"We have to watch it!"
"James, is it really necessary?"
"Yes!"
"Fine!"
James Potter had been spending the last hour trying to convince his wife Lily to come watch their son Harry's first ever Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Moony. Lily didn't exactly feel like watching all of Harry's classes but James couldn't help but feel like it would be great.
After James and Lily had died trying to protect their one-year-old son, they had ended up in the world of the Afterlife. That world was like a gigantic planet composed of thousands and thousands of villages. It was like the muggle concept of Heaven, except that it was real and wasn't on clouds. One thing that was allowed in the Afterlife was to watch the life of someone they deeply cared about. They couldn't observe anyone, only those close to them.
James and Lily had taken to watching over Harry, as hard as it was while he was with their in-laws the Dursleys.
When Harry had arrived to Hogwarts, James and Lily had watched almost all of their classes but after a while, they had decreased their use of the "Viewer" only for important moments. They had cried when Harry had found the Mirror of Erised, laughed when he had been caught in the corridors at night because he and Hermione Granger had forgotten the Invisibility Cloak and screamed in terror when he had to face Voldemort twice that year. They had continued to do so until they had completely stopped watching over his classes.
This time however, James wanted to watch Harry's first class with the new Defence Professor, James and Lily's old friend Remus Lupin. James felt like something good would happen and wanted to watch it. His wife wasn't so sure about it but had finally relented.
The "Viewer" was an interesting device. It allowed a soul that had passed beyond to go back on Earth for a short period of time. Nobody and nothing in the world of the Living could interact with the dead souls, only other dead souls. They were spectators and nothing else.
When they arrived, James and Lily were surprised to see Fabian and Gideon Prewett also waiting in the classroom.
"Look Gideon! Look who also came today!" grinned Fabian when he saw the Potters appear.
"What are you two doing here?" asked James.
"Same reason as you I expect." said Gideon.
"We couldn't miss our nephew's first class with one of the Marauders!" said Fabian.
"Of course." sighed Lily while James grinned at the twins.
"We felt as if something interesting would happen today." continued Fabian.
"And we wouldn't miss it for anything!"
"Good afternoon!" said Professor Remus Lupin, unknowingly interrupting the conversation of his old friends. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."
"Oh, this ought to be good." said James, rubbing his hands together.
"Right then." said Remus when the whole class had put everything back in their bags. "If you'd follow me."
The class and the "ghosts" followed Remus outside of the classroom. Lily could see the looks of confusion on her son's face but even she knew that Harry would probably enjoy whatever their old friend had concocted.
The group stopped when Remus found Peeves the Poltergeist stuffing the keyhole of a cupboard with chewing gum while floating upside down.
"Hey Peeves!" shouted James. "Remember the Loony, Loopy Lupin tune you sang in Fifth Year?"
"James!" said Lily while the twins snickered.
Interestingly enough, Poltergeist were the only things that could interact with the souls of the dead. They were only incapable of informing the Living and proper ghosts about that face. However, it didn't mean that they couldn't act of the demands of the dead.
Peeves turned around and saw the quadruplet and winked at them. Seeing that Remus Lupin was two feet away, he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into a song. "Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin..."
Remus couldn't help but smile, knowing that the song the Poltergeist was signing had originated from his old friend James. "I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."
Unsurprisingly, Peeves ignored Remus which made the Professor turn around to his students and say "This is a useful little spell, please watch closely."
"What do you think he is going to do?" asked Fabian.
"I have no idea, dear brother of mine..."
"Waddiwasi!" said Remus while his wand was pointed at Peeves.
With the force of a bullet, the chewing gum in the keyhole shot out and straight into Peeve's left nostril.
The ghosts froze before they burst out laughing. Gideon and Fabian had to hold each other or they would have collapsed on the ground.
"Classic!" laughed James.
"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.
"Thank you, Dean." said Remus. "Shall we proceed?" he asked before the class walked away, followed by the four laughing ghosts. The class stopped in front of the staff room while Remus opened the door. "Inside, please."
"A class in the staff room?" asked Gideon.
"Cool!" said Fabian.
"Ah shit." said James suddenly.
"What is it?" asked Lily. She saw that her husband had his eyes fixed on something, rather someone sitting in the room. Severus Snape.
