got to face the boggart, and did better this time because he's seen Percy have a worse reaction, and wants to overcome his fear to help him. Also, Lupin was a little distracted by the nightmare fuel Percy had just dumped down their throats.
