HARRY POTTER AND THE SECRET ENEMY
Harry Potter and all associated characters and situations are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no claim to ownership.
CHAPTER 22: The Boggart (Pt 1)
25 September 1992
7:00 p.m.
Since the Day of the Dungbombs, there had been no further pranks attempted against Slytherin House. Harry contemplated some sort of revenge prank against Jim, but he decided against it for two reasons. First, he wasn't completely sure that it had been Jim's prank. Second (and more importantly in Harry's mind), he'd considered the dungbomb prank to be so juvenile as to be unworthy of a response. Certainly, he didn't see the need to be drawn into a prank war with the Git-Who-Lived over it. Apparently, however, someone in his House felt differently because a few days after the dungbomb episode both the Git and the Weasel had shown up for breakfast in particularly foul moods and sporting emerald green hair with silver highlights. It seemed that someone had reverse-engineered the prank that the Twins had tried to use on Harry the year before. Or perhaps the Twins themselves had gotten annoyed with Jim and Ron over something and did it themselves. Harry made a mental note to ask one of them whenever he remembered to care about his brother.
That night, right after dinner, Harry and the members of Team Protector met in the main DADA classroom for their first boggart encounter. Professor Lockhart spent the first thirty minutes explaining once again what a boggart was, how it had the ability to disguise itself as whatever the nearest viewer feared most, and how the Boggart-Banishing spell could repel it by forcing it to assume an amusing form rather than a terrifying one. The trick was knowing what your biggest fear was, having an idea for how to make that fear into something funny, and being fast enough to do so before you fell completely under the boggart's sway. At the best of times, boggart exposure was often embarrassing, but if one's greatest fear stemmed from an actual traumatic event, the boggart could often force its victim to relieve the experience and the attendant trauma. The actual boggart they would be using was currently in a heavy trunk sitting against the back wall of the classroom.
"Right then," said Lockhart amiably. "I've watched you all demonstrate the Boggart-Banishing spell to my satisfaction. You all have the wandwork and incantation down. The only question now is whether you can demonstrate both while maintaining the required mental framework. Now, you may have noticed that there were a number of chairs out in the hall. I'll ask you all to step outside and wait until I call you in. I have prepared you all to face your boggart-fears as much as possible short of direct exposure. However, some of you may still find the experience disturbing, possibly even traumatic, especially if your greatest fear turns out to be something other than what you were expecting and you are unable to use the defensive charm properly. In any case, it would be the height of irresponsibility for me to let any of you face a boggart untested with all your classmates watching, to say nothing of a breach of your privacy and trust. Mr. Flint, you're first. Everyone else, outside."
With that, the other team members stepped out into the corridor. The group was pensive and mostly quiet, other than a few nervous Hufflepuffs who were urgently practicing the Boggart-Banishing spell. Harry and Neville sat next to each other off to one side.
"So," whispered Neville, "what do you think your biggest fear is?"
Harry shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. "I'm assuming it's doxies. Or my uncle. Or my uncle and doxies. Or maybe Voldemort trying to strangle me." He paused thoughtfully. "It's kind of disturbing, now that I think of it, that You-Know-Who is only fourth on my list. You?"
"I'm still not sure. I know it'll have something to do with Uncle Algie, but I still don't know what exactly. A year ago, I'd have thought it was drowning, but I think I'm over that, so I really have no idea." He furrowed his brow. "It's entirely possible that my greatest fear is a plate of Cousin Enid's meringues."
After about five minutes, Marcus came out looking visibly shaken with a half-eaten bar of chocolate in his hand. He sat down next to Harry wearily.
"Don't. Ask." he said irritably before the two boys could speak. Then, he finished his chocolate while staring straight ahead at the wall. Harry and Neville just looked at each other nervously. One by one, the other team members were called in next and came back out just as shaken and disturbed before finally it was Neville's turn. To Harry's surprise, his friend was in and out in under a minute, and while he came out holding an uneaten piece of chocolate, he seemed thoughtful rather than upset as most of the team members had been so far.
"You okay?" Harry asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, surprisingly fine. It was confusing at first, but not all that scary once I figured out what was going on." Then, he turned towards Marcus, who was still looking a little peaky. "You want my chocolate?" he asked. Marcus numbly took the candy bar while looking stunned at how serene the young boy was.
"Um, Nev?" asked Harry. "So what was it? I mean, if you don't mind telling me."
