Jade hadn't had a real conversation with her friends in Gryffindor, it had been a few days since the term started and all she'd done was try and redirect Draco away from them. So, after lunch, Jade made her way to her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Pansy and the others but then split off from them to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the classroom. The new teacher, Professor Lupin, wasn't there when she arrived and students were looking around and picking seats for the year.

"Where are you going?" Draco called for her as she started to walk away,

"Save me a seat." She told him and he sneered at her before picking a desk on the right side of the classroom where the Slytherins were gathering. Harry was huddled with Hermione and Ron like he often was when she approached them and they suddenly dispersed when she grew closer.

"Oh, hello, Jade." Hermione smiled.

"Hey." Was all Jade was able to get out before Professor Lupin came in quickly with a vague smile. He placed his old briefcase onto his desk and looked around the room, some students were sitting, others were standing and talking.

"Good afternoon," He greeted the class. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags? Today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands." Everyone seemed to perk up at this announcement. The few students that had their books out slowly put them away. Jade shared a look with Hermione, they had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before. Jade got a flashback of when Professor Lockhart unleashed a cage full of cornish pixies on them, she didn't count that as a practical lesson. "Right then," Professor Lupin said once everyone was looking at him and waiting. "If you'd follow me." Then Professor Lupin headed for the door again, the class faltered for only a moment before hurrying to catch up with him. There were whispers as he led them through the corridor, everyone was interested in what they could possibly be learning today.

"I heard about Egypt." Jade spoke to Ron and he brightened up a bit as he grinned at her, "How was it?"

"Don't get him started," Harry muttered towards her.

"It was great! We won the lottery and went to visit my brother Bill."

"Bill?" Jade asked,

"My oldest brother." Jade nodded, she had forgotten Bill, there were so many Weasleys to keep track of. Professor Lupin led them around a corner and down a second corridor before stopping right outside the staffroom door.

"Inside, please," Professor Lupin opened the staff room door and stood back so everyone could pass. The staffroom was new territory for most of the students but not for Jade, Harry, and Ron. They had come in here to find Professor McGonagall late last year to tell her about the Basilisk lurking in the Chamber of Secrets. They ended up hiding in the wardrobe due to an unexpected staff meeting. The room was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair and he looked around as the class filed in. Snape's eyes glittered as he watched the scene form in front of him. As Professor Lupin came in and went to close the door behind him, Snape spoke,

"Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet and strode past the class, giving Harry a lingering glare. At the doorway, he stopped and turned on his heel, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom." Everyone turned to look at Neville who was beginning to turn red. "I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." Jade had made fun of Neville in the past but she was starting to get annoyed when people picked on him now, he was an easy target, and people took advantage of that, even though he's never done anything to anyone. Professor Lupin raised his eyebrows and thought about this for a moment.

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he then found Neville in the crowd, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably." Neville didn't appreciate the extra attention, he tried taking a small step back behind a few students. Snape looked irritated but he didn't say anything, he turned and shut the door. "Now, then," Professor Lupin made his way to the end of the room before waving the class over to him. Professor Lupin stood next to the wardrobe Jade had hidden in last year. Professor Lupin opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the wardrobe shook against the wall. "Nothing to worry about," He claimed calmly for the few students who jumped back. "There's a Boggart in there." Ron and Harry shared a look with Jade. The boggart must be new because they would've definitely noticed one last year. The doorknob on the old wardrobe rattled harshly. "Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," Lupin explained. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks, I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?" Hermione put up her hand, like she always did when a question was asked in class.

"It's a shape-shifter," She said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most." Jade didn't know why Hermione even came to class, she already knew everything.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Professor Lupin praised and Hermione beamed at him. "So, the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears." Neville made a small sound but Jade looked at the wardrobe curiously. "This means," Professor Lupin went on, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?" Harry looked startled that he was called on with Hermione standing next to him, her hand waving in the air.

"Um, because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" He guessed and Professor Lupin smiled,

"Precisely, it's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become? A headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug?" Jade had feared a few things but she didn't think one stood out above the others. She certainly never thought to even think about fearing a flesh-eating slug. She didn't like snakes, the idea of the Basilisk was frightening, so was the idea of Voldemort returning but how would a boggart embody that? Would Voldemort appear right in front of her? What about Harry? "I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake, tried to frighten two people at once, and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening." A few students chuckled at the clear image Professor Lupin had painted. "The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please… Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" The class repeated.

"Good, very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville." The wardrobe shook again. Neville eyed it before slowly taking a few steps to stand in front of the rest of his class. "Right, Neville, first things first, what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" Jade craned her neck a little to get a better look at Neville, she saw his lips twitch a little but no sound came out. "I didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," Professor Lupin leaned towards him with a gentle smile. Neville looked around at his peers, as though asking for help but when it was clear no one would come, he turned again to Professor Lupin and spoke in a voice just above a whisper,

"Professor Snape." Everyone laughed, even Neville gave an unsure grin. Professor Lupin, however, stood there thinking.

"Professor Snape, hm. Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Yes," Neville said nervously. "But, I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either." Another round of laughter.

"No, no, you misunderstand me," Professor Lupin smiled, "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?" Neville gave him a startled look, but then said,

"Well, always the same hat, a tall one with a stuffed vulture on top… and a long dress, green normally, and sometimes a fox-fur scarf." Jade tried to picture an old woman in the clothes Neville was describing, she must've been quite a sight.