"Oh no, don't tell me the greasy git will be here the whole lesson?" whined Fabian.
As Remus came in to close the door, Snape said "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." he said.
"Thank Merlin!" said Gideon.
"Thank God!" said Fabian.
"Thank you Minister!"
"And Thank you to Her Majesty!"
"Guys!" interrupted Lily, trying hard not to laugh at the twins' antics.
Snape got close to the door but, before he left, he turned around and said "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." All the ghosts could see that Snape's comment was really hurting Neville's confidence.
"What a prick." said Lily. She had no love left for her former friend.
"What a git." said Fabian.
"What an overgrown bat." said Gideon.
"What an absolute bast..."
"JAMES!" shouted Lily, making the twins snicker again. "Language James."
"Sorry dear." said James.
"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation..." answered Remus. "...and I am sure he will perform it admirably."
"Yes! Tell him!" said James. Finally, Snape left.
"Now, then." said Remus, looking at his class. "Gather around." he said as he went to stand next to an old wardrobe. The wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Nothing to worry about..." said Remus. "There's a boggart in there."
"Smart." said the twins seriously.
"Easy and fun lesson to start with. Great job Moony." said Lily with a smile.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Remus. "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?"
To nobody's surprise, including the ghosts, Hermione was the first to raise her hand.
"It's a shape-shifter." she said with a shudder. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us the most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself." said Remus, James and the twins at once. James and the twins looked at each other before they laughed.
Unaware of that, Remus continued. "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. This means, that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
James and Lily suddenly looked at Harry with interest. Harry seemed to hesitate for a few moments before he said "...Because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Yes!" unknowingly whispered both James and Lily.
"Precisely!" said Remus. "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? 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."
The twins snorted. "That would have been interesting to see."
"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."
While Remus was teaching his students how to do the Boggart-Banishing Spell, the ghosts spoke.
"What do you think will be Ron and Harry's fears?" asked Gideon.
"For Ron? Most probably Aragog." said Lily. "For Harry however, I don't know."
"I don't think it would be Voldemort. While he would be frightening, I just don't think it's Harry's biggest fear." said James.
"What if it's the Dementor?" asked Lily, her skin palling. They had been there when the Dementor had entered the Hogwarts Express. They knew what the Dementor had forced him to relive the moment he had opened his mouth. He had heard a woman screaming. They knew that it was Lily he had heard.
James sighed. "How can you even make a Dementor funny?" he asked, glancing at the twins.
The twins looked unusually grave. "I don't think you really can't. He would have to change it so much that it would barely be recognisable for it to work."
"Well, let's just see what happens." said Lily, turning back to the class.
They had apparently missed something as the first thing they heard was "Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"
"Er, yes." said Neville nervously. "But I don't want the boggart to turn into her either?"
"What does he mean by that?" asked Gideon. "His boggart is someone?"
"Who do you think?" asked Lily.
"Bellatrix Lestrange?" proposed James.
"Let's see." said Fabian.
"No, no, you misunderstand me, I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?" said Remus, now smiling.
"Moony, You old wolf!" grinned James. "What are you playing at?"
"This will be interesting." said the twins, also grinning.
Neville looked startled, but 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."
"And a handbag?"
"A big red one."
"Right then." said Remus. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"Yes." said an uncertain Neville.
"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape."
"What!?" shouted all four ghosts.
"Snape?" said the twins incredulously.
"The git is his boggart?" said James.
"How horrible of a teacher is he to be the boggart of one of his students?" said Lily.
"And you will raise your wand and cry 'Riddikulus' and 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, with that big red handbag."
The ghosts gave a great shout of laughter alongside the students.
"I knew something good would happen today!" said a laughing James, congratulating himself.
"Everyone ready?" asked Professor Lupin. When the class nodded, he said "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!"
The whole class retreated, excluding the ghosts who stayed close to get a better view. Neville looked frightened but also ready.
"On the count of three, Neville." said Remus. "One... two... three... now!" he said and with a flick of the wand, the wardrobe opened. A hook-nosed and menacing Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville with loathing.
The ghosts all looked at Neville and wondered if he would be able to do it. Boggart-Snape was slowly closing in on Neville while reaching inside of his robes...
"R-R-Riddikulus!" squeaked Neville.
