On Loan, Chapter 6: Self Defense Boggart

The neat thing about my office is that there's actually two rooms. The second room is hidden, and mostly went unused since so few knew it was there. I had cleared out the dust and had Hagrid and Molly put a little surprise in there.

I waited in the classroom, the twilight sending violet tinted light through the windows. Candles on stands, wax drips longer than the candle itself, filling the rest of the room with a contrasting, orange light.

As the three students walked into the room I remained as stoned face as I could. I had sent word with the prefects that I needed Victoire and Molly Weasley after classes. I am glad they got the message since both had their first official class with me tomorrow.

Victoire was a sleek, beautiful young girl that had an air of not quite human blood. Her blonde hair alone glowed in the soft light. She walked with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face, her wide eyes taking in her surroundings with glee.

Molly Weasley, or more technically Molly Weasley the Second, was shorter, stockier, with blazing red hair. She had a certain air of stuck-up-edness about her though, and didn't seem to get along with her cousin. Judging by the sidelong glances, Victoire wanted to spend time with Molly, but Molly thought lesser of Victoire for some reason.

Teddy walked between the girls. His appearance was still like that of a wet puppy who still had a major growth spurt with his naturally blue hair. His hands were a tad too big, as were his feet, and his limbs long and lanky. I got the feeling he was serving as a mediator between the two. They probably had recently been in a fight or some other drama.

"Well, we're here, professor." Teddy said, scratching his head as he looked around.

A small smile broke my stone faced look. I couldn't help it. "Nice to see you came, Teddy." I looked at the other two. "And you as well, Molly and Victoire."

Victoire giggled. "Please, just Viccy, professor."

"Why are we here?" Molly asked. "Us two don't have you until tomorrow."

"Because your uncles are here working to defend the school I want to make sure neither of you would end up as hostages with a Loup Garou curse and the best way to do that is to do my job and make sure you can defend yourselves."

Viccy's eyes grew wide in fear. "So you're going to have us fight a werewolf?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not that mean." My shoulders sagged as I sighed. "Though you do need some quick draw practice with the Patronus Charm in case you come across any dementors that are guarding the school. THAT is why you are here tonight. We will meet every other night after classes to ensure you are learning what you need as fast as you can, study hall, if you will."

"What of the other students?" Teddy asked.

"Then you three can help tutor as needed. Should any fall behind in class I can also work with them on the nights I'm not working with you three."

Teddy visibly relaxed, as did Viccy. Molly just glanced away from the two of them.

After that I proceeded to go over the Patronus Charm with the girls as Teddy practiced along the wall. I kept a side eye on him. He was getting closer to pulling up a shield, though it seemed that the most he could conjure was a few, thin wisps of smoke gleaming in that blueish silver color.

I had the girls practice as well before unleashing the secret trap in my office. Grasshopper was up there, keeping the secondary room closed off. Within that room was a boggart, convinced to keep the shape of a dementor. Hagrid had learned that you could bribe the creatures to hold a specific shape with moldy treats, and that while they're in that shape they have a weaker version of the abilities and weaknesses of the being or object they appear to be.

A boggart in the shape of a dementor couldn't severely hurt nor kill the students, but it will still give them a scare and I hope the action needed to jump start the spell.

I hated using that as a teaching method: fear. My mentor had used similar tactics on me. I had learned, fast, but I had almost died over and over again in the process.

I wasn't about to put kids through the same treatment, but sometimes push came to shove and they needed to sharpen their wits somehow. Classroom studies were never enough for the real world.

Once the girls could both make their wands glow and the wispy smoke appear I shifted my weight and got their attention. "Let's go up to my office, we can test your spellcasting there."

They gave me and each other quizzical glances but otherwise followed me in silence up into my main office where Molly waited. Mouses' bed was empty, he was out on patrol with Potter and Weasley. Grasshopper stood in what she was wearing before, without any overcoat style robes covering her fitted clothing, apparently leaning against the wall half asleep. Her fingers rested lightly on her wands, and she was upkeeping a glamour on the already badly hidden door to the second room. We had agreed that she would open it at a random point in time and send the boggart after the children in the dangerous guise of the dementor.

