This chapter contains the Boggart scene from the books. I realize that the scene is problematic and upsetting to people, and while She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the extremely problematic author, I found that this scene is pivotal in the story. While I agree with Neville overcoming his fears, the way in which She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did this was just not it in light of her views.
The entire first section is the Boggart scene. If you would like to skip it, I will include a summary at the bottom, since Ariel's reaction is important.
Ariel had resolved not to speak to Hermione, while Ron had resolved not to speak to either of them, opting to spend his time with Dean and Seamus.
She'd noticed that had been more of a recent trend since they'd returned to Hogwarts, and she couldn't say that she blamed Ron. Ariel knew he got teased for his two best friends being girls, but she wished that he didn't look like he was having a grand old time when she and Hermione were both clearly miserable.
George had made Ariel a paper crown for the Potion's incident, which she'd chucked into the rubbish bin when he hadn't been looking. Everyone thought Ariel telling Snape where to shove it was just about the greatest thing on the planet, besides the Slytherins, who were sending Ariel horrid looks and trying to Hex her when her back was turned. Unfortunately for the Slytherins, Ariel was quicker most of the time, but Ginny had intervened at breakfast that morning and sent them scattering like cockroaches. Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex was enough to even make Ariel a bit fearful of making her mad.
Neville was the only one who seemed to be trying to speak to Ariel about something other than Snape, and it was clearly only because he felt bad for what had happened. She'd told him repeatedly that it was Malfoy's stupid bloody fault more than anyone else's, but he kept insisting if he hadn't been such a hopeless cause at Potions that Ariel never would have had to stick up for him. She didn't really know what to say to that. If it hadn't been poisoning Neville's toad, Ariel had begun to realize that she would've blown up on Snape for something else instead.
Luckily, the following morning was Ariel's first Defense class with Professor Lupin. She'd been looking forward to it all week, almost having completely forgotten about it, the dread of that first Potions class overshadowing everything else.
Professor Lupin had led them into the faculty lounge, which Ariel had never seen the inside of before. There was a whole bunch of mismatched old furniture, a kitchenette, and an entire wall of bookcases. In front of that was a long table with what looked like enough chairs for every professor gathered around it. She was so busy gawking at the room that she almost didn't notice Snape.
He was seated in front of the fireplace in a rather large armchair, so large that if he wasn't so skinny, he might've sunk into it. He was sitting with a book in his lap — it was the copy of Jane Eyre that Hermione had sent her — wait a minute —
Neville stiffened next to Ariel, shuffling behind her so that his face was out of view. Professor Lupin was about to shut the door when Snape closed the book with an audible snap, his black eyes glittering.
"Leave it open, Lupin." Snape said, a sneer playing on his lips. "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, his glare cutting though the lot of them. "Possibly no one's warned you, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult — not unless Miss Evans is hissing instructions in his ear."
Neville let out a sound that sounded like a squeak. Snape didn't even look at Ariel. She felt her insides shrivel up like a piece of parchment left out in the sun.
Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows, but Ariel could see a small frown twisting at his lips, like there was something he was thinking about saying. "I was actually hoping that Neville would assist me with today's class. I'm sure he will perform admirably."
Neville's face went, somehow, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a hard bang.
Ariel swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and tried to avoid the worried looks Hermione kept shooting her. Ron wouldn't even look at her, but he was shaking his head, like he was just barely holding back a comment from Dean and Seamus, who were still glaring at the door.
"Now, then," Professor Lupin beckoned the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe. As he went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.
The class all exchanged wary glances amongst themselves, thinking back to when Lockhart had set pixies on them in their first class only to abandon them not even ten minutes in. Ariel really hoped this wasn't about to be a similar situation.
"There's a Boggart in there, nothing to worry about." Professor Lupin gave the wardrobe a pat, like that was going to calm down whatever was in there. "Can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?"
Hermione's hand shot up. Ariel noticed Ron rolling his eyes.
Professor Lupin nodded in acknowledgment at Hermione, who cleared her throat. "It's a shape-shifter — it can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten you the most."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Professor Lupin smiled, nodding. "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 fear the most."
Neville made a sound like he was choking on his tongue.
"This means that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin." Professor Lupin continued. "Have you spotted it, Ariel?"
She felt her stomach jolt — she hated cold calling. Ariel could feel Hermione's eyes probing the back of her head, practically oozing the answer. "Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Excellent," he beamed at her, and she couldn't help but return it. "The Boggart will instantly become confused. Now, 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!" the class echoed.