With the sound of a whip cracking, Boggart-Snape stumbled backward and was suddenly wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, swinging a huge crimson handbag around.
The ghosts froze at the sight, and burst out into the greatest laughter they had in years. Their own laughter was so loud that they barely heard the laughter of the class.
"THAT... THAT IS... EXCELLENT!" yelled the twins. Both had fallen on their knees.
"BRILLIANT... BRILLIANT... BRILLIANT..." repeated James, barely holding on his wife. Lily was laughing so much that she had tears leaking out of her eyes and was trying not to collapse on the ground while holding her own ribs.
"Parvati! Forward!" shouted a laughing Remus.
Boggart-Snape rounded on the approaching Parvati and with a crack, the boggart took the shame of a bloodstained, bandaged mummy.
"Riddikulus!"
A bandage unravelled which made the boggart trip on itself.
"Seamus!" roared Remus.
Crack! Where the mummy had once been now stood a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face. A banshee. The banshee opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room. A long, wailing shriek.
"Let's go Seamus!" said the twins.
"Riddikulus!"
The banshee suddenly made a rasping noise and clutched her throat in confusion.
"She doesn't have a voice anymore!" laughed Lily.
In turn, students faced their fears and repealed them with various comical changes to the entertainment of the four ghosts. It changed when Ron moved forward.
"Let's go Ronnie!" shouted both twins in support.
Crack!
Quite a few people screamed but not as loudly as one Lily Potter. She shrieked in terror. She had been right.
In front of Ron stood a giant six-feet tall spider. Even if they knew it was pointless, the twins tried to encourage their nephew while James was holding his wife in his arms and trying not to laugh at her reaction.
"Riddikulus!" suddenly shouted Ron.
"Bwahahaha!" came a sudden laugh out of James' throat. Lily looked at the boggart and burst out laughing again. The spider now had roller-skates on its 'feet' and was barely standing upright. Fabian and Gideon were dancing in celebration.
"Harry!" shouted Remus with a bit of hesitation. James and Lily froze. It was their son's turn.
The boggart moved toward Harry and started changing. It stopped and suddenly changed to a Dementor. Even after death, the four spectators could still feel the feeling of cold, fear and despair.
"HERE!" shouted Remus, putting himself between Harry and the Boggart-Dementor. The boggart suddenly changed into a bright full Moon.
"Riddikulus!" shouted Remus. The Moon deflated as if one had punctured a balloon and flew back toward the wardrobe. Remus didn't wait to lock it up. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. For homework, kindly read the chapter on boggart and summarize it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all." said Remus very quickly with a glance toward Harry. James and Lily's son was still frozen where he was, looking at the cupboard. He didn't look frightnened, just surprised.
James, Lily, Gideon and Fabian witnessed Ron snapping his fingers in front of Harry's face a few times before Harry came out of his trance and together, the Golden Trio left the class, not noticing the worrying looks Remus was giving Harry.
"Man, Boggart-Snape was great." said James for the sixth time that day. Every time he had thought about it, he had chuckled.
"Aren't you worried about Harry?" asked Lily. Both were laying down in their bed, having come back to the Afterlife many hours ago.
"Knowing Harry and knowing Remus, I am not really worried. I think Remus will teach the Patronus Charm to Harry so, no, I am not too much worried."
"Do you think he can do it, do it so young?" asked Lily, snuggling closer to her husband.
"Certainly. It's our son we are talking about."
Lily gave a soft giggle. "You are right. If anyone is capable of doing it so young, its our Harry."
One-Hundred-and-Eleven Years Later.
"What's this?" asked a freckles-faced red-haired woman with chocolate brown eyes when she found the odd-looking device.
"That Mum is what we call "The Viewer"." answered a man with pale freckles, wild, messy black hair and the same eyes as the red-head woman.
"And what does it do?" asked another nearly identical man, except that he had no freckles, green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
"That, Son, is a device that allow us poor dead souls to observe what happen on our marvellous world!" said a third man also with messy black hair, this time with hazel eyes.
"What do you mean?" asked the red-head.
"He means our Marvellous World!" said the black-haired man with freckles.
"Our Godly World!" said the one with hazel eyes.
"Our Blue Marble!"
"Our Green Planet!"
