April and May passed quickly. Rachel found herself always busy, either with classes and homework, exam preparation, Quidditch practice, or preparing for the third task. She continued to see Torey every Saturday, where she didn't feel she was making a lot of progress, but when she'd suggested to Severus that she might go back to seeing Torey every other week he had said that he felt that she needed more support than that. She also had dinner with Severus every Sunday evening and he continued to act rather worried about her. Rachel wasn't entirely sure what to do about that so she just kept her head down and made sure to learn the spells that he was teaching her.
They played their last Quidditch game of the season at the end of April and Slytherin had roundly beaten Ravenclaw in their best match of the year. Rachel was pleased that they would have won the Quidditch House Cup again, but even more she was pleased that she'd be returning to playing Seeker next year. They had to hold their remaining Quidditch practices off the Quidditch pitch now that it was being used for the third task, and Rachel spent most of the practice time with Viktor working on improving her agility and speed.
On the evening of Saturday May 27th, an hour before dinner, Rachel left her friends in their study room and hurried down the stairs to go out to the Quidditch pitch, where they'd been directed to go to learn about the third task.
"Rachel!"
Rachel turned and found Cedric hurrying up to her. "Hi Cedric."
"Hi Rachel. Want to walk out together?" he asked.
"Sure." Severus would probably even prefer if she didn't go out alone, though Rachel found that a bit silly now that the Durmstrang students had been there for nearly the entire school year. If they were actually dangerous they would have done something by now.
"So, what do you think it's going to be?" Cedric said as they left the entrance hall.
Rachel quickly made her expression appear thoughtful. "I don't know. I mean, we've already faced dragons, what can be worse than that?"
Cedric laughed. "That's a good way of looking at it. I thought maybe dueling. They could be setting up a stage in the Quidditch pitch, though I don't think that would have taken so long."
"I hope it's not dueling," Rachel said. "The only experience I have with dueling was at Lockhart's club."
"What a disaster," he said. "Professor Moody is a bit intense, but at least he knows what he's doing. I actually asked him to teach me dueling, in case one of the tasks was dueling, and he laughed at me. Apparently dueling is for people who don't have the common sense to get out of an attacker's way."
"Oh," Rachel said, not sure what to say to that. "Maybe you could ask Professor Flitwick, supposedly he used to be a champion dueler."
"It's not really necessary now, though I will go to him if the last task is dueling," Cedric said. "I imagine they want something a little showier than that though."
Rachel bit her lip to keep herself from saying exactly what she thought about people who put students in life or death situations for entertainment.
"We've already faced dangerous creatures, and been underwater. I'd suggest the Forbidden Forest, if we didn't already know it was going to take place on the Quidditch pitch. Maybe some sort of obstacle course?" Cedric suggested.
"Maybe," she said. Now that Cedric had mentioned all the other possibilities, a maze didn't sound that bad.
They entered the Quidditch pitch and Rachel came to a stop, staring out at where the ground had been torn up.
"What did they do to our pitch?" Cedric asked.
"Fear not, it will all be back to normal for Quidditch next year," Mr. Bagman said as he came over to them, Mr. Crouch trailing after him. "We'll just wait a moment and I'm sure the other champions will be here soon."
Rachel wandered over to the edge. It was a hedge maze, and the branches came just up to her knees. She felt claustrophobic just looking at how narrow the paths were and the hedge would undoubtedly be well above her head once it was done growing.
"Do you feel prepared, Miss Snow?" Mr. Crouch asked, having followed her.
"Not yet, but I will be," Rachel said.
"Good. I assume you're availing yourself of all of your various resources to prepare?" he asked.
She hesitated. Was he asking her if Severus was helping her? "My friends and I have been working on a variety of spells this year and we use the library frequently," she said after thinking about it for a moment.
Mr. Crouch nodded. "While you can't ask your professors for help with the task specifically, you can still ask them for general help, such as things you might learn in your curriculum."
Rachel blinked. Did he just give her permission to cheat?
Mr. Bagman clapped his hands together. "Now that we're all gathered here, let's begin. Now, who can guess what the third task will be?"
Rachel stared at him and then glanced at the other champions. They looked similarly bemused.
"Maze," Viktor finally said.
"That's right, it's a maze. Rules are pretty simple. The champion with the most points, that's Mr. Krum, enters first. Five minutes later the next champions will enter, that's Mr. Diggory and Miss Snow, and then five minutes after that Miss Delacour. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze and the first champion to reach it wins the Triwizard Tournament," Mr. Bagman explained.
