THE BOGGART

The next day after the incident, Natasha sent a letter to Draco asking him if he was well. She got a response from him that, he was still in pain and was getting help from others to do his writing. Natasha didn't know whether to believe him or not. He was not back to attending classed till late in Thursday morning. The Gryffindors and the Slytherins were having potions that morning and he came into the classroom with his arms covered in bandages. Natasha knew that, Draco must be only putting up a show, and was growing angry with him for that. "How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy Parkinson. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," said Malfoy, putting on a brave sort of grimace. But Natasha saw him wink at Crabbe and Goyle when Pansy had looked away.

"Settle down, settle down. I hope that, you can come a bit more punctual from now on, Mr. Malfoy." said Professor Snape idly.

They were preparing shrinking solution that day. Draco came and sat next to Ron and Simran, much to their displeasure. "Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm -"

"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," said Snape without looking up. Natasha wanted to protest, but by how Draco was acting, she knew that any teacher would have said some other student to do that. Ron and Simran were sitting back of Natasha, so she could hear everything they were talking about. Ron went brick red. "There's nothing wrong with your arm,", Ron hissed at Malfoy.

Malfoy smirked across the table. "Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots."

Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they were all different sizes. "Professor," drawled Draco, "Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir."

Snape approached their table, stared down his nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant look. "Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley. I told you to help him, in cutting the roots. It is clearly mentioned that the roots should be cut equally. "

"But, sir -!"

Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces. "Now," said Snape in his most dangerous voice. Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Draco, then took up the knife again.

"And, sir, I'll need this Shrivelfig skinned," said Draco, his voice full of malicious laughter.

"Weasley, I did see that, your potion was wrong from the start. So, there is no point in continuing this. Ms. Gupta, go and help Mr. Malfoy.", Professor Snape said. Natasha saw that, Simran had already finished most of his potion and was in the process of heating the mixture for twenty minutes which was the second to last section of making.

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" Draco asked Ron.

"None of your business," said Ron jerkily, without looking up.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. "Father's not very happy about my injury -"

"Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury," snarled Ron.

"- he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this" - he gave a huge, fake sigh - "who knows if my arm will ever be the same again?"

"You just want to fire Hagrid, isn't it?", Ron asked with angry voice.

"Well," said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, "partly, Weasel. But there are other benefits too."

A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. This was a regular occurrence in the class as, Neville was very poor in potions. He even had a fear of Professor Snape as, he did many things wrong and Professor Snape always targeted him for that. Natasha could not blame Professor Snape much as, one wrong step in potion can make the cauldron explode and cause injuries to the other students. But she also felt that, the Professor could be a little bit nicer to Neville.

His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned –

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?", Severus asked. "It is a serious miracle that the potion did not explode."

Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.

"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right -"

Natasha knew that, it was a bad thing to say as, the Professor always wanted them to work independently.

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Snape was now looking down at the table to avoid all the glares he was getting from around the room. Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear.

"Help me!" he moaned to Hermione. Natasha saw Hermione whispering something to Neville. Natasha knew that, it was not going to end well.

"Hey, Natasha," said Seamus Finnigan, leaning over to borrow her brass scales, "have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning - they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

"Where?" said Natasha and Hermione quickly. Hermione had just finished guiding Neville. On the other side of the table, Pansy who was sitting next to Hermione looked up, listening closely.

"Not too far from here," said Seamus, who looked excited. "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."

Pansy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed Natasha. She leaned across the table. "Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter? if it was me," ,she said quietly, "I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good girl, I'd be out there looking for him."

"What are you talking about, Parkinson? Why in the world would I go after him?", asked Natasha.

"Don't you know, Potter?" breathed Natasha, her eyes narrowed.

"Know what?"

Parkinson let out a low, sneering laugh. "Maybe you'd rather not risk your neck," he said. "Want to leave it to the Dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself."

"I am not an idiot to hunt him, Parkinson.", Natasha said angrily.

After sometime, Professor Snape rose from his seat and said, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see. A The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron. Natasha packed up her table, and put her potion in a bottle and submitted it to the Professor who just nodded at her. Natasha went back to her table after wasing her hands. Simran and Ron were talking to each other about something, as they finished giving the potion and washing the hands.

The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron.

"Everyone gather 'round," said Snape, his black eyes glittering, "and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited. Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion, which was now green. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat.

There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm. Natasha was really happy at this, and looked at Hermione with a smile.

The Gryffindors burst into applause. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown. Professor Snape looked at Hermione like he wanted to say something, but he just turned around without saying a word.

