Chapter 11: Fear Management

The days afterward were a lot calmer than their first day back in Hogwarts. They quickly fell back into the rhythm they had followed the previous two years.

Delia's trip to the library had been productive. The spells from Flitwick's list were mostly rather basic. The only ones she struggled with were Protego and Stupify. Not really surprising though, considering the shield charm normally was taught to sixth years and the stunning spell to fifth years.

So far she was able to form a somewhat translucent shield, but she didn't believe it would protect her against much, if at all. She wasn't able to do a proper stunning spell either. She still had a few days left to get the hang of it though.

Practising was a bit difficult, as she had to sneak out of the common room and use an abandoned classroom at night. There were no close calls with staff members yet, but she did always have her cloak with her just in case. It definitely had taken a toll on her sleeping schedule, she constantly felt tired. She was still trying to find an excuse as to why exactly she was learning all these spells, without dragging Flitwick's name into it.

At the moment the best she could come up with is that she would need to be able to defend herself against Black - or other dark wizards - if they ever came after her (again). The more she thought about it, the more sense it actually made too. She might come over as a bit paranoid and afraid, but frankly, that's basically how she felt about the entire situation anyway. Yes, she would tell that to her friends somewhere during the weekend when they were hanging out. It might even spur them into joining her with the training.

They might not have any psychopaths hunting them down, but learning how to defend yourself is never a lost effort. Especially if some of those spells are needed for future exams anyway. It could be a unique kind of study group.

Hmmm, who should she ask to join her? Ron and Hermione were a given, the three of them basically did everything together. Neville would be a good pick too, especially considering he could use some extra practice. Maybe a more friendly and supportive environment is just what he needs to learn, it should help with his self-confidence too.

She could also ask some of her non-Gryffindor friends, like Susan and Hannah. Oh, why not? She'll ask them too. Maybe they had some extra suggestions about people who would be a good fit. She didn't want to make the group too big, but she wouldn't mind getting to know a few more people either.

"You have been daydreaming a lot in the past days, Delia and you seem quite tired. Are you alright?" Hermione questioned, taking Delia completely out of her thoughts.

"I've just been thinking about a few things, that's all," Delia answered.

"Really, thinking about what exactly?" Hermione asked sceptically. Ron was smart enough to remain out of the current discussion.

"I would rather say it in private. How about I tell you during the weekend?" Delia offered, ignoring Hermione's tone.

Hermione was about to continue the questioning when the classroom's door slammed open. "Enter," they heard in the monotone voice of Snape.

They started entering the classroom. Potions was once again with Slytherin this year, luckily enough there was still no sign of Malfoy though. He hadn't shown up in any classes ever since the accident in Care for Magical Creatures.

Delia hated the potions classes with a passion. The subject itself interested her a lot, it still does to a certain extent, but the professor, that's something completely different. The only redeeming factor about Thursdays was that after a double dose of potion torture, they finally had Defense Against the Dark Arts.

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Unsurprisingly, potions class had once again been a complete disaster. What did surprise her was Malfoy's return to class. He joined them after the first hour and instantly was a dramatic menace. He was acting like his arm was still killing him and was constantly making remarks aimed at for example Hagrid. Delia didn't appreciate Snape making her cut all his ingredients. At least she was able to get some satisfaction by showing off her knife skills while staring straight into Malfoy's eyes. It did cause Malfoy to pause, even if it was briefly. She wanted to give herself a pat on the back for not losing her cool as easily as she had done in the past years.

She still wondered what Malfoy meant by "If it was me, I would have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good girl, I would be out there looking for him. I would want revenge. I would hunt him down myself."

Was it just a reference to Black being a Death Eater? She doubted it. It sounded like there was more to it, especially with the revenge part, but she had no clue what it could be. Of course, another possibility is that Malfoy was just bullshitting to rile her up further, that was right up his alley too.

They had lost Hermione on their way from the dungeons towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. It appeared Ron hadn't noticed yet, his mood too foul to fantasise about anything other than how to get back at Snape and Malfoy.

Suddenly, the both of them spotted Hermione. She was panting and hurried towards them from a hallway on their right. She was tucking something away down the front of her robes. Some kind of necklace?

"Why did you come from there? Weren't you just behind us?" Ron asked. Hermione's sudden appearance finally threw him out of his dark brooding.