Meanwhile I was to stand back and watch until intervention was needed.

The students chuckled as they entered the office, taking quick glances at the apparently sleeping apprentice, as they saw my fake dementor comprising of a mop stuck in a bucket with a black blanket tossed over it, completed with an angry face painted on in red paint that glows in the dark mind you. It's really the details that matter.

I went around the desk and sat in my chair, my boots making a loud thunk as they landed on my desk.

"That," I said, pointing, "is your enemy, the dementor. Defend yourselves."

While they each produced more wisps than before nothing else came from their wands. We let them continue, me simply saying "Again" between each attempt, for a good ten minutes. The Padawan decided to cut me off midword by dropping her glamour and silently opening the door.

Suddenly the light in the room paled, and most of the candles were snuffed out. Viccy and Molly screamed in sudden fear as the boggart entered the room and went straight towards them.

Teddy stood between the girls and the being, wand raised as he shouted the incantation. But there was too much fear in his heart and mind to cast it, and the tip of his wand didn't even glow.

He paused, hesitated, before gathering himself up once more and trying again. This time the wand tip glowed and some wisps came out, but not as many as he had against my practice dummy.

I couldn't let this continue. With a quick focus of will and whispered words a shield came between the being and the children, pushing it back into the spare room. Grasshopper closed the door once the boggart was through.

"Flickum Bicus." I muttered, focusing on the candles that were extinguished.

The children looked between me and the door in horror.

I sat up, taking my feet off the desk, and yanked some chocolate bars out of a drawer, passing it to the three kids. The small caffeine content chocolate has a positive effect against the despair that follows in a dementor attack. Coffee would be ideal, but that's not a good choice to give pre-teens before bed.

"What was that about?" Viccy asked after having a few bites.

"A dementor? Really? My father will hear about this." Molly growled.

"No, not a dementor." I walked around to the doorway. "It was a boggart. I actually learned this trick from reading about your father, Teddy."

The boys eyes lit up a moment, though his hair grew darker for that moment as well. Some wounds never heal.

"If you want to defend against the real thing you need something to practice on. Threats don't normally say "Hi, I'm going to attack you at noon tomorrow. See ya there!" Instead they wait until you're least expecting them and find a way to ambush you." I sat on the top of my desk. I couldn't help it, the position felt right. "Using a boggart gives you the base sensation of a dementor and the reaction and spell you need to defend against the attack without true risk to your lives."

The girls were watching me, understanding coming into their features. Teddy looked away at the ground. "That's why you said what you did earlier. You were worried that if we ran off we'd find trouble. If that was real, we wouldn't have survived the encounter." His voice was a whisper.

Molly scoffed. Grasshopper rolled her eyes at her. "Well I have no intentions of running off and getting into trouble."

Viccy laughed. "You get in trouble when you think no one's looking, M. Don't think I haven't seen you at family gatherings."

The red headed girl just crossed her arms and looked away.

"You don't have to go looking for trouble to find it." I said into the tension. "Sometimes, like the threats to the school, they come looking for you."

She huffed again. "And defending against a shifting creature thing will help us how?"

"M," Teddy started, "real dementors are on the school grounds, keeping an eye out for Fenrir Greyback."

"So? It's not like they'll attack a student."

Teddy ran his fingers through silver hair. "M, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Uncle Harry told me of when dementors were stationed here when he was in school."

"Yea, I read the books, everyone has."

"The books don't tell the whole story." That caught her attention. "Harry, Ron, and Hermione toned it down to be more kid-friendly. Dementors attacked students that were outside past curfew, or that went into areas that were temporarily off limits. Some even wandered in, unannounced, and hurt students. Professors had to keep their patronus spells active all the time to keep everyone safe." He shook his head, the blue returning slowly to his hair. "Hogsmeade ran out of chocolate, and the hospital wing was full on a regular basis. Eventually students refused to step outside, even to the village or for quidditch."

