Harry groaned. He thought he had a pretty good idea of who was more likely
to be attacked by a snoggart. Harry sat up and paid closer attention to
what Professor Moody was saying. If he was going to be attacked by
snoggarts, he'd better learn how to fight them.
"Snoggarts don't like me much. They generally prefer prettier victims. Besides, there's no fooling my eye," Moody said, pointing to his magical eye, which was surveying the class. "It can spot 'em a mile off. And the snoggarts know it, so they tend to avoid me. So if you think you have a snoggart and you can't get rid of it, come to me."
Professor Moody paused, and the Gryffindors all looked around at each other, confused. They still didn't fully understand what snoggarts were. And Moody had said nothing about how to fight them off. Several hands went into the air.
"What do they look like?" Dean asked when Professor Moody called on him.
"They look like whatever they want to look like," Moody answered gruffly. "Just like a boggart can change itself into anything from a fiery, disembodied eye to a giant spider. Only snoggarts won't change itself into anything ugly or scary. They change into something beautiful or charming. That's what makes them so hard to detect. If you see an enraged troll coming at you, it doesn't matter if it's a real troll or a boggart, you know it's an enemy. But what do you do if you see a young, attractive witch? It could be a witch, or it could be a snoggart. They're tricky, so you have to be careful."
With that, class was over. Professor Moody hadn't said a word about how to fight snoggarts and very little about what they do or how to recognize them. Harry felt that he was missing some important information. He looked at his schedule: Today was Monday, and they wouldn't have another Defense Against the Dark Arts class until Thursday. At least that would be a double period. Up next was Divination.
Harry and Ron waved to Hermione, who was going to her Ancient Runes class, and started walking to the Divination classroom.
"Pretty wild about the snoggarts, huh?" Ron said.
Harry just mumbled and nodded.
"But I wonder what happened before 1978," Ron said. "Hey, weren't your parents here about that time?"
"Yeah, I guess they were," Harry said.
He and Ron passed the rest of the walk in silence. Harry didn't feel much like talking, so he just stared at the floor. They were almost to the Divination classroom when Harry crashed into someone going the other way.
"Great," Harry grumbled. He was on the floor, and the contents of his bag had spilled everywhere. He looked up and saw the girl he had bumped into getting to her feet.
She had shining, light blond hair that fell in soft curls halfway down her back. Her skin was flawless and seemed to shine from within, almost like she had silver blood. Maybe she has unicorn blood, Harry thought. Her eyes were sapphire blue and framed by dark, lush lashes. But they were currently flashing with amusement. She laughed. Harry flushed with embarrassment, realizing that he was still on the floor and was staring at this girl with his mouth dropped open in awe.
She extended her hand to help Harry to his feet.
"Hi," she said, "I'm Jessica Starsparkle. Can you tell me how to get to the divination classroom?"
"Snoggarts don't like me much. They generally prefer prettier victims. Besides, there's no fooling my eye," Moody said, pointing to his magical eye, which was surveying the class. "It can spot 'em a mile off. And the snoggarts know it, so they tend to avoid me. So if you think you have a snoggart and you can't get rid of it, come to me."
Professor Moody paused, and the Gryffindors all looked around at each other, confused. They still didn't fully understand what snoggarts were. And Moody had said nothing about how to fight them off. Several hands went into the air.
"What do they look like?" Dean asked when Professor Moody called on him.
"They look like whatever they want to look like," Moody answered gruffly. "Just like a boggart can change itself into anything from a fiery, disembodied eye to a giant spider. Only snoggarts won't change itself into anything ugly or scary. They change into something beautiful or charming. That's what makes them so hard to detect. If you see an enraged troll coming at you, it doesn't matter if it's a real troll or a boggart, you know it's an enemy. But what do you do if you see a young, attractive witch? It could be a witch, or it could be a snoggart. They're tricky, so you have to be careful."
With that, class was over. Professor Moody hadn't said a word about how to fight snoggarts and very little about what they do or how to recognize them. Harry felt that he was missing some important information. He looked at his schedule: Today was Monday, and they wouldn't have another Defense Against the Dark Arts class until Thursday. At least that would be a double period. Up next was Divination.
Harry and Ron waved to Hermione, who was going to her Ancient Runes class, and started walking to the Divination classroom.
"Pretty wild about the snoggarts, huh?" Ron said.
Harry just mumbled and nodded.
"But I wonder what happened before 1978," Ron said. "Hey, weren't your parents here about that time?"
"Yeah, I guess they were," Harry said.
He and Ron passed the rest of the walk in silence. Harry didn't feel much like talking, so he just stared at the floor. They were almost to the Divination classroom when Harry crashed into someone going the other way.
"Great," Harry grumbled. He was on the floor, and the contents of his bag had spilled everywhere. He looked up and saw the girl he had bumped into getting to her feet.
She had shining, light blond hair that fell in soft curls halfway down her back. Her skin was flawless and seemed to shine from within, almost like she had silver blood. Maybe she has unicorn blood, Harry thought. Her eyes were sapphire blue and framed by dark, lush lashes. But they were currently flashing with amusement. She laughed. Harry flushed with embarrassment, realizing that he was still on the floor and was staring at this girl with his mouth dropped open in awe.
She extended her hand to help Harry to his feet.
"Hi," she said, "I'm Jessica Starsparkle. Can you tell me how to get to the divination classroom?"