"What?" Hermione looked confused, until a light went off in her head, "Oh no, I um, I forgot I borrowed something and quickly went to give it back." Delia had to hold back an eye-roll. Lying clearly wasn't Hermione's strong suit. She decided to not call Hermione out on it though.

"We have to hurry though, or we'll be late for Defence!" Hermione said, quickly changing the subject before Ron could protest. Hermione seemed to be doing that a lot lately. She turned around and went towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom at a rather fast pace.

"Do you feel like Hermione is not telling us something?" Ron whispered as they started to follow Hermione. Looks like even Ron is getting suspicious now.

Delia simply shrugged, of course, she felt that way. She was quite surprised Ron had already caught on though. He normally isn't this perceptive.

As they arrived in the classroom, they noticed Professor Lupin wasn't present yet. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students all decided to sit down. They took out their quill and parchment in preparation for the class. After a few minutes of talking amongst themselves, Professor Lupin finally arrived.

He looked less tired than he did on the train. She still didn't fully trust him, even if he had helped her and her friends on the train. The Professor was smiling mysteriously, as he put down his briefcase on his desk. "Good morning class," he said, "Please put your materials back in your bags. Today's class will be a purely practical one, you'll only need your wand."

Delia and several other students perked up at this. They eagerly started to put away their materials. Delia always prefers practical classes over theoretical ones. Practical classes were rare for Defence and tended to end in chaos, especially last year. She heard a few students whisper enthusiastically.

"Right then," the Professor started when he noticed everyone was ready, "you can leave your bags here, we'll come back for them later. If you would follow me."

He led them through the hallways towards the staff room. They had encountered Peeves along the way, who was easily driven off. Delia had to give it to Professor Lupin, he knew some cool spells. She eagerly memorised 'Waddiwasi' for potential future use.

Professor Lupin opened the door to the staff room and beckoned them inside. The staff room was a long room filled with mismatched furniture. Delia mused that the ugliest part of the room was probably the professor sitting in an armchair while reading a book. It was none other than Professor Snape, who already had a nasty sneer forming on his face.

Professor Lupin was the last to enter the room and was about to close the door when Professor Snape stopped him in his tracks. "Leave it open, Lupin. I would rather not witness this." Snape stood up and strode towards the door, his cloak billowing behind him.

Snape's eyes caught Neville's gaze when he was about to exit. Snape turned around and said, "I assume no one has warned you yet Lupin, but this class contains a few dunderheads, the most prominent one being Neville Longbottom. I would advise you to keep him away from anything even remotely difficult." With those parting words, he slammed the door on his way out.

Neville went completely red from embarrassment. Delia was very angry and glared in the direction Snape went off to. She herself had learned how to deal with the constant barrage of comments coming from him, gods know she had enough experience from the Dursleys, but Neville didn't. He wasn't confident enough in his own skills and worth to ignore these remarks. She still didn't understand why Snape was acting like this in the first place. Why was he always targeting Neville and her, as soon as their first class, when they had never even met him before?

Professor Lupin merely raised one eyebrow in response. "Well, regardless of what Professor Snape said, I was actually hoping that you would assist me in today's class, Mr. Longbottom. I am sure that you will perform admirably." Neville started to shuffle awkwardly and somehow managed to turn even redder.

Professor Lupin went to one of the corners of the room and stood still next to an old-looking wardrobe. The confused students started to follow him and formed a half circle around the piece of furniture. The wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, causing it to bang against the wall, startling the students who quickly took a step back.

"Nothing to worry about," Professor Lupin tried to calm them down, "there is a boggart in there."

Delia didn't know what a boggart was, but the on-guard looks she spotted on several Ravenclaws, as well as the pure look of terror on Neville's face spoke volumes. She looked at the wardrobe apprehensively.

"For those who don't know, boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," Professor Lupin started to teach. "The places you will most commonly find them are wardrobes, the gap beneath beds and the cupboards under sinks. I once even encountered one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one only moved in yesterday afternoon so I thought it would be perfect for practice. Now, what exactly is a boggart? Can anyone answer that question?"

The hand of Hermione and several Ravenclaws shot up. The Professor pointed at Hermione to answer the question, to the dismay of the Ravenclaws. "It's a shape-shifter," she replied. "A boggart can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

Now Delia understood Neville's reaction. She wasn't exactly too keen on seeing her biggest fear either. As she thought about it, what was her biggest fear anyway? If you would have asked her that question a few years ago, she would have said 'Uncle Vernon' without skipping a beat, but now? She still was wary of her uncle, but she didn't fear him as much anymore. She knew Artemis would keep her word to protect Delia against him in case it was needed. That made her realise though that she feared a complete separation with Artemis quite a lot too.