"We just have to go through the maze?" Fleur asked, her doubt obvious.
"Ah, there will be obstacles, creatures of all sorts, enchantments to get past, that sort of thing. You'll all have a fighting chance depending on how well you manage the obstacles. Any questions?" Mr. Bagman asked.
Everyone shook their heads. It was straightforward, minus the fact that they didn't know what creatures were going to be in the maze. At least it couldn't be anything too big, at a certain point it wouldn't fit in the maze.
"Alright then, I'll let you head on back to the castle for dinner, we've got a bit to finish up here," Mr. Bagman said. "Arrangements to make, that sort of thing."
Rachel joined the others as they left the Quidditch pitch. She thought about it and decided it was easiest to ask when they were all here, rather than chasing them down individually. "My friends and I will be preparing for the task and practicing spells. If any of you would like to join us, you're welcome to," she said.
"You and your friends are very young, I think I likely know the spells you would be doing," Fleur said. "Thank you though."
"It is possible, I don't know," Viktor said. "I will think about it."
"I wouldn't mind joining you, Rachel. I might be able to teach you a few things as well," Cedric said with a smile.
Rachel smiled back. "Thanks Cedric. I'll work on figuring out a place where we can practice and I'll let you know." She didn't want to invite him into the study room, that was for their study group only. And they couldn't exactly be practicing things like the Exploding charm in their study room anyway.
They made it back to the castle just in time for dinner to start and Rachel found Millie and Theo sitting together.
"Can you tell us what it is now?" Theo asked as Rachel sat down.
"A maze, with creatures and obstacles in it. The first person to get to the center wins," Rachel said.
"No idea on what the creatures and stuff are?" Millie asked, serving herself some of the beef stew.
"No, but they can't be that big. I think The Monster Book of Monsters might come in handy for once," Rachel said. "Cedric said he'd be willing to train with us too. Maybe Viktor as well."
"That's nice of them, though I think you should hold back some of what you know when you practice with them," Theo said, looking down the table at where the Durmstrang students were now settled. "We don't want to make it too obvious that you know upper level spells."
Rachel nodded, though she suspected they already knew she was getting help from Severus. "Cedric offered to show us some spells anyway. He'll just get to be surprised at how fast we pick them up."
"Let's think of a place to meet where we can practice," Millie said. "We can tell the rest of the group after dinner."
"Okay," Rachel agreed and then served herself some of the stew as she thought about all the places in the castle that she'd explored over the years.
"Sectura," Rachel said, slashing her wand horizontally. The wooden beam that Severus had conjured cleaved in two and toppled over.
"Good," Severus said. "As with the Bludgeoning hex, do not aim the Cutting hex at living things if you don't want a very bloody result. However, if you do need to aim it at a person, aim for the throat or the groin."
Rachel grimaced, she didn't particularly care to picture that in her mind. As much as she appreciated Severus teaching her spells for defense she couldn't particularly picture herself using them against a person. She supposed she'd have to if she was in a situation that made it necessary, but she couldn't quite imagine it.
"Also, I would avoid casting this in the castle unless you are aiming at a specific target, it will take chunks out of the walls," Severus continued. "Once more."
"Good to know," Rachel said. Fortunately it was getting warmer and they could practice on some branches on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She waited while Severus conjured another wooden beam. "Sectura."
"Almost, put more power behind it," Severus said as her hex carved a two inch line in the wood.
"Sectura!" she said, trying to focus her magic to her wand. That time the cut made it all the way through.
"Do you feel confident with this spell?" Severus asked, vanishing the wooden pieces with a wave of his wand.
"I do, it's relatively easy. I think if I'm nervous I will probably put more power behind it without having to concentrate on it," Rachel said, putting her wand away.
"I've found that to be the case as well. Do you need anything?" he asked.
"No, I'm going to go write a Transfiguration essay and then I'll go to bed," Rachel said.
"You're meeting Millie and Theo in the common room?" Severus asked.
"Yes, as always," she said, picking up her bag. "I'll see you in class on Tuesday, or in the Great Hall for meals."
"Alright. Let me know if there are any problems," Severus said.
"I will, goodnight," Rachel said, making sure she was all the way through the wall before shaking her head. She knew Severus wanted to keep her safe, but there was such a thing as being overprotective. She didn't want him to worry about her, but she couldn't seem to figure out how to convince him that she was just fine.
