A/N: I meant to get this chapter up sooner, but I've been shut in my room all day tidying :shudder: This chapter has also been fighting me all the way. Something like "NO! You idiot! That's not how that happens! Stop being so depressive!" And otherwise kicking my proverbial backside. Thanks to KawaiiTenshi27, lostjakal and PiperLeoEnternallyfor reviewing
PS: I still don't own 'em. That honour belongs to JK Rowling. And does anyone else think that Daniel Radcliffe has a great voice? Or am I just weird?
Anyway... Back to the point... Here's the next chapter.
Oh, and I just realised that in the last chapter, I repeated the note I used in the first chapter. Heh. I forget what I write so quickly. I look back over my work and think: I wrote this? Anyway, my apologies.
NOW here's the next chapter
Liberation
The fateful day had arrived. It was time for Remus's most dreaded lesson - Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors and Slytherins. That particular lesson could never go past without some sort of curses flying, back in his day. And it was partly because he had been involved in some of that curse throwing that he was so acutely apprehensive of this particular slot in time.
Before he could lose his nerve, he swept down the corridor, in a way not so different from Snape, one hand on his wand holster. The third year students were milling about aimlessly outside, most just having quiet conversations within their Houses. There was a distinct separation between Gryffindor and Slytherin - that being that Slytherins stood on the right hand side of the corridor, Gryffindors on the left. A skinny boy he recognised as Harry Potter was throwing a vicious glare at a slender boy with a pointed face and perfect platinum blond hair. It could only be a Malfoy. Spawn of Lucius indeed.
"Inside, inside!" He flustered, waving them in and following after them, not allowing his gaze to wander for a second. He allowed them to choose their own seat, his philosophy being that they weren't going to be using them for long anyway.
"No, don't get out your books. We'll be having a practical lesson today. Now," he smiled at the class and stepped to the side to allow them a proper view of the closet that was rattling impressively. "Can anyone tell me what is in this closet?"
Hermione's hand shot up in the air immediately.
"Yes Miss Granger?"
"Is it a Boggart sir?"
"It is indeed. Can you tell me anything about Boggarts?"
"They change into whatever the person in front of them most fears."
"You're afraid of Caterpillars Peter?" Sirius laughs.
"Oh leave it Sirius. At least he's not afraid of the dark."
"I'm not!" Sirius protests vehemently. "I was afraid of Muggle clowns remember? Hey Moony," Sirius turns to the smaller boy walking beside him. "What was your Boggart?"
Remus blushes faintly. "A-A Crystal ball. I'm afraid of the future." He refuses to meet Sirius's eyes.
The taller boy shoot him a disbelieving look, but at a warning from James, closes his mouth and drops the subject.
Remus smiled at her. "Well done Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, a Boggart to begin with may seem like a challenging opponent, but in reality, you are in control of what the Boggart becomes when it sees you. The most effective way of fighting a Boggart is to turn it into something you find amusing. Because if there's one thing Boggarts hate, it's laughter!" He raised his wand to demonstrate the technique. "The way of doing this is to picture something that will make you laugh, and recite the spell. We will begin with the wand movements. Wands out please."
There was a distinct rustling as the whole class reached into their robes for their wands.
"Like this." He demonstrated the simple movement with his own wand and the students copied.
"Excellent. The incantation you will need is 'Riddikulus'. Let's hear it!"
They repeated the incantation and at Remus's urging, hesitantly stood up and moved away from the tables, which flew to their respective places, by the wall.
"Now to apply your new knowledge. Who would like to go first?"
Everyone except Neville quickly stepped back.
"Excellent Mr Longbottom. Now, what is it that scares you the most?" He asked the younger boy in a conspirital whisper.
"P-Professor Snape sir." Neville stuttered. The room erupted in laughter and Remus concealed a wince. Severus was never going to let him forget this one.
"And you live with your grandmother. Is that correct?"
He nodded.
"Does she have any particular clothes that she wears often?"
"Well, she has this red bag and-"
"You don't have to tell me," the werewolf confided gently. "Just picture them as you cast the spell. Ready?"
He didn't have time to reply as the closet doors swung open and the bat-like figure of one Severus Snape skulked out of it. Neville shuddered as he raised his wand, hand trembling violently. "R-Ri-Riddikulus," he forced out.