Another fear that popped into her mind was the grim, slowly approaching her in the alley with its glowing eyes. No, that was scary, but not the scariest encounter she has had. The Acromantula hiding in the Forbidden Forest were a lot scarier to her, especially taking into consideration the sheer size of them. However, even those spiders paled in comparison with the basilisk. The hopelessness she felt when it loomed over her ready to strike, and when its venom coursed through her veins was hard to beat. Well, maybe one thing could beat that fear. Voldemort. She still shivered thinking about the encounter she had at the end of her first year. About how Quirrell's hands wrapped around her throat squeezing the life out of her on the command of Voldermort's cold voice. No, she would rather not relive any of that again in today's class.

"I could not have put it better myself!" Professor Lupin beamed towards Hermione, completely oblivious to the negative reaction of the students, including Delia. "Five points to Gryffindor!" Hermione glowed at the praise.

"Currently the boggart is sitting in the darkness and has not chosen a form yet, as he can't know what will frighten the person on the other side of the wardrobe door," Professor Lupin continued. "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 fears the most. However, as we are currently in a group, this leaves us at an advantage. Can anyone tell me what that advantage is? How about you, Delia?"

The Professor noticed Delia was a bit stuck in her thoughts and called her out so she would pay more attention. She quickly recovered and said "Er - there are many of us. Each one of us has different fears. This means that the Boggart won't know who to target first, what to become."

"Precisely!" Lupin said happily. Hermione, who had been dancing on her feet with her hand held high in the air, seemed a bit surprised that Delia was able to answer the question. Another confirmation to Delia that she had dumbed herself down too much in the past two years.

"It is always best to face a boggart when you have someone with you. This way the boggart becomes confused, unsure of what to become, which can lead to some rather interesting transfigurations. For example, what if a person is afraid of decapitated corpses, and the other person of a flesh-eating slugs? What should the boggart become? I once saw a boggart make this very mistake and turn itself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening, if anything it was rather gross," the Professor joked.

Delia wondered though, if the boggart wasn't here until yesterday afternoon, where did it come from? Was she actually attracting monsters into Hogwarts, or was it something completely different? She decided to voice the question. "But Professor, where do boggarts come from?"

"That is a very good question," Professor Lupin replied, "the truth is, we don't know. There are no definitive answers because no one has bothered to actually research the matter. We can only speculate. We do know that boggarts only appear in places rich in magic, which is why finding them in muggle households is so incredibly rare. The most prevalent hypothesis is that they are formed from the excess fear of people in these magical locations.

Delia wondered if the reaction, to transform into something that is feared by whoever sees them, is a defence mechanism of the boggart so it could be left alone, or a way for the boggart to feed. If the Professor couldn't properly answer her previous question, then he probably couldn't answer this one either, so she didn't bother actually asking it. Learning how to deal with them was more important anyway.

And that is exactly what Professor Lupin taught them next. "The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires you to remain calm and concentrated. Boggarts have one big weakness and that is laughter. So the way to defend yourself against a boggart is by forcing it to assume a shape that you, or the people around you, find amusing. The incantation for that charm is 'Riddikulus'. We shall practise this first without a wand, so repeat after me Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" The class chorused after him.

"Very good, now for the wand movement…" Professor Lupin took out his wand to clearly demonstrate the wand movement. The students did the same and started copying the movement until they could do so flawlessly.

"Perfect," said the Professor once he corrected the last student's movement. "Now we can move on to the next phase. Learning the incantation and movement was the easy part. As I mentioned before, the charm on its own is not enough. This is where you come in, Mr. Longbottom."

At the Professor's beckoning, Neville approached the wardrobe until he was a few steps away from it. He was shaking like a leaf. His whole demeanour was as if he was heading for the gallows.

"Right, Mr. Longbottom," the Professor said softly, "the first thing we need to know is what frightens you the most in the world?"

Neville, resigned to his fate and with Snape's sneer still fresh in his mind, instantly mumbled, "Professor Snape."

Several students burst out laughing, and even Professor Lupin struggled to contain a grin. Neville seemed to cheer up a bit at the reaction.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but you live with your grandmother?" Professor Lupin asked thoughtfully as if a plan was forming in his head.