"Very good," Professor Lupin said. "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."
Ariel felt him jerk forward with a start. She nudged him with her elbow. "I'll come with you," she whispered.
Neville only gave a whimper of fear. Ariel grabbed his wrist and gave him a tug forward as he finally stumbled to the front of the class, like he was walking to his grave. Ariel stood right behind him, keeping her eyes on the wardrobe as she thought of what might be in there — of what it might —
"Right, Neville," Professor Lupin wrapped a supportive arm around his shoulders as Neville trembled. "First things first — what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
Neville's made a noise that sounded like wind whistling through a log. Even Ariel couldn't make it out, and she was standing practically on top of him.
"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," Professor Lupin said, almost cheerfully.
Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging Ariel to help him. She frowned, but only for a second, as she knew why when he squeaked out the answer. "Professor Snape."
Everyone except Ariel laughed, who felt like she'd been dropped into a bucket of ice water. Professor Lupin was the only other person who didn't look amused, but rather thoughtful instead.
"Professor Snape… I see. Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"
"Yes," Neville said, giving Professor Lupin another panicked look. "But — but I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either!"
Most of the class laughed again — except Ariel (again). She noticed from the corner of her eye that Hermione seemed to be inching closer and tried to pretend like she didn't notice her. She would acknowledge Hermione when Hermione acknowledged that Ariel wasn't stupid.
"No, no, you misunderstand me," Professor Lupin smiled. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"
Neville blinked. "Well, she always wears 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?"
"A big red one."
Seamus gave a ripping snort. Ariel's stomach was doing somersaults.
"Right, then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
Neville hesitated for a moment before answering. "Yes…"
Ariel's heart continued to plummet as Professor Lupin began to give Neville instructions. She knew it wasn't coming from a place of malice — that Neville needed this, especially after how horrible Snape had been to him yesterday — but Ariel couldn't shake the nausea beginning to pool in the pit of her stomach. She felt so — so —
Mortified — embarrassed — angry. That was it. They weren't necessarily in that order, but Ariel could feel them swirling around inside her, creating a whirlpool that made her palms begin to sweat as Professor Lupin began to prepare Neville to cast the Charm.
"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape." Professor Lupin said, his voice low and soothing. "However, when you raise your wand and shout Riddikulus while concentrating on your grandmother's clothes, 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. Ariel could feel her fingers doing the same.
"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 us to think about what frightens you most of all, and how you would make it look comical."
Ariel swallowed and tried to think, tried to think of something else other than Snape coming out of that wardrobe. She could've given Professor Lupin a list with bullet points of things that frightened her if he'd asked for it. There was Voldemort in the various forms he'd taken —
Tell me tell me what it said
Darkness seeping into the Great Hall, into her bones —
Seize her seize her until I am done with her — Master please Master —
Please die please just give up and die —
It's just you and me girl
The floor shaking as the Basilisk moved, Tom's crazed laugh as he threw her into the Chamber —
A full Voldemort returned to power. That Voldemort had made her mum scream —
Ariel thought of the vault inside her that had cracked open, the endless cold that had pulled her under, like she'd been drowning —
Let it out, my girl —
"Everyone ready?" Professor Lupin called.
No —
How the hell was Ariel supposed to make that less frightening? She couldn't — there was nothing — nothing left in the vault of her heart —
Someone was beside Ariel, trying to pull her back, but her eyes were glued to the wardrobe as it rattled violently. Hermione gave her arm a shake. "Ariel, come on, let's use the loo, we'll come back —"
"Neville, we're going to back away," Professor Lupin went on, almost mercilessly. "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 —"
Everyone retreated to the back of the room, everyone except Ariel and Hermione, who was tugging her away, but Ariel's feet felt like they'd been stuck in dried cement.
Neville turned to give Ariel a shaky, grateful smile. "You don't have to stay."
Ariel could barely shake her head. "It's okay," she heard herself say, but couldn't tell if she meant it for Neville or Hermione. She had to stay. She didn't know why, but another fear was creeping in, one that she hadn't thought of until she'd thought of an invincible Voldemort.
"On the count of three, Neville," Professor Lupin said as he pointed his wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three — now!"
A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand like fireworks and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open, the door smacking against the back wall with a sound that made everyone jump. Ariel heard Neville's breath catch as her heart hammered against her ribs.
