Chapter 31

Harry opened his eyes slowly, coming to the hospital wing where he lay. He lay on a bed, the entire left sleeve of his shirt had been torn, and his robes were draped on the end of his hospital bed.

"What happened?" he managed to groan out.

"How are you feeling?" asked Daphne concerned, ignoring his question. She was sitting by his side and the rest of his friends were crowded around the bed.

"Like my arm got put through a shredder," Harry said. "How bad was it?"

"Not good," said Daphne. "After the incident, Hagrid carried you into the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey said that the claw hit your brachial artery and you lost a lot of blood. If Hagrid had been even a little late, you would have bled out."

"I guess it's lucky he was around," Harry coughed out.

"What I don't understand," began Rigel, "is why the hippogriff attacked you. You did exactly what Hagrid said- you bowed, stroked it yet it still attacked you. Why?"

Harry shifted nervously as much as he could physically manage in his bed, but unluckily for him Daphne saw that. "What did you do?" she asked, giving him a deathly scare.

Harry opened his right fist which had remained clenched all this time revealing a singular gray feather. "What is that?" asked Draco, taking the feather from him and examining it in the light.

"A hippogriff feather," said Harry nervously. "I plucked it off of Buckbeak when I was petting him."

"Are you insane?" shouted Daphne. "Do you have any idea what could have happened, and what I just went through? What were you thinking?" she cried lightly, punching him in anger.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," placated Harry calmingly. "I just wanted Hagrid gone. He's a nice guy, but he sucks as a teacher. For Merlin's sake, he didn't even do his OWLS, never mind his NEWTS."

"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Draco. "Now it looks like a wayward hippogriff attack under Hagrid's supervision and you can have him fired! You could even send him to Azkaban, if you want."

"I'm not cruel Draco," said Harry. "It was partly my fault, so I'll just have him fired but he can stay on as gamekeeper, and he can have the hippogriff as a pet. Besides, all I wanted was an actually competent teacher."

"Fine," agreed Daphne. "But if you put yourself in unnecessary danger like that again I swear I will-"

"Yes, yes I'll be more careful," interjected Harry. "I can't imagine how you'd survive without me."

Harry and his friends walked into their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry's arm having healed fully since the Creatures lesson. Hagrid had been fired the same day though he'd been kept as gamekeeper and had kept the hippogriff as a pet, and the new teacher, Professor Grubbly-Plank, was much more competent.

They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and talked quietly amongst themselves. Remus shuffled the papers he had been marking around, rearranging them exactly how he wanted and then stood up to address the class.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands." A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class before, unless you count the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.

"Right then," said Remus, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me." Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Remus out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.

Peeves didn't look up until Remus was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song. "Loony, loopy Remus," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Remus, loony, loopy Remus —"

Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Remus to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling. "I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get into his brooms."

Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Remus's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Professor Remus gave a small sigh and took out his wand.

"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely." He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves. With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.

"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.

"Thank you, Dean," said Remus, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?" They set off again, the class looking at Remus with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please," said Remus, opening it and standing back.

The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth.

As Remus came in and closed the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Remus. 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 and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Remus, but this class contains 3 of the most incompetent Gryffindors I've had the misfortune to lay my eyes upon." His eyes lingered over the faces of Thomas, Ron and Hermione and they flushed red.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Severus," said Remus smiling. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.

"Now, then," said Remus, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Remus went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.

"Nothing to worry about," said Remus calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there." Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Remus a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Remus. "Wardrobes, the gap 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?"

Hermione put up her hand. "It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Remus, and Hermione looked around smugly. "So 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.

"This means," said Remus, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

"Since there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be," Harry answered confidently.

"Precisely," said Remus, and Hermione put her hand down, glaring at Harry. "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. 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!" said the class together.

"Good," said Remus. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. Now, I'll need a volunteer," he said looking over the crowd of students. "Ronald, come on up."

"Right, Ron," said Remus when Ron had stepped forward. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" Ron's lips moved, but no noise came out. "I didn't catch that, Ron, sorry," said Remus cheerfully.

Ron looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Spiders," he said deathly quietly.

"Understandable really," said Remus kindly. "Now, I want you to make it comical. I want you to imagine taking its legs off, so that it rolls around. Can you do that for me?" he asked and Ron nodded. "Now, when I open the wardrobe, a spider will come out. I want you to say Riddikulus and imagine the spider's legs flying off."

The wardrobe wobbled more violently. "If Ron is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Remus. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."

The room went quiet.

"Everyone ready?" said Professor Remus. "Ron, we're going to back away," said Professor Remus. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward... Everyone back, now, so Ron can get a clear shot —"

They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Ron alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Ron," said Remus, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three —now!" A jet of sparks shot from the end of Remus's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open.

