AN: A lot of Lupin's lines in this are directly from the book.
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In spite of his constant protesting that he didn't like Hogwarts because of the actual studying being done there, Harry was extremely curious about his new classes. The runes he would only have later, but Care of Magical Creatures took place on the first day back, as the last lesson, and had Harry hardly concentrating on the ones that preceded it.
It turned out his cousins have been right: all of Gryffindor took that class. Quite a lot of Slytherins was to be found there, too, Draco among them.
"So," Harry said, "didn't go for Runes and Arithmancy?"
"Do I look like Theo to you?" Draco asked. "I do have Arithmancy, though. You know, one hard class, one easy class. The middle way."
"I thought Divination was the easy class?" Harry asked.
"No," Daphne said from next to Draco, "that's the useless class."
"How's Astoria doing so far?" Harry asked her.
"Well, it's not like it's been too strenuous. I asked her at lunch, and she liked her morning classes."
"What about my cousin?" Millicent interjected.
"I haven't talked to her much," Harry admitted, "but well, she fell in with Ginny straight away and she seemed to be doing just fine." In fact, when he'd tried to talk to Harriet last night, he found himself quickly rebuffed, as Ginny was busy getting her acquainted with Sophie. Apparently, both girls knew quite a lot about each other from Ginny, but had never met, and it was something that needed to be remedied immediately.
Professor Grubbly-Plank appeared before anything more could be said, nodding at the class. "Welcome one and all," she said. "This is your first year in Care of Magical Creatures, so we will start slowly. I feel that the first few creatures we spend time with might seem boring to you, but I believe I need to get a good idea of what your level of capabilities is before we move on to anything more interesting. But first, let me start with the general introduction. I assume you have all bought your copies of Newt Scamander's book?"
The class assented and they took them out. "Now," professor Grubbly-Plank said, "this book is a little dated, but it'll serve us well enough for his year, and its a classic in the field, so I believe it will be useful for you to read it. Have you come across it before?"
"We had in in first year defence," Parvati piped up.
"Oh, good. I assume you dealt with the Dark creatures from there, which is not what we will concern ourselves with, or not much at least, so what I teach you should still be new for you. Now, who can tell me how one defines a magical creature?"
Harry had to conclude that he liked that class. The professor seemed competent, not unreasonably demanding, and wasn't a dead bore to listen to. Others mostly agreed, except – predictably – Sophie.
"I expected more excitement from this class!" She muttered.
If that was the case, Harry figured it was a very good thing she didn't take Runes. There, the first class was entirely taken up by the professor explaining the way runes used to be carved, and the difficulty accompanying it. Their homework was practising three runes over and over again. The only interesting question it left Harry pondering was why Horatio liked this class.
At least Professor Babbling didn't drone on the same way Binns did, in a way that tended to put one to sleep. In fact, she was talking in such an interesting manner that Harry would almost forget how boring the things she was saying were. Almost.
His cousins had been right in this case, too, and he was the only Gryffindor present. Theo was there, though, and so was Hermione Granger and her Ravenclaw friends.
Harry talked to Theo before class a little, asking about his start of term. Theo, it turned out, loved Arithmancy so far, and spent most of the time until the Professor Babbling came in singing the praises of Professor Vector, and talking about how Arithmancy could combine with Astronomy to amazing results.
It sounded like pretty much the worst combination of subjects to Harry, but he supposed that to each their own.
After class, he went to talk to Hermione and Su. "So, how's this year so far?" He asked them.
"Oh, I love the new subjects!" Hermione immediately enthused. "Especially Arithmancy! It was so exciting, you wouldn't believe..."
Harry snorted. "So you have Arithmancy and Runes, too?" He asked. He wanted to say she should go talk to Theo and share his enthusiasm, but then he hesitated. He knew what the Sltherins tended to think about Hermione, and there was the Muggle-Born thing, so really, maybe better not risk it. He didn't actually want to know if Theo was a prejudiced ass, a bad father's influence or not.
"Yes," Hermione replied, ignorant fo his musings about Theo and pouting a little. "I wanted to take all of the classes, but, well. Horatio and others convinced me I wouldn't have enough time for homework and my grades would suffer, and you know I hate that idea."
Harry laughed. "Only you would even think of something like that."
"I know, right?" Su muttered. "Took us ages to talk her out of it, too. Bloody headstrong, she is."
"Well, it just all seemed so interesting..." Hermione argued stubbornly.
"Can you believe she wanted to try Muggle studies?" Su asked, clearly still incredulous about it herself.
Harry stared. "What? Why?"
"Well, you know...studying the wizarding point of view..."
Su rolled her eyes.
"I don't think you miss out in Divination, from what I've heard from Neville and Ron," Harry told her as they headed to Great Hall, "but Care of Magical Creatures might turn out interesting, even though today was mostly an intro class, really."
"How's my brother doing?" Su asked him.
Harry gave her a confused look. "Your brother?"
"Er, yes? He was Sorted into your House? You can tell he's my brother by, you know, having the same surname as me?"
"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "I zoned out a bit in there. I was really tired. But I'll ask Harriet. What's his name? His first name, I mean?"
"Wei," Su replied. "It'd be great if you could check on him for me."
Harry just nodded. "Have you had Defence yet?" He asked then.
Hermione grimaced. "Yes. I'm not too sure about the new teacher."
"Not another psycho, is he?" Harry asked, worried.
"Well, not like Quirrell and Lockhart, but...you'll see."
"He's a good teacher," Su said, "but I don't think he's quite...well, reasonable."
Harry's worry increased tenfold.