"Oh, not at all. It was a giant piece of flagstone pavement flying towards me ready to bash my head in. Then, I realized that it wasn't really flying towards me. That was just how the boggart interpreted my uncle dropping me to my death. Once I realized that, I just cast the spell and it turned into bouncy rubber and that was that."
"That ... was that," Harry repeated before he broke out into a grin. "Don't ever change, Nev."
On the other side of him, a dumbstruck Flint just shook his head. "Gryffindors," he mumbled through a mouth full of chocolate.
Finally, it was Harry's turn. He took a deep breath and entered the classroom which was empty except for Lockhart, who sat in a chair off to the side behind a small writing desk, and the trunk, which was in the middle of the floor. There was a stack of chocolate bars on Lockhart's desk.
"Alright, Mr. Potter. Do you feel confident that you know your fear? And how to transform it into something amusing?" Harry answered yes to both questions. "Very good. Now draw your wand, move to within a few feet of the trunk, and nod when you're ready for me to open it."
Harry stepped forward wand in hand and nodded. "ABIERTO," intoned the Professor. The trunk's lid popped open, and a strange mist-that-wasn't-a-mist billowed out and quickly took a solid shape. Harry wasn't surprised to see that his boggart looked like Vernon. He wasn't even surprised to see that the Vernon of his nightmares was bigger than normal, a bloated eight-foot-tall monstrosity. The thing for which Harry was completely unprepared, however, was Vernon's smile. That smile that was always in his nightmares but that he never liked to think about because it represented how much joy Vernon took from trying to kill him in one of the most painful ways known to wizard-kind. And then, Smiling Vernon opened his mouth to bellow what he always bellowed at Harry right before he woke up from his nightmares and Harry felt his arm moving in the familiar pattern of the banishing charm and from somewhere far away Harry heard a voice very much like his own yell out the word RIDDIKULUS! with a voice full of terror and rage and...
Harry shook his head as the boggart's effects faded. Smiling Vernon didn't bellow anything. Instead, he made a sort of farting sound, like air escaping from a balloon. And just like a balloon, Smiling Vernon suddenly turned into a Giant Inflatable Vernon that flew around in the air as it deflated before landing back in its trunk. The lid of the trunk slammed itself shut, and Harry was alone with the Professor. Suddenly aware once again of where he was, Harry turned slowly towards Lockhart who now stood a few feet behind him with an unreadable expression. He held out a candy bar in one hand, but Harry noticed that his wand was in the other, presumably in case the boy faltered. Harry took the chocolate and tore a big bite out of it as his heart rate returned to normal.
"You did exceptionally well, Mr. Potter. One of the best responses in the class."
"Thank you, sir," Harry said shakily as he put his wand away.
With that, Lockhart left Harry behind to call the other students back into the room. The group reentered with varying degrees of trepidation, and Lockhart began conjuring seats for all of them. "Mr. Flint, we're done with the boggart for this evening. Kindly assist Mr. Potter with putting it back in the closet well away the other students. Normally, boggarts will remain hidden away unless exposed, but sometimes the sound of a crowd nearby makes them frisky, ha-Ha!"
Marcus flinched slightly at Lockhart's laugh, before moving over to help Harry with the heavy trunk. They were nearly to the closet when it happened. From the far corner of the room, seemingly out of empty space, a voice called out "ABIERTO!" and the lid of the trunk flew open. The strange mist flew out again, and suddenly, towering over Flint was a hideous crone with pallid skin, milky-white eyes, and grasping talon-like hands. She wore a filthy nightdress and was bald save for a few wisps of hair.
"MARCUS!" she screamed in a voice like broken glass. "WHERE'S MY TEA?! DO Y'WANT GRANNY TO GET THE BELT?! BRING ME MY TEA!"
With a startled cry, Marcus dropped his end of the trunk and pulled back in sudden terror. The weight of the trunk landed on Harry's foot and he yelped in pain and fell down. The instant Marcus had moved far enough away, the boggart instantly turned towards Harry, and its form shifted like smoke. In place of Marcus Flint's senile cackling grandmother was Smiling Vernon once again, bigger than ever and now towering over the fallen Harry. The boy tried to pop out his wand, but it slipped out of its holster through fear-numbed fingers and fell to the floor. Vernon's smile grew wider until the corner of his lips reached his ears, and then he drew in a deep breath and bellowed out ...
"SUPPERTIME!"