Natasha had Ancient Runes as their next hour, and she hurried with her other friends. "That was a brilliant thing, Hermione. Snape had to shut his mouth.", Simran said happily.

But when she turned around, she saw that Hermione had vanished. "Where did she go?", Ron asked confused. "She was right behind us," said Simran. Natasha had a Déjà vu. This was like what she had experienced in the first day.

They were at the top of the steps leading to the third floor. "There she is," said Natasha.

Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes.

"How did you do that?" said Ron.

"What?" said Hermione, joining them.

"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again." , Simran asked confused.

"What?" Hermione looked slightly confused. "Oh - I had to go back for something. Oh no -"

A seam had split on Hermione's bag. They were not surprised; he could see that it was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books.

"Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her.

"You know how many subjects I'm taking," said Hermione breathlessly. "Couldn't hold these for me, could you?"

"But -" Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. "You haven't got any of these subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."

"No, Ron. We have ancient Runes now.", Simran said.

"That means, I am going to be alone for one more hour?", Ron said sadly.

The three of them nodded. They knew that, they had to hurry as they had to get to the classroom.

"What did Parkinson mean?", Simran asked to Natasha as they walked hurriedly to the classroom. "Why would you want revenge on Black? He hasn't done anything to you - yet."

"She's making it up, I think" said Natasha. "She's trying to make me do something stupid.". But Natasha thought that, Parkinson was hiding something.

"But Mr. Weasley did give a similar warning, didn't he?", Hermione asked.

"That is what makes the whole situation confusing.", Natasha agreed.

When they reached the classroom, the students had already reached the place. They immediately went inside. This was their second ancient runes class of the week. The class was thought by Professor Babbling. It was a study of translating old runes and studying their different uses. It was a really interesting class. Natasha always liked learning new languages and Ancient Runes was basically that. She had learned a bit of French when she attended primary school, and had enjoyed it. Today they again had a basic class, where they were introduced to more commonly used runes. They were thought to translate one of them and to carve it into something. After the class, the three of them rushed to the great hall for lunch where they were joined by Ron. Natasha saw that, their next hour was Defence against the dark arts followed by Charms.

Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived at his first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands.". A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose. Natasha hoped that, it will not be a repeat of the previous year, as she had it enough with teachers who were totally not fit for the classes.

"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me.". Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.

Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song. "Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin -"

Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.

"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."

Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.

"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."

He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves.

With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.

"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.

"Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"

They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back. The whole staffroom was empty, except for some cupboard that was in the middle of the room.

"Fill in the room then. I promise that this is going to be a really interesting class.", Professor Lupin said with a smile in his face. Professor went and stood next to the wardrobe and it started making noises and banging.

"Nothing to worry about. It is a boggart in there.", as many people had panicked faces.

This made many people relax a little, but Neville had a face of terror and was looking at Professor Lupin. "Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "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?"

Natasha and Hermione raised their hands, but Hermione beat Natasha into saying the answer. "It is a shapeshifter that takes shape of your greatest fear."

"That is a really good answer. Ms. Granger, isn't it?", Professor Lupin asked with a smile. Hermione turned red at the Professor's words.

"Boggart is just waiting inside the wardrobe till someone opens it. It presently has a form that, no one knows. It does not know what form it should take. When I let him out, he will take the shape of the thing that the nearest person fears the most.", the Professor continued.

"This also means that, we as a group will have an advantage over the boggart before we begin. What do you think it is, Natasha.", the Professor said directly addressing Natasha.

Natasha knew the answer for it and said, "That is because, there are too many of us and even if it comes out, it will not know which form to take.", Natasha said.

"That is a brilliant explanation.", Professor Lupin said. "Yes, the boggart will not know what form that, it should take. The boggart once got confused, and turned into a half slug once, which was not at all scary. The best way to deal with a boggart is to be in a group."

"The charm and the wandmovement required to repel a boggart, when you are in alone is simple. But what finishes the Boggart is laughter. We need to make it think that, we do not find it scary. Now we will practise the charm required. Everybody repeat after me, 'Riddikulus'"

'Riddikulus', the class said together.

"Good, but that was the easy part. Now I need volunteers. Neville, come here.", Professor Lupin said looking at Neville. Neville came forward with a terrified face and stood.

"Right, Neville. I will ask you only one question. What is it that, you are the most scared of in the world?", the Professor asked. Neville mumbled something that was not heard by anybody in the classroom.

"What? I don't think I heard you.", Professor Lupin said.

Neville looked as though, he didn't want to do this, and looked around for help. Natasha had a small guess as to what Neville was afraid of. "P-Professor Snape.", Neville said clearly this time. Most of the class laughed at this. Even Natasha who liked the Professor laughed at this. Even Neville broke into a grin.

