Chapter 1: The Boggart
Five long years had passed since that night in the forbidden forest and Hogwarts still remained Lily's home.
She was now sixteen years old and in her fifth year at Hogwarts.
Things were going well and she had many friends, but the ones she cared about more than anyone were Harry, Ron and Hermione.
The three of them were in Defence against the Dark Arts classroom, along with the other Griffindors and Slytherins.
Before them was a small wardrobe. Something was inside, clearly trying to get out, but the door was sealed shut.
"Would anyone like to venture a guess...as to what is inside?" asked Professor Lupin, their assigned teacher.
"That's a Boggart, that is." Stated a Griffindor.
"Very good, Mr. Thomas. Now, can anybody tell me what a Bogart looks like?" asked the Professor
Ron almost jumped out of his skin when a voice spoke from beside him. "No one knows," answered Hermione.
"When did she get here?" Ron asked in surprise.
"Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so..."
Hermione was cut by Professor Lupin. "-So terrifying, yes, yes, yes... 10 points to Gryffindor. Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart, 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 wants 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."
Neville, the toad boy from their first year at Hogwarts had always been the shy one and the one who usually messed up. He looked anxious.
Harry looked over at Hermione and whispered, "Where's Lily?"
Harry looked over at Hermione and whispered, "Where's Lily?"
Her eyes widened and she bit her lip. "I think she's still asleep."
While the rest of the class whispered amongst each other, Lupin was whispering something into Neville's ear.
"First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" He asked him/.
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."
The whole class heard the name of their Potions teacher and laughed.
Even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.
"Professor Snape... hmm... Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"
Neville nodded nervously. "Erm... Yes. But-I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either."
"No...it won't" said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I want you to picture her clothes. Only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind."
Neville looked startled, but replied nevertheless, "She carries a red handbag..."
Lupin raised a hand dismissively.
"- We don't need to hear. As long as you see it, we'll see it. Now, when I open that wardrobe...here's what I want you to do. Excuse me," said Professor Lupin to the rest of the class.
"Imagine Professor Snape in your grandmother's clothes. Can you do that?" Professor Lupin asked Neville.
"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. "One, two, three!" He waved his wand lightly and the wardrobe's door swung open.
"Think, Neville, think." He encouraged the worried boy beside him, while a replica of Professor Snape stepped out of the closet.
"R - r - riddikulus! " Squeaked Neville.
"Wonderful, Neville, wonderful! Incredible! Okay...to the back, Neville. Everyone, from a line!"
Hermione glanced at Harry and Ron, who were chatting with Seamus.
No one else noticed as she pulled out a golden chain, where a small hourglass hung delicately around her neck.
She turned it once before the class emptied and she was alone.
Lily's eyes burst open at the sudden shaking of her bed. "Ugh! Hermione!"
As soon as the sunlight hit her, she closed them once again.
"Wake up, Lily!" Hermione insisted, nudging Lily until she moved
"It's too early to wake up!" She moaned.
"Yeah... But you do realize you're late for class, right?" Her best friend laughed and before pulling the covers off of her.
Lily opened her eyes once again in shock. "What!?" She shouted. "Wait... Then why are you here? You're never late."
"Well actually I'm not, class starts in fifteen minutes so-" Lily groaned in frustration, cutting her off.
She opened her eyes and frowned. "So I'm late... But you're not... Yet we're both here... And class starts in ten minutes... Hermione... It's too early for this."
"I can go back in time," Hermione began, showing Lily the hourglass which she kept on the golden necklace.
"Where did you get that?" She asked in awe, suddenly wide awake.
"It's called a Time-Turner," Hermione whispered, so as no one could hear her. "And I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons."
Lily frowned. "Isn't that like... Against the laws of magic or something?"
Hermione nodded. "Professor McGonagall made me swear not to tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies."
Admiring the swirly patterns around the hourglass, Lily asked. "How does it work?"
"I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see?" Hermione explained.
Lily stared at her before nodding slowly. "Um... Yeah. But just one small question..."
Hermione put the necklace away, under her shirt. "Mm-mm?"
"Why on earth would you even want to be in two places at once?" Lily asked, yawning slightly.
Her best friend gave her an irritated look. "Because... Unlike some people... I actually care about my education."
"A little too much." Lily muttered under her breath. "OK! So are we going to class or what?"
Hermione nodded as Lily started to get dressed.. "Yup! But let me explain first." She stated. "We're learning how to defeat Boggarts..."
"Boggarts?" Lily repeated. "Ugh!
"When it shows your worst fear..." Lily's heart somehow accelerated. "You've got to imagine a way to make it funny and when you do... You wave your wand and say Riddikulas."
Lily nodded. "Thanks..."
"Well, we should go wait by the door, I'm in class right now as well,and in precisely... ten minutes from now, we'll be getting in line to each have a turn at defeating it. But if we want to go noticed, we've can't be seen."
Lily frowned. "Well that's helpful."
Hermione smiled at Lily and watched as she gathered all her books and supplies for today's lessons.
Lily picked up her nine inch, walnut wood wand. It a phoenix feather core, with two unicorn hairs and one veela hair.
It had been lying beside her dark leather handbag, which happened to have a small griffindor charm attached to the zip.
