Seemingly forgetting that Devon had not actually faced the Boggart, Samantha stepped in front of it.
The Boggart instantly took the form of Samantha's own dead body the nanosecond it saw her.
"The fear of death is easily and indisputably my worst fear," said Samantha clearly, "There are times when I am scared to go to sleep at night because of I'm terrified I might not wake up again."
Hugo, Devon, Stephanie, Ainsley, and Lily all nodded. All of them had a bit of this fear themselves. There were very few people who didn't. Of course, it was only natural that this fear would be more pronounced in some people than others. Everyone thought it was a very reasonable Boggart for a person to have.
Samantha pulled her wand out of her right hand pocket and pointed it at the Boggart.
"Riddikulus!" cried Samantha.
Although Samantha had said the incantation correctly, there was no change to the Boggart's form.
Samantha drooped her head a bit, looking embarrassed.
"Samantha?" asked Lily gently, "Did you forget to think of a funny form for your fear?"
"Um- I" began Samantha nervously.
"It's okay, "said Lily supportively, "I'm not making fun of you. I was just asking."
"Yes, I did forget about giving my fear a funny form," said Samantha dejectedly. "I'm not good with performing in front of groups of people to begin with and I got really nervous about people seeing what my worst fear was."
"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Lily told Samantha supportively, "The fear of death is a fear most of us share even if it's worse for some people than it is others. Besides, we all start at the beginning at Hogwarts. Try again and I know you'll do a good job. Go for it Samantha, give it another shot."
Bolstered by Lily's supportive words and confidence in her, Samantha again pointed her wand at the Boggart.
"Riddikulus!" cried Samantha for a second time.
This time, she got it right.
The skin on Samantha's body in the Boggart turned all sorts of fun and vivid bright colors: yellow, orange, hot pink, sky blue, lime green, cyan, and milky white.
Hugo, Devon, Ainsley, Stephanie, Lily, and Samantha herself all burst into giggles. Though the laughter was not strong enough to defeat the Boggart, it did rattle and confuse it.
"That was E level work, "said Professor McMillian, "An O would have required the defeat of the Boggart. Still. That was quite good for someone facing a Boggart for the first time."
"If I can average an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts throughout my Hogwarts career, I'll be happy. I believe my O work lies elsewhere. Of course, as a muggleborn I came to Hogwarts with no knowledge or idea of my strengths, weaknesses, or interests in the magical community."
"Same story here," said Stephanie, now stepping in front of the Boggart herself.
When the Boggart saw Stephanie, it took the form of Stephanie holding a report card that showed she had achieved a grade of T in every subject.
"My greatest fear is the fear of failure," explained Stephanie, "This feeling is fear is magnified by the fact that I am now a muggleborn at Hogwarts. Hugo, Lily, and Ainsley grew up around magic. I had no idea I was magical until I got my Hogwarts letter."
"Don't worry Steph, as with death, failure is a common fear," said Lily gently.
"I certainly share that fear even though it isn't my worst fear," added Samantha.
"Don't worry about being at a disadvantage from being new to the Wizarding World either. I'll always be there to lend you a helping hand whenever you need one," promised Lily.
Stephanie gave Lily a smile and then took her wand out of her left pocket.
"Riddikulus!" cried Stephanie.
Several pairs of scissors now appeared in the Boggart. These scissors all now started to cut up the report card of their own accord.
Once again there were laughs and giggles and the Boggart got more confused, but it still wasn't enough to defeat it.
"E level work, Miss Baylac, "said Professor McMillian.
"For my first attempt I'll take it, "said Stephanie in a voice that didn't exactly ooze satisfaction, "But my ultimate goal is to be an O student in Defense Against the Arts."
"You will become an O student in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Stephanie, I know you will." Said Lily fiercely.
Stephanie smiled at Lily again. It was great to have such a supportive friend in their group.
After that it was Hugo's turn with the Boggart.
Hugo's Boggart had a Hugo and a Lily in it and showed Hugo looking sad as Lily was determinedly looking away from him.
"My worst fear is becoming estranged from Lily," explained Hugo clearly. "Lily and I are as close as any cousins ever will be and we're BFF"s as well. My worst fear would be doing something that would ruin that relationship."
"Oh, please," said Samantha scornfully, "Anyone who can have his or her Boggart take that form is guilty of either becoming emotionally attached to other people too easily or of becoming too emotionally attached to other people or both."
"Samantha, you don't understand," said Hugo clearly. "It's a very special thing to have a person who is both a very close family member and a best friend at the same time."
Samantha just shook her head as Hugo pulled his wand from his right hand pocket.
"Riddikulus!" yelled Hugo loudly as he pointed his wand straight at the center of the Boggart.
The Lily in the Boggart made of a fool of herself by attempting a series of incredibly complex and difficult gymnastics that she was nowhere near capable of. After each attempt, the Lily in the Boggart fell on her ass as the Hugo in the Boggart was laughing his ass off at this display.