She made her way down the corridor toward the common room, her mind buzzing with the things she needed to get done over the next few days. There was just under four weeks left until the third task and three weeks before their final exams. Rachel was dreading the third task more than the final exams, but the final exams were also weighing on her mind. She came to a stop in front of the wall that would open up to the common room with the password and then blinked and turned back.
"Curbin?" she asked, walking the ten steps back to his frame.
"Ah, Miss Rachel. How are you this fine evening?" Curbin asked.
"I'm doing well. How are you?" Rachel asked.
"As same as always. Things don't change much for me," Curbin said, adjusting his shield as he spoke.
"Curbin, you know Hogwarts pretty well, don't you?" she asked.
"That I do, though things have changed a bit since I was a professor here. The castle moves, you know," Curbin said.
"How often does it move?" She had known that it did, but she had never seen it.
"A little bit at a time, usually, a few rooms every few decades. Sometimes there is a big change, but there's usually something that causes that. The castle has an awareness of magical Britain. It knows when there is peace and it prepares when there is war," Curbin explained. "The dorms used to be quite different. There were family quarters for people working on their Masterys while they were at Hogwarts, but there used to be more of an expectation for people to marry and start their families young."
It made sense that there had used to be more people at Hogwarts. There were a lot of unused spaces now. "My friends and I need a place where we can practice defensive spells to prepare for the tournament, but we don't want to hurt the castle or bother anyone. Do you have any ideas of where we could go?"
"Let me think," Curbin said, drumming his fingers on the knee of his robes. "Well, the best place of course would be the Room of Requirement."
"Where's that?" Rachel asked.
"Well you've been there. It's on the seventh floor down the left corridor, just past the tapestry of the dancing trolls," Curbin said.
"I've been there?" Rachel asked, frowning as she tried to remember.
"Yes, Master Snape came to me searching for you, a few years ago now. Do you recall?" Curbin asked.
"Oh," Rachel said, realizing when Curbin meant. She had gone up there to hide when she was worried what Severus would think about the situation with Leander. "But that room was filled with stuff. I don't think we could practice there."
"The room changes based on what you need. There's a very simple trick. You must pace in the corridor, back and forth three times, and think about what you need. Then the room will appear," Curbin said.
"Anything you need?" Rachel asked.
"There are limits, of course, but it should be able to provide you with a safe place to practice spells. I trust Master Snape is being discreet in what he is teaching you?" Curbin asked, raising his eyebrows.
"He's not teaching me the Dark Arts," Rachel said, looking around to make sure no one was nearby.
"Good, see that it stays that way," Curbin said. "What is this task that they've set you and the other students?"
"We have to go through a hedge maze and it has obstacles and creatures," Rachel explained.
Curbin shook his head. "The Triwizard Tournament was a poor idea in my age and is a poor idea in yours. If I could visit the portraits in your Headmaster's office I would tell him as much."
Rachel smiled. "Thanks Curbin. I've got to go meet up with some people."
"See that you're in the common room before curfew," Curbin said.
"I will," Rachel said. She said the password to the common room and hurried inside, finding it to be as crowded as it usually was on a Sunday evening. There were small clumps of students gathered around tables, trying to finish their homework before classes the next day, the prefects sitting on the couches around the fireplace with some of the upper year students, and a small circle of first years playing exploding snap in the corner of the room by the windows. The squid was plastered to one of the windows and Rachel was once again grateful she hadn't encountered it during the second task.
"There you are, your lesson ran a bit late?" Millie asked as she and Theo came over to Rachel.
"Oh, a bit I guess. And I was talking to Curbin. Let's get the others and we can try something out," Rachel said, leading the way back out of the common room.
"Try what out?" Millie asked once they were in the corridor.
"I may have found a place for us to practice with Cedric, but we should look first and see if it will work," Rachel said.
"Okay," Theo agreed. "What spell did Professor Snape teach you tonight?"
"The Cutting hex, which we shouldn't try in the castle," Rachel said. "Maybe by the Forbidden Forest after our lesson with Hagrid tomorrow."
"How is that different from the Severing charm?" Millie asked.
"I could cut whole beams of wood with it," Rachel said. She'd never seen the Severing charm go through anything thicker than a few layers of fabric. "Needless to say, don't aim it at anything living."
"How is that not Dark Arts? You could kill someone with that," Millie said.
"Dark Arts is about purpose," Theo said. "You could kill someone with a lot of the spells that we learn. Hell, you could kill someone with Wingardium Leviosa, if you levitate something heavy over someone's head and drop it. There's no purpose for the Cruciatus curse other than causing people pain."
