Rogue walked into the classroom just as all the students had settled into their desks. She looked around the room but didn't see Remus so she took a seat in the back of the room. She had just sat down when a blonde haired student with slicked back hair turned around in his seat to look at her.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned with a sneer earning the attention of the entire class. "Are we learning how to kill mutants?" there were a few snickers from the others in his house.
Rogue smiled sweetly and leaned forward on her desk. "Not on your best day, sugar." She drawled out sweetly causing half the class to burst out laughing and the boy to frown before turning away.
Rogue leaned back in her chair as Lupin walked into the room. "Books away, today we will have a practical lesson." He said.
There were murmurs all around the room at this as the student hesitantly put their books away and pulled out their wands. Lupin waited and Rogue choose at that moment to get up and stand beside him.
"Practical?" she asked him. "You're not gonna have 'em shot hex's and curses at me are ya? Cause ah should warn ya, ah have a tendency ta get cranky about that stuff?" she said good naturedly.
"No, no." he said shaking his head with a smile. "Not yet anyway." He then turned his attention back to the class who all had their wands out and were still looking around confused. Rogue guessed they had never had a 'practical' lesson in this class before. "Okay class follow me." He said and led them out of the room.
Rogue decided to hang back and watch, lucky for her Potter and his friends were right in front of her and at the end of the line. She stayed back so that they wouldn't notice her and so she could catch bits of their conversation.
"But I don't understand why Black would be after you, Harry." The girl with the wild hair said.
"I don't know either but it's what Ron's dad said and that I shouldn't go looking for him." Potter told her.
"But why would he think you would go after a man who wanted to kill you?" the red head asked incredulously.
"Shhh, not so loud Ron." Potter scolded.
Their conversation ended as the class piled into what looked like the teachers' lounge. Rogue walked in past Lupin as he held the door open for the rest of the class.
"Inside, please," said Lupin, opening it and standing back.
The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."
He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel 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."
The boy in question went scarlet. Harry Rogue was surprised that the teacher had bullied this poor kid not only in front of his classmates but int front of a fellow teacher as well. There had to be a rule or something about that somewhere.
Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows.
"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."
Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.
"Now, then," said Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
"Nothing to worry about," said Lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a boggart in there."
Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and another boy eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said 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?"
Granger, Potters friend, put up her hand.
"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most." Rogue couldn't help but think of her mother, the way the girl described it was almost uncanny.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Lupin, and the girl glowed at the praise. "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," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
"Er—because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" rogue suddenly wondered what would happen if the boggart were to face her. would it turn into what she most feared or would it explode trying to figure out what to shift into due to all the psyches in her head.
"Precisely," said Lupin, and Granger put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. "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 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!" said the class together.
"Good," said Professor Lupin. "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, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.
"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.
"didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.
Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."
Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful. Rogue tried not to grin too hard, she had seen scarier truckers when she was thirteen and on her own.
"Professor Snape... hmmm... 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."
"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother 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.
"A big red one," said Neville.
"Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"Yes," said Neville uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next.
"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees You, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And You will raise your wand—thus—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."
There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently. Rogue gave up on hiding her amusement and let a wide smile grace her lips as she ducked her head so as not to make the boy any more nervous then he already was.
"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "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..." rogue tried to think of the thing she was most afraid of, Apocalypse? No, Sinister? No, she knew what she was afraid of. Rogue was afraid to lose control to the psyches again. She was afraid she would kill someone next time, she felt like a ticking time bomb.
"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin.
"Neville, we're going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "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 —"
They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. Rogue decided to stand next to Remus for the best view. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.
"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One two—three—now!"
A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.
Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.
"R—r—riddikulus! "squeaked Neville.
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.
There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"
Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising —
"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.
A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin.
Seamus darted past Parvati.
Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floorlength 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 Rogue's head stand on end—'Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus.
The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.
Crack! The banshee 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.
"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, Rogue 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 Harry'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 Harry."
"But I didn't do anything," said Harry.
"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."
Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. But no one else seemed to have noticed that Remus had dived in front of the boggart other than Harry. Rogue wondered why. But what really bugged her was what he had been afraid of, a yellow orb, almost like a moon. Rogue would let it go for now but would file it away for later. She had the tingling feeling in the back of her brain again. This had something to do with Black she just knew it. Maybe all those years living with Destiny had given her a sixth sense about these things.
A/N
thank you to the three of you who reviewed! you are awesom and i thank you for it. i glot this last passage right from the book. i hope you enjoy and please review it makes me write faster!