A giant 10 foot tall spider walked out of the wardrobe and several people screamed in terror. Ron backed away in fright but raised his wand nevertheless. Before he could get any words out of his mouth, the spider roared at him and he fainted.

Remus flicked his wand and the boggart flew backwards into the wardrobe. "It's fine that you couldn't do it on your first try, Ron," he assured Ron, whom he had just rennervated. "Let's see if someone else can do it. Hermione, what about you?"

Ron prowled over to the back of the room while Hermione stepped forward smugly, her wand already out. She nodded to Remus who flicked his wand and the wardrobe's doors opened. McGonagall came out with an unusually stern look on her face. "Miss Granger!" she snapped. "You have failed your test and I hereby expel you from Hogwarts!"

Hermione stepped back nervously, her face pale aware that everyone was laughing at her. "R — r — riddikulus! " she managed to squeak.

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; she turned small and was dressed like a clown. There was a roar of laughter but Hermione rushed to the back of the classroom very embarrassed. Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Remus shouted, "Parvati! Forward!" Parvati walked forward, her face set.

McGonagall rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising —

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" roared Professor Remus. Seamus darted past Parvati. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face — a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Harry's head stand on end —

"Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.

Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then —crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before —crack! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball.

Meanwhile, Harry walked over to Remus and pulled him aside for a moment. "Should I miss out?" he asked. "It's probably going to turn into Voldemort killing grandmother and I don't want to spook anyone."

"Yes, I think that would be best," Remus agreed and he went back to teaching the class.

"It's confusing!" shouted Remus. "We're getting there! Dean!" Dean hurried forward. Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.

"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean. There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.

"Excellent! Thomas, you next!" he shouted but before Thomas could step forward, Harry was flown in front of him unexpectedly and came face to face with the boggart.

The boggarts paused and it morphed into a tall, slim figure dressed in tattered robes. It had a pale bald head and no nose with blood red eyes. Several people screamed at the sight of Lord Voldemort and someone even fainted, the boggart Voldemort pulled his wand out and pointed it at another figure which appeared and looked like Dorea potter and he was about to cast the killing curse. Before Remus could step in front of Harry, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the boggart.

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, yet nothing happened. Then suddenly Dorea Potter disappeared and Voldemort shrunk down until he was but a meter tall and lacy women's clothes morphed into his body and there was a great shout of laughter. "Riddikulus!" Harry said again and Voldemort shrunk down even further until it disappeared with a poof.

"Excellent!" cried Professor Remus as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Harry. Well done, everyone... Let me see... five points for every person to tackle the Boggart — ten for Harry because he did it twice... and I'll be taking 50 points from you Miss Granger."

"But I didn't do anything," said Hermione.

"I saw you hexing Harry into the path of the boggart. You'll be following me to Professor McGonagall's office," he said grimly.

"B-bu-"

"No buts," he interjected, shutting her up. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson," he said, turning back to the class that was watching them two. "Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

"What in the name of Merlin were you thinking?" asked McGonagall once Lupin had explained the situation to her. She and Remus were sitting facing Hermione Granger, both of their faces grim and set with anger. Her voice was but a whisper but Hermione could sense the anger that was radiating off her in waves of fury.

"Professor I-" began Hermione.

"Do you have any idea what the consequences of your actions could have been?" She stood and began pacing around the room deep in thought. Dumbledore had forbidden her at the start of the 2nd year when they had learned about the car incident from ever suspending or expelling Thomas Potter, Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley. She didn't know what was going on in the headmaster's mind but it wouldn't stop her from giving her the harshest punishment she could.

"What is your obsession with Hadrian Potter? That boy is one of the best students in the school, and despite him being a tad cheeky at times, he is very well behaved yet you seem to think him the devil!" cried McGonagall and Hermione shrunk lower in her chair. "It isn't enough that you constantly come tattling about him to me for every single time he even breathes, but you also hex him into the path of a boggart?"

"Would you like to know why he wasn't taking part Miss Granger?" asked Lupin, speaking to her for the first time since they had entered McGonagall's office. Hermione nodded nervously. "He knew that it could change to Lord Voldemort dueling his Grandmother," and at this both McGonagall and Hermione flinched, and he asked me to let him pass so the rest of his classmates wouldn't get scared. He did not do it to save himself of embarrassment, or because he thought he could not but so that your peers would not be terrified by Voldemort appearing in the classroom."

"Something has to be done Miss Granger," breathed McGonagall harshly. "Remus, a word outside if you will?" she asked and Remus got up to follow her out of the room. They shut the door behind themselves leaving Hermione alone in the office. She couldn't hear them through the door which made the waiting even more tense. "Your punishment has been decided," said McGonagall walking back into the office along with Remus a few minutes later. Hermione stayed quiet, trying to not get into any more trouble.