As this there was a huge outburst of laughter in the room.
Samantha and Stephanie were laughing pretty hard themselves and Devon, Hugo, and Ainsley were laughing even harder.
But no one was laughing harder than the real Lily. Lily had always been the type of person who didn't mind being the subject of humor.
As if to prove that point, the real Lily now attempted one of the complex gymnastic skills that the Lily in the Boggart had attempted. Sure enough, the real Lily fell on her ass just as the Boggart Lily had.
At this, everyone burst into such a fit of laughter that the Boggart exploded and became nothing but dust.
"OH BRAVO!" said Professor McMillian. "Mr. Weasley, that is O level stuff there. And five points to Gryffindor for Miss Potter for using self-deprecating humor in a way that helped the others finish the Boggart."
"Mom expects me to be an O student in Defense Against the Dark Arts, "said Hugo matter of factly. "Looks like I'm off to a good start."
"We'll be needing another Boggart," said Professor McMillian.
Professor McMillian now pointed his wand at the wardrobe again and another Boggart came out. This Boggart shot instantly at Lily.
When Lily was face to face with the Boggart, it showed several forms. It started off showing Harry dead. Then Ginny dead, Then Albus dead. Then in order it showed Devon, Ainsley, Samantha, and Stephanie dead. It settled on rotating between showing James dead and showing Hugo dead.
Lily had tears flowing down her cheeks though she continued to face the Boggart resolutely.
"My w-worst f-fear.,' cried Lily "Is the fear of losing of a loved one. The loss of a family member or close friend would be the worst thing that could happen to me. Losing Hugo or James would be the worst of all because they are both family and close friend."
"Seriously Lily," said Samantha in a mocking kind of voice, "Anyone who can have his or her Boggart take that form is guilty of either becoming emotionally attached to other people too easily or of becoming too emotionally attached to other people or both."
"Samantha, "said Lily calmly, "You cannot understand Hugo's or my Boggart because you have never had a very close relationship with another person."
"I got on well with all my classmates in elementary school, but I was never close to any of them and I don't come from a close family either. And thank goodness for that. The single greatest weakness of the human race is that people become emotionally attached to other people. I am a genuinely lucky girl to not have this weakness myself," said Samantha firmly.
Lily sighed. Samantha clearly could not understand how Hugo or Lily felt about their Boggarts.
Lily now opened her hot pink schoolbag and pulled out her wand.
"Riddikulus!" roared Lily.
In a nanosecond, without any of them seeing a form, that Boggart was defeated and reduced to smoke.
"Fifty points to Gryffindor for Miss Potter for vanquishing a Boggart with her own internal laughter. That's beyond O level. It's a very rare ability."
"Even dad can't do that," said Lily matter of factly. "Dad actually predicted that I would be better at Defense Against the Dark Arts than he is. I am proud to being on my way to doing so."
"Harry will be so proud of you when he hears about this, Lily," said Hugo proudly.
"That he will," agreed Professor McMillian. "Harry will be delighted that his own daughter actually accomplished an internal laughter Boggart vanishment. And it we'll be needing another Boggart."
Professor McMillian pointed his wand at the wardrobe one last time as Ainsley still needed to face it.
When the Boggart found Ainsley, the image inside became that of a dementor.
"My worst fear is fear itself," explained Ainsley, "That is why my Boggart takes the shape of a dementor."
Confidently reaching down and taking her wand out of her right sock, Ainsley smiled as she pointed her wand at the Boggart,
"Riddikulus!" shouted Ainsley with a smirk.
The dementor in the Boggart was suddenly wearing a bright vivid yellow dress as confetti fell on it.
There was once again an instant uproar of laughter from everyone, especially from Hugo. The Boggart quickly collapsed into nothing.
"O work by Miss Cochlain," said Professor McMillian. "And Mr. Dursley, as you never actually faced the Boggart, I'll officially mark your grade for today as E, but I want to see a good piece of homework from you."
"Ains, that was bloody brilliant, "Hugo beamed. "A dementor wearing a dress! If that isn't hilarious then I don't what is!"
"Thanks, Hugo!" smiled Ainsley.
"No, thank YOU, Ainsley, for your brilliance giving us such an entertaining moment, "responded Hugo.
"Absolutely. "agreed Devon, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily.
"Well, "said Devon thoughtfully, "Ainsley's sense of humor made her well suited to the task. Ains, that dementor in the dress was totally awesome baby!"
Ainsley beamed.
"Good job class," said Professor McMillian. "Homework: Write s short essay about your worst fear, what, if anything, you can do to cope with it and overcome that fear, and your Boggarts. A box of NFL logo chocolates will be given to whichever one of you writes the best essay."
As the bell rang to end Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily and company felt bolstered. Hogwarts education was improving. They could all sense that the accelerated classes were going to pay off.