I"Boggarts, " said Heather, "Now, can any of you tell me what a boggart is?"
"A Boggart is a shape shifter, "said Amy instantly, "It can take the shape of whatever a person fears the most."
"Correct, "smiled Heather, "And why might fighting boggarts be easier if you have company?"
"Because, " answered Amy eagerly, "If there are multiple people facing a boggart it won't know what shape it's supposed to take."
"Very good, " said Heather brightly, "And what finishes off a boggart?"
"Laughter, " replied Amy a nanosecond later, "To finish a boggart, you must force it assume a form that is truly funny, while saying the incantation "Riddikulus!"
"Excellent!" beamed Heather, "And now we are going to practice fighting boggarts."
But Harry's hand had suddenly shot into the air.
"Yes, Harry?" asked Heather.
"May I speak with Amy one on one for a minute?" I don't care if we're overheard. I just want to talk to her one on one without the possibility of being interrupted."
"You can do so right here, Harry, " said Heather briskly.
"Amy, " said Harry clearly, "There are a couple of things wrong with how you just handled the start of this lesson."
Heather smiled at Harry. Though she had kept a pleasant expression, Heather herself had been bothered by a couple of traits Amy had just showed. If Harry was about to tell Amy what Heather thought he was, it would teach Amy a valuable lesson.
"Amy, "said Harry clearly, "You shouldn't seek to answer every single question in a class. First, you didn't even give Heather a chance to call on any of us. As the teacher of all of us, Heather needs to know that we all understand what's going on, not just you."
After a minute and a nanosecond of silence, Amy said slowly, "That makes sense."
"The other problem with that, " explained Harry to Amy, "Is that it's very off putting to the other students in a class if one student is answering all the questions. Whether you mean it to be or not, it's showing off and no one likes a showoff. Others will resent you if they think you have an attitude of being a know it all. Look, Amy we're all your friends here and our class size is low. But I just feel like it's for the best, including for your best, if this behavior is nipped in the bud."
A few minutes and a few nanoseconds followed this proclamation and Amy looked a little uncomfortable.
"Amy, " said Harry reassuringly, "I'm not trying to insult you. I'm trying to help by helping you to understand why the way you responded to the start of our lesson was wrong."
Slowly understanding that Harry was right and seeing the sincerity on his face, Amy said, "Harry, thank you for bringing this issue to my attention. I promise it won't happen again. From now on, I'll wait until Heather calls on me to answer a question."
"Thanks, " Harry, " said Heather firmly, "That was an issue that needed to be addressed right away so thank you for doing so."
"No problem, Heather, "said Harry simply.
Heather now raised her wand and did a nonverbal spell and they heard a rattling as the boggart entered the room.
It shot straight at Harry and took the form of a belt.
"Your worst fear is the fear of a belt?" said Heather skeptically.
"Mom, "said Hannah seriously, "Remember that Harry has been physically abused throughout his life and that that abuse often came in the form of being hit with his uncle's belt."
"And, "added Susan, "That physical abuse was also quite frequent."
"It's a very reasonable boggart for Harry, " agreed Amy, "He struggles with any kind of physical touching because of how badly abused he was."
Heather nodded, realizing that Amy, Susan, and Hannah were right.
Harry raised his wand at the boggart and cried "Riddikulus."
The belt in the boggart started snapping itself in half of its accord and repairing itself.
The effect was mildly funny, and they all let out a few giggles.
The boggart wasn't close to finished, but it was confused, and it now stepped in front of Heather.
As soon as the boggart saw Heather, it assumed a form where it showed Hannah about as she now was standing beside a dead Heather. Heather immediately had a flow of involuntarily tears.
"My w-worst f-fear, "sobbed Heather, "Is that I will die while Hannah is still young and that I won't be able to see her grow up. I was personally affected by the war against Voldemort when Hannah was a baby and ever since then this has been my boggart, with Hannah always appearing at her current age. My w-worst f-fears are that I won't get to see Hannah grow up and that I won't be able to be there for her when she needs me."
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all looked on feeling a bit helpless until Hannah suddenly went to her room and returned with a slab of chocolate and a bottle of Corona Extra.
Heather and Susan recognized the specific smell right away although Harry and Amy didn't.
"That's Honeydukes chocolate, " said Heather weakly.
"It's actually the very last piece from the box Susan gave me for my birthday, "said Hannah, "And the bottle of Corona Extra is the last from the six pack you gave me for my birthday. As you need cheering up right now, I'm offering them to you."
"Thank you, Hannah, "said Heather gratefully as she accepted the chocolate and Corona Extra from Hannah and slowly consumed them.
Heather did feel better after she was done, and her tears subsided. But she was also looking at the boggart looking and feeling both uncomfortable and uncertain.
Fortunately, Susan stepped in front of the boggart thus saving Heather from having to deal with it.
This was of great relief to Heather, who always felt guilty about giving her boggart a funny form when she had to do it.
"There's no way of making that scene funny, "said Susan firmly, "Therefore, I will face it instead."
Susan's boggart turned out to show her by herself in a room while Hannah was standing at the other end of the room looking determinedly away from her.