And with that, Smiling Vernon ripped open his own chest to unleash the swarm of doxies inside, the swarm that promptly fell on the screaming Harry Potter. Several of the students cried out in utter horror at the scene – a half-dozen doxies was usually considered reason enough to contact the Ministry for a Hazardous Creature Control unit. A score of them crawling over a single target was unthinkable. While the rest of the class was distracted, Emily Rossum, who was the last one to reenter, was knocked aside by some invisible force that yanked the door open and then closed it just as quickly. Up front, both Neville and Lockhart rushed forward to help Harry. Lockhart was just a bit faster, and with a slash of his wand, Harry was yanked away from the boggart's chest and caught by his young Gryffindor friend. As Neville tended to Harry, Lockhart waved his arms wildly in an attempt to draw the boggart's attention away from Harry.
He succeeded.
The boggart's form blurred again as all of the doxies that had been attacking Harry suddenly coalesced into a new and even more terrifying form. Looming over Professor Lockhart stood a ten-foot-tall lupine figure with jet black fur, teeth the size of daggers, and eyes of purest amber. None of the students had ever seen such a creature in the flesh before, but all of them knew instantly what it was: a werewolf. The nightmare creature threw back its head and gave an unearthly howl, and most of the students screamed in absolute terror. But from his vantage point, Neville was the only one who could see Lockhart's face, a face that showed true fear for just a second before it was replaced by a different emotion: hate.
With a feral snarl, he thrust his wand towards the false werewolf. "AVAD...!" He growled out two syllables of a spell that only Neville was close enough to hear before he caught himself. Then, he slashed a different spell with his wand. "RIDDIKULUS!" he bellowed in a fury. There was a flash, and the werewolf instantly shrank down into the size of a terrified Chihuahua that turned tail and bolted back into the trunk which immediately slammed shut. But if Lockhart found anything amusing in the boggart's retreat, it didn't show. He whirled around to face the class, still enraged.
"Who cast that spell?! Who unleashed that BOGGART?!" The whole class froze, suddenly almost as frightened of their teacher as they had been of the werewolf.
"Whoever it was is gone, sir," said Emily. "There was someone standing over there in the corner invisibly. They knocked me down and ran out the door."
"Jim Potter's got an invisibility cloak," said Neville, who was still cradling a shivering Harry Potter. His voice was ice-cold, startling those in the room who knew him as perhaps the most affable student in the whole school.
With obvious difficulty, Lockhart brought himself back under control. "Students, I ... apologize for this ... unpleasantness. While I had hoped to spend some time discussing the implications of the Boggart-Banishing Charm for our larger efforts, I think it best that we call it a night. We will reconvene at a future date that will be posted tomorrow. Mr. Longbottom, please help Mr. Potter to the infirmary. I will assist Mr. Flint."
"I ... don't need ... infirmary," said the still shivering Flint.
Lockhart quickly knelt next to the prefect and spoke in a quiet tone. "I realize that, Mr. Flint, but I don't wish Mr. Potter to feel the embarrassment of being the only one affected. Do you?"
Marcus looked up at the instructor. He wasn't sure he believed the man, but he knew a face-saving offer when he saw one. He took a deep breath and spoke more loudly. "I'll go to the infirmary if you insist, sir, but I don't need any help walking."
"Of course not, Mr. Flint. I didn't mean to imply otherwise." With that, he extended a hand to the young man and helped him to his feet. As everyone exited the class, Lockhart also caught up with Emily and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and ran on ahead of the rest of the group.
Meanwhile in the Gryffindor Common Room ...
Hermione Granger put down her quill and started rubbing her temples, acutely aware that she was doing the same thing Harry Potter did whenever he was confronted by something exasperating. Luna Lovegood sat on the couch next to her, placidly waiting for the other witch to regain control of the flurry of nargles which had risen up in a boojacentric flight pattern and were threatening to awaken the fury-flies and the teeth-gnashers. She didn't say any of that, of course, as she'd noticed that Hermione's wrackspurts became agitated whenever she mentioned any of the other things she perceived fluttering about inside and outside the other girl's head. Luna was actually very fond of Hermione, who normally did an admirable job of keep her wrackspurts under control, even if by doing so it forced her nargles to float rather listlessly while maintaining a particularly bland shade of beige.