"Besides, we're not going to be using it on people," Rachel added. "I don't even want to use it on any creatures honestly."
"Use whatever you have to in the task. No one will think anything less of you for it," Theo said.
"But I'd have to live with it," Rachel said, imagining seeing some creature cut down every time she closed her eyes.
"Live being the key word. If an acromantula is coming at you, cut its legs off," Theo said firmly.
"I think the maze is too small for acromantulas." Rachel hoped it was. She didn't mind spiders in general but did not want to be faced down with a giant one that wanted to eat her.
"Yuck," Millie said. "Just try to get through as fast as possible. The less time you spend in there, the better."
Rachel nodded. That was her plan as well. The sooner she got through the maze the sooner the nightmare ended for all of them. She followed Theo into their study room but didn't take a seat. "I think we possibly found a room we can use to practice spells in with Cedric, but we need to check it out first. Does anyone want to come with us?" she asked.
"I'll go," Luna said immediately.
"Me too," Ginny said, putting down her quill.
"Sure," Neville said.
"I guess we're all going," Hermione said, putting down her quill. "Where is it?"
"Seventh floor, left corridor," Rachel said.
"With the trolls learning ballet?" Ginny asked as they trooped back out into the corridor and headed toward the staircase.
"Yep," Rachel said.
It didn't take them long to reach the seventh floor corridor and they found the wall blank.
"Okay, stand back here for a moment, I don't know how close we have to be for this to work," Rachel said, motioning them back so that they were at the entrance to the corridor.
"Rachel? What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
"Let me see if it works and then I'll tell you," Rachel said. She started pacing back and forth, thinking hard about wanting a safe room to practice defense spells in. After the third time back she looked at the wall and found a door.
"A secret room? I bet the twins don't know about this," Ginny said as she bounded over to Rachel.
Rachel opened the door and stepped inside. It was amazing. The room had entirely different dimensions than the last time she'd been in there and all of the junk was gone. Now there were dummies to practice spells on, mats and cushions stacked to the side, a bookcase with books on it, and a chalkboard.
"It's perfect. Curbin told you about this?" Millie asked.
"Yes, but that's not the best part," Rachel said, turning back to her friends with a smile.
"What is the best part?" Neville asked.
"This room can become almost anything. Well, with limits, but I don't know what those limits are," Rachel said. "I've been here before and it was full of random stuff."
"Almost anything," Theo repeated as he looked around.
"Why isn't this in Hogwarts: A History?" Hermione asked. "Are all the rooms just somewhere and the castle is switching them out, or is it creating rooms? Where does the stuff come from?"
"I don't know," Rachel said, joining Hermione at the bookshelf to discover that it was filled with various Defense textbooks.
"What did you think to make the room come here?" Luna asked.
"I thought that we needed a safe place to practice defense spells in," Rachel said. "You have to pace back and forth three times in the corridor while focusing on what you want."
"Obviously we need to experiment with this," Theo said.
"Exactly. We need to figure out what is possible and what the limits are. We can test different variables, such as if two people ask the room for the same thing, does it provide the same room, and what difference the wording makes. And if we test enough rooms we might even be able to figure out where it's all coming from," Hermione said, practically bouncing with excitement.
"And we need to keep it a secret," Millie said. "If we bring people here, we should be in here first so they think it's just this practice room."
"Good idea," Theo said. "I wonder if there's a way to make it so that the door disappears while we're in here."
"We should definitely play with this more, but we have essays to do tonight," Ginny said, coming back from where she'd cast a few spells at one of the dummies.
"You're right, I nearly forgot," Hermione said.
"Congratulations, you found something so interesting that Hermione forgot about homework," Theo said with a teasing grin.
"I would have remembered," Hermione said quickly. "And we should come up with a plan of how to test the room before we do it. Also, we don't know how long it takes for it to make different rooms, or how long it takes for the room to go away once we leave."
Rachel smiled, happy to see Hermione so excited about something. "Let's go do homework, and we can peek around the corner after we leave to see if the door is gone."
"I can't even fathom all of the possibilities right now," Hermione said as they left.
"We have plenty of time to find out," Neville said.
They left the corridor and then looked back again and found that the door was now gone.
"We should brainstorm," Hermione said, turning back to grin at them.
"We can, after our essays," Theo said, shaking his head but smiling all the same.
On Tuesday after classes the study group went back up to the Room of Requirement. Rachel had told Cedric and Viktor where to go, but she had decided to wait for a little bit before asking Fleur if she wanted to practice with them. Maybe Fleur just felt uncomfortable with too many people around - Rachel definitely knew how that felt.