"Your time turner, Miss Granger," said McGonagall, holding out her hand.

"But Professor! I need it to get-"

"Your time turner, Miss Granger," she repeated her voice becoming colder. Hermione unclasped the time turner from her neck and handed it to McGonagall silently. "I don't know how you managed to convince Professor Dumbledore to let you have one in the first place but it was clearly an oversight on his part."

"But Professor, how will I get to all my classes then?"

"I am getting to that," McGonagall said, her eyes narrowing. "It was also an oversight to let you study all of the electives. Choose 2 or 3 subjects to drop. Now," she added.

Hermione looked at her pleadingly but only received a harsh stare in response. "Divination and muggle studies," she murmured eventually, her head dropping down.

"Very well," said McGonagall. "Now, for the rest of your punishment-"

Hermione's head shot up and her eyes widened. "That wasn't enough!" she gasped out.

"Definitely not. Now, as much as it pains me to do this, 200 points will be deducted from Gryffindor and you will have a month's detention with Mr Filch. Further on, you will have no chance of becoming a prefect or head girl, and you are banned from Hogsmeade for the indefinite future. If your behavior improves this ban may be lifted. Finally, you will have no further communication with Hadrian Potter otherwise you will face suspension or an expulsion." McGonagall was lying about this part but it was the only way she could think that Hermione Granger would actually understand. "Is that clear?"

"Yes Professor," said Hermione in a small voice.

"You can go now," said McGonagall and Hermione ran out of the room in a rush hiding her soft sobs.

"What did she say to Hermione?" asked Thomas when Hermione walked into the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione didn't respond, flushing red as every single person swiveled from where they sat to stare at her, the news of what she had done having traveled through Gryffindor. She grabbed Ron and Thomas by the arms and led them to their room, since boys weren't allowed in the girls' dormitories.

"Why did you bring us here?" asked Ron confusedly as Hermione plopped them on the bed. Hermione lifted her hands from her face to reveal red eyes like she had been crying and her normally curly hair was even worse.

"Hermione," gasped Thomas at the state of her. What had happened in McGonagall's office to turn her from the innocent girl he knew into that. "What happened in McGonagall's office?" he asked, voicing the question in his head.

"I'm in detention for a month with Filch and I lost 200 points!" she cried. "I'm banned from Hogsmeade for the entire year, and I'll never become a prefect or Head Girl! And on top of that, I had to drop muggle studies and divination!" she wailed.

"It was probably for the best though," joked Ron. "You're horrible at divination!"

Hermione glared at him and he cowered. "And the worst part is that it wasn't even my fault! It was that stupid twit called Hadrian-goddam-Potter who got me into this!" she yelled, her sadness having turned into anger.

"Ok, I feel bad for you and you should not have gotten that harsh punishment but it was not my brother's fault," protested Thomas.

"Me! How was it my fault?"

"You were the one that pushed him into the way of the boggart and you're asking how it's his fault?" asked Thomas. "I thought you were meant to be the smart one."

"Mate," said Ron standing up to stop Hermione from hexing his best friend, "Why in Merlin's name are you siding with your brother? Did you forget he got Hagrid fired?"

"He got Hagrid fired because Hagrid couldn't control Buckbeak! And he could have got Hagrid sent to Azkaban, if you'd rather have that." Thomas's hand reached for his wand slowly, sensing that something bad was going to happen.

"Are you mad? He probably did something to Buckbeak that made it attack him!"

"All 3 of us were there, Ron! He did everything Hagrid asked him to and then suddenly Buckbeak attacks Harry for no reason. Buckbeak's lucky Harry didn't have him beheaded."

"I thought you were meant to be my friend!" cried Hermione. "But you're siding with your brother instead of us!"

"I'm not bloody siding with him," shouted Thomas. "All I'm saying is that he's not the one at fault! You were the one that hexed him into the way of the boggart, so don't try to pin the blame on him."

"Famous Thomas Potter," snapped Ron bringing Hermione away so that the two of them were faced off against Thomas. "Couldn't bear staying with us just because we're not famous, and as soon as your brother gets a little bit of attention you ditch him for us!" Ron was spewing spittle towards Thomas who had raised his hand to protect himself from it; he was shocked his best friend had suddenly turned so horrible. "Why don't you go and hang around him instead of us?"

"Know what! I will!" Thomas turned around and began to walk away but a fist caught him in the side of the head and he tumbled to the ground. "What are you doing?"

"You deserved it," spat Ron while Hermione glared at him.

Thomas pulled out his wand and flicked it upwards, thinking 'levicorpus' in his head. Ron was suddenly hoisted by the ankle into mid air, his trousers falling down slightly to reveal bright pink boxers. "And you deserved this," said Thomas, leaving him hoisted in the air and walking out the room, ignoring Hermione who quietly sobbed.

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