Neville, unsure of the direction the questioning was going, replied, "Yes, but I would rather not have the boggart change into her either." Delia couldn't help but snort at that, she fully understood where Neville was coming from.

"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now fully smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?" Lupin was fully aware of what kind of clothes she wore. He had encountered Madame Longbottom enough in public spaces to know that she preferred the type of clothes that even witches and wizards would call old-fashioned.

Neville answered, "She always wears the same hat, a tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. She prefers to wear a long heavy dress over robes, generally in the colour green. Sometimes she wears a fur scarf, lately, she has been wearing her fox-fur scarf a lot."

"Does she wear a handbag?" Professor Lupin probed further.

"A big red one," Neville confirmed.

"Good, good, can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?" Delia could finally see what direction this was going, and she was fully for it. If only she had a camera or something. She was positively giddy at what would appear - if all went well.

"Yes," Neville replied, a bit uncertain.

"Okay. When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe and sees you, Mr. Longbottom, it will most likely assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "You already know how to perform the charm, but when you cast it, I want you to concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, that green dress, and that big red handbag." A roar of laughter filled the staff room, causing the wardrobe to shake violently.

"If Mr. Longbottom is successful, the boggart is likely to turn his attention to someone else." Professor Lupin warned. "All of you should take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you the most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical." Delia swallowed hard. How was she supposed to make Voldemort look funny? She could only think of changing Voldemort - or Quirrell by extent - into a clown, or dressing him up similarly to what Neville just described. She doubted she would be successful.

"Do we all have to face the boggart, Professor?" Michel Corner from Ravenclaw asked, dread filling his voice.

Several students, including Delia, had clear body language indicating that they would prefer to be anywhere but this staff room, yet the Professor didn't relent. "Yes, everyone will have their turn. It is the best way to learn how to deal with a boggart. We are currently in a controller environment. Wouldn't you prefer to learn how to beat it now, than to suffer through it without any experience once you're older?" The room went fully quiet as students started focusing on the task at hand.

Delia relented a bit. Lupin had a point. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She might as well get it over with. In her thoughts, Voldemort could appear either in the form she saw with the basilisk, or in the form of Quirrell. The latter was obviously the scariest one. So how would she turn a Voldemort growing in the back of someone's head into something funny?

"Everyone ready?" Professor Lupin asked way too early. Delia wasn't ready, but everyone else was already nodding in confirmation. She didn't want to ask for more time.

"Okay Neville, we are going to take a few steps back while you remain standing there." Everyone eagerly followed the Professor's directions and stepped back until they were with their back against the wall. "Once you have dealt with the boggart, you can walk away from it and I will call the next person forward."

Neville nodded that he was ready, his face set in determination, even if he looked pale and frightened. He had a tight grip on his wand.

"On the count of three," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One - two - three - now!" A spell silently shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob.

The wardrobe burst open. A perfect copy of Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. The familiar sneer started to form on Boggart Snape's face as it started to approach Neville. Neville took a step back, raising his wand. "Riddikulus!" he cried out.

There was a noise like a whip-crack and the boggart stumbled. As it started to straighten itself back up, it became clear that boggart Snape was now wearing the same exact clothes Neville had described earlier. No one could hold back their laughter at such a view. The boggart flinched at the sound and took several steps back towards the wardrobe.

Professor Lupin shouted, "Finnigan, you're next!". Seamus happily darted forward as Neville stepped away, and thus the class continued. The more people successfully passed, the more confident the other students became. It came to no one's surprise that Ron's boggart was a spider, one that looked suspiciously a lot like the acromantula named Aragog.

Eventually, it was Delia's turn. As she approached the boggart, she started focusing hard on visualising Quirrell wearing a tutu while doing some ballerina moves. If all went well, Quirrell would then stumble and fall straight on Voldemort's part of his head. That was the closest she got to figuring out how to deal with the boggart.

Once she was close enough, the boggart started to shapeshift into what appeared to be a tall man with dark robes. Delia took it as confirmation that Voldemort would appear in front of them in a matter of seconds, so she waited in full concentration for the purple turban to appear. She was not the only one who assumed that Voldemort would make an appearance, as Professor Lupin was silently approaching her from behind, ready to step in at a moment's notice.

Once a hood appeared on the cloaked figure, Lupin decided to interfere. The students might not know, but he was well aware that Voldemort often fought wearing a hood with only his glowing red eyes visible to all. The Professor took a step in front of Delia when the boggart's shift finally was completed. However, to both Delia's and Lupin's surprise, instead of Voldemort, it had become a dementor. Somehow the boggart was capable of mimicking a dementor's effects perfectly. Everyone started to feel hopeless and cold.