"I think this room is too wide for the castle at this level," Hermione said from where she was peering out a window.
Rachel climbed up onto the table so she could see out the window as well. "But we can see the roof of the east side of the castle right there. It's where it should be, isn't it?"
"It is, but think about the corridor that leads to this one. The classrooms should be right there," Hermione said, pointing at the far wall. "And this room should be overlapping the roof."
"Well, it was even bigger last time I was here," Rachel said. "It had different windows too."
Hermione climbed back down to the floor. "Sometimes I don't think I'll ever understand magic. As much as I disagree with pure-blood ideology, I think there is something different about being raised in a household where magic is an expected thing. I would never have the idea of a magic room that was occupying a space it shouldn't be occupying, because it would never occur to me to try until I had seen it somewhere else. If I get involved with spell development, that might be a problem."
"Spell development? Is that what you want to do?" Rachel asked, dropping back down to the floor.
"I don't know yet. I can't see myself going to work for the Ministry really, I'm not a politician and I don't think I'd be satisfied sitting in some office somewhere. I definitely want to continue with Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, and they're both used in spell creation, and having a strong background in Transfiguration and Charms helps with that too. I checked Flourish and Blotts for a book about magical careers, but I didn't find anything comprehensive, though there were a lot of guides for Healers." Hermione frowned as she looked around the room. "I really don't know what I want to do."
"There are magical universities, in some places at least. My therapist went to one," Rachel said.
"I might like that, but I would still need an idea of what I wanted to do first. And it does seem that a Mastery is the more typical form of continuing education, at least here in Britain," Hermione said.
A flash of light caught Rachel's attention and she turned to find a silvery hare bouncing across the floor.
"Luna, is that your Patronus?" Hermione asked.
"It is, it's not what I was expecting," Luna said. "I think I like it anyway."
"It's very nice, congratulations," Rachel said. That was their entire group now that could perform the Patronus charm. It was a good thing that they had a way to communicate in an emergency.
"That's your Patronus?"
They turned and found Cedric and his Ravenclaw friend Roland in the doorway.
"Yes, it's mine," Luna said.
"You're only a third year and you have a corporeal Patronus?" Roland asked, one of his eyebrows raised. "You must be very powerful."
"Is it alright if we join you?" Cedric asked.
"Yes, please come in," Rachel said, watching as her friends gathered. "We've met, Roland, but this is Millie, Theo, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna."
"I'm aware. You realize that your study group has quite the reputation, right?" Roland asked as he looked over all of them.
"We do?" Neville asked.
"Oh, yes. Top of their year, favored by Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore alike, and never seen out of each other's company, that's the Girl-Who-Lived's study group," Roland said. "There are rumors that you sleep in the library and will hex anyone who bothers you."
"Roland," Cedric said quietly.
"We do not!" Hermione said indignantly.
"We haven't hexed anyone, though some of us probably would sleep in the library if we could get away with it," Theo said.
"Let's just practice, shall we," Rachel said, trying to ignore the blush that she felt on her cheeks.
"That's a good idea. I've never even seen this room before. I wonder why we don't have Defense class up here," Cedric said as he looked around. "At least for the practical parts."
"The room is a secret," Millie said. "We're the only ones who know about it. We found it a while ago."
Cedric smiled at Millie. "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone. Do you mind if we use it to practice?"
"If you can get it to show up for you, it's very temperamental," Luna said.
"That's Hogwarts for you," Roland said. "So, how do we want to do this? Do you want to show us what you know and then we can teach you some things?"
"Well, some things, like the Cutting hex, the Exploding charm, and the Bludgeoning hex we shouldn't do inside, even in a room like this. I'm not sure what would happen if we damaged the walls to a magical space," Hermione said.
"You can do all of those?" Cedric asked.
"Yes," Rachel said.
"Those aren't usually taught in Defense," Roland said.
"Did you need us to teach you? We can go outside," Theo offered.
"I know the Exploding charm and the Cutting hex, but I don't know the Bludgeoning hex. Maybe we'll take our next session outside for practice. Do you know the Reductor hex?" Cedric asked.
"We do, and that one we can practice in here if we're careful with what we aim at. The dummies should be fine for that. I don't think we need to worry about hex deflection or countercurses, given there won't be anyone but the champions in the maze. The Impediment jinx is a good one for slowing things down, and the Freezing charm, but that won't work on anything that can really resist magic," Rachel listed.
