CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE BOGGART
The next day, before breakfast, my friends and I went down to Hagrid's to see how he was, and we were gratefully to discover that he hadn't been fired. However, that didn't mean we weren't worried about him. No, somewhere down the grapevine we learnt that Lucius Malfoy was furious and wanted revenge for what happened to his son. Hence, Hagrid would have to go to a hearing. All of us vowed to him that we would help him develop a strong case for Buckbeak.
Anyway, after breakfast we had our first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Lupin. I wasn't excited about it. I merely assumed that we had gotten another incompetent teacher for the post. Still, that didn't mean I was hoping that he would be a good teacher. I mean, anyone had to be better than Lockhart and Quirrell, right?
When we arrived at the classroom, we were surprised to find that Lupin wasn't present, but it wasn't long after our arrival that he appeared. Out of all the teachers at Hogwarts, Lupin definitely was the tattiest dressed of them all. However, he nonetheless smiled kindly at us all.
'Good morning,' he greeted. 'I see that you have already gotten your books out, but I'm afraid you won't be needing them today. No, today's lesson will be a practical one. All that you will need is yourselves and your wands.'
My classmates and I all exchanged looks as we put our books away. We were all slightly nervous about the practical lesson. The only practical lesson we had had in this subject was last year, back when Lockhart let those pixies loose in class. None of us were yet to forget that lesson.
Once we were all quite again, Lupin told us to follow him. This made us even more nervous, but we were also curious too.
As a group, we followed our teacher out of the classroom and along the dessert corridor. At the first corner, he turned right down another corridor, leading us directly to the teachers' staffroom. Surprisingly he led us inside, where we found Uncle Severus, sitting in one of the low armchairs looking at us.
'Good morning, Professor Snape,' Lupin greeted as he began to close the staff room door.
Uncle Severus didn't return the greeting.
'Leave the door open. I rather not witness your lesson, especially now that I can see who is in your class,' he said rudely, before sweeping past us all.
'Someone's in a foul mood this morning,' Ron muttered to Hermione and I. 'Wonder what's got his wand in a knot.'
'I think he just despises Lupin,' I whispered back. I couldn't understand why he hates Lupin so much.
I then jumped, with the rest of the class, when the teachers' wardrobe gave a sudden wobble.
'There's nothing to worry about,' Lupin said calmly. 'There's only a boggart in there.'
'What's a boggart?' someone asked nervously.
'That is an excellent question,' said Lupin, 'and maybe one of your classmates can tell you.'
It was no surprise when Hermione's hand went into the air.
'Yes, Hermione?'
I was surprised that he knew Hermione's name, but then I remembered Ron telling me how they had to share a compartment with him on the Hogwarts Express. I assumed he had learnt it then.
'Boggart's are shape-shifters,' she informed us. 'They take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most.'
'I couldn't have put it better myself,' said Lupin, making a pleased smile appear on Hermione's face. '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, Harri?'
A jumped at being addressed. How did he know my name? It didn't take me long to figure it out. I assumed that my scar was showing.
'Seeing as there are so many of us, the boggart won't know what form to take,' I replied.
'Precisely. It's always best to have company when dealing with a boggart as he'll become confused. However, the charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires power of the mind. 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.'
'Easier said than done,' I muttered.
'We'll practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... Riddikulus!'
'Riddikulus!' we all said together.
'Good,' said Lupin, 'but that was the easy part. You see, the word alone is not enough. This is where the power of mind comes into play, which is harder than one would expect. So… Neville, could you please help me with a demonstration.'
Neville paled dramatically. He never helped with anything, especially when it was something like this.
'Come on, don't be shy,' Lupin continued with an encouraging smile.
Shaking, Neville nervously approached Lupin.
'Okay, Neville,' Lupin said, once Neville was beside him. 'First things first: what frightens you most?'
Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.
'Sorry, I didn't catch that, Neville,' Lupin said cheerfully.
'Professor Snape,' Neville managed to choke out.
Nearly everyone laughed. Admittedly, I had a lot of trouble not joining in. As the said professor's niece, I knew Uncle Severus the best. Hence, I knew what a big softie he truly was.
'He scares all,' Lupin joked lightly, seeing that Neville looked embarrassed, though I noticed that he glanced at me when he said that. Could it be that he knew the truth? Did he know that Uncle Severus and I were related?