She felt a jolt of shock go down her spine as the Boggart emerged from the wardrobe, because it did look exactly like Snape, only she'd rarely seen glances of this Snape. This was the one who had swiped Tom's head clean off his shoulders in the Chamber, the look on his face so full of malice that it was hard to look at, getting even harder to breath —
And then Boggart-Snape's eyes turned on Ariel, because she was standing right beside Neville — she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, the look on his face enough to make her knees weak as he reached into his black robes — and Ariel couldn't — couldn't —
"R-R-Riddikulus!" Neville strangled out finally.
There was a noise like a whip crack, causing Ariel to flinch. Boggart-Snape stumbled, and his black robes were gone, leaving him 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 sound that came out of Ariel's mouth was drowned out by the laughter of everyone else. Even Professor Lupin was chuckling as he opened what looked to be a record player and set the needle down with a loud scraaatch sound. Ariel had seen it in his office when they'd had tea over the summer and had wanted to ask him what kind of music he liked to listen to. Now, Ariel wanted to break it in half.
Someone's hands were on her shoulders, gripped her hand, squeezing her fingers around Ariel's.
"It's okay," Hermione's voice was whispering, so quiet only Ariel could hear. "It's okay —"
"Parvati, forward!" Professor Lupin shouted, beckoning everyone to start making a line.
Ariel felt very hot and shaky all over, like she was going to throw up. Now it was strictly mortification surging through her, an ugly thing roiling inside her chest as the class began to surge forward to have their turn with the Boggart. Dean had actually keeled over with laughter, still gripping at the wall, which was when Ariel noticed Ron wiping tears from his eyes.
"I have to use the loo," Ariel forced out, pushing past Hermione as she ripped free of her hand. She barely caught a glimpse of the look of concern that flashed across Professor Lupin's face as she threw the door open.
She did not return.
The girl had missed lunch.
It wasn't abnormal, although in the past, Severus had belittled Miss Evans for missing meals, and he supposed that it was highly probable that she was avoiding him after her display yesterday. He'd resolved that Miss Evans would likely need several days before it was a good idea to approach her — and Merlin knew needed it too — but he also knew that the longer this thing festered, the harder it would be for the girl to listen.
And Severus needed her to listen. He'd realized that he'd never needed anything more in his life.
He supposed he hadn't made it easier with his comments in Lupin's class, but he hated the fact that the werewolf was teaching his daughter, that he was in any sort of close proximity to her. Lupin didn't deserve to breathe the same air as the girl did. Longbottom, on the other hand, was a waste of air, hindering the girl's ability to do anything in his class —
Severus hated the lot of them. Longbottom was a nuisance, only a boy, but Lupin had no excuse, and to blame above them all was Dumbledore, who, despite preaching that he wished for nothing but the girl's safety and happiness, refused to acknowledge Severus' concerns about the goddamn werewolf.
When Miss Evans didn't show up for dinner either, Severus began to worry.
Granger was picking at her food, sending worried looks around the Great Hall. Weasley-twerp was doing similarly, only he was doing a much better job of hiding it, at least attempting to look interested in the conversation that was being had with the other little cretins. Severus quickly realized that there must have been trouble in paradise — Weasley-twerp and Granger bickered incessantly, but it was unusual for Miss Evans to have been sucked into their feud.
Severus also knew that the girl dealt with any sort of problem by not dealing with it at all. She practically made faking her way through any sort of strife an art form — he supposed he was to blame for that.
He didn't bother sitting down for dinner. Severus immediately pivoted and made his way to the library to see if the girl had holed herself up there, silently praying that she had. The little idiot had stopped carrying the coin with her, and while Severus would have loved to, the only sort of Tracking Charm he could have used in the moment would have made Dumbledore very unhappy.
After scouring the library, Owlery, several alcoves, and outside of Lupin's office, there was still no sign of her. An unsettling feeling had been digging into Severus' skin, sending pins and needles jolting through his fingertips as he forced his panic under the blanket of Occlumency.
Severus was on his way to interrogate the Fat Lady and demand to know if the girl was inside when he found the werewolf lurking at the bottom of the staircase that led to her Tower. He stalled in the shadows of the corridor, watching him, while Lupin glanced nervously up the stairs, as though he were waiting for someone.
Severus could feel his loathing bubbling up inside him like a kettle coming to a boil. Of all the fucking people for Severus to run into, why the hell did it have to be Lupin?
He narrowed his eyes, silently cursing his luck when the werewolf finally spotted him. Lupin's eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly straightened up.
"Severus," Lupin greeted him cautiously. "What brings you here?"