"Professor Snape huh?", Professor Lupin said with a thoughtful tone, but even he had a grin in his face. "I take it that, you live with your grandmother."

"Yes. But I don't want it to tuen into her either.", Neville said fearfully. This caused more laughs in the classroom. "Even I wouldn't want the thing to turn into my grandmother, She is a nightmare, really.", Simran said to Natasha.

"I think you misunderstand me.", Professor Lupin said. "Please tell me what kind of clothes that she usually wears."

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?" prompted Professor Lupin.

"Yeah it is a big red one.", Neville replied.

"OK. Now picture it very carefully and clearly. Can you see it in your mind?", Professor asked.

"Yes.", Neville said.

"I will open the wardrobe now, and as an when the boggart sees you, it will take the shape of Professor Snape. Then you should chant Riddikulus. You should say it clearly and without any hesitation. Boggarts have said to have inherited some of the abilities of the thing that, it is transformed into. You should also picture Professor Snape in your grandmother's clothes. If it all turns well, the Boggart will take the shape of Professor with your grandmother's clothes.", the Professor said,

There was a big amount of laughter at this. "If Neville is successful, the boggart will come to each of us to try and get us scared. So, each and every one of you will get a chance to face the boggart. I want you to think about what makes you scared the most and think of how to make it look funny.", the Professor said.

Natasha thought about what scares her the most. The first thing that came to her mind was Voldemort. Voldemort who comes back with his full power. But then when she was planning on how to make the Voldemort look funny, the image of a dementor came to her mind. But then, Natasha saw Ron muttering, "take its legs off.". Natasha knew what he was talking about. Ron's biggest fear was spiders.

"Is everyone ready?", the Professor asked.

Natasha was now in a state of panic. She had absolutely no idea, as to how to make a dementor look funny. But she knew that, she had to somehow find a way. "Neville, we are all going to back away now. After Neville finishes the thing, we are going to call one by one. Now all of you, move back so that Neville can face the boggart.

They all backed up and let Neville face the boggart. He was looking pale and scared and he pushed up his sleeves and got his wand ready. The wardrobe opened when, Professor Lupin performed the spell. As and when the wardrobe was opened, an angry looking Professor Snape came out of it, and his eyes were flashing at Neville. Neville backed away, with a small amount of fear in his eyes. Snape was coming towards him, and as and when he was about to open his mouth to say something, Neville chanted, "Riddikulus"

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. The whole class started laughing at this. Then Professor Lupin said, "Parvati! You are next.". Parvati came forward with a totally nervous look on her face. Professor Snape went towards her, and with a crack, it changed it's shape into a bloodstained bandaged mummy. Its face made Parvati go back a little bit in fear, but she managed to say, "Riddikulus."

A bandage unravelled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus, you are next.", Professor Lupin said. Seamus went past the girl. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face - a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Natasha's head stand on end - "Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus.

The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone. "Simran, you are next."

Natasha moved so that she could move and she went to face the boggart. When the boggart faced her, it became a big sized needle. She then closed her eyes, and then muttered 'Riddikulus'. The needle became a rod that was not pointy. Crack! The needle turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then - crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before - crack! - becoming a single, bloody eyeball.

"It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!"

Dean hurried forward.

Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab. Natasha was nervously waiting for her turn, as was Hermione. "Riddikulus!" yelled Dean. There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!"

Ron leapt forward. Crack!

Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, Natasha thought Ron had frozen.

Then - Riddikulus!" bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled over and over; Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt at Natasha's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but - "Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack!

The legless spider had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily. Crack!

"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the Boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined.

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter, and the Boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.

"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin 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 - ten for Neville because he did it twice...and five each to Hermione and Natasha.". Natasha was not happy with the answer, as she did want to face the Boggart and felt a little let out of it. The class left the room talking excitedly. "What happened to my banshee was hilarious!", Seamus said laughing.

"My needle too. Good thing I closed my eyes. I would have fainted at the sight of it.", Simran said.

"What Neville did to Snape was hilarious, isn't it?"

"I wonder why Lupin is scared of white orbs though.", Hermione said. But Natasha thought that, the rob did not look not just like a orb, but it also reminded her of moon.

"That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" said Ron excitedly as they made their way back to the classroom to get their bags.

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

"Yeah. Even me too!", Natasha said.

"What it would have been for you two?", Simran asked. "Do you think, You-know-who would have appeared for you?"

"Dunno. That is a good question.", Natasha said.

"What would it have been for you?" said Ron, to Hermione. "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?"