"Our Third Rock from Sol!"
"JAMES!" shouted the red-head woman.
"Which one?" asked the man with hazel eyes.
"I should have known it was a bad idea of naming our first son after my father..." said the one with green eyes, shaking his head.
"Oi!" said both James. "You hurt me little Harrikins!" said James Fleamont Potter.
"I can't believe you would say that!" said James Sirius Potter, obviously faking his sadness.
"James!" said a new woman, also with red hair although darker than the other one. "Are you annoying Harry and Ginny?"
"Depends..." said James I.
"Which James are you talking to?" asked James II.
Lily Evans-Potter groaned. Looking at Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley-Potter, she said "Why did you name him after James?"
"Not you too!" whined both James.
"Because we thought it was a good idea." smirked Ginny.
"You guys remind me of Fred and George." said Harry.
"Speaking of the twins, we could probably visit them! I think they are with Fabian and Gideon." said James I.
"Great." groaned Ginny. "Just what we needed. Both set of twins together."
"Anyway." said Harry. "What is 'The Viewer'."
"Like we said, the Viewer allow us dead people to go back in the world of the living as ghosts." said James II.
"We can't be seen nor interact with anything. We are nothing but spectators." said James I.
"It allowed us to view some very interesting moments."
"Such as your wedding, the birth of our grand-children, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren." said Lily.
"But, also fun moments such as when I saw Prongs the Fifth face plant himself in the pool." snickered James II.
"Prongs the Fifth?" asked Harry incredulously.
"Yeah. My grandson Alex." grinned James II.
"Of course, I should have expected it." said Ginny, rolling her eyes.
"James and I also saw fun moments from yours and Ginny's school years." said Lily.
Harry palled slightly. "I wouldn't call my school years 'fun'."
"We know, but we are talking about moments such as your first Defence class with Professor Moony!" said James I.
"First Defence Class with Moony...?" asked Harry with confusion before his eyes almost popped out. "You mean... you saw..." and he burst out laughing.
"We saw Severus in a dress, yes!" singed James I.
"That was a golden moment." said James II in an awed voice.
"I showed it to Padfoot when he arrived here. He laughed his arse off for days!" grinned James I.
"Is there anything else we need to learn about the Viewer?" asked a snickering Ginny, trying to move the subject.
"Yes. There is one exception to the no-interaction rule: Poltergeists." said Lily.
"You mean like Peeves?" asked Ginny.
"Yeah." said James II. "We reckon that's why he like doing pranks so much. Dead people keep giving him new ideas. Like this one time when I asked him to throw a bubble of ink on someone and he decided to shoot it on Mum..." he said before his hand immediately flew to his mouth. "I shouldn't have said that." he muttered.
"Excuse me!?" nearly shouted Ginny, her face turning red. "IT WAS YOU!?"
"Oh dear." whispered Harry. Only Lily heard him.
"Well... Mum... to be fair..." stuttered James II. "I got the idea from Grandpa."
"What!?" said James I, shocked to be thrown under the bus by his grandson.
Ginny's dagger sending glare changed targets to her father-in-law. Lily couldn't help but grin at how cowered her husband and grandson looked.
"Well..." said James I, rubbing the back of his neck. "I might have suddenly gotten the idea in Harry's second year and asked Peeves to do that which he did on a firstie and I might have shared the story with James."
Harry had been married with Ginny for nearly a hundred years but even himself didn't know it was possible for Ginny to look even more red and angry. "Does that 'firstie' happened to be a small red-haired Gryffindor with freckles?" she asked very quietly.
James I thought about it for a few moments before his eyes widened considerably. "Oh Fuck."
"James." said Harry to both James. "I suggest you run. Now."
The two James didn't need more prompting. They ran outside of the house as quickly as possible, quickly followed by a very angry Ginny. "COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLES..."
"Language dear!" shouted Harry in her direction.
Lily snickered. "Potter men always had something for fiery red-heads."
"Don't I know it." grinned Harry. "I wasn't surprised at all when James and Al told us that they had proposed to Vanessa and Julie, both red heads. And Lily had to get herself a reckless black-haired man as well." he said with a snort.
"Just like her grandmother and namesake." said Lily proudly.
"Yep." laughed Harry.