He was about to tell Lupin to fuck right off when his anger dissolved into confusion when he saw Lupin's face. He looked tired, anxious, and somehow... different than the person he'd slammed the door on earlier that day.
Suspicious, Severus found himself walking towards Lupin instead of avoiding him. "I could ask you the same thing, wolf. As a Head of House, I'm doing my rounds — the same cannot be said for you."
Lupin raised an eyebrow. "A bit early for rounds, isn't it?"
"Don't tell me how to do my job," Severus bit out viciously. "I won't ask again — what are you doing here? Or perhaps we should take a little walk up to the Headmaster's Tower and you can explain why it looks like you're waiting for someone."
The wolf's eyes flickered with frustration as he glanced up the staircase again. "I'm not waiting for anyone, Severus. I was just… taking a walk."
Severus narrowed his eyes, scanning Lupin for any signs of deceit. As much as he wanted to catch him in a lie, there was nothing other than the fact that Lupin was not at dinner like everyone else — as Severus was — and the fact that he hated Lupin's fucking guts. He continued to glare at Lupin, trying to discern whether or not he was telling the truth. He couldn't shake the feeling that something else was off, but before he could say anything else, Lupin sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know why I'm bothering to ask you this," Lupin paused for a half a beat. "you wouldn't happen to have seen Ariel Evans, have you?"
Something from deep beneath his Occlumency pulsed into the light. Severus tried to snatch it, tried to contain it, but it slipped from his grasp before he could even put a name to it.
"Why?" Severus snarled, the word coming out much louder than Severus would have liked. He quickly recovered, wiping the startled look from Lupin's face. "What's she done now?"
"Nothing, nothing," Lupin shifted uneasily on his feet. Severus thought about kicking them out from underneath, interrogating him for what he knew — where was she were had she gone —
"As you very well know, I had her class yesterday, Lupin."
"Yes, I'm aware." something flashed in his brown eyes, something that seemed… irritated. That was certainly new. "I only meant if you'd seen her in passing at all. She left class earlier and didn't return."
What did you do you absolute fucking DOG —
"I haven't," Severus hesitated, weighing his options. He knew Lupin was definitely hiding something now, but he needed to be careful not to tip his hand. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to play along with Lupin's request. "If you are that concerned, you should alert Minerva, but then again, you've never been one to take initiative, have you? Shall I do it, then?"
Lupin's eyes narrowed as his gaze tightened, jaw twitching. The air between them became tense and thick with an unspoken challenge. For a moment, Severus considered pushing Lupin further, to see what else he could glean from him, but decided against it. The girl had left class and hadn't been seen since — Severus needed to find her — where had she gone where had she gone —
Lupin finally grimaced. "I should have realized…" he murmured to himself, shaking his head as he turned.
"Realized what?" Severus spoke before he could reconsider what Lupin would take from him asking such a question, but it didn't fucking matter. The girl missing, however, very much did.
"The Boggart," Lupin replied quietly. "Merlin only knows what form it would have taken… I should have expected this."
An unpleasant feeling crawled up Severus' spine. "Don't tell me you were so stupid that you let the Dark Lord manifest in a room of Third Years."
"I hadn't considered it," Lupin said, with a devastating honesty that made Severus' blood boil. "Ariel didn't get a chance to face the Boggart. She left after Neville had his turn. She was white as a sheet — I should have realized —"
Severus could only imagine what the girl had considered. Of all the things she'd encountered, of all she'd survived only to have sleepless nights on the other side —
Goddamn it all — god fucking dammit —
Severus needed to get rid of Lupin. He couldn't have the wolf sniffing around for the girl, and he certainly couldn't have him finding her before he did.
"Miss Granger will know where she went," Severus offered stiffly. "If you're that worried about the brat, I would start there."
Lupin blinked, all of the tension and worry crumbling away from his face, leaving only surprise.
"You cannot just allow students to come and go as they please." Severus sneered, relishing the way Lupin's face twisted back, like a rubber band snapping back to its original form. "I'll be sure to inform Professor Dumbledore of your lack of oversight."
"Would it have been better for me to throw her out, then?" Lupin shot back, his voice a low growl. Severus had gotten to him — good. Severus had never successfully been able to get a rise out of him as students, it was good to know that the girl —
— wait a minute —
The realization made Severus' vision go a bit blurry for a half second before he shoved his Shields forward and tore that particular revelation to shreds. "Perhaps that would have been the wiser decision," he drawled back, arching an eyebrow. "It's not your job to coddle students who can't handle a simple Boggart."