"I wouldn't be so quick to disregard countercurses," Roland said. "It sounds like they're going to be setting up some environmental obstacles in the maze, not just having creatures."
"Can curses be applied over areas?" Hermione asked.
"Curse can be applied to objects, but not really over a wide spread area. The countercurses you'd want are things that would resolve spells, like finite incantatem, or other spells that will dispel magic. I would also include things like Flame-Freezing charms and other spells that can prevent damage," Roland said, turning to Cedric. "Are you sure we want to be helping them?"
"Yes," Cedric said. "I thought you invited Viktor too?"
"I did, he said he needed to think about it," Rachel said.
"Let me talk with him, Fleur too. This is a competition, but there's no reason for them to miss out on instruction that might save their lives," Cedric said. "Don't get me wrong, I want to win, but after the last two tasks, I also want it to be as safe as possible."
Rachel nodded. She still felt guilty about not telling Fleur about the grindylows.
"Let's start with the Reductor hex and work our way down to countercurses, we still have about forty-five mintues before we should head down to dinner," Roland said as he checked his watch.
They arranged the dummies and lined up so that everyone was at a safe distance and began to cast. Rachel was impressed that the dummies could withstand the Reductor hex, even though they were missing a few pieces by the end. It would be a good test of the room to see if the same dummies were here next time they used the Room of Requirement and Rachel reminded herself to tell Hermione about it.
After the Reductor hex they started going through the list of hexes and jinxes that they'd been learning, with a few charms thrown in for good measure.
"You know the Shield charm?" Cedric asked.
"Protego," Rachel said, letting the shimmer of light in front of her be the answer.
"I'm impressed," Roland said, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. "If this is the level of effort you put into all of your classes it's no wonder your group is at the top of your year. I think you might even give our group a run for its money."
"I think they're a little ahead of where we were in fourth year," Cedric said, giving Rachel a smile.
"Perhaps a little," Roland admitted. "When do you want to meet outside for spells that shouldn't be done indoors? We're free on Wednesday or Friday after classes."
"I have Quidditch practice on Wednesday, but I can meet with you on Friday," Rachel offered.
"Sounds good. I'll see what I can do about Viktor and Fleur," Cedric said. "Thanks for inviting us."
"Thanks for coming. I'll see you around," Rachel said.
"I think that went well," Theo said once Cedric and Roland had left.
"I don't like the idea that people think our study group hexes people," Hermione said. "Why would they think something like that? I've never hexed anyone outside of classroom instruction."
"I think it's a good thing, it means people won't mess with us," Millie said.
Ginny nodded. "Besides, if they also think we sleep in the library, they're probably not taking it very seriously. And I have been known to hex my brothers occasionally. When they deserve it."
"I wouldn't worry about it, Hermione," Neville said. "The professors know we'd never do anything like that."
"I suppose," Hermione said. "Alright, dinner and then Herbology essays, and then a Charms review."
Rachel left the Room of Requirement with her study group and tried not to long for the end of the school year.
"What spell am I learning tonight?" Rachel asked as she finished the last of her pork chop. She had just under three weeks left before the third task and she found herself gradually getting more and more nervous. Viktor and Predrag had joined them on Friday, along with Cedric and his study group, and they'd gone out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to practice spells they shouldn't practice indoors. They had made rather a mess, but it had been a little bit fun too.
"Actually, I thought we'd do something different tonight," Severus said as he put down his glass. "However, I will let you decide if you wish to proceed."
"What is it?" she asked, wondering if Severus was going to ask her to duel him.
"I've located a boggart. I thought you may wish to practice both the Patronus charm and the Boggart-Banishing spell on it, in case they place a boggart in the maze," Severus said.
"That's a good idea," Rachel said. Particularly since she'd been wanting to try her Patronus on a Dementor ever since she'd managed to cast a corporeal Patronus last year. "All of my friends now can cast a corporeal Patronus. Luna just showed us hers the other day."
"Good, that will be useful in case of emergencies," Severus said. "I take it you wish to practice on the boggart?"
"I do," Rachel said with a nod. Part of her wondered if Severus would have ever let her try it if he hadn't been worried about the third task. "Do you think it's possible they would put a Dementor in the maze?"
"I think that is highly unlikely. There's too much of a chance that it would be drawn by the watching crowds rather than the champions in the maze. And I honestly don't believe that Albus would allow another Dementor on school grounds," he said.
"Good," Rachel said. She didn't want to face an actual Dementor ever again.