'I believe you live with your grandmother?' Lupin continued.
'Y-yes,' Neville said fretfully, 'but I don't want the boggart to turn into her either.'
I frowned. Why would Neville be scared of the boggart becoming his grandmother? Why was he scared of her?
'You misunderstand me, Neville,' Lupin said gently. 'I merely want you to picture her clothes very clearly in your head. Then, when the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape. I need you to raise your wand and say Riddikulus, concentrating hard on your grandmother's clothes.'
The wardrobe wobbled more violently.
'Are you ready, Neville?'
'No,' Neville said quietly.
'Of course you are,' Lupin said reassuringly. 'I have great faith in you that you can do this. I wouldn't have asked, otherwise.'
I smiled as I saw Neville stand up a lot straighter. No one had ever said that to him before.
Lupin smiled at Neville, before opening the wardrobe.
Hook-nosed and menacing, Uncle Severus stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. Neville backed away, his wand up; mouthing wordlessly, before squeaking out, 'R - r - riddikulus!'
This resulted in a noise like a whip crack. Uncle Severus 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 stopped, confused. I was nearly on the ground laughing. It was ten times worse for me, as I was picturing the real Uncle Severus, the one that looks like my father, wearing that outfit. I was laughing that hard that I had tears running down my face.
'You right there, Harry?' Ron laughed.
'I'm never going to be able to look at Snape the same way again!' I informed him.
'I know what you mean!'
'Well done, Neville!' Lupin congratulated. 'Right, everyone, form a line and think about what frightens you the most. You'll then step forward and change it into something you find funny. Right, Parvati.'
Parvati stepped forward, her face set. Uncle Severus 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. I thought this was an interesting fear and I wondered what made her so afraid of mummies.
'Riddikulus!' she cried.
A bandage unravelled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.
'That was gracefully,' I muttered to Hermione, who was behind me.
She laughed lightly.
'Seamus!'
Seamus darted past Parvati. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length, black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face. It was a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that hurt my ears. Again, I was surprised with my friend's fear.
'Riddikulus!' Seamus shouted.
The banshee made a harsh noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone. The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle.
Again and again, my classmates rushed forward, eager to have a go. The fears all varied, like everyone's personality varied. There were snakes, spiders, everything imaginable, until it was my turn. Up to this point, I had been debating what my greatest fear was. Was it Uncle Tom, or was it the fear of losing Uncle Severus, Grandfather or Grandmother? In the end, I figured it would be best to think about Uncle Tom. He, at least, wouldn't lead to any awkward questions or justifications.
However, I never got the chance to face the boggart as Lupin stepped in between me and the boggart. It turned into a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said lazily, 'Riddikulus!'
The boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach.
'Neville, come forward and finish it off!' he said, stepping aside to allow Neville to face it.
Crack! Uncle Severus was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined.
'Riddikulus!' he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Uncle Severus 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!' Lupin cried 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 we didn't do anything,' I said. I tried really hard to keep the note of disappointment out of my voice. Why didn't he allow me to face it?
'Yes you did,' Lupin said lightly. 'You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class.' He then addressed the rest of the class. 'Excellent lesson, everyone. For homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarise it for me. Hand it in on Monday. That will be all.'
The class talked excitedly as we left the staffroom, but I couldn't help but feel slightly dejected. I was still brooding of the fact that Lupin hadn't let me face the boggart. Maybe it was just my Valkyrie side being put out about not having the chance to have some excitement.
'Don't you wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?' I heard Lavender comment thoughtfully.
'It did seem like a strange fear,' Seamus agreed.
'Who is to say why someone's fear is weird,' I said absently. 'Everyone has a good reason why they are scared of something. Like why are you scared of banshees? Surely you have not met one. For all we know, the crystal ball maybe a representation of something. Maybe he's scare of Trelawney.'
Hermione snorted at that.
'Well, he seems like a very good teacher,' she said approvingly. 'I only wish I could have had a turn with the boggart.'
'What would it have been for you?' Ron asked with a snigger. 'A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?'
Hermione gave Ron a look.
'I have gotten nines out of ten in the past, Ronald!' she said hotly.
'I doubt it,' Ron said tactlessly.