Lupin's fists clenched at his sides, and Severus knew he had hit another nerve. Good. He worked his jaw for a good half minute before stalking off, the air bristling behind him.
"You know, I thought I'd crossed a line," Lupin called over his shoulder. "but I'm not sorry."
Severus almost asked what the hell he was talking about, but he didn't find that he very much cared. He'd done what he'd needed to — he'd gotten rid of the werewolf.
He had a daughter to find.
Ariel had found a rock to sit under, quite far from Hogwarts, but not so far that she was in the Forest. It was probably a dumb idea to be out here with Black on the loose, but she hadn't wanted anyone to find her.
And no one had. She'd curled up under the rock, an Ariel-shaped space carved out for her to sit beneath, and Ariel had cried.
At first, Ariel hadn't really known what she was crying about, only that she had to get it out. She never liked crying, had always gotten a sharp smack across the cheek when she'd done it in front of Aunt Petunia. She'd call her ungrateful and curled her nose in disgust, like she was unable to stomach it.
Snape hated when Ariel cried, too. He acted bothered by it, but not the same way Aunt Petunia had. Snape seemed like he wanted to find the source and throttle it, like if he couldn't immediately make her stop it just made him angry. It was hard to tell when Snape was only ever angry. Maybe that was why he'd joined the Death Eaters. Maybe that was where he'd wanted all the anger to go — into killing people.
Killing people.
Her mum's screams —
Ariel wished she could wipe that fact from her mind. She'd known Snape was capable of it — hell, Ariel had watched him do it with Quirrell and Tom. She'd even wondered if she hadn't walked in what Snape would've done to Lucius in the courtyard, but it had never made her feel like this. Snape had done those things in defense of Ariel — without even batting an eye — without hesitation.
And it had made her feel safe. He'd made her feel safe when he was near, and she'd trusted him — more than she'd trusted anyone — maybe even more than she trusted Hermione. She couldn't tell Hermione some of the things she'd told Snape without giving her a heart attack. Granted, Snape didn't react well half the time either, but Ariel could see little flickers of understanding, a light glinting back at her that coaxed her forward. Deep down, Ariel had hoped Snape was seeing some of himself in her.
He would've had to have killed people, if he had been a Death Eater. That was what all the books had said. Any sort of hesitation in orders almost always meant certain death. Voldemort had been ruthless and unforgiving with even a mite of weakness — he'd treated Quirrell as such, and he'd been living off the back of his stupid head, draining his life, corrupting his soul —
It was frightening, because Ariel didn't want to believe that Snape could've been blindly loyal to someone like that — someone as demented and twisted as Voldemort — but she knew that he could — had been — because he was just as unwaveringly loyal to her mum after twelve years of her being gone.
It had taken Mum dying for Snape to see… or maybe he hadn't. It hadn't been enough the last time Mum had seen him, the night she'd talked about in the letter — but he'd saved her prior to that —
It was too confusing for Ariel to try and break down, too many holes in the story, too many questions that she didn't know if she wanted answered anymore. Part of her had known Snape would have shut her out when she'd asked him if he was a Death Eater, but she could only imagine what unpacking it all would look like.
Ariel had an idea, though. It had stared at her in the faculty room, Snape's eyes — her eyes — glinting with cruelty and loathing. She didn't know how to face that — that Snape — evil.
She wondered how her Mum had.
You're on your way back — that was what Mum had said in the memory. She had hoped — she'd trusted Snape because he'd saved her. It hadn't been enough, though. Voldemort had still cut Mum down like he did with everyone, until Ariel, because Voldemort had been too arrogant to realize what Mum had inadvertently done.
She was angry again, thinking about how differently it might've gone if Snape hadn't lost his memories. The word coward hovered there, making her feel intensely bitter and somehow even sadder.
She wondered if the same thought haunted him.
Ariel felt that awful tightness in her throat again, wrenching out a sob. She buried her face in her knees, trying to take deep breaths, trying to Occlude, trying anything, but she couldn't catch her breath, couldn't stop —
An exhale of air next to her ear made her freeze, her insides turning to liquid nitrogen. Something warmed touch her ear, something warm and wet —
She lifted her head slightly —
Something was —
Licking her face?
Ariel could barely open her eyes as she was attacked by what she could only assume was a tongue. She tentatively reached up her hands to stroke the shaggy fur her fingers found, which caused the breathing to turn into excited pants as the licking stopped long enough for Ariel to see what it was.