For her part, Hermione was now sure that at least some of Luna's claims were true – there were too many instances in which she could intuit things about other people's inner moods with just a glance. The trouble was figuring out the patterns for her accurate perceptions while filtering out the concepts that were probably not true. In particular, Hermione's mind absolutely recoiled from acknowledging the existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. The most frustrating thing about her work with Team Mysterioso was that out of the four members, Ginny was in Slytherin and Penelope Clearwater was in Ravenclaw. That meant it fell to Hermione to spend her time observing her housemate Luna for insights into the things she claimed to see. The four of them met twice a week to go over her notes and look for patterns, but the actual observational work mainly fell to her.
Suddenly, Jim Potter came into the room, flushed and out-of-breath. Luna looked up at the boy, and her face paled. "Jim?" she called out in an urgent voice.
"Not now, Luna," he replied tersely without even looking at the girl.
Luna shot up out off the couch and shouted at him "JIM!" He stopped in surprise and looked back at the girl. Her eyes widened. "What did you DO, Jim?!" she said almost fearfully. He stared back at her for a few seconds with an equally fearful look on his own face. Then, he ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.
"Luna?" Hermione spoke softly. "What's happened?"
Luna turned towards her and started rubbing her arms as if she'd suddenly grown cold. "Something bad."
"Is there something specific we should be doing about ... the bad something?" Hermione asked carefully. Luna thought for a second and then shook her head. "Alright, then. Let's just sit back down. And I want you to tell me everything about what you noticed about Jim as he came in. And every way you think he's different now than he was before."
The two sat, and Hermione began to furiously copy down Luna's description of what she saw in Jim that so alarmed her. About fifteen minutes later, the door opened again, and Emily Rossen came in just as out-of-breath as Jim had been. "Has anyone seen Potter?" she asked the room.
Percy stood up from his seat near the fireplace where he'd been talking to Ron about the younger boy's Charms assignment. "Yes, he just went up to his room."
"Would you go and get him please?" she said tersely. Percy nodded and headed upstairs.
"Emily, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
The Head Girl, who seemed visibly angry, just shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hermione. It's not something I can talk about right now."
A moment later, Percy returned with a fidgety Jim. "Is there a problem?" he asked nervously.
Emily looked at the Boy-Who-Lived with obvious disdain. "Your brother Harry is in the infirmary. Someone attacked him." Jim's eyes bulged at her description. "Well, in a manner of speaking, anyway. I'm sure Professor Lockhart can explain it better than I. Also, your parents are on their way there as well. As is the Headmaster. This way please." And without further comment, she led the now-frightened boy towards the door. But before they could get through it, Neville came in. He saw Jim and immediately move towards him with a murderous look on his face. Emily stepped between them.
"It's alright, Neville. I'm taking Jim to the infirmary now. You will stay here and calm yourself. Understood?"
The boy glared at Jim with barely contained fury. "Fine. I'll be here whenever you get back." With that, Emily led the shocked Jim out of the dorm.
The still distraught Neville made his way over to the sofa where Luna and Hermione were waiting, and they moved so he could sit down between them.
"Neville, what happened?" asked Hermione with concern.
"I..." he stopped suddenly overcome with emotion. Luna reached up and started rubbing his upper back in a circular motion.
"Shhh," she said. "Close your eyes and count down from ten in your head while you breathe. It will sing them to sleep. Then you can tell us"
Without even thinking much about it, he put his head down into his hands and did as she asked. Hermione fought down the temptation to take notes on what Luna had said and instead just waited quietly. Once Neville had calmed down, he told them what had happened ... as well as his fears for what significance the word "Suppertime!" might have when it came to Harry's uncle and the doxies that had nearly killed him.
Over by the fire, Ron continued reviewing his notes from the day's classes, seemingly oblivious to the drama that surrounded him.
Later in the Infirmary ...
Lily Potter ran into the infirmary and was immediately intercepted by Lockhart and Madame Pomfrey.
"Lily! Harry's alright!" said the mediwitch. "I just gave him a Dreamless Sleep. He'll be out until tomorrow."
"What happened? Emily just said he'd been hurt."
Madame Pomfrey paused, and her mouth tightened. "It was a severe reaction to boggart exposure. It gave him a flashback to the doxy incident, and the trauma sent him into shock. But I've already treated him, and as I said, he'll be fine by morning."
Lily glared at Lockhart. "And how exactly did he end up exposed to a boggart?"