Before Delia had a moment to process this or could even think what she could do to change a dementor into something funny, the boggart already focussed its attention on Professor Lupin, commencing another shape shift. It immediately took the form of a giant silvery-white orb, hanging in the air in front of the Professor.

Professor Lupin seemed to be relieved and lazily incanted, "Riddikulus!"

The boggart had landed on the ground in the form of a flopping fish. Lupin steered Delia away from the boggart as he called out, "Longbottom, finish it off!"

Neville eagerly stepped forward, a complete 180 of before. The boggart barely had taken Snape's form when Nevillie cast the spell and it was forced back into an interesting attire. The students once again couldn't hold back their roar of laughter, which drove the boggart to its limits. It exploded, bursting into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke. It was gone.

While everyone was still laughing, Professor Lupin turned around facing Delia, and quietly said, "My apologies, Miss Potter, I feared the boggart would take someone else's shape. Someone I doubt anyone in this class would like to encounter. If I had known it would've been a dementor, I wouldn't have interfered." Delia understood why he did it, so simply nodded. To a certain extent, she was glad he had interfered, she wouldn't have been able to deal with the dementor.

Professor Lupin then continued to address the rest of the students whose laughter was slowly dying down. "Very well done everyone! Five points for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for everyone who faced the boggart, and ten for Mr. Longbottom as he did so twice!" Several students cheered at that. It was rare for a professor to be this generous with points. She also noted that he said faced, not defeated, so she even got five points for doing absolutely nothing.

"Now for homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarise it for me. I expect it on my desk by next Thursday. That will be all for today's class, let's head back to the classroom so you all can grab your bags and head out for lunch."

A very excited group of students left the staff room. She was filtering out most of the enthusiastic chatting, wondering why the boggart changed into a dementor of all things, until she heard Lavender say "I wonder why Professor Lupin is afraid of crystal balls?"

Lavender raised a very good question. Delia didn't think it was a crystal ball though, it looked suspiciously a lot like the moon to her. But why is Lupin afraid of the moon? A realisation hit her. It all made sense now. He was tired on the train, the day after a full moon. Her gut feeling was telling her Lupin was dangerous, and finally, Lupin was afraid of the full moon. He was a werewolf.

She was well aware of what werewolves were thanks to her bestiary, but she had no clue about werewolves apart from a description and how to deal with them. She doubted Lupin was the only magical werewolf, so there had to be some kind of legislation surrounding them, no?

Delia wasn't keen on having a werewolf present in the castle, but she figured it would be best to do some research about werewolves in magical society before confronting him about it. As far as she knew, werewolves were relatively harmless outside of full moons, so she had about a month to look into it. Furthermore, if she was able to figure his secret out within a week, then she was sure that others also were aware of this, meaning there had to be some kind of security measure in place anyway.

Ron, who previously had been chatting with Dean and Seamus, turned around and said, "That was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?"

"Yes, he seems like a very good teacher," Hermione answered approvingly. Delia could only agree, he did seem like Professor Lupin knew what he was doing, unlike other teachers such as Lockheart. Here's to a year when they finally have a competent teacher for DADA.

AN: Sorry for the delay, but these past weeks have been quite the rollercoaster. Lost my job (already got a new and better one so that's fine), finished college and welp… found out two very close family members have cancer, one of them lying in ICU. Safe to say I didn't really feel like writing much, but hey, here we are.

Once again shout-out to Sunset for the beta reading!

Sankarea396 : I actually laughed when reading your last comment haha. Never thought I would read 'sugar mommy Artemis'. That being said, the jewellery is mostly hidden. Only the rings she received from Apollo are really visible. The cuff she received from her mother is hidden under her robes, as is the necklace she received from the twins. So with only two rings visible, I doubt many students will question anything, especially since they don't know if it's some cheap knock off silver or not. I had fellow students back in highschool who were way more decked out than that, with a ring on nearly every finger and everything. But no, she won't turn into a second Thalia any time soon. I appreciate your comments a lot and am glad you like the story! :)

Guest : I will start to deviate a bit more as the years (in the story) go by, but for now I will stick close to it and just add a bit to HP as we know it from the books. I do prefer it too for this story, in future stories I might deviate more :)

Dogman999 & Clexa300 & Deathgeonous: Thank you! :)