"My worst fear, " explained Susan, "is the fear of being estranged from Hannah."
"Is it the fear of loneliness?" asked Amy.
"No, "said Susan clearly, "It's absolutely the fear of being estranged from Hannah. Unless you've had a close BFF since you were a baby, it would be hard to understand."
"Have you and Hannah ever had a falling out?" Harry asked Susan.
"No, " said Susan brightly, "And hopefully it stays that way."
Susan raised her wand at the boggart and cried "Riddikulus."
The Hannah in the boggart now made a complete fool of herself by attempting a series of gymnastics that she was completely incapable of while the Susan in the boggart laughed her ass off.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah and Heather all laughed extremely hard, but no one was laughing harder than the real Hannah.
Next nanosecond, there was a huge crack and the boggart was gone.
"Brilliant, " said Heather happily, "Great job Susan, and great sense of humor, Hannah, to laugh along with it. Though, as we have hard floors in the entire house, please don't attempt those gymnastics in real life."
"I won't, mom, " promised Hannah.
"Before we continue, " said Heather seriously, "Harry, I would like to apologize for the insensitivity I displayed towards you in questioning your boggart form."
"No problem, Heather, " said Harry in understanding, "A belt probably isn't a form you'd normally expect a person's boggart to take."
"But with your past, it's quite reasonable. More importantly, a boggart form is personal to each individual and it was really rude of me to question it, " finished Heather.
"No hard feelings, nobody's perfect, " said Harry in acceptance.
Heather raised her wand as she had before and did another nonverbal spell, thus summoning a second boggart.
This boggart darted towards Hannah.
Hannah's boggart was the same as Susan's. Hannah's boggart showed her by herself in room while Susan was standing at the other end of the room looking determinedly away from her.
"You two really are super tight, " said Harry approvingly.
"We are, " said Hannah proudly, "Our boggarts taking the same form is another sign of that. That said, I know better than to try to repeat the way Susan attacked it. Nothing is as funny when you see it the second time as when you see it the first time."
Hannah raised her wand at the boggart and cried "Riddikulus!"
The Susan in the boggart suddenly had all sorts of things falling on her. At first it was just things like glitter and confetti. Then it expanded to include things like mustard and ketchup.
The effect was reasonably funny, and they all let out some laughter.
The boggart got confused and rounded on Amy.
Amy's boggart assumed the form of a bolt of lightning.
"My worst fear, " explained Amy is that I or a place I live in will be struck by lightning, leaving me dead or homeless. I grew up in Arizona, where we have monsoon storms every summer. Every summer when the first big storm to come near where I live would occur, I would be terrified out of my wits that I would get hit and snuff it. This fear took root in my when I was just a preschooler."
"That's a completely plausible boggart and I'm not surprised that someone would have something relating to weather or storms as part of his or her boggart, " said Harry, "Amy I assume there are no schools for witches and wizards in Arizona then?"
"No, " answered Amy, "That's why I was selected for Hogwarts. I'm glad to be learning with Heather instead though. Now."
Amy raised her wand at the boggart and cried "Riddikulus!"
The lightning in the boggart, which had been strictly purple, now featured all the colors of the rainbow. The lightning rose a bit, then split into pieces that exploded like fireworks. Some of the lightning fireworks went off like regular fireworks whole others took the shapes of dogs, cats, birds, and horses before doing their thing.
The effect was entertaining but not funny. There was some applause and there some smiles, but the actual effect on the bogart was minimal.
Next nanosecond, somehow, someway, perhaps intuitively, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, and Heather all squeezed tightly together to give the boggart multiple targets.
The boggart rattled and rattled but didn't seem to take any form. It was clearly confused.
"I'm going to finish it by forcing myself to think of funny things, bringing myself to laugh, " said Heather finally, and she did.
"Now, " said Heather matter of factly, "Time for your grades. You all passed. Amy, you receive a grade of A. You were right on the A/P border. You made your boggart exciting rather than funny. However, as you clearly understand how boggarts work, and as I do think you made a worthy attempt, I'm willing to give you a pass grade here. Be warned that next time we do boggarts you will receive a grade of no better than P if you don't improve to actually making your boggart funny. But, for a first try, I'll give you an A."
"I'm sorry I didn't do better, " said Amy dejectedly with her head lowering into her hands.
Harry grabbed Amy's head out of her hands and forced it upwards.
"Keep your head up, Amy, " said Harry encouragingly, "It really wasn't that bad for a first try. You just need to give some thought on how to make your boggart truly funny and you'll do better next time."
Amy gave Harry a small smile. Harry's encouragement did make her feel a bit better.
"You, Harry, " said Heather, "Receive a grade of E and so does Hannah. Harry and Hannah, you both made your boggarts funny enough to produce some laughter."
Harry and Hannah nodded as they both felt E was the grade they had earned.
"Susan was clearly the best as she produced a boggart that was funny enough for us to vanquish it. Susan receives a grade of O."
"I was happy with how I performed, " said Susan brightly.
"You did great, Susan, " smiled Heather, "But now it's onto our next lesson."