"There's another thing you should keep in mind. People's boggarts often change over time, especially as you're growing. You should take a moment to consider what other forms your boggart might take and how you might make them funny. Of course, if it becomes necessary, I will intercede," Severus said. "However, there is something I should tell you before we face the boggart."
"Okay?" Rachel asked, not sure what to expect from Severus.
"The last time I saw a boggart it took the form of the Dark Lord at the height of his power. If I step between you in the boggart I want you to be prepared to see him." Severus' forehead was furrowed as he watched her.
"Okay, I don't even know what he looks like. I probably wouldn't have known it was the Dark Lord unless you'd said something," Rachel said, realizing that Severus was probably uncomfortable with her knowing his greatest fear. "I think a lot of people are afraid of the Dark Lord. It makes a lot of sense."
Severus jerked his head in a movement that was almost a nod. "Do you have any ideas as to what other forms your boggart might take?"
"Maybe the Dark Lord, when he was killing my parents," Rachel said, though that didn't feel right.
"Not your uncle, or your aunt perhaps?" he asked.
"Not them directly. Maybe the idea of having to go back to them, but I don't know how a boggart would become that," Rachel said.
"It might be as simple as the boggart turning into your uncle or your aunt and telling you the circumstances that would require you to return to live with them," Severus said. "However, I can assure you that will never happen. If I am killed or otherwise incapacitated I've specified Minerva to be your guardian. If Minerva is unable to take you, there is always Black as well."
"Professor Dumbledore won't try to send me back there?" Rachel asked.
"No. Never. And Minerva would never let that happen either. She would leave Hogwarts with you if it became necessary to prevent you from being returned there. It will never happen," Severus promised.
Rachel felt herself smile and realized that there had been a part of her that was still scared that she'd wind up back with her relatives even after all this time. "Thank you."
"I didn't realize you were worried about this or I would have told you sooner," he said, a look of worry flickering over his features.
"I think I had to wait until now to really hear it anyway," Rachel said. She didn't think she would have believed him in that first year or two.
"Does anything else come to mind for the boggart?" Severus asked.
Rachel chewed her lower lip as she thought about it. Part of her mind suggested that she wouldn't still be having nightmares if she wasn't afraid of some of the stuff from her childhood, but she didn't know how a boggart would become that either. No, she thought her real fear would be to be surrounded by Dementors, locked in Azkaban maybe. "I'm pretty sure it's going to be a Dementor. Like, that's the thing that really makes me feel dread."
"Alright. Do you know what you'll do for the Boggart-Banishing charm if it's a Dementor?"
"I think give it hiccups, like you suggested. That's pretty funny. Oh. Draco told me that Dementors can steal your soul if they kiss you, is that true?" Rachel aked.
"Yes, though the term kiss is being used as a euphemism. The Dementor pulls back the hood of its cloak and latches what is roughly its mouth around the mouth of its victim. It then draws the soul of the victim out and feeds on it," he explained.
Rachel stared in disbelief. "So, the soul is an actual tangible thing?"
"Yes, of course. Here, hold still for a moment," Severus said, drawing his wand. "Revelare animus."
A bright white light appeared on Rachel's chest, flickering and moving around.
"That's your soul," Severus said.
Her jaw dropped as she watched the light move around. "That's my soul," she repeated, trying to wrap her mind around it.
"This is a common problem for muggleborns," Severus said. "Their understanding of the concept of soul seems to be linked to God. In the magical world, soul means your essence or your life force. It's part of what makes you who you are."
"Sirius said that your soul is like the ocean, that it both changes and is changed by everything it touches," Rachel said, still watching the light.
"A bit maudlin, but essentially accurate," Severus said with an expression of distaste.
"What happens to a person after their soul is removed?" she asked.
"They become unresponsive. They can be kept alive for a time through spells and potions, but they invariably die within a week. It's Britain's harshest punishment, reserved only for the most dangerous of criminals who cannot be contained," he said.
"Are souls...is that what allows someone to go to the afterlife? Does being kissed by a Dementor stop someone from going to the afterlife?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know. The afterlife is studied within the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry, but they never publish what they find out. Remember that ghosts are only the imprint of a soul. We don't know what becomes of the soul itself," Severus explained.
"And the Dark Lord, his soul didn't go on to the afterlife, but it didn't disappear either," Rachel said with a frown.
"Yet another mystery, one that Albus has long been working on."
"What if he does get a body, and he gets killed again, but his soul is still around?" she asked. "We could never get rid of him?"