Almost every witch and wizard kept their wands placed in the inside pocket of their coats, just to make it easier to grab it when they needed it, and Lily was no exception.
"Finished?" asked Hermione patiently, and Lily nodded.
Lily and Hermione were standing inside of the Gryffindor's common room, in front of the door and before Lily and her stepped out.
Hermione opened it up a bit to see if anyone was walking up, or down the stairs.
"Remember: we can not be seen," She reminded Lily and with that; both of the young witches stepped down the stairs and were headed to classroom where Professor Lupin had his Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, on the first floor.
Lily heard a noise that sounded a lot like old chains, rattling from above.
The two girls looked up and spotted Peeves: the poltergeist.
"Oh, no." Lily sighed. "Run." She whispered to Hermione.
Hermione just shook her head as in 'no' and looked up at Peeves. Who was still playing with the chains. "It doesn't seem as if he has noticed us and with luck, he may not." Whispered Hermione. "Let's go."
It wasn't going to be that simple, though. They hadn't gone more than a doze paces when a doorknob and something came shooting out of nowhere in front of them.
It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.
"Be quiet, Peeves-please-you'll get us in trouble." Said Lily. Peeves cackled.
"Wandering around in the castle instead of being in class? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."
"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." said Lily again.
"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."
"Get out of the way," snapped Hermione, taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake.
"STUDENTS NOT AT CLASS!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS NOT AT CLASS!" Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives and down the stairs.
"Sometimes I wonder if you really are as clever, Hermione." said Lily while she followed the other witch, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door and it was locked.
"This could be it! We're so dead!" Lily moaned, as she pushed helplessly at the door. "This could definitely be it!" They could hear footsteps, Flich running as fast as he could towards Peeves's shouts.
"Please, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed her wand from the inside pocket of her coat and tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"
The lock clicked and the door swung open, they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.
"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."
"Say 'please."'
"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"
"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.
"All right -please."
"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.
"He thinks this door is locked," Hermione whispered. "I think we'll be okay- you can let go now, Lily."
Lily had been tugging on the sleeve of Hermione's school cloak for the last minute. "What?"
Hermione turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, she was sure she'd walked into a nightmare.
They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.
They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor.
It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.
It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Lily knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.
Hermione groped for the doorknob-between Filch and death, she'd take Filch.
They fell backward, Hermione slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared.
All they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster.
They didn't stop running until they reached Professor Lupin's class in Defence Against the Dark on the first floor.
"Wonderful, Neville, wonderful! Incredible! Okay...to the back, Neville. Everyone, from a line!" Heard both Lily and Hermione Professor Lupin say. "Hide!"
Whispered Hermione and pushed Lily back behind the door. While they watched the other Hermione sneak out of the classroom and towards the stairs to
Gryffindor's common room to wake Lily up.
Lily stared after the other Hermione, her mouth agape. "This is so wired." She stated.
Hermione grinned. "I know right." She chuckled, watching her past self. "Hang on... Is that really how my hair looks like at the back?"
Lily chuckled. "Come on, I think we should go in now."
They entered the room and no one saw as they made their way to the back of the line, well everyone except Harry. "God, Lily... Almost thought you weren't coming."
Hermione and her exchanged glances. "I almost forgot where the classroom was." She stated, smiling.
Almost an half an hour had passed when it was Ron's turn to face the Boggart.
Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on him, clicking its pincers menacingly.
For a moment, Lily thought Ron had frozen. Then-"Riddikulus!" he bellowed, and eight colourful roller skates appeared on the spider's feet, if you could call them that.
"Yes! You see? Very good, very good! Marvellous! Absolutely very, very enjoyable! Lily Jones, next! Step up. Show us what you see. Keep your nerve."
Lily saw the look of fear on Ron's face after facing the giant spider and took a deep breath knowing she was next.
Hermione gave her an encouraging smile before Lupin called her up.
She stumbled forward after someone gave her a gentle nudge.
"Hagrid." She corrected him, her heart racing.
As much as she liked Lupin as a teacher, it was very frustrating when he- or any other teacher called her by her real name.
It reminded her of her visit with Pan. She shuddered.
Her eyes widened in worry, he was her biggest fear. And when the Boggart changed its form into a hooded figure with a multicoloured cloak, she couldn't hold it it. "Shit." She whispered.
There were gasps from behind her and Lily was shaking with fear.
Boggart Pan removed his hood and smirked at Lily.
She froze. Her throat constricted as she listened to the blood pounding in her ears.
Every muscle in her body screamed at her to flee, but she remained frozen.
The Boggart walked towards her, "Hello Lily." It whispered. "Long time no see..."
Lupin seemed to notice the fear in her eyes because before anyone could stop him, which they probably wouldn't have anyway, he intervened.
"Here!" He shouted suddenly, hurrying forward.
Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of him.
He pulled out his wand and said, "Riddikulus!" The Boggart flew directly back into the wardrobe. "Right, well, sorry about that. Ah, that's enough for today. If you'd all like to collect your books from the back of the class, that's the end of the lesson."Thank you... sorry, sorry, you've already had too much of a good thing," He faced, Lily who was staring at the wardrobe with fear still in her eyes.
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