She froze, because it was the great black dog she'd seen the other day during Hagrid's class. Only instead of peering out at her from the gloom of the Forest, it was licking the tears from her cheeks.
He was huge, with matted black fur, and so skinny that Ariel could see his ribs. He had sticks and leaves sticking out of his fur, but his eyes were bright as he stared at Ariel with what looked to be delirious excitement. None of Aunt Marge's stupid dogs had ever looked at her the way this dog was looking at her now.
"Hi," Ariel sniffled, wiping the slobber from her face. "Where did you come from?"
The dog gave a little whine and settled his large head in her lap, looking up at her with sad eyes. She raised her hand to scratch behind his ears, his tail thumping against the ground.
"If you're the Grim," she murmured. "you certainly don't act like one."
He lifted his head and cocked it at her. When Ariel didn't say anything, he began licking her face again, nearly knocking her to the ground. She sputtered, trying to push him off, but found herself dissolving into laughter as he relentlessly slobbered all over her.
Finally, the dog stopped and sat back on his haunches, looking up at her with a curious expression that seemed far too intelligent — Fang never looked at Hagrid like that, but Ariel was also quite sure that Fang only existed to consume food. This dog seemed to be waiting for something, and Ariel couldn't help but wonder what it was. She reached out to pet him again, and he leaned into her hand, closing his eyes in contentment.
Ariel sat there for a while, scratching behind the dog's ears and wondering where he had come from. Her mind kept wandering to the Grim, but this dog didn't seem like a harbinger of death.
She found herself talking to him, telling him about her stupid fight with Ron and Hermione, about Professor Trelawney's stupid tea leaves, and about stupid Sirius Black. The dog had gone very quiet at that part, and for a moment, Ariel had thought he might've fallen asleep. When she leaned down to look, his eyes were open, but his tail had stopped wagging, and he'd gone very still.
She reached out to pet him again, but he moved away, getting up to walk a few steps away from her. Ariel followed him with her eyes, watching as he sat down and looked up at her expectantly.
"What's wrong?" Ariel asked, frowning.
Her stomach then immediately growled. She'd been gone most of the day, only having eaten half of her breakfast, but she quickly realized that the dog was probably feeling the same. His ribs were practically sticking out from underneath his thick, black fur.
"Oh, Merlin, you're probably starving, aren't you?" Ariel shook her head. "Erm, I don't have any food on me, but I guess I could Transfigure something, right? I can't exactly sneak food out of the Great Hall."
Ariel pulled out her wand and focused on a nearby rock, trying to remember the incantation for the spell she needed. The dog watched her with interest, his tail beginning to wag again as he realized what she was doing. With a flick of her wand, the rock transformed into —
— a potato.
The dog gave a snort, like he was laughing at her. Ariel furrowed her eyebrows and tried again.
She spent the better half of the next hour trying to Transfigure something for the dog to eat. Professor McGonagall hadn't taught them how to turn something non-edible into food, but Ariel had greatly underestimated how hard it was going to be. Finally, on what seemed like the millionth try, the old shoe she'd somehow Transfigured popped into a raw steak.
"Hey!" Ariel beamed. "I don't know how, but I did it!"
The dog eyed the raw steak warily.
"Oh, come on." she rolled her eyes. "It's fine."
He gave it a tentative sniff, and then a low woof.
"Well… if you want it cooked, I guess I could light it on fire or something…"
The dog's tail wagged eagerly, which Ariel took as a yes.
"You're picky, for a stray." she said. "if I had done this for Fang, he would've wolfed it down already."
If she hadn't known any better, Ariel might've thought the dog looked amused. The expression quickly left his face, however, when he suddenly got to his feet, nearly knocking Ariel backwards, his hackles raised as his teeth bared themselves. Before Ariel could even react, the Not-Grim-Dog had bounded away, disappearing into the tree line of the Forest and leaving Ariel alone once more.
She stared down at the steak. "What am I supposed to do with this, now?"
That was the least of her worries, Ariel realized, when a familiar pair of black boots stalked into the space in front of her.
A/N: Summary: Boggart-Snape comes out of the wardrobe, Neville does the Charm. While the class finds this funny, Ariel is very clearly uncomfortable with what Lupin is doing. She realizes that THIS Snape is what she might truly be scared of, and she leaves class.
I'm sorry for the month hiatus; life just kind of backhanded me for a hot second but I have returned!
Next chapter: Snape will talk about his FEELINGS. I KNOW. AHHH. Very fitting for a 50th chapter.
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