"Right then," Professor Lupin's voice snapped Jade back to attention. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"Yes," said Neville uncertainly, it was almost a question.

"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," Lupin warned. "And you will raise your wand and cry, 'Riddikulus'. Concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat and that green dress." There was a swelling excitement as the class huddled together closer to get a better look at what was to come. The wardrobe shook again. "If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," Lupin addressed the rest of them. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…" The room went quiet as they all pictured the thing they feared the most, Harry shivered at Jade's side and Ron was muttering to himself.

"Take its legs off…" Jade already knew Ron's greatest fear, he absolutely dreaded spiders. Jade was still trying to settle on something as Professor Lupin called,

"Everyone ready?" Jade waited anxiously, "Neville, we're going to back away, let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward… everyone back now, so Neville can get a clear shot." Everyone took a few steps back, leaving Neville alone in front of the wardrobe. He looked pale and scared, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready. "On the count of three, Neville. One, two, three, now!" Professor Lupin flicked his wand at the wardrobe and a jet of sparks shot from the end of it and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe's door flew open. Jade expected the Boggart to jump out but it didn't, for a few seconds, they all just stood there watching a wardrobe full of cloaks, until a pale hand slowly parted them, and out came a very angry-looking Professor Snape. Neville immediately backed away, his wand was still up as he mouthed something. Snape was closing the distance between them, reaching inside his robes.

"R-r-riddikulus! " Neville's voice cracked. There was a noise that sounded like a whip crack. The fake Snape stumbled and then he quickly transformed, he was now wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a stuffed vulture. There was a roar of laughter and applause, the Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted,

"Parvati! Forward!" One of the Parvarti twins stepped up with a surge of energy from Neville's success. There was another crack and where Snape had stood was a bloodstained and bandaged mummy. A mummy? Jade didn't find these scary in the slightest. The mummy started toward her very slowly and began raising its arms. All you had to do was just push the thing over and run, it would never catch up to you.

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet. It tripped and its feet became entangled before falling forward and its head rolled off. That was a scarier sight than the mummy itself.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!" Ron leaped forward and with another crack, the boggart changed. At the sight of Ron's fear a few people screamed. The spider wasn't just any spider, it was a huge spider, like the ones in the Forbidden Forest. The spider clicked its pincers menacingly as it stalked forward. Even though Ron had eagerly gone forward he now seemed frozen in one spot. The spider got a bit closer and Jade looked between it and Ron, he stood there with his wand raised.

"Riddikulus!" Ron shouted confidently and the spider's legs vanished and began rolling over and over before finally stopping at Harry's feet. Today's class had been a fun one but that soon would change once Harry's fear would take form. Jade knew it and as Harry raised his wand nervously, she could see he knew it too. Jade shifted her weight onto her heels and leaned back a little. Would it be Voldemort? What else did Harry fear? What did Voldemort look like? But as the boggart began spinning, Professor Lupin hurried in front of Harry, causing him to stumble back a little into Jade and Ron. There was the familiar crack and the students looked around, looking for a sign of Lupin's fear. Jade looked up and saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin,

"Riddikulus!" He claimed lazily and the white orb deflated and sank to the floor before turning into a cockroach. "Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" Lupin encouraged and Neville stumbled forward once more and Snape was back.

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great cackle of laughter and the Boggart exploded. A short shriek escaped Jade's mouth as it burst into tiny wisps of smoke and then it was gone.

"Excellent!" Professor Lupin smiled as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone. Let me see… five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the Boggart." There was a groan from the Slytherins. "Ten for Neville because he did it twice… and five each to Hermione and Harry."

"But I didn't do anything," Harry said and Hermione lightly smacked his arm to tell him to shut it.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me… to be handed in on Monday. That will be all." With the class being dismissed, they all left the room talking excitedly. Jade was talking with Ron about his experience when she noticed Harry wasn't cheerful like the others.

"Something wrong, Harry?" She asked and Ron turned his attention to his friend.

"Professor Lupin stopped me from facing the boggart."

"Yeah, I guess he did." Ron thought back to the moment.

"Maybe he was worried Voldemort would appear in front of the class." Jade offered and Harry nodded,

"I can see why he'd be worried."

"I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?" Hermione spoke.

"Is that what it was?" Jade asked, "It was almost transparent I thought… maybe like a ghost?"

"That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" Ron praised and Hermione agreed.

"He seems like a very good teacher," said Hermione approvingly. "But I wish I could have had a turn with the Boggart —"

"What would it have been for you?" Ron asked with a smirk, "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?" Hermione slapped him against his arm, Jade and Harry laughed at his reaction, even Hermione broke out in a smile. "I was joking," Ron told her as he went off after her.

"Don't take it personally," Jade told Harry who had looked out as if he was in the middle of a thought. "He probably knew it would be Voldemort and didn't want to frighten the other students." Harry nodded and turned to look at her.

"Thanks."

"Yeah. Listen, I'm sorry about Draco." Harry grimaced at the mention of his name. "He's a pain in the ass."

"Agreed." He grinned at her, "Don't worry about it, I don't hold it against you for what he does." Jade felt a heavy burden lift from her shoulders.

"Is it hard?" Jade asked, "Me being friends with the both of you?"

"No." Harry told her, "Sometimes. I wish you were sorted into Gryffindor." They both shared a laugh, Jade didn't know what it would be like if she was in Gryffindor, she couldn't imagine her life without Blaise and Pansy, or even Draco.