I rolled my eyes as another one of their petty arguments.
-THE UNMASKED MYSTERY-
For the rest of the day, nothing exciting happened. However, Uncle Severus somehow learnt of Neville's boggart, which made him even nastier to Neville in their Potions lesson that afternoon. Obviously he didn't find it that funny. This was something I commented on when I secretly visited him that night.
'James,' I said to the portrait guarding my uncle's quarters.
With the password spoken, the portrait opened and I stepped inside to find Uncle Severus sitting on the lounge reading a book.
When I saw him, I couldn't help the smile appear on my face as I remembered the boggart.
'Wipe that smile off your face,' he growled.
'Sorry, but it was funny,' I chuckled, before sitting on the couch next to him. 'You would have laughed if you had of been there.'
'I seriously doubt it,' he replied coldly.
I frowned.
'Why are you being so cold?' I couldn't help the note of hurt entering my tone. 'You're acting like Snape!'
Uncle Severus sighed, closing his book.
'I know, sweetheart,' he said, facing me. 'I'm just annoyed about the Aurors lacking ability to catch Black. If I didn't have a responsibility here with you kids I would go after him myself.'
'Is that wise?' I asked a little timidly. 'I mean, you're bent on revenge. You may do something you'd regret.'
Uncle Severus looked at me suspiciously.
'Have you been listening into your Grandfather's and my conversations?'
'I may have accidently overheard a few,' I admitted. 'Why?'
'Because they are nearly the exact same words Father said to me.'
'Really? Then there must be some truth in my words!' I said with a cheeky smile.
'Very funny.'
'So is Black the only thing annoying you?'
'There are other issues, none of which are your concern.'
'Uncle Sev, why do you hate Professor Lupin?' I asked suddenly.
'I don't hate him, I just don't trust him.'
'Why?'
Sighing, Uncle Severus got to his feet and went over to one of his book shelves and pulled a handsome, brown leather book off the shelf, and brought it over to me. He then opened it to reveal photos of his childhood. He absently flicked through until he came to a group photo of four, seventh year boys. I recognised Dad immediately as I could see myself in him as Harry Potter. He had his arms draped over two other boys either side of him. One was a very handsome with longish black hair, while the other was tired looking with sandy hair. Next to the boy with sandy hair was a boy who reminded me of Neville.
'That's Lupin, right there,' Uncle Severus said, pointing to the teenager with sandy hair. 'He was one of James' best friends.'
'So why don't you trust him?' I was confused. Why didn't he trust one of Dad's friends unless… 'You think that he's in lead with Black?'
'I don't know, but I don't want to risk your safety,' Uncle Severus replied as he stared down at his twin's face.
'Is that Black?' I asked, pointing to the handsome boy.
'Yes, and that boy is Peter Pettigrew. A wimp and talentless boy. I still can't understand what James saw in him. The only Gryffindor quality he showed was when he confronted Black after your parents' death. Needless to say, Black killed him, along with those Muggles. No, kill is an understatement. He destroyed him. All they could find of Pettigrew was his finger.'
I stared at Uncle Severus, horrified.
'Looking at this photo, you would have thought that the Marauders would be friends for life,' Uncle Severus sighed.
'The Marauders?'
'That's what the four of them used to call themselves.'
He then smiled a small smile and handed her the photo album.
'Keep it,' he said. 'It was your fathers.'
'Can we look through the photos together?' I asked hopefully.
'Of course,' he said with a smile.
Sitting closely together, the relatives began to flick the photo album. I had a lot of fun laughing at some of the photos of Uncle Severus and Dad as children. There were also some very cute photos of them too. Through these photos, I learnt aside of Dad and Uncle Severus that I never thought that I would knew. And through these photos, I felt closer to the father I'd never have the chance to know. It made me miss him more than I had before. It made me wish, more than ever, that they were still alive and with me.
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Written: 2 June 2013
Updated: N/A
Beta: BETA WANTED
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THIS STORY. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FANDUB CREATED BY FANS, FOR FANS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, FAIR USE ONLY. I DO, HOWEVER, CLAIM SOME COPYRIGHT OVER HARRI SINCE SHE IS HALF BASED ON MY ORIGINAL VALKYRIE CHARACTER, PRINCESS HARRIETTA.