Lockhart sniffed. "In light of these traumatic circumstances, Professor Potter, I'll forgive your tone. Your son was initially exposed to the boggart under my close supervision as part of his advanced DADA training, and he performed admirably, banishing the boggart easily without any necessary intervention on my part. It was not until later in the session that someone else intentionally unleashed the boggart a second time when Mr. Potter was closest to it and under circumstances in which he could not effectively defend himself. I banished the creature myself immediately, but not until after several seconds of direct exposure, for which you have my profuse apologies."
"And who was it that unleashed a boggart on my son?" she asked angrily.
"I don't know, Professor Potter, but according to the Head Girl, it was someone wearing an invisibility cloak. You can ask her yourself. She's on her way back here now with your other son."
Lily paled. "Jim? Why is she bringing him here?"
Lockhart chuckled. "Well, I assumed he'd want to be here out of concern for his brother. Was I mistaken?"
Lily didn't answer, for at that moment, Emily and Jim entered the infirmary. "Ah, speak of the devil. Miss Rossen, I was just telling Professor Potter that some invisible assailant was responsible for unleashing the boggart against Mr. Potter and Mr. Flint. Could you share your observations with us?"
She nodded. "The person was definitely invisible and must have been in the room for some time. I don't think it was an invisibility spell because all the ones I know end instantly if you cast any other spell, and the intruder definitely used the Door-Opening Charm on the trunk which held the boggart while maintaining invisibility. Also, as the intruder knocked me down on the way to the door, I felt some silk-like fabric brush against my leg. I'm fairly confident it was someone with an invisibility cloak." With that last remark, Emily turned to look directly at Jim, who didn't make eye contact.
"Jim," said Lily. "Come with me." With that, she took her younger son by the arm, and led him off to a corner where she hastily erected a privacy shield around them both. "Now you listen to me, James Potter Jr. You have one chance to tell me the absolute truth. Because if you lie to me and I find out later, I swear to God and Merlin both that I will pull you out of this school and home-school you at the Manor until you're old enough to take your NEWTS! Now did you have anything to do with what happened to your brother?"
As those two were talking, Marcus Flint came from around the corner and joined Emily and Professor Lockhart. The look he gave Jim Potter suggested a strong desire to hex the boy in the back.
"Feeling better, Flint?" said Lockhart somewhat loudly.
"Yes sir," he replied in a low voice, without taking his eyes of Jim's back.
"Excellent!" said Lockhart as he loudly clapped his hands together, startling to two prefects. "Then, I suppose there's no reason for you to dally around here. Miss Rossen still has her evening rounds to do. Perhaps you could accompany her for a while before heading back to your dormitory."
Marcus looked up at Lockhart for a few seconds as if to be sure he'd interpreted the hidden order correctly: get out of here before you do something stupid to the Boy-Who-Lived and get expelled. Then, he nodded respectfully and followed Emily out of the Infirmary. Lockhart watched them leave and then turned to study Lily and Jim's silent conversation.
Minutes later ...
"I bet the little swot gets off scot free," muttered Flint.
"I don't think so," replied Emily. "Professor McGonagall has very little patience for Jim at this point. If he's proven guilty, which I think is likely, I'm sure she'll insist on a fair punishment."
Flint snorted but didn't respond. The two walked in silence towards the dungeons.
"Are you ... angry that everyone saw your boggart?" Emily asked tentatively.
"What do you think? I'm seventeen years old, a prefect about to graduate, and my biggest fear is still the crazy old bitch who died when I was six. Would you want everyone to know that?"
She shrugged. "Did you banish it successfully? The first time you saw it, I mean?"
He was silent for a few seconds. "It took me two tries, but I got her. You?"
It was Emily's turn to hesitate. "No. My boggart was a clown who terrified at a birthday party when I was a small child. I've been afraid of clowns ever since. I tried three times to banish it but I couldn't. I mean ... how can you make clowns funny if you're instinctively afraid of them?"
He considered the idea. "That's a good question. I never thought of it that way."
They walked in silence until they reached the entrance to the dorm. "Well," he said. "Thanks for, um ... Just ... thanks."
"Don't mention, Flint." She turned to go
"Rossen!" he said suddenly. She stopped and turned back to him. "How are you at potions?"
Not long after, Lily and Jim were joined by James Potter (who looked like he'd gotten back up out of bed to Floo to the school), Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall. Lockhart once again explained what happened, and then Lily turned to her son.
"Jim, I believe you have something you wanted to say at this point," she prompted.