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His moment came a day later, and when Professor Lupin entered the classroom and told them to put their books away and follow him, Harry got actually excited. His excitement grew even more when they came across Peeves. That was always a bother, but Lupin just waved his wand and the chewing gum Peeves had been stuffing into a keyhole shot out and into his nose.
"Ew," Parvati said quietly.
"You have to admit it was efficient," Harry replied. "Cleaning the keyhole and getting rid of Peeves at the same time."
Harry was actually beginning to be hopeful. Sure, it was a little surprising that a Hogwarts teacher was so badly dressed, but he supposed he had a bad job before this one.
Lupin led them to the staff room, which was at the moment occupied by Professor Snape, who gave them an unfriendly look. "Leave it open, Lupin," he said in direction of the door. "I'd rather not witness this." He rose and headed out of the door, but then said: "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult."
Neville flushed, and Harry gave Snape a furious look. Did he think that if he did this outside of Potions class, Miss Brigit wouldn't hear about it?
"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," Lupin said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."
Snape grimaced and left the room, and Lupin turned to them. "Now, then," he said, gesturing to a wardrobe which suddenly shook.
"Nothing to worry about," he added when he noticed their surprise. "There's a Boggart in there."
Harry had no clue what that was, but a few people clearly did and seemed not too encouraged.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," the professor continued. "Wardrobes, the gaps beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart? Does anyone know?"
Parvati and Seamus raised their hands hesitatingly, and so did Neville, to whom Lupin nodded.
"It's a creature that takes the shape of whatever frightens us most," he replied.
"Precisely! Boggart is a shape-shifter, so the one 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, Harry?"
Having a question asked directly of him when Lupin had nowhere to know his name from and he never raised his hand surprised Harry, and reminded him of the first Potions class a little uncomfortably, even though this was done in a much friendlier manner. "It won't know what shape it should take, given how many of us are here?" He suggested.
"Very good," Lupin said with a smile. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening." He paused. "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!" They all repeated, Harry feeling rather silly.
"Good," Lupin said. "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."
Lupin motioned with his hand and Neville stepped forward, giving the shaking wardrobe a worried look.
"Right, Neville," the Professor continued. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
Neville gave him a grim look.
"This is not a good idea," Harry muttered. He didn't want to embarrass Neville by offering to take his place, but he didn't want his friend to have to face this either.
When Lupin only looked expectantly at him, Neville straightened and said: "The people who hurt my parents."
Lupin gulped, and suddenly paled. "Right," he said, "perhaps this wasn't a good plan. Sorry, Neville. Could someone else take this place maybe…?"
"I'll do it," Harry offered.
"Um, Harry, I'm not sure that's- perhaps you two should just step to the side."
Harry and Neville exchanged looks, and Harry sighed.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Can I do it, Professor?"
"Of course, Miss-?"
"Roper."
"So, what frightens you the most?"
"I don't know...maybe dragons or something?" Sophie said doubtfully.
Lupin gave her a stern look. "Try to think about it properly, please, you need to be well prepared."
Sophie shrugged. "Honestly, I just can't think of much of anything I'd find extra terrifying."
Lupin smiled at her. "A true Gryffindor, then!" Harry scowled. Was he implying he and Neville weren't true Gryffindors because they were scared of Death Eaters or Riddle? Really? "Well, let us go with a dragon," Lupin continued. "How do you imagine you could make a dragon look funny?"
Sophie thought about it for a moment. "Well...maybe if it shrunk? Turned into a plushie, you know?"
"Very good!" Lupin clapped his hands. "So please, everyone, use this example to try to think of what frightens you the most and how to make it look funny."
Harry considered. At the moment, what frightened him the most was Sirius Black with Riddle's face poking out of the back of his head. Maybe he could imagine the head splitting open, then? And the two faces falling apart from each other? That was kinda funny, he had to admit.
Next to him, Neville was having more trouble. "I have no clue how to make the Lestranges look not terrifying," he muttered. "Except, you know, for making them dead, and I don't think that's what he means when he talks about laughter..."
Harry felt a little chill go through him. "Well," he said in a determinedly cheerful voice, "I don't think Lupin plans for us to get involved anyway, so I don't think we have to care, really."
When everyone gave the professor a nod to indicate they were ready, he pointed his wand at the wardrobe and it flew open...but what walked out wasn't a dragon.
It was a middle-aged man in cheap Muggle clothing who gave Sophie a disgusted look. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "I came to see your brother. What would I do with you?"
Sophie hesitatingly raised her wand. "Ri-riddiculous!" She muttered.
The man turned into a teenage boy. "Wee little Sophie," he said, "she thought we would play with her! Ha!"
Sophie's hands began to shake. Clearly, this was not going according to plan.
Since Lupin was just standing to the side, not doing anything, Harry angrily stepped in front of his friend.
Pop – and the Boggart changed, exactly as he had expected, into a two-faced Sirius Black. A few people shrieked, but Harry was prepared for the vision and did the spell, making the two faces fall to the ground.
Neville, meanwhile, had dragged Sophie away and Dean stepped forward, turning the Boggart into a severed hand, which became caught in a mousetrap with his spell.
It turned into a spider for Ron and then lost its legs, and it became a rat for Lavender and a banshee for Seamus and a mummy for Parvati, and then Lupin stepped in front of it and finished it off.
"Whew," he said, "that's that. So, five points to everyone who faced the Boggart, and five to Neville and Harry for answering my questions. For homework, read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it, and hand it in on Monday. Next time, we will perhaps do something a little less strenuous."
As they filed out of the class, Harry muttered: "I can't decide whether this was better or worse than the pixies."
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AN: Neville was a colossal blunder from Lupin, and supposing everyone knows themselves well enough to know what they're going to see is naive at best, even with adults, and especially with children.