The figure stepped backwards sharply, looking utterly taken aback to suddenly be clothed in an abysmal dress, clutching a bright red handbag and balancing a hat adorned with a giant vulture on his head. Remus covered a laugh with his hand. James and Sirius would have loved to see this.
Next in line was Ron. His Boggart twisted itself into a gigantic spider. The Gryffindor looked absolutely terrified, but forced out the spell, causing the spider to grow roller skates and slide around the floor comically.
It was a simple first lesson, but it was better than what he would have come up with had he stayed in the teacher's Lounge with his blank sheet of parchment and honeyed tea. The students were simply taking this lesson as it came and practically controlling it themselves.
He waved a hand, conjuring up a cup of tea. Predictably, just as he took a sip, none other than Harry Potter stepped in front of the Dark Creature. Remus's eyes widened, and spat out his tea, hurrying over to the group of students, just as the Boggart began to take on a dark form with flowing black robes. A sharp hush flew over the Third Years.
The werewolf skidded to a halt in front of Harry, sliding an extra couple of inches past the creature, robes flashing around his ankles. He raised his wand and watched the Boggart, feigning disinterest as a silver orb hung itself before him.
He flicked his wand lazily, still trying to calm his racing heart. "Riddikulus."
The orb deflated with a squeaking sound, flying through the room viciously. No one laughed. Remus flicked his wand at the closet, trapping the Boggart back in there.
Once the students had left, he sank down into a deflated heap himself. That could have gone badly. What if, when the Boggart had seen Harry, it had become Lord Voldemort? How would he control a class full of Third Years who believed they had witnessed the return of the Dark Lord? Or at least seen him in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
He had been lucky to avert disaster then.
This had happened once before when a meek Hufflepuff had faced the Boggart in Remus's Second Year.
"Death Eaters in the classroom!" Peter squeaks.
"Don't worry Peter," Remus comforts. "It's just the Boggart."
He shuddered painfully. How would he have dealt with finding the reflection of Voldemort in his classroom? It was times like this that he could really use James's optimism and Sirius's comforting words. But James was dead and Sirius had signed his life away to the Dark Lord.
"Don't worry Remus, we'll look after you."
"Yeah, its nothing Madam Pomfrey can't patch up."
Sirius loops an arm around Remus on one side and James on the other. In this way, they lead the aching werewolf back to the castle.
Catching his breath and blinking back tears; he summoned his lesson timetable. Seventh years next. Wandless magic. There was a lot less that could go wrong with that subject matter. Still, he hadn't thought anything could go wrong with something as simple as a Boggart. He sighed. It seemed Harry had inherited James's penchant for trouble as well as his looks.
He had heard about Severus's treatment of Harry, and thought perhaps that the Potions Master saw the same thing. Harry was a carbon copy of his father, except those vibrant emerald eyes that had belonged to Lily.
Hearing a knock at the door, he pulled himself together and opened the door to allow the Seventh Years entrance.
As he turned, a flash of black outside the window caught his eye. He turned, but it was gone. He mentally cursed himself, the words of Alastor Moody popping into his mind.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
It could have been Sirius. He shouldn't have let his guard down, even for a moment. Dementors, Sirius, Death Eaters.. There were still so many threats, even after the demise of the Dark Lord. He should know that letting his guard down was dangerous.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
He shook his head to clear it and turned from the window to face his next class. Precious few students chose to continue with Defence he noticed. When he was at Hogwarts, the majority of students took that subject, choosing to extend their life as much as possible. James, Sirius and Remus had taken DADA at NEWT level, but Peter did not.
Remus supposed that with the threat of the Dark Lord seemingly on the wane, Defence Against the Dark Arts seemed a pretty worthless subject to many students.
"Today class, I will be teaching you how to perform Wandless magic. Who can tell me the advantages of Wandless magic?"
Outside the window, in the Hogwarts grounds, a huge Grim-like dog disappeared into the outer trees of the Forbidden Forest.
A/N: This chapter and I have come to a mutual agreement. It allowed me to write it, provided I sacrifice any writing talent I may or may not have. :Pets my review monster: Poor Georgie... He ate too many cookies.