The boy looked sullen and beaten down. "I ... I was the one in the invisibility cloak. I believed... I still believe that Harry played a prank on me the other day, so I used the cloak to spy on his boggart test. When I saw ... well, the first time he confronted the boggart, it was just a really big fat version of our Uncle Vernon. I ... thought it was funny that his biggest fear was just a Muggle, so when the rest of the team came in, I let the boggart out again. I promise I didn't mean for it to turn into a bunch of doxies and attack him like that. I... I'm sorry. I'll take to whatever punishment you think is appropriate."
Snape sniffed and then looked towards McGonagall, who was as angry as he'd seen his fellow professor in years.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor, plus one month of detention," she said. Jim gasped but then nodded. James looked as though he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Then, Lockhart coughed delicately.
"I am curious about one detail," he said. "On the night of the Sorting Feast, Headmaster, you referred the students to Mr. Filch's list of forbidden items. I haven't reviewed that list myself, but I would be rather surprised if invisibility cloaks were not on it."
"They are indeed normally forbidden, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore. "However, there is a general exception to the rules governing contraband items which are also classified as family heirlooms. While most invisibility cloaks are common magical items, the Potter Cloak is such a family artifact and thus is not covered by the general prohibition. The exception was put into effect by the Board of Governors in 1908 during the tenure of Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black. There was some speculation on the part of the Board that Black had abused his position as Headmaster to improperly seize magical items which were properly entailed to noble estates."
"Mm-hmm," said Lockhart. "From what I've heard, that does sound like something he'd have done. Be that as it may, however, is such an artifact really the sort thing to which a twelve-year-old child should have unfettered access?"
"Jim is the Boy-Who-Lived," said James tersely. "He needs to be able to defend himself, and as his father and the Head of House Potter, I have decided that he should have access to our family's cloak."
"Of course, of course," said Lockhart. "And out of curiosity, since his arrival at Hogwarts, how many times has he actually needed the cloak for self-defense rather than personal entertainment?" James bristled at that, while Jim looked terrified of losing access to the family cloak. Finally, Lily spoke up.
"I can see where this is going, so perhaps I can suggest a compromise. During Jim's month of detention, the cloak will remain with Professor McGonagall. Perhaps four weeks without it will teach Jim some responsibility." With that, she turned towards James, as if daring him to contradict her. He grimaced but said nothing.
"I think a temporary confiscation of Jim's cloak is a most satisfactory solution," said Dumbledore, who then turned to Jim. "I hope this will help you to understand how these pranks can suddenly turn very serious, young man. And I also hope you will do the right thing and apologize to your brother as soon as possible so that the two of you can hopefully put this behind you."
Jim nodded. With that, the impromptu disciplinary meeting ended. Professor McGonagall accompanied Jim to take custody of the invisibility cloak, while Lily and James went once more to check on Harry's prognosis, and Snape went to inform the Slytherins of what had happened and how they were to respond.
One hour later ...
Just as he was about to retire for the night, there was a knock at Severus Snape's door. He opened it, and to his surprise, Lily Potter pushed past him into his sitting room. He closed the door and turned to face her.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Lady Potter."
"Let's just cut to the chase, Severus. I know you're more skilled than me at dueling and far more skilled than me at the Dark Arts. But I do have one thing going for me – I'm an angry mother, whether you think I'm entitled to that status or not. And I am telling you right now that neither of us is leaving this room until you tell me exactly what happened between Harry and Vernon Dursley on the night of the doxy attack!"
The next chapter will be posted on Friday, November 20, 2015. "The Boggart (Pt 2)," in which Jim struggles with the repercussions of his ill-considered prank and Prof. Lockhart gives an impromptu (and disturbing) lecture.
AN 1: "Hello. My name is Remus Lupin, and I'm your new DADA instructor. Today, we'll be learning how to banish a boggart, a creature which can transform itself into your worst nightmare. And we'll be doing it together in class, so you can all see what each other's deepest, most personal fears are. Because there's no way any of you has a fear that would be mortifying if it were discovered by your school rivals."
I think not.
The cavalier way in which Remus introduced the boggart to the entire class without any thought to their individual privacy was only one of many problems I have with POA, which was IMO the most flawed of the seven books in the series. YMMV. If nothing else, the revelation that Neville's boggart was Snape should have immediately resulted in a parent teacher conference to determine why a 12-year-old was pathologically afraid of a teacher. Molly's much more extreme and traumatic reaction to the boggart in Grimmauld Place was further proof that it was insanely reckless to expose children to the thing. It's frankly a miracle that none of Remus's students had a boggart in the form of a dead parent or sibling.