The girls were silent, watching the young boy merely a year older than them.

I didn't say it, but already I was missing students from roll call who were in the hospital due to dementor induced depression. And this was only the beginning.

"If you want to try again we can let the boggart back out. Otherwise we will go again two days from now. Girls, you'll be practicing more in class tomorrow as well."

"I think I've had enough." Molly stated, storming out the door. The other two watched her, sadness and frustration in their features.

"I should go check on her." Viccy said into the silence. "She acts tough, but she's not as hard as she seems."

Teddy nodded and gave her a quick hug before she sprinted off after the other girl. Then he looked at me then at Grasshopper. "I want to try again."

"Good. This time you'll know when and where it's coming from, so you'll have an advantage. Focus on your happy memories, and add to it the willpower to protect those you care about."

"That's new."

"Some spells need an extra emotional boost for the first casting. The desire to protect others should be that key for you. I saw how you positioned yourself between the threat and the girls. Use that urge, that instinct, to help fuel the happy memories."

"I guess that makes sense." He still sounded confused, his expression matched as he turned back to me.

"Think of it this way. You've had happy memories together, at least with Viccy, defending them means you get to live to make more happy memories."

His eyes lit up with literal silver and gold sparks within the iris color. He steeled himself and turned to the door.

"Alrighty Grasshopper, open it."

She cast a wary glance at Teddy, how an older sibling would look at a younger brother about to do something insanely stupid, and opened the door with a soft spell.

The boggart came flying out again, casting the room back into near darkness.

"Expecto Patronum!" Teddy called out. The tip of his wand glowed, silver wisps of smoke came out. Nothing else happened. He held it up a moment before trying again.

This time a small, round shield appeared. It wasn't large enough to fully push back the boggart, but it was more than smoke. His eyes widened and he focused on the shield even more, causing it to grow slightly bigger. After another moment the shield abruptly fell, and Teddy dropped to a knee, panting.

Grasshopper wrangled the boggart back into the room, closing the door after it.

I went to Teddy's side, passing him some more chocolate. "Good work there, bub."

"Thanks." He huffed through heavy breathing. "That was harder than I thought."

"Spells take their energy from you, the wand just helps form the spell itself and serves as a focus item. You don't actually need your wand to cast a spell, it just helps increase your power." I watched him lean back against my desk and eat the chocolate. "A shield is hard to pull up and keep, especially one that is trying to protect emotions takes significantly more power than one built to defend against thrown rocks."

He nodded that he understood. "I think I'm done for the night."

"I think you're right." I smiled. "Go off to bed."

He thanked me as he stood and stumbled out of the room.

"Glad I didn't have to learn in such a manner." Molly whispered after he left.

"Splattercon."

"Point taken."

I sighed as I stood up. "I'm going to go find Mouse and go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Want me to come with?"

"Do you need to?"

She laughed. "Well, if I don't you'll be up all night lost."

"That is probably true. Come on then, Padawan, let's go find the pup and return to bed."

"Wouldn't he just return to your apartment anyway once he's done with his rounds?"

She had a point there. "Yea, you're right. Let's swing by the kitchens then and get him a nice, big juicy steak and some ale for a job well done."

"You still talking about Mouse there, Boss?"

"Sure, we can get two, him and I can share."

"And me?"

"We can see if they have any chickie nuggies and choccy milk."

"I'm not two."

I laughed. "Yea, you're more like ten."

With smiles we went to the kitchens to get our late dinner before going to bed. True to her word, Mouse eventually sauntered in the door and jumped on the bed, pinning my legs down. Mister hissed halfheartedly before curling against my chest even tighter under the blanket. The large dog offered a soft wuff to the cat before promptly snoring loudly.