"Again, I don't know. It's possible that the way the Killing curse was reflected on him by your mother's protection separated his soul from his body and then his soul didn't move on. Hopefully it will be a moot point and the Dark Lord will not regain a body at all," Severus said.
Rachel didn't know how much she could hope for that. She didn't want it to happen, but it seemed like the Dark Lord had a plan to make it happen and he'd said that it was going well.
"Has your scar been hurting again?" he asked.
"No, not since that nightmare I came to you with," Rachel said.
"Good. Do you have more questions or would you like to try the Patronus charm and the Boggart-Banishing spell against the boggart?"
"I want to face the boggart," Rachel said immediately, getting to her feet.
"I want you to promise that you will tell me if you notice the effects of the Dementor getting stronger. You will tell me once you start to feel more than slightly chilled or if you begin to feel faint," Severus said, his tone as stern as his expression.
"I will, believe me, I don't want to pass out from Dementor exposure any more than you want me to pass out," Rachel said. She thought that she likely wanted that to happen far less than Severus did considering she'd be the one left dealing with weeks of nightmares afterward.
"Follow me then," Severus said.
Rachel left her bag and followed Severus out into the corridor. They went down further into the dungeon, passing Curbin and the common room entrance and then going down another set of stairs further on. "How far down do the dungeons go?" she asked. She'd never come this far while exploring the castle.
"Three levels, though there are parts of the dungeons you can't access from here and some of those go down further. I think it's likely there are parts of the castle that are cut off from the rest entirely," Severus said.
Rachel had paid a little more attention to the geometry of the castle this past week, ever since they'd tried to figure out the Room of Requirement, and she'd noticed a lot of rooms didn't fit into the castle from what it looked like on the outside.
"Here we are. The boggart is in the cupboard at the far side of the room. I suggest that you try the Patronus charm first and push the Dementor back. Then, if you're feeling up to it, I will release it again and you can try the Boggart-Banishing spell," Severus said. "Do you want some time to think of good memories?"
"No, I've cast the Patronus charm enough by now that it seems to come when I want it to," Rachel said, tightening her grip on her wand.
"Good. Remember, as soon as you feel the chill increase tell me. Just say my name, or the word now, or anything and I will step in," Severus said.
"Okay," Rachel agreed. She followed him into the room. It seemed to be a workspace of sorts, with long counters around the edges of the room and a stack of tables and chairs at one end.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready," Rachel said, holding her wand out in front of her.
Severus silently cast a spell to open the cupboard and a Dementor stepped out.
Rachel immediately noticed the drop in temperature and a sense of despair creeping into her mind. "Expecto patronum!" Her silver doe appeared and immediately went for the Dementor, herding it back into the cupboard and Rachel felt relief as the temperature began to return to normal. "Do you think it will work like that on a real Dementor?"
"Yes, it will," Severus said. "How do you feel?"
"Good. Relieved more than anything," Rachel said. She reached for her doe and ran her hand just above its flank before she dismissed it.
"Do you wish to try the Boggart-Banishing spell?" he asked.
"Yes, just in case it does change at some point, I should have done it once," Rachel said, readying her wand.
"You remember the incantation?"
"Riddikulus."
Severus nodded and flicked his wand at the cupboard once more and the Dementor came pouring out.
Rachel shivered and remembered what Severus said about its mouth. "Riddikulus!"
The Dementor came to a stop and jolted, a distinct hiccuping sound coming from it. A moment later its hood fell back and the Dementor hiccuped again, managing to look surprised even through its distorted features.
Rachel started laughing and she was surprised but pleased to hear Severus' laugh a moment later.
He used his wand to force the hiccuping Dementor back into the cupboard. "Well done."
"Thanks, and thanks for finding the boggart for me," Rachel said. "And, if I come across a Dementor in the maze I will know it isn't real."
And, even if it was real, she felt pretty confident her Patronus could deal with it now.
"Let's head back. There's one more spell I want to teach you before the third task," Severus said.
"What is it? Why only one?" Rachel asked as they left the room.
"Because I think it will take you a little time to learn it, but I think it's worth it. I will be teaching you to make a rudimentary barrier ward. More often they are used to erect a barrier around something you want to keep in, such as to block a doorway. But another use of them is to erect one around you. While spells can still go through the barrier, creatures and people cannot. In a worst case scenario while you're in the maze you could erect the barrier around yourself and wait to be rescued," Severus explained.
Rachel nodded. That seemed worth knowing for a number of reasons.
"Do you have any concerns about the task I should know about?" Severus asked.
"No. I just want it to be over with," Rachel said